DJForums.com interview on SBS - systemsbyshorty

[soundmanshorty]

www.djforums.com

Here it is

djforums would like to thank Shorty fom SBS for taking time out of his busy schedule to sit down with us.

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DJF: Some history about you. Where are you from? How did you first get into this biz? What was your first job? How did you learn about this industry?

SHORTY: I am originally from Brooklyn, now I live in New Jersey.

When I was younger, I was involved in consumer hi-fi systems and car audio, where I worked for a shop. It was at these places where I learned about audio systems. Everything I know was self taught. I was also interested in dance music clubs and that sort of thing, and this is how I became aware of higher end sound systems.

I then started work for small installation company in jersey and I used to DJ. Some of the clubs I played at were worked on by this company. This was around 1988.

DJF: When did you start SBS? What was your first installation and what kind of equipment did you use?

SHORTY: SBS started in 2001, I was working @ Twilo from 1995 to 2001, with the Phazon system. I was in charge of their sound system. I worked there for 6 years. I also worked on a few clubs in long island, but that was mostly adding components or modifying their systems, not engineering an entire system.

DJF: What sort of equipment do you use now? Which pieces are your favorites and why?

SHORTY: There are a few different brands I tend to stick with. For signal processing, I go with analog BSS EQ’s, & Bryston Analog cross-overs which are the warmer sounding EQ’s & cross-overs on the market. As for amplifiers, I’ll go with a few different brands. I like Bryston amps for mid range mostly, but I’ll go with BGW, Crown, Crest amplifiers….whatever works for me at the time. For speakers, I like to use TAD if the budget calls for it but if it’s all budget oriented I will use less expensive product, but it always is depending on what the customer is willing to spend, some might say I don’t care what it cost give me the best Period. Others are working on a specific budget, but at the end of the day no matter what product I choose to use, it will be the best product in there price range to give them the best SBS sound system for the money they are spending. The best speakers out there in my opinion and from my experience are the TAD range of drivers. All my cabinets are custom designed around the parameters of the driver I choose for the job and built by SBS. If the customer has a lower budget and they want something out of the box, then I’ll spec EAW speaker. All fine recording studios use TAD.

DJF: What is the best mixer in your opinion?

SHORTY: I tend to prefer more of the “old school†type of mixers. For straightforward sound quality, I’ll always choose the UREI 1620. I’m very excited to see the re-introduction of this mixer! If the customer needs more features, then I’ll go for a Rane, or maybe an Allen & Heath. If they have to have some of the cheaper mixers ill pass on those jobs The mixers I just mentioned are quality mixers that are very flexible for some of the DJs needs & sound pretty good, but if they want some of the less expensive mixers on the market & if the client has to have them & demand those ill usually pass on those type of jobs because of reliability and the sonic clarity these less expensive mixers tend to have, too much time will be spent repairing it so its just not worth my time. I would much rather put in quality mixer from the start, to avoid any problems down the road.

DJF: What new equipment do you look forward to using?

SHORTY: Well, the new UREI 1620LE looks very interesting, as well as TAD’s new tweeter, and a new ribbon tweeter from SA. Bryston has just come out with a new product that I’m looking forward to trying out. I’d also like to try the new Rane 2016. And the new Pioneer DVD player, I’m mostly interested in it because it might play DVD audio, which is where the audio market will be in a few years I see the new format being DVD audio, which would have a higher quality sound than traditional 16 bit CD’s. There are a lot of new things out there!

DJF: How much does a typical installation cost?

SHORTY: Well, this always depends on how much equipment is needed and the customers budget. Systems can range from around $75K USD, and go all the way up to $400K USD. That includes all sorts of Custom designed pieces. Entry level systems can go for around $35K USD.

DJF: What are some of the most major clubs you have done?

SHORTY: The most notable system I’ve done is at Club Stereo in Montreal Canada, David Morales and I redesigned and re outfitted this room with the best product money can buy with no budget restrictions. This club has a top of the line, no holds barred sound system. It’s got Bryston amps, TAD drivers and all custom designed Bryston analog cross-overs. This room is outfitted with the finest sound system money can buy.

DJF: How did you get involved in Stereo?

SHORTY: About 2 years ago, there was a situation at Stereo, and they needed a new sound engineer. I had been working with David Morales on his studio system and I was his house tech and he asked me to work up in Montreal and be the new house engineer for Stereo, so of course I said yes. I was there a few times before that and I always thought it was a great room so I said yea no problem. I went up there and started working on the system at Stereo, trying to figure out what was going on with it & how it was mechanically functioning and how it was sonically playing back audio, I come to find out 90% of the system was old and shot. I explained to David what was going on with it so we decided to redo everything once and do it right. We wanted to keep it all analog for the best sound experience & use the best product period, so we are using Bryston custom analog processing & Bryston amps, and TAD drivers. David Morales is also very into audio, and we wanted the highest quality sound so he agreed that was the best decision to achieve what we both wanted. I then custom designed my own front loaded 12†boxes and loaded TAD low mid drivers. David and I re-designed the whole place, to make the best system possible. There is a bit more work to be done to take it to the next level, with some custom processing coming in soon. Stereo is like the guinea pig, we will use this system to test out new equipment and technologies. Many prototypes will see their first use at Stereo.

DJF: What are some DJ’s you liked working with?

SHORTY: Well, there are quite a few. David Morales, Frankie Knuckles, Steve Travolta, Hector Romero, Victor Calderone, Satoshi Tomiie, Paul Okenfold, Digweed…All of them are great guys and I’ve never had problems with any of them. They all respect me because I’m out there to do what’s best for them, to make them sound good. Majority of the DJs are good guys!

DJF: Which is your favorite?

SHORTY: Well, it’s hard to say. David Morales because of the way he challenges me to really produce the best product possible, Frankie Knuckles and Steve Travolta And Francois K, I like working with Francois K as well he really knows his audio equipment and is a genius. Most of the veterans really know their audio and equipment, and are easy to work with because they understand the sound system.

DJF: What are some of the things you would like to tell DJ’s when using a large system?

SHORTY: What bothers me is that some guys don’t understand how to set their level, or putting the levels up too high. Some DJ’s don’t listen to the system and don’t focus on what’s going on the dance floor. Some DJ’s start playing at loud levels when there aren’t too many people on the dance floor to ear damaging volumes. People are there to dance and have fun, not to have there ears damaged. Another thing is when the DJ cranks the monitors to distortion. Uneducated DJ’s bother me.

DJF: Which projects do you have lined up for the future?

SHORTY: I’m working on something new right now, a new technology that I can’t really speak about. All I can say is that it’s all analog and should be really interesting. It will revolutionize stereo audio reproduction. It’s something that has never been approached to the pro-audio in the nightclub world. It’s called THE HYPEX. It will make its debut in NYC & a club in Singapore.

DJF: What is your ultimate goal?

SHORTY: Just to build the highest quality sound systems for nightclubs, and work on new electronic components. And to give the clubber the ultimate sound experience.

DJF: Finally, what does SHORTY mean?

SHORTY: I used to work in recoding studios, with all these hip-hop guys, and I was short when I was young, so they gave me that name.

DJF: That’s the end of our interview. Thanks Shorty!

SHORTY: Thank you! You can check out my website at: http://www.systemsbyshorty.com - soundmanshorty@hotmail.com

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[A to Z]

>Awesome interview!!! I looked @ that new UREI...can't wait to see it back in nightclubs!. Good seeing you are doing your thing.

Mendez