Meeting the requirements of big studio recording alongside those of smaller recording spaces, sound engineer Kjetil Arvesen Nesheim has turned to API’s The Box console for his Kan Lyd studio in Skien, Norway. In addition to recording and mixing full productions at home, Nesheim also travels with his studio gear to record at remote locations. His choice of console needed to reflect both sets of requirements.
Nesheim looked to the API console after listening to vintage American vinyl recordings. He cites Fleetwood Mac’s album Rumours – recorded using an API console in 1977 – as a factor in contacting Norwegian distributor Prolyd to find a system that would complement the rest of his gear and meet the needs of Kan Lyd.
‘As soon as I saw the ad for The Box, I knew it was the right console for me,’ he says. ‘After I started using it, my mixing became faster and easier, and made my mixes sound more three-dimensional. All instruments blend together perfectly. It sounds bigger, wider, and clearer all at the same time.’
He also refers to the versatility of The Box: ‘The idea of having 20 channels of summing in mixdown, built-in preamps, EQs and compressors was very intriguing.’
For mixing, Nesheim had two additional 550B EQs installed: ‘The first four channels of The Box are dedicated to drums,’ explains. ‘There is a 550A for kick and snare and a 550B for toms. I’ve got the compressor strapped to the mix bus at all times. Doing it this way gives me the best of two worlds. It sounds more expensive now.’
On top of working on a voiceover project for a digital guide, the latest album for Christian rock musician Arvid Pettersen is being mixed at Kan Lyd. Nesheim comments that The Box has improved his workflow over past projects: ‘This is my first experience with API gear, and I love it.’
More: www.apiaudio.com
