Having set up the Beehive in 2010, Coldplay’s Chris Martin invited sound engineer/producer Rik Simpson to participate in the design and build of the new studio. The band subsequently recorded the majority of their Viva la Vida album thereat the Beehive with Simpson as engineer.
Viva la Vida went on to win three Grammys and Simpson went on to co-produce (as well as engineer) Coldplay’s latest studio album, Mylo Xyloto, at the Beehive. In the course of the recording he put a Solid State Logic Matrix through its paces – and kept it.
Simpson first started using SSL consoles when he was 15: ‘Over the years I’ve learned different consoles but I do find myself coming back to SSL equipment, which is why we have the Matrix in the studio now,’ he says. ‘Matrix has changed the process in the studio by making things more fluid and quick. The band are fast workers and there isn’t a great deal of time to set stuff up, so any time I can save through having something as easy to use as the Matrix is a great thing.’
Simpson wanted an agile console for the Beehive, one that could recall settings between sessions: ‘We had another console which wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do, so I was looking for a small-footprint console that I could sum through and have control over all my balances internally in Pro Tools. I didn’t really need any mic amps because we have a whole load of boutique and valve mic amps that we’ve accumulated.
‘I found out about the Matrix and also found about the ability to use the faders as a DAW controller, which means if I’m mixing I can do, for example, all my vocal levels with the faders and it writes the automation into Pro Tools, with is great. So you get a clear transient signal path that isn’t coloured much but is just punchy and full, with the added bonus of being able to do all your fader moves and rides and automation actually on a work surface as opposed to just using a mouse. It’s a very well thought out desk and there are options that you don’t really have on any other desk. I got it in to try out and it stayed here.’
As the Beehive has no control room, the desk takes centre stage in the middle of the large hall.
‘The Matrix fits into the Coldplay set-up as a kind of hub for everything to come into before it hits the speakers,’ Simpson explains. ‘On a typical Coldplay session, I sit here kind of at the helm. I see my role as the conduit for all the noise that is coming my way, so I’m the interface between the tape recorder and the band and I try to make that as effortless as possible for the band so they don’t really realise I’m there. Then they can just do their thing and make a noise…’
Simpson first worked with Coldplay on their second album, Rush of Blood to the Head, at Mayfair Studios in 2002. When the album was finished, he went on tour with the band, helping them with extra keyboards and backing tracks of strings and percussion.
Mylo Xyloto went platinum in the US after just two months and was nominated for Best Recorded Album at the BRIT Awards, where Coldplay took home the award for Best British Group, the band’s seventh BRIT.
Alongside producing with Coldplay, Simpson has worked with a number of other artists, including Jay-Z, Jamelia, Kasabian, Natalie Imbruglia, Portishead, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and PJ Harvey.
See also:
Coldplay don’t play ‘conventional’ tours...
More: www.solidstatelogic.com
