Award-Winning TV Composer Scoring Digitally
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BUENA PARK, CA (April 18, 2003) Composer, conductor and pianist John Hodian has worked in a wide variety of genres including classical, jazz, rock, rap, Middle Eastern and avant-garde music and has applied those diverse sounds to the scores of over 200 television documentaries for the Discovery Channel, A&E's Biography®, The History Channel, ABC, plus Barbara Walters and Peter Jennings specials. His work has also captured Emmy awards for The Real Gangs of New York and Toshiko Takaezu: Portrait of an Artist. Hodian's Woodstock (NY) studio recently upgraded to the digital realm with the addition of a new Yamaha 02R96 Digital Mixing Console.
"The wonderful thing about the 02R96 is that it's an economical and powerful solution," he notes. "With 56 inputs, I don't even need a patch bay anymore; everything can be plugged in directly. Four ADAT cards allow me to go from recording 24 tracks of synthesizers to 32 tracks of live material coming right from the computer. I work a lot with Digital Performer, and used to have to unplug and reconfigure my previous board every time I wanted to go from synth stuff to tracking and mixing live audio and now it's all 'right there' ". While teaching and conducting the orchestra at his alma mater, the University of the Arts (formerly Philadelphia Music Academy), Hodian's composing career began when he was asked to score music for an Italian TV show. He soon found himself with more frequent scoring opportunities, including the film Blades and the documentary film about the Hollywood directorial legend, Frank Capra's American Dream. His current schedule includes as many as five to ten projects per week. "The 02R96 has definitely increased my efficiency in recording and mixing," he explains. "The versatility is phenomenal. It operates at 48k, which is common when working with film and TV, since everyone now edits video digitally on the AVID." The Yamaha 02R96 features 56 channels of transparent, full resolution 24-bit/96 kHz audio, a range of onboard stereo effects and full automation. The control surface and user interface allow analog-style hands-on operation. Surround panning and monitoring are included for both 3.1 and 5.1, and the unit will integrates with digital audio workstations and provides support for a variety of hard disk recording systems. Hodian's current projects include a new CD for Epiphany Records co-founder Bet Williams. "Originally, we were going to try to mix the album somewhere else [other than the Woodstock Studio], but the 02R96 mix sounds so good, we'll probably mix the entire album on it. It has a second mode of EQ which is brand new, and it sounds a lot warmer than most other consoles on the market. This is not a 'digital-sounding' board." For more information on the 02R96, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Professional Audio, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011 or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.
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