Audient Spices Up Jolokia Studio

An ASP4816 console from Audient gives Parisian Jolokia Studio an added zing, despite the compact size of the desk. “This many possibilities in a 100cm by 100cm console is pretty amazing,” declares studio owner and sound engineer Dany Maatouk, who’s been running the hybrid studio with his girlfriend Katia Pereira de Almeida since 2014. There were a few desks in the running, but after relatively few weeks of research, he admits that choosing Audient was “…an easy decision. I’m sure you’re the only ones to offer such quality in this price range.

“For me, the only console that answered my every need was the ASP4816.”

“It is the only console that offers 16 channel strips with inline architecture, giving you the option to use it as a 40-channel mixing desk. In addition to all that you add an amazing bus compressor, some very high quality preamps and a ton of monitoring possibilities,” he says. He also appreciates the look and the size of the desk. “For me, the only console that answered my every need was the ASP4816.”

Audient ASP4816 in his hybrid 'Jolokia Studio' — Dany Maatouk and his ASP4816 console

Describing Jolokia Studio as a hybrid studio, full time sound engineer (and some time musician) Maatouk prides himself in being able to offer both fully analogue as well as ‘in the box’ mixing services. The studio itself boasts a quality range of analogue gear to complement the Audient desk, along with a good number of plugins and an Icon Control Surface. “What I really like to do is to use the best of both worlds. I’ll start a mix entirely analogue style out of the box, and then continue it in the box using some crazy effects and automations.”

He certainly enjoys working in the analogue domain, citing the ASP4816’s EQ sections as one of his favourite features of the Audient desk. “They’re those kind of parametric EQs where you can boost any frequency of 12dB and it will still sound amazing – very musical and easy to use. Also the monitoring section is very well made and thought out.”

Hybrid studio: “What I really like to do is to use the best of both worlds. I’ll start a mix entirely analogue style out of the box and then continue it in the box using some crazy effects and automations.”

Named after Dany’s ‘other passion’ for red hot chilli peppers – the edible kind, of which ‘jolokia’ is one of the hottest – Jolokia Studio is certainly on fire right now. He has a steady number of local bands coming through the doors. “We’re producing a metal band, a funk band and a pop rock project right now and work worldwide with a number of international artists too.

“It wasn’t always easy, but today when we see our work being appreciated by so many artists, and know that we are managing to make a living out of it, we could not be more happy,” he says. He explains the team effort that goes into it all: “I look after recording, mixing and mastering whilst Katia manages the studio planning, accounts and often helps with some of the technical stuff.”

So, what is it that they’re most proud of? “When I finish producing a project with a band or artist, and they come back to do some more – even if they had bigger opportunities. The compliment we get a lot is that the musicians feel great with us in the studio and they can’t see themselves recording in another place.”