FOH engineers Mike Dumas (L) and
John Kerns mix on two Midas XL4's, both equipped
with full automation. Kerns says it's a very cue-intensive show, and he calls the
moving faders "a godsend -- resetting this number of things between every song on a conventional
console would be pretty hairy. There would be no way -- even with two engineers -- that we
could get the cues right and the instrumentation right, as quickly as the songs go by, without
the automation." Kerns is also using Midas XL42 rackmount preamp/EQs. "I've used
them before on Springsteen tours for vocals," he says.
Dumas, primarily a studio engineer, was added to the tour to help Kerns with
Twain's vocals, which are processed through a BSS DPR901 and a Drawmer limiter, and to
create submixes for fiddles and keyboards. All vocal reverbs (every bandmember except
the drummer sings) are generated with a pair of TC Electronic M2000s; additional reverbs
include a PCM80 and a PCM70.
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Lucinda, live at last
Singer Williams applies her perfectionist ways to make a lasting concert album to rank with the best.
by Ben Wener
...In a sense, then, "Live @ the Fillmore" is what most other live albums are: a stopgap, a means for the artist to maintain her profile in stores without slaving over new material.
Little did Williams realize she'd have to slave over a concert album almost as much.
"When we heard the rough mixes, they were so rough. I didn't realize that a lot of times, when you hear the raw recordings, they're mostly of the turn-it-on-and-go variety."
Engineer Michael Dumas performed surgery on those tapes, adding enough magic to the mixes that Williams, who was ready to
scrap the idea, was willing to forge ahead. "I just had to accept that I would not have as much control over how everything sounds.
That's the point of a live album: It's not intended to be perfect..."
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The Late Bloomer
Lucinda Williams Gets Comfortable In Her Own Skin
by Bud Scoppa
...West had its genesis early in 2005, as Williams experienced an
unprecedented songwriting burst. “I was just on this roll,”
she says, as if in awe of her own right brain. With a dozen freshly
penned songs in her pocket, Williams summoned her band -— guitarist Doug
Pettibone, drummer Jim Christie and bass player Taras Prodaniuk —- to Hollywood’s Radio Recorders,
in order to demo the new material with the help of her engineer friend, Michael Dumas, who
co-owned the facility. They recorded in the evenings—Williams singing and playing acoustic
guitar with her band while several of her friends watched from the control room—and Dumas
rolled tape and manned the console. The vibe was palpable -- “There was this sense of, ‘Wow,
there’s some magic happening,’” she says. “Every few days, I’d take another song in to the
guys, and everything was comin’ out just real fresh. And since the songs were so new, there
was a spirit to the way I was singing them...”
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L.A. Grapevine
By Bud Scoppa
Oct. 2006
At Radio Recorders, located on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and
Orange Avenue, an ongoing effort is underway to restore the oldest
studio in Hollywood — the birthplace of ” Sam Cooke's “You Send Me,”
the Beach Boys' “Help Me, Rhonda,” Bing Crosby's “White Christmas” and
Elvis Presley's early RCA sides — to its former glory. Clearly, this is
an ambitious undertaking, as the operation attempts to compete with the
numerous nearby high-profile facilities. On one side of the nicely
landscaped entrance to the building, which was built by RCA Victor in
1928, a recently erected sign denotes Radio Recorders' status as a
historic landmark; on the other, a homeless person sleeps on a bus stop
bench — the contrast is a microcosm of the challenge facing partners
Paul Schwartz (who has operated the studio for the past two decades),
Michael Dumas and Pride Hutchison.
Dwight Yoakam looks on as L.A. City Councilmember Tom LaBonge unveils
Radio Recorders' landmark plaque
Drummer/producer Hutchison and Dumas, who has done Dwight Yoakam's live
sound for years, were scouting studios to work in when they came upon
the building, then called Studio 56, and offered to enter into a
partnership with Schwartz, who welcomed the infusion of cash, energy
and vision. They new co-owners began the renovation in 2000, installing
the requisite Neve console (a VRP60) in Studio A, turning Studio B into
a Pro Tools suite with a Sony DMX-R100, putting a cherried-out Trident
MTA-90 in C and setting up the cavernous Studio E, where all of the
above-mentioned classics had been recorded, as well as a soundstage for
video shoots and live recordings. The partners refaced the walls and
floors, being careful not to tamper with the details that make the
facility unique, and brought in their ample collections of vintage
gear.
Gradually, clients started to appear, and Radio Recorders got its first
high-profile customer with Lucinda Williams, who had her 2004 live
album mixed there and then returned to track her next studio album.
Meanwhile, Dumas and Hutchison used the studio for their own projects,
including the sessions for Yoakam's upcoming album and a number of
projects for Hutchison's Explosive Records, most notably the debut LP
of alt country newcomer TJ McFarland and a pair from Chambers Brothers'
frontman, Lester Chambers.
“We're all here for the music,” says Hutchison, who moves at double
speed through the hall, his optimism infecting everyone in the
building. “I'm all about John Lennon, Bob Marley — keeping the spirit
alive.” From the spring in his step and the sparkle in his eyes, you
can't help but believe that these guys are going to do just that.
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