My name is Tyler Moore, and I’m a Senior Sales Engineer at Sweetwater Sound. I always enjoyed music — usually whatever my older brother was listening to. When I was 11, I got into playing drums. It was also around that time that I started playing guitar.
I graduated from the Musicians Institute recording program and really embraced all that I learned. When I moved home, I interned at Sweetwater Studios. I ran sound for a local band and was also the lead guitarist in my own original band.
A friend of mine who worked at Sweetwater talked me into applying. I was aware of the great service here. It was the mix of being surrounded by music and amazing musicians all day and working for a company that genuinely cares about taking care of customers and its employees that made working here a no-brainer.
List three amp-in-a-box guitar pedals and why you would choose them.
A Friedman BE-OD, because everyone needs a dimed Marshall sound, and this thing does it perfectly. It turns any clean amp into a monster. The JHS SuperBolt gives you a killer classic Supro-style rock tone, giving your amp some light “hair,” but it can take you up to fuzz territory. There is just something about a Supro that no other amp gives you. A Darkglass Alpha Omega — buy this, and you’ll never need anything else for your bass rig. It sounds amazing and has a ton of flexibility. You can have that clean thunderous low end and then be out front and growling instantly. It doesn’t hurt that Jon Stockman from Karnivool, one of my favorite bassists, helped design it.
What are your three favorite microphones for studio vocals?
Shure SM7B — One name, “Michael Jackson.” And a bunch of killer artists from all genres. The SM7B can do it all while still being affordable. Be sure to have plenty of available preamp gain for it.
AEA R84 — The dynamic range on this mic is amazing! It really captures the true performance of the vocalist. It has a smooth open sound that anyone would enjoy.
Manley Reference Silver — They hit it out of the park with this one. It gives you that rich vintage tone with good weight to it and smooth top end. You don’t get a mid hump like a lot of other condenser microphones, so it allows you to layer vocals easily. This is my mic of choice if I want a big sound while still capturing all of the nuances.
What’s your number one tip for bands who want to improve their live sound?
Louder onstage is not better. PA systems are better than they used to be. You just don’t need a half stack with a 100-watt amp anymore. If the FOH engineer isn’t fighting stage volume, then you will sound better to everyone in the crowd, and you will be able to hear your fellow bandmates better. In-ears are your friend and so are load boxes and/or amp attenuators.
Are you a one-guitar-does-it-all guy or do you prefer to have different guitars for different applications?
I have to have at least three guitars when I gig. One is simply a backup to my main guitar in case something horrible happens mid-show. The third is my alternate tuning guitar. Something that’s set up for standard tuning just doesn’t feel right to me when tuned down for some of the stuff that I like to play. I lose the tension on the strings, which then makes me lose some fatness in the tone. There are going to be some slight intonation issues too.
In the studio, do you mix in the box, with a console, or with a summing box?
I like to do a hybrid. Mixing with plug-ins is great because I can recall things instantly. Being able to open a session and get right to work speeds up my workflow. I love to use the UAD plug-ins for the bulk of my mixing. I do, however, like to make sure that I have a great signal coming in. I like to start with a nice mic pre and compressor before the DAW. For final mixdowns, analog summing really does make things pop. After I tried summing once, I was sold. Things finally had that warmth and mojo that I couldn’t get with a plug-in on the master bus. Pieces like the Dangerous Music 2-BUS+ and the Rupert Neve Designs 5059 are killer because they allow me to insert extra processing while I sum.