Customer Spotlight: Erik Rydberg
Hi Erik! Would you please tell us a bit about yourself and your studio?
I am a lifelong musician who committed to learning sound engineering about ten years ago. My musical experience started at 6 years old as a classically trained guitarist who has always played beyond that genre. My favorite songs are ones you would not expect to hear from someone with more rocked out listening tastes (favorites include the Spanish classical guitar repertoire and the Second Partita for Solo Violin in D minor, the Chaconne by J.S. Bach). I built a digital studio when I first started engineering and progressively moved to a hybrid setup with professional equipment as I became more experienced with compression and recognized the need for various analog gear. Today, I have a project studio (StudioRmusic.com) I use for mixing music and tracking everything except drums.
Do you specialize in any particular style of music, or any particular part of the music creation process?
I enjoy mixing progressive and hard rock, singer songwriter styles, songs with various orchestral backing and acoustic music but enjoy a variety of styles. My own discography as a musician is fairly diverse and the albums I’m mixing for other folks are equally diverse.
How did you first hear about the 5088, and what made you choose it?
I heard about the 5088 several years ago. My original mindset was I could get the quality I wanted staying mostly in the box and use outboard gear to supplement where I wanted and avoid the expense. After purchasing a 5059 and hearing the clarity and quality of the result, I had a paradigm shift. I researched analog consoles and found a small handful of examples that might work for me, but the “RND sound” I had become accustomed to through that 5059, a Shelford channel and some 500 series put the 5088 in the spotlight. I chose it for those sonic characteristics and several more experienced engineers confirming those opinions along with the assertion that it makes mixing easier with astounding results.
What is your favorite thing about it?
Two things. I read one review that boldly claimed it makes mixing easier because everything sits right in the mix quicker than trying to achieve that in a DAW. It’s true. The first day I had the console up and running I slapped a raw drum kit into the desk and with a little tweaking and some compression I had a very nice sounding kit. That same amount of work would have taken a few hours to get in the DAW. The other thing is the clarity and headroom. I had advanced mixes prior to getting the console and discovered things I hadn’t been hearing because the 5088 has a lot of room in the sonic space. With the 5088 I find myself right where I should be during a mix – using my ears as my guide because of the clarity and depth of what I’m hearing.
Check out this video of Erik’s console installation, c/o Jim at Pure Wave Audio. From Erik: “Jim is my sound engineering mentor, and his expertise was pivotal – he played a crucial role in me getting this desk up and running.”
Why an analog console, as opposed to in-the-box mixing?
I have found the sonic clarity and depth with analog gear is superior to anything I’ve ever been able to achieve solely in the box. No stack of plugins can replicate this sound.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
The support from RND has been a benchmark experience for me. I installed the desk a few days before Christmas and had a few minor issues that were resolved within a day of sending an email. In my experience with pro audio gear support, RND is in a class of its own.
p.s. we just received this in an email from Erik:
“The first album to go through the desk is in mastering now and the results are quite tasty. I had the opportunity to AB the desk to mixes I had more or less finished in the DAW, with and without the 5059, and most folks I know who are average listeners could hear a depth not present previously.”
…thank you Erik!
