Grammy Award Winner Elliot Scheiner Makes Yamaha MSP10 Monitors

GRAMMY AWARD WINNER ELLIOT SCHEINER CHOOSES YAMAHA MSP10 MONITORS

—His Speakers of Choice for 5.1 DVD Audio Surround Mixing—

BUENA PARK, CA (May 7, 2001)—After recently claiming two Grammy Awards for Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature, engineer/producer Elliot Scheiner has worked over the course of his career with such talented artists as The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Sting, John Fogerty, Van Morrison, and Bruce Hornsby. Most recently, he had the opportunity to mix the new IMAX film All Access in surround sound. Making its debut in April, film footage includes Sting, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crowe, Macy Gray, Kid Rock, Moby, George Clinton, Mary J. Blige, Al Green, and Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20). Spending much time recently engineering 5.1 surround mixes for DVD Audio, he has recently made the new Yamaha MSP10 powered monitors his speakers of choice for surround mixing.

Elliot Scheiner at Glen Frey's Doghouse Studios in L.A. Scheiner re-mixed Hotel California in 5.1 and now makes Yamaha MSP10s his surround monitors of choice.
Photo: Marcelo Coehlo

Scheiner says he’s only used three different types monitors over the course of his career, the first being Visonics, who have since gone out of business, followed by Yamaha NS10s, and KRKs. "I’ve pretty much stuck with the NS10s, but as good a workhorse as they are, with surround sound, you need to use something that’s a little more pleasant to listen to. So, I ended up using the KRKs for surround mixes, until I had the chance to use the new Yamaha MSP10s."

"I did a PBS special a few months ago, and the MSP10s worked out great, so I made the switch," he notes. "They are pretty, powered speakers; you put them up and they sound wonderful. I can cart them around if I need to, but since they’re available all over now, I plan to keep a set at Presence Studios in CT, a set somewhere in LA that I can have trucked over to a studio, and when I’m working in New York City, I know I’ll be able to get them easily."

Just completing Hotel California in 5.1, Scheiner said he noticed a huge difference using the Yamaha MSP10s. "When I first used them on the PBS special, I also had NS10s there, and when I moved the mix over to the MSP10s, the balancing and the sound translated very well. In the past when I would switch from the NS10s to other manufacturers speakers, the relationship was not nearly as great. The MSP10s relate better to what I do on the NS10s. As a powered speaker, they offer infinitely more low end. A lot of engineers doing 5.1 feel a sub woofer isn’t needed since you get more low end through active speakers like the Yamaha speakers."

Scheiner says he was confident with what he was listening to when he was A/B’ing against the original version of Hotel California. ‘When I put up the surround mix, I knew I was going in the right direction with the MSP10s. Nothing seemed unbalanced, and that was probably the most important aspect; the balances relate very well. You can’t do the old NS10 workhorse routine, it’s too fatiguing. Surround speakers have to be easier to work on, and the Yamaha MSP10s give you that. When an artist comes in to hear a mix, you want it to sound pleasant for them, and the MSP10 is a pleasant sounding speaker."

When asked if he felt most studios are 5.1 ready, Elliot commented that they’re 5.1 ready to a point. "You can do a 5.1 mix on just about any console, but you do need to augment because most of the consoles are not set up for 5.1 monitoring so you have to get some type of monitoring matrix. There are a few different boxes out there that do left-center- right-surround. What you record to is also an issue. There are so many different multi-channel formats—the Genex, the Alesis ADAT HD24— which I’ve been fooling around with lately, the Euphonix. DVD audio is 24/96 and these formats support 24/96. I’ve recently been doing everything analog, 8-channel mixes to a 2 in. analog with a brand new pair of 8- track heads and Dolby SR. This way, if the format changes, we’ll be able to get it right off the analog."

Although Scheiner has been co-producing some projects lately, his 5.1 initiatives on behalf of WEA (Warner, Elektra, Atlantic, Rhino) have taken up much of his time. "With everything that’s happening with 5.1 and DVD audio, I’ve been mostly mixing. Ideally, I’d much rather be producing as well as engineering. I’ll never stop engineering totally, I love it too much; it’s just more fun. It’s the whole cyclical flow of being an engineer—right now this is what’s happening in my life. I’m having a great time, it’s a whole new frontier, it’s the Wild West," he says, referring to DVDA.

With WEA leading the charge in DVDA, each of the labels work off a wish list of what they’d like released in 5.1. Often, Scheiner assists with the implementation. "In the case of Warner, they’ve got the whole DVDA thing figured out. John Beug is in charge of that area. The other labels are just starting to grasp what DVD Audio is with all of its surround issues. WEA hired me to get everyone on the same page, to explain to younger guys that are mixing and producing how to go about it if they don’t understand. On top of that, as it turns out, I’m becoming the artist liaison. Although I mix some product, ideally, I think it would be proper to call the original project engineer. Atlantic is talking about remixing a classic Led Zeppelin album, and I believe the starting point should be to research if the original engineer is still making records because using him or her for the surround version would come closest to what the album sounded like when first released.

Scheiner says a lot of artists don’t understand what DVD Audio is, it’s a new experience for them and often, artists come into a control room to listen to get an idea what it’s really about. "Right now, I’m working on Moondance and Van [Morrison] didn’t really understand DVDA, so I sent him a bunch of mixes while he was in London and found him a place to listen to them. Once he heard them, he was totally cool to it. The labels are totally respectful of the artists, and I’m there to help in any way I can."

Currently, there are approximately 14 million surround system users. General Motors already offers a DVDA surround system as an option for Cadillac. What about all the kids, the real buying public? "WEA is releasing some new stuff—Missy Elliott, REM, Stone Temple Pilots, Natalie Merchant, Metallica, The Coors—all kinds of artists are mixing in 5.1," continues Scheiner. "Kids spend an enormous amount of time in cars, and that’s the direction the market will go. Lexus offers a surround package now, and soon all car manufacturers will offer systems as options. Then one of them will be bold and make the system standard, just like the cassette player, and now the CD player."

Scheiner believes the transition from CD to DVDA will take a couple of years. "When CDs first became available, 35 percent of the buyers accepted the format with 65 percent holding out, and then it reversed. I think once the transition takes place, and the surround format is introduced to the listener through a major marketing push, the CD market will become very small." Currently, Panasonic, Technics, and Pioneer manufacture DVDA players.

When asked how his most recent Grammys compared to the first, the engineer/producer says, "the first was still the greatest – no question," referring to ‘Best Engineered Recording of 1977’ award for Steely Dan’s Aja. "And, it’s been 20 years since winning the Best Engineered Recording of 1981 for Gaucho," he says. "There have been 15 Grammy nominations over the years, but winning two this year, was pretty gratifying." The one that was the most meaningful of the pair was the Grammy for Best Engineered Album for Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature. ‘This was the first studio album since Gaucho which was the last time we won in the engineering category, so winning again with Steely Dan was sweet."

Scheiner said it was also a big deal for his two sons who were present to witness their father take home the awards. "Seeing my kids jump out of their seats was great!" The four Grammys are housed in an unobtrusive glass cabinet at the Scheiner residence. "The kids would like them all on the mantle, he adds." Speaking of kids, Scheiner says he loves working with young assistants in the studio. "I get them accustomed to working the way I work. These kids are like sponges; they want to soak up everything you have."

After completing the 5.1 version of Moondance, the Grammy winner will head back to LA to mix REM’s new CD in 5.1 at the Record Plant using the MSP10s. "I was thrilled when Yamaha came out with them; I was pleasantly surprised at how good they sounded."

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