Home Recording Studio Guru » Sweetwater

Chris Lord-Alge: Love Him or Hate Him, He’s Got Perspective

Big Al — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:00:53 +0000

What do Green Day, Tim McGraw, Eric Clapton, and Tina Turner have in common? They’ve all trusted their sound to heavy-weight mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge.

In this interview with Mitch Gallagher of Sweetwater, Chris shares some valuable insight on the mix process.

Using a screen reader? Click here for the video.

Chris Lord-Alge: Love Him or Hate Him, He’s Got Perspective is a post from: Home Recording Studio Guru

Pro Drum Recording Techniques with Ross Hogarth & Kenny Aronoff

Big Al — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:25:28 +0000

This is part 1 of 2 with Grammy-winning producer Ross Hogarth and top pro drummer Kenny Aronoff. They chat about their approaches to miking drums, using room microphones, and how they get the best-possible drum sounds in the studio.

Using a screen reader? Click here for the video.

Pro Drum Recording Techniques with Ross Hogarth & Kenny Aronoff is a post from: Home Recording Studio Guru

Why Not Spend a Few Moments With Legendary Producer and Engineer Ken Scott?

Big Al — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:41:40 +0000

Ken Scott

Ken Scott’s discography reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ from the recording industry, just look at these credits:

Engineered:

America – America
The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour – White Album
Jeff Beck – Truth
David Bowie – Man Of Words, Man of Music (Space Oddity) – The Man Who Sold The World
Duran Duran – Thank You – Pop Trash
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
Elton John – Madman Across The Water – Honky Chateau – Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player [Grammy Nominated]
Lindisfarne – Fog On The Tyne
Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds Of Fire
Harry Nilsson – Son Of Schmilsson [Grammy Nominated]

Also: Pink Floyd – John Lennon – Ringo Starr – The Rolling Stones – Joan Armatrading – I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing ( Coke Ad ) – Lou Reed – Procul Harum etc etc

Produced and Engineered:

Jeff Beck – There And Back
David Bowie – Hunky Dory – Ziggy Stardust – Aladdin Sane – Pinups -
dada – Puzzle
Stanley Clarke – Stanley Clarke – Journey To Love [Grammy Nominated] – Schooldays
Level 42 – True Colours
Devo – Duty Now For The Future
Mahavishnu Orchestra – Emerald Visions Of The Pure Beyond [Grammy Nominated]
Supertramp – Crime Of The Century [Grammy Nominated] – Crisis, What Crisis?
The Tubes – Young And Rich

And many, many more!

Here’s a really nice two-part interview with Ken where he talks about his past experience and his latest project.

PART 1

Using a screen reader? Click here to play part one.

PART 2

Using a screen reader? Click here to play part two.

Why Not Spend a Few Moments With Legendary Producer and Engineer Ken Scott? is a post from: Home Recording Studio Guru

The True Systems P-Solo Ribbon Mic Pre Review

Big Al — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:23:03 +0000

Yes! It’s finally here, and it works!

For those of you that have been following my saga, Sweetwater shipped me a replacement unit the same day that I shipped back the defective one. Not only that, they express shipped it so that it arrived before the holiday. Yay!

So, how is it? The answer: It’s great! My favorite part is the little light that actually comes on when you turn it on.

The P-Solo Ribbon has very few bells and whistles. It does one thing and it does it really well. It amplifies your microphone signal, clean and clear. It also has plenty of gain, perfect for dynamic and ribbon microphones (hence the name).

Since it was designed for dynamics and ribbons it doesn’t have phantom power. However, you can add external phantom power for less than $50. That will be my next purchase so that I can run all of my condenser mics through this as well.

My first reaction to the sound of this unit was how natural and full it sounded. There’s that extra little bit of smooth presence that you get in a really nice quality pre.

The other thing I noticed was that a signal recorded through it responded very favorably to EQ. It didn’t take much to add a little warmth and a little sparkle. And when boosting the high-end there wasn’t any grittiness that I’ve heard with lesser units.

I had a couple of requests to do a shoot out between the P-Solo and the stock pres on my Digidesign 002. So I did.

Shure SM7 - P-Solo
Here I am reading a couple of sentences recorded with my Shure SM7 into the P-Solo.

Shure SM7 - 002 Stock Pre
Here I am reading the same copy with my Shure SM7 directly into one of the stock mic pres on the Digidesign 002.

Comparison
For instant comparison purposes, here I am reading the same short snippet of copy four times. The first time is the P-Solo, the second time is the Digidesign 002, the third time is the P-Solo again and the fourth time is the Digidesign 002 again.

Comparison with EQ
Here are those same four comparisons, this time with added EQ set identically for each pass.

Some of the subtleties are not as apparent due to the MP3 compression used in the files above. However, I think you can still hear some difference including when EQ is applied.

Also, this quick shootout was just one source, my voice. After what I’ve heard in just this small test I can tell that I’m going to be pleasantly surprised with a variety of different sources. Even when the difference is small, it’s these type of differences that add up when you put one source on top of another…and another…within a mix.

At around $500 the true systems P-Solo Ribbon is quite a value indeed. The rule of thumb for the cost of a high quality mic pre is often pegged somewhere about $1,000 per channel. Now, for that same money you can have two very nice mic pres!

I should mention that the P-Solo is also available in a model with phantom power. There’s also an eight channel version that comes in a one space rack and a one-channel 500 series module.

Thanks again to Sweetwater for a great prize and great customer service, even for a freebie!

Click here to visit the official True Systems site

Click here to visit Sweetwater’s site

The True Systems P-Solo Ribbon Mic Pre Review is a post from: Home Recording Studio Guru

UPDATE: Saga Of The Busted Pre – Part II

Big Al — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:51:10 +0000

Well, Sweetwater has impressed me again.

I received an e-mail at 6 AM this morning with details on how to print a pre-paid return shipping label for FedEx. Yes, 6 AM on a Saturday morning!

As soon as I slap this label on this box, ship it off and e-mail them the tracking number, they will immediately ship me a new replacement unit.

Having electronic gear arrive DOA is nothing new. I just hate it when it happens to me! LOL

This is also the reason I “test burn” all the gear that I get. I take it out of the package, plug it in, and leave it on till the cows come home. If it’s going to fail it’s going to fail in the first couple of weeks, at least that’s my experience.

So, it looks like I won’t have to wait long after all to get my new pre. Congrats to Sweetwater on their excellent customer service. Once again, they haven’t let me down.

UPDATE: Saga Of The Busted Pre – Part II is a post from: Home Recording Studio Guru