With the conclusion of the Phantom of the Opera presentation its time to focus on planned upgrades in the studio. The process has begun.

Most changes seem to involve removing the old to make way for the new so that’s the first step. With the Tascam analog console gone, we’re looking at some cables dating back around 30 years. These will take time to pull out and disconnect from the patchbays. The studio hub used to be the console and the associated patchbays, but with the advent of digital consoles and DAW-based recording much of that type of interconnect is no longer needed. So I’ll be paring it down to the basics and utilizing the Behringer X-32 Rack console as the “patchbay” and interface to the DAW. The outboard mic preamps will still be used extensively, but their route to the new recording platform will be through the Behringer. In the interim the studio is running in a hybrid mode with the old system still doing the recording, but routing the headphone system feeds through the new console. Even after the new system is fully functional, the plan is to retain the old system so prior projects can be restored and not made obsolete. There’s over 20 years of those in digital format so it’s important to have the ability to go back. But in the meantime, there’s still a lot to do.