Downtown Studios: Out With the Old, In With the New

by Paul Martin

The hole in the wall that the Solid State Logic 4000G exited through

Well, we tossed a thoroughly used Solid State Logic 4000G through the first story window (literally!) and thanks to the negotiations by our board of directors, we were blessed with a new one… a better one.

This Duality is a big 'un too. 72 Channels.

South African music demands a big sound and here's where this SSL comes to the party in spades.

Open any fader and you'll hear tones that are characteristically fast, crystal clear and wide open...if you recorded them that way.

Yet you have the routing ability of an octopus on a switchboard to change their intent should you so wish.

Our new Solid State Logic Duality

It's a simple matter to pick a point on the 1150-point patch-field in order to address any one of the classic analogue processors and effects we have here at Downtown. If they're not already hard-wired in and living in the rack behind the console, there are provided points where any floating racks can be plumbed in to the signal path. You immediately notice the changes too, as the open sounding circuitry of the Duality really highlights the sonic differences between the various hardware units patched in. The clarity and depth is simply amazing!

Looking for a different sound? Well as her name may indicate, there are many ways to skin a cat with a Duality.

On each channel's input stage is another whole palette of multiple sonic signatures provided by what SSL call Variable Harmonic Drive™ (VHD).

Simply put, as the input gain is increased, the selectable VHD circuit in the channel starts to add second and third harmonic distortion components to the signal, which you then get to balance with a pot at the top of the strip. You can go from a very musical tube-type overload, to a crunchy, even noticeably trashy sound all with the twist of your wrist. There's plenty of gain range and headroom to boot, so you can drastically alter the incoming signal either at very gentle levels or even while goosing it and then trimming back a bit.

We've only just scratched the surface in telling you about our new baby, but needless to say we think that producers and engineers are going to be thrilled with the tonal shaping capabilities of this console.

If you are a musician wondering what the hell we are rabbiting on about, please rest assured, your recordings will sound better than you imagine them in your head and your creative sessions will fuse together quickly and easily in Studio 1.

For the studio rats who are still reading... let us know if you'd like to hear more about how our new Duality works and we'll divulge a bit more?

Take a look at their site http://www.solid-state-logic.com/music/duality/ or I know there’s a video knocking about somewhere where Richard from SSL gives a complete tour…we’ll see if we can get that up for you.