Universal Audio received a Technical GRAMMY® Award during the Special Merit Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 7, 2009. The Recording Academy presented the Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring lifelong artistic contributions to the recording medium, to Gene Autry, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Four Tops, Hank Jones, Brenda Lee, Dean Martin, and Tom Paxton; the Trustees Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the industry in a non-performing capacity, to George Avakian, Elliott Carter, and Allen Toussaint; and the Technical GRAMMY® Award, honoring an individual's and/or corporation's outstanding contributions of technical significance to the recording field, to Clarence "Leo" Fender and Universal Audio.
Universal Audio was a Platinum Sponsor of the NARAS Producers and Engineers Wing official GRAMMY® party on February 5. Over 400 guests mingled over cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at the historic Village Studios in West Los Angeles. The event was a tribute to Atlantic Records founders, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd. Presentations were made by Jimmy Douglass and Nile Rodgers, who both worked at Atlantic. The event was definitely the place to be.
Universal Audio also wishes to congratulate those UA users who received GRAMMY® Awards! In particular Coldplay, who received Best Rock Album, Best Pop Group, and Song of the Year Awards; Daft Punk, who received Best Dance Performance and Best Electronic Dance Album Awards; Dweezil Zappa, who received the Best Rock Instrumental Award with Zappa Plays Zappa and Joe Chiccarelli; and Vance Powell and Jack White, who received the Best Engineered Album Award with The Raconteurs for Consolers of the Lonely.
Universal Audio once again exhibited at the NAMM show in January and wowed the crowds. Dave Crane and Dan Becker traded off on the stage demo; Ichi Nagai and Will Shanks manned the workstations; and Erica McDaniel, Matt Ward, Greg Westall, Joseph Lemmer, Kristi Igarta, and Derek Bodkin also attended. The Music Engineering and Technology Alliance has announced certification of the UAD-2, designed and manufactured by Universal Audio (a METAlliance Pro Partner). The alliance is working closely with manufacturers to evaluate, recognize, and certify products that meet the call for quality in the recording arts and sciences.
We got a postcard from Charlie Clouser this month. Formerly a member of Nine Inch Nails, Charlie is now a super-successful film composer, well known for his work on the Saw series of films. Charlie loves his UAD-2. He says, “Most of my Logic projects have 50 to 100 instruments active at once, so I need a lot of processing power. Being able to put a couple of fancy plug-ins on a few tracks here and there doesn't do much for me; I need to be able to drop 'em by the dozens. With the UAD-2, I've got so much DSP that I can really lay the plug-ins on thick without giving it a second thought. Besides the sound of the actual plug-ins themselves, which is everything you'd hope, the precision and ballistics of the controls are much closer to the real thing than I'd expected. Highly recommended!"
"With the UAD-2, I've got so much DSP that I can really lay the plug-ins on thick without giving it a second thought."--Charlie Clouser
We also heard from David Miles Huber, producer and author of such classic books as Modern Recording Techniques. “Honestly, the UAD family of processors are at the top of my toolbox list for handling all of my stereo or surround mixes. I'm especially joined at the hip with the Precision EQ and the Precision Limiter. I'll commonly place them in the Master Out strip during a mix. Adding 4 or more dB at 24k adds a slight 'sheen' that brings extra life to a track (a trick I learned from engineer/producer Al Schmitt) and precision compressing by just a few dB does wonders to 'slightly' tame a mix without being obvious. Whenever something is powerful, easy-to-use and ridiculously cost-effective, I'm all over it. ... And I've been all over the UAD for a very long time."
Chase Inks With UA
We also heard from Smashmouth’s engineer Christopher Chase, who sent us a photo of his UA-inspired tattoo. “This is my homage to the original 610 consoles. I used the pictures I took of your module to have this piece done. I still have to add the green/gray metal backing around the tattoo for it to be official.”
