The past few decades technological revolution has touched us all, but few more deeply than the musician. Technology has permeated and altered every aspect of making and capturing music in not merely the tools we use, but the very nature of the creative process itself. And none have been more profoundly affected than the venerable drummer. Once the essential backbone of every band, drummers now compete head-to-head with their own digital doubles for a piece of the ever-dwindling musical pie. Those who have survived and flourished have done so by continually reinventing themselves.

Russ Kunkel is one of those survivors. His sound is a staple of American music, gracing thirty years of classic recordings for the likes of James Taylor, George Harrison, CSNY, Carole King, Steve Winwood, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Lyle Lovett, Jimmy Buffett and so many more. Still one of the industries most in-demand drummers, Kunkel is gifted with a deep musical understanding that goes well beyond simply keeping time. It's this understanding which, as an award-winning producer, has helped him to tap into the creative psyches of powerful artists like Bonnie Raitt, Aaron Neville, Graham Nash, Dan Folgelberg, Jimmy Buffett and Carly Simon. It's this intuitive musicality which, as a songwriter, has helped him to pen hits with folks like Graham Nash, The Neville Brothers, Clannad and Joe Cocker, as well as film scores for movies such as Heartburn, Smooth Talk and Certain Fury. And it's the unflinching, inquisitive spirit of a consummate artist that has kept him not just going, but going strong through both personal tragedy and an increasingly inhospitable music industry. This is a man who lives and loves music.

Not surprisingly, Kunkel has maintained a personal studio in his home since the 70’s. Recently, though, he decided it was time to make a change. “After twenty-five years, I decided I wanted my house back”, he tells us. So he rented a room in a San Fernando Valley building that plays host to a number of busy songwriters. "It’s a really great working environment. We all help each other out and play on each others projects it’s very inspirational."

Kunkel has never been one to shy from technology, and logically it made sense to update much of the studio to coincide with the move. The way technology works now, you can buy state of the art and in two or three years it’s outdated. We rebuilt the whole system about four years ago, so we got a good long run out of it. It was time to upgrade.

Sensibly, the plan was to put the whole system into the computer. A long time Digital Performer user, Kunkel decided to make the leap of faith and upgrade to MacOSX, still in its infancy at the time. "We got a new 1.42 GHz G4, and waited for Digital Performer 4. Just the Mac and the (MOTU) 2408 and 896. I’m using no outboard effects, just the DP plug ins and waiting for the new firewireTC Power Core."

Transitioning to a fully virtual setup was eased by Kunkel’s familiarity with Digital Performer, mused Kunkel. "I’ve done so many projects on DP. I know my way around it and I can work fast. If I need to work with someone else who’s running, say, Pro Tools, I just make stems and put them on a CD. I’ve never had a problem working that way."

"One of the main reasons I like working in DP is that the GUI feels like analog. I like to work old school and treat it like tape. I don’t try to fix too much - it’s got to feel good when it's played, then it feels good when it’s played back."

Another upgrade Kunkel enthuses about is the addition of a Mackie Control and a pair of Control Extenders, giving him 24 channels of hands-on control over DP4. "I got really good with a mouse, and the software will allow you to do whatever you want, but a mouse isn’t always delicate enough. I kept seeing ads for the Mackie Control, and when Dave Roberts at MOTU mentioned that Mackie and MOTU had worked on the drivers together, I was really inspired to check it out. The implementation is simple and straight ahead, one song and I had it down. The marriage between MOTU and Mackie on this control surface obviously shows the mutual admiration the two companies have for each other. The P&G faders feel wonderful, and I can move through the song so much faster with it; It’s really gotten me to rethink the way I work."

And Kunkel has been instrumental in bringing other old-school analog friends into the digital realm as well. Currently he’s been working with CS&N drummer Joe Vitale, producing the upcoming Stephen Stills album. "Stephen’s been working on the record off and on for about ten years now. My son Nathaniel and I produced Graham Nash’s record last year, which won a surround recording award. Stephen called shortly after. we’ve been friends for years, and said 'Rusty, we can’t see the forest for the trees, will you come and help us finish this record?' They were doing it all on two inch, and it was all recorded brilliantly. But there was a lot of stuff we needed to organize, guitar parts and vocals, and they had A reels and B reels, and it was quite a bit of stuff. And I said, okay, first of all you’re buying a computer. I got an iMac and a DP setup for them, and that freed us up to go in and get to work. Once we got all the info into the computer (and most of the time it was way more than 24 tracks), we could go in and organize, edit, etc. Then we’d bounce back to clean tape via the 896. It worked great, and the reprinted tape sounded better than the original master."

When we visited, Kunkel had also recently added a pair of Mackie HR626 powered monitors to the studio. "I’m really impressed with the sound of these; they’re very transparent. The idea of putting two woofers in a single cabinet is great, because it’s dispersing the sound better. As the load gets bigger they share the load; there’s no crapping out."

So what’s next for one of the busiest players in the industry? With as many projects as he’s got in the queue, a portable system may be in the plans. His son Nathaniel recently recorded a live Robin Williams album last year, and it won a Grammy. "He did the whole thing on the road with a Titanium Power book, DP3 and a MOTU 896. What a great little setup."