News
Abbey Road Penthouse scores with AMS Neve Dual USP engine
10 December 2008
Upgrading the Penthouse's 40-fader AMS Neve DFC Gemini to the Dual USP engine keeps Abbey Road at the cutting edge of film score mixing
‘It’s the most versatile room in the world for film scoring mixing,’
says Peter Cobbin, Director of Engineering at Abbey Road Studios. He’s
talking about the control room in Abbey Road’s Penthouse, home to an
AMS Neve DFC Gemini console with a dual USP digital engine, capable of
busing and monitoring 12 multi-channel surround stems. That sort of
flexibility is vital in modern film production, he says, not only to
allow for last-minute edits but also to deal with delivery
requirements.
‘It is not unusual to have the final film mix running concurrently with the score mixing, so being able to deliver the music on time is crucial,’ Cobbin explains. ‘It’s vital to be able to recall entirely different desk setups in an instant, and the Gemini is unrivalled for real-time playbacks to directors and composers.’
The Penthouse, formerly used for stereo mixing and small band recordings, was converted into a surround sound mix facility in 1998 to cater for the demands of mixing sound to picture. In addition to the DFC Gemini (which replaced the existing AMS Neve Capricorn), the control room contains a 5.1 B&W Nautilus 800D monitoring system (with 7.1 available on request), bi-amped with Classe CA-M400s.
What makes the Penthouse’s Gemini special is that it was one of the first in the world to be upgraded to the dual USP digital engine. The 40-fader console now allows for up to 1,000 audio paths at 48 kHz, making it the largest DFC processing engine in Europe.
‘We specified a desk with so much processing because many of our large film mixing projects have track counts well over the 300 mark. Albeit most of these are 48 kHz sessions, we’re well covered for similar sized sessions at 96 kHz,’ adds Simon Campbell, Head of Technical Services at Abbey Road.
When the mix has been finalized, there are still efficiency gains. ‘Manually layering stems is time consuming and many hours are saved by being able to print multiple stems in one pass,’ Cobbin points out. ‘This has become a vital requirement, and it’s impossible to do on a conventional console.’
But there’s more to an excellent film scoring desk than power and features. The heart of the console – the control surface and the sound – are equally important.
‘I like the Gemini because it’s a compact but friendly and intuitive console that is logical and clear to use,’ Cobbin says. ‘Given that many options for digital mixing are surface control type desks, this feels like the real thing, a mixing desk that invites one to mix music.’
And it sounds good. ‘The Gemini has faithful sound delivery,’ he continues. Abbey Road’s recording facilities, including the famous Studio One, fitted with a 72-channel analogue Neve 88 RS console, and large enough to seat a 110-piece orchestra at the same time as a 100-strong choir, are legendary and so is the fidelity of its audio. Mixing on the Gemini after recording a film score on the 88 RS is seamless in terms of sonic purity.
‘I don’t feel anxious about the way in which music is bused or summed,’ Cobbin says. ‘It is the perfect film score mix solution, especially having recorded in Studio One on the analogue Neve 88 RS. Smooth and transparent eq and dynamics reduces DSP pressure on multitrack workstations and, along with the flexible Encore automation and snapshots, it is quick to mix in a non-linear fashion.
‘Putting together film soundtracks on the Gemini is a delight,’ he adds. ‘I can build a stereo configuration at the same time as my film surround mix and after deliveries it is enjoyable to make effortless changes to build up the album. Even when I have had to score and mix overseas – as with Ridley Scott’s American Gangster and Body of Lies for example – I will try to finalise the album in the Penthouse.’
Among the numerous film score mixes completed on the DFC Gemini in the Penthouse are those for The Golden Compass, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Shrek the Third, Eastern Promises and The Valley of Elah. www.abbeyroad.com.
