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UPTOWN GOES "SLATE" OF THE ART
Uptown Recording, Chicago
C
hicago's UPTOWN RECORDING just
completed a major upgrade to their
in-house systems. IE talked to head
engineer Rob Ruccia about how it came
together.
IE: Give us a little backstory on Uptown's
beginnings as a studio and how things have
evolved to it's current incarnation.
RR: Uptown Recording was born in 1995 in
the basement of a three flat in in Uptown. We
42 illinoisentertainer.com july 2015
moved into our current space (4656 Clifton)
in 2001 which features two large live rooms,
three isolation rooms, as well as several amp
closets and multi-purpose rooms.
In 2012, we made the expansion to
live/mobile recording and have since recorded many events throughout Chicago and the
surrounding areas. This year we've upgraded
again with New Mac Pro 3.5GHZ 6core that
now sits in both of Uptown’s Suites. We've
also added two new Avid HDX systems and
24I/O in each room for higher voice counts
more DSP power and the ability to interchange sessions between rooms. Top this all
off with the first Raven MTX MKII units to
ship from Slate, and Uptown Recording has
reset the bar when it comes to being ahead of
the curve. Studio West is the first surround
sound studio to house a MTX MKII surround
model.
IE: You've been involved in the development of Pro Tools over the past several
years, tell us about that.
RR: I’ve been involved in beta testing for
Avid since Pro Tools version 7, using Pro
Tools since version 3 way back in the early
'90s. My role in beta testing began when
the company was still owned by
Digidesign.
Being exposed to the software months
prior to end users allows me to stay ahead
of the ever changing technology curve in
the recording business. By the time the
software is released to the general public
and their learning curve begins, I’ve
already seen and helped shape the features
and functionality of it. I gain access to new
features and also Avid has an excellent
suggestion box for testers where many of
our ideas actually make the next build of
the software. Finding glitches and pinpointing their causes helps Avid design a
more bug free product and allows Uptown
Recording to have the most stable systems
around. Lastly the experience has landed
me a place in the credits of Pro Tools since
version 8.
IE: We've read some really great things
about the Steven Slate Media Raven MTX
MKII system you just had installed, tell
us about how that came together. You took
some time with Matt (Denny, owner)
deciding if that was a good fit?
RR: Matt and I like the features of the new
Slate system. We agreed being able to
touch the music would be useful and how
having the latest versions of software and
digital hardware could compliment the
vast collection of analog equipment that
the studio has accumulated. Uptown
Recording has always maintained a philosophy of musicians working for musicians
and that a modern studio with a vintage
heart is the way to longevity.
We considered the first go around at
the Raven MTX but once hearing about the
next generation version, the choice became
clear. The Raven MTX MKII allows our
engineers and freelancers alike to set up a
work flow that they want to use as
opposed to being fixed into a particular
method which may slow them down until
they are familiar with it. The batch commands it offers as well as the ones you can
program yourself, really customize the
way users interact with their DAW. In
Uptown’s case it allows us to complete
tasks much quicker and sessions run
smoother and more efficient, and our
clients are wowed.
At Uptown, each studio has its own
specialty, they can equally crank out amazing quality productions. Studio West is
equipped with surround sound and full
post-production ability (ADR/Sound
Design/Foley). Studio East has an analog
tape machine that was used in the '70s by
Merle Haggard. If you combine that with
the studios vast collection of vintage and
modern backline equipment (drums/guitars/amps/vintage keys) there isn’t any
genre the studio can’t handle.