MATRIX TAKES KEY ROLE IN CREATION OF DEPECHE MODE'S DELTA MACHINE' Matrix sonic and workflow capabilities prove the perfect fit for the Depeche Mode creative style. SANTA BARBARA AND NEW YORK CITY, USA Solid State Logic, the world's leading manufacturer of creative tools for audio professionals, is pleased to announce that producer Ben Hillier specified SSL's Matrix SuperAnalogue mixing console with software controlled analogue patch system and multi-layer DAW control to anchor tracking stadium synth superstars Depeche Mode's eagerly-awaited thirteenth studio album, Delta Machine at Santa Barbara Sound Design (California) and Jungle City Studios (New York).
The SSL Matrix has become a central hub of the Depeche Mode production process with frontman Dave Gahan, having set up a Matrix-based project studio at his New York City home, while Ivor Novello Award-winning principal songwriter, synthesist, and guitarist Martin Gore has added a Matrix to his home-based project studio in sunny Santa Barbara. Having helmed the Depeche Mode production process so successfully for 2005's Playing The Angel album and its Grammy-nominated Sounds Of The Universe follow-up in 2009, producer and Matrix owner Ben Hillier returned to the Depeche Mode production fold for Delta Machine. The Matrix proved an invaluable element of the unusual Depeche Mode creative process as the central hub for a huge collection of analogue hardware and multi-DAW based workflow.
Anyone listening chronologically to Depeche Mode's many albums effectively has a recorded history of synthesisers, sequencers, and samplers. Sonically, Sounds Of The Universe saw the long-running band changing tack and returning to their technological roots for musical inspiration, a trend that continued into the Delta Machine production and, in turn, influenced its workflow.
At the end of Sounds Of The Universe we'd encouraged Martin to shift his work method away from purely using soft synths, says Hillier. We really enjoyed using vintage analogue synths on that record. Martin didn't have a massive collection to start with, but he had some really nice bits. I've got a few key pieces that I rely on when working, and Martin enjoyed using those and also enjoyed me making him get out all his old ones so much so that during the making of that record he collected a whole load more. In fact, I think he single-handedly put up the price of vintage synths on eBay! Every day we had another classic vintage synth turning up at the studio. As a result of that, he knew he needed to rebuild his home studio, so we set him up with an SSL Matrix.
Fast forward three years to the genesis of Delta Machine and Gore was at it again, having assembled a monstrous modular synth system with well over 700 Eurorack modules! According to Hillier, When we started to do this record, one of the first things that [A&R] Daniel Miller said to me was, The demos that Martin's made this time are amazing!' And he was right. They had this great sound to them because he was using all these old synths and mixing them through the Matrix.
When the time came to transform those promising-sounding demos into a fully-fledged Depeche Mode album alongside three contributions co-penned by Gahan and programming sidekick Kurt Uenela, Hillier had already formulated a plan of action for the first four-week tracking session hosted by Santa Barbara Sound Design in Gore's adopted hometown throughout March 2012: That studio has a great big live room, so we built a studio in there, because putting a band in a live room and me in a control room is not relevant to the way Depeche work. We had a Pro Tools rig with hardly any plug-ins as the main recording hub for our studio, if you like, which we sort of used like a multitrack, with a summing bus as a mix output, plus a load of laptop-based areas. We didn't want to have everyone sitting around looking over other people's shoulders at one computer screen while someone moved bass drums around, so it was a way of making programmed music in a slightly more sociable, slightly less navel-gazing way!
Central to this transportable setup was another SSL Matrix. We'd worked in a similar way last time on Sounds Of The Universe, but really missed having a mixing console, clarifies Hillier. We felt that had been quite limiting, because it was quite difficult to reprocess stuff and doing things on the fly was harder, so that's the reason why we got the Matrix. Martin had enjoyed using his so much, Dave's also got one in his studio, and they'd done all these demos on them, so we thought we might as well use one as well.
As far as Hillier is concerned, that Matrix-based workflow worked a treat, bringing several salient strengths to the tracking table: Because we were comp'ing everything on the master Pro Tools rig and running that through the Matrix, we could just hit recall and get back to the same musical buzz every time. They make it easy to switch between projects. You can be working on one song and suddenly say, Let's just flip over to that other song, because this particular sound we've got going here is great and would work well on that song, too.' And in the time that it takes to boot up the session you can pretty much get the monitor mix back up as well, which is really handy.
The DAW control is very good, and it got us away from looking at the computer screen too much. Being able to balance stuff on the desk was great because it meant that I didn't have to look at the screen at all. And everything you can do without looking at the screen means that you're listening harder, I think, which is a good thing.
We did all the summing in the Matrix at least all the rough mixes on all the work-in-progress stuff. I think the Matrix sounds really
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
06/05/2024
It's almost go-time for the Holly Springs Salamanders! The season opener is ...
06/05/2024
1) What is the rationale of the transaction? What is the benefit for SES shareholders?
This combination creates a stronger and more competitive multi-orbit ope...
05/05/2024
A special evening performance by multiplatinum singer Becky G will provide a memorable conclusion to TeievisaUnivision's Casa Cultura upfront event on May 1...
05/05/2024
Giant media buyer Publicis is telling network sales executives that it does not think Nielsen's new panel-plus-big-data currency is ready for this upfront....
05/05/2024
WASHINGTON Glenn Kirschner, legal analyst at NBC News, blasted the media for referring to the New York trial of former President Donald Trump as a hush-money ...
05/05/2024
Catchy Comedy's weekend marathon sees The Beverly Hillbillies on the weekend of May 4-5. The event kicks off Saturday, May 4 at 11 a.m. ET, and runs through...
05/05/2024
NBC Sports has the 150th Kentucky Derby Saturday, May 4. The coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock and the feature race at Churchill Downs in Louis...
04/05/2024
NEW YORK As the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month kicks off in May, Nielsen has released an extensive new report diving into their media habits with data sh...
04/05/2024
PHILADELPHIA As National Military Appreciation Month gets underway, Comcast has announced several new initiatives to help veterans, service members, and their f...
04/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced a tentative agenda for the May Open Commission Meeting scheduled...
04/05/2024
The Broadband Forum has announced major enhancements to key 5G convergence standards that the group said will help advance next-generation applications, improve...
04/05/2024
Spotify Wrapped Campaign Spot Graded With DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
Blackmagic Design today announced that Colorist M...
04/05/2024
Three Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alums Nominated for Tony Awards An additional eight alums and two current students performed in nominated productions.
...
03/05/2024
An innovative learning tool to help media and civil society better understand ho...
03/05/2024
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 21: (L-R) Actors K stutis Cic nas and Greta Grinevi i t , Director Marija Kavtaradze and Producer Marija Razgute attend the 2023 Sunda...
03/05/2024
If you aren't familiar with Danny Ocean's music, it's only a matter ...
03/05/2024
Spotify has an unwavering commitment to supporting emerging artists across all genres, to helping them launch and thrive in their careers, and to connecting the...
03/05/2024
Como uno de los sonidos de mayor expansi n en el mundo, la M sica Mexicana va m ...
03/05/2024
As one of the fastest-growing sounds worldwide, M sica Mexicana is more than jus...
03/05/2024
NEW YORK FuboTV reported that it lost 110,000 subs in Q1 2024 but it exceeded its guidance for the quarter with double digit year-over-year increases across key...
03/05/2024
Only 3 Weeks Left To Enter The Creative Industries Most Award
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
Creativepool is giving a last call to the creative i...
03/05/2024
WePlay Studios Transforms the Future of Live Event Storytelling with AJA Gear
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
By 2032, the esports market is expec...
03/05/2024
WASHINGTON Shannon Bream, Fox News Sunday anchor and chief legal correspondent, sat for a keynote chat at The Business of TV News, with Tom Umstead, senior co...
03/05/2024
WASHINGTON Asked how important is local news, Martha Raddatz, who has covered foreign conflicts for decades and moderated presidential debates for ABC News, s...
03/05/2024
Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management have made a $26 billion cash offer fo...
03/05/2024
CBS announced its 2024-2025 primetime schedule, which features the new dramas NCIS: Origins, Matlock and Watson, and new comedies Poppa's House and Georgie ...
03/05/2024
Sports-focused streaming service Fubo said it reduced its red ink in the first quarter, despite losing 110,000 subscribers since the end of the year....
03/05/2024
Walmart is reportedly about to release a new 4K streaming box/smart speaker hybrid device for Google TV that could retail for as low as $50, according to a repo...
03/05/2024
Enhancements to its Delivery Workspace solution provide increased content delivery robustness and security
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: May 3, 2024
Enha...
03/05/2024
According to reports, if the bid is successful, Sony would be the significant majority shareholder of the new private company
By Jenny Priestley
Published: M...
03/05/2024
Located in Manchesters Spinningfields district, the course aims to equip students with the skills, knowledge and industry insight for a career in the creative s...
03/05/2024
Lightbridge has created a new Cine Reflect Lighting System kit, dedicated to enabling artistic lighting with consideration of today's productivity practical...
03/05/2024
Broadcast media systems integrator BeckTV and Lawo worked together on a large-scale AES67 build of radio control rooms at KPBS, San Diego's NPR and PBS memb...
03/05/2024
Raleigh, NC, April 12, 2024 SmallHD announces PageOS 6, a powerful software update free for owners of SmallHD monitors, featuring increased functionality, exp...
03/05/2024
SmallHD announces the Quantum 32 a new 31.5 OLED monitor designed to provide reference HDR/SDR images for post-production final color grading, as well as cri...
03/05/2024
By 2032, the esports market is expected to grow to $9.29 billion, bolstered by a global player count and fan following that both continue to climb. The 2023 Lea...
03/05/2024
Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV (CTV), today announced that the 11th edition of the Amagi Global FAST Rep...
03/05/2024
Riedel Communications today announced that Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is relying on a media and intercom network based on Riedel technology for the renewal of...
03/05/2024
Broadpeak , a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, announced t...
03/05/2024
Media technology innovator Limecraft will exhibit the latest updates to its online platform on stand G79 at the 15-16 May 2024 Media Production & Technology Sho...
03/05/2024
Audio interface specialist Prism Sound is partnering with console manufacturer Solid State Logic, professional monitor manufacturer PMC and acoustic panel and d...
03/05/2024
Intinor, Sweden's leading developer of products and solutions for high-quality video over the internet, is set to join forces with its UK partner Zest Techn...
03/05/2024
NAKIVO Inc., a fast-growing software company dedicated to protecting physical, virtual, cloud, and SaaS environments, announced its Q1 2024 financial results to...
03/05/2024
Hiltron Communications announces an addition to its range of satellite communication products and systems: a field-upgradable motorisation kit specifically desi...
03/05/2024
Visit LiveU at Stand D30
With this year an exceptional one for major sporting events alongside multiple, key elections, the power and flexibility of LiveU'...
03/05/2024
Agile Content, the leader in the development of technology and solutions for the provision of television services over the Internet, announces Koldo Unanue as i...
03/05/2024
Eight co-signers representing streaming services, pay TV operators and public interest groups have sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging their Committee...
MATRIX TAKES KEY ROLE IN CREATION OF DEPECHE MODE'S DELTA MACHINE' Matrix sonic and workflow capabilities prove the perfect fit for the Depeche Mode creative style. SANTA BARBARA AND NEW YORK CITY, USA Solid State Logic, the world's leading manufacturer of creative tools for audio professionals, is pleased to announce that producer Ben Hillier specified SSL's Matrix SuperAnalogue mixing console with software controlled analogue patch system and multi-layer DAW control to anchor tracking stadium synth superstars Depeche Mode's eagerly-awaited thirteenth studio album, Delta Machine at Santa Barbara Sound Design (California) and Jungle City Studios (New York).
