Music composer and voiceover artist Joe Wakeford has added an Audient iD22 audio interface to his studio – which began as a band rehearsal room and recording studio with a big analogue console 20 years ago, moved to multiple synced Tascam DA-38 DTRS machines and Cubase VST 3.5, and then to a today’s totally built for production studio functionality’ facility.
‘The big analogue desk is gone and our system now centres around two networked 64GB RAM custom-built audio PCs from Scan in Leeds, UK.’ He explains. ‘For several years the M-Audio ProjectMix I/O was used as the primary audio interface but when the phantom power died the Audient iD22 was brought in to replace microphone recording.
‘The idea was twofold – to keep the ProjectMix I/O as the wonderfully tactile control surface for Cubase Pro 9 that it has always been (along with offering additional non +48V inputs) and to use the iD22 as a new monitoring system with its big central volume dial and custom function buttons.’
He confesses to a love of physical controls in the studio (‘there’s only a certain amount of tolerance I have for reaching for the mouse for mixing controls’) but it was the minimal latency of the iD22 that prompted his purchase.
‘I was playing – and recording – a delicate piano piece for a Hollywood produced film coming out in mid-2017,’ he explains. ‘With piano especially you need latency to be as minimal as possible. With the right combination of ASIO buffer size and sample rate the experience was as close to real-time as I’ve ever experienced with a studio interface. I was extremely impressed – the last thing you need when recording an emotional piece is a detectable delay or gear messing around.’
By all accounts, the move as paid off: ‘The software routing of the iD22 has worked wonders for our composition and tracking sessions, as well as the other aspect to my business which is voiceover recording,’ he says. ‘I run all audio through it and have recorded everything from the latest GoDaddy TV commercial to live Voice Of God announcements for the worldwide launch of the new Mini Countryman in LA recently.’
In addition to offer ing phantom power, a switchable 100Hz 12dB/octave high-pass filter, the iD22 also has its benefits when recording voiceovers: ‘The software routing allows me to operate live directed sessions while recording my recording input with no messing around. Once it’s set-up via the cue controls, you’re good to go without needing to re-adjust all other controls back for music production monitoring.’
Wakeford introduction to music came from his family background. ‘We had instruments everywhere and while my Dad taught me piano, I often picked up his guitars and then took up drumming which is what took me to the ACM [Academy of Contemporary Muusic]. I was very interested in the process of recording too. When I was eight I’d record my own “radio shows” and broadcast them to neighbours via an elaborate and highly illegal transmitter conjured up from a science set. When at secondary school, a friend and I began our own station with our friends and family listening in via cassettes passed around school.’
After graduation, his work has evolved as much as his studio over the years: ‘My job description as a creative is quite broad nowadays but I love every aspect of what I do, from writing music for film, TV and artists to recording voiceovers for all sorts of productions.
‘It’s important to love what you do but to keep things varied so there’s something to surprise you around every corner,’ he reflects. ‘It’s great being challenged and stretched. Having good people and well-behaved gear around you is essential.’
