With the recent addition of a 32-channel API 1608 mixing console, Rat City Sound owner Joseph Peven reports that the studio is so heavily booked that is considering adding further rooms.
Opened in 2013, Rat City is housed within the much larger Fort Knox Studios on the Northwest side of Chicago. ‘Rat City is best described as a cozy project studio,’ Peven explains, ‘consisting of a control room, plus one large booth. It’s intimate and private, perfect as a mix or overdub room for a producer working closely with an artist.’
In addition to founding the studio, Peven works as a producer and engineer, but says building a studio space for other artists is the highlight of his career to date. He first came across API through the Legacy console at Columbia College Chicago, but says his 1608 is a perfect fit for what he is nowdoing. ‘While the Legacy consoles have a lot of very attractive features, the 1608 covers absolutely everything I need for a studio of my size.’ He explains it has specific advantages to the studio’s capabilities. ‘Zero latency parallel hardware compression is pretty rad. Also, I really like the 1608’s P-Mix automation. It’s simple to use and rock solid.’
The studio has an extensive API gear list, which includes 525, 527, 560, 550A and 550b modules. Peven’s tip for getting the best out of the 1608 is to drive the console hard: ‘I tend to do that, and you can get some real good juice’ out of it.
Having a workhorse console fits Rat City well, where the majority of projects are rock and metal. ‘I also love funk bands, but that doesn’t happen nearly enough. I think the console lends itself well to genres that make me want to push the board to its limits. Everything I do uses the console in some way, from tracking to full blown mixing spread across every channel.’
Peven recalls what is ‘by far’ his favourite session with rock band Archie Powell and the Exports: ‘We crammed the entire band into the studio, with a guitar player standing on the couch and the keyboardist in the hallway, and knocked the whole song out in less time than it took to set up the mics. The 1608 made it a breeze to switch from tracking to mixing and we had the whole project completed the next day. The 1608 gave the songs a funkiness that wouldn’t have been possible recording in the box.’
More: www.apiaudio.com
