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The career of LA producer and engineer Mark Linett spans everything from live mixing for Frank Zappa to engineering for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Randy Newman. We talked to him about his studio, the gear of past and present, and his extensive work remixing and remastering classic Beach Boys records.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:30 - Mark's studio
06:29 - Beginning work with the Beach Boys
08:09 - Making the early Beach Boys records
12:17 - Making stereo from mono
16:00 - Copyright releases
18:49 - The tapes we have, and those we don't...
22:44 - Good Vibrations - remixing without all the tapes
24:56 - AudioSourceRE
Mark Linett Biog
Grammy award winner Mark Linett began his career creating psychedelic lighting shows while in college and went on to run his own PA hire company, Nightshade and Dark. In the early 70s he spent a couple of years in L.A. working at a range of studios, including Artist Recording, Paramount and Mystic, before returning to New York, where he worked for Ed Chalpin. Mark's big break came when he was asked to fill in for the sound engineer on a Frank Zappa tour, which led to a further two years of work touring Frank Zappa, ELO, Earth Wind & Fire and Journey.
Returning to studio work in L.A., Mark was able to build some good connections at Amigo Studios, working with Paul Simon, Rickie Lee Jones, Michael McDonald and Eric Clapton. When Amigo closed, Mark went freelance, working out of his own home studio which he named Your Place Or Mine. While Mark has worked with artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, his most well-known collaboration is with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. He has spent two decades remixing their back catalogue and working on previously unreleased material. The Smile Sessions won a Grammy Award for Best Historical Album.
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Paul White chats to Nate Baglyos and Charles Sprinkle of California-based speaker manufacturers Kali Audio, on their debut product range and the introduction of their 3-way studio monitors.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:18 - Why Studio Monitors
01:39 - Development Process
02:53 - Technology Choices
06:49 - The Use Of DSP
09:32 - Debut Product
11:24 - Using Simulations
12:32 - Three Way Monitor
13:31 - Design Challenges
14:41 - Designing The Box
16:06 - New Design Woofer and Amplifier
17:26 - Future Plans
19:31 - Sub Speaker Positioning
Kali Audio Biog
A new startup in 2018, Kali Audio was launched by Nate Baglyos (Director Of Marketing) and Charles Sprinkle (Head Of Acoustics), who had both previously held senior positions at JBL.
Based in California with each of their product ranges being named after a town or city in the region, Kali Audio brings together a wealth of engineering experience and a passion for creating high quality studio monitors at a lower price point.
The debut range, Lone Pine, was released in May 2018 and consists of the LP-6 and LP-8 powered monitors. Since then, Kali Audio have introduced their IN Series 3-way monitors, the WS-12 sub-woofer and the Mountain View bluetooth receiver module.
Paul White Biog
Paul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing.
He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.
Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!
http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Stewart Tavener from Extinct Audio and Xaudia chats to Drew Stephenson about the origins of his companies and how he became a ribbon microphone specialist with his own range of products.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:27 - A Background in Chemistry
03:26 - Setting Up A Repair Service
04:55 - Specialising In Ribbon Microphones
07:58 - Dispelling Ribbon Microphone Myths
10:48 - The Extinct Audio BM9
11:52 - Launching The Business
14:34 - A General Purpose Microphone
15:57 - Stories Behind The Scenes
17:05 - Future Plans
Stewart Tavener Biog
Stewart Tavener first became interested in audio equipment in his teens, recording with a four track tape recorder and a couple of borrowed microphones, which included an old Reslo PR and a Shure dynamic. It wasn’t long before he broke the Reslo but he held on to it with the aim of repairing it one day. As the internet grew in popularity in the mid 90s, a few groups dedicated to old audio equipment appeared and Stewart received good advice from a number of fellow enthusiasts, including Dave Royer and Mark ‘Marik’ of Samar audio.
On learning the basics, Stewart started to look for other microphones to fix. Up until the 1970s the UK had some excellent audio manufacturers including Reslo, Grampian, Film Industries, STC and Lustraphone, but these companies had not been able to compete with new products from AKG and Shure. With no spare parts available these old ribbon mics were available for little cost and Stewart purchased as many as he could. This hobby eventually became a full time job in 2007, when he set up Xaudia to repair microphones for other owners. Over the next few years, he repaired and upgraded ribbon mics every day and estimates having worked on 400 to 500 microphones each year for ten years.
In 2017, Adam Watson came on board and together they launched their own range of microphones under the Extinct Audio brand. These new microphones would be redesigned from scratch and manufactured locally. Most of the parts are made in the workshop in York, or by an engineering partner in Manchester, while the packaging is created by another UK company. All of the assembly for Extinct Audio microphones is carried out in-house.
https://www.extinctaudio.co.uk/
http://xaudia.com/
Drew Stephenson Biog
Drew Stephenson is a singer-songwriter, home recording enthusiast and occasional SOS contributor. He also looks after digital communications for one of the largest UK building societies, specialising in corporate podcasts, animations and video content.
http://www.drewstephenson.com/
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Siamäk Naghian and Andy Bensley of Genelec chat to Sam Inglis about the 43 year history of the company, the development of new technology and future sustainability.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:21 - Company History
02:57 - Focusing On The Pro Audio Market
04:15 - Technology As The Foundation
05:00 - In-House Design And Production
09:44 - Exploring Different Technologies
12:52 - Coaxial (MDC™) Drivers
14:22 - Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW™)
20:31 - Consistency Across The Range
22:36 - DSP And Calibration
26:34 - Aural ID And Immersive Audio
32:00 - Tech In Development
33:25 - Sustainability In Music Tech
38:25 - Equipment Built To Last
39:53 - The Right To Repair
Genelec Biog
For over 40 years, Genelec active studio monitors and subwoofers have delivered truthful, neutral sound reproduction — enabling engineers and creatives to make accurate and reliable mix decisions, even in challenging rooms.
Founded in Finland by childhood friends Ilpo Martikainen and Topi Partanen, the company’s first monitor, the S30, instantly became the blueprint for Genelec’s future direction. Its active design delivered consistent performance, total reliability, and the ability to adapt to the acoustic environment it was operating in.
The following decades have seen a string of technically innovative Genelec releases, from the now-legendary 1031A nearfield model to the latest coaxial point source models from The Ones family. Genelec’s growing range of Smart Active Monitors work closely with GLM calibration software, allowing each monitor to be completely optimised for the room, producing mixes that translate consistently to the outside world.
Siamäk Naghian travelled from his native Iran to settle in Finland in the 1980s and continue his studies. After graduating, he went on to hold senior positions at telecommunications giant Nokia before joining Genelec in 2005 as R&D Director. Siamäk has been Genelec’s Managing Director since 2011.
Andy Bensley joined Genelec as Regional Business Development Manager in 2019. Based in the UK, Andy has huge experience in analysing and tuning the in-room performance of loudspeaker systems in a wide range of studios – from the smallest bedroom to the largest post production studio.
Sam Inglis Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).
https://www.soundonsound.com
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Tony Agnello and Richard Factor chat to Sam Inglis about the 50 year history of Eventide, from their groundbreaking use of digital technology in the early ’70s to the modern challenges of adapting their algorithms for plug-ins and stompboxes.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:27 - 50 Years Of Eventide
01:04 - The Early Days
02:52 - Introducing Digital Technology To The Studio
04:20 - H910 Harmonizer
07:49 - The Birth Of The Effects Unit
09:23 - Eventide Everywhere!
10:58 - The Strangest Use For A Harmonizer
11:33 - Auto-Tune Before Auto-Tune
12:50 - SP2016 Array Processor
15:21 - Eventide's Weirdest Product
16:51 - Rare Items / The S1066 Effects Unit
18:52 - Adapting Algorithms
22:35 - Physion / Structural Effects
24:21 - The Use Of Software In All Tech
26:12 - Audio Networking
Eventide Biog
Eventide have spent the past 50 years creating technical solutions for various industries. Richard Factor initially founded the business in 1971 to create custom-made solutions for studio engineers. The first product was a tape search unit for the Ampex MM1000, built for New York Producer Steve Katz to assist his workflow in the studio. This led to Ampex themselves requesting units and a range of small electronic projects followed. One of those projects became the 1745 Digital Delay Line with the introduction of RAM and later, pitch change. In 1972 Tony Agnello joined the company and developed the H910 Harmonizer® which became a huge success and was followed by the H949 with ‘deglitch’ feature, allowing for cleaner pitch control. At this time they started to develop products for the broadcast market, including the Monstermat and the Mono Stereo Matrix unit. This led on to them developing HP compatible RAM boards, HPIB buffers and ethernet cards. In the 80s they returned to their original idea of developing a general purpose digital audio processor utilising DSP and the Eventide SP2016 was created. Following a move to larger premises, Eventide became involved in developing moving maps for aviation use. They also solved another problem for the broadcast and customer service industry by creating the Logging Recorder, a DVD-RAM storage media. Today their tech is used extensively within the broadcast, music, aviation and customer service industries.
https://www.eventideaudio.com/
Sam Inglis Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).
https://www.soundonsound.com
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Mirek Stiles is head of Audio Products at Abbey Road Studios and is on the board of the Abbey Road Red incubator project. Here he chats to Hugh Robjohns about his side project, the Spatial Audio Forum and how everyone can get involved in creating 3D audio environments using basic recording equipment.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:59 - How Did You Get Involved With The Spatial Audio Forum?
02:51 - Why 3D Can Work With Modern Tech
05:26 - How To Make Binaural Work For Everyone
07:47 - Immersion or Accurate Representation
08:17 - The Practicalities Of Recording in Surround
10:09 - Recording An Orchestra in 3D
13:56 - The Tools For Rendering 3D Sound
16:40 - Music Artists Using 3D
17:15 - The Audio Mix Can Change Depending On Where You're Positioned
19:09 - Abbey Road and Dolby Atmos
20:36 - How To Get Started Mixing For Spatial Audio
22:42 - Get Started Using Standard Recording Equipment
25:22 - The Spatial Audio Forum
26:19 - A Timescale For Spatial Audio Becoming Standard
Mirek Stiles - Head of Audio Products, Abbey Road Studios
Mirek Stiles started working at Abbey Road Studios as a recording engineer in 1998, working on a diverse range of projects including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Beatles Anthology, Muse, Kanye West, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Paul McCartney. Mirek also worked as a Digital Producer in the Abbey Road Interactive department on a range of Blu-ray titles including Roxy Music, Ringo Starr and Reservoir Dogs.
Today, Mirek runs the studio’s Audio Products department leading development of a range of software and hardware releases based on Abbey Road’s historic recording IP with partners Waves Audio and Chandler Limited. Mirek also sits on the board and acts as an advisor on the Abbey Road Red incubation programme and is currently exploring and experimenting with Spatial Audio over headphones, ambisonics, spatial microphone arrays and game engine workflow. Recent projects include collaborations with film and video game composer Stephen Barton (Jedi: Fallen Order), joint research with the University of York and University of Huddersfield and chairing the Abbey Road Spatial Audio Forum, bringing together members from gaming, broadcast, VR, music production and film.
Mirek’s expertise spans over 20 years within the studios, from analogue and vintage recording workflows through to the latest immersive medias including 6 Degrees of Freedom Virtual Reality and Dolby ATMOS capturing and rendering options.
https://www.abbeyroad.com/spatial-audio
https://unity.com/
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/
https://www.matthewball.vc/all/themetaverse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_freedom
https://www.universityxp.com/blog/2020/8/20/what-is-player-agency
Hugh Robjohns Biog
Hugh Robjohns has been Sound On Sound´s Technical Editor since 1997. Prior to that he worked in a variety of (mostly) sound-related roles in BBC Television, ending up as a Sound Operations Lecturer at the BBC´s technical training centre. He continues to provide audio consultancy and bespoke broadcast audio training services all over the world, lectures at professional and public conventions, and occasionally records and masters acoustic and classical music too!
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Richard Wear of Interfacio talks about the opportunities that exist within the pro-audio industry and how to improve your chances at finding a career within this field.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:34 - Industry Growth Areas
03:12 - Job Candidate Qualities
06:13 - Academic Training vs Practical Experience
09:59 - A General Interest in Sound
12:39 - The Usefulness of Music Production Courses
14:47 - The Three Routes Into The Industry
17:21 - Alternative Career Paths For Musicians
20:09 - Developing Networking Skills
*This interview was recorded pre-covid and therefore the answers are reflective of this.
Richard Wear Biog
Richard is Managing Director and founder of global executive search firm Interfacio, who specialize in the media technology sector, based in London and founded in 2002. Richard held previous roles as Director and General Manager of English Professional Audio OEM and finished product business, Celestion, part of the Hong Kong based Gold Peak organization, and was global product lead for Fostex Corporation of Japan where he spearheaded the development and introduction of a number of ground breaking digital audio products for the location sound, broadcast and post-production markets.
Richard graduated from Warwick University, England in 1986 with a BSc Hons in Engineering Science. But as a musician with a strong interest in music recording and production he was drawn naturally into a career in sales and marketing in the professional audio business, initially selling high value and bleeding edge audio and production technology to recording and post-production studios, broadcasters and the location sound industry. During this time Richard worked closely in a product management role with engineering teams in Japan, the United States and United Kingdom and lead sales, marketing and distribution activities worldwide with a particular focus on North America, Europe and APAC.
Through his work building and managing the Interfacio business Richard is continuously engaged with a wide variety of industry leading brands, manufacturers and partner companies across the broadcast, music, lighting, professional and consumer audio sectors as they progress their strategic product development, marketing and global sales objectives.
Paul Mac Biog
Paul Mac is a journalist, technical author, and marketing / content professional who started out in audio engineering and acoustics working in some of the most prestigious studios around the UK. He was the Editor of Audio Media magazine for 14 years and now writes and produces content across a wide range of entertainment and production technology subject areas.
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Dean James Barratt is a sought-after Mix Engineer based out of The Dairy Studios in London. His recent credits include Shy FX, Joy Crookes, Ray Black, James Vickery, Rag n Bone Man, Craig David, Jess Glynne, and lots more. Dean talks to Sam Inglis about his personal road to becoming a freelance Mix Engineer, what he thinks defines that role, tips on making it, and what he thinks keeps clients coming back for more.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:31 - Career Beginnings
07:24 - Going Freelance
11:15 - Personality
12:17 - Working In A Team
13:39 - Challenges Of Being Freelance
15:39 - Not Limiting Yourself
17:43 - Make Yourself Employable
Dean James Barratt Biog
Dean James Barratt is a Grammy nominated mix engineer based in London, UK who has worked with numerous artists and on film and television soundtracks. He has credits on tracks by Jess Glynne, Nina Nesbitt, Craig David, Ray BLK, Shy FX (including Jorja Smith and Rag N Bone Man remixes) and Meridian Dan.
Dean has a strong love of reggae and dub breaks and has been a part of the club and bass music scene, mixing for the likes of Skream, Benga, MistaJam and Ministry of Sound.
Film & TV credits include work on Human Planet, Midnights Children, Blindsight and The Namesake.
He’s also recorded and mixed the soundtracks for the Games Enslaved and Heavenly Sword.
https://www.deanjamesbarratt.com/
Sam Inglis Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
ADAM Audio - Behind The Brand. After a crisis year in 2015, ADAM Audio have come back bigger, better and stronger, with a new US business model and three compelling ranges of studio monitors. Adam Sheppard of ADAM chats to Sam Inglis about the distinctive technology at the heart of ADAM's loudspeakers and explains how they've achieved so much in a mere five years!
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:18 - The Team Behind The Company
05:50 - The Business Structure
06:51 - Large Company, Boutique Approach
08:53 - Joining The Focusrite Family
10:24 - ART (Accelerated Ribbon Technology)
13:00 - Why ART Is Only Used For Tweeters
14:12 - Hearing More
16:14 - T, A and S Series Ranges
17:52 - Features Of Each Range
19:48 - The Benefits Of DSP
22:31 - Will Headphones Replace Monitors?
25:01 - Monitors For Home Studios
27:25 - The Advantage of Subwoofers
30:23 - Respecting The Competition
ADAM Audio Biog
ADAM Audio GmbH is a market-leading manufacturer of professional monitoring loudspeaker solutions. Our customers include renowned recording studios and music producers all over the world. Our international team at the Berlin-based HQ and offices in the USA and China live their passion for music. We constantly drive ourselves to bring fresh ideas and new technologies to our high-quality products to meet the needs of and recording enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Since mid-2019, ADAM Audio has been part of Focusrite plc which houses five additional, highly respected pro audio brands: Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Novation, Ampify, and Martin Audio. As a member of a rapidly growing global family, we seek opportunities and innovations to really make an impact and play a significant role in the way that music is created today – and tomorrow.
Sam Inglis Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
Music Software and Hardware Development - Arturia President and co-founder Frédéric Brun looks back over the French company's 20-year history and describes the development of instruments such as the ambitious Origin, the best-selling MiniBrute and the mighty MatrixBrute and PolyBrute.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:43 - Education and Beginnings
02:35 - Developing The First Product, Storm
04:35 - Making Music Tech More Accessible
06:52 - The Challenges Of Selling Early Software Products
09:04 - Recreating Classic Synths in Software
11:43 - Important Moments in Arturia's History
14:11 - Making Soft Synths For iOS
16:48 - The Move Into Hardware Instruments
18:38 - Origin Modular System
20:33 - Developing The MiniBrute
23:08 - The Steiner-Parker Filter
25:05 - MatrixBrute and PolyBrute
27:37 - Breaking Into The Interface Market
31:14 - Creating Tactile Instruments
34:10 - The Future Of Arturia
35:52 - Utilising New Technology
36:57 - Developing For The End User
Arturia Biog
Based in the French city of Grenoble, Arturia have built on their roots as pioneering developers of virtual instruments to become one of the world's leading manufacturers of analogue, digital and software synthesizers, controller keyboards and audio interfaces.
Launched in 1999 by college friends Frédéric Brun and Gilles Pommereuil, the company initially started out by developing software that could accurately emulate retro analogue synths. In 2003 they started to work with some of the major manufacturers, turning out softsynth versions of classic Moog, Roland, Yamaha and Sequential Circuits synths.
In 2012 they launched their first hardware range with the MiniBrute, later followed by the MicroBrute, MatrixBrute and PolyBrute.
20 years after launch, the company continues to grow and their product line now includes a wide range of softsynths, apps, controllers, audio interfaces and hardware synths.
Sam Inglis Biog
Editor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).
Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts
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