Director X, and acclaimed DJ
and consultant Josephine
Cruz to Launchpad to inter-
act with with Toronto’s cre-
ative community, including
Launchpad members and
bursary recipients. They’ve
also had recent events with
Grammy-winning engineer
MixedByAli and welcomed
other high-profile creators as
proper studio users, like the
skyrocketing Sean Leon and
decorated rapper/producer
Rich Kidd.
Control room outboard offerings
and accelerator spearheaded by The Week-
nd’s XO collective, which holds office space
within Launchpad and has already hosted
mentorship sessions and workshops in the
Digital Media Lab and larger multi-use spac-
es. (It’s worth noting that XO Creative Director
La Mar Taylor was instrumental to the devel-
opment of the Sound Recording Studio.)
Plus, Artscape hosts its own events
like Launchpad Summit – Digital Growth
for Creators, which recently brought VIPs
like Drake and OVO producer-of-record
Noah “40” Shebib, music video mastermind
Tracking drums in the Sound
Recording Studio live room
Johnson discusses how re-
warding his experience has
been thus far, both in terms of
helping others take new steps
along their creative paths, and
in gaining new experiences
and perspectives for his own.
“One thing that’s really
exciting is seeing contem-
porary creatives and how
focused and skilled they are these days,”
he enthuses. “They know how competitive
this business can be, and they understand
that time is money, so they know they need
to always be at the top of their game and
working smart and working hard to get an
edge, and that’s been really inspiring to me;
it’s been so rewarding to have people who
are very motivated and passionate – not to
mention incredibly talented – getting their
first taste of a studio of this calibre and how
it can elevate what they do.”
Of course, that’s how
collaboration and creative
community are supposed to
work – mutual benefits for
all involved and a final prod-
uct that’s greater than the
sum of its parts. Ironically,
that’s how the Digital Me-
dia Lab at Artscape Daniels
Launchpad was developed
and built in the first place,
and now, it’s continuing that
cycle in perpetuity, turning
today’s novice artists and
creators into tomorrow’s
leaders and luminaries.
Andrew King is the
Editor-in-Chief of
Professional Sound.
GEAR AT
A GLANCE
The tools available to users at Artscape
Daniels Launchpad’s Sound Recording
Studio
Mixing/recording Desk:
• SSL XL-Desk
Microphones:
• Neumann U87
• 2 x Neumann KM184 (Stereo Pair)
• 2 x AEA N22 Ribbon
• 6 x Shure SM57
• Shure SM7b
• AKG D112
• 2 x Geffell M930 (XY Stereo Pair)
• 3 x Sennheiser MD421
• 2 x Sennheiser E 614
DIs & Interfaces
• 2 x Radial Engineering J48
• 2 x Radial Engineering JDI
• Radial Engineering SGI
Preamps:
• Millennia HV-3D (8 Channels)
• Phoenix Audio DRS-8 Mk2 (8 Channels)
• 8 x SSL VHD Preamp (on SSL XL-Desk)
• AMS Neve 1073 DPX (2 Channels)
• Avalon VT-737sp Channel Strip
• API Channel Strip (512 Preamp)
Compressors:
• 2 x Empirical Labs EL-8 Distressor
• SSL Stereo Buss Compressor (on SSL
XL-Desk)
• SSL Listen Mic Compressor (on SSL
XL-Desk)
• Avalon VT-737sp Channel Strip
• API Channel Strip (527 Compressor)
Equalizers:
• 8 x SSL 611 EQ
(Plus Avalon 737 EQ, Neve 1073 EQ, API
Channel Strip w/ 550A EQ)
Effects:
• Antelope Orion FX Processor
• Lexicon 300 (Vintage)
Monitors & Headphones:
• Barefoot Footprint 1 Nearfield Speakers
• 6 x Sennheiser HD 280 Headphones
• Hear Technologies Headphone Cue
System
DAW
• Apple Mac Mini 6-Core i7 w/ 32 GB RAM
• Avid HDX
• Antelope Orion 32HD | GEN 3
Software & Plugins:
• Avid Pro Tools 2019.5
• Apple Logic Pro X
• Ableton Live 10
• Waves Platinum Bundle
• Antares AutoTune Pro
• Avid Media Composer
Sync & Clock
• Rosendahl Nanosyncs HD
• Avid Sync HD
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 33