Euphonix System 5-MC DAW Controllers Unite Music and Post Production for The Studios at Linden Oaks

Upstate New York Studio Returns to Musical Roots with Euphonix Installation

Palo Alto, Nov 1st 2007

The Studios at Linden Oaks in Rochester, New York leads a double life; originally designed as a music studio, it has also become one of the busiest commercial post production facilities on the East Coast. On average the studio generates nearly 1,000 commercial spots per week for notable clients such as GMC Truck, Buick and Saab. On the music side, the studio continues as a premier recording facility where many of the industry’s best artists have worked. From James Taylor to Aretha Franklin, from John Legend to Duran Duran, Linden Oaks has been home to music’s elite.

Linden Oaks houses two studios. Room A, a large composing, tracking and editorial studio and Room B, a smaller voiceover, editorial room. Since nearly all of Linden Oaks’s work includes original music, the rooms were originally designed to be used separately and to be primarily dedicated to music scoring.

“Linden Oaks started out as a music studio, however when we took a closer look at their project schedule, we discovered that music tracking represented less than 10% of their work load and that the majority of the work was now editorial,” explained Mike Franklin Vice President Eastern US Region Sales. “So I came to them with the proposal to install a Euphonix System 5-MC in each studio which would enable them to multitask in both rooms and share the files between the two. The MC controllers in the center of the System 5-MC consoles can work with any DAW in the facility over Ethernet. This meant that Linden Oaks could streamline their work flow and return to their roots in music tracking - switching between one DAW and another, between music and post in an instant.”

The Euphonix System 5-MC integrated DAW controller acts as a powerful and flexible recording, editing and mixing system, featuring the MC media application controller for master console functions and integral control of the DAWs via the high-speed EuCon protocol over Ethernet. The consoles also feature System 5 channel strips with 8 touch-knobs per channel for EQ, dynamics and plug-in control together with high-resolution screens for metering and other channel information.

“We had a traditional analogue console in Room A and planned to get another. I was certainly hesitant when the Chief Engineer Steve Forney insisted we check out the Euphonix System 5-MC. But when I saw how well the System 5-MC worked both for music and for post, I understood how its duality would work for us, it takes on the persona of whichever workstation it is attached to,” said Ben Parris, Resident Producer for Linden Oaks.  

With the help of Drew Engineering Corp., Chief Audio Engineer, Steve Forney installed a 32-fader System 5-MC in Room A and an 8-fader System 5-MC in Room B. Working off EuCon, the MCs seamlessly control the studio’s Pro Tools, Nuendo and Apple Logic DAWs, being able to switch workstations at the push of a button and access any workstation on the network.

“It’s amazing how much time the System 5-MC saves us; before when we switched between music sessions, the room would go down, then we would have to re-patch the entire system before we could start up again. With this setup, it’s pretty much go over to the MC, double click the project icon and away we go,” continued Parris.

“Since we installed the System 5-MC’s our workload has shifted back to music recording and mixing, and the owner, Ferdinand Jay Smith, is thrilled. Because it’s such a time saver, we are able to take on a much greater workload without worry – we can fit in more sessions and consequently we are more profitable. As a matter of fact, we’ve had a music tracking session in here almost every day since installing the console in June,” Parris further explained.

“The ability to shift the consoles between post and music production is a great feature; moreover, the elegance of the file sharing between the rooms allows the projects to quickly progress from start to finish,” added Franklin. “Overall, it’s a great example of really understanding our clients’ production needs and crafting a great solution. Plus, as the facility’s needs expand in the future, the modularity of the S5MC allows for easy expansion.”

“The Euphonix Systems helped us to build greater efficiencies in our production schedule, so we could take on more music projects,” concluded Parris. “Now I am so sold on the Euphonix that I encourage anyone equipping a music tracking room to stop looking at the competition and look at the System 5-MC.”