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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: When recording engineer and mixer Thom Russo goes to a session, Metric Halo's ChannelStrip is guaranteed to get a good workout.
Russo, whose client list includes Eric Clapton, Macy Gray, Audioslave, System of a Down, Enrique Iglesias, Juanes, Jay-Z, Babyface, Kinky and many, many others, is never without the console-style audio processing plug-in.
"I'm trying to think when I don't use it," ponders Russo, who says that he has used ChannelStrip on every project that he has done for the last two or three years. "Especially for important elements," he adds. "I would say 95 percent of the time it's on my lead vocal, and a lot of times on the drums sub-mix and on bass. Its transient response is leaps and bounds ahead of everything else that's out there."
"It's the most versatile, efficient, and elegant compressor/EQ chain on the market," he continues. "You will certainly not hear a session of mine without it. And the sidechain on the compressor is a 'can't live without it' tool. The ChannelStrip sidechain is something that I favor a lot, for hardware
compression and stuff like that. That just rocks my world."
Russo, who maintains his own production facility in a larger complex located
in Studio City, California, will often take his large Pro Tools|HD rig and Apple G5 computer to sessions. "What's interesting is that in the last year things have really moved 'inside the box' due to the ease of it, and also the nature
of the music business," he says. With no console in the signal path the features of the plug-in, including an equalizer, gate and compressor, are essential tools. "So much of what I've been doing has been in the box so ChannelStrip
is a savior."
Recently taking a break from his high-profile clientele, Russo has been working with an up-and-coming act. "I've been working on a band that is signed
to my production company, called Udora. They're an insanely cool, big, heavy, pop/rock outfit - a little bit Foo Fighters, a little bit Switchfoot, only heavier, but with a lot of the pop influences and dynamic and melody."
Russo reveals that he also enjoys one of the non-audio-related features of ChannelStrip. "I like the color switching that you can do with ChannelStrip.
If I get bored with green I can switch to purple!"
Metric Halo provides the world with high-resolution metering, analysis, recording
and processing solutions with award-winning software and hardware. As a proven industry leader, Metric Halo has developed a product line so powerful and versatile, its applications range from live sound reinforcement, CD/DVD mixing and mastering, film and broadcast production to airline safety investigation, medical research, and designing the next generation Ferrari and BMW automobiles. Metric Halo products have been used on a diverse range of projects, including music creation and playback for the 2004 Summer Olympics, a high-resolution recording of the Space Shuttle Discovery liftoff at Kennedy Space Center, as well as continuing efforts involving homeland
security, military and forensic intelligence gathering, and teaching the next generation of audio engineers at prestigious schools the world over.
www.mhlabs.com
Recording mixer/engineer Thom Russo uses Metric Halo's Channel Strip session after session.
