Having been under the ownership and development of Paul Weller and his production team for a few years now, Black Barn Studios is centred on a classic MTA console and Genelec monitoring. Boasting ‘more vibe than you can shake a stick at’, it also has a neat outboard collection that is still growing.
Adding to a rack that contains a pair of Focusrite ISA428 Pre Packs and a vintage ISA215 dual mic pre/EQ among other boxes, the studio has taken two Shadow Hills Dual Vandergraphs. ‘I was looking to achieving the right sort of compression, and KMR were kind enough to let us try the Shadowhills units,’ says Studio Manager and Senior Engineer Charles Rees. ‘The compression is discernible but wonderfully transparent. You can hear the difference without it affecting the sound, which is what we liked.’
‘We've had the ISA215 since the nineties, and since it’s been the main thing for the snare drum,’ he adds. ‘As for the 428s, they are so useful on everything from drums to vocals.’
The Dual Vandergraph is a direct descendant of the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor and maintains its reputation for quality and performance. It’s workings are developed from the discrete gain cells of the Mastering Compressor, which are combined with the Optograph’s extremely flexible Sidechain Filter matrix. This combination provides extensive possibilities for recording dynamic control.
‘We chained two Dual Vandergraphs together which gives a very subtle effect,’ Rees says. ‘Not only that but operating the units is extremely quick, with no fiddling about.’
More: www.blackbarnstudio.com
More: www.kmraudio.com
