Tuesday, December 3, 2013
On Hold
This project is currently on hold....to many other things going on. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
More Songs On The Way
Time has been a valuable commodity lately. The recording process has unfortunately taken a back seat to some other activities. But it's about time I pick it up again. I currently have 2 songs in the works. One only lacks vocal tracking. The other still needs a little songwriting work and is currently only about half tracked. These two songs are bit heavier and delve more into the metal side. While not quite as progressive sounding as "Mercury", I like them. My plans beyond here include going prog with some of this metal and more than likely much more "metal" than this metal. Which kinda brings me to....
I've been trying to pick up on some new (well, new to me anyway) stuff and discover some acts that I've not yet paid much attention. One act was Porcupine Tree's records that aren't as well known. Interesting stuff. A few others here and there that I gave a good effort but really aren't worth mentioning. However, while digging around in Texas/southern metal, I came across a metal act from Fort Worth that simply blew me away. I have no idea how well known they are on the metal scene, but I fell in love. Oh, Sleeper or if you're a Spotify user, Oh, Sleeper – Children Of Fire. Great songwriting, creativity and musicianship. The lyrics on "Hush Yael" will make you shiver as the dissonant guitars are both beautiful and evil only to be swept away by gorgeous vocals over the top of the chorus.
So anyway, that's what I've been up to. I'm determined to get some tracking and writing done in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. Also, feel free to post here or on the facebook page and show me some stuff you think I should take a listen to, or your own music or blog.
I've been trying to pick up on some new (well, new to me anyway) stuff and discover some acts that I've not yet paid much attention. One act was Porcupine Tree's records that aren't as well known. Interesting stuff. A few others here and there that I gave a good effort but really aren't worth mentioning. However, while digging around in Texas/southern metal, I came across a metal act from Fort Worth that simply blew me away. I have no idea how well known they are on the metal scene, but I fell in love. Oh, Sleeper or if you're a Spotify user, Oh, Sleeper – Children Of Fire. Great songwriting, creativity and musicianship. The lyrics on "Hush Yael" will make you shiver as the dissonant guitars are both beautiful and evil only to be swept away by gorgeous vocals over the top of the chorus.
So anyway, that's what I've been up to. I'm determined to get some tracking and writing done in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. Also, feel free to post here or on the facebook page and show me some stuff you think I should take a listen to, or your own music or blog.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Sing the Scream, NOT Speak the Scream
I'm not a screamo person really. But in the past few years I've found some bands that I'm really enjoying in which the vocalist screams/growls. I've also found that I like some better than others. I also really enjoy it if the singer can actually sing.
In wondering why I like one above the other I've determined that 2 things really determine my ear's fate.
1. a growl/scream is always better with lots of wind behind it. Lot's of air and power tend to make them sound better.
2. They sound better when they are at least a little musical. This is hard to describe, but making the vocals understandable, well articulated pronunciation, and not so monotone tend to sound better to me.
It's kinda like Soilwork vocals vs Children of Bodem. Soilwork's vocals sit on top, you can understand them and there's emotion involved. I've never been able to get into Children of Bodem because the vocals have always sounded like an afterthought, monotone and emotionless white noise.
So the way I've determined I like to describe this is that you have to "sing the scream, not speak the scream" I'm not sure if this makes since at all, but I've never said it out loud and now I feel better.
I understand there are those out there that like the "Cookie Monster" stuff and that's just fine. But remember, it can still be cookie monster and sit in the mix in a place that sounds good.... and not like white noise.
In wondering why I like one above the other I've determined that 2 things really determine my ear's fate.
1. a growl/scream is always better with lots of wind behind it. Lot's of air and power tend to make them sound better.
2. They sound better when they are at least a little musical. This is hard to describe, but making the vocals understandable, well articulated pronunciation, and not so monotone tend to sound better to me.
It's kinda like Soilwork vocals vs Children of Bodem. Soilwork's vocals sit on top, you can understand them and there's emotion involved. I've never been able to get into Children of Bodem because the vocals have always sounded like an afterthought, monotone and emotionless white noise.
So the way I've determined I like to describe this is that you have to "sing the scream, not speak the scream" I'm not sure if this makes since at all, but I've never said it out loud and now I feel better.
I understand there are those out there that like the "Cookie Monster" stuff and that's just fine. But remember, it can still be cookie monster and sit in the mix in a place that sounds good.... and not like white noise.
Monday, January 9, 2012
The History and Future of Amp Modeling
http://projectk2r4.com/2012/01/06/the-history-and-future-of-amp-modeling/
This is an exceptional read. Guitar Amp Vs Simulation in a nutshell. I think anyone who doesn't like the simulation side of the story can still argue some of these points. But it's still a debate until it becomes the norm....and it will. Well said Sir!
This is an exceptional read. Guitar Amp Vs Simulation in a nutshell. I think anyone who doesn't like the simulation side of the story can still argue some of these points. But it's still a debate until it becomes the norm....and it will. Well said Sir!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Studio Pics
Just for the fun of it I thought I might post some pics of the studio. HAHA, not much I know.....
Yes, the keyboard is junk and I do use monitors that are straight out of a 1979 Radio Shack catalog....They sound fantastic. I produce everything on this site from this setup and I'm fairly happy the way budget sounds these days. Sorry, no pics of the $200k sound proofing job (comfy couch) behind the camera, the wall of guitars and amps (the Les Paul), the vocal both (closet), or drum room (actually it's still in the process of renovation, I've not yet completed the update to SSD 4.0).
Yes, the keyboard is junk and I do use monitors that are straight out of a 1979 Radio Shack catalog....They sound fantastic. I produce everything on this site from this setup and I'm fairly happy the way budget sounds these days. Sorry, no pics of the $200k sound proofing job (comfy couch) behind the camera, the wall of guitars and amps (the Les Paul), the vocal both (closet), or drum room (actually it's still in the process of renovation, I've not yet completed the update to SSD 4.0).
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Steven Slate Drums 4.0
As a beta tester, I can tell you that this is total awesomeness. I hope
most of our suggestions got looked into and I hope a few things got
fixed. But all in all I've been very impressed. If you're already a
Slate fan, you're gonna make a mess in your shorts over 4.0. If you're
not a Slate fan, it might be in your very near future to become one.
this software rocks my socks, the new player is MUCH better, the samples
are totally unprocessed, the velocities are much better, the cymbals
are better, everything is better! Here's a quick sound sample of a new
song I've been working on for a few months now (ssd4.0(beta), X50
rhythm, Anvil Lead, BOD/Lextac bass: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3406793/Dtest2.mp3
Thank you Mr. Slate for the great opportunity to test SSD 4.0. I wish the best for you and this great new addition to my arsenal.
Steven Slate Drums 4.0
Holiday PreRelease
December 22nd 2012
100 Drumkits, New SSD Player, and Much More!
Steven Slate Drums 4.0 is now available as a holiday prerelease!
3 long years in the making, Steven Slate Drums 4 Platinum is the most complete and versatile drum instrument containing 100 preset drumkits including the new Deluxe Series kits, which Steven recorded with the most extreme precision and detail resulting in amazing playability. The Deluxe series kits are unprocessed, yet sound so big and rich, very little processing is required to make them sit in the mix. SSD4 has everything you could ever want in a drum instrument, starting with the new SSD Player, a new VST AU RTAS drum sampler built from the ground up by the award winning Slate Digital team.
SSD4 contains kits in every genre you can think of, such as metal, reggae, funk, vintage, 60's, 70's, 80's, rock, country, electro, dance, urban, and even jazz and brushes. You have unprocessed kit, processed kits, and kits with both! There are even kits that model famous drum sounds from artists such as Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Metallica, Dream Theater, and more! Cymbals are all sampled from Soultone custom Turkish cymbals. Roland Vdrums, Yamaha DTX, and Pearl E Pro Live edrums are all supported. The internal groove player makes it easy to get real pro drum sounds in your mixes without ever having to hit a midi note.
UPGRADE from SSD 3.x or CROSSGRADE
If you own SSD 3.x Platinum or EX, or own a competing drum instrument (see crossgrade page for specific titles that qualify) you can get SSD4 for HALF OFF for a limited time!!
Visit our upgrade crossgrade page HERE
upgrades expire February 28th 2012, crossgrades Expire February 1st 2012
Watch the SSD4 Launch Video
The SSD4 Launch Video takes you through the new SSD4 Player, and has live kit performances by Jerry Lyons and Walter Turner III on the jazz drums.
You can also hear many more audio demos of new kits at our website,
http://www.stevenslatedrums.com
TO PURCHASE Steven Slate Drums, Visit Our Store:
http://www.stevenslatedrums.com/store/
IMPORTANT INFO ON PRERELEASE:
This is a holiday prerelease, and therefore, there will be a few updates coming within the next two weeks:
- 64bit versions
- Complete Groove Library
The Slate Team is committed to YOU, the CUSTOMER. If you have any problems, or questions, please submit a support ticket here:
http://www.slatedigital.com/support
Thank you Mr. Slate for the great opportunity to test SSD 4.0. I wish the best for you and this great new addition to my arsenal.
Steven Slate Drums 4.0
Holiday PreRelease
December 22nd 2012
100 Drumkits, New SSD Player, and Much More!
Steven Slate Drums 4.0 is now available as a holiday prerelease!
3 long years in the making, Steven Slate Drums 4 Platinum is the most complete and versatile drum instrument containing 100 preset drumkits including the new Deluxe Series kits, which Steven recorded with the most extreme precision and detail resulting in amazing playability. The Deluxe series kits are unprocessed, yet sound so big and rich, very little processing is required to make them sit in the mix. SSD4 has everything you could ever want in a drum instrument, starting with the new SSD Player, a new VST AU RTAS drum sampler built from the ground up by the award winning Slate Digital team.
SSD4 contains kits in every genre you can think of, such as metal, reggae, funk, vintage, 60's, 70's, 80's, rock, country, electro, dance, urban, and even jazz and brushes. You have unprocessed kit, processed kits, and kits with both! There are even kits that model famous drum sounds from artists such as Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Metallica, Dream Theater, and more! Cymbals are all sampled from Soultone custom Turkish cymbals. Roland Vdrums, Yamaha DTX, and Pearl E Pro Live edrums are all supported. The internal groove player makes it easy to get real pro drum sounds in your mixes without ever having to hit a midi note.
UPGRADE from SSD 3.x or CROSSGRADE
If you own SSD 3.x Platinum or EX, or own a competing drum instrument (see crossgrade page for specific titles that qualify) you can get SSD4 for HALF OFF for a limited time!!
Visit our upgrade crossgrade page HERE
upgrades expire February 28th 2012, crossgrades Expire February 1st 2012
Watch the SSD4 Launch Video
The SSD4 Launch Video takes you through the new SSD4 Player, and has live kit performances by Jerry Lyons and Walter Turner III on the jazz drums.
You can also hear many more audio demos of new kits at our website,
http://www.stevenslatedrums.com
TO PURCHASE Steven Slate Drums, Visit Our Store:
http://www.stevenslatedrums.com/store/
IMPORTANT INFO ON PRERELEASE:
This is a holiday prerelease, and therefore, there will be a few updates coming within the next two weeks:
- 64bit versions
- Complete Groove Library
The Slate Team is committed to YOU, the CUSTOMER. If you have any problems, or questions, please submit a support ticket here:
http://www.slatedigital.com/support
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Gibson Guitars Raid
Click Here to sign a petition to support Gibsom
Click here for Gibson's Website and the story
Wow, just wow. This is wrong. Read it and let others know.
Much love Gibson! Give it to 'em.
Monday, August 29, 2011
The Anvil - Ignite Amps Newest VST Plugin
Description:
The Anvil is a digital emulation of a three channels tube preamplifier for guitar. It has been developed to accurately model its real hardware counterpart, designed by Andy Zeugs.
Features:
− Dynamic 12AX7 / ECC83 coupled triode stages analog modeling
− Three channels: clean, rhythm and lead, each with fully separated controls
− Mono / Stereo processing support
− Selectable oversampling rate (up to 8x)
− Global input / output level controls
− Double precision (64 bit) floating point mathematical model
− Fully automatable controls
- Zero latency
Fully coded in C++
Click here to Download
I was given the opportunity to test this beast before it's release. Thanks for the opportunity Alu! Although it's not my favorite, It keeps growing on me. and honestly, I still have mixed feelings about it. I could even change my mind about it again before I finish typing this. Having said that, two things are certain.
1. The Anvil plays like a dream. It's very responsive and tight. It responds well to dynamic changes and simply feels good. And I mean GOOD.
2. Most of you will absolutely love it.
The Anvil tends to have a very scooped profile. The first time I inserted it on a track, I already had the track recorded. Meaning that I heard it before I played it. I knew it was going to be more scooped than what I generally like, but I almost didn't even want to play it.
..But then I picked up the guitar and started playing.....and couldn't stop. I thought "This thing feels fantastic!" So much so that I stayed up way too late one night just playing. It responds well and just feels real.
I've found that I really like playing the Anvil with less gain. It sounds better to me with a (still on the lead channel mind you) little less gain than I would normally use. And I think you can hear it in the examples below. This less gain worked really well for the slide part as well (hear below).
So then I did my comparison tests and decided that I still like my NRR1/x50 tone better. It simply cuts through the mix better and has a little more uumph in those mids that I like. I also think the Anvil has just a hair too much upper end saturation, making it a little muddy at times. NRR1/x50, while a little brighter and a little harsh-er, has a slightly smoother curve up the frequency range to me. But I'm certainly not finished experimenting with this amp and I could completely change my mind in a few days.
For the nice feeling it has, I'll probably use The Anvil to track with. And with some more experimenting with cabs and post EQ changes, I can probably find a better way of fine tuning this amp to make it sound more like something I could use for everything.
Screenshot of my Settings
Anvil - Take 1
Anvil - Take 2 re-tracked, better playing and added slide
X50/NRR1 - Take 2 X50 on the left, NRR1v1 on the right - Understand that I've had months to refine this tone as well. I still love the bite it has!
Bass: TSE B.O.D., Lextac
Drums SSD 3.5
Thanks Ignite Amps for a beautiful plugin.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Steven Slate Drums 4.0
Just got an email. Here's to even better sounding drums in the future, I'm excited:
The New STEVEN SLATE DRUMS Virtual Instrument
The new STEVEN SLATE DRUMS 4.0 Virtual Instrument is going to be the most massive drum instrument in the industry. New in 4.0 is the new SSD4 Player, a drum sampler built from the ground up by the same development team behind the award winning TRIGGER drum replacement plugin. Also new are dozens of new drumkits recorded by Steven Slate called the DELUXE series. These new unprocessed kits use Steven's years of experience in recording drums to create the most amazing sounding virtual kits you'll hear! New kits include multiple Rock kits, a Jazz and Brushes kit, a vintage early 60's Ringo kit, and even 5 new Electro, Dance, and Urban kits designed by producer Griffon Boice. SSD4 will also debut with multiple expansion packs in various genres by some of the top producers and mixers in the field.
So do you want to be one of the first people to try SSD4? Well.. there's a catch. We're looking for some people who will want to help us make this plugin a rock solid beast on all systems and in all DAWS. If you're willing to put the time in to help, then you should be part of our beta team! We're going to choose 50 new people to join the SSD4 beta team this week. Here is how:
1. Sign in to your TWITTER account and follow Steven Slate at @slateproaudio
2. Later today, Steven will announce how to apply to be an SSD4 beta tester.
3. That's it.
So do you want to be one of the first people to try SSD4? Well.. there's a catch. We're looking for some people who will want to help us make this plugin a rock solid beast on all systems and in all DAWS. If you're willing to put the time in to help, then you should be part of our beta team! We're going to choose 50 new people to join the SSD4 beta team this week. Here is how:
1. Sign in to your TWITTER account and follow Steven Slate at @slateproaudio
2. Later today, Steven will announce how to apply to be an SSD4 beta tester.
3. That's it.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
New Song - Mercury
http://asonorouspose.bandcamp.com/track/mercury
It's been a long time coming....but here it is. The past year has been a little crazy. I've been working on this song since last September and I have finally finished it. I was going to wait to release it, but decided I needed something new on here. I currently have 2 other songs in the works, so hopefully it won't be this long on those.
"Mercury" was recorded in my usual fashion. I used the Vox sim from Revalver for the cleans and NNR1 and Lextac for the distortion. I think they make for a real nice mix. Tips on how I've set up the tones can be found in past blogs.
I hope you enjoy!
Please feel free to leave comments or questions. If you like the tracks, I would encourage you to buy it from my bandcamp page. Just click on the music player at the top.
Here's the skinny: I spent much more time on this one with editing, tweeking and getting everything just right, and I think it shows. Steven slate 3.5 just like all the others for the drums. Very little actually changed with the drums from past mixes. It's probably more about how the the guitars/vocals/bass are mixed. I spent extra time with the verbs and delay to put everything in the same space. Epicverb and taldubIII.The opening clean guitars are Revalver 3 Fox, redwirez Marshall IR's, double tracked with tal chorus (same dude who did tal-dub delays - WONDERFUL plugs btw if you haven't tried them) on each side, epicverb and taldubIII delay.....my cpu hates me.....I ended up bouncing everything to keep the cpu down. Distortion: And thank you, Alu, for NRR1....it's freakin awesome! The setup I used was the one we agreed was the better from my tests way back when, but with the volume on my LP rolled off about 2/3 of the way, Double tracked, panned 86%. One take with a lextac, slightly more gain than NNR1 (instead of doubled, it's a single play through with my old lextac settings at 100, 84, 84, 100% - you can really hear the difference at 4:40...the alllllmost wanting to feedback single note is Lextac and then the NRR1 comes in like I described above). The solo at the beginning is Lextac as described, the solo at the end of the song is NRR1.Vocals are done with a MXL 990 and run through so many fx I'm surprised my computer is not burning - Ni/Tim Exile's "the Mouth", Lextac, reatune, verbs, delays, more autotunes :P etc.... and double and triple tracked in places.Bass is BA500 from the old xgear for lows, lextac for high and string noise - all with ampeg implulses.
Police chatter used by creative commons permission, Thanks ERH!
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
It's been a long time coming....but here it is. The past year has been a little crazy. I've been working on this song since last September and I have finally finished it. I was going to wait to release it, but decided I needed something new on here. I currently have 2 other songs in the works, so hopefully it won't be this long on those.
"Mercury" was recorded in my usual fashion. I used the Vox sim from Revalver for the cleans and NNR1 and Lextac for the distortion. I think they make for a real nice mix. Tips on how I've set up the tones can be found in past blogs.
I hope you enjoy!
Please feel free to leave comments or questions. If you like the tracks, I would encourage you to buy it from my bandcamp page. Just click on the music player at the top.
Here's the skinny: I spent much more time on this one with editing, tweeking and getting everything just right, and I think it shows. Steven slate 3.5 just like all the others for the drums. Very little actually changed with the drums from past mixes. It's probably more about how the the guitars/vocals/bass are mixed. I spent extra time with the verbs and delay to put everything in the same space. Epicverb and taldubIII.The opening clean guitars are Revalver 3 Fox, redwirez Marshall IR's, double tracked with tal chorus (same dude who did tal-dub delays - WONDERFUL plugs btw if you haven't tried them) on each side, epicverb and taldubIII delay.....my cpu hates me.....I ended up bouncing everything to keep the cpu down. Distortion: And thank you, Alu, for NRR1....it's freakin awesome! The setup I used was the one we agreed was the better from my tests way back when, but with the volume on my LP rolled off about 2/3 of the way, Double tracked, panned 86%. One take with a lextac, slightly more gain than NNR1 (instead of doubled, it's a single play through with my old lextac settings at 100, 84, 84, 100% - you can really hear the difference at 4:40...the alllllmost wanting to feedback single note is Lextac and then the NRR1 comes in like I described above). The solo at the beginning is Lextac as described, the solo at the end of the song is NRR1.Vocals are done with a MXL 990 and run through so many fx I'm surprised my computer is not burning - Ni/Tim Exile's "the Mouth", Lextac, reatune, verbs, delays, more autotunes :P etc.... and double and triple tracked in places.Bass is BA500 from the old xgear for lows, lextac for high and string noise - all with ampeg implulses.
Police chatter used by creative commons permission, Thanks ERH!
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Saturday, April 23, 2011
TSE X50 Has Arrived!
..DROOL... 
http://www.theserinaexperiment.net/website/software.htm 5150 anybody? I don't mind if I do. What I'm hearing from this sim is far better than even the Peavey Revalver MKIII version I have. It's still in a beta version and is quite high on the CPU consumption, but hopefully that will be addressed in the final version. The ability to switch between el34 and 6L6 tubes might just make up for it though. Between Lextac, NRR1, and x50, I think I'm done looking for amps. Metal heads rejoice! Thanks Onqel!
Ok, so I pushed the beat a little to much. The point here is the tone, not my lack of "metronomeness".
CLICK HERE FOR MY TEST (using 5150 cab from Redwirez): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3406793/x50%20test.mp3
AND AN UPDATED VERSION (using Uberkab and Marshall IR's): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3406793/x50%20test2.mp3
http://www.theserinaexperiment.net/website/software.htm 5150 anybody? I don't mind if I do. What I'm hearing from this sim is far better than even the Peavey Revalver MKIII version I have. It's still in a beta version and is quite high on the CPU consumption, but hopefully that will be addressed in the final version. The ability to switch between el34 and 6L6 tubes might just make up for it though. Between Lextac, NRR1, and x50, I think I'm done looking for amps. Metal heads rejoice! Thanks Onqel!Ok, so I pushed the beat a little to much. The point here is the tone, not my lack of "metronomeness".
CLICK HERE FOR MY TEST (using 5150 cab from Redwirez): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3406793/x50%20test.mp3
AND AN UPDATED VERSION (using Uberkab and Marshall IR's): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3406793/x50%20test2.mp3
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Ignite Amps TS-999 SubScreamer VST Plug-In
With the quality stuff coming out these days, I'm finding more time to tweek and less time to make music and just play. On the other hand, it's real nice to have these quality tools available.
Enter the newest edition to the Ignite Amps family, The TS-999 SubScreamer. I've not tried it as of the time of this post, but looking at the quality of the NRR1 amp, I'm sure it's pretty rockin. I've also heard some real good things about it such as "Organic", "Realistic sounding", and "Awesome". Here's what the creator has to say about it:
Inspired by the most famous green overdrive pedal (version 808), based on the real pedal built by Ignite Amps for the italian thrashers Subhuman
Features:
- Dynamic 2N3904 BJT input and output buffers analog modeling
- Dynamic 1N4148 diode clipping circuit analog modeling
- Symmetric / Asymmetric clipping mode
- Normal / Fat mode
- Input level control for better response to different pickups
- Internal oversampling (selectable between 2x, 4x and 8x)
- Switchable input and output buffer modeling for better CPU performance
- Mono / Stereo support
- Double precision floating point internal processing
Fully coded in C++ using the Steinberg SDK 2.4
GET IT HERE: http://www.guitarampmodeling.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Recabinet 3 Announced
Click Here to Visit Recabi.net
"Kazrog has redefined cabinet simulation once again with the first effects plugin dedicated solely to speaker cabinet simulation. Recabinet 3 makes it fast and easy to find inspiring new sounds, avoiding the hassle of complex mixer routing and folder navigation associated with impulse response libraries. Recabinet 3 also ships with ready-to-rock factory presets designed by legendary artists and producers.
Recabinet 3 will be released on January 18, 2011 and will be available directly from http://recabinet.com. Recabinet 3 is not sold in stores.
New users can purchase Recabinet 3 for $129.99
Users who purchased Recabinet on October 23rd, 2009 or later can upgrade to Recabinet 3 for $59.99
Users who purchased Recabinet between November 1st, 2008 and October 22nd, 2009 are eligible for a FREE upgrade to Recabinet 3 by logging in to the members’ area between January 18 and January 26, 2011 and claiming their free upgrade. Past the grace period, they are entitled to discounted upgrade pricing."
You'll just have to take a look at Recab's website to see all the features, cabs and such. So what do I think about it? eeeeehhhh...well:
I understand I only paid $15 for Recab complete 2.1, I get that some stuff has been updated and improved, I understand that it's designed to be easy to use, and while I do think Recab sounds real good right out of the box....This plug just doesn't have the features or possibilities offered by iFace and Redwirez. I know redwirez IR's have their own problems and I've got to EQ the crap out of mine most of time to get them to sound as I like them. But When I can buy a much more functional iFace for $20 and select which cabs I want to purchase for $8 or $5 a pop plus I get MANY more IR's....
...Recab 3 looks and feels like a toy...not to say that it will sound like it, but come on. I really had high hopes for this before I even knew iFace was in the works. For me to spend $60 bucks on this thing, it better sound WORLDS better and short of a collection of cabs in my living room, I just don't believe it will at this point. Especially since ABG has plans of a similar to iFace plug that will work with Recab 2.
Sorry Recab, I just think it's too little too late and priced too high to even compete.
"Kazrog has redefined cabinet simulation once again with the first effects plugin dedicated solely to speaker cabinet simulation. Recabinet 3 makes it fast and easy to find inspiring new sounds, avoiding the hassle of complex mixer routing and folder navigation associated with impulse response libraries. Recabinet 3 also ships with ready-to-rock factory presets designed by legendary artists and producers.
Recabinet 3 will be released on January 18, 2011 and will be available directly from http://recabinet.com. Recabinet 3 is not sold in stores.
New users can purchase Recabinet 3 for $129.99
Users who purchased Recabinet on October 23rd, 2009 or later can upgrade to Recabinet 3 for $59.99
Users who purchased Recabinet between November 1st, 2008 and October 22nd, 2009 are eligible for a FREE upgrade to Recabinet 3 by logging in to the members’ area between January 18 and January 26, 2011 and claiming their free upgrade. Past the grace period, they are entitled to discounted upgrade pricing."
You'll just have to take a look at Recab's website to see all the features, cabs and such. So what do I think about it? eeeeehhhh...well:
I understand I only paid $15 for Recab complete 2.1, I get that some stuff has been updated and improved, I understand that it's designed to be easy to use, and while I do think Recab sounds real good right out of the box....This plug just doesn't have the features or possibilities offered by iFace and Redwirez. I know redwirez IR's have their own problems and I've got to EQ the crap out of mine most of time to get them to sound as I like them. But When I can buy a much more functional iFace for $20 and select which cabs I want to purchase for $8 or $5 a pop plus I get MANY more IR's....
...Recab 3 looks and feels like a toy...not to say that it will sound like it, but come on. I really had high hopes for this before I even knew iFace was in the works. For me to spend $60 bucks on this thing, it better sound WORLDS better and short of a collection of cabs in my living room, I just don't believe it will at this point. Especially since ABG has plans of a similar to iFace plug that will work with Recab 2.
Sorry Recab, I just think it's too little too late and priced too high to even compete.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Acmebargig iFace Arrives
iFace Trial
Support the good people at ABG and purchase iFace here
After quite some time of waiting, the wait is over. Sweet! If you are a Redwirez user, no more fumbling around thousands of files and folders to find the perfect IR (Impulse Response) for your tone. With iFace you can select Cab, mic and go. Actually move the mic on the user interface and the IR changes to that position, off axis, or ambient. It basically makes using IR's much more like a real studio setup and work flow. I know I'm going to put this to use within the next few weeks.
The trial version will work fully for 30 days. But at the low low price of around $20, I'm going to support my friends and buy it if it works as well for me as I think it should. You should consider that too.
***UPDATE***
I took a while last night and reorganized my Redwirez folders to the correct paths and got a few minutes to play with iFace. I'll be purchasing it sometime in the next few weeks. This thing works fantastic. No more clicking through 1000 folders to simply change an IR. Before iFace auditioning different IR's was hard and by the time you clicked through all the folders to a new IR, you forgot what the old one sounded like. Now, just move the mic. Wonderful. As much as I love LeCab, this thing is just too easy to work with to not use it. The only downside is that it takes a little more CPU per instance. Running 8 or 10 amps on one project could be a sizable cpu hit. But as easy as it is to move mics around now, I think I'm going to simply start bouncing tracks down to save the CPU anyway. Thanks Ken and everybody at ABG for this extremely useful plugin.
Support the good people at ABG and purchase iFace here
After quite some time of waiting, the wait is over. Sweet! If you are a Redwirez user, no more fumbling around thousands of files and folders to find the perfect IR (Impulse Response) for your tone. With iFace you can select Cab, mic and go. Actually move the mic on the user interface and the IR changes to that position, off axis, or ambient. It basically makes using IR's much more like a real studio setup and work flow. I know I'm going to put this to use within the next few weeks.
The trial version will work fully for 30 days. But at the low low price of around $20, I'm going to support my friends and buy it if it works as well for me as I think it should. You should consider that too.
***UPDATE***
I took a while last night and reorganized my Redwirez folders to the correct paths and got a few minutes to play with iFace. I'll be purchasing it sometime in the next few weeks. This thing works fantastic. No more clicking through 1000 folders to simply change an IR. Before iFace auditioning different IR's was hard and by the time you clicked through all the folders to a new IR, you forgot what the old one sounded like. Now, just move the mic. Wonderful. As much as I love LeCab, this thing is just too easy to work with to not use it. The only downside is that it takes a little more CPU per instance. Running 8 or 10 amps on one project could be a sizable cpu hit. But as easy as it is to move mics around now, I think I'm going to simply start bouncing tracks down to save the CPU anyway. Thanks Ken and everybody at ABG for this extremely useful plugin.
Friday, December 3, 2010
LeCab2 Is Here!
Lepou has released his updated Impulse Response loader "Lecab 2". I haven't had the chance to play with it yet, but I can't wait. In the past few months I've shifted from using Revalver MKIII as a shell program to simply putting everything single, plug by plug in my effects chain. I've used the first Lecab extensively and it works great. This new version adds 4 more impulse slots for a total of 6, dropdown menu's for easy auditioning, and basically improved control over everything. It's sure to make routing, blending and using your IR library much easier.
LeCab2 is the evolution of LeCab1. It's a cabinet (guitar or bass) impulse loader. LeCab2 offers :
- 6 impulse slots
- Latency control (down to 64 samples)
- Dropdown menu built with the .wav files contained in the directory where the last impulse is loaded
- Next and Prev buttons to navigate through the impulse directory
- Solo button for each slots
- Channel selection for each slots
- Possibility to link the loaded impulse of 2 slots (other controls stay independant)
- High Pass and Low Pass filters for each slots
- Phase, Delay, Pan and Volume controls for each slots
You can see what the man himself has to say about it here:
Lepouplugins.blogspot.com
Look at me Mom, I'm a Ringback Tone!
Ok, a very cool update.
If you are a Cellular South Customer, you can get my songs as ringback tones. There's a $0.99 monthly fee for the service, but the actual ringback is free and not subject to any charges except the monthly fee.
I know most people think Ringback tones are just annoying, which is why I've done it :P But you gotta admit, it's kind of cool too! I mean come on, it's not really that hard to get your stuff up on iTunes and while I do have some industry connections for stuff like this (It's a big part of my job to manage our digital catalog), It's not nearly as easy to become a Ringback tone.
Just search for "A Sonorous Pose" on the Cellular South Ringback web page. I'm under the "Emerge Artist's" category. I guess I should take this time to also mention the Android Emerge App. You can also find some of my music on that. Cellular south created it. It's designed to help promote local unsigned artists. While a good idea in theory, yeah, most of you can probably imagine - and I'll just leave it at that.
So if you're a Cellular South customer, go check it out.
If you are a Cellular South Customer, you can get my songs as ringback tones. There's a $0.99 monthly fee for the service, but the actual ringback is free and not subject to any charges except the monthly fee.
I know most people think Ringback tones are just annoying, which is why I've done it :P But you gotta admit, it's kind of cool too! I mean come on, it's not really that hard to get your stuff up on iTunes and while I do have some industry connections for stuff like this (It's a big part of my job to manage our digital catalog), It's not nearly as easy to become a Ringback tone.
Just search for "A Sonorous Pose" on the Cellular South Ringback web page. I'm under the "Emerge Artist's" category. I guess I should take this time to also mention the Android Emerge App. You can also find some of my music on that. Cellular south created it. It's designed to help promote local unsigned artists. While a good idea in theory, yeah, most of you can probably imagine - and I'll just leave it at that.
So if you're a Cellular South customer, go check it out.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Ignite Amps NRR1 Update
I took a little more time to get this to sound how I want it, and with a little advise from the developer / instructions on how the tone stack works, I've got something I think I really like. Here's the clip:
Original: NNR1 demo
2nd try: Click Here
3rd try: Click Here
On the "2nd try" clip, I have 2 tracks, Reagate ->ts808-> NRR1-> Lecab -> ReaEQ (hi/low pass) -> verb -> Taldub III delay, both panned 86% and then into a bus track with the final Eq for a slight dip in the low mids and a slight (very small) boost in the upper mids and lower highs. This examples Ir's are the same as the first clip. I used Lecab to blend a Marshall impulse (75%, sm57 close to the cap) with an ambient room (actually a Royor 121, 12 inches off the cap) Soldano impulse (25%). Same thing on the other side except replace the Marshall with an Uberkab. The Soldano Redwirez cab is a little funny up close, but I've found a really good distances, it adds a nice little bit of mid creamyness when lightly added to the mix. The only difference between this and the very first clip is the settings on the NRR1.
On "3rd Try", the NRR1 is the same, but instead of blending the IR's, I routed the Soldano's to their own separate tracks and panned them 100%. So now you've got (soldano100%, Marshall 86%, Uberkab86%, Soldano 100%). Then all added back together in the bus track and eqed etc like above. I thought it might add a little more roomyness. I think it did add more, but it didn't quite turn out as good as I would have liked it to.
I like certain things with the "complicated" one. Like that the stereo field is a little wider or more separated when listening at optimal conditions, but it does take away from the punch a little - probably because the mids added by the Soldano cabs are now much wider. If you listen at a very low volume you can hear how it just drops out. Now I have to wonder if it wouldn't sound better with the Soldano's in the middle and the Marshall and Uber at 100%. I doubt it.
I think I'm going to stop messing with it and start tracking something with the "2nd Try" clip settings and see what happens.
Original: NNR1 demo
2nd try: Click Here
3rd try: Click Here
On the "2nd try" clip, I have 2 tracks, Reagate ->ts808-> NRR1-> Lecab -> ReaEQ (hi/low pass) -> verb -> Taldub III delay, both panned 86% and then into a bus track with the final Eq for a slight dip in the low mids and a slight (very small) boost in the upper mids and lower highs. This examples Ir's are the same as the first clip. I used Lecab to blend a Marshall impulse (75%, sm57 close to the cap) with an ambient room (actually a Royor 121, 12 inches off the cap) Soldano impulse (25%). Same thing on the other side except replace the Marshall with an Uberkab. The Soldano Redwirez cab is a little funny up close, but I've found a really good distances, it adds a nice little bit of mid creamyness when lightly added to the mix. The only difference between this and the very first clip is the settings on the NRR1.
On "3rd Try", the NRR1 is the same, but instead of blending the IR's, I routed the Soldano's to their own separate tracks and panned them 100%. So now you've got (soldano100%, Marshall 86%, Uberkab86%, Soldano 100%). Then all added back together in the bus track and eqed etc like above. I thought it might add a little more roomyness. I think it did add more, but it didn't quite turn out as good as I would have liked it to.
I like certain things with the "complicated" one. Like that the stereo field is a little wider or more separated when listening at optimal conditions, but it does take away from the punch a little - probably because the mids added by the Soldano cabs are now much wider. If you listen at a very low volume you can hear how it just drops out. Now I have to wonder if it wouldn't sound better with the Soldano's in the middle and the Marshall and Uber at 100%. I doubt it.
I think I'm going to stop messing with it and start tracking something with the "2nd Try" clip settings and see what happens.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Reaper Audio
Click me: Reaper Audio
A good Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is essential to making a decent recording, along with a computer that is able to handle the load. If your machine is relatively new then you're probably ok for the most part. I use a quad core with 4 gigs of ram and it seems to work pretty well. If your machine starts to slow down you can always "freeze" or "bounce" your tracks (this lets you work with a completed .wav file, effects included, without the effects taxing your cpu). I also use an external hard drive to store my sample libraries, project files and anything else that might be used a lot, or constantly pulled from the HDD. This allows the C: drive to concentrate on running the programs while the external drive takes care of the busywork.
My DAW of choice is Reaper and it works wonderfully. With most of the same options and features as really expensive workstations, Reaper works just as well at a fraction ($60 noncommercial license, with an unlimited trial) of the price. You can easily spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on software that is, and I hate this term, "industry standard". Brandon Drury over at Recordingreview.com wrote a wonderful article on the topic - Digidesign Pro Tools: Rethinking The Industry Standard Mentality
I've never had a problem from Reaper. It performs wonderfully, accepts just about every vst I feed it, is very light on cpu, and a whole list of features that make my life easier like: a virtual midi keyboard, built in high quality vst effects, track templates, and simple to figure out controls.
While there is a learning curve with any new DAW, especially if you don't really know your way around a studio to begin with, Reaper is actually one of the easier DAW's to learn. If you understand the principals behind a simple mixing console, it won't take you long to learn how to use Reaper. What makes this even better is that on the Reaper Audio website, there is a user forum. Can't figure it out? Just ask.
How I use Reaper: I have track templates setup for everything including my guitar amps, drum sets, bass, certain vocal settings, certain tracking settings, master track etc. When I start a new project I can simply load the templates I need, arm the track, and press record. It's so simple.
I like to get some scratch guitars down first tracked with a simple drum pattern just to keep time. I then go back and edit the drum parts (more on this in a later post). I re-track guitars, bass and anything else. At this point the recording is pretty close to finished. All I need to do is add on the master track effects and tweak the mix. Because I started with a template for just about everything, and the templates came from a project I completed, the song pretty much mixes itself - with some exceptions.
My master track template takes care of the "Mastering" phase of recording for the most part. I use Stillwell's 1973 eq for a little bit of a shelving boost hear and there, Stillwell's Event Horizon limiter, Bootsey's FerricTDS for some saturation, Density Mark II for compression and Recording Review/Aradaz's Panipulator.
Stillwell Audio
Density MarkII
FerricTDS
Panipulator
A good Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is essential to making a decent recording, along with a computer that is able to handle the load. If your machine is relatively new then you're probably ok for the most part. I use a quad core with 4 gigs of ram and it seems to work pretty well. If your machine starts to slow down you can always "freeze" or "bounce" your tracks (this lets you work with a completed .wav file, effects included, without the effects taxing your cpu). I also use an external hard drive to store my sample libraries, project files and anything else that might be used a lot, or constantly pulled from the HDD. This allows the C: drive to concentrate on running the programs while the external drive takes care of the busywork.
My DAW of choice is Reaper and it works wonderfully. With most of the same options and features as really expensive workstations, Reaper works just as well at a fraction ($60 noncommercial license, with an unlimited trial) of the price. You can easily spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on software that is, and I hate this term, "industry standard". Brandon Drury over at Recordingreview.com wrote a wonderful article on the topic - Digidesign Pro Tools: Rethinking The Industry Standard Mentality
I've never had a problem from Reaper. It performs wonderfully, accepts just about every vst I feed it, is very light on cpu, and a whole list of features that make my life easier like: a virtual midi keyboard, built in high quality vst effects, track templates, and simple to figure out controls.
While there is a learning curve with any new DAW, especially if you don't really know your way around a studio to begin with, Reaper is actually one of the easier DAW's to learn. If you understand the principals behind a simple mixing console, it won't take you long to learn how to use Reaper. What makes this even better is that on the Reaper Audio website, there is a user forum. Can't figure it out? Just ask.
How I use Reaper: I have track templates setup for everything including my guitar amps, drum sets, bass, certain vocal settings, certain tracking settings, master track etc. When I start a new project I can simply load the templates I need, arm the track, and press record. It's so simple.
I like to get some scratch guitars down first tracked with a simple drum pattern just to keep time. I then go back and edit the drum parts (more on this in a later post). I re-track guitars, bass and anything else. At this point the recording is pretty close to finished. All I need to do is add on the master track effects and tweak the mix. Because I started with a template for just about everything, and the templates came from a project I completed, the song pretty much mixes itself - with some exceptions.
My master track template takes care of the "Mastering" phase of recording for the most part. I use Stillwell's 1973 eq for a little bit of a shelving boost hear and there, Stillwell's Event Horizon limiter, Bootsey's FerricTDS for some saturation, Density Mark II for compression and Recording Review/Aradaz's Panipulator.
Stillwell Audio
Density MarkII
FerricTDS
Panipulator
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Ignite Amps
Mr. Alu of the Guitar Amp Modeling forums has just released his first amp sim - NRR-1. This thing sounds and plays great. I've got a quick little (slightly sloppy) demo I threw together last night with my first attempt using it. For the speaker cabinets, I used Redwirez Marshall, Soldano, and Uberkab blended IR's. I think with a little more tweaking, I'll start using it for some stuff. And just in time as well. I'm getting ready to track guitars for my next song. Right now I'm leaning toward this for rhythm stuff and the Lextac tone I've been using for lead. Check it out for yourself.
Read more about it here: Guitar Amp Modeling Forum Thread
Check out my audio demo here: NRR-1 Demo Audio
Read more about it here: Guitar Amp Modeling Forum Thread
Check out my audio demo here: NRR-1 Demo Audio
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Song - I Need You
A dip into the nether-regions of Drop B, triplets, high gain, a slur between major and minor keys, and yes....a hint of some vocal work. This is actually the first thing I wrote after my triumphant return (read that as any return is good) to the music making world over a year ago. It's simple but a lot of fun to play thanks to the triplet sections and the grindage. I hope you enjoy!
I went about the tracking of this slightly differently from the past 2 songs. For rhythm guitars, instead of 1 guitar track on each side, this has 3. It allowed me heavily layer some sections and still keep it relatively clean. The same with the solo work - it's actually 2 separate guitars combined.
Let me know if you like it. Let me know if you hate it. Download for free if you would like or throw a few pieces of loose change into the guitar case.
UPDATE** I've retracked the guitar solo starting at around three minutes to fix some minor tuning issues I kept hearing. It should sound better now.
I went about the tracking of this slightly differently from the past 2 songs. For rhythm guitars, instead of 1 guitar track on each side, this has 3. It allowed me heavily layer some sections and still keep it relatively clean. The same with the solo work - it's actually 2 separate guitars combined.
Let me know if you like it. Let me know if you hate it. Download for free if you would like or throw a few pieces of loose change into the guitar case.
UPDATE** I've retracked the guitar solo starting at around three minutes to fix some minor tuning issues I kept hearing. It should sound better now.
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