Singapore’s Leo Studio installs SSL
Published: ASIA
SINGAPORE: A Solid State Solid Duality mixing desk has been installed at the newly opened Leo Studio in Singapore. Designed by Asian pop music producer, Eric Ng, and recording mixing/engineer, Frank Lee, to be an ‘inspiring recording space’ for musicians, the ambitious project saw Mr Ng specifying the equipment, while Mr Lee handled acoustical design. The duality desk was primarily chosen because of its ability to interface with Pro Tools while also providing a ‘classic SSL design’.
‘A recording studio should not only have great equipment like Duality, but should also be a comfortable, creative space,’ offered Mr Ng. ‘We wanted the live room to be a stimulating environment that would excite the artists and make them feel welcome. The first thing clients say when they go into the studio is “wow”. Hence the decision for Eric to rope in Thomas Ng as interior designer to please the clients’ eyes as well as their ears.
‘For the past ten years or so, we have been doing most of our work in-the-box,’ continued Mr Ng. ‘When it came time to build the studio, we asked ourselves, “What do we miss about having a great studio?” The first thing that came to mind was an SSL mixing console. There’s no question about the sound quality – it’s the best.’
The desk’s hybrid nature and built-in preamps were also key factors in the decision. ‘We record almost exclusively in Pro Tools, so we knew we needed a console and a controller with total recall. Duality seemed like the obvious choice because it integrates the classic SSL design with DAW control. We are really impressed with how quickly we can get back to a previous session,’ explained Mr Ng. ‘One of the features that really struck me about the Duality is the dual SuperAnalogue and Variable Harmonic Drive (VHD) mic preamp. You can run the preamps clean, but when you switch to VHD, you overdrive the preamp to get this saturated sound that is perfect on some instruments.’
With the desk now in frequent use, Mr Ng clear feels he made the right choice. ‘After everything was up and running, we started doing some test recordings and were overwhelmed to hear what we’d been missing over the past decade without the SSL – it sounds so good.’