Recording - August 2017 - 13

All kinds of guitar gear
and effects were on display,
from companies like API,
Line 6, Earthquaker,
Eventide, and JHS.

New monitors with
forthcoming reviews:
Focal's Sphere lineup,
Genelec's new 8331
and 8341, the Neumann KH 80 DSP, and
KRK's new V Series
speakers.

GearFest even offered
software demo displays
from companies like Toontrack, WesAudio, Zynaptiq,
and Positive Grid (with
the BIAS Head guitar amp
controlled from an iPad).

Control your gear! The gorgeous MatrixBrute synthesizer/
controller from Arturia, Fishman's powerful TriplePlay guitar
MIDI controller, Softube's Console 1 (now integrated with
many Universal Audio plug-ins, review coming soon), and
the interlocking and customizable ROLI Blocks (the Seaboard Block was another premiere at GearFest).

Producer/Engineer Sylvia Massy
Presents Anatomy of a Mix at CRAS
On June 29, students at the Conservatory of Recording Arts &
Sciences (CRAS) in Gilbert, AZ, got to learn from iconic music
recording engineer/producer Sylvia Massy (sylviamassy.com)
in the school's Studio A, followed by a public Q&A session
for hundreds of participants in the CRAS Live Sound Venue.
Solid State Logic provided a 48-channel Duality console for
Massy to present her work. Ms. Massy was last featured in
Recording in our January 2017 issue, when she discussed her
book Recording Unhinged.
"During a discussion on potential upcoming events, the
entire student [AES] chapter agreed that Sylvia Massy was
at the top of our list," explained CRAS AES Student President
Marjorie Smitherman.
"I've known of CRAS for years, and it's impressive to have a
school willing to open its doors to the public for these fun and informative lectures and demonstrations," explained Massy, whose
visit to CRAS was her first. "I was excited to see the two facilities
and learn how the school has grown. The equipment is topnotch,
with knowledgeable instructors who give the students what they
need to excel. I've had many interns from the Conservatory who
have become my favorite engineers... several have gone on to
make history in their own right, receiving Grammy® awards and
top album sales. I'm always happy to share my personal experiences with the next generation of audio warriors."
With a reputation for excelling at the unorthodox, Massy
demonstrated some interesting techniques for filtering and manipulating sound during her time at CRAS, using household
objects such as potatoes, cheese, light bulbs, pencil sharpeners,
etc. "It was surprising and loads of fun," she said. "The second
event was held in [the live sound venue], with a Solid State Logic
Duality desk on stage and a large screen duplicating what I

would see while I was mixing. I brought a recent session I
recorded with The Melvins and isolated tracks for the students to
listen and understand the process. Then the floor was opened up
for questions. There I shared many stories about my work with
Prince, Johnny Cash, Tool, and System of a Down."
CRAS Instructor Tony Nunes said Massy was a hit with students.
"Sylvia has great charisma and a great way to connect with people, especially young ones. Our students had nothing but great
feelings towards it. They loved the experimental side of her and
they also loved her honest, non-sugarcoated responses. Her album
credits are impressive, to say the least, and her YouTube videos
are legend because of her experiments and demeanor during sessions."
CRAS Administrator Kirt Hamm said gaining real-world
knowledge working alongside and asking questions of someone
with the stature of Sylvia Massy is invaluable. "To have Sylvia
on campus was an incredible experience for our students. You
could see them hanging on her every word... they didn't want
to miss a thing she had to say. We can't thank her enough for
her time and her desire to share her knowledge and wisdom
with all of us. Our students will take this experience with them
throughout their entire careers."
MORE FROM: CRAS, www.cras.edu
RECORDING August 2017

http://www.sylviamassy.com http://www.cras.edu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2017