Stereophonic wins Tony Awards for "Best Play" and "Best Sound Design" powered by UA Apollo Interfaces and UAD Plug-Ins

Hit Broadway show recreates the authentic sound of a vintage ’70s recording studio using UA hardware and UAD analog emulation plug‑ins

The look and sound of a vintage ’70s studio, with Apollo and UAD plug‑ins providing the realtime analog sound to front‑of‑house.

SCOTTS VALLEY, CA • October 16, 2024 — Garnering a record 13 Tony nominations, Stereophonic recently made history, taking home five wins including Best Play and Sound Design. Set in a music studio in 1976, the play explores the agony and ecstasy of music creation, following an up‑and‑coming rock band on the cusp of superstardom as they record their new album.

To recreate the warmth and fidelity of a ’70s‑era analog studio, Stereophonic's audio production crew relied heavily on Universal Audio's award‑winning Apollo interfaces and UAD plug‑ins to capture the performers in real time.

"To pull an ambitious production like this off every night, the crew needed to speak a common language," says Stereophonic sound designer Ryan Rumery. "UAD plug‑ins, Apollo, and the Console app are the tools [music director] Justin Craig, [composer] Will Butler, and myself use everyday."

Stereophonic's instantly memorable songs like "Masquerade," "Bright," and "Seven Roads" conjure the sonic magic of Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney and Wings, and The Eagles, among others with minimalist drum parts, puffy kick drums, rich‑sounding keyboard textures, and lush guitar arrangements.

"We were determined to give the music the same ’70s‑style polish that you would've heard in the studio back then," explains Rumery. "We ran all the live instruments and vocals into several Apollo x16 interfaces and processed everything in real time, running UAD plug‑in emulations of classic analog gear like Pultec EQs, Neve 1073 preamps, EMT plate reverb, and Ampex mastering tape. The plug‑ins have all the same harmonics and tone of the legendary gear. They're just that good!"

"It's thrilling to see our tools in the hands of the extraordinary artists behind Stereophonic, especially as their work gets recognized with multiple Tony Awards," says UA CEO Bill Putnam Jr. "We're honored to play a part in their creative work, and we congratulate them on this record achievement."

Read the full interview on the UA Blog:
uaudio.com/blogs/ua/apollo-and-uad-bring-timeless-analog-sound-to-broadway

Download press release and images:
u.audio/stereophonic-pr

Learn more about the production of Stereophonic:
stereophonicplay.com

Learn more about UA Apollo interfaces:
uaudio.com/pages/apollo

Learn more about UAD plug‑ins:
uaudio.com/collections/uad-plugins