Applied Research and Technology, a division of Yorkville Sound, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024. The company originally focused on the recording market, and the first ART products were digital reverbs. ART was founded in Rochester, New York by a team of engineers who first worked together at legendary pedal company MXR: Phil Betette, Tony Gambacurta, John Langlois, Richard Neutrour, and Terry Sherwood.
MMR recently spoke with Steve Hendee, Export Manager at Yorkville Sound and one of ART’s original employees, and dig deep into ART’s evolution from 1984 through to the present day. “We set out to produce good, solid, reliable products,” he says. “No bells and whistles, just affordable, easy to use, and built to stand the test of time.”
This design philosophy is exemplified by the product for which ART may be best known, the Tube MP. The compact tube microphone preamp was nominated for a TEC Award in 1996 for “Outstanding Technical Achievement” in the Mic Preamplifier Technology category. It remains in production and is considered by many to be the world’s most popular external microphone preamp.
Yorkville Sound was an original distribution partner, and ART officially joined the Yorkville family in 1999. Manufacturing relationships have similar longevity: “We have been using the same manufacturer since the beginning,” Hendee explains, “and treat each other as family.
On the importance of customer relationships, Hendee observes “ART users are almost like a secret society. Those who know, know. It’s a great global community, with two-way dialogue about the gear, hacks, what’s coming up, and what we should build next.”
Today, ART product development is headquartered in Yorkville Sound’s offices outside of Toronto, Canada, and the brand has grown to also serve the live sound and installed sound markets. At the 2024 Winter NAMM Show, ART announced the new Solo Series – a trio of all-analog 1U rackmount tube processors, priced to be accessible to any recording musician.
Jeff Cowling, Yorkville Sound’s vice president of Sales & Marketing, says, “One digital reverb concept out of Rochester in 1984 spawned a movement of recording enthusiasts. ART products can now be found in project and professional studios, and on stages around the world. For forty years, ART has inspired creativity and made music production more affordable and accessible.”
More releases are planned throughout 2024, with ART looking to the 30th anniversary of the Tube MP in 2025.
Can you talk about the genesis of Applied Research and Technology back in 1984? Who were the principal figures/personnel and what was the catalyst behind launching the company?
Steve Hendee: ART, for short, came out of the ashes of MXR, along with Alesis. There were six original owners and six “founding” employees. The owners were senior management at MXR, including one of the owners of MXR. The five employees were from MXR’s purchasing department, tech department, and three production people. Yours truly was production manager at MXR. In the beginning years I took care of receiving, audio test, packaging, and shipping.
MXR went out of business with very large backorders of a drum machine and a rack mount reverb unit. The owners of ART decided to go the direction of reverb units and rack mount processors. They purchased materials from the bank and the rest was history.
The original owners were Terry Sherwood, Phil Bette, Richard Neatrour, Tony Gambacurta, and Pete Beverage (sales manager who left the company early on).
In that first year, how many employees where there? Where was the HQ and how big was it?
MXR occupied a 140,000sq. ft. building (40k rented out). So [we went] from 100,000 sq. ft. to a 5,000 sq. ft. building. ART rented a floor in an old manufacturing building in downtown Rochester NY. New employees were basically interviewed by everyone and on their first day they needed to bring a case of beer for the 5:01 club. There was a lot of comradery in ART that was birthed out of these early days. In the first year there were probably six people or so added. Many of those were previous MXR people.
What was the first big-break product for ART and why was it uniquely appealing to end-users?
The original reverb from MXR, the 01, although a noisy 16-bit reverb that had a dealer price of around $1,300, did well. But I believe what broke ART into mainstream reverbs was the original ProVerb in 1987. Alesis had their table-top MidiVerb and MidiFX that were selling like hotcakes. ART introduced an all-in-one product with both reverb and modulation effects [built] into a rack-mount unit. Sales went through the roof. This was pre-China days and ART went to its longtime Canadian distributor, Yorkville Sound, to assist with manufacturing. Yorkville Sound managed MXR distribution, so everyone was familiar with each other. The ProVerb was very cost effective and helped spawn many reverb units that ART was known for in the early years – besides being known for the color pink! [The ProVerb 200, SGE, and other ART units were notable for hot-pink graphics/copy on its faceplate – Ed.]
When did the connection with Yorkville come about and how did it evolve?
As mentioned previously, Yorkville Sound was MXR’s Canadian distributor. When ART started, Yorkville continued this relationship and distributed ART’s products. Then came above production help in assisting this fledgling company. Then, in November of 1999, with ART having financial issues, Yorkville Sound purchased ART and a new chapter began.
Looking back on the brand’s first four decades, what were some “turning point” moments for ART, in terms significant product introductions, high-profile usage, corporate developments?
The ‘80s and ‘90s were “the reverb era” for ART. From the original 01, ProVerb ,and their successors – 01 and ProVerb 200 – led to products like the MultiVerb (1, 2, and 3) and various off-shoots. But what really took the world by storm was the SGE. The SGE combined digital effects and analogue effects specifically for the guitar player. Sales were massive. ART had moved into a custom built building, employed auto insertion machines, and over 100 employees. The SGE led to the SGX2000 and SGXNightBass. These used a 12AX7 in their circuits, but, like the SGE, used both digital and analog effects. And the SGXNightBass targeted the forgotten bass players of the world.
The next 20 years were the recording/tube preamp era. The TubeMP, arguably the number-one TubePre of all time, brought a tube preamp to the masses. The TubeMP has stood the test of time
What are some new or recent product introductions of note that ART is most excited about at the moment?
We’re in the process of revamping our PRO series: ProMPAII, ProVLAII, and ProChannel II. Updates will be shipping starting this summer w/ the first one up being the ProChannel III. These “flagships” have had a long history and large following. They are very solid units that have stood the test of time. Also introduced this year were three single channel/1u products: SoloMPA, SoloVLA, and SoloStudio. Single channel versions of above models, but with additional features.
Flipping the second question on its head: how many ART employees are there in 2024 and how big is the HQ?
There are only three employees left from the ART days, including an engineer and accounting person in our U.S. Yorkville facility in Niagara Falls, NY. The ART “HQ” is Yorkville Sound LTD in Pickering Ontario. All former ART offices, et cetera in the U.S. are a thing of the past.
Final thoughts/hopes for the next 40 years?
That’s a loaded question! Let’s say that I hope for continued interest and growth of our market, that making music is part of more and more people’s lives around the world – and, of course, that ART is part of that world. We are the music makers, we are the dreamers of dreams.
