“I was raised as a Christian, and I was taught to model my life after Jesus Christ,
but I’ve since converted to a different religion… the religion of Miles.’ So says the
multi-talented Hiroaki Honshuku, who now models his life after the legendary jazz
trumpeter Miles Davis. “Miles taught us that music has to be fun, and that we
should not play meaningless notes,’ he said. True to that advice, Honshuku, a
graduate with distinctions of both Berklee College of Music and the New England
Conservatory, has carved out a unique niche in the world of music. In addition to
moving traditional jazz and classical music forward with various groups and
alliances inside the New York/Boston corridor, he is melding improvisational jazz
with Brazilian grooves in a band called Racha Fora. The band’s latest release, Racha
S’Miles, is a brilliant re-imagining of Miles Davis classics, with a heavy emphasis on
“re-imagining.’

In addition to being a gifted and practiced wind instrumentalist, Honshuku is a
technophile and intuitive recording and mixing engineer. The band rented
Dreamworld Studios in Lynn, Massachusetts to record Racha S’Miles, and Honshuku
brought in his impressive collection of Metric Halo interfaces to handle all of the
pre-amplification and conversion. “No other equipment records as cleanly as Metric
Halo,’ he said. “Everything I do with my Metric Halo gear sounds so realistic and
detailed.’

Honshuku was originally introduced to Metric Halo and the company’s founders BJ
and Joe Buchalter when he was recording student recitals at the New England
Conservatory. “I was using Metric Halo’s SpectraFoo sound analysis software, and I
was so impressed by the brilliance of Joe and BJ,’ he said. “They told me about
their first FireWire interface in 2000, and I just jumped on it. The serial number on
my first 2882 is 099, the last beta unit before they went into production!’

Today, Honshuku has two 2882 interfaces, including his original, that he uses for
large recording projects like Racha S’Miles. Both have been updated several times
by the company as living proof of Metric Halo’s commitment to future-proofing all of
its products. In addition, he has Metric Halo’s flagship unit, the ULN-8, that he uses
for his daily recording and audio tasks, and a Metric Halo ULN-2 that serves as the
nexus in his elaborate live performance rig. Like his 2882, his ULN-2 also has a 099
serial number, proof again both that Honshuku is an early adopter and that Metric
Halo stands behind its products.

One of the keys to the otherworldly sounds that Honshuku coaxes from his
otherwise traditional instruments is Metric Halo’s MIO Console, the free Metric Halo
software that allows users to creatively route and mix signals or to add DSP using
the interface’s resources. He controls his rig’s output volume using MIO Console’s
MIDI infrastructure paired with a MIDI controller. In addition, he uses the ULN-2’s
onboard DSP to equalize his powered monitor signal using SpectraFoo.