Set up in 1981 as a rehearsal room and project studio for Italian owner Ninni Pascale’s band, Walhalla, Polosud Records’ Il Parco studio acquired ‘professional status’ in 1987 and subsequently became a focal point of the Napoli’s music scene.
After a ‘digital switchover’ in the late 1990s – which lasted until 2017 – Pascale says, ‘The analogue is finally back with the purchase of a great console, the Rupert Neve Designs 5088,’ supplied by Rupert Neve Designs’ Italy distributor, MidiWare.
‘Having been a Rupert Neve fan for a long time, and already having his equipment in my studio, I had the chance to talk about the console during a MidiWare event,’ Pascale says. ‘And on that occasion, it was love at first sight. I have used a lot of consoles, but the RND 5088 is the ‘true’ mixer for me.’
Pascale’s console is configured with a 16-channel penthouse loaded with 14 channels of Shelford 5052 mic preamp/EQ and two Shelford 5051 EQ/compressor modules. ‘Working with the Shelford EQs or compressors, you get a feeling of perfect control of the sound – and furthermore, just the simple signal passing through the console gives a sensation of enhancement. But the most significant help that the 5088 gives me is to achieve excellent targets sooner. It is simply about the sound.’
