Eyes and Ears: The Engineer’s View
Pro at Home
My home studio is a wood cabin in my garden, so I have the reflections of the wood, which I love. When I built it, I put Copropen acoustic foam between the walls and placed some panels in the walls with beautiful fabrics. I also have books on one of the walls, and all of this helps with the soundproofing of the room. I live in the mountains so most of the external noises are birds, so it’s no big deal. I have a fireplace, and while I don’t know if this helps or not, it’s very nice to work with a fire next to you!
I started using GLM calibration software when I was living in the heart of Madrid. I was renting the home so I couldn’t make any big changes to the room I was working in. But GLM helped me to work in the best possible conditions.
I always use GLM to calibrate my 8330 Smart Active Monitors, and whenever I change something in the room, I’ll use GLM to re-calibrate them. I’m using the 8330s in stereo, but in the coming weeks I’ll start using GLM to calibrate the 5.1 system I’m putting together, again based on 8330s. In addition to the calibration features, it’s so much easier to control all the monitors that I have through the GLM system.
Time is Money
The main benefit to me of using GLM is that once I’ve calibrated the monitors and know that I have an accurate monitoring setup that I can rely on, it helps me work faster – so I’m saving both time and money, which is important to both me and my clients. I like the fact that GLM allows me to control monitors when mixing immersive projects too, and saving my settings in the cloud gives me more freedom.
Right now, I don’t move my monitors to other locations – they’re for my home studio. But wherever else I work I always ask for Genelec. And if they have Smart Active Monitors, I’ll use GLM to check how that specific room will react to the music that I’m recording or mixing.
That way, I feel like my eyes are helping my ears!
About the Author
Salomé Limón is a Grammy-winning engineer, producer and sound designer based in Madrid, Spain. When she’s not working with the world’s finest artists, some of her numerous other roles include lecturing at the Berklee College of Music in Valencia and working as founder/president of PIAudio, the association of Ibero-American Women Engineers and Producers.