iZotope RX Helps Top Nashville Producer/Engineer Duo Keep the Best Takes
Producer Buddy Cannon and audio engineer Tony Castle use RX to preserve magical performances from Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, and more
Cambridge, MA - Nashville producer Buddy Cannon and his longtime audio engineer Tony Castle have worked with renowned artists like Kenny Chesney, Merle Haggard, Alison Krauss, Jamey Johnson, Willie Nelson, and many more. One essential tool in their workflow is RX 4, which allows them to neutralize a range of audio issues so they can utilize the artist's best take.
Since 2007, Cannon and Castle have recorded six of Willie Nelson's albums. Cannon says that when Nelson records a song, each of Willie's vocal and guitar takes has its own magical moments. He and Castle needed to find a creative tool that would allow them to salvage great performances that are marred by pops, squeaks, or inconsistent proximity range. They discovered that iZotope RX allows them to save a lot of performances that would otherwise have been unusable for technical reasons.
"Last year we were doing a recording session, and the track had a popping sound on it," says Cannon. "The engineer brought up RX and suddenly the pop was gone and the notes were still there-it was just like magic. Willie's guitar, 'Trigger,' has traveled a lot of miles and at times he can be a little noisy. RX lets us make previously impossible edits so that we can use a great take."
Another RX tool they use frequently is EQ Match, which enables them to match the sonic differences between takes and ensure a consistent-sounding mix. "Willie isn't the type of singer to stand perfectly still at the mic at a consistent distance-he moves around a lot, which creates proximity changes," explains Castle. "If we need to comp vocal tracks, we use EQ Match to get a consistent sound."
Castle recently mixed a live performance by Kenny Chesney and used RX 4 to remove much of the ambient noise, unwanted transients, and the screams and whistles of excited fans.
"Since I got RX, there hasn't been one Pro Tools session I haven't used it on," Castle says. "It makes editing so much faster and more efficient. It's such a timesaver."
For more information about RX, go to https://www.izotope.com/rx. To access the full story and more information about Tony Castle and Buddy Cannon, please go to: https://www.izotope.com/en/community/artists/engineers/buddy-cannon-and-tony-castle/
About Buddy Cannon
After growing up in a musical family in Jackson, Tennessee, Buddy Cannon moved to Nashville during the 1970s as an aspiring songwriter and musician. Although he still writes songs and plays music, Cannon found another passion when he started producing records in the 1980s. Over the course of his career, Cannon has written several hit songs and produced multiple platinum-selling albums and number-one singles. In 2006, he won the Academy of Country Music's Producer of the Year award for his work.
About Tony Castle
Tony Castle Tony Castle grew up in East Tennessee, and began playing music in church groups. After graduating from the recording engineering program at Middle Tennessee State University, Castle moved to Nashville in 1995 to begin his career as an engineer. Over the course of his career, Castle has worked with many acclaimed artists, including Willie Nelson, Dixie Chicks, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Kenny Chesney Eric Clapton, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Jr. and many more.
About iZotope, Inc.
iZotope makes innovative products that inspire and enable people to be creative. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, iZotope has spent over a decade developing award-winning products and audio technologies for professionals and hobbyists alike. Used by millions of people in over 50 countries, iZotope products are a core component of GRAMMY-winning music studios, Oscar and Emmy-winning film and TV post production studios, and prominent radio studios, as well as basement and bedroom studios across the globe. Through a robust licensing program, iZotope also powers products made by industry partners such as Adobe, Avid, Microsoft, and Sony. iZotope was recently honored with an Emmy® Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development for its flagship audio repair suite, RX®. For more information on iZotope products, please visit www.izotope.com.
