Dweezil Zappa, composer, rock guitarist, audio
engineer, and son of early musical pioneer Frank Zappa is using AMD Opteron
processors to power the Zappa UMRK studio in Los Angeles, California.
"I'm excited that we have rebuilt the studio. I'm also excited that
during that process we discovered AMD. With their support and their technology
they are making it possible for me to do what was previously impossible
at our studio."
Dweezil uses AMD Opteron processor-based Digital Audio Workstations (DAW)
to prepare new digital masters and surround sound projects from the catalog
of his father for new DVD-A surround sound formats such as Dolby 5.1 and
to create his own new musical catalog.
"We literally have miles of analog tape in our vault. They span
my father's entire career from the early 60s through the early 90s. Before
converting any of the analog masters to digital we must carefully inspect
each tape to make sure it's not shedding. If it is we have to bake it
and hope for at least one good play as its being transferred to the new
digital format. We have several digital options at our studio but the
powerful new AMD64-based DAW that was recently installed is unmatched
by anything else out there," said Dweezil. “We could work for
the next 20 years just on projects from the vault but I have my own projects
as well. It's daunting when you think of how much material there is to
deal with, and what format it will ultimately end up on. The 64-bit capable
AMD Opteron processor provides the computational horsepower required to
handle huge amounts of source material, tons of tracks, effects, and virtual
instruments. AMD, along with their numerous workstation partners are helping
us create a fully digital production pipeline including powering our Web
site...Zappa.com." |
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