Gallery: Sound Scientist: Inside the Home Studio of Radiolab's Jad Abumrad

  • Image may contain Jad Abumrad Human Person Electronics Monitor Display Screen Lcd Screen Speaker and Audio Speaker
    Dustin Aksland
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    1\. Moog Sonic Six “I got this five years ago, because I could afford it,” Abumrad says of the 1970s era synth responsible for some of the darker sci-fi sounds on Radiolab. “It’s ugly and it’s harsh and I love it.”
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    Dustin Aksland
    02

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    2\. AKG K702 Headphones If you want to hear Radiolab like Abumrad hears it, listen through a pair of AKG K702s. These studio-specific cans are his faves and one of two pairs of headphones he uses to mix every show. __$300__
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    Dustin Aksland
    03

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    3\. Roland Juno-60 Produced from 1982 to 1984, this highly sought after 61-key analog synthesizer is the source of many of those dreamy, serene sounds you hear on the show.
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    Dustin Aksland
    04

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    4\. M-Audio Axiom Pro 49 Though it looks like a piano keyboard, this is a 49-key MIDI controller. It's able to play and manipulate any sound you can create or load onto your PC. Abumrad uses it for almost everything he composes. __$450__ 5\. Kenton Killamix Mini When performing, Abumrad assigns sound effects to this controller. He can adjust tones with the knobs and even map more than one sound to each channel. How he keeps track of all the functions is a mystery. __$440__
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    Dustin Aksland
    05

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    6\. Millennia HV-3C Preamp Abumrad prefers to plug his microphone into this clean-sounding stereo preamp when recording his own voice. Solid-state electronics keep the fidelity true. "I hear myself through this and think, I like that guy." __$2,059__ 7\. Sound Construction Desk When Abumrad got a MacArthur grant, the first thing he bought was this custom audio desk from Sound Construction, a company in his hometown of Nashville. 8\. Apogee Symphony I/O Any sound not made on the computer — a guitar riff, breaking glass — has to be converted into a digital audio file. That's what the Symphony does. __$2,500__
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    Dustin Aksland
    06

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    9\. Avid Pro Tools Radiolab's complex auditory landscape is constructed by painstakingly layering sounds on top of other sounds. Abumrad uses Pro Tools to do this. No surprise — it's the program of choice for recording engineers everywhere. __$700__
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    Dustin Aksland
    07

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    10\. Novation Launchpad S When Radiolab does live shows, Abumrad loads many of the crazy sound effects and scene transitions into easy-to-launch triggers. He then fires them off with this fully programmable 64-button keypad. __$170__
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