Recently opened by Larrabee Studios owner and mix engineer Manny Marroquin, Michelin-star chef Paul Shoemaker and hospitality veteran Rob Ciancimino, the high-end Verse supper club is no ordinary venue, offering the acoustic ambience of a recording studio alongside technology from Solid State Logic and Meyer Sound.

‘Larrabee has a rich history with Solid State Logic,’ says nine-time Grammy winner, Marroquin. The multi-room complex is located next door to Verse, and was the first studio in Los Angeles to install an SSL console, in 1979, and currently operates with three XL 9000K Series and two Duality desks.

The 140-place club launched at the end of 2019 at Universal City in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Toluca Lake to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Larrabee Sound. Kimberly Biehl Schmidt, who designed the studios, lounges and other spaces at Larrabee, also designed Verse’s interior.

‘It’s the greatest sounding restaurant in the United States,’ asserts Steve McGuire, a 30-year live sound veteran who currently tours at FOH with The Cult (when McGuire is unavailable, his position is taken by either Jim Ebdon, known for his work with Sam Smith, Maroon 5 and Aerosmith, or Kevin Madigan, whose clients have included Santana, Smashing Pumpkins and Crosby, Stills & Nash). McGuire has been helping to optimise the installed sound and performance PA systems. ‘I’m establishing a basic protocol that combines the capabilities of the room into a comprehensive but simple workflow.’

The club’s Meyer Sound Constellation acoustics system and ceiling-mounted 60 loudspeakers are supported by with the largest installation of the manufacturer’s Libra custom acoustical panels.

McGuire has configured the speakers managed by the Constellation system into five time-aligned stereo zones, running from the performance area to the rear of the venue. Constellation uses a system of 24 microphones to constantly analyse a space and, using DSP, can adjust the ambience to behave like a well-controlled recording studio environment, a cavernous concert hall, or anything in between.

Each zone is driven by a separate stereo bus on an SSL L300 desk in a sound booth adjacent to the dining room. ‘I can put whatever I want into those stems for those zones and change the mix from the front of the room to the back,’ says McGuire. ‘You can send one mix to all those zones or you can spit them up with different elements; whatever you want to do.’

Noting that Verse is a low-SPL space, McGuire points out that diners closest to the stage area can hear some musicians ambiently, while certain electronic instruments require reinforcement. ‘As you go further back in the room, you have to start incorporating some of those instruments that are loud enough at the front but not at the back. Using five separate stereo stems, and with SSL’s Query function on the stems taking me to Fader Flip for all the elements of that stem, I can create different balances from the front of the room to the back.’

An SSL ML32.32 analogue stagebox in the performance area feeds the L300. ‘Then, at the L300, there’s a Dante expander card that goes to a Mac Mini that I use for local Avid Pro Tools recording and playback. I also use the Madi fibre effects loop to get in and out of the Universal Audio UAD-2 Live Rack that I use for all the reverbs – I like the EMT140 and 250, and Lexicon 480 and 224.’

A RedNet Madi-to-Dante Bridge links the ML32.32 stagebox over fibre to the Larrabee studios 500ft away. ‘We’re pretty much recording every performance,’ Marroquin reports. In addition to tracking to the local Pro Tools set-up, artists can stream performances over the link to a hub in Larrabee’s machine room, which can feed any K Series or Duality console in the complex, according to availability. ‘Channels 1-32 come up right on the desk,’ he says. Larrabee’s collection of microphones and instruments, which include a Yamaha C7 grand piano, are also available to performers.

‘My workflow is to get the band to play and track them into Pro Tools from the very start,’ says McGuire. ‘I dial everything in as quickly as possible to get the basic elements all sounding right. When they’re done, I walk out into the room with the SSL TaCo [Tablet Control] app on my iPad and put together the mix for the room. Then, when they perform, I can go out and adjust the zones.

‘I’m so inspired every time I get on an SSL. It’s why I do what I do. I can’t tell you how many times, being a production manager as well, I’ve had to fight to make sure I have an SSL, because for me, inspiration is everything.’

Ciancimino, who runs the restaurant’s front of house, was previously at the Sayers Club in Los Angeles: ‘That was my first experience running a live music venue, so I’m very happy to be here,’ he says. ‘We had a great system at my last place, and I was proud of that. But incorporating this SSL with the Meyer Sound system takes live music to a whole other level.’