K-Pop music champion SM Entertainment has placed a new Solid State Logic Oracle mixing desk in the BigShot Studio at its facility in Seoul, South Korea. GearLounge, SSL’s distribution partner in South Korea, supplied the console and carried out the integration.
Oracle carries SSL’s proprietary ActiveAnalogue technology, enabling near-instant recall and reset of the entire console, and was selected to support the high throughput of projects at SM Entertainment. ‘There are days when I have to open and close more than ten sessions in a single day,’ says mixing and recording engineer, Lee Min Kyu. ‘In the past, I had to manually write down the settings of outboard gear and recall them one by one, which was quite inconvenient.
‘Adopting Oracle and being able to restore the entire console routing, processing, and knob settings, with a single button, has completely freed me from both the physical effort and the psychological pressure of ‘will it sound the same. The convenience and sheer enjoyment of this instant total recall are honestly difficult to fully describe unless you’ve experienced it firsthand.
‘We felt that SSL’s SuperAnalogue architecture, with its flat response, linear phase, and exceptionally wide headroom, offered the ideal technology,’ he continues. ‘Thanks to the immense headroom, even when working with a large number of tracks, many with overlapping frequencies, the sound remains clear and well-defined without becoming congested. This allows us to approach mixing more boldly and explore more three-dimensional sound design, while also achieving a pleasingly open and well-extended midrange.’
SM Entertainment is currently using its Oracle as the main mixer in BigShot Studio: ‘In large-scale sessions, we separate the tracks into stems – such as kick, snare, rhythm, guitars/piano, additional instruments, lead vocals and chorus – and sum them through the console,’ Lee explains. ‘In K-Pop productions, due to multi-member groups, it’s very common to have layers of overdubs, group vocals and harmonies, often reaching 100 to 200 tracks for vocals alone.
‘In the past, we managed everything using the DAW’s internal buses, but with Oracle’s flexible group routing, we can now respond much more intuitively and efficiently to producers’ mix requests. For example, we can quickly adjust the overall level of an entire vocal group or rebalance large instrument sections directly on the console, which has significantly improved our workflow.’
Oracle’s worksurface can be quickly switched, on a per-bay basis, to act as a DAW controller. Previously, Lee would have to adjust levels with a mouse or manually draw automation on the DAW screen when mixing.
‘Placing my hands directly on the Oracle’s faders and balancing the mix while fully listening to the flow of the music creates a clear and positive difference in an engineer’s musical intuition,’ he says. ‘It not only significantly reduces the physical delay of having to aim and click with a mouse in those fleeting moments of music, but it also allows me to focus entirely on the sound rather than the screen. As a result, I find that the overall texture and feel of the final mix become more natural.’
While the responsiveness and precision of the large faders enable a highly tactile mixing experience: ‘What really impressed me was the tactile response of the EQ knobs,’ he says. ‘They truly capture the character of a traditional analogue console. Fine adjustments respond smoothly and musically, without any stepping or artefacts, much like a vintage analogue circuit. This level of resolution makes the process of shaping sound incredibly enjoyable.’ Oracle’s EQ section, switchable between SSL’s classic E and G Series operation, offers 14,000 steps of digital precision, producing a smooth and tactile response.
Oracle provides an integrated The Bus + compressor and dynamics EQ, with dedicated surface controls assigned to the master stereo bus. ‘After using The Bus+ directly within the console, I immediately understood why it’s considered a classic bus compressor,’ Lee reports. ‘Running the mix through The Bus+ on the master bus eliminates that sense of unwanted separation entirely, bringing the tracks together into a cohesive whole.’
Oracle’s Drive found on the Pure Drive preamps, combined with The Bus+ 4K saturation and Low THD features, introduces a wide range of sonic characteristics - ranging from SSL’s 4000 Series console circuitry through to the SuperAnalogue 9000 Series era.
‘When these elements are pushed, they add strong harmonic content and a more aggressive, analogue texture. I use it to shape the overall character of a sound or track, finding the right balance depending on the mood, and crafting my own take on an analogue sound.’
The inconvenience of having to frequently reconfigure the studio’s physical patchbay often led SM Entertainment’s engineers to rely on fixed routing set-ups. ‘With SSL’s O-Control app, routing configurations can be saved on a per-session basis and instantly recalled on Oracle. This has given us the flexibility to experiment with new and creative routing for each session, while also significantly reducing studio set-up time before artists or clients arrive.’
Arrangers’ virtual instrument tracks often play a significant role in K-Pop productions but can sometimes lack midrange presence. ‘I use the SSL Fusion in my mix chain, based on a tip I learned from a senior engineer in our studio,’ Lee says. ‘When routing virtual instrument sources through the Fusion, the previously lacking midrange becomes fuller and more musically defined. In particular, the harmonics and tonal character created by the Vintage Drive feature are excellent. I’m planning to apply it more aggressively to a wider range of sources, including vocals and real guitars, moving forward.’
In addition to Oracle’s functionality and audio performance, the multi-coloured controls and display screens of the worksurface engenders confidence in those working in BigShot Studio’s control room. ‘Artists often remark that it feels like stepping into the cockpit of a spaceship. The visual weight and refined design of the console naturally instil a strong sense of trust in producers and artists visiting the studio. With equipment like this enhancing my capabilities, I feel that all that’s left is for me, as the engineer, to rise to the occasion.’
More: www.solidstatelogic.com