Tribute to Quincy Jones
Like many others, we were saddened to learn of the death of Quincy Jones.
He leaves us an incredible musical legacy of compositions, arrangements, albums, and concerts across a wide musical spectrum, which I won’t even attempt to summarize.
He also leaves us with the memory of a unique concert at the 25th Montreux Jazz Festival, the only one in which Quincy Jones conducted Miles Davis, accompanied by 2 big bands.
This performance, recorded on July 8, 1991, was one of the last concerts for Miles Davis, who passed soon after on September 28, 1991.
This exceptional concert, along with all the concerts recorded at the Casino de Montreux during this edition, was captured using 48 channels of SONOSAX FD-M4 microphone preamplifiers. That is, up to 48 microphones on stage connected to the SONOSAX rack, with main pre-amplifier outputs connected directly to the 48-track SONY PCM3348 recorder, secondary outputs connected to the Mountain Studio mixing console.
This system allowed the studio assistant to manage the gain of the preamps, while David Richards, Mountain Studio’s renowned sound engineer, could concentrate on the stereo mix. He died on December 20, 2013.
The late David Richards, who worked with David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Iggy Pop, Chris Rea, and many others, and was also a co-producer for Queen, had greatly appreciated this recording system.
It’s immensely satisfying for SONOSAX to have played an active part in this anthology recording.
Our thoughts are with Quincy’s family, friends and loved ones.
Recording off the beaten tracks
Emmanuel Faivre
I would particularly like to thank you and tell you how much I enjoy recording life in natural environments with your equipment. The SX-R4+ preamplifiers deliver powerful sonic emotions, with wonderful timbres, dynamics and noise levels, in the realms of silence….. With Aurélia Frey, Photographer and Author, we travelled to Iceland in April and May 2024 for 40 days, following in the footsteps of the Breton fishermen who left Paimpol to fish for cod in the icy waters of Iceland.
We recorded and photographed, from before dawn to nightfall, all the landscapes and settings that caught our eye. All this high-quality equipment, properly protected, wired and powered, has proved its reliability in glacier country!
- Find my first derushes on soundcloud playlist: Le Murmure des Égarés.
- The multi-channel versions are used in our installations visuelles et sonores
- More at: https://emmanuelfaivre.net/paysages-sonores
- Photo credits, Aurélia Frey: https://aureliafrey.com/
Chris Watson
I’ve recently returned from a film sound recording trip to Zambia and wanted to say how well my recorder performed in very challenging conditions. The weather was very hot and dry with clouds of gritty dust all over my equipment, however my SX-R4, inside it’s case was most reliable.
More about the outstanding life experiences and works of M. Chris Watson at: https://chriswatson.net/
Analog is not dead
TONHAUS in Hamburg/Germany, an audio production house specializing in voice recording, sound design and music production for commercials, recently acquired a SONOSAX SX-VT16.
TONHAUS managing Manfred Brunwey, whose discography is impressive, is also a musician, engineer and producer and has operated several recording, mixing and post-production studios.
Together with Horst Püttjer, both of whom have shared a passion for the best sound recordings for many decades, Horst has his roots in studio and communications engineering, it was decided: In addition to studio activities, to record and produce live again, they were looking for a mixer that would give them a real analog sound. A few attempts with the SONOSAX SX-ST quickly convinced them that this was the sound they were looking for.
So they decided on a SONOSAX SX-VT with more input channels than the SX-ST. The small size and light weight of the SX-VT, which makes it easy to transport and install on site, are further advantages that contributed to Manfred Brunwey and Horst Püttjer’s decision
Many thanks also to Zeigermann Audio in Hamburg, who played their role as distributor to perfection.
SONOSAX SX-VT – the ideal choice for the most demanding customers
SONOSAX AEM-1 on the forthcoming ALEXA 265
ARRI recently announced the small, lightweight ALEXA 265 camera, destined to revolutionize 65mm cinematography. The ALEXA 265 housing is based on that of the ALEXA 35, and is therefore compatible with the ALEXA 35 accessory set, offering many mounting options, including the SONOSAX AEM-1 preamplifier.
New mouse controller!
Courtesy of Ed Novick, one of our long-time loyal customers.
