Located in Ikebukuro, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre recently marked its 30th anniversary with the installation of a Solid State Logic Duality Fuse large-format SuperAnalogue console in the recording room attached to its concert hall. Duality Fuse’s hybrid design combines a traditional analogue signal path and processing with DAW control and integration in a single hardware surface.
‘Prior to installing the Duality Fuse, we had been using an analogue console that had been installed since the theatre opened,’ says Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Sound Director, Koichi Ishimaru. ‘When we were considering replacing it, we thought about installing a digital console or a system without a console, but we thought only an analogue console would do.’
An important part of the theatre’s decision-making process was choosing a console that could capture its programming in an accurate and authentic manner: ‘We decided on an SSL Duality Fuse because of its ability to express classical and opera programmes as they are, without any necessary colouration and also because of the opinions of recording studios in Japan,’ Ishimaru explains.
He adds that this is the case across the entire frequency spectrum, including in the low end: ‘The low end of the Duality Fuse adds no unnecessary colouration, yet it has a dynamic feel, so the power of classical music can be conveyed as it is.’
Since the surface installation, the theatre has changed the position of the suspended microphones that it uses to record stage performances, indicating that the Duality Fusion was able to impart an important dimension of space in the recordings.
‘When recording on the stage, we typically lowered the microphones to keep the recording resolution,’ says Ishimaru. ‘However, after installing the Duality Fuse, we were able to raise the position of the hanging microphones. This not only contributes to the appearance of the stage, but also to the sound, which is very important for expressing a sense of atmosphere. This is an important element in classical music, where the sound is made up of an orchestra and a hall.
More: www.solidstatelogic.com
