User Feature By Derek Lincoln, Tees Music Alliance
When Tees Music Alliance installed an RME Fireface UFX there was a general hum of excitement and over the last 4 weeks comments have been flying in.
“Wow that looks great!”
“Finally moving into the 21st Century?”
“How does it work? Will you show me?”
“I’ve been able to do more with music in the last two weeks than ever before. This is what I love to do!”
Getting a UFX in our small venue is helping us move to a new level in what we do – supporting musicians in one of the most disadvantaged parts of the country.
As a small, not-for-profit company, we are always looking for new ways to support and help musicians and music lovers. Over the last year we have opened a new, small venue to promote local bands. We knew we needed better audio and wanted to install a system that would give us the greatest flexibility in how the space could be used. The Fireface UFX has given us that.
Since being installed a month ago we have been able to truly open up the use of the space. All of the following has been possible with no professional input with all audio work being carried out by volunteers and staff.
Tees Music Alliance with their RME Fireface UFX
We have hosted two live evenings with performances ranging from singer guitarists to a full band with eight members. The singer was recorded live using direct USB recording with very impressive results. Providing microphones for an eight piece band in a small venue is always a challenge but with the help of an ADAT connected 8 mic pre, and Russell (who was producing the sound for just the second time) eventually declared “headline band going class. FINALLY PAYING OFF”.
Practice rooms are in short supply round here and the addition of being able to offer bands the ability to record their rehearsals is an added bonus. With just a small amount of guidance and a spare memory stick, we have been able to let bands rehearse and record through the UFX. “I’m amazed at how quickly we can come in and set up and get such a professional quality sound” was the immediate feedback.
In preparing for our summer festival, Stockton Weekender, our volunteers have been recording and filming live sets of the local bands that will be on the bill with Primal Scream, Dexy’s, Spiritualized and The Proclaimers. With the UFX and using both direct USB recording (DURec) and Cubase, we have been able to capture some of the outstanding local talent in the run up to this major local event. This has worked really well with the volunteers gaining experience and the artists getting a quality recording and video for promoting their work.
We still have a long way to go with how we can use the UFX, we have yet to experiment with MIDI, mobile recording or using an iPad as remote but I am sure we will have fun along the way.
Thank you RME and Synthax