Ben Arthur’s Dubway Days And The Metric Halo ULN-8 Print

Ben_Arthur_375On the set of Dubway Days are singer/songwriter, Ben Arthur, producer Al Houghton and guitarist, John Wesley Harding.

HOPEWELL JUNCTION, NEW YORK: Ben Arthur is a charismatic, self-made singer/songwriter who has released four critically-lauded albums and opened for such acts as Tori Amos, Bruce Hornsby, and the Dave Matthews Band. His knack for successful collaborations has earned him the friendship of many very talented musicians who tend to fly just under the radar of the mass media. That knack and those friendships will be put to the dramatic test on Dubway Days, a web-TV show – and possible Network TV show – that will air its pilot episode on February 14, 2011 at www.breakthruradio.com. It so happens that Ben Arthur is also an ardent Metric Halo user.

The tagline for Dubway Days, “Two Artists… One Day… One Song,” sums up the mechanics of the show, but its drama hinges on the immensity of that task. Ben Arthur and a guest begin a day of taping in the morning with absolutely no preconceived ideas for a song. Viewers get a front row seat to witness the false starts and eventual magic that evolves from the creative struggle to not just produce music, but to produce great music. Once the song is written, producers Mike Crehore and Al Houghton take the lead to engineer and orchestrate a polished, radio-ready recording of the song using the amazing tools of Dubway Studios.

“The whole process is thrilling and scary, with the potential for huge payoffs or embarrassing letdowns,” said Arthur. “The shows that have been taped so far with fellow artists Ollabelle, Vienna Teng, John Wesley Harding, and Balthrop, Alabama have generated some amazing songs.” Dubway Studios is often described as one of the few remaining great studios of New York City. Tucked away on the 22nd floor of an office building on Wall Street, Dubway possesses an all-inclusive wish list of legendary musical instruments and recording equipment, both vintage and new.

“The thing I love most about the Metric Halo ULN-8 combination mic pre and converter is that it produces excellent recordings, independent of the expertise of the user,” said Arthur. “For example, I can use it in my living room as a technological noob and still get professional results for my own artistic work or for the commercial work I do for AT&T and Blackberry. But a technological guru like Al [Houghton] can go so deep, especially in combination with Metric Halo’s ChannelStrip plugin software. Basically, you start with a base level of pristine, beautiful clarity, and it only gets better from there.”