EL PASO,
Texas - January 2005 -- Set amidst the peaceful backdrop
of a 1700-acre pecan orchard in lower El Paso Valley, recording
studio Sonic Ranch (www.sonicranch.com) has hosted an impressive
roster of bands in the past few years that are anything
but calm, including At The Drive-In, Cannibal Corpse, Damageplan,
Ministry, Primal Fear and, most recently, DevilDriver,
fronted by former Coal Chamber lead singer Dez Fafara and
produced by Colin Richardson.
With
the residential studio's popularity fast on the rise among
high-profile metal and hardcore bands, owner Tony Rancich
has been steadily expanding the complex's already impressive
list of facilities. The latest additions have included
the Vincent Van Haff-designed 'Tornillodome' - a 47' x
36' tracking/rehearsal room with 22' ceiling - as well
as a nearly-finished mastering suite, which is now home
to the world's very first Masterpiece from Legendary Audio.
Introduced
at the AES Convention in San Francisco just a few months
ago, the Masterpiece is a two-channel analog mixing/mastering
system conceived by veteran mastering engineer Billy Stull
with all circuitry designed by audio legend Rupert Neve.
The product's 6U chassis is equipped with four-pairs of
vertically-oriented filter modules that are reminiscent
of vintage Neve designs and collectively offer a wide palette
of sonic amenities, including precision peak and shelving
equalizers, a full-featured dynamics section, highly authentic
tape texture (thanks to a real tape drive circuit), incremental
phase rotation, various classic audio functions and more.
"The
Masterpiece is fantastic!" says Rancich. "After
seeing it at AES, I invited Billy to come out and demo
it here at the studio for our mastering engineers, Marco
Ramirez and Mike Major, and we were all really impressed.
It's such a comprehensive system; it gives you literally
every analog tool you could ever possibly need in a single
box to approach any mastering challenge. And if engineers
have other audio devices that they're particularly fond
of, those can even be brought into the unit via its auxiliary
I/Os.
"This
product combines the best of Rupert Neve's state-of-the-art,
pristine technologies with the vintage devices that he's
incorporated - the classic circuitry, tape saturation,
etc. - and all of this is integrated into one very cohesive
yet highly flexible, modular system. The more we delve
into the Masterpiece, the more amazing we feel it is. And,
of course, it's Rupert's genius to make all of this so
musical. Sonic Ranch is filled with Neve designs - none
of which are anything short of brilliant - and this piece
is certainly no exception.
"The
collaboration between Billy and Rupert that began over
three years ago has resulted in an all-inclusive system
that truly provides the highest standards of mastering,
and Marco and I are extremely proud to have installed the
very first one available here at Sonic Ranch."
