Electronic musician and synth pioneer Lisa Bella Donna has been as prolific as ever, releasing no less than 13 albums since the beginning of last year. With each new recording she continues to refine her working process in the studio, so she is able to capture her signature detailed sounds — each representing a unique and delightful journey for the listener. After acquiring a Solid State Logic SiX mixer back in 2020, she has since extended her SSL-centric studio ecosystem with a BiG SiX desktop analogue mixer, a Fusion multi-effect processor and THE BUS+ compressor.

“It all started with the SSL SiX a few years ago, and now that the BiG SiX is in my set up, it has pretty much been on every record ever since,” she says. “The mixing faculties on BiG SiX are remarkable and the interface so flexible — I loved using it so much in the studio, that I decided to put it in a rack so I could use it on the road as well.”

Bella Donna’s most recent album, Electronic Voyages, available in both digital format and limited-edition vinyl, is an instant classic in the Berlin School heritage of modern synth music. Consisting of long-form instrumental tracks including “Double-Image”, “Inner Space”, “Metempsychosis”, and “Cosmotopia”, each of the album’s ‘four phases’ take listeners on a journey through different spectrums of synthesis — each with its own nuanced and expertly composed collection of sounds.

Electronic Voyages and a hybrid workflow with BiG SiX

On Electronic Voyages and other recent work, Bella Donna has evolved her workflow into a hybrid of analogue tracking, mixing with a combination of plug-ins and outboard gear, and finally, analogue summing to create her final stereo mixes. “I love tracking with the BiG SiX, you can get beautifully clean/flat sounds going to tape or digital, as well as pushing those faders and that will open up a wide variety of colors, tones, and transients going in, depending on your gain staging.

However, for me, mixing down with it is an especially rewarding experience, because you can choose a strictly analogue signal path, or combine extensive implementation of plug-ins with things like reverbs and delays on specific channels,” she says. “And when you pull these faders up, and dial in a little bit of EQ and compression, it is just remarkable. My last 14 records were all mixed manually through the SSL BiG SiX.”

“I feel the BiG SiX preamps play a big role in squeezing the juice & soul out of my tracks,” Bella Donna says. “I manually dial up the EQs on the BiG SiX pretty aggressively at times. — even without stereo imaging and delays, you can add oxygen to a mix and evoke a highly dimensional sound with its EQ because you are able to carve out minuscule modulations living in that soundscape. Also, the preamps can beautifully capture and harness the mammoth power and dynamics of the Moog Modular & Moog One while retaining the range and transient response of those instruments.”

A perfect form factor
For Bella Donna, the BiG SiX contains the perfect form factor and level of control she requires while tracking and mixing. “One of the things that I loved about putting the BiG SiX in my studio is that it is helping establish a precedent of how many channels I typically want to use on a recording,” she explains. “For instance, Electronic Voyages is no more than eight channels, yet my entire room is full of modular synthesizers. All the trunk lines from my modular system are all hardwired into a patchbay that routes directly into the BiG SiX.”

On Electronic Voyages, Bella Donna tracked everything directly from BiG SiX to an eight-channel tape deck; this was then transferred to the computer for more overdubs and treatment before sending back through the BiG SiX for final summing. While tracking, she says she typically runs stereo groups into the BiG SiX for her synth voices and assigns drums, percussion or sub bass frequencies to the mono channels.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bella Donna likes to ‘print’ exactly what is coming out of her system: “For lot of what I do, everything is committed coming right out of the modular into the BiG SiX, to magnetic tape. Then I will transfer the tapes into digital. From there, I’ll ornament the pieces with any needed overdubs, and create mix down and effect buses which I then route through the BiG SiX and perform my final mix to a digital 2-track & Otari MX-5050 Simultaneously.”

Synth magic with Fusion and THE BUS+

One of her more recent ‘secret weapons’ is the THE BUS+ outboard compressor, which she also uses for both tracking and mixing. “I have a series of (8) Moog 960 sequencers in my modular, and I will have a set of these sequencers doing the main theme in a piece of music, as well as another 960 controlling mixing and panning of various stereo synth voices. I will have an additional 960 sequencer routed to the side chain of THE BUS+. Using this method of side chaining on THE BUS+, I can gate or attenuate the amount of compression I want to use for a specific step on the sequence to the exact nuance.” THE BUS+’s multi-band & mid-side compression is fantastic,” she continues. “Being able to achieve evolving movement out of an envelope by compressing or expanding frequencies is great. THE BUS+ is just a perfect fit with electronic music.”

Bella Donna also uses the SSL Fusion — not only on her sequences, but other effected ‘sparkly parts’ of her compositions that bring more dimension: “What’s really fun to do is to have a side-chain sequence activating the Fusion, cranking up the Vintage Drive and Stereo Image width knob simultaneously, and then pulling the drive back and the Width up as the track recedes dynamics. The FUSION can really clean up your mix without ever sterilizing it.

The HF Compressor is incredible for work that I do with vocalists and drummers. You can really retain the range of the tones you are crafting, but creating room for everyone in the mix.”

The FUSION offers tremendous clarity and weight to a mix when needed, without clogging up a mix. It also adds so much width and dimension. The Violet EQ is amazing on instruments like my vintage ARP String Ensemble that I use on almost every release. The Violet EQ is also magic on the master bus of a mix as well. The Fusion offers a very musical and balanced signal path to any mix. I was truly thrilled to finally incorporate it into my set up.”

Like most of her electronic music catalogue, Electronic Voyages is meant to be listened to actively rather than passively, and this is how it was created: “My electronic music is not prim and proper — I like some rough edges, grit, width, and I love extreme dynamics,” she says. “How much can I get out of the stereo space for each piece?  To what length can I make the listener feel like they are traveling to somewhere far beyond the stereo space?

My intentions with music is for listeners to become so absorbs in the sound of each musical passageway, that they forget who is making the music. To unlock a wide-open space for them to explore their own minds and muse while listening. To hopefully return feeling inspired to create in some way. This is why I use modular synthesizers. I spent years recording & mixing other instruments. However, as a composer, this is where I found that I have a level of musical and sonic command that I cannot fully realize anywhere else. I want to create an inviting & everlasting sonic tapestry of music and sound for my listeners.”

To learn more about Lisa Bella Donna, please visit www.lisabelladonna.com. To preview or purchase her new album Electronic Voyages, please visit Lisa Bella Donna’s Bandcamp page: https://lisabelladonna.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-voyages-2.

Earlier this year, Buddy Hippi came up with a plan to transform an empty shipping container into a self-contained music studio to serve as an extension of the cultural education and healing services he provides for the youth of Boggabilla.

Creative Director/owner of Winangali Infusion, Buddy spent his teenage years in Boggabilla and has a transformative vision for the youth of the town, especially the First Nations youth.

“We heard about the great work Winangali Infusion was doing via our mutual friend Sydney rapper and Gomeroi man Kobie Dee,” said Chris Hamer-Smith, head of Nakama Arts. “Buddy needed some assistance to develop a music program that shares the basics of songwriting, music production and Rap, similar to the Art of Rap program that we have undertaken with Kobie’s assistance in Bourke NSW.”

The brief matched Nakama Arts’ charter perfectly. Wholly owned and funded by TAG, Nakama Arts exists to ‘assist artists who otherwise might not have opportunity.’

The request to Nakama Arts was to fund the purchase and renovation of the container and provide the necessary studio equipment including midi keyboards, A&H mixer, QSC speakers, Audio-Technica headphones and microphones, computers, cabling and – don’t sweat it – an aircon!

The town of Boggabilla lies in the far north of inland New South Wales and has a population of around 1000 with over 50% identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders. Like many other remote Australian towns, this close-knit community bears the weight of isolation and absence of many urban amenities.

Four years ago, TAG Cares was able to offer support in Boggabilla by supplying and installing an audio system in the community centre. During the process the team became acutely aware of the town’s needs, depletion of services and dearth of activities for the youth which in turn created a sense of boredom leading to destructive behaviour and high crime rates in the town.

Having once trod his own challenging path, Buddy’s experiences shaped his commitment to steering the youth towards something more positive. His journey is more than a personal one; it is a testament to the redemptive power of cultural wisdom and resilience.

As a Gomeroi Songman, he embodies the cultural heritage to pass down songs to the next generation, and it is this heritage that he channels as the glue binding the growth of Boggabilla’s youth.

“It’s my cultural obligation as a Gomeroi person,” he says. “Our people have been denied the opportunity to heal, learn and understand themselves. We work to actively collaborate and increase awareness and education so we can live alongside a system that is accountable and inclusive. Our mission is to use these ‘edu-cultural’ healing practices to enable self-empowerment and growth.”

With Buddy and Kobie both coming from similar communities and with cultural kinship connections to the area there was a clear understanding of how the music program would meet the needs of the youth. Not just as a physical space but a beacon of purpose, offering the youth a canvas to express, learn, and grow through art, music, song, dance, and language.

Its convenient location means kids can walk to the studio after school and it has already become a vibrant hub for the younger ones to have fun and introduce themselves to the new music equipment and empower from within.

In addition, a tight-knit group of teens has also discovered the studio and found a new sense of purpose. The space has become a creative haven for them and given them a sense of belonging especially after graduating school.

“The lads have said that music is now a part of their future and they’re set on what they want to do,” said Buddy. “Having contributed on their journeys we have a compelling responsibility to support and assist them for as long and as far as their talent and passion takes them. Some of them are at a fork in the road and making hard choices between very different pathways. We need to guide them in a positive direction. That’s really what this is all about, then it’s up to them.”

The emerging Boggabilla rappers are already on the bill of the launch event, scheduled for January 26^th, and will be performing Hip-Hop tracks they’ve written for the occasion. There’s a lot of effort and work going on in the studio in preparation, which indicates that one of the studio’s founding concepts is already beginning to bear fruit.

“There’s no shortage of skills, passion and capability amongst this community,” said Hamer-Smith. “Buddy and his team are incredibly positive and talented and their commitment to the next generation as role models, mentors and guides is truly humbling. To have played a small part in helping this vision become a reality is a huge privilege for us.”

The drone footage of a demolished Studio 52 is confronting. Even more so for Paul Higgins, owner and studio manager of the much-loved Collingwood studio for some 35 years.

As the drone swoops in among the detritus of a site that is now a medium-rise apartment block, the numbers ‘1986’ are clearly marked on one of the few walls yet to feel the wrath of the wrecking ball.

“We etched that into the studio’s foyer wall, showing people when we were established,” explains Paul Higgins.

Paul plays the video sitting at the helm of Empire Music Studios, the bigger, better and more ambitious follow-up to Studio 52.

“Did you find the place alright?” Asked Neil Gray as he opened the screen door to a very unassuming suburban home in Hoppers Crossing, 30 minutes west of Melbourne. Having viewed a couple of the ‘in progress’ shots of his studio, and seen the seriousness of the undertaking, I assumed there would be more signs indicating a studio from the outside. Inside, other than a couple of talkback speakers in construction and studio memorabilia lying around, there wasn’t much to give away the studio either. Even heading out the back of the large suburban block, past the saltwater pool, the large shed at the back of the property still doesn’t belie the gem inside.

It’s been about six years in the making, and a few more years planing before that, but Big Sky Audio is now a reality.

While it’s technically a studio in a home, the operation inside the shed is a full commercial facility. Gray used to run True Form, a rehearsal and recording studio facility in Spotswood. For 20 years, it was a go-to spot for artists like Jim Keays (The Masters Apprentices) to pre-produce new material, while others like the The Living End, Dan Sultan, Vasco Era recorded projects there.
He still works with a lot of those artists, in both the studio and live.

In the last eight years, Collarts has quickly spread its wings. The private education institute branched out from primarily providing music and audio-related courses into journalism and content creation, as well as fashion and interior design, through affiliations with Macleay College and a merger with the Mercer School of Interior Design.

It means you can study with Collarts at a number of campuses around Melbourne. However, the jewel in the crown is undoubtedly the new campus on Wellington Street in Collingwood. Collarts officially launched the campus last night, despite being operational since mid-September.

The building was previously home to a disability services provider, but after gutting it and injecting $6m into the build and fit out, the new campus feels custom made for music and audio education. The Dean, Ben O’Hara, was the last person to leave the old South Melbourne campus. Taking one last look around before handing in the keys, he was struck by two things: “One, it smelled really bad, and secondly, if we’d been looking for a new premises and were walking through there, there’s no way we would have fit in or felt it was fit for purpose. It’s amazing we achieved what we did there, but great we’re here.”

Eight years ago, Collarts started with a couple of courses and a handful of students, next year there’ll be 11 courses and hundreds of students.