Recording and Production in the News

Orpheus helps producer Morgan Page enhance his unique sound

Los Angeles, USA: Producer, remixer and DJ Morgan Page has invested in a Prism Sound Orpheus FireWire computer interface, which he is using in conjunction with a Pro Tools LE rig for analogue summing of 'in the box' mixes.

Morgan Page and his Orpheus

"I came across Orpheus after a friend of mine reviewed it for Remix magazine," Morgan Page says. "He told me I HAD to get this thing because the difference it made to the sound was unbelievable. I tried it out and discovered that he was absolutely right - it is unbelievable and I really like the results I'm achieving."

Originally from Vermont but now based in Los Angeles, Morgan Page creates his own unique sound by layering memorable pop-driven lyrics over the crisp synths and pounding beats of progressive house. This effortless blend of melody, harmony, and rhythm has enabled him to emerge from under the radar and connect with dance music veterans and newcomers alike.

Page's first official album release, ELEVATE, established him as one of the brightest rising stars in electronic music, garnering a GRAMMY nomination for the Deadmau5 remix of his hit single The Longest Road, and two International Dance Music Award nominations as Best Break-Through Artist (Solo) and Best Progressive House/Trance Track for his original version of The Longest Road.

Page is now much sought after as a producer and remixer and his most recent mixes have included tracks for La Roux, Madonna, Katy Perry, The B-52s, and Yoko Ono. His most recent No. 1 remix was Bulletproof for La Roux, while his song Fight For You is featured as a free themed track on the iPod Touch/iPhone app Tap Tap Revenge 2.

Page creates his music in a Pro Tools-based project studio, which is also equipped with Avalon DIs and compressors, plenty of analogue synths (Moog Voyager, Dave Smith Prophet, Tetra, Mopho etc.) and various guitars.

"I do a lot of work in the box with Waves and Sound Toys software," Page explains. "At the moment my Orpheus unit feeds a Dangerous Music D-Box for summing. I use it in ADAT standalone mode, so I have 8 channels of inputs and summing. I also clock all my mixes to the Orpheus, which has been a major difference to the stability of my set-up."

Designed to appeal to both recording professionals and serious project studio owners, Orpheus is a 1U, 19-inch rackmount 192kHz-capable computer-based Firewire interface that incorporates many of the features and the quality of Prism Sound's top-of-the-range converter products.

Orpheus is fully software-controllable via a cross-platform control application (available for PCs running Windows XP or Macs running OS X), and is therefore ideally suited to the computer-based musician who wants to work with the flexibility offered by modern computer-based DAWs but wishes to maintain the quality of signals from analogue recording sources or processors in his digital production environment.

Prior to buying his Prism Sound Orpheus unit, Page had an Apogee Rosetta 200 but was keen to step up his game.

"Only having a 2 channel interface did rather limit things," he explains. "Having the Orpheus has really helped me work faster in the studio and get my ideas down more quickly. I was also keen to experiment and see what analogue summing could offer my "in the box" mixes. The Orpheus, paired with the Dbox, is an amazing combo. The transients are clearer and punchier, the bass is smoother, I get more natural gain with less compression and the converters are great at preventing any clipping."

Page adds that when he first started using the unit it took a while to wrap his head around the set-up with Pro Tools and summing. Now, though he finds it 'a snap' and describes his experiences with the unit as 'excellent'.

"As I do a lot of work in clubs and at festivals, I'm really looking forward to trying it out in a live setting and using it as part of a high quality DJ set-up," he adds.

Morgan Page has just finished an original album with Elisabeth Maurus, Angela McClusky (Telepopmusik), Dave Dresden (formerly of Gabriel & Dresden), Jan Burton, Samantha James, and Molly Bancroft. This will be released through the Nettwerk Music Group.

He is now working on a new album, which will exclusively feature Prism Sound Orpheus as the only converter for tracking and printing the summed mixes.