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SAE Magazine 12-2

Just to give you an idea, he was the one who record- ed Carlos Marín from Il Divo. Carlos Marín came to PKO twice, and the second time he called before- hand to explicitly ask for Taki to be there. He is part of the family. Some students told me: “PKO is flooded with Manley equipment”. What is the story behind this collection? That is a story you should hear from José Ramón (laughs). He knows the people at Manley very well and whenever they have met he has bought loads of equipment, some of the pieces were never even mass-produced. We have some equipment that nev- er went beyond the prototype stage and therefore were never sold. There is a bit of everything: equal- izers, preamps, compressors, microphones, a Man- ley Gold, a Manley Baby, a Manley Slam… each studio has some of the Manley equipment and there some more in the storeroom. What do you think of the new generation? Do you think audio training has improved in Spain? I see many of them are very worried about know- ing how to use Pro Tools.And I think to myself, Pro Tools is fine, but who is going to position the micro- phones? Using preamps properly, knowing how to positionpanels,havingtruemusicknowledge…that is where sound is. Being a sound engineer doesn’t mean knowing how to use Pro Tools. On the other hand, there are a lot of young people who are really interested in this profession, in true audio work. Training in Spain has improved over the last few years. Schools like SAE Institute, with good equip- ment and big analogue consoles provide students with a key base to tackle the professional world, even if you don’t have a lot of experience. Having a good base will always make everything so much easier. That was Taki’s case: when he got here, he already knew what a Solid State was. He knew ev- erything – he was really well prepared. In your opinion, what fundamental qualities are required to start in the world of audio or in the music industry? First of all, you need to be really passionate about music and audio, and listen to music all day. You need to like the profession, be very consistent and always be open to learning new things. There is no fixed schedule here. If I have some spare time I always spend it testing things, working in the work- shop, testing equipment or, like I said before, mix- ing on different desks, etc. It’s vital to keep doing new things so that you don’t get stuck in a rut. We are in a studio with state of the art tech- nology and every piece of equipment required to carry out a big production but, if you were to set up a home studio with a limited budget, what elements would be indispensable? Amicrophone,apreampandaconverter.Withnoth- ing but these elements you can start doing decent work and achieve good sound. But it has to be good quality equipment. For me, those are the essentials. Caco, thank you very much for having us and if it’s ok with you our next meeting will take place at SAE Institute. Thank you, it will be a pleasure to be there. n PKO Studios PKO offers recording, mixing, and master- ing services. It has a mastering room, 3 mix- ing rooms and 3 independent racking rooms of different sizes. From orchestras to singers, all artists will find what they are looking for according to their needs. Website: http://www.pko.es General info: pko@pko.es Phone: (+34) 91 633 2604 Fax: (+34) 91 632 4044 Infobox 46 People & Business // Caco Refojo Index

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