"My favorite monitors have got to be punchy and bright. The Cerwin-Vega's give me complete happiness."
Rami Jaffee has accomplished what most aspiring musicians dream of: making a living making music, earning Grammy's, and performing on records that have sold in the millions.
You might know Jaffee from his first big gig, playing keys with The Wallflowers, or more recently, with the Foo Fighters (including a recent July 4th gig at The White House, as well as work on the band's upcoming new record). Or maybe it's the hundreds of records he's lent his signature style to, a few of which comprise the aforementioned, as well as Pete Yorn, Soul Asylum, Pearl Jam, Stone Sour, Joseph Arthur, Coheed and Cambria, Rickie Lee Jones, and Everclear to name but a mere few….
Aside from playing anything with keys, he produces both from his Los Angeles studio, Fonogenic Studios, as well as on-the-fly for artists around the globe.
In Fonogenic's soundstage recording room, where bands are recorded live, Rami installed a full Cerwin-Vega! Active speaker system as the main aural attraction. He was pleased to find they were a perfect fit for the room and the application.
"This sort of live recording is becoming more popular since it emphasizes the interaction and performance of the band as a whole—not something that has been done regularly since multi-track recording came into popularity! Unfortunately, this way of recording poses issues with all of the open microphones during the recording process, including picking up the other performers, as well as bleed from any PA speakers being used. These speakers need to sound great so as to not adversely affect the tonality of the vocals on the recording. I was extremely happy the way the C-V's filled the room, and proved to be a perfect match for the space!"
Last April, the studio was also the setting for a bi-annual celebration of the arts and music, dubbed "CCCCP (Constantly Changing Cultural Carnival Party)," featuring a variety of Cerwin-Vega speakers pumping out the onstage jams from artists ranging from Joseph Arthur to Minnie Driver.
"CCCCP is basically a party of sorts, celebrating the arts in LA. So far, It's been held biannually but it needs to happen more often as there's so much great live music and artists in town, and they need a place like mine to show and explore."
