Amazing ‘80’s! The Great River Harrison 32 EQ

The words “iconic” and “legendary” get thrown around a lot when audio geeks geek out about gear. But in the case of the Harrison 32C console, it’s okay to say: Those EQs are iconic. They are legendary.

After all, we’re talking about the sound shapers from the desk that Bruce Swedien helmed to mix Michael Jackson’s Thriller. ABBA, Sade, Queen, Janet Jackson and many more platinum artists have spawned hits through 32C channel strips. Those are no small credentials, but bringing in a big mixing desk is antithetical to the BB4 way, no matter how much we love that sound.

Thanks to the wonders of the 500 format, however, we can have those sweet sonics in our ears, courtesy of the Great River Harrison 32 EQ. BB4 now sports a pair of them in our control room, and they’ve quickly become a sound sculptor of choice for our tracking and mixing clients. These four-band EQs feature switchable high‑ and low‑pass filters with sweepable frequency, and they secrete a most silky sound -- warm, thick and creamy, with something a little extra-transcendent up there in the “air” frequency range.

“We really like how smooth the Harrison 32 EQ’s sound, especially when you’re sweeping through the filters,” says Kiara Mudd, Studio Manager for BB4. “You also don’t need to pump up the gain on these EQ’s a lot to hear the difference.

“We’ve found that these are great for tracking synth instruments in EDM, rap, hip hop and R&B,” she continues. “Soft synths sound a little too pristine, but the Harrison 32 smooths them out so they sound less clinical. When remixing, you can really hear the effect they have, especially on the highs and high mids – they really open up the mix.”

Adding a stereo pair of the Great River Harrison 32 EQ’s is completely in keeping with our sonic philosophy at BB4, which is to gather together many sounds spanning great eras in music. “Successful contemporary artists like Bruno Mars are demonstrating the power of capping classic production techniques,” Mudd says. “This is gear that gives our clients access to an essential element of ‘80’s music.”

Moonwalk over to BB4 to work with the 32 EQ and much more.