Press Releases
FX PRESS RELEASES
JANUARY 2008 - FX is main audio supplier for groundbreaking Sony Walkman ad
OCTOBER 2007 - FX supplies Abbey Road and Olympic Studios with new Pro Tools rigs
JUNE 2007 - FX supports Escape artists in Brighton
FEBRUARY 2007 - Location, location, location with FX
NOVEMBER 2006 - FX brings colour to Bravia soundtrack
SEPTEMBER 2006 - FX thirst for liquid technology continues
AUGUST 2006 - FX provides recording gear for Wembley
JULY 2006 - Prism and FX Rentals help new signing
JULY 2006 - Much more equipment for FX hire stock
MAY 2006 - FX supplies recording packages
MARCH 2006 - Jerry Boys buys Pro Tools
DECEMBER 2005 - Cat Stevens buys Pro Tools
FX RENTALS IS MAIN AUDIO SUPPLIER FOR GROUND- BREAKING SONY WALKMAN AD
JANUARY 2008
FX Rentals has again been commissioned by Academy Films to provide an audio package for its series of groundbreaking Sony ads, this time the ‘Music Pieces’ commercial for the latest generation of Sony Walkman digital music players.
FX has supplied recording packages for several Sony Bravia ads, which drew heavily on colourful imagery and ingenious filming techniques. For ‘Music Pieces’ the innovation lies in the soundtrack, which takes an original piece of music composed by Hollywood music director Peter Raeburn and gives 128 musicians just one note each to play to reconstruct the melody.
FX was initially contacted to supply the drums required for the shoot by Alex Turner, who was managing all backline equipment and crew for the shoot. This snowballed into an entire package of instruments and accessories, and FX’s capability to supply the entire package thoroughly impressed him.
“They provided absolutely everything we needed without raising an eyebrow,” he says. “The sheer volume was incredible, including hundreds of leads and probably every vintage keyboard in London. If they didn’t have it, they sourced it for us, and dealing with just one company on a project of this scale and complexity was a huge advantage to me. At one point I asked them to come and change all the drum heads on eight drumkits to a different colour after they’d fitted them with specially requested clear ones, and not even last minute requests like this were too much for them.”
Among the gear FX provided were a whole range of keyboards including a Mini Moog, Prophet V, Jupiter8 and Juno106 keyboards and synths; eight Glockenspiels; eight complete drumkits by Gretsch, Slingerland, DW, Ludwig, Pearl and Tama, plus eight lots of hi hats; crash cymbals associated stands; combo guitar amps including Gibson, Les Paul & SG, Fender, Telecaster and Strat guitars; Marshall Bluesbreaker, Fender Twin and Super Reverb, Vox AC30 and Mesa Boogie; 32 Shure SM58 microphones and a myriad of cables, connectors, mic stands and other accessories.
The shoot took place at Alexandra Palace in North London, with FX assisting at the setup. The production gathered the musicians, playing everything from electric guitars and Kalimbas to mini toy grand pianos, in the iconic music venue under the direction of music video director, Nick Gordon (The Kooks, Muse, Supergrass). The musicians were arranged by instrument group to form an ‘acoustic grid’ which created waves of sound and movement when each note was played in sequence.
FX SUPPLIES ABBEY ROAD & OLYMPIC STUDIOS WITH NEW PRO TOOLS RIGS
OCTOBER 2007
The FX Group has supplied both Abbey Road and Olympic Studios with new Digidesign Pro Tools HD3 Accel systems. The new systems – which can be run on the Intel-based Mac Pro – support large and complex sessions by harnessing the power of three dedicated DSP cards connected via Digidesign’s proprietary TDM II bus architecture.
Two HD3 Accel rigs have been installed into Abbey Road, comprising Digidesign Sync IO and Midi IO, Magma Expansion Chassis, 48 IOs using Digidesign 192s, an Apple Mac Pro Quad 3.0Ghz computer and 23-inch Apple cinema display screen, with lots more peripheral equipment. Plug-ins – also supplied by FX -include TC Master X3; Serato Pitch’N Time; Sony Oxford EQ; McDSP Filterbank; Line 6 Echo Farm; Celemony Melodyne Studio 3/ Waves restoration and Audioease Altiverb 6XL
Meanwhile Olympic has been installed with a 32 input/64 output system with plug-ins including Digidesign Massive Pack 6; Waves Gold; Serato Pitch’N time; Autotune 5; Sony Oxford Limiter/Inflator/Dynamics; Soundtoys Echoboy/Soundblender; Drumagog pro and Celemony Melodyne Studio 3.
The systems were specifed by Simon Campbell, EMI Studios Group UK’s head of technical services, who says, “It’s always good to deal with FX because they know their stuff, are very competitive on price and are easy to get along with.The expansion chassis for Abbey Road enable us to fulfill the demands we now have for 160 track digital IO HD5 systems when mixing large film scores in our Penthouse Studio.”
The new rigs were configured by Olympic’s technical engineer Sam Matthews in conjunction with Pat Roche from FX. “We like to use FX for our Pro Tools purchases, whether it’s a complete system or new plug-ins,” says Matthews. “When it came to the Olympic system, it had to be the same configuration as what was already in the studio in terms of inputs and outputs, and we’ve upgraded keyboards and screens; the little things that keep people happy.
“These systems have a lot more power and will give us the capability to run much more complex projects into the future.”
FX SUPPORTS ESCAPE ARTISTS IN BRIGHTON
JUNE 2007
FX Rentals has participated for the second year running as a sponsor for The Great Escape, a music industry forum and showcase held in Brighton over three days in May.
The groundbreaking event, organised by live music venue chain Barfly in conjunction with T-Mobile Street Gigs, saw a daytime programme of seminars and talks presented by leading industry players and more than 150 new acts playing 220 gigs across 20 Brighton venues. Combined with the occasional secret street gig and countless parties attracting 1,000 delegates and 5,000 music lovers, the Brighton event has become firmly established on the music industry’s calendar, and has been dubbed “Europe’s answer to SXSW in Texas” by the Independent newspaper.
For the duration of the event, FX offered all participants and associates a special Great Escape discount rate on the rental of backline, instruments and recording packages, resulting in the hire of top-brand equipment from Sony, Roland, Korg, Ampeg, Fender, Ashdown, Pearl, Yamaha and Nord. In addition, FX supplied a PA system for the industry conference held at The Founders Room at The Brighton Dome, and for live music venue the Red Roaster. Both systems were based around Mackie SRM450 self powered speakers with Mackie 1604VLZ 16-channel desks, and included peripheral gear such as AKG 480 condenser mics with VR61 extension tubes, Shure SM58 mics, Denon DN-360 CD players, Tascam MD801R minidisk recorder/players, TC D-Two delays, multicores, stageboxes and mic stands.
“FX and Barfly have been working together for many years and the opportunity to work together on Great Escape Festival has proven itself in not only extending that partnership but also strengthening it,” says Jon Mcildowie, Barfly’s promotions director. “FX provides world class support to both artists and the festival to a standard required for an international event like The Great Escape Festival.”
Among hot emerging talent to play TGE were The Maccabees, Good Shoes, British Sea Power, The Sonic Hearts, CSS, Willy Mason, The Noisettes, Kate Walsh and Dub Pistols. Meanwhile established acts The Magic Numbers played several sets around town, the Happy Mondays stormed Brighton Pier for a special gig and the Scissor Sisters took to the stage at one of the event’s more unusual venues, the upside-down purple inflatable cow known as the Udderbelly. Other major draws included Shaun Ryder being interviewed by Howard Marks, and Brighton resident Norman Cook in the hot seat with Rob da Bank.
“It was great for FX Rentals to be one of the Barfly’s main Event Partners for this year’s Great Escape, having been involved in last year’s inaugural event,” says FX business development manager Gary Jackson. “It’s a fantastic music festival that engages both the industry and music fans alike, and in only its second year has become a landmark must-attend international music industry calendar event. It has both an informative delegate conference element and some amazing live acts, and I can personally testify that it provides an excellent time for all fans of live music!”
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION WITH FX RENTALS
FEBRUARY 2007
FX Rentals has supplied a recording package for an unusual and complex video shoot for up and coming singer songwriter Fionn Regan. Regan performed his song, Be Good Or Be Gone, at 22 different locations around London and Brighton in just two days. A requirement for the highest possible audio quality using fully battery powered and portable equipment was combined with the further challenge of retaining the track’s ambience including close guitar and vocal miking, with no visible microphones in shot. And all this on a tight budget, which only allowed for one sound recordist: FX’s Graeme Rogerson.
FX devised a solution based around a PC laptop running Pyramix Native software connected to a MOTU Traveler audio interface. Using an inverter, all the equipment was recharged via the vehicle’s cigarette lighter socket whilst travelling between locations!
A guitar pick-up was connected to a wireless body pack, as was a DPA 4061 miniature lapel mic for vocals, while a Sennheiser MKE44P stereo mic in a Rycote wind shield picked up the ambience. Although invisible in the final video, Regan wore two body pack transmitters and a receiver clipped to his guitar strap.
The entire system – including wireless kit – was battery powered. “This meant I could walk across a farm paddock and plant my rig next to a babbling brook, boot up the PC, turn on the radio gear and start recording in two minutes flat,” explains Rogerson. “I labelled each audio take on Pyramix allowing easy file recognition and line-up later on.”
Timing and continuity were of the essence throughout the project. Regan’s guitar was tuned before each shot so that any of the tracks could be used in any scene and the vocals were maintained at a constant pitch over the two days. No timecode was used: the video was later lined up to the audio using a good old-fashioned clapper board. However Regan was fed a click track from Pyramix using an in ear monitor system to keep timing consistent between shots.
“This job is another example of FX coming to the party with a bespoke system for a specialised task which didn’t involve a £10,000 field recorder or other equipment which would have broken the budget, proving that we can obtain excellent results for our clients, regardless of available finance,” says Rogerson.
FX ADDS COLOUR TO NEW SONY BRAVIA SOUNDTRACK
NOVEMBER 2006
When Sony commissioned a follow-up to its groundbreaking Bravia TV ad, independent music and sound production company Soundtree contracted FX Rentals to produce a high quality digital recording to accompany the brilliant visuals.
The initial Bravia ad depicted coloured balls bouncing down a San Francisco street, thus requiring an equally memorable and eye-catching follow-up. The new concept was based around the explosion of numerous 20 litre paint drums in a semi-abandoned Glaswegian housing estate, gradually covering a 23 storey building and an adjacent block of flats in coloured paint. Soundtree wanted to use organic sound as much as possible for the explosions, splattering and downpour, resulting in up to 17 tracks being recorded for some scenes.
“This was not going to be a stereo feed/camera mic gig,” says FX’s technical engineer Graeme Rogerson. “Up to six 35mm cameras – sometimes at 4 x normal speed – were being used to capture the brilliant colour and effect of the paint, warranting a quality audio recording to match.”
Rogerson, together with other members of FX staff including Mark Scurr, Geoff Owden and Richard Moakes, worked on the shoot, producing a multitrack recording – to allow for a possible 5.1 surround mix – of the explosions and fall-out. They provided a main recording rig consisting of a Radar V hard disc recorder, backed up with a Mackie HDR2496. A Midas Venice console was used for mic-pre’s and playback monitoring. The mic arsenal included Sennheiser MKH416s with Rycote windshield kits, DPA 4011s, 4006s and 4003s, a Schoeps CMC5 with figure 8 capsules, Amcron PZMs and a Holophone HD2-PRO 7.1 surround microphone. Also used were Genelec 1029 monitors, a Tascam HD-P2 portable recorder, Fostex CR-500 CD recorder, Sennheiser G2 radio transmitters and receivers and a Furman filter/distributor with 1500VA UPS to use with the portable generator.
FX began by recording a test explosion using an MKH416 on a boom going into the Tascam HDP2. This was the only chance for a level check, and the results were used to select mics and placement, gain structure and the use of attenuators. The FX van was converted into a temporary mobile unit, allowing the sound team to move out of shot of the many cameras while maintaining a reasonable proximity for cables and radio. The Holophone HD2-PRO surround mic was always active and positioned to coincide with the ‘main’ point of view, at one point being camouflaged with foliage to save on video post work later.
Using the shooting schedule diagrams, the FX team would decide which mic patterns and types to use and where to place them. The overall aim was to give the client ‘moving’ sound by placing mics to capture the stereo field, approach and departure, resulting in different textures and mixing possibilities.
The Sennheiser SKP500 plug-in radio transmitters proved invaluable, enabling mics to be mounted or hidden in places that cables couldn’t easily reach. This also allowed set-up to be changed very quickly for each new scene. “The filming relied on plenty of sunlight so we would often have to rush off and do an inside scene whilst waiting for the clouds to dissipate,” explains Rogerson. “Indoor sound was usually captured with a PZM and an MKH416 feeding the Tascam HDP2. The PZM was taped to the bedroom wall to increase the boundary area of the mic while an MKH416 would be held on a fishpole just outside the door or down the stairs to give the explosion some depth.”
The entire shoot took 10 days and 250 people to accomplish, requiring a major cleanup operation which took five days and 60 people to eradicate all traces. “It was a messy job and we would have to wash down the cables and hardware at the end of each day,” says Rogerson.
“Our clients were blown away with the sound quality and options that our multi-mic source recordings gave them,” concludes Rogerson. “It was fun watching everyone’s jaws drop as we played back the recordings in the van through the little Genelec 1029s.”
To watch the ad and hear the soundtrack go to www.bravia-advert.com
FX THIRST FOR LIQUID TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES
SEPTEMBER 2006
FX Rentals has taken delivery of a large number of Focusrite’s brand new Liquid Mix product to add to their existing fleet of Liquid Channels.
Adam Pope (Technical Manager of FX) commented on the latest additions, “Along with our clients, we’ve been very keen to get our hands on the Focusrite Liquid Mix as some of the EQ and compressor emulations were sourced from specific units of FX Rentals wide range of classic and vintage processors. I’m very impressed with the finished item and have no doubt that our rental clients will be also”
Giles Orford (Marketing Manager – Focusrite) commented, “We’re particularly pleased that FX have chosen to do this as not only is this a further stamp of approval of the concept by the professional community but is a really fast way for users to try before they buy – we’re confident they won’t be disappointed”
FX RENTALS PROVIDES RECORDING PACKAGE FOR FINAL CONCERT AT WEMBLEY GRAND HALL
AUGUST 2006
FX Rentals has provided a selection of recording equipment for a concert by Globus at the Wembley Conference Centre. The package was being used to record this unusual project for DVD release.
Globus is a collective of producers, musicians, vocalists and writers who work for LA-based Immediate Music writing, performing and supplying trailer music for big budget feature films such as the Lord of the Rings, Spiderman 2, X-Men III and The Da Vinci Code. The one-off concert was to launch Epicon, a compiliation album of Globus rock/hybrid pieces which was played live featuring a 60-piece orchestra and 50-strong choir. The concert’s uniqueness was further highlighted as it was the last event to be held at Wembley’s Grand Hall, which is being demolished to make way for a new five-star hotel.
Explains Yoav Goren, co-founder of Immediate Music, “Every time we write a new score for a trailer we are inundated by movie fans wanting to know if it is commercially available. We decided that since there is such a demand we would be foolish not to supply the fans with new versions of our music. We chose to launch in the UK as it is a far more influential market – the US music industry has a habit of following the innovative UK.”
FX was appointed by long-standing client and production company Transmedia742.net to provide the recording package, plus technical backup in the form of Matt Phillips from FX’s Pro Tools department. The equipment supplied consisted of two 72 input/output Pro Tools HD systems running on G5s, two Furman universal power supplies on each rig, 72 mic preamps including 24 Millenia, a pair of Genelec 1031a monitors and a 7060 sub bass unit, and a variety of mics including five AKG 414s, two Neumann KM184s, two B&K 4061s and three Sennheiser in ear monitors. American recording engineer Greg Townley also rented some extra mics to record the orchestra, including six Neumann U87s, a Neumann M149V and four STC 4038 ribbon mics.
“The extra mics were used primarily for enhancing the sound of the orchestra, choir and room acoustics,” says Townley. “As most of the house mics were used for the live sound, I needed more ambience to make Globus sound as large as possible.”
Townley, who has over 20 years’ experience of mixing and creating sound design for the Hollywood entertainment industry, was contracted to provide mix and sound design on the album, spending five months working on the project. Goren then requested that he record the concert for DVD, in particular seeking his advice on how to recreate the sound of the Globus album in a live situation.
“My experience of working with FX Rentals was excellent; they really did go above and beyond the call of duty,” concludes Townley. “Matt did a great job and the equipment was all I could have wished for it to be.”
Epicon will be available in early August on Imperativa Records with distribution through Right Track/Universal.
PRISM AND FX RENTALS HELP NEW SIGNING STONER FIND ITS HD GROOVE
JULY 2006
In the dog eat dog world that is the music industry talented new bands need all the friends they can muster, which is why Prism Sound and FX Rentals were only too delighted to step in when asked to help new signing, Stoner.
The three-piece band – brothers Des and Gavin Lambert and drummer Rob Flanagan – has been playing venues around the UK since 2003. Thanks to a strong following on the networking site MySpace, the band recently came to the attention of Rhythmbank Records, a US independent label whose founders include legendary Ready, Steady Go! producer, Vicki Wickham.
Rhythmbank Records made Stoner its first UK signing and appointed producer Rik Simpson, head of Criptic Music, to produce their first album. With a credit list that includes Coldplay, Athlete and Kasabian, Simpson was ideally placed to get the best sound possible from his new protégés.
Stoner recorded their album at Antonio’s Freshly Frozen Fish Market, a private studio in London, where Simpson used Prism Sound converters and plenty of old analogue gear, including a vintage Neve console, to ensure he captured a great sound on his Pro Tools HD set-up, supplied by FX Rentals.
For the mixing stage, Simpson and the band chose Overtones Studio in Holborn, a unique studio that offers recording and mixing facilities to musicians from all walks of musical life.
“We wanted to work at Overtones because it has such a cool vibe,” says Simpson. “The studios are great and we really loved the relaxed atmosphere. But although Overtones had Prism Sound ADA-8XR converters, it didn’t have the necessary HD cards we needed to work with our Pro Tools system.”
As the band’s budget was tight, Overtones’ directors Lesley Willis and Lesley Wood came to the rescue by contacting Prism Sound to see if they could help. Prism Sound immediately dispatched five Pro Tools HD cards and three extra D-A cards, enabling Simpson to mix the album using a 40-output Pro Tools HD system.
“Our ADA8-XR units usually come with HD cards but Overtones had requested mix cards for their units because the studio doesn’t normally offer HD facilities,” says Prism Sound’s sales director and founder Graham Boswell. “We were only too happy to help and are delighted that Stoner’s album has been recorded and mixed using Prism Sound converters.”
Rik Simpson adds that he first became aware of Prism Sound converters when he was working on the second Coldplay album. “I was really blown away by the clarity of the audio and the way these converters made everything sound so great. They are significantly superior to the Digidesign converts and we were really grateful to Prism Sound for helping us out. I really couldn’t have got such punchy, three-dimensional mixes without them. I have also been using FX regularly over the past 10 years or so and have to say that they have never let me down. Whatever I need they have always delivered, even at very short notice. Their technical support is second to none and I must admit to calling them sometimes when I find myself in a fix on a session, even if I’m not hiring gear from them! Their Pro Tools team is particularly on the ball and helpful.”
Lesley Willis adds that Overtones is about to upgrade both its studios to encompass HD and will be buying another Prism Sound ADA-8XR unit in the near future. When asked why Prism Sound and FX, Lesley says: “Because they are simply the best, the very best! Both companies always go the extra mile and deliver the quality, efficiency and backup we need.”
Recently awarded the coveted PAR Excellence Award 2005 by Pro Audio Review and nominated for the 2006 TEC Awards, Prism Sound’s precision eight-channel ADA-8XR is already proving popular with a variety of recording studios and mastering facilities around the world. To date it has been used for film scores, music recording projects and, most recently, for a prestigious computer games music project for Sony’s Playstation 3.
NEW EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE FROM FX RENTALS
JULY 2006
FX Rentals, which offers Europe’s largest selection of audio rental equipment, has recently updated its extensive inventory with the acquisition of a wide range of new gear.
Among the new equipment for rental is the Dolby LM100 loudness meter, which is increasingly in demand with programme makers selling to the US market. The LM100 is used to accurately measure loudness variations between programs or television channels. By analysing loudness only during the presence of speech, this objectively measures what viewers subjectively experience and can give a form of benchmark test with results shown against timecode.
FX has also purchased some Neve 8816 summing amps. “This is really a quality 16 channel mixer with solo, level and pan controls, aimed at people who want to sum their ProTools channels together outside the computer,” says FX technical manager Adam Pope. “We have two of these which can be linked together to provide 32 channels, and they provide total recall when connected to a computer via USB.”
A Grace Lunatec V3 high quality portable 2-channel mic preamp with high resolution digital outputs with Word clock output well as analogue outputs has also been added to the FX inventory. This can be run off a separate battery supply, also provided by FX. Functions include a decoding matrix for stereo recording and it can be used as a quality front-end for Digidesign’s Mbox production system.
Other new gear includes the new SSL X-rack with four preamp and four dynamics modules, the Dolby DP564 decoder which decodes all forms of Dolby Surround, and a quantity of ATI 8MX2 pre amp mixers which can be linked together. “These are highly suited to live recording, which is a rapidly expanding market for FX,” says Pope.
Other new additions to FX’s hire inventory are the Sony DMXR100 digital mixer; Little Labs Red Eye DI box; Nord Stage 88 keyboard; Digi002Rack audio interface; Avid Mojo video interface for Pro Tools; Rosendhal BonsaiDRIVE hard disk video machine; Allen and Heath GL2400 mixing desk; Klark Teknik Square ONE dynamics compressor; Midas Venice mixing desk; Thermionic Culture Vulture valve compressor; Ludwig Fab Four drums; Roland Fantom X8 keyboard; Bias Peak Pro 5XT restoration software; TC Electronics D-Two digital delay; Sennheiser EW550 radio mics; Fender Pro Junior amplifier; Nord Electro2 and Stage 88 keyboards; Tascam HD-P2 location recorder; RME converters; Little Labs IBP phase alignment tool; Schoeps MK8 figure eight mic capsules and a matched pair of Coles STC4038 mics.
GOING LIVE WITH FX RENTALS
MAY 2006
FX Rentals, the UK leader in pro audio equipment hire, has been responding to an increase in market demand to record live performances. FX can provide an experienced recording engineer, plus recording packages tailored to individual requirements, to record live gigs, whatever the venue or budget.
While FX has long been handling this sort of work, improvements in portable technology has enabled gigs to be recorded cost-effectively without the need for a large mobile truck, while the burgeoning live music scene has created a steady rise in demand for the company’s services. Another factor is the changing landscape of musical formats: for example live tracks can be made available as downloads after the gig or archived for future live DVD release.
“I think record companies are pushing for many of the live recordings, which they see as a cost effective way of providing alternative products to market, and a source of material that can be released outside of the artists’ main album releases,” says FX’s technical manager Adam Pope.
In order to supply the best possible recordings, FX specifies packages of the highest quality. “We generally use active mic splits – BSS or XTA - through discrete mic pre amps,” says Pope. “These can be Focusrite, Millennia, ATI or Audient. We record direct to hard disc recorders which include up to 96-channel Radar, Pyramix or Pro Tools systems, and we always provide a back up system, which can be another hard disc system, or Tascam DA98HRs. We also provide four or more DPA and Sennheiser audience mics. The recording setup is always supported by a UPS, if video is involved we use a high quality sync pulse generator for video reference and video referenced timecode distribution, and we usually provide clients with a rough stereo mix on CD.
“As we only need a relatively small area, and try to be as self-sufficient as possible in the working environment, we can be easily accommodated without making more work for the sound crew.”
“Preparation is the key to a successful project, which means planning and liaising with the artist management, event organisers and systems engineers involved, and careful preparation along with rigorous testing of the system we are providing.”
Recent live recording work for FX includes the Arctic Monkeys at the Sheffield Magna Centre, The Darkness at London’s Alexandra Palace, The Subways at the Birmingham Academy, Ian Brown at Brixton Academy and Nitin Sawnhey at Club Koko. An unusual project which FX carried out recently was for DJ Heavensent, who required a 5.1, 96kHz/24 bit recording of his three and a half hour set at the Compagneit club in Stockholm for a planned 5.1 HD-DVD release. FX’s senior tech Graeme Rogerson travelled to Sweden to record him, accompanied by a iZ Radar V multitrack hard disc recorder, Focusrite Octopre mic preamps, DPA 4011 mics, and Alesis Masterlink two-track hard disc recorder. Additional gear including a monitoring desk, VGA screen, UPS and looms were sourced locally to save the client having to pay freight costs.
FX SUPPLIES PRO TOOLS RIG TO AWARD-WINNING ENGINEER/PRODUCER
JERRY BOYS
MARCH 2006
The FX Group has supplied a ProTools HD rig to Jerry Boys, studio director of Livingston Studios in North London. The purchase allows Livingston to offer Pro Tools HD in both studios at no extra charge to its clients.
Boys based the specification of his ProTools rig on FX’s hire system following advice from the company’s ProTools department, purchasing an HD2 Accel system with 24 IO on 192s, Sync IO, a Dual 2.7 GHz Apple Mac, 19 inch TFT screen , Glyph Firewire GT103 with Keydrives and a large selection of plugins including Waves.
“I used FX because I have known them for years and therefore I know they give good service and back-up,” explains Boys about his choice to purchase ProTools from FX. “They also were very competitive on price.”
Boys, who cut his teeth on the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and also recorded and mixed the Buena Vista Social Club, has been working with the new ProTools rig on his latest project with Grammy-winning Mali artist Ali Farka Toure. Other recent clients for the new gear include producer Dennis Bovell who’s been working with Jamaican roots reggae musician Max Edwards, producer Steve Lironi with Irish singer songwriter Luan Parle, and folk pop duo Nizlopi of JCB Song fame, working with producer Grant Showbiz.
FX SUPPLIES PRO TOOLS FOR YUSUF ISLAM’S FIRST COMMERCIAL ALBUM IN
30 YEARS
DECEMBER 2005
The FX Group has sold a ProTools rig to Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens who converted to the Muslim faith in the seventies. The system is now being used to record his first commercial album in almost three decades, which will be released in 2006 on the Mountain of Light label
The ProTools HD 2 Accel system – supplied with 192 I/O,192 AD and DA expansion cards, Sync I/O, DigiSnake cables plus a G5 Apple Mac – has been installed into west London-based Studio Y, which Islam co-owns with producer Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, A-Ha) and who is assisting him on the new album.
Engineer and studio manager Kelly Pribble has a long-established relationship with FX which meant that they were his first choice when it came to purchasing the Pro Tools rig. “I’ve built up a strong relationship with them over the years, and I know they’re very experienced when it comes to selling ProTools systems,” he says. “The fact that they’re open 24/7 was also very important, as it goes beyond just buying a rig from a dealer. FX can provide spares or even a complete unit if this one needs servicing. It was a wise move to buy from them because the service I’m getting is unbeatable; the fact that they know the industry and how it works is second to none.”
Owning a Pro Tools rig means Islam is now fully compatible with other setups wherever he chooses to work – which includes recording sessions in LA as well as at other London studios.