News has broken that "Andrew Hale, BAFTA and Grammy Award-winning composer, songwriter, producer and keyboard player with the band Sade, has outfitted his private Owlspace Studio in northwest London with a Harrison 32Classic 32-channel analog mixing console. The new console, complete with 64 bi-directional channels of Dante and premium A-to-D and D-to-A converters, acts as a centerpiece for Hale’s creative activities, enabling him to access and route any source in the studio and adjacent live space without moving from the sweet spot between the monitor speakers."
"Hale, who joined Sade (the singer and the band that also bears her name) shortly after their live debut in 1983, previously employed a computer-based production setup at Owlspace, which he has operated for over 20 years," reads a statement.
“With the Harrison desk as a centerpiece, I’m able to write and record with very little friction because of the freedom it gives me and the ease of workflow," he says. "It provides a way of using electronic equipment, keyboards and drum machines and have all those present in a manner that makes my workflow super transparent and easy.”
"We are very excited that Andrew has chosen the 32 Classic console for his personal studio," Gary Thielman, President of Harrison Audio, told MC. "The history of Harrison includes many successful producers, engineers, and artists like Andrew that have experienced the classic Harrison sound during their careers and now want to recreate those experiences. This is one of the primary reasons why we decided to bring the 32 Classic console back to the industry."
According to the statement, "Over the years, Hale has switched his studio between a console-based and computer-based workflow a few times. 'Now we’re in a world where people are going back to hardware, and you want to hook things up together and have say six keyboards, 2 drum machines ,some guitar pedals and a Eurorack modular setup all running at the same time,' he observes. With the 32Classic at the center of his workflow, 'It’s almost like running a live 32-track session, putting everything through a fantastic sounding signal path and getting it into the DAW via the consoles integrated Dante audio interface.'"
Beyond the audio features, he continues, “I really like the ergonomics of this desk, the width of the channels and the ease of getting to everything.” The console’s frame design, with its uniquely deep armrest, also allows him to keep the computer keyboard or a laptop computer easily accessible, again, without having to turn away from the monitor speakers. “I even put little keyboards on there when I'm writing,” he says. “It’s all about how you work, day in, day out, so I can't overemphasize how great all these things are. The console becomes integral to everything that you're doing, ergonomically as well as technically, and sonically.”
