A Rupert Neve Designs 5088 for The Green-House Studio
The Green-House Studio, a division of Blantone Music located just outside of Asheville, North Carolina, has installed a 5088 console as their main tracking and mixing desk. The desk has a total of 22 channels, consisting of 10 mono and 6 stereo channel modules, and is outfitted with an assortment of Shelford and Portico modules from Rupert Neve Designs, as well as a customized penthouse section containing both 19” rack mount and 500 Series equipment from a variety of other manufacturers.
Owner Stephen Blanton has been in the space for over fifteen years, but his studio’s needs have changed over time. “I had begun mixing more and more through a console, and I wanted to ‘up my game’. I also wanted a smaller footprint – projects here rarely exceed 30 tracks – and I was intrigued by the transformer-based architecture and high-voltage headroom.”
“The sound of this console is amazing. Tracks seem to sit better in a mix by virtue of simply passing through the circuitry.” Blanton adds that his mix times are now more efficient, “because it takes less time to get to that ‘sounds like a finished record’ point.”
“The transformer isolation also creates an enhanced sense of space between mix elements. On properly recorded tracks where nothing plays, the background is BLACK…dead quiet! I also love the ‘heft’ the transformers give recorded sounds.”
Looking forward, in addition to expanding his mixing work for others, Blanton says he’d like to get more recording done for himself this year. “It’s often like the cobbler’s kids around here – the last ones to get shoes!”
