LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A busy recording and touring schedule for Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters left the band’s Grammy-winning engineer/producer/guitarist/bassist, J.D. Andrew, with precious little time to mix their next release - an album of Yuletide tunes on Vanguard entitled “Christmas Cheer.” Luckily, Andrew had a brand new pair of Klein + Hummel O 300 active three-way monitors at his disposal, which, as he explains, were crucial to getting the mix completed in time.

“I wouldn’t have been able to mix that record in three days if I hadn’t had those speakers,” states Andrew, one of three core members of the Boxmasters along with Thornton and guitarist Mike Butler. The trio met in 2007 during the recording of Thornton’s fourth solo album, which was engineered by Andrew, who had previously worked on The Rolling Stones “A Bigger Bang” and Kanye West’s “The College Dropout.”

He adds, “We had rehearsals then three days off before we hit the road, so that’s all the time I had. Luckily I’d recorded everything so I knew the stuff inside and out.”

Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters, a self-styled ‘modbilly’ band that combines the 1960s sounds of the British Invasion and electric hillbilly, have had a busy year since their debut North American tour in the summer of 2007. The band released a seasonal single for Christmas 2007, followed by a double album of covers and original songs, recorded a version of “Little Boxes” for Showtime’s hit series, “Weeds,” and recently embarked on another major U.S. tour. Meanwhile, they have recorded a Christmas album, and already have another album underway to be released in 2009.

It was Robby Scharf, market development manager, western region at Sennheiser, who first introduced Andrew to the K+H monitors, he says. “We had a couple of Neumann mics that needed some help so I contacted the repair department and shortly thereafter Robby called me and brought over a TLM 49 mic for me to try. He also mentioned that Sennheiser now sells K+H monitors. He told me they were great, really flat and really accurate sounding. I got excited about hearing them and began reading about them on online to see what people thought of them. I’d never even heard of them!”

The K+H O 300s were a revelation, declares Andrew. “I could instantly hear everything! It was really easy to balance on them and to see what sort of problem spots I had in my mixes. The depth of field was amazing, as well as the width. It was fantastic to just listen to them. I set them up on the meter bridge and went to town.”

According to Andrew, Thornton liked the fact that the O 300s are natural and revealing, with no coloration. “Billy’s way of putting it,” he says, “was that they still sound ‘raw.’ You’re hearing what you have; not too much low-end or high-end or rolled out mid-range. You’re hearing it really flat and accurate. It was great being able to have them. It made working so much easier.”

“Christmas Cheer” - an ironic title to say the least - features hillbilly covers of songs from the traditional “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison,” plus three Boxmasters originals. “It’s pretty much the dark side of Christmas,” says Andrew. “Especially this one called ‘Slower Than Christmas.’ It’s about a guy and how Christmas is the worst day of the year for him because his family is so dysfunctional. It’s an upbeat little song about dysfunction!”

“Christmas Cheer” was recorded and mixed at Thornton’s private studio, The Cave.

The current Boxmasters tour extends through September 5th, when the band plays Wasted Space at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

KLEIN + HUMMEL Klein + Hummel is a Sennheiser Group company. For over 60 years, Klein + Hummel has been revered in the professional audio industry for its advances in sound reinforcement combined with unparalleled quality and innovative solutions. Klein + Hummel products are distributed exclusively in the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean by Sennheiser Electronic Corporation, located in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

The Sennheiser Group is also proudly affiliated with Neumann (Technical Grammy(r) award-winner) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications (technologically advanced headsets for PCs, offices and call centers).

www.sennheiserusa.com • www.klein-hummel.com

PHOTO CAPTION Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters new Christmas CD “Christmas Cheer” was mixed on a pair K+ H 0 300 D monitors by Grammy Award-winning engineer/producer, and Boxmasters guitarist and backing vocalist, J.D. Andrew (left). Sitting in on the mixing session is Mike Butler (right), lead guitarist for the Boxmasters.

OLD LYME, CONNECTICUT: Country superstar Blake Shelton has earned the loyalty of fans with captivating live performances that center on the Oklahoma-born singer’s amazing voice. His most recent hit, a compelling rendition of Michael Bublé’s “Home,” grabbed the number one spot on the charts this past summer. This coupled with Shelton’s rigorous touring schedule of over one hundred shows this year, is introducing him to an ever-growing audience outside the country music realm. Shelton, his band, and his crew rely exclusively on Sennheiser wired and wireless technology to inspire performances and convey the authenticity of their craft to the enthralled crowds that pack arenas from coast to coast.

The tour’s plain-spoken and accomplished FOH mixer, Jeff “Pig” Parsons, is fairly in love with Shelton’s lead vocal mic, a Sennheiser SKM 935 G2 paired with a Sennheiser EM 550 G2 receiver. He laughed, “As you can imagine, vocals are everything at a Blake Shelton concert. If they’re not right, I’m sunk. The 935 capsule is beautiful and clean with a little high-end spike that matches Shelton’s voice perfectly. That’s the money shot right there!”

The tour’s monitor engineer, John Stoffel, noted that the high off-axis rejection and gain-before-feedback afforded by the 935 capsule makes his life a lot easier. “Unlike the rest of the band, Shelton is adamant about using wedges,” he explained. “With any other vocal mic, that would greatly increase the chance of feedback. But with the Sennheiser 935, it’s very easy for me to get his monitor vocal so loud that he’s asking me to turn it down! How often does that happen?” For backing vocals, Parsons uses a Sennheiser e 840.

All of the instruments on stage are covered by a veritable blanket of Sennheiser evolution series high performance mics, affording “Pig” the clarity and separation he needs to convey to the fans every nuance of Shelton and the band’s performance. The kick drums have an e 901 on the inside with a combination e 902 and e 602 on the outside. Two e 905s cover the snare top to deliver snap and body, and e 602s and self-clipping e 604s provide a voice for the sort of drum fills that will make a fan’s heart leap. Finally, an array of small diaphragm e 614 condensers capture crystalline crashes and hats.

“I get a lot of compliments on my lead guitar sound,” said “Pig,” “but I haven’t done much to earn it. The Sennheiser e 609s are responsible!” In addition, “Pig” uses an e 902 in conjunction with a DI to build a smooth electric bass tone that can move musical mountains. A pair of e 906s together with an e 602 do the same for the organ.

All of the mobile instruments, including Shelton’s two acoustic guitars, use Sennheiser ew 372 G2 and ew 172 G2 body-pack transmitter and receiver systems. All told, there are seven such systems in operation. In addition, all five members of the band use Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G2 wireless monitoring systems with stereo mixes. Add the vocal mic, and there’s a lot of wireless information flying through the air at a Blake Shelton concert!

“Without exaggeration, I’ve used every other major wireless brand in the industry, and Sennheiser is the easiest, cleanest, and most reliable by a long shot,” remarked Stoffel. “Seriously, I spend less than ten minutes every morning scanning for clear frequencies and that’s it. I’m done. It doesn’t matter if we’re in New York City or how many wireless channels are being used by the other acts on the bill. Invariably, the show will go on without a hitch, flawlessly.”

“Pig” added with a touch of pride, “I remember we were out with another big act, I won’t name names, and they weren’t using Sennheiser. We were playing a crowded city, and although we had no problem getting frequencies, they were stuck. So stuck that the show couldn’t go on! They had to borrow our Sennheiser gear just to make the show happen!”

This fall, Shelton will find himself in front of Sennheiser microphones in a very different venue, far from his guitar and star-struck fans. Shelton will begin shooting his hunting and fishing trips with the help of audio engineer Rob Byus. The pair, along with many of Shelton’s friends, will use a Sennheiser ME 66 shotgun microphone and a Sennheiser ew 100 ENG G2 wireless lavalier with camera-ready receiver to record all of the banter, excitement, and natural serenity that come with the superstar’s favorite pastimes.

SENNHEISER Sennheiser is a world-leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is now a global brand represented in 60 countries around the world with U.S. headquarters in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Sennheiser’s pioneering excellence in technology has rewarded the company with numerous awards and accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

For more information, please visit www.sennheiserusa.com

PHOTO CAPTIONS (first photo) The Sennheiser SKM 935 G2 wireless, coupled with the EM 550 G2 receiver, is country heartthrob Blake Shelton’s mic for his popular tour and TV appearances promoting his crossover single “Home.” (second photo) Engineers out with the Blake Shelton tour, John Stoffel, monitor engineer (left) and Jeff “Pig” Parsons, FOH engineer (right).

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: The Wanamaker Organ, located in what is now the downtown Philadelphia Macy’s store, is the world’s largest operational pipe organ, boasting 28,541 pipes in 462 ranks. It is both visually and acoustically stunning and, beyond that, a precious piece of living history. The organ was originally built for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and later moved to Philadelphia as the crown jewel of the new Wanamaker’s Department Store. Even as Wanamaker’s changed owners and names over the ensuing decades, care was taken to maintain the tremendous instrument. At the behemoth six manual console is Grand Court Organist, Peter Richard Conte. Currently, Macy’s offers free concerts twice a day, six days a week.

In recognition of its cultural and historical importance, Macy’s decided to celebrate the Wanamaker Organ by recording a Christmas CD “Christmas in the Grand Tradition” with accompaniment from the world-renowned Philadelphia Brass. Jim Stemke of DSP Recordings of Schaumburg, Illinois (www.dsprecordings.com) was hired to capture the resources of this sleeping giant along with the clarity and musicianship of the Philadelphia Brass (www.philadelphiabrass.com). When he’s not recording the instrument, Stemke is one of the dedicated professional technicians who helps to restore and maintain the Wanamaker Organ!

The recording session took two weeks and steely dedication on the part of everyone involved. They had to reverse their sleep schedules as Stemke could only hit the “record” button on his Genex recording system between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am, when the cash registers, elevators, and telephones were all peacefully asleep. The organ speaks into the store’s Grand Courtyard, which is seven stories high, 120 feet deep, and 70 feet wide. Capturing the immense sound of the organ itself was a nuanced, but relatively straightforward, task. Capturing the sound of the Philadelphia Brass’s trombone, tuba, French horn, and two trumpets, which effectively competed with the organ, proved more challenging. Sennheiser’s new MKH 8000 Series answered the challenge.

“It’s a truly massive building,” remarked Stemke. “The brass players were producing unusually high SPLs, even for brass players, because they were in the presence of the Wanamaker Organ. To isolate the brass, I needed to be close, but not so close that I lost the natural bloom and dynamics coming from the instruments.”

Stemke used a pair of Sennheiser’s new MKH 8040 cardioid condensers to simultaneously handle the high SPLs, along with the very accurate sonic realism and super smooth response these microphones are capable of capturing. Their natural on-axis response, and effective off-axis rejection also played an important factor in using these microphones. The engineer made a custom rig to handle the three-foot spaced A/B microphone setup to hang over the balcony where the Philadelphia Brass were situated and then fed the mics into Prism microphone preamps.

“The 8040s did a fantastic job with the high SPLs,” Stemke reported. “Their overall sonic beauty provided the clarity and liveliness that would have been remarkable in any recording situation, let alone up against the gigantic Wanamaker Organ. The separation from the organ is significant, and yet when I mix the 8040s with the organ pickup, the blend was, not only very natural and smooth but, highly articulate.”

Large bi-amplified monitors provided accurate monitoring for the musicians, but the critical listening was done through two pair of Sennheiser HD 650 headphones powered by Grace headphone amplifier. “Everyone loves using these headphones because they have a fantastic bass response, and can reveal very small details often missed over speakers. Since this session, and because these headphones are so good, we have now purchased three more pair, plus another Grace headphone amplifier” concluded Stemke.

The “Christmas in the Grand Tradition” CD will be available at Macy’s for the upcoming holiday season.

SENNHEISER Sennheiser is a world-leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is now a global brand represented in 60 countries around the world with U.S. headquarters in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Sennheiser’s pioneering excellence in technology has rewarded the company with numerous awards and accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

For more information, please visit www.sennheiserusa.com

PHOTO CAPTION Sennheiser MKH 8040 microphones hung in a custom rig in a spaced A/B mic setup beautifully captured the brass section in front of the famous Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia’s Macy’s department store.

New York, NY - November 2008… For those whose work encompasses making critical listening decisions, the accuracy of one’s studio reference monitors is of paramount concern. Such is the case for multiple Grammy® Award winning recording, mixing, and mastering engineer Phil Magnotti. With two Grammy Awards, multiple industry recognitions, and over 250 major label credits to his name, Magnotti knows all too well that studio monitors are among the most critical equipment considerations in the entire signal chain. For this reason, Magnotti chooses to mix his projects on Q Series monitors from Equator Audio Research. more

CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA—Aviom’s Personal Mixers are helping to expand the musical minds of Widener University’s music students. The University recently set out to create a professional environment for its students by upgrading its recording facility to the latest technologies, and it selected Aviom A-16II Personal Mixers for its new audio setup. Widener University has a unique music program comprised of students who are majoring in fields of study other than music but would like to continue their musical growth in a collegic setting. more

BANGOR, MAINE - NOVEMBER 2008: The New England School of Communications (NESCOM) awards Associate and Bachelor Degrees to one hundred undergraduates a year in concentrations ranging from audio engineering to marketing communications, and from live sound engineering to video production. The school’s expansive facility boasts seven fully-appointed control rooms with all the latest gear and technologies, in addition to a fully-appointed live truck and a brand new 500-seat theater complex. To stay current, the faculty conducts a console search every year, such that no console is older than approximately five years. Their most recent search turned up API’s new 16-channel 1608 small-frame console with a 16-channel expander.

“We’re always looking for the best of the best,” said Dave MacLaughlin, executive director of audio. “These days, most of our students come into the program with ears that are accustomed to the sound of digital audio. They read stories written by people of my generation that discuss the ‘analog sound,’ but they don’t really get it. Why use analog when digital is so much more convenient? It takes hearing the sound of a real high-end console for them to truly understand.”

NESCOM’s API 1608 joins several racks of outboard gear and a 24-track RADAR recording system in Control Room A, known to the students as the Jungle Room. The console incorporates API’s discrete electronics topology and is built to the same exacting standards as the flagship Vision and Legacy Series consoles. The standard 1608, with sixteen input channels, eight buses, eight aux sends, eight reverb returns and full center section facilities, includes a dozen 550A three-band equalizers and four 560 ten-band graphic EQ modules with space available for eight additional 500 Series modules.

The faculty at NESCOM were happy with the 1608’s logical workflow from a production standpoint. “It’s hard for students to understand signal flow without being able to see it,” explained MacLaughlin. “The transparent topology of the 1608, starting with mic preamp controls just above the faders (instead of being buried somewhere!) make it easy for students to understand what’s happening between the input and the output. They can then transfer that understanding to more convoluted consoles or digital mixing environments.”

Because the 1608 conforms to API’s 500-Series modular paradigm, which has been adopted by over two-dozen companies, instructors and students are free to switch out modules to quickly appreciate the “sounds” of different manufacturers.

But apart from all its nice features, the faculty and students at NESCOM are most impressed by the API 1608’s peerless sound. “As soon as they hear audio coming out of the 1608, they get it,” laughed MacLaughlin. “It’s amazing. I’ve worked on everything: SSL, Neve, Trident… and API has a sound that you just can’t get with anything else. Whether we’re recording or mixing, it’s almost impossible to make a mess. Things just sound good!”

Students enrolled in instructor Doug Hoyt’s AET 210 course are currently using the 1608 to record and mix a band over the duration of the semester. “Honestly, the difficult part is keeping other students away from it,” admitted MacLaughlin. “There’s certainly an excitement about the 1608 at NESCOM!”

ABOUT API AUDIO Automated Processes, Inc. remains the leader in analog recording gear, with the Vision surround production, Legacy series, and 1608 recording consoles, and the classic line of modular signal processing equipment. www.apiaudio.com

PHOTO CAPTION Dave MacLaughlin (left), executive director of audio, New England School of Communications (NESCOM) and AET 210 instructor Doug Hoyt enjoy the benefits of the facility’s new 1608 small-frame console with a 16-channel expander.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 2008: Up-and-coming pop/punk powerhouse All Time Low have played to packed houses night after night on their nationwide headlining tour. Nowhere did things start out more sketchy, but end more rocking, than a recent performance at Atlanta’s Masquerade, a club that draws the crowds despite a woefully outdated and semi-functional sound system. With the help of Danley Sound Labs engineer, Ivan Beaver, the band’s FOH engineer Evan Kirkendall, owner of Harford Sound, located in Abington, Maryland, replaced the Masquerade’s crusty horns and tattered woofers with a stack of Danley loudspeakers and subwoofers, led by eight of Danley’s new powerhouse full-range SH-46s. Despite prospects to the contrary, All Time Low rocked the Masquerade with clarity, bass, and hit-you-in-the-chest punch that left the club’s seasoned staff uttering rivers of awe-inspired and artfully crafted expletives.

“I was at this venue back in April of this year and did not have a very pleasant experience at all,” stated Kirkendall. “Consultant Phillip Graham and Ivan also attended that show, and they both shared my disappointment in the house system. It sounded thin, harsh and old. It lacked the get-up-and-go required to put on a real rock show in the 21st century.”

This time around, Beaver along with another Danley employee, Dale Skrobot, helped Kirkendall with the sound. It was an opportunity to show what a Danley system could do in a raucous club and, perhaps more importantly, an opportunity to help his friend. Beaver brought eight Danley SH-46s and two SH-50s for front fill. Unlike the flagship SH-50, the SH-46 is new to Danley’s lineup. The SH-46 delivers noticeably more output than its sibling with a modest trade-off in frequency range. The SH-46 measures 58Hz to 16kHz, whereas the SH-50 measures 50Hz to 18kHz. With a 40 x 60-degree dispersion pattern, the SH-46 may be operated vertically or horizontally and either alone or in an array.

To provide a low-end worthy of All Time Low Zack Merrick’s Fender J-Bass, and Rian Dawson’s kick drum of death, Beaver brought six Danley TH-115 and four of the Danley new prototype subs currently dubbed “Hot Rods.” The Hot Rod is a current Danley work-in-progress, and, while not ready for “prime-time” by Danley’s standards, proved more than up to snuff by anyone else’s.

“Danley has always had the reputation of building great ’sounding’ boxes, and their subs have always had huge low-end but they’re not well-known for delivering tons of output with their full range products,” remarked Kirkendall. “The SH-46 is really Danley’s answer to that perception. It delivers Danley’s characteristic undistorted sound with really loud output. To me, the SH-46 is more of a “rock n’ roll” type box compared to other Danley boxes. The Hot Rods are also very impressive subs. They are solid to 30Hz and really crank out the lows.”

Beaver also brought the power and processing so that they could completely avoid anything supplied by the house. Danley Sound Labs DSLA 6.5k amps handled the bulk of the work supplemented by a few amps from Yamaha and Crown and a Danley 4×8 DSP provided the moderate processing needed to make the system shine.

“Truth in advertising is a good thing,” noted Graham, who was given the honor of tuning the system while Beaver chased down all the sorts of things one chases down in such a “seat-of-your-pants” situation and who, incidentally, reported that the Danley subs were setting off car alarms outside the club. “Tom Danley and Ivan say the SH-46 is over 6dB louder than the SH-50, but that it loses a little over 14kHz, and that is exactly what it does. But since it’s easy to include a shelf for the high frequencies in the processing, this isn’t a big deal. I would say that the SH-46 isn’t as buttery smooth as its older brother, but any compromises are well worth the generous increase in output. Any “rock n’ roll” concerns with the SH-50 are not a problem with the SH-46.”

As it turned out, everyone had a great night except for Beaver and Skrobot. “Ivan and Dale spent most of the night holding the speakers in place,” explained Kirkendall. “Another ‘feature’ of the Masquerade is its floor, which bends and sways when the kids start jumping. It’s wooden and on the second story of an old mill building. Despite being strapped down as tightly as humanly possible, the stacks were still swaying. All that being said, in my opinion, this was one of Masquerade’s best concerts in a long time!”

Danley Sound Labs is the exclusive home of Tom Danley, one of the most innovative loudspeaker designers in the industry today and recognized worldwide as a pioneer for “outside the box” thinking in professional audio technology.

Danley Sound Labs • www.danleysoundlabs.com

NEW YORK: Over forty years have passed since the last live Beatles recording session, but interest in their unprecedented creative innovations has never flagged.

On Wednesday, December 3rd from 6:30 to 8:00PM, the AES New York Section will host a special presentation by Recording The Beatles authors Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew at the Ed Sullivan Theater, Broadway and 53rd Street.

Combing through their massive 500 page landmark book, Ryan and Kehew will provide attendees with extensively researched details into the techniques and technology used by the engineers, producers and artists responsible for one of the most compelling musical legacies of all time. Their presentation will include rare photos of the studios and equipment from Abbey Road in the 1960’s.

AES NY Section Chairman Joel Spector and Chairman Emeritus Noah Simon report

the event is co-produced and will be moderated by Malcolm Addey, an accomplished recording engineer who started at Abbey Road and was EMI’s most prolific hit-making engineer at the time the Beatles arrived. “The historical nature of this program is underscored by the fact that The Beatles made their American television debut from the very stage where Ryan and Kehew will be delivering their presentation. This will be a very special night, and will also serve as the culmination of the AES 60th Anniversary Year. We are indebted to Committee member David Bialik and to CBS TV for making the Ed Sullivan Theater available for this event,” Spector and Simon remarked.

AES members and professional audio students may RSVP for the Recording The Beatles event by sending an e-mail to rsvp-ny@aes.org . There is no charge for admission, but seating is limited. The event is partially funded by the generous contributions of Sennheiser, API, Dale Pro Audio, Tekserve and SSL, and is co-sponsored by the AES Boston Section which is hosting a similar presentation on December 2.

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Currently celebrating its 60th anniversary, The Audio Engineering Society was formed in 1948 by a group of concerned audio engineers. The AES counts over 14,000 members throughout the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Japan and the Far East. The organization serves as the pivotal force in the exchange and dissemination of technical information for the industry. For additional information visit http://www.aes.org