BILL THOMAS HOME-BASED CHICAGO STUDIO SHOWCASE NEW API 1608 CONSOLE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - APRIL 2008: More than fifteen years after an inexpensive digital audio multi-track tape machine kick-started the project studio
revolution, analog audio equipment retains its allure in the home environment.
One such residence-based studio owner, engineer, producer and
analog fan, Bill Thomas, has purchased a new API 1608 discrete analog
recording console for his Chicago facility, which also houses an analog tape
machine and an array of analog and digital outboard processing equipment.
Thomas, who spent years touring with bands beginning in the 1980s, has
worked with musicians and engineers in the Chicago area and a number of
artists from across the country. "I work ten hours a day in there," he says
of his studio. "I'm a musician and I handle a lot of material myself." He
also offers his own unique take on working with independent recording
artists. "I don't tell anybody if their music is good or bad, I just try to
make their sessions interesting and productive."
Although his control room houses plenty of outboard processing, Thomas plans
to max out the 1608 console's standard array of twelve 550A three-band
equalizers and four 560 ten-band graphic EQ modules and fill the remaining
500 Series module positions, including eight API compressors. Thomas has
been a user of API products for many years, he reveals: "I also have two API
2500 stereo bus compressors because I like their sound."
Thomas may favor analog gear, but his studio houses a hybrid set up that
also encompasses digital production equipment, offering the best of both
worlds. "I recently switched to Logic Pro and Apogee 16X converters, synched
to a two-inch, 16-track JH analog tape machine. I also work with Pro Tools,
and I have a lot of old school AMS and Eventide and other effects boxes and
outboard compressors," he says, "but I prefer to work on analog tape. That's
just my deal."
In addition to keeping busy on many and various recording projects, Thomas
somehow finds time to contribute to online audio gear forums, also runs
another, much larger Chicago-based home facility, and is involved in
equipment sales. "I am the Midwest representative for Mercenary Audio," he
says. "My facility is also a demo room for Mercenary Chicago, so people can
come and listen to the console and other gear. I've known, Mercenary Audio
owner, Fletcher and COO, Jay Fitz for a long time. In fact, I'm the lone
soldier for high-end audio gear in Chicago."
Automated Processes, Inc. remains the leader in analog recording gear, with
the Vision surround production and Legacy Series recording consoles, the DSM
Series rack-mounted mixers, and the classic line of modular signal
processing equipment.
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