Recommended Listening: Clover Productions

BUENA PARK, CA (March 29, 2004) — During the 1980's, a number of overzealous ad agencies got bitten by the studio bug and began to produce radio and television spots in-house, building recording studios and even TV production facilities. Most, however, failed to accurately estimate the overhead costs and technical intricacies involved, and exited the studio business as quickly as they had embraced it. Those failed ventures turned out to be a windfall for independent commercial production houses like Louisville (KY) – based Clover Productions.

"In many cases, those agencies became our customers," explains Mike Clover, owner and chief engineer. "But everyone was still able to maintain professional relationships and receive a high level of quality."

Clover Productions and its sister division, Airborne Recording Studio, specialize in commercial sound design, production and audio post-production, voice-overs and music for television and radio commercials. Clover has produced national and regional spots for Kroger, Big O Tires, a number of health care facilities and the Kentucky Lottery. The facility includes a 26' x 42' tracking room, three isolation rooms, lock-to-picture, a large music library and SFX, extensive ISDN capabilities, ProTools Digital recording and a recent purchase, Yamaha MSP10 Studio monitors.

"I still have my classic Yamaha NS10Ms," explains Clover, "but first and foremost, I really liked the way the new units sounded. We saw them at a NAMM show, and followed up with a lot of listening comparisons. They're pumping out spots ten hours a day, every day, up to 45 per week, and they have to perform."

Clover recently put the monitors to work while completing 14 spots for retailer Big O Tires with country comedian Tim Wilson. "Tim, his co-writer Danny Simpson and songwriter Dean Daughty, who was a founding member of Atlanta Rhythm Section, sat in the control room and were just blown away by the sound of these things," he says. "The first thing we noticed is that we didn't get the ear fatigue that comes along with some of the older studio monitors."

Clover's additional gear includes a pair of Avalon 737s and "classic" effects: dbx1066 and 1060s, a Yamaha SPX990 and a REV7. "Aside from the Avalons, we don't use a lot of outboard gear, much less our DAT machines," he explains. "Everything is ProTools and plug-ins these days – mostly from Focusrite, WAVES and the items that come with ProTools. We have the 24 MixPlus 8-channel hard disk recording/editing system with 888I/O digital input, and we sync to video quite a bit. Our business is not $5,000 mics; we have Neumann TLM193s, 421s, EV RE-20s, A-T 4047s, SM81s, and lots of Shures."

After playing music and running a small sound reinforcement company, Clover opened his first studio in 1987. "We became 'Clover Productions' when we entered the commercial market," he says. "I built my second studio in 1990, and in 1995, an ad agency in Louisville had an in-house studio and asked me to work for them. Two years later, I returned to working on my own, but got to keep their accounts.

"We'll do a lot of spots in a week," Clover continues, "so our work is kind of all over the map. We don't voice all the time, but we do lots of ISDN sessions, primarily voiceover to canned music, or jingles, the standard commercial fare. All the radio stuff gets shipped via email, so a decent DSL system is a must. In terms of mixes, we're not using a subwoofer, since most of our projects go to broadcast, but when we're doing jingles, we can be a little more critical, which is why I love the MSP10 Studios. And since I have to sit in here for hours and listen, they'd better sound good."

"When my stuff hits the air," he says, "be it a local or a national spot, it all has to sound professional, and the clients expect that. You really can't have a good mix without a good reference."

For more information, visit Cloverproductions1.com.

For more information on the MSP10 Studio monitors, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Professional Audio, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.