Already the owner of the Audio Cinema art space in Portland Oregon, Ilan Laks moved to Los Angeles to play a similar role in the thriving Southern California art scene. Honing his focus to a few square blocks along the artistically fertile Pico-Robertson corridor, Laks found an ideal space– a former 1920s cinema house that would accommodate a wide range of uses and had a welcoming vibe.
‘We offer music and movement workshops, art classes for kids and adults, songwriting classes, we hold performance events, parties, and other functions,’ Laks explains.
The storefront that is home to Robertson Art Space (RAS) has long ago been converted from a cinema to a more multi-purpose use, but the stage itself retains its original character. ‘The stage sounds amazing,’ Laks enthuses.
Among the regular events already running at RAS is a monthly showcase called Live at RAS, where local singers, songwriters, and other performers can present a short set in front of a live audience. The venue’s Mackie DL32R digital mixer als oenables every artist to leave with a multitrack recording of their set.
‘We were originally looking at the DL32R and thinking it was an ideal fit for RAS,’ recalls Matthew Shterenberg, RAS Technical Director and Songwriting teacher. ‘And the more we looked into it, the more certain we were.’
‘We were originally drawn to the DL32R because of the iPad control,’ says Laks. ‘This is not a very large space, and there’s really nowhere to feasibly fit a full-size FOH console. So the concept of having the rack on stage and being able to mix on an iPad from anywhere in the house was very appealing.’
‘Usually there are two of us, myself and another engineer, and the idea that one of us could be mixing the mains from somewhere in the house and the other up on stage doing monitors would really make a difference,’ Shterenberg continues.
The DL32R’s plug-and-play recording has become the icing on the cake: ‘I can just plug in a drive and get a multitrack recording, or I can plug the DL32R directly into my laptop and capture and edit the show in Logic,’ says Shterenberg. ‘It really streamlines the whole process. We can literally give people a recording before they leave.’
‘For our performers, it’s great for them to know that anytime they play here at RAS, they can come away with a great sounding recording Laks agrees. ‘For an artist, that’s just ideal, and for us, it’s such a wonderful thing to be able to offer our performers and our students.’
More: www.mackie.com
