New Console Has “Got the Kicks” to Bring Multi-Platinum Projects to Life
Working over the years with acts such as Sinead O’Connor, Whitney Houston, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Tom Jones, The Fugees, City High, Mary J. Blige, Mya, Destiny’s Child and Carlos Santana, super-producers Wyclef Jean and Jerry Wonda are literally drenched in platinum projects. To keep this incredible momentum up, the decision was made to make their New York City studio, Platinum Sound, an all-Solid State Logic facility featuring an existing room with an SL 9000 J Series, as well as a new room based on the XL 9000 K Series SuperAnalogue™console.
“Right from the start we definitely wanted SSL,” states Jerry Wonda. “SSL consoles are the top of the line and everybody we know uses them. This made the decision to go with the J Series last year and the XL 9000 this year simple; we wanted the best facility, so we installed the best consoles.”
The decision to go with the XL in the new room was based in part on SSL’s reputation, combined with the desire to move into different types of projects like film scoring.
“There are a lot of studios in New York, but none of them ‘got the kicks’, if you know what I mean,” says Wyclef Jean. “We want our little studio to be anything that you want and that meant going with the XL. This console allows us to address 5.1 surround and DVD productions and that brings us into the future today to meet the demands of our business.”
The duo produces their own projects under the name Refugee Camp, with their “home” project studio and record label named Booga Basement with an additional record label Clef Records. The move into NYC was based on the sheer amount of demand.
“Basically, New York City is where the business is at,” claims Jean. “We found ourselves doing a lot of recording in New Jersey and a lot in New York, so we decided to build our own facility in New York because everyone is already there and that makes life easier for us.”
The J Series studio has been solidly booked since opening 18 months ago, and demand for XL sessions is already building up steam. The purchase of the XL also makes life easier because of the new High-Speed automation computer and integral 5.1 surround capabilities.
“The recall factor saves a lot of time,” says Wonda. “When you move something in a mix, the computer remembers it. This is very powerful because we always go back and listen to things and bang! you’re there. The mic pres sound great and the UltiPan system is hot. Everything you want to do can be done and that helps our vision of the future because we are looking at many types of media production. We are going into DVD and surround mixes. We are going into film and TV. The XL 9000 K Series will let us accomplish these directions and that is powerful.”