Angel Fernadez equips project studio with SSL X-Desk

Acclaimed Latin producer Angel Fernadez has equipped his NYC-based ‘Missing Lynx’ project recording studio with an SSL X-Desk.

Arguably most well known for his work as long-time musical director for Grammy award-winner Marc Anthony, Fernandez most recently worked with Anthony and Jennifer on the Lopez Q’Viva! The Chosen TV show in Las Vegas. “When working with Marc Anthony’s orchestra I often feel like the music is coming from thin air — perfectly playing as one entity, For me, nothing compares to the instant gratification I get when I’m onstage performing after all the rehearsals and sound-checking is done,” he commented.

However, when not touring and performing, Angel can usually be found in his project studio. He explained: “Missing Lynx has become like a little haven for me. I don’t have to travel long distances anymore to find a place to record, plus I get to say, ‘Welcome to my place!’ Visiting producers and musicians enjoy the relaxed atmosphere because they’re simply friends stopping by to do a recording session.” Fernandez is very busy during his touring downtime, regularly working with a stream of renowned Latin musicians and recording projects: “I get a good amount of work for arranging and producing, which is a blessing these days in the current economic climate of the music business.”

When it came to choosing a desk for the studio, he was fully aware of what the SSL X-Desk could offer: “I worked with producer Steve Lillywhite quite a few times. He always used SSL to mix, and — on the sessions I was involved in — to track as well. I heard a definite sound, which was explained to me in part by producer Nick Launay — who engineered some projects for Lillywhite — when he demonstrated the use of the SSL compressor for sidechaining. He played me a drum track, which he used as the trigger for the horn section sidechain, and said, ‘Do you recognise the sound? It’s what Earth, Wind And Fire use to get that tight groove going.’”

Fernandez’s ambitions to achieve the same quality of sound in his private studio led him to the X-Desk. “The main goal in switching my console for the X-Desk was to enhance the sound in the final product. Before the X-Desk, I’d bounce the mixes within my Pro Tools|HD system. The combination of being able to take advantage of the full capability of the DAW I/O together with the SuperAnalogue™ summing in the X-Desk has resulted in much clearer mixes,” he noted.

Commenting on his latest Latino recording, Fernandez concluded: “The LD & Johni project has tons of tracks, and we’d been racking our brains trying to mix it to no avail — panning to the max to achieve separation, using frequency analyser software to cut unnecessary frequencies wherever possible, EQ’ing, etc, all with the aim of achieving as much clarity as possible. But once we went with the new setup based around the X-Desk we instantly heard the wider spectrum, pop, and clarity in the mixes that we’d been striving for — without any tweaking at all we’d hit the warm SSL sound.”

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