Recording Sat, November 22, 2008

Producer and engineer Niko Bolas’ down-to-earth sensibilities, seemingly magical recording and mixing techniques, and ability to create truly inspired performances have earned him the friendship and respect of the music industry’s biggest luminaries. He has delivered chart-topping records for everyone from Neil Young, Melissa Etheridge, and Keith Richards to Herb Alpert, X, and P. Daddy. A rare and blessed blend of intuition and scientific know-how, Bolas also heads a forward-thinking Internet radio venture – iM Networks – and has long trailblazed new virtual reality technology with a project called Fakespace Music. He recently made a semi-permanent home at John McBride’s now-famous Blackbird Studio in Nashville.

Bolas (pictured at left) expects as much from his equipment as he does from himself and has long expressed displeasure in what he perceives as the terrible shortcomings of reference monitor technology. A mix that sounded good on one set of speakers invariably sounded terrible somewhere else; a situation that most engineers simply assume is unavoidable. However, Bolas was recently introduced to ATC loudspeakers and has changed his tune. The unforgiving, unflattering, and ultimately truthful output from either his ATC SCM20ASL pair or SCM50ASL pair guarantees that when it sounds good on the ATCs, it will sound fantastic everywhere else.

“For me, monitors aren’t something you listen to because you dig listening to music,” Bolas explained. “They’re something you work on, and you have to know what’s actually there. It’s a different kind of brain when you’re mixing. Sure, if you want to hit the loudness button, grab a cocktail, tip your chair back and listen to some Miles, fine. But if you want to figure out how loud his horn is going to be against the drums EVERYWHERE, then you have to have something that’s telling you the facts.

“I had tried every monitor that I had ever come across,” he continued. “I hated them all. They’re not real. They all have a deceptive personality. I listen to what sounded like a good mix somewhere else and didn’t like it. I don’t need my monitors to make me feel happy when I’m mixing – I need them to tell the truth so that I can feel happy about the mix when it’s all said and done!”

On a whim, Bolas borrowed a pair of ATC SCM50ASLs from Brad Lunde at Las Vegas Pro Audio to record Los Lonely Boys in Texas. “I tried them in every configuration, far away, up close, sideways… and I ultimately ended up using them just the way the book says. I loved them, and so did the producer, Steve Jordan.” Niko loved the speakers so much he bought them.

A short while later, he was retouching a live studio recording of Lorrie Morgan with a forty-piece orchestra and had the opportunity to monitor on George Massenburg’s very portable ATC SCM20ASLs. “As with the 50s, all of a sudden I could hear everything. They made sense to me.” So he bought the SCM20ASLs too. Like the SCM50ASLs, the 20s have their own perfectly matched amplifiers so that no matter where Bolas takes them, he gets the same consistent sound.

At long last and with great satisfaction, Bolas retired his ancient NS-10s and Big Reds. “The ATCs are utterly truthful and are absolutely NOT flattering,” he explained. “If it’s not perfect, a mix sounds really bad on the ATCs. But when you get it sounding good on the ATCs, it sounds great everywhere else. Sure, they’re expensive as hell, but they’re worth every penny.”

Bolas has since used them on every single project he’s worked on, including Neil Young, Jack Ingram, The Atma, Randy Rogers, and J. D. Souther.

For more information:
ATC Home Page
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