Los Angeles, California - Oct. 2008:
John Keane has been composing and recording the music for the hit CBS series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" in his personal studio since it first aired in 2000, and has earned six BMI and ASCAP awards and an Emmy nomination for his efforts. A talented multi-instrumentalist who first appeared in the national spotlight in 1977 at the tender age of eleven, when he and his older brother Tom served as the musical stars and hosts of CBS's "The Keane Brother's Show," Keane has had a prolific and varied career in the music and television industries. He has released numerous albums with his brother and by himself, composed the music for dozens of television shows, and served as an in-demand session drummer for Chicago, Michael Bolton, Cher, and many others.

Because he's so busy and is required to produce such a high volume of output, Keane leaves all of his instruments up and mic'd in his personal studio. Although he had an analog console to bring his inputs into Pro Tools, he was less than satisfied with its sound. Moreover, he was reluctant to replace the console with a collection of outboard gear. "I've always been a console guy," he said. "I want something that's centrally located. I want my hands on faders. I'm much more productive with a console."

When Keane heard about the new API 1608 small-frame console, he knew that it would deliver the perfect combination of sound and functionality he wanted. After consulting with his long-time friend and engineer, Wyn Davis, Keane called API to place his order. The 1608 incorporates API's discrete electronics topology and is built to the same exacting standards as the flagship Vision and Legacy Series consoles. The standard 1608, with sixteen input channels, eight buses, eight aux sends, eight reverb returns and full center section facilities, includes a dozen 550A three-band equalizers and four 560 ten-band graphic EQ modules with space available for eight additional 500 Series modules.

"I love the flexibility of being able to move modules around and being able to add 500 Series modules from other manufacturers," said Keane. "No other console that I know of allows for such different flavors while keeping everything tidy inside the console. Moreover, it seems that a lot of other manufacturers are moving to the 500 Series platform." To complement its "API sound," Keane has added 500 Series modules from Purple Audio and Shadow Hills to the 1608.

With the 1608 as the centerpiece of his newly-renovated studio, Keane began to slot modules for drums to craft a truly awesome input that would be "up" at all times. Then he mic'd and tweaked his Yamaha C7. "The technical aspect of things is totally taken care of now," he said. "I don't have to worry about mics or compression or anything. I just make music. It's satisfying and inspiring to go out and play something and have it sound so great in the headphones and during playback. That alone boosts the quality and volume of the music I'm creating."

With another season of CSI coming up and a raft of backlogged personal projects, John Keane's API 1608 will be very busy indeed!