When mixing engineer and record producer Erwin Musper built The Bamboo Room Studio in his home, he used the opportunity to upgrade some of the equipment he’d grown accustomed to using in other studios.
This included the addition of an Aviom A-16II personal mixing system as part of his cue setup, which Musper called upon during production of the most recent CD for Dutch alternative rock band The [New] Shining.
Musper’s experience alongside producers Mutt Lange and Bruce Fairbairn and artists such as Van Halen, David Bowie, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Jeff Beck, Chicago, Metallica, and the Scorpions has provided him with the knowledge that time is of the essence. After decades of watching clients struggle with headphone cue mixes, Musper decided it was time for a different approach.
Musper relies on different makes and models of headphones as part of his cue setup for each type of musician with whom he works. The various setups and artists recording in the space require a system that can handle all of the different monitoring requests.
The Aviom A-16II Personal Mixers were able to fulfill these needs because they allow for musicians to adjust the headphone mix levels to their liking.
“I always thought headphone mixes were the weakest link in any recording studio; Aviom changed that and made my life a lot easier,” says Musper. “Everyone remembers the frustration during the first hours of the session where the discussions always were: ‘I need more bass in the cans,’ …‘NOOOO, it’s already too loud,’ ‘Can’t hear my guitar and there’s too much of this,’ and the ultimate surrender, ‘I’ll get through it.’ You could see the frustration on their faces. It killed me every time. Not only does the Aviom system give every individual musician a balance they personally dial in, but also unsurpassed audio quality.”
Designed for use in live performance or in the studio, the A-16II Personal Mixer gives each performer control over monitor mixes which can be custom tailored to their individual needs, allowing producers more time to focus on other tasks.
“Aviom lets us customize our own sound, so getting a personalized mix was easier than we thought,” says R, guitarist for The [New] Shining.
“This is a very well thought out system, which has made it easier to focus on what we’re doing – like making an awesome record,” The [New] Shining lead vocalist Nax explains.
The 3,000-square-foot Bamboo Room Studio, named for Musper’s use of bamboo floors, was built as an extension to his Cincinnati home in 2004. The private facility offers modern as well as vintage recording equipment. Among this gear are vintage Pultec EQs, Urei 1176 limiters, a Lexicon 480L, and AMS RMX and DMX 15-80 units, joined by Pro Tools HD3 Accel powered by an Apple G5 and a collection of SSL 4000 plugins.
Bamboo Room Studio also features Neumann, AKG, Rhode, Sennheiser and Shure microphones, as well as preamps from Chandler, Focusrite and Vintech.
The [New] Shining’s album, entitled Leap of Faith, is set to be released in the fall of 2009.
