Sadly for my credit card there was a Guitar Center just down the road from my hotel and hence we now have a nice new 60th anniversary  USA Fender Telecaster.  I had never been one for the Telly but it does have a very distinctive sound, and it plays like a dream. Once again those of you who know me as a drummer are wondering why so many guitars? Hey, they are smaller than drums kits…. what can I say.

Well they have come up trumps again. I have just received (thanks Trevor and Lisa) 2 new Sontronics STC-1 pencil condensers. I was recording yesterday and initial result are very positive. The top end is really smooth. My crash and ride cymbals appear to shimmer much more and the dynamic range of the entire kit seams to be picked up more.

These pics show how I have them set up. If I had more space I would like to try them in a wider set up (like I use live) but in the studio space was a little limited.

See you soon.

This video was shot by the guys at Absolute but I don’t think it ever made it on to the  stores web site.

If you have an Eleven Rack and would like some of my patches please check out the Resources page on the Location Recordings web site.

I wanted to add some more keyboard tracks to the next ‘Talent’ studio offering (available soon). So at Saturday nights gig at the ‘Colosseum’ in Watford we loaded a small recording system into the dressing room.

Just in case you wanted to know we were using:

HP PC Running Pro Tool 10 (Sorry Mac fans), Avid M Box Pro, M Audio Axiom Pro 49 and those lovely cans are by V Moda. The footware on the desk is just in case we need to reboot (thanks Steve).

Now I in no way wish this to sound like I am trying to get in the way of creativity, very far from it. When I’m at an event showing off the glory of Pro Tools 10 and the Eleven Rack I get a real buzz when I’m asked questions to which I at first don’t know the answer and have to go away and work out a solution to a ‘problem’ I didn’t even know was a problem. I love it when players and engineers tell me how they are using the gear in more and more creative ways. However……. the recorded music industry and I use the word industry very hesitantly has changed.

Back in the day (before my time at the sharp end) a band or artist worked and perfected their craft on the road. Doing gigs in pubs, clubs and bars and some of us are still doing it. In order to make and release a record you had to impress the person with the money. There were no such things as bedroom recording studios. A record company A&R would have to like what you do and see a market for it. You could call this a s*** filter.

Now as I said the last thing I want to do is stop people from being creative and making music but…….. Making good music is a gift and a craft. You don’t get good at it without doing it lots and lots. Like everything the more you do it the better you get at it. There are professional song writers who treat it as a 9-5 job so why should any Tom, Dick or Harry who has realized that he can pay £9.99 to get his bedroom master work onto iTunes think he has is going to sell his music to anyone other than his Nanna or Grandad who are going to say it’s “Amazing” anyway.

Even those who we think of as ‘TV production pop stars” like Lemar and Matt Cardle worked for years doing the leg work on the circuit to finally be discovered in X-Factor or Fame Academy.

I think what I am trying to say is before you commit you work to the masses and the potential abuse of the world stop. Think. Is this really my best work? Can I make this any better? Play your work of genius to people other than your family. Listen to all comments good and bad. Make more than edit and many more than one mix. Trust me you never get it right first time. If you are really serious about your final musical output get it mastered properly (more about this in another online rant).

And always remember…… Just because you can, does not mean you should!

As ever I look forward to hearing from you.

As I said in the last post I have never been one for putting pen to paper for the sake of it but I wanted to put a slightly different spin on what could be seen as a dull topic…. Product reviews. So today I have recorded a short track using some loan kit and put it up on the site for you to listen to.

All the audio is 44.1KHz 16 Bit CD quality .wav files that have been zipped. So if you want to listen to what  I have recorded and hear if you agree with my take on these bits of kit please download the files and listen for yourself on something better than laptop speakers or iBuds.

Whats new in the Studio.

Many thanks to Synthax UK for the loan of a RME Micstasy. An 8 channel mic pre. You can find out all the techie stuff direct from Synthax there is no need for me to copy it out (http://www.synthax.co.uk/products-catalog/converters/rme-micstasy)

What I hope you want to know is how it sounds. I believe there to be two schools of thinking here. Either you want a mic pre to be as transparent as possible or you want it to colour the sound so everyone knows what you have. (Oh, got one of those have you…… Nice)

Id love to have a collection of vintage pre amps but these sadly don’t come cheep.   In use the Micstasy was very easy to set up and works perfectly along side Pro Tools HD acting as if it were an Avid PRE (for midi control).

What you will be listening to is a take on the solo section of Money by Pink Floyd. To aid clarity I have kept it very simple.  Drums were recorded direct with Sontronics DM-1T and DM-1S on toms and snare. DM-1B on Kick and a pair of SE-1A mics for overheads and an AKG C451 on hats.
I added bass using the DI out from my TC Electronic RH750 head.

Another of my studio weaknesses is microphones. In my opinion a studio can never have too many.

Recently I have been using a combination of Shure SM57 (no shock there) and the new Sontronics Delta. The Delta is a Ribbon mic designed specifically for guitar cabs.
However, many thanks to Trevor and Lisa at Sontronics for the loan of a Sontronics Halo. This mic is  again designed for guitar cabs but it is a Dynamic mic. Blending the two has given some great results.

So what you will hear in ‘RME Son Money BLEND’ is Drums, Bass, Clean and Dirty guitars. The “Clean” was my 89 Strat into my JCM800 on a clean (ish) setting. The “Dirty” was the Strat again (what else could I use on a Floyd track) into my new 15W Engl Gig Master 15.

‘RME Son Money Delta’ is the same Drums and Bass with just the Delta active on the guitars.

‘RME Son Money Halo’ is the same Drums and Bass with only the Halo active.

RME Son Money BLEND (9.0 MiB)

RME Son Money Delta (9.1 MiB)

RME Son Money Halo (9.0 MiB)

PLEASE NOTE. There is no processing on this track.

There is no EQ or Dynamics processing on any of the channels.

There is NO reverb on any track.

This super clean approach is to help you decide if you like the sound coming from the Mics and through the RME Micstasy preamp.

I look forward to hearing your comments on these tracks either on face Book or by email.

I like the very clean sound of the RME. Much of the work I do is orchestral or it is at the very least music using real instruments.  The Micstasy does not colour or change the sound at all. If it sounded good in the room this will help it sound good on the track.

With regard to the Delta and Halo mics. I pushed the Halo (Dynamic) a little higher than the Delta (Ribbon) in the lead sound to counter act the warmth of the ribbon. On the Clean rhythm guitar track I pushed the 2 mics hard left and right. This gives the impression of a much wider sound from only one guitar.

For more into on the Sontronics mics check out: http://www.sontronics.com/

Let me know what you think. If you like it and what your  views  are on these or any of the other subject I have chatted about.

I don’t imagine for one moment that I will be a prolific blogger, but hey maybe I will come up with something inspiring or enlightening once in a while.

Did any of you see “The Gadget Show” on Channel 5 on Monday (7^th Nov 2011)? Along with the normal tech related goodness was a section on can tech cheat reality. Otis and Jason (who I met back in August while working with Avid at Gadget Show Live) were challenged to tell the difference between Playback audio and real life audio. In this case the set up was simple. Can the two presenters distinguish a live singer from the same singer recorded and played back through very very nice B&W speakers.

If you didn’t see it then you might be able to YOUTUBE it or view the show via what ever the Channel 5 version of iPlayers is but in short the guys heard the B&W playback they found it tricky to work out if it was real or fake. That was until faced (in an audio way) with the real singer (I should note that both Jason and Otis were blind folded). I was reassured by this outcome. Maybe there is a place moving forward for live music if even the non-music professionals can tell the difference.

The other inspiration for this blog was a prompt from a friend (thanks John) that Zildjian have finally started shipping their new Gen 16 AE (Acoustic Electric) cymbals. I first saw these at the launch at NAMM in January 2011. Amazing, quiet cymbals that sound fantastic. Maybe this is the way to beat sound meters (Drummers the world over will know how this felt). I was very impressed. “When can I get my grease mitts on these” I asked. September. I was told. Then the price! As it turns out not over the top for 3 cymbals in a pack but still, its not the real thing, right? There are loads of features on the AE line. The controller or D.C.P. (Digital Cymbal Processor) can manipulate the tone of the cymbals to make a pair of 13” AE Hats sound like a pair of 15” heavy rock hats and so on. I’m not going too deep into this, it’s not a product review.

I think what I am possibly trying to get across is that real or fake it doesn’t matter. As long as you the performer or producer are happy with your output then it’s all good. Tech and toys can get you so far but talent and passion are far more important.

See you next time.

James.

For more info on the AE Cymbal line check out http://gen-16.com/