Ady was keen to “keep it fresh and interesting” and eschewed the idea of setting up a studio in his homeland of Poland. “I knew I would end up sitting in a basement,” he muses. So he packed up a camper van with eight mics, one audio interface and a laptop back in 2017, and drove off into the beyond to record musicians from countries as far away as Armenia and Morocco. Over the years he has built his RV into a fully functioning mobile studio.
Cultural Learnings
Ady’s is an incredible concept dedicated to supporting and recording local artists and bands, especially those that wouldn’t usually be able to make a record. “I love all kinds of music, but it’s been really inspiring to discover and record folk music and instruments from all over the world,” he says. “You can learn so much about the heritage of a culture when you hear their music.”
“You can learn so much about the heritage of a culture when you hear their music.”
~ Ady, Hit The Road Music Studio
Whilst on travels, he offers his services to artists who want to share a story about their culture and life, while looking for assistance to move forward in their musical career. Ady always chooses the performers carefully. “We like peaceful songs and always check the message and vibe of anything we record.” Having found his artist – sometimes he just asks at the local youth centre or bumps into someone at a gas station – he sets about turning any available venue into a studio.
Location Skills
The more he is on the road, the more interesting and diverse the recording locations are and the better his mobile recording skills have become. He has honed his mic positioning techniques over the years and thrived on finding workarounds for any issues that arise, learning new things at every session. His work has also helped him solve problems in the mix after the fact.
This time he wasn’t in a Moroccan sheep shed…
It was his bright, positive energy that caught Audient’s attention and we met up with him in California to offer him the chance to try out the new EVO 16 audio interface. With its compact size, time-saving Smartgain option and myriad of other features, we figured it would be ideal for him to take with him on his next adventures.
Trying Out EVO 16
So what were his first impressions of the new EVO 16 audio interface? “It looks sharp, sounds gorgeous and will definitely fit in my backpack when I’m on the plane to the next job. The handling is easy and I love the little details like the ghost when adding phantom power!” On EVO 16 Smartgain:
“Genius and convenient, it really helped to move things along more quickly.”
When asked how it performed during the session, Ady was effusive. “It was such a time-saver thanks to the Smartgain feature. I’m used to adjusting 8 to 24 knobs at the same time during the loudest part of the song, so I would have to ask the band to repeat that part several times over. Then after the soundcheck is done, we record the performance. The musicians’ adrenaline kicks in and the levels are way higher than they were and we have to do it all over again.
“With the Smartgain feature, I just pressed a button, the band played for 30 seconds and everything was set up with enough headroom. I didn’t even have to re-adjust once we had recorded the first takes! Genius and convenient, it really helped to move things along more quickly.
“Then those preamps. With my old setup, I had to use between 3 and 5 plugins per channel in the mix. The mic pres are so good I only used between 0 and 3 plugs per channel, which saved me around an hour and a half in the mixing process.” He attributes some of that to the excellent musicians who came well prepared for the session, too. On EVO 16 Motion UI:
“Now I can choose the exact channel I want to adjust using the display, which helps avoid mistakes.”
With the all-new Motion UI control system, Ady was able to see exactly which channel he’s working with using the full colour screen built into the unit. “I don’t know if you realise how much it helps me to have only one knob to adjust the input gain. Before I had 8 – 24 knobs and in stressful situations I might adjust the wrong knob! Now I can choose the exact channel I want to adjust using the display, which helps avoid mistakes.“
