People & Music Industry

Betty Bennett, CEO and co-founder of Apogee Electronics, along with renowned engineer Bob Clearmountain, chat with Sam Inglis during a recent visit to London to talk about the 40-year history of Apogee and to give a teaser of their first product releases in five years which debut at NAMM 2025.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:54 - Founding Apogee03:26 - Bob Clearmountain's First Apogee Product 06:12 - Developing The First Converters 10:12 - Adapting To Hard Disk Recording13:28 - Launching The Duet Interface19:25 - Switching From High-End To Mass Marketing Products21:30 - From Firewire To Thunderbolt And Other Formats24:09 - Symphony Desktop And New Features29:07 - The Popularity Of Atmos32:30 - The HypeMiC37:21 - Trade War And Tariffs40:31 - Incorporating AI44:45 - Apogee's 40th AnniversaryApogee BiogIn 1985 Apogee founders Betty Bennett, Bruce Jackson and Christof Heidelberger developed technology that addressed the inherent brittleness and distortion heard on the new listening medium of the day, compact discs (CDs). Apogee’s unique 924 and 944 anti-aliasing filters were used in high-end Sony and Mitsubishi digital recording systems to make the CD format sound warmer and more like analogue. These Apogee products were important factors in the acceptance and acceleration of early digital recording and forever established Apogee as a leader in the field.Apogee continues to innovate with technologies and products for the home recording market, starting with Duet and Ensemble interfaces, followed by MiC and JAM, the first pro products for iOS recording. More recently they have introduced the Symphony Desktop interface and HypeMiC to their range.https://apogeedigital.com/Sam Inglis BiogEditor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Engineer and Producer Louis Austin tells Paul White about his early days in the industry, where he developed his recording skills working with Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Sweet and Judas Priest. Louis became an expert is capturing drum and guitar sounds and shares some useful tips on miking instruments and capturing room ambience.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:12 - Getting Into The Industry00:59 - Starting Out As A Tape Op02:29 - First Solo Session03:35 - Early Fleetwood Mac Sessions06:15 - Working With Queen09:23 - Buying A Studio And Going Freelance 13:19 - How The Industry Changed17:00 - Recording Sweet18:56 - Getting A Good Drum Sound22:02 - Going Mobile24:56 - What Makes A Good Recording Engineer26:18 - The Most Difficult Session27:49 - Changing Career Direction"Often you went to a studio where you had to adapt the studio to suit your needs, whereas on the mobile you had all the technology with you and you just use what rooms you fancied. Little living room for an intimate vocal, you know, it's all there, basically".Louis Austin BiogLouis Austin launched his career at De Lane Lea Studio in the 1970s, assisting on Fleetwood Mac’s Green Manalishi and Oh Well albums. He quickly rose to chief engineer and then pursued a freelance engineering / production career, recording Queen’s first album, Def Leppard, Deep Purple, Sweet (Action, Fox on The Run), Leo Sayer (Platinum) and 3 Judas Priest albums including the multi-Platinum Screaming For Vengeance.A close co-operation with Deep Purple’s singer Ian Gillan resulted in Kingsway Recorders, a  studio in London that recorded artists such as Steve Hackett, David Coverdale, Sweet and Ian Gillan's own musical projects. Austin later built a mobile recording studio called Fleetwood Mobile, the largest and best equipped in its day and in 1988 launched the retailer Home Service, selling bespoke studio packages. He later diversified into marketing and handled the international sales & marketing for AD Systéme. In the 90’s he worked for various audio companies as a PR specialist, including spending 15 years at Genelec.https://www.louisaustin.com/Paul White BiogPaul White initially trained in electronics at The Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern then went on to work with Malvern Instruments, a company specialising in laser analysis equipment, before moving into technical writing. He joined the Sound On Sound team in 1991 where he became Editor In Chief, a position he held for many years before recently becoming Executive Editor. Paul has written more than 20 recording and music technology textbooks, the latest being The Producer’s Manual.Having established his own multitrack home studio in the 1980s he’s worked with many notable names including Bert Jansch and Gordon Giltrap. He’s played in various bands over the years and currently collaborates with Malvern musician Mark Soden, under the name of Cydonia Collective. Paul still performs live claiming that as he has suffered for his music he doesn’t see why everyone else shouldn’t too!http://www.cydoniacollective.co.uk/Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Grammy Award-winning producer Matt Lawrence gives us a fun insight into his early years in the industry as an assistant producer, and offers a valuable selection of tips and ideas for launching a successful studio career today.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:35 - Working At Metropolis02:26 - Recording Van Morrison05:02 - Capturing A Moment07:10 - The Craft Of Recording09:34 - Learning From Others 13:32 - Musical Interests15:04 - Getting Into The Industry Today19:08 - Starting A Mix22:40 - Time Spent On A Mix24:25 - The Importance Of Pre-Production 26:55 - Different Approaches To The Same Mix28:56 - Dither And Delay#SSL #NeveMatt Lawrence BiogMatt Lawrence is a GRAMMY Award-winning mixer, producer and engineer who has worked on some of the most influential records of the past 20 years, contributing to over 11 billion streams worldwide. Matt is also a certified Dolby Atmos mix-engineer. Credits include Adele, Amy Winehouse, Bat For Lashes, Black Eyed Peas, Ellie Goulding, Foals, Frank Turner, Flowerovlove, George Ezra, Declan J Donovan, Laura Marling, Tom Chaplin, Tom Walker, Kodaline, You Me At Six, Macy Gray, Mumford & Sons, Naughty Boy, Emeli Sande, Sugababes, Beverley Knight, Katherine Jenkins, Keane, One Direction, Robbie Williams, Scissor Sisters, Kylie, Eric Clapton, Shirley Bassey, Joan Armatrading, George Michael, The Who, The White Stripes, The Vaccines, Van Morrisson, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Paloma Faith and Groove Armada. It was for his work on Mumford & Sons ‘Babel’ album, that won Matt a Grammy. Debuting at number one on both sides of the Atlantic, it has since gone 4x Platinum in the UK and has sold over 2.5 million copies in the US alone.Starting out at Van Morrison’s studio in Bath, Matt worked on no less than seven of his studio albums, as well as with other artists such as Annie Lenox, Paul Weller and Stereophonics. Following a move to London’s Metropolis Studios, Matt rose through the ranks to Chief Engineer, working with acts such as U2, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Joe Cocker and Garbage, as well as more leftfield artists such as Bjork, DJ Shadow, Goldie and Jeff Beck. Honing his skills working alongside such a variety of high calibre producers and mixers has given Matt an almost unrivalled education and experience in making records. Names such as Sir George Martin, Gus Dudgeon, Marius DeVries, Butch Vig, Steve Osborne, Ben Hillier, Guy Sigsworth, Alan Moulder, Gary Langan, Nellee Hooper, Michael Kamen, Bill Price, Norman Cook, Mark Ronson, Justin Timberlake, Timberland and Will.i.am have all had a direct influence on his career. Although Matt’s work has already contributed to many hit records internationally, he also enjoys working with new and up and coming artists from an early stage in their careers. Matt’s vast background in immersive and surround sound mixing allowed an easy transition into Dolby Atmos, where he has mixed albums for a wide range of clients, such as Lumineers, Mumford & Sons to NSG. Matt has also established himself as a ‘go-to’ for Live broadcast mix supervision, where during the busy festival season (namely Glastonbury, Reading and R1BW) he works alongside the artist and the BBC to ensure that the performances stand out as timeless concert classics. The ever-increasing client list who’s benefited include a wide range of artists such as George Ezra, Arctic Monkeys, Declan McKenna, Confidence Man to The Last Dinner Party. Matt’s production and mix work continues apace with current productions for Finnegan Tui and Olivier Martin and mixes for Jack Garratt and Flowerovlove.https://www.matt-music.com/Kevin Paul BiogKevin Paul started his career as a DJ but quickly found his passion was sound engineering. His first audio job was at Soho Studios in 1991, moving to Konk Studios six months later, where he worked alongside successful producers and engineers such as Bob Clearmountain, Adam Mosley, Pascal Gabriel and Gil Norton, as well as bands such as The Kinks, Galliano, Terrorvision, UFO and Elastica. After working on archiving the Depeche Mode back catalogue in 1994, he was offered an engineering role at Mute Records’ in-house studio, which eventually lead to a position as Head Engineer, which gave him access to the entire Mute Records roster. Highlights include mixing Goldfrapp’s “Felt Mountain”, David Bowie’s “Hours” and Nick Cave’s “No More Shall We Part”. He also worked in 5:1, mixing Moby’s “Hotel”, Goldfrapp’s “Black Cherry“ and more for DVD.In 2004 Kevin went freelance and re-mixed the entire Depeche Mode and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back catalogues for SACD/DVD. Since 2008, Kevin Paul has been in charge of mixing and remixing performances at the iTunes Festivals in the UK and Germany. He has mixed over 100 artists to date, including Adele, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The XX, Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Jack White, Linkin Park, Florence & The Machine, Deadmau5, David Guetta, Jessie J., Norah Jones, Oasis, Mumford & Sons, N.E.R.D., Lykke Li, James Blunt, KT Tunstall, Hot Chip, Paul Weller and many more.He continues to record, engineer, produce and mix many projects in music and film, runs the mixing and surround mixing modules for the Masters Degree course at UK’s Westminster University and divides his time between London and Berlin. Recent works include the International selling new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and mixing the latest album of Denmark’s “Dúné” with the first single premiering at the Danish Music Awards, plus the latest iTunes Music Festival.http://www.kevin-paul.com/Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts

Genelec's new UNIO PRM (Personal Reference Monitoring) solution ensures reliable and consistent monitoring across multiple environments. In conversation with Sam Inglis, R&D Director Aki Mäkivirta and Regional Business Development Manager Andy Bensley explain how UNIO integrates existing technologies such as SAM (Smart Active Monitoring), GLM loudspeaker manager software and Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring with the new 9320A reference controller and Genelec's first ever pair of headphones.Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:21 - About The UNIO Ecosystem01:53 - 9320A Reference Controller And 8550A Headphones04:53 - How Aural ID Works07:17 - Secondary Referencing11:08 - Is Emulating Control Room Acoustics Desirable?14:03 - Why We Still Need Monitors 15:33 - Head Tracking Capabilities17:02 - Incorporating UNIO Into An Existing Studio18:48 - Professional Tools For Home Studio Use20:20 - Personal Aural ID Settings23:37 - Designing The 9320A Reference Controller26:18 - Developing The 8550A Headphones30:39 - Setting Up For The Best Workflow32:40 - Future DevelopmentsGenelec BiogSince 1978, Genelec active studio monitors and subwoofers have delivered truthful, neutral sound reproduction - enabling engineers and creatives to make accurate and reliable mix decisions, even in challenging rooms.Founded in Finland by childhood friends Ilpo Martikainen and Topi Partanen, the company’s first monitor, the S30, instantly became the blueprint for Genelec’s future direction. Its active design delivered consistent performance, total reliability, and the ability to adapt to the acoustic environment it was operating in.The following decades have seen a string of technically innovative Genelec releases, from the now-legendary 1031A nearfield model to the latest coaxial point source models from The Ones family. Genelec’s growing range of Smart Active Monitors work closely with GLM calibration software, allowing each monitor to be completely optimised for the room, producing mixes that translate consistently to the outside world.https://www.genelec.com/Aki Mäkivirta joined Genelec in 1995. He originally worked for the Nokia Research Centre and teamed up with Ari Varla of Genelec during a joint venture between the two companies, where Mäkivirta demonstrated how to replace analogue filters with digital processing using the 1031A nearfield monitor. As a result, Mäkivirta joined Genelec to pioneer the creation of the original 8200 series of Smart Active Monitors, before becoming R&D Director in 2013.Andy Bensley joined Genelec as Regional Business Development Manager in 2019. Based in the UK, Andy has huge experience in analysing and tuning the in-room performance of loudspeaker systems in a wide range of studios – from the smallest bedroom to the largest post production studio.Sam Inglis BiogEditor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).Catch more shows on our other podcast channels: https://www.soundonsound.com/sos-podcasts