Inside Apogee: A Tour with Betty Bennett and Bob Clearmountain

My spouse Kasia and I’ve been fortunate sufficient to name Betty Bennett and Bob Clearmountain our mates for a few years. As a pair who additionally work facet by facet within the music world, we have now all the time discovered their partnership inspiring. They’ve constructed an organization, a studio and a life collectively whereas persevering with to form the sound of contemporary music, and that’s one thing we deeply admire. To have the ability to host this video with a few of our favorite folks, Marc Daniel Nelson, Betty and Bob, appears like an actual blessing.

Let’s be part of Marc Daniel Nelson on his go to to Apogee Electronics in Santa Monica, the place he will get a behind-the-scenes have a look at how the corporate operates and sits down with Betty and Bob to listen to the complete story. From a modest filter that modified digital audio ceaselessly, to Apple Shops world wide, to Bob’s rebuilt combine room after the Palisades fireplace, it is a journey by 4 many years of Apogee innovation.

A small group with a huge impact

Strolling by Apogee HQ it’s clear this isn’t a faceless company. Gross sales, advertising, QA, meeting and restore are all simply steps aside, and a lot of the workers are musicians or engineers themselves. Models are hand assembled, burned in to make sure reliability, and overseen by restore techs with many years of soldering expertise. It feels palms on and private, and all the pieces is proudly American made.

The way it started

Again in 1985 Apogee’s first product was the 944 filter for early Sony and Mitsubishi digital recorders. Bob Clearmountain, recent from mixing Born in the usA., was annoyed with the harshness of early digital. As soon as the filters had been out there, engineers insisted on “Apogee enhanced” machines, and rental homes needed to carry them in or threat dropping periods. That first step confirmed how a lot distinction good digital design might make.

Making digital sound musical

All through the Nineteen Nineties Apogee saved digital transferring ahead:

• AD8000 and collaboration with Digidesign introduced skilled conversion to Professional Instruments

• UV22 noise shaping allowed engineers to work at larger bit charges whereas delivering a elegant 16 bit CD

• Comfortable Restrict gave sterile digital a extra analogue like character, including headroom and heat

• Merchandise just like the Rosetta and Symphony set the benchmark for converters in main studios

A giant a part of Apogee’s success was the partnership of Betty and Bob. Betty knew the technical facet inside out, Bob needed digital that felt as alive as analogue. Collectively they made digital recording not simply attainable, however fascinating.

The breakthrough second: Duet

In 2006 Apogee launched the Duet. Shifting from excessive finish techniques to an inexpensive transportable interface was a daring transfer, nevertheless it lined up completely with Apple’s push round Logic and GarageBand. The Duet landed in Apple Shops, sounded improbable, and have become the go to dwelling recording interface. It carried Apogee’s sonic signature into bedrooms and laptops everywhere in the world.

From “storage” to world class venue

What started as Bob’s dream of a $5,000 demo studio rapidly grew to become the Apogee Studio, full with a stage, management room, iso cubicles and a legendary Neve 8068 console (the very one from Energy Station Studio A). The room hosted KCRW periods with Alabama Shakes, Tom Jones, Billie Eilish and plenty of extra. It’s a uncommon house the place reside power meets studio precision, and it appears like a report the second the band hits.

Combine This: Rebuilding after loss

Tragedy struck when Betty and Bob’s home was destroyed within the Palisades fireplace, taking with it Bob’s very long time combine room. Relatively than rebuild at dwelling, Bob relocated his studio into the principle Apogee constructing in Santa Monica. The centrepiece is an SSL console, rebuilt to interchange the one he misplaced within the fireplace. This was a serious mission led by SSL tech legend John Ellisand spearheaded by SSL veteran Phil Wagner, combining two boards, one offered by Chris Lord Alge, the opposite by his brother Tom Lord Alge, to recreate Bob’s closely modified desk in each element. The result’s now absolutely restored and put in, serving because the beating coronary heart of his new combine room.

Apogee workers and Bob’s group have wired the room for each stereo and Atmos, with Apogee Symphonies, classic compressors, trusted reverbs and a fantastic courtyard exterior. The brand new Combine This carries on Bob’s legacy with much more flexibility, proper within the coronary heart of the corporate he and Betty have constructed collectively.

Bob’s strategy: hold it easy, belief your ears

Clearmountain’s philosophy has by no means modified:

• Mic into console into LA 2A if wanted

• Don’t over course of, simply hear

• Strip away pointless plugins or {hardware} and deal with the efficiency

Even his SSL automation is old fashioned, VCA fader strikes saved on floppy disks, as a result of it’s quicker, extra musical, and lets him hearken to the track as an alternative of juggling mechanics.

Forty years of Apogee

Right now Apogee is marking its fortieth anniversary with a refreshed Symphony interface, now on Thunderbolt 3 with USB C. The corporate stays small and musician pushed, nonetheless centered on sound and reliability. With Betty steering the model and Bob chasing the magic of a reside band by a console, Apogee continues to bridge engineering precision and musical really feel.

Betty and Apogee proceed to innovate, and Bob continues to be the best mixer of our time. As a pair within the music business, Kasia and I love them greater than anybody.

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