Music Composer Paul (Goldo) Goldowitz Proves He Is No JACKASS Thanks to Mackie's HR824 Near-Field Monitors!

Mackie

Posted 2001-08-04

Producer/songwriter/composer Paul Goldowitz - Goldo to friends and associates - and singer/songwriter Meredith Brooks are busy collaborating on the pop/rock star's much-anticipated third album. Thanks to Brooks, Goldo, who's other main project these days is composing original music for MTV's JACKASS, quickly found out about the power and clarity of the Mackie HR824 studio monitors. Goldo bought a pair of HR824s recently and it's made it easier for him to collaborate with Brooks on her new recording.

"I was working with Meredith on her new album when she picked up a pair of HR824s for her studio," Goldowitz says. "We'd been working on tracks between her studio and mine over in the Silver Lake area of Hollywood. I put on a mix that I had done with Meredith, but when I played tracks on my monitors and then heard the same at her house on the HR824s they sounded much better at her studio. I was hearing high-end and low-end on the Mackie's that I wasn't hearing on my other, to be nameless, monitor speakers. Meredith said to me, 'Hey you ought to think about getting a pair of these.' I bought them and they've been just fantastic."

Goldo, who mixes on a Mackie 1604 VLZ Pro, raves, "They're surprisingly powerful, punchy and true and they certainly don't hurt for volume. They're acting as both monitors and main speakers for me now."

Goldo continues, "The true test for any monitor is, 'is what's going in coming out the same?' The HR824s do that for me like no other monitor I've ever heard." Goldo also enjoys the fact that there are no separate sub-woofers on the HR824s. "I like the fact that it doesn't run a subwoofer," Goldo noted. "Sometimes you hear so much bass it's confusing. But with the HR824s it seems like the bass sounds exactly like you mix it. When I play the mix out in the real world, it represents a much truer picture."

Goldo's work for MTV's JACKASS program puts special demands on the HR824s. "For JACKASS, it's important to know that I'm not going to overload the bass, since normal TV speakers can't handle it," Goldo explained. "I can just be more accurate on my mixes with the HR824s. And they're also warm sounding, full and bright. With Meredith she's got some beefy guitars going on and now she's moved into a funkier, loop-driven music, and the Mackie's just give us an accurate picture of what's going on."

Goldo is considered by his peers to be a Digidesign ProTools expert, which he runs on his Macintosh 9600. Goldowitz drives his HR824s from a his trusty Mackie 1604 mixer with various MIDI keyboards, electric guitars and a drum kit, providing the sound inputs. Meredith runs her ProTools system at her home with her beloved Mackie HUI.

Goldowitz operates out of what he calls his Blue Marble Cocktail Lounge Studio in the Silver Lake, east Hollywood area. Goldowitz had illusions - "Actually, delusions," he quips - of rock stardom before he immersed himself into composing music for JACKASS and working with Meredith "I put out a solo album on Immortal Records two years ago," he lamented. "It just got crushed and spit out by the big labels, but I did end up getting one song on the movie GO, and that was cool. That actually gave me the impetus to start producing more on my own once I realized I wasn't going to be a rock star."

Goldo got the gig at MTV for JACKASS after he gave a demo CD to an MTV editor who passed it onto a producer. The producer liked it so much; Goldo was hired to do additional music for the show. "They need quite a variety of music for the program," Goldo said. "They want me to do a lot of original stuff like a punk -rock Christmas tune or some weird thing like that and it's great fun to do. I started about 8 months ago and I just love it."

What's Goldo up to these days besides MTV's JACKASS program and Meredith Brooks? "I'm playing in a band called Anus," Goldo explained. "It's kind of a cross between Frank Zappa and Ween. We play all around L.A, and I think we're one of the funniest bands around, even funnier than Tenacious D." Goldo is also producing BROTHER, another indie band from Australia. "They've been a ten-year successful indie band in Australia with Beatles-like harmonies, didgeridoos and bagpipes - I anticipate it'll be huge, at least I hope so. We were working yesterday with them and the HR824s and they loved them as much as I do, too. I have a feeling when they get back to Australia, a few more pairs of HR824s will be sold."

Mackie Designs is known worldwide as a leading manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, affordable professional audio systems. Mackie products can be found in professional and project recording studios, video and broadcast suites, post production facilities, sound reinforcement applications including churches and nightclubs, and on major musical tours. Mackie Designs is marketed by 54 distributors to over 100 countries.

NOTE: Mackie is a registered trademark of Mackie Designs Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

For more Mackie product information please contact: Mackie Designs Inc. • 16220 Wood-Red Road N.E. • Woodinville, WA 98072 Phone: (425) 487-4333 • Fax: (425) 487-4337 • Internet: www.Mackie.com

Music Composer Paul (Goldo) Goldowitz Proves He Is No JACKASS Thanks to Mackie's HR824 Near-Field Monitors!

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