 |
 | |
| Industry | Professional audio design & engineering |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1976 |
| Headquarters | Burnley, Lancashire |
Key people | Mark Crabtree Stuart Nevison |
| Products | Audio & recording equipment |
AMS (Advanced Music Systems) were a manufacturer of professional studio equipment. [1] The company later merged with Neve Electronics to form AMS Neve.
AMS was established in 1976 by Mark Crabtree and Stuart Nevison. They were Aerospace engineers who moved into the design of professional studio equipment for the manipulation and control of sound. The first product designed by the company was the DM-20 Tape Phase Simulator. This initial product was used by ELO, 10cc and Paul McCartney, who used it on the Wings' London Town album in 1978.
AMS was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1985. In 1990, Siemens bought AMS, merging it with Neve Electronics in 1992 to form AMS Neve, which continues to manufacture professional recording equipment under the Neve and AMS Neve brands. In 1995, Crabtree acquired AMS Neve. [2]
In 1978, AMS introduced the world's first microprocessor controlled, 15-bit digital delay line, the AMS DMX 15-80. [3] One of the early users of the AMS DMX 15-80 was Manchester record producer Martin Hannett who would go on to own quite a few of the devices. By 1979, the DMX 15-80 was augmented with pitch changing capabilities. [4]
The AMS DMX 15-80S - the stereo version of the DMX 15-80, with stereo inputs and outputs - was introduced in 1980. The delay is identical to the DMX 15-80, but with the addition of two input level controls to re-generation controls (one per channel). [5]
In 1981 the DMX was upgraded to include the Loop Editing System, with which loops can be created and they are either run continuously or triggered for special effects and drop-ins. [6] This paved way for the use of digital sampling. The DMX later included pitch changing and up to 32 seconds of delay. [3]
In 1981, AMS released the RMX-16 digital reverberator. [7] In addition to a range of reverb types, the RMX-16 had a program ("Non Lin 2") which digitally emulated the drum sound of a compressed and gated room microphone, copying the effect used on the Phil Collins recording In the Air Tonight . [7] (Collins' drum sound was created by a combination of a room microphone compressed by the "Listen Mic" compressor of an early SSL Console, in combination with cutting off the reverb sound with a noise gate. [7] )
In 1984, AMS released the AudioFile, one of the first 16-bit hard disk based recording systems dedicated to post-production. [8] The Audiofile saw considerable use in television post-production and was seen by dubbing mixers as a huge technological breakthrough. After decades of mixing on 16mm magnetic film stock, in which mix decisions were extremely difficult to undo, the ability to undo and make changes instantaneously provided dubbing mixers with new opportunities for experimentation in their work. [9]
In 1988, AMS released Logic 1, the first dynamically configurable, fully automated digital mixing console for professional applications. [7] This was followed in 1990 by Logic 2, an expanded version of the Logic design in a large format console.
The founders of AMS have been recognised with awards for their contributions to the recording and broadcast industry.
In March 2000, Crabtree was the recipient of an Oscar at the Academy Awards for the design and development of the AMS Neve Logic Digital Film Console for motion picture sound mixing. [10] Crabtree was subsequently awarded a second Oscar in 2004 for "significant contributions to the evolution of digital audio editing for motion picture post production". [11]
Nevison was awarded a Fellow of the Association of Professional Recording Services (APRS) in 2015. [12]
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instruments, or recorded sounds. Mixers may control analog or digital signals. The modified signals are summed to produce the combined output signals, which can then be broadcast, amplified through a sound reinforcement system or recorded.
A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on a laptop, to an integrated stand-alone unit, all the way to a highly complex configuration of numerous components controlled by a central computer. Regardless of configuration, modern DAWs have a central interface that allows the user to alter and mix multiple recordings and tracks into a final produced piece.
Solid State Logic (SSL) is a British company based in Begbroke, Oxfordshire, England that designs and markets audio mixing consoles, signal processors, and other audio technologies for the post-production, video production, broadcast, sound reinforcement and music recording industries. SSL employs over 160 people worldwide and has regional offices in Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris, and Tokyo, with additional support provided by an international network of distributors. Solid State Logic is part of the Audiotonix Group.
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A variable-gain (VGA) or voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA) is an electronic amplifier that varies its gain depending on a control voltage.
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An aux-send is an electronic signal-routing output used on multi-channel sound mixing consoles used in recording and broadcasting settings and on PA system amplifier-mixers used in music concerts. The signal from the auxiliary send is often routed through outboard audio processing effects units and then returned to the mixer using an auxiliary return input jack, thus creating an effects loop. This allows effects to be added to an audio source or channel within the mixing console. Another common use of the aux send mix is to create monitor mixes for the onstage performers' monitor speakers or in-ear monitors. The aux send's monitor mix is usually different from the front of house mix the audience is hearing.
Delay is an audio signal processing technique that records an input signal to a storage medium and then plays it back after a period of time. When the delayed playback is mixed with the live audio, it creates an echo-like effect, whereby the original audio is heard followed by the delayed audio. The delayed signal may be played back multiple times, or fed back into the recording, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.
Gated reverb or gated ambience is an audio processing technique that combines strong reverb and a noise gate. The effect is often associated with the sound of 1980s British popular music. It was developed in 1979 by producer Steve Lillywhite and engineer Hugh Padgham while working on Peter Gabriel's self-titled third solo album, after Phil Collins played drums without using cymbals at London's Townhouse Studios. The effect is known for demonstrating in Collins' hit song "In the Air Tonight".
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Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph. Over a span of 40 years, Metalworks has been the recipient of Canadian Music Week's 'Studio of the Year' 17 times. Since 1978, Metalworks Studios has expanded into a six studio facility offering in-house tracking, mixing and mastering, as well as video editing and DVD authoring.
In professional audio, a digital mixing console (DMC) is a type of mixing console used to combine, route, and change the dynamics, equalization and other properties of multiple audio input signals, using digital signal processing rather than analog circuitry. The digital audio samples, which is the internal representation of the analog inputs, are summed to what is known as a master channel to produce a combined output. A professional digital mixing console is a dedicated desk or control surface produced exclusively for the task and is typically more robust in terms of user control, processing power and quality of audio effects. However, a computer can also perform the same function since it can mimic its interface, input and output.
Onkio Haus Inc. is a company operating sound recording, mixing and mastering studios in Ginza, Tokyo, owned by Magazine House, Ltd and others. It also provides video editing and postproduction services for TV program and commercial film projects. The studio is renowned as one of the best professional recording studios in Japan, used for recording and mixing Japanese popular songs and jazz music.
Arthur Rupert Neve was a British-American electronics engineer and entrepreneur, who was a pioneering designer of professional audio recording equipment. He designed analog recording and audio mixing equipment that was sought after by professional musicians and recording technicians. Some of his customers were music groups The Beatles, Aerosmith and Nirvana, and recording studios Sound City Studios and Abbey Road Studios. Companies that he was associated with included Neve Electronics, Focusrite, AMS Neve, and Rupert Neve Designs.
In music recording, mix automation allows the mixing console to remember the audio engineer's adjustment of faders during the post-production editing process. A timecode is necessary for the synchronization of automation. Modern mixing consoles and digital audio workstations use comprehensive mix automation.
The Institute of Audio Research (IAR) was an educational institution in New York City. Students of IAR were offered a wide variety of academic programs in the field of music production and audio engineering. Students could choose from courses in audio electronics, digital music production, mixing music, and audio processing and storage, among others. It was founded in 1969 and closed in 2017. It has resurfaced as part of Five Towns College in 2022.
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