Club’s perfect pitch

MUSIC often functions, sadly, as mere background in many nightspots around town. But that’s almost never the case at Platinum Live.

As jazz violinist Michael Ward and his nine-piece band perform on a recent night, three large JBL speakers hang over the stage and under the high-beamed ceiling at this Studio City club, with additional speakers in the right and left rear corners of the front room, and a pair of subwoofers under the raised stage. They’re part of the club’s 5.1 surround-sound system, and as with similar setups in movie theaters and home theaters, this system pumps out sound with remarkable clarity, definition and imaging.

Record producer Greg Ladanyi (Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Fleetwood Mac), who has 18 Grammy nominations under his belt, is the club’s musical director and the man who selected the system he claims is the world’s only 5.1 surround-sound system for live music.

Why 5.1 sound in a live setting?

“You’re putting energy in five speakers instead of two,” Ladanyi explains. “They can better present the sonic structure of bass, guitar, drums, etc. There’s more space for depth, less compression, more room for the highs and the bottom. There’s more separation, so instruments don’t fight each other for space.”

While sonic realism is the norm, with most instruments mixed to reflect their location on stage, the engineer does take some liberties in Ward’s set, especially during solos. He makes notes emanating from the violin and lead guitar seem to fly around the room, left to right, front to rear.

Since it opened a little more than a year ago as Platinum Live, Stevie Wonder and Little Feat have performed as part of the live music offered each of the six nights a week the club is open. Violinist Ward will host the club’s Sweet Jazzy Sundays, with a changing lineup of top-name groups each week. Other nights are devoted to a mix of rock, jazz and R&B.; “The sound [at Platinum] is amazing,” says Powder guitarist Phil X, the band’s primary sonic architect, adding that the group would be recording a show in multitrack format at Platinum for future release as a live DVD. The club is a favorite of Quintin Salmond, chief executive of Ward’s label, Sweet Music Records. “I’ve been in clubs throughout the world,” says Salmond, “and the purity of sound here is just amazing.... No note is muddled, low or high. People have told me they’ve never been to a club where the sound was so good.”

Soon, Platinum Live may have more to offer than just pristine sound. Ladanyi, chief executive of Digiwave Media, also plans to bring in a state-of-the-art lighting system and intends to use the club for recordings, both live and studio.

“We want to make this the premier spot for live music in Los Angeles,” Ladanyi says. Soon, it may be possible to experience Platinum Live’s great sound without leaving home: Their concerts will be on the Internet -- with full surround sound three nights a week on a subscription basis, beginning in July.

*

Platinum Live

Where: 11345 Ventura Blvd., Studio City

When: Tuesday-Sunday; doors open at 7 p.m.

Cost: Cover varies from $10 to $25.

Info: (818) 753-1771