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Mackie’s Big Knob Saves Sharks from A Monitoring Nightmare
Sharks Productions, an independent music production company headed by Paul Guardiani and Duck Blackwell, has invested in a Mackie Big Knob for its North London studios.
Big Knob, which was launched at NAMM earlier this year, is an easy-to-use monitor switching, source switching, and level control box designed for professional and project studio owners who record with computer-based systems and need the essential control room functions absent from many of today's software-based studios. Designed to sit on the desktop, Big Knob allows engineers to switch easily between three sets of studio monitors, four different stereo sources, and even send musicians their own custom headphone mixes while communicating with them via the built-in Talkback microphone. Its most prominent feature - a large, convenient volume knob that provides easy access for precise level adjustments, inspires Big Knob’s name.
Sharks Productions recognized the need for a Big Knob when it was asked to produce a number of songs for a new BBC children’s television programme. Entitled I Dream, the 13-week series is based around the lives of pupils at a talent school. Each episode features two songs performed by the pupils, who consist of five actors and the pop group S Club 8. There are also cameo appearances from guest stars such as Emma Bunton, while the role of the school’s headmaster is played by Christopher Lloyd of Back To The Future fame.
Paul Guardiani says: “We started out recording Christopher Lloyd and some of the S-Club 8 members in Spain while the series was being filmed. When we returned to England we recorded the remaining cast members. The Big Knob became our secret weapon as it enabled us to transform our smaller central London software-based studios into fully-fledged professional recording facilities.
Paul Guardiani and Duck Blackwell add that the staffs at Mackie UK were very helpful and arranged for the studio to try it. “As soon as it was installed we knew we’d found the ideal solution because it sat conveniently on the desktop, rather than being rack-mounted and hard to get at, and directed signal all over the studio. It also provided us talkback facilities with our vocal booth, which was indispensable.”
Sharks Productions has produced nine of the 27 songs included in the series, with the rest handled by nine other production companies. I Dream will be broadcast nationwide by the BBC from September.
23rd September 2004
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