Report: Remix Hotel Atlanta Day 2
Sep 20, 2008 4:17 PM, Lori J. Kennedy
To describe the vibe here at Remix Hotel Atlanta 2008, I’d like to start off by channeling some Matthew McConaughey circa Dazed and Confused with a little “All right, all right, all right.” The scene here is chill, and it’s where all the cool kids are hangin’ out.
So you already know we’ve got major Southern hospitality, massively informative panels and amazing demos from the industry’s hottest manufacturers at Remix Hotel Atlanta 2008, right? Well, did you also know that we have the industry’s most hilarious artist, in the form of one DJ Speedy? Speedy had folks in stitches at the Songwriting for Producers panel with his own brand of talk-show-style discussion. I had the chance to sit down one-on-one with Speedy after the panel, so look for the videos from both the panel and my interview on Remixhotel.com. Speedy is supremely talented and fun-nee. More Speedy, please!
Grammy Award–winner Kandi Burruss was also on this panel, and she is not only supersmart and talented but also very sweet. And she was wearing some seriously kickass shoes. But I digress ... The point is, I also had a chance to sit down with Burruss and ask her what’s up next on her plate. So check out Remixhotel.com for the video, which we’ll be posting soon.
I had the chance to sit in on the ATL—The New Hotbed of Urban Music panel hosted by our favorite NYC boys and Remix Hotel partners, Don Di Napoli and J Hatch, co-founders of iStandard Producers. T.J. Chapman, Julia Beverly, Delaney Douglas, Zo and Sham of Trak Starz, Big Tree and DJ Toomp discussed Atlanta’s role in the music industry. Di Napoli got everyone on the panel talking about the differences between the New York and Atlanta music scenes, as well as the genuine sense of community here in Atlanta, where artists are completely supportive of one another. Big Tree discussed how Atlanta’s scene will never fizzle out, because there are so many artists, such as Cee-Lo and Andre 3000, who are doing diverse projects here.
After the panel, I headed over to the master-class room, where Roland’s Product Specialist Dan Krisher was demonstrating the frigging kickass Fantom-G workstation synth. I knew I’d need to sport a helmet for this demo, so I didn’t make a mess when it blew my mind (thanks, Robot Chicken)—especially when Krisher started by performing his version of Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” Pretty sweet.
Krisher continued the demo by showing the audience all of the Fantom-G’s capabilities. The 800x480 LCD display is easy to read, and the Fantom can be mouse-driven, with drop-down menus and all. The rhythm pads also function as sample triggers, and you can stack samples on the pads. A new Bender mode allows you to bend the notes at the end of their duration, much like a guitar player would. The Live setting gives you the ability to play multiple layered sounds at once. Very, very cool. I love this synth!
After the Fantom-G demo, I headed over to IK Multimedia’s room to check out the ARC (Advanced Room Correction) software. Essentially, ARC takes the room out of your mix so you can mix to a flat response. All rooms distort sound, so ARC corrects for time, frequency and phase. The ARC software comes with a mic, so all you have to do is plug in the mic, open the ARC software, follow the step-by-step process in which ARC calibrates the sound of the room, close the software after you’ve finished the steps and then open your DAW. (By the way, ARC works with any DAW and is compatible with both Macs and PCs). Now you can mix to your heart’s desire without getting any distorted sound. It was amazing to hear a mix with and without ARC (it was also awesome to hear the ARC demo using Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”).
I can’t actually believe it, but we’re already heading into day three (time flies when you’re geeking out with gear). And remember, if you can’t make it down here, you can catch all the video highlights at Remixhotel.com. So stay tuned!
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