Arjun Sen's Studio
Musician, Composer & Audio-Studio Operator
~

When we first introduced Arjun on the 2nd CD-Gazette (July-December, 2001), he was a musician and composer operating a home studio in addition to doing gigs and sessions.

A year has passed, and good ole Arjun's moved on, having established an independent set-up since then which can only be described as a classic Musicians-Studio of our times. It's (typically) the basement of a suburban Delhi house, but beautifully subdivided by Arjun with rattrap brick-masonry and thick double-doors and glass panes, into an ample meeting area, a large control-room rendered intimate with muted lighting, and a sound-room big enough to easily accommodate a four-man band with full drum-kit. And there is, of course, a pantry and toilet.

It's structurally perfect, like most studios are, and it's beautifully finished, which every studio certainly attempts to be,.. but what really marks it out is the atmosphere!

Most of the professional audio-studios we've visited in Delhi wear an almost rancid commercial air, with surly owners (if at all present) glowering behind desks through the day, while rude know-it-all junior employees operate tired equipment made to look impressive with racks and racks of multiple-track mixers, stacks of mediocre microphones, and miles of troublesome cable.

What first marks out Arjun's studio as different is that there isn't a desk in sight. His chair's at the control console itself, with MIDI keyboard riding drawer slides right below the table surface and guitars standing close to hand on gleaming stands. Not surprisingly, free time's taken up making music (like the pieces here) for himself and his friends, and the equipment list serves just efficiency, quality and good sense.

And as for work ~ well the music making obviously goes on, but Arjun's professionally now also into recording everything from mundane voice-overs all the way through to mastering the latest release from the exciting Indian band called "Orange Street".

• Roland XP50 MIDI keyboard
• Fender Stratocaster & Telecaster guitars
• Roland VS1680 Recorder (**see overview below)
• Kurzwiel K 2500 Module/Sampler
• Ardvark Ark24 on the computer
• assorted microphones
• Mastering on computer with Wavelab/Samplitude (killer software)
• All effects (vocals etc.), Guitar Amps and tone directly from..1680

What's the "1680"?

• 16 tracks of hard disk audio recording; 256 "Virtual" tracks (16 tracks x 16 V-tracks)
• 24-bit MT Pro Recording Mode
• 26 channels of automated digital mixing
• 20-bit A/D, D/A converters
• 320 x 240 dot graphic LCD providing level meters, play list, EQ curves, EFX settings, waveforms, and more
• 2 optional 24-bit stereo multi-effects processors (VS8F-2) provide up to 8 channels of independent effects processing
• EZ Routing function allows users to create and save comprehensive mixer templates for instant recall
• 10 audio inputs: 2 balanced XLR-type inputs w/ phantom power, 6 balanced 1/4" inputs, and 1 stereo digital input (optical/coaxial)
• 12 audio outputs: 8 RCA-type outputs (Master L/R, Aux.A L/R, Aux.B L/R, Monitor L/R), and 2 stereo digital outputs (1 optical, 1 coaxial) plus Phones output
• Direct audio CD recording and data backup using optional VS-CDR-16 CD Recorder or VS-CDR-S2 CD Recorder with System Expansion