Recently, I was lucky to catch Stereophonic, David Adjmi’s off-Broadway (Playwrights Horizons in New York City) hit, featuring songs by ex-Arcade Fire member Will Butler and directed by Daniel Aukin. Set within a dazzling approximation of Record Plant Sausalito circa 1976, the show follows a rising band locked in endless sessions while tracking their album. Sound designer Ryan Rumery worked with Sam Ash Music to assemble an all analog studio with vintage gear, and most of it rings true to the era. At the heart of the set is a Cadac G Type mixing console, manned by engineer Grover (Eli Gelb), and a 24-track 2-inch Studer tape deck operated by Charlie (Andrew R. Butler), who plays the tape op!
Hot head band leader Peter (Tom Pecinka) runs his Les Paul guitar into a Vox AC 15 amp two stories below the stage, while coke snorting Simon (Chris Stack) grooves on his Electro-Voice RE20 mic’d kick and a snare captured with a vintage AKG C414. The Fender P-Bass runs direct through a (time period incongruous) Radial DI, as bassist Reg (Will Brill) keeps going off on whiskey soaked tirades. When Diana (Sarah Pidgeon) leans into her big vocal moment on “Bright,” the whole theater was in awe of the clarity of that Neumann U 87 microphone. Charlie even wanders into the live room to switch it into omni mode for overdubs.
What’s remarkable is how Stereophonic re-creates the control room environment for a live audience, a scenario most of them will never experience. Intimate conversations between engineers with muffled shouting behind the plexiglass. The collective gasp upon hearing, “Let’s go back to the last one,” after accidentally recording over the previous take. Most importantly, the guys behind the board are the real heroes, putting up with the band’s abuse for the sake of the music. Maybe to Simon he’s just a “guy,” but his name is Charlie, and he’s the tape op. Look for a soundtrack album later this year.
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