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Argosy Console Provides Central Focus At The Omnitone Recording Studios

Omnitone Studio Serves as Portal Linking Artists with Top Songwriters, Producers, Mixers and Engineers

The Omnitone Recording Studios in Las Vegas serves as a portal to some of the top talent in the country, offering its clients access to a team of award-winning music production professionals that have worked with some of the biggest names in the business.

The company recently installed a 90 Series for Avid Control|24 desk from Argosy Console, Inc. that is custom configured to accommodate an Avid Artist mixing system in its new facility, located just a mile west of the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip.

“This is not the typical studio, in the sense that it doesn’t charge out to clients,” says Darren Sher, a songwriter and producer, and the founder of The Omnitone. “It’s a production house; it basically lets artists in Las Vegas link up with some of the top Grammy-nominated songwriters, producers, mixers and mastering engineers in the country.”

Individually and collectively the Omnitone team has worked with some major music artists, including the Bee Gees, Celine Dion, Diana Ross, R. Kelly, Queen Latifah, Jewel and Jonathan Cain (Journey), to name but a few.

“Jeff Juliano is the guy we use for our mixing. He’s one of the top mixers in the world,” says Sher.

Juliano’s credits include projects with John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Dave Matthews Band, James Blunt, O.A.R., Train, Lifehouse, Paramore and many others.

The Omnitone’s Las Vegas production facility encompasses a large live room with iso booth plus a control room outfitted with a customized Argosy console housing almost all of the facility’s recording equipment in one piece of furniture, conveniently close at hand to the operator.

“It’s very easy to access everything right at the tips of your fingers,” says Sher. “It holds four of the Avid Artist Series units and I’m very, very happy with it. It’s wonderful!”

He continues, “Argosy also has amazing customer service. Our designs to customize the build-out of the surface changed a few times while the build-out was happening and we were never penalized for that, which is wonderful. And everything arrived when it was supposed to.

“The schematics that I received allowed me to make sound judgments when I was building the studio. That part of it is huge for someone that is spending money on a studio.”

In addition to providing space for a 24-fader Avid Artist Series system controlling a Pro Tools workstation, the Argosy 90 Series desk also provides space for a large Apple Cinema Display and includes two 19-inch rack bays housing almost all of the room’s outboard equipment.

The left-hand bay accommodates two Vintech Dual 72 two-channel microphone preamps, a pair of API 3124 four-channel mic preamps and a Summit Audio DCL-200 dual-channel compressor/limiter. The opposite bay holds a pair of Apogee converters, providing 16 channels of I/O, together with a Daking FET II compressor, a Dangerous D-Box monitoring and summing unit, and a patchbay.

“Every piece of gear I have in that studio was recommended to me by the team so that we could all work together easily,” says Sher, who has worked in a variety of capacities on songs for TV, film and live productions as well as for individual artists.

As musical director for various shows on the Strip during his career, he is well connected with locally based talent.

“There’s a huge pool of talent here that’s untapped; there are some incredible musicians that no one’s even heard of. People do also fly in from New York and L.A., as well, so we’re very busy.”

The company’s various team members all have different specialties, he says. “Someone might specialize in Lady Gaga-type pop writing—and actually have written and worked with Lady Gaga.

“We can connect a client to that songwriter and do everything from Las Vegas. Quality control is important to us and, whatever we do, we want to put our name on it. So that’s the selling point of the team.”

Argosy Console, Inc
The Omnitone Studios

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TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik’s mission is to design and build iconic microphones and modern professional audio equipment that provides classic sound for recording, broadcast, studio, and stage . Our vision is to be a global leader in emitting good vibes through manufacturing and design, all while capturing the spark of the TELEFUNKEN legacy and transmitting it with uncompromising quality.