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Last month at the 2009 AES Show, Winksound team member, Justin, caught up with Cakewalk Product Specialist Rich Curtis to get a closer look at the portable music production studio, V-Studio 100.
Welcome to hot and rainy Orlando, Florida! Rich Curtis here, alongside Roland Systems Group at InfoComm 2009, to show off the fabulous features of the VS-700 / REAC system and to get a nice tan.
The traffic here was heavy, despite the rumor going around that less than 50% of registered attendees showed up this year as compared to last. If the economy is bad, you’d never know it standing in there!
Many integrators, consultants and representatives were there checking out the VS-700 / REAC system and loving it! Many people were pleased to see Cakewalk with the V-Studio 700 system in tow. Everyone wanted to hear the VS-700 story and how it came to be. Important people from all around the world attended, ranging from Saudi Arabia to Toronto. These people were excited to see SONAR and REAC in action right before their eyes.
Continue reading “InfoComm 2009: Live Sound Engineers Love V-Studio 700 & REAC Recording Systems”
Day 2 of Mix Nashville started out great but you really can’t go wrong when you are in a town that has top notch music, weather and of course the most important element; BBQ!
In between the panels at the conference, I found myself having some great conversations with local Nashville songwriters, producers and musicians about “all things music”. I have come to the conclusion that there are more home studios in this town than there are BBQ joints.
Mike Lawson from Lawson Media stopped in to say hello and check out the new SONAR V-Studio 100 and he brought a friend of his by the name of Bob Welch. You may or may not have heard the name ‘Bob Welch’ but I can guarantee that you have heard his music, if you have listened to the radio and especially if you are a Fleetwood Mac fan. Bob was the original guitarist for Fleetwood Mac and was also a solo artist chalking up three massive hits from 1977 – 1979 with the songs “Sentimental Lady”, “Ebony Eyes” and “Hot Love, Cold World”. I had an amazing conversation with him about the digital music age compared to his experiences as a successful musician and artist in the 70’s. I have always been fascinated with that era of music so I really enjoyed and appreciated talking to him. I was also psyched to find out that he is a PC user and will be recording some of his upcoming projects in SONAR 8 Producer.
Later in the afternoon while my co-workers and Product Specialists Rich Curtis and Mike Trujillo were exemplifying all the features of the V-Studio 700, I caught up with Producer / Mixer / Songwriter / Musician Chris Trevett who is a friend of mine that I haven’t connected with in a while. Chris is an amazingly talented music guy who has two Grammys under his belt (yep 2!) and has worked with many iconic artists such as Britney Spears, The Backstreet Boys and R. Kelly (to name a few). He was stopping in to check out the new V-Studio 100 as well and I was psyched to catch up with him.
Chris relocated to Nashville from New York about a year and a half ago so he was able to fill me in on what the local music scene in Nashville is really like. He is also working with some great international artists and I was able to get an interview with him, which will be featured on my Cakewalk Artist Spotlight series in the near future. In the meantime, check out Chris Trevett’s website for more information on his work.
Later on in the afternoon things started winding down a bit as most of the people were attending the panels and performances. I did get a chance to meet with new SONAR user Tiffany Shea and also the very talented Nashville Producer / Musician / Songwriter (and Artist) Nathan Meckel who has been busy working with LA-based Singer / Songwriter Sara Hayes as well as his own project “Upside of Envy”.
Nathan was checking out MIX/Nashville with his father Mark Meckel who owns Street Singer Music Publishing. Besides producing and writing for other artists, Nathan has got a great work-horse story and has played shows from Nashville to Israel and I think we will be hearing and seeing more from him in some bigger pictures soon.
To wrap up the conference, I was invited to check out a band called Pico vs. Island Trees and was pleasantly surprised at what I heard and saw. I highly recommend you check them out. The band has a very unique sound coupled with great songwriting and an authentic image that works well. It was an exclamation point on a great trip and also a confirmation that this town is filled with ridiculously talented people.
Thanks to everyone who stopped in to check out the new V-Studio 100 and thanks to MIX Magazine for holding such a great event.
Thanks for reading,
Jimmy Landry
Cakewalk Artist Relations Manager
Hello, Hello from Memphis and Nashville!
I used to be in Nashville and Memphis from time to time in my past life of a touring musician, but I really forgot how amazing this region of the country is; especially in terms of music. The trip started out early yesterday (3am) when I left my apartment for Newark Airport and then magically found myself in Memphis 5 hours later. I’m not too much of a plane-sleeper but I knew I needed some ZZZ’s for what was going to be a very busy day in “The South”. I met up with Cakewalk’s PR head Steve Thomas at his hotel and we both found it funny that we have more face-to-face business meetings in random cities than we do in the Cakewalk Headquarters. The afternoon rolled in and we headed over to Sun Studio in Memphis.
If you are not familiar with Sun Studio, it’s one of the most famous studios in the United States and has turned out some of the biggest hits in our time some including tracks from Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, BB King, Roy Orbison and U2 to name a few. You might be wondering at this point why we would be visiting Sun Studio on a business trip and I can proudly tell you it’s because Sun Studio is powered by SONAR and as of yesterday, the new V-Studio 700 is at the helm. I had never been to the studio before and Steve has always mentioned how great of a vibe it has… and he wasn’t kidding.
First of all, head engineer James Lott is such a great guy and it was a pleasure to meet him finally. When he brought me into the studio, the combination of the room itself along with the gear and the memorabilia on the walls gave me an overwhelming sense of music history. I can totally understand why people still love to record in this room as it’s one of those places that triggers creative inspiration. Between the way the natural light hits the room, the décor (including authentic and rare photos of Elvis and other iconic artists) and the materials from which the studio was built, there is something very unique and inviting about this studio that I have never seen or felt before. The VS-700 looks great in the room and I’m looking forward to hearing all the tracks in the future that will be recorded on this system.
Continue reading “Live From Mix Nashville 2009: First Stop, The Legendary Sun Studio”
