This podcast extra interview was recorded at the press launch of the new Universal Audio Apollo x series of interfaces held at the stunning AIR studios in London. James Ivey say down with producer, engineer and owner of Flux studios in New York City, Fab Dupont to talk about his roll in the event, the new Universal Audio Apollo x range and a string of other music and recording related subjects, like, “Why are the drum room mics outside the booth”?
The Interview
00:00 Introduction
01:45 Tell us a little about what your role at the launch event is and what you think of the new UA x series of Apollo interfaces?
10:30 Would you say that the x series of Apollo interfaces is now as good when it comes to clocking and converts as some of the very high end A/D and D/A converters?
13:26 Talking about the setup for the event and what happened where.
18:16 The recording process.
18:57 The new Apollo x6.
20:50 The orchestral arrangement.
23:00 Why are the drum room mics outside the drum gobos?
25:24 Sign off.
The Event
The afternoon started with an introduction from Universal Audio founder Bill Putnam Jr, then in small groups we were giving the full X-perience, starting in AIR Studio 2 with Fab Dupont.
Fab explained a little of the development of the Apollo x range and how we first experienced the new interfaces. He also told us about the first stages of pre-production that had gone into the track we were about to see and hear recorded.
Studio 1
Set up to record live in Studio 1 were the band Two Door Cinema Club and in the control room we found Universal Audio’s Apollo x Production Manager Gannon Kashiwa and Producer Jacknife Lee ready to record the band live in front of us. Gannon explained about the Apollo setup of 3 Apollo x8Ps and 1 x8.
Jacknife also talked about his early experiences with the sound quality of the new x series and how they had set the session up in Logic Pro with the UA Console which allowed them to commit much of the processing “to tape”. However, the Console was not being used for monitoring. These was being taken care of by Logic Pro and the studios built-in cue system.
Lyndhurst Hall Orchestral Session
The final port of call was to the amazing sounding Lyndhurst hall for the orchestral over-dub session featuring the Metropolitan Orchestra. We first got to see and hear the track recorded in the hall from the balcony, we then went to the main control room where Universal Audio Product Specialist Tom Waterman was on hand to talk us through the rig using a total of 4 Apollo x16 units for recording and playback through the studios Neve 88R console. We then had the opportunity to hear the completed track with both the band and orchestral sessions combined.
One of the many things I love about Universal Audio is that, as of the announcement of the new x series the units were ready for shipping. There are studios who already have their Apollo X units up and running and making records. I personally can’t wait to try both the x16 and the x8p units in my studio and let you know my findings. I’m told we should have units for testing and review very soon.
Thanks to Erica, Amanda, Gannon, Harris and the entire team at UA for this amazing event and if you want to find out more about the Apollo x series and the entire Universal Audio range of hardware and software products click the link to check our their website.