SNS Systems Give Virtuoso Performance at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival
Dallas, Texas, June 17, 2004 — When Eric Clapton and a few of his friends — Carlos Santana, Joe Walsh, B.B. King, James Taylor, ZZ Top, Jeff Beck and Steve Vai — recently gathered at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas for the Crossroads Guitar Festival, Studio Networks Solutions technology was in-house to facilitate the recording of the benefit concert for future use on a nationally televised pay-per-view broadcast and DVD release.
Faced with recording over 10 hours of music between two stages, Fred Maher, Chief Digital Audio Workstation Technician for the Crossroads Guitar Festival, specifically called on SNS for assistance. Utilizing the Verari Systems DAW64 based on dual AMD Opteron™ processors running Windows and Nuendo 2.0 software, Maher needed a reliable storage system on-site to handle the capacity required for recording the full-day show. SNS supplied Maher with a four-user, 3.5 terabyte A/V SAN PRO™ with Fibre Channel hard drives. With a recording truck stationed at both stages, Maher used an SNS array at each location. Maher ran the “B” truck, while his “right hand man,” Jayce Murphy, ran the “A” truck.
“We needed Studio Network Solutions’ storage technology for its robustness and ability to deliver substantial capacity,” Maher stated. “Essentially, we were recording five to six hours on 48 channels in 24-bit audio mode at a 96KHz sample rate for high resolution, DVD-A Audio at each truck during the festival. Because of the A/V SAN PRO’s high-speed capability, we were able to populate the drives with a tremendous amount of data and could access it immediately to perform spot checks and play backs. This provided us with the ability to monitor the system and make corrections instantaneously. The SNS arrays secured everything they needed to capture.”
Fresh off the highly successful show, Maher, whose previous work includes conducting digital editing for successful bands Fuel and Korn, is back in his Los Angeles studio performing quality control on the audio in preparation for mixing in New York with Elliot Scheiner, the five-time Grammy Award-winner selected to secure the recording of the Crossroads Festival. Maher and Scheiner will be utilizing the SNS A/V SAN PRO during the mixing process as well.
The Crossroads Guitar Festival, held June 4-6, was a special benefit festival coordinated to raise money for the Crossroads Centre Antigua, a treatment and education center founded by Eric Clapton to help treat and educate adults with drug and alcohol dependency. Along with the culminating concert at the Cotton Bowl on June 6, festivities included live music performed on three stages at the Guitar Center Village on June 5. While Maher also recorded the performances held at the Guitar Center Village, he did not use the A/V SAN PRO to store data. According to Maher there was a noticeable difference.
“During the Saturday show we did not have the SNS arrays and it was difficult to do spot checks or play backs with the system we were using that day,” Maher commented. “When the SNS systems were attached they became a big digital tape machine to record and play back at will. When the drives during Saturday’s show were populated past a certain point they could not perform at the level that the SNS drives were able to perform.”
A/V SAN PRO is the storage solution used by world-renowned facilities such as Abbey Road, Sony/ATV, Wally’s World, Vidfilm/Technicolor, and many others. The A/V SAN PRO has earned respect among industry leaders as being nothing less than bulletproof. Using fibre channel technology, A/V SAN PRO is a storage solution that provides multiple digital audio/video workstations concurrent access to centralized storage at truly extraordinary speed. The system offers exceptional performance and stability to applications like Avid™, Pro Tools™, Nuendo™, Sonic Solutions™, and Final Cut Pro™.
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
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