“I had been looking for mixers for about the last three years, trying to make the decision whether or not to go digital or try to look around for an analog console,” says Harper. “The Media 51, especially the 60-input version, was exactly what I had been looking for.” The Media 51 replaces an older 36-input MCI/Sony console. “Over the years it had just gotten tougher and tougher, especially doing more 48-track work, to make it work without outboard mixers.” [an error occurred while processing this directive] Harper continues, “We were in the process of not only needing more inputs but also accurate recallability.” He reports that Mr. Neve, an old friend who lives close by in Texas, encouraged him to consider the console and speak to other Media 51 owners. “Everybody just raved about how well the Media 51 had performed for them.” His decision to purchase the Media 51 was ultimately based on “Recall, plus the inputs and the sonic integrity of the console, with Rupert's preamps and EQ.”
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| Malcolm Harper (left) and Rupert Neve at the Media 51 console in the Reelsound Recording truck. |
“Probably about 80 percent of the work we do is video-related, and a large portion is broadcast related, usually music events,” comments Harper. “I can see in the next few years, once digital high-definition television starts to happen, 5.1 will become the norm, so that capability was one of the aspects I was looking for in a new console.”
Media 51 offers multichannel bussing, stem monitoring and downmixing facilities supporting a range of surround sound formats, including LCRS, LCRSS, 5.1 and 7.1, as well as stereo. The console includes easy insertion of encode and decode processors, master Playback/Direct (PEC/Direct) switching, multiple solo, cut and metering modes, and comprehensive speaker control.
Harper, who was already familiar with Mr. Neve’s AMEK System 9098 EQ design, is equally impressed with the Media 51 mic preamps and EQ. “They’re great sounding EQs, and the preamps sound just like I thought they would. I think he makes a very transparent TLA-type mic pre.”
Harper reveals that he also recently purchased a number of Pure Path ‘Channel in a Box’ (CIB) units. AMEK's rack-mounting CIB is essentially an in-line console input, comprising a mic preamp and line input amplifier, high and low pass filters, four-band EQ and fully-featured compressor. The filters and EQ sections are virtually identical to those found on AMEK's 9098i Super Analogue console by Rupert Neve the Designer®, including the unique Glow and Sheen characteristics.
The first project for Harper’s newly installed Media 51 was a show called "River Walk, Live from the Landing," a jazz series for Public Radio International taped in San Antonio. “This is the 14th year that we've been working on the show. It's a highly produced program. We do tape playbacks and roll-ins and crossfades. It's live tape-to-two-track but we also do multi-track back-up. Both of the producers came out and just wowed over the sound. They said, ‘We don't know if it's this console or what, but we think it sounds wonderful!’”
The truck, which recorded several of the bands for San Antonio’s Tejano Music Awards show during April, also saw action on a film scoring session in Austin. Harper reports that film director Robert Rodriguez, who lives in Austin, scored his Spy Kids 2 and Once Upon a Time in Mexico soundtracks using Reelsound Recording. Harper, Gordon Garrison, Greg Klinginsmith and Mat Mitchell engineered the sessions, featuring orchestrator George Oldziey and a 65-piece orchestra.
Terry Lickona, producer of “Austin City Limits,” also called on Harper’s mobile to provide audio recording for the new season’s special, “Bonnie Raitt’s Silver Lining Tour Show.” Harper, Klinginsmith, Garrison and technical director David Hough captured the show for a DVD 5.1 release later this year.
AMEK, a Harman International Company, is a British-based manufacturer of premium quality analog and digital mixing console systems and signal processors for the recording, post production, broadcast, and live sound markets.
For more information, go to www.amek.com and www.purepath.co.uk.
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