How to resolve AdBlock issue? Audrey Martinovich chooses Focusrite Interfaces
Audrey Martinovich is co-owner at Audio for the Arts, a recording studio in Madison, Wisconsin, where she serves as audio engineer and music producer. She is also an audio lecturer at the University of Wisconsin; a board member of the Chicago chapter of The Recording Academy and is a member of its Producers & Engineers Wing; an active member of the Audio Engineering Society; an advocate for the SoundGirls organization; and much more. Between her recording work, running a business, and her various professional affiliations, she certainly stays busy, so when it comes to her audio components of choice, she prefers to leave no need for guesswork or room for doubt. And when she is working in the studio or, as she often is, recording on location, she relies on the rock-solid performance of interfaces from Focusrite.
Martinovich was pursuing an education as an opera vocalist when she was inspired to pivot to audio. “I discovered that I had this very deep interest in how to make things sound good and how to translate what I might hear in my head to what we could hear then with our ears,” she recalls. “In the audio program, I was usually the only woman in all of my classes, and that gave me the drive to excel. I took it very seriously and looked around for studios around Madison that might have internship opportunities and came across Audio for the Arts, which was one of the only studios that really specialized in classical music and acoustic music, which aligned with my interests and expertise. I started at the studio as an unpaid intern and then eventually worked my way up to being a full-time engineer and one of the owners.” And partially due to the studio’s niche in the classical world, Audio for the Arts has turned into a go-to remote recording service, very often venturing outside of the walls of the studio to record orchestras, chamber ensembles, classical voice recitals, combo jazz performances – all the way to standup comedy sets, live theater, lectures and much more. “We have the reputation for being a very versatile studio that can deliver exactly what’s needed for each job, and I am proud of that,” she reflects.
Martinovich’s resulting list of credits is wide-ranging as a result: standup albums on the Comedy Central label for Shane Torres, Josh Johnson and Chris Redd; live performances for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Madison Opera; jazz projects from Johannes Wallmann and Chris Rottmayer; a contemporary classical trumpet/piano project from Jean Laurenz; a commercial campaign for Reebok; and much more. The studio also has introduced a popular monthly livestreamed series called Acoustic Moose, where songwriters and indie acts present acoustic arrangements of their material, similar to Tiny Desk or Unplugged.
Among Martinovich’s go-to tools are the Focusrite Clarett+ 8Pre 18-in/20-out audio interface and the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2-in / 2-out interface (“I probably have a handful of those,” she notes). Both are key to how she approaches on-site remote recording. “The Scarlett 2i2, in particular, you can just throw in a bag with your laptop and a few mics, and I have all I need for lots of these gigs. They’re just plug-and-play. And the 8Pre isn’t quite as small, but it’s still plenty portable. I set up wherever the gig takes me, set up however many mics we need for the gig, and just record directly onto my laptop. And sometimes those recordings end up on commercially available albums. Fundamentally I’m able to deliver a release level of recording quality with a very small, convenient, portable setup. And the 2i2s often get used in an audio feed for something being livestreamed, whether in the studio or out on location. I’m able to give a stereo feed to the video engineer, and the audio and video get matched up easily and go out to the world with no fuss at all. The 2i2 is a very powerful, no-nonsense interface. At University of Wisconsin, they are in the process of equipping their audio lab with a whole arsenal of those, at my encouragement. The students are going to love that development.”
She first encountered Focusrite gear as an audio student and has always considered the brand as a purveyor of highly useful, reliable gear. “The ease of use is why it’s particularly easy to introduce Focusrite interfaces to students without overwhelming them. It’s all seamless. Furthermore, the sound of Focusrite mic-pre’s is definitely something that keeps me coming back. It’s transparent, clean and accurate, but warm. Other brands might give you some harshness or noise floor issues, but never with Focusrite. I can always depend on this gear. I’ve heard their customer service is great, but honestly I never have to call upon them, which is the best endorsement I can give of the performance of a set of gear.”