According to owner Peter G. Rebeiz, the main reason for overhauling the studio and outfitting it with the latest music production technologies, including the new mixing console as well as a new DAW system, was simple. “I really wanted to make this among the best studios in Europe and if you want to build a studio that can work for everybody you need to have an SSL.”

Installing the SSL Duality Fuse Pro-Station, a version of the console that provides the operator with integrated hands-on hardware control over the DAW, made perfect sense for today’s hybrid production methods, says Gögs Andrighetto. A veteran freelance studio and live sound engineer, Andrighetto helped repair and restore Balik Studio to full operation during the coronavirus pandemic and continues to make the facility his homebase. “A keyboard and mouse don't usually fit very well with an analogue console, but the Pro-Station fits perfectly. That was important for me, because 99% of my work is with the computer.”  

“We do a lot of classical recordings — and pop and rock music — so we wanted a really clean microphone preamp. And for classical recording, this is really the best microphone preamp.”

Having completed many  projects since the new console was installed, Andrighetto has had plenty of opportunities to evaluate the features of the Duality Fuse, especially the integrated Fusion analogue processor. “I love to have the Fusion on the master bus because it's really musical,” he reports. “If I want to add a little bit of drive, more highs or less lows, I can do everything I need to do in Fusion. I always have the Fusion in Mix A and if I want to add an outboard compressor or EQ, I put that in Mix B. The console is a perfect fit with the analogue gear that we have here.”

A rich diversity of projects
Rebeiz produces many of the projects that come through Studio Balik, and he also likes to support artists just getting started in the business by helping them record their first album. He is especially excited about an ongoing project at Studio Balik that spotlights the first and last violas, now owned by a Swiss foundation, made by the Italian master luthier Antonio Stradivari, in 1672 and 1734 respectively.

“It's not every day that you have musicians walking in with 50 or 60 million dollars-worth of instruments and start playing in your room. It’s quite a unique thing, so we're filming everything and making a movie,” Rebeiz says. “We're using the best mixing console, the very best microphones and the best recording devices. It has been thrilling, and we’re not finished yet.”

Rebeiz hoped to install an SSL console when he originally opened Studio Balik, but analogue desks at that time were very big and too heavy for the wooden floor. Instead, he installed a brand of console that was less well known and could present a steep learning curve for anyone unfamiliar with its operation. “The decision to install this SSL Duality was that I want to allow more people to come here, and I also want to make it more attractive for larger projects. I wanted a residential studio where you could go to create and compose,” he says, like George Martin’s AIR Montserrat, one of his favorite facilities. “I want to make it easy for people to come to the Alps in Switzerland and spend one or two weeks. They will feel at home and immediately understand how everything works. That is the true power of SSL, apart from its wonderful sound, because SSL is an industry standard.”