How the UA 610 console defined a sound and why Bill Putnam Jr. is rebuilding it.
In this video, Universal Audio visits the legendary town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama — a hallowed place where musical giants like Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and hundreds more cut timeless records. At the heart of those classic records was the Universal Audio 610 tube console. Whether it was at Fame Recording Studios or Muscle Shoals Sound, Bill Putnam Sr.’s groundbreaking modular console guaranteed these legendary sessions were captured with unmatched sonics.
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Watch Universal Audio CEO Bill Putnam Jr. embark on a journey of “audio archaeology,” as he travels to Muscle Shoals — with a baker’s dozen of vintage 610 channels previously owned by Neil Young — with the goal of rebuilding a UA 610 console and “make it a tool that will solve problems in a modern studio.”
Along the way, Putnam Jr. digs into the history of the UA 610 in Fame’s Studio B room with audio wizard Greg Pace of FunkWerkes, detailing its handmade EQ and tube preamp. Then, Putnam Jr. heads over to Noble Stead Studios in the heart of Muscle Shoals and talks to Grammy-winning engineer Craig Alvin, who was offered bongos at a garage sale — and went home with a ten-channel vintage 610 console instead!
Both Pace and Alvin provide valuable insight into harnessing the magic of vintage 610 channels in a modern studio workflow. Finally, Putnam Jr., heads over to FunkWerkes where he and Pace discuss the vision for the rebuilt UA 610 and how it can seamlessly pair with Apollo interfaces and LUNA Digital Audio Workstation.
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