Matrix is perfect workflow solution for Lakehouse Music
Jon Leidersdorff reached one of those “turning points” with the studio he owned. He and his team at Lakehouse Music were working 6 days a week in the studio and Jon realized that “Now it had got busy, it was time to get a console”. As well as doing composition and production work for CNBC and Wisdom Tree for TV, the team at Lakehouse were also working with a roster of music artists and bands. The studios in Asbury Park, NJ, have an extensive collection of outboard gear including TubeTech, Urei, and Fairchild units that were just not working with an in-the-box setup. However with the high workload, Jon needed something that could turn around his ProTools and Logic projects quickly but with quality. Enter the Matrix….
Jon comments “Working ITB is limiting for us and how we like to work. We love to use the outboard kit and we felt that only an analogue console would allow us to release the full potential of what we have. All of the engineering team here felt that mixing with a mouse was sonically nowhere near as good as mixing on a real board. We also found it time-consuming to set up hardware insert points out of ProTools, and it stifled what we were doing with our equipment come mix time. It reached a point where we were starting to avoid using the outboard!” which in SSL’s opinion is a crime – check out their gear list!
"All of the engineering team here felt that mixing with a mouse was sonically nowhere near as good as mixing on a real board"
“We ended up looking for something very specific for the studio;” Jon tells us of the search for the perfect product, “a console with a small footprint, something that would not break up our workflow in the studio, something that would tie together all of our kit quickly and simply, something that would sonically add something good”.
And was he put off by taking the plunge with an SSL? “Well I was a bit nervous, having made a big investment with the Matrix and also the furniture. We visited SSL in New York to demo the console, but we hadn’t heard it in our mix room. Even at the demo we could tell it was good, but once the Matrix was installed it was simply sonically like a great analogue console – it was devastating! We didn’t expect that kind of impact. Big smiles all round! It was a fun moment for us to know that it was worth it.”
Jon also added to the arsenal of outboard when he installed the Matrix by adding an X-Rack with 4 Dynamics modules, 2 EQs, and a Master Bus Compressor. “We use ‘em all, all the time. The recall is excellent, and the X-Rack format is great. We’ll probably add some more in the future. Having the possibility to do analogue recalls with the Matrix and X-Rack makes integrating all of this a treat. The recall is quick!”
The fact that Matrix worked with both of their chosen DAWs was a real benefit for Lakehouse. “Producers come in with DAW project files, and that’s what they work in. As a studio you have to be able to accommodate that now. You have to be able to do it all. You won’t make your clients feel comfortable if they have to work with unfamiliar software and the control side of Matrix lets us work the way our clients prefer – whatever their preferences. I think people are looking for this – to be able to work in both worlds.”
Jon sums up for us: “How many people have the opportunity to work on an SSL console? It does have a sound, and people recognize it as great gear. It’s great for us to be able to bring that to our rig. When I’m talking to an A&R guy about mixing a record, I can let him know that we have this level of quality here at Lakehouse. You can deliver more. On top of all that, working with Matrix makes me more creative. I couldn’t think of a better reason to get one than that!”
To find out more about Lakehouse visit www.lakehousemusic.net