PMC Monitors Bring Clarity and Detail to Bambu Music’s Many And Various Projects

Tuesday, January 25th, 2022
clinton

Producer and mix engineer Toni Economides and mixing and mastering engineer Clinton McCreery both have PMC IB1 monitors in their studios at Bambu Music in London’s Wood Green – and both are putting them through their paces on some very cool projects.

Toni is currently working on a solo album for Level 42’s Mike Lindup, which he is producing with his production partner Mike Patto, while Grammy nominated and MOBO Award winning Clinton is working on 2009 Mercury Prize winner Speech Debelle’s new album, which will be released later this year.

“I love the sound of my IB1s,” Toni says. “They are so easy to work on – so detailed and true. What’s more I can spend hours in the studio without getting fatigued and I’m always happy with the results they deliver.”

“PMC IB1s are great because they give you the full listening experience,” Clinton adds. He also points out that the rapper ENNY was nominated for a MOBO Best Newcomer award for her album Under Twenty Five, which was entirely mixed on his IB1 system. What’s more her single Peng Black Girls featuring Jorja Smith, also mixed on IB1s, was nominated for MOBO Track Of The Year 2021.

As the elder statesman of the two, Toni was the first to discover PMC monitors – he acquired his IB1s in the late 1990s after hearing a pair of PMCs at a friend’s mastering facility. Back then, he was mixing Nitin Sawhney’s seminal album, Beyond Skin, which was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize and won the coveted South Bank Show Award. Mastered on PMC BB5 XBD monitors at London’s Whitfield Street Studios, this album is a firm favourite for PMC loudspeaker demonstrations because of its huge soundstage and presence, which perfectly highlights the accuracy, clarity and dynamic range of our studio and home audio loudspeakers.

Toni Economides & Clinton McCreer
“At that time my studio was in Denmark Street, alongside the studio belonging to my friend, the late DJ and producer Robert Miles,” Toni says. “Robert’s work included Miles_Gurtu, a sonically brilliant album that he recorded with Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu. When Robert moved to Willesden in the early 2000’s, I moved with him, and we worked in a studio built by Recording Architecture. I eventually moved to Wood Green and my IB1 monitors have travelled with me. In all my studios they have deliver on every level.”

Soon after relocating Bambu Music to Wood Green, Toni set up a second studio for Clinton (#ClintonMixedThis) who became his protegee while studying Applied Sound Engineering at the University of West London. Alongside ENNY and Speech Debelle, Clinton’s credits include projects for Ruby Francis, Louis Vega, Latir, Kofi Stone, Jorja Smith, Manik MC and Maverick Sabre, Odeal, and Tony Momrelle from Incognito.

“We equipped Clinton’s room with PMC IB1 monitors because it made sense to have the same speakers in both of our studios,” Toni says. “That way, we can easily transfer work between the two.”

Clinton adds: “With my PMC IB1s, I don’t just get to hear the detail, depth and stereo imaging, which is great, but as a fan of music I really enjoy simply listening to music on them, too. The sweet spot of the speakers is so large that I can walk around the room and off centre when mixing and still enjoy all their sonic qualities. These speakers make mixing a lot more fun and enjoyable!”

Toni Economides & Clinton McCreer

Alongside the project Toni is doing for Mike Lindup, he is also producing tracks for US Electronic Dance musician Moodymann and working with Monica Blair, an artist signed to Moodymann’s Mahogoni music label. Other projects include mixing for Da Lata; mixing material for Portuguese/Cape Verdean artist Dino D’Santiago who’s new album Badiu was produced by Seiji (also known for his work with Roisin Murphy and Bugz In The Attic).

“My own personal collaborative soul project with Mike Patto and Reel People producer Oli Lazarus has resulted in some recent releases, with an album to come soon,” Toni says. “And I’m also doing remix work and some spin off projects with Peruvian band, Novalima, who I’ve been working with for decades. One of their albums, which I co-produced, was nominated for a Latin Grammy some years ago.”

Despite the differences in their ages and musical tastes, both Toni and Clinton agree that PMC IB1 monitors are simply the best.

“They are very much part of our sound and I, for one, have no desire to change them for anything else,” Toni says.
 

Toni Economides & Clinton McCreer

You may also like