Recording and Production in the News

Doc Powell Brings Prism Sound Clarity To His Latest Studio Project

The Grammy nominated guitarist and producer is using the company’s Atlas Audio Interface for the entire recording process.

Cambridge, UK. February 23rd 2017: Grammy nominated jazz guitarist, composer and producer Doc Powell recently added a Prism Sound Atlas audio interface to his studio set up and is using it to record This Is Soul, his 12th solo project and his first full album project in six years..

Doc Powell

Complementing the company's existing Orpheus, Lyra and Titan interfaces, Atlas offers the same no-compromise design, clocking expertise and acclaimed converter performance that users have long come to expect from Prism Sound's high quality audio products. The unit offers high quality digitally-controlled preamplifiers, eight analogue inputs, eight analogue outputs and S/PDIF and TOSLINK optical digital I/O ports. The optical ports can also be used for ADAT, giving a single Atlas unit a maximum capability of 18 concurrent input and output channels plus dual stereo headphones.

“I am very excited about this album because it was recorded exclusively with the Prism Sound Atlas and is sonically excellent,” Doc Powell explains. “This is my first introduction to Prism Sound as a user. I had heard a great deal about the quality of Prism Sound equipment and I have not been disappointed. This is a very important release for me and the Atlas brings out the detail of every recorded part – from the natural acoustics of a guitar to the muted sound of a live trumpet. Everything comes across with clarity and precision. What you put into it is exactly what you get out.”

As a guitarist, Doc Powell has recorded and played with some of the biggest artist in Pop, Rock, Gospel and Soul music including Billy Ocean, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Mariah Carey and Smokey Robinson. His greatest accomplishment to date – and one that earned him a Grammy nomination – was a rendition of Marvin Gaye’s classic track What's Going On. He also spent 13 years as Luther Vandross’ musical director, playing on many of his biggest hits including Stop to Love, Give Me the Reason and Bad Boy Having a Party.

Doc Powell’s latest project, which is being recorded in his studio in Atlanta, pays tribute to the soulful, funky and jazz sounds that originally inspired him and made him excited about being a musician.

“I am working with singer/actress Jennifer Holliday, the original ‘Dream Girl’, as well as Earth Wind and Fire’s phenomenal music director/pianist Myron McKinley,” he says. “The difference between this album and my previous albums is that it features an upright bass. I am also using the Fishman triple play midi controller - an amazing and totally revolutionary device that can be attached to any guitar and allows the guitar to play keyboard/synthesizer sounds like a keyboardist. I am known for using a Gibson guitar on all my projects, but for this recording I’m using a Fremediti Amphian guitar that is made in Greece and sounds incredible.”

This Is Soul was released in April 2016 and has already been preceded by two singles – the recently released title track featuring award winning pianist Patrice Rushen and a remake of Beyonce’s hit Love On Top, which reached #13 on Billboard’s smooth jazz radio chart and #9 on the smooth jazz top 20 charts.

“The Prism Sound Atlas interface has made a significant contribution to the sonic quality of this album and I am really happy with the results I have been achieving. Apart from that, adding Atlas to my studio was an easy ‘out with the old and in with the new’. It is very user friendly and a really easy piece of equipment to navigate.”