dozens of already-recorded tracks without
ever having to re-bounce or re-amp has been
my MO since the 90s and I can’t imagine
going back.
[WM] From your perspective, what are some
of the best studio applications that the Helix
family of products delivers – be it globally or by
form factor?
[Eric] If your DAW rig lets you track through
plugins with negligible latency, I still maintain
that that’s the most elegant solution. You need a
pretty smoking fast computer for that, however,
unless you track guitars before adding all the
DSP-hungry soft synths and mix plugs or are
willing to freeze tracks or jump through a few
only does it solve a number of the volume related a decade as my main guitar tone, long before hoops. Helix Rack is still in my arsenal, as it
challenges, it offers tremendous versatility. joining the ranks in Calabasas. lets me track both processed and dry guitar/
While I own over twenty amps, dialing them in
bass tracks with its world class ‘Guitar In’
and mic’ing them up takes time, and when it The studio-to-stage-and-back promise was circuitry, and if any changes are needed (read:
comes to recording, time is arguably your most a concerted effort to mitigate (or at least they *always* are), drag its preset from the HX
precious commodity. minimize) the sometimes weeks-long process Edit editor software over to the Helix Native
of rebuilding album tones for the tour — and plugin and you’re ready to go. Tweak away and
For the vast majority of the time I’ve played then after writing new songs in the van or in when it’s time to play the gig, drag the Native
on worship teams, I’ve used Line 6 gear. seedy motels, the weeks-long process of instance back over to the editor and hit the
They have been and remain a huge part of my rebuilding those tones in the studio for the road with hardware. It’s almost embarrassingly
production process, be it live or in the studio. next album. convenient,
Along the way I’ve had the privilege of getting to
and
it
allows
musicians
to
constantly improve their tones without worrying
know many of the great people there. Eric Klein [WM] The first time I saw POD aka 'the bean' is the Chief Product Design Architect at Line 6, was at a recording session for a big Metal band which is a fancy way of saying he’s the genius at Studio D Recording here in the Bay Area. PRODUCER’S CORNER
responsible for Helix. Eric recently joined me for Frankly speaking, I have to admit I was about To close things out, we wanted to reach out
a TEC Track Panel and NAMM, and I knew he’d a bit of a 'doubting Thomas' at first. Although to Tom Brooks. In addition to being a world-
have some great insights for this article… I used POD for the first worship service I ever class keyboardist for the likes of Alan Parsons,
played at, much of POD's success came Tom has produced over 100 albums for
[WM] Eric, noting that the vast majority from the fact that it was the successor the Integrity music. From studio to stage, worship
of people know Line 6 for their hardware 'studio darling throne' that was vacated once or mainstream, you’d be hard pressed to find
offerings, the company first gained notoriety production for the Rockman stopped. As much someone with more experience-born wisdom
for developing the Amp Farm plug-in. While as the Helix and HX Stomp hardware sounds than Tom. He’s wildly passionate about what he
the Helix Native plug-in is a great stand-alone great direct out, do you find it a bit weird that the does, and we are too…
tool for recording, it also provides 'round trip' bean's legacy has been somewhat obscured?
platform for guitarists as they move from the
about how to recreate them elsewhere.
[WM] Whether you're starting out in the
studio to the stage and back. How intentional [Eric] Our last bean — POD HD Bean — was recording process or are working a team
was this? probably the last in that particular form factor, who doesn't have a lot of studio experience,
for better or worse. In the studio environment, what are some of things to keep in mind from
[Eric Klein] Line 6’s first product was the plugins like Helix Native, Scuffham S-Gear, and day one?
AxSys, a large 2x12 combo amp, in 1996. others are just too convenient and enticing Amp Farm followed in ’98, and I used it for over to ignore. Instantly tweaking parameters on
46
February 2019
[Tom Brooks] We should go to Starbucks so
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