Finally, at last, the One Piece of Gear Summit is here. We apologize for the delay. I could offer a list of reasons why it has taken this long to get this posted, but no excuse is good enough. We thank you for your patience. In fact, I have to say I am surprised that we didn’t hear more complaining about the delay than we did. Maybe you just don’t care. Well, either way, here it is.
For those who may have forgotten, were asleep, or didn’t even know about inSync way back in November when this all started, the One Piece of Gear Summit was designed in the same format as its predecessors, Piano Miking and Acoustic Guitar Miking. Only with this one the request was to comment on that one elusive piece of equipment, or perhaps a technique, that took your recordings from being good, to that next level of “pro” sounding. Haven’t we all at one time or another sat listening to something we did thinking, “Gee, it just doesn’t sound quite as (fill in the blank) as my favorite CD’s?”
So we set out, as before, to get opinions from our faithful and highly competent inSync readers. The plethora and variety of responses we received was truly inspiring. There is just so much talent out there and so many people who have so much to offer that, after reading these responses, we are more sure than ever that these summits bring valuable information to bear that people at virtually all skill levels can potentially benefit from.
So please read and enjoy. As you read some of you may get inspired to offer some knowledge or experience you have had. Feel free to send it to inSync and we’ll try to find some way to either add to this list or otherwise use it.
Clifford Nathan
Sound Designer, Four Media Company Asia
Being a Sound Designer, working on a digital environment, my MOST important piece of equipment has got to be my METERS! In the digital domain, uncompressed peaks are killers! And when I am working on TV Ads, the most important thing is to get it as loud as possible before distorting it, and adhering to broadcast standards.
Compressors are important, I know, but without the meters (I use Dorrough and a couple more), transmission compressors will kick in and sometimes dramatically affect the mix!
Thus, other than good ears, good compressors, good outboards, good desk, clear signal paths, etc…. my meters are still my best friend.
Otto Fajen
The most important piece of knowledge was that you need to decide what level of quality of final product I wanted to create and then make sure that every link in the chain was up to that level of quality: music, performance (still working on these two!), room acoustics, microphones, preamp, processor, mixer, recorder. These days, you can get high sonic quality for not too much money, and Mackie is great about combining sonic quality and affordability.
Two things that are often overlooked: if you want accurate recordings of instruments, use a condenser, omni microphone and preferably a true, pressure type (selectable pattern mikes are not). Omni mikes are flatter and free of proximity effect. Second, get a patch bay, wire it up and use it. It’ll make it easier and (at least for me) more likely that you’ll be experimental and creative in combining the gear you already have in new ways.
Howard Mangrum
Just Productions
Assuming you have a good mixer, good mic’s & good monitors, the one piece of gear that made a difference is a SPL Vitalizer, a sound enhancer that seems to work wonders, without giving you a headache. Below is a listing of the equipment that made a difference in my studio, no order of preference.
Alesis ADAT/BRC, the ADAT XT just made my black face ADAT a pain, so the ADAT XT is not on the list.
Mackie 8 Bus, Rode NT-2, ART Tube MP & Levelar, dBx 1066, Tascam DA-30 mkII, Oktava MC-200, AKG C-3000.
And of course the weekly reading of inSync.
Kanyon Marcell
It has to be a compressor/limiter/gate.
When I bought the Boss CL-50, my vocals came out pretty clear and all the background was taken out, and I was recording in my bedroom!!
It seems every time I do my home recording it comes out better than the studios I’ve attended. I guess that’s due to routing and cable runs (whatever).
The final, other most critical piece of gear for any studio anywhere has to be a DAT mixdown deck. It’s clarity and quality puts in the professional realm.
Jim W. Smith
It’s pretty hard to single out one piece or one technique that has made the difference in my home studio. There is one significant technique I learned while working at a local project studio that completely changed the way I look at song construction. Usually, the most time consuming part of set-up in the studio is getting the drum kit mic’ed and dialed in. The time is entirely justifiable since drum sounds are critical to the overall quality of the recording. One evening, we were working with a band that had a particularly difficult drum kit to mic – so the producer asks me if I could take their garage tape and sequence the drum part but still maintain the drummer’s “feel”. It was a challenge, and it took some time, but the results were very well worth it. From that point on, we have always suggested this to clients as a time (and cost) reducing option.
Some bands still want their drummer playing a kit. Some want their drummer assisting in the sequencing process. That’s just fine – the drummer should have creative input and should not feel displaced by automation. Another option is to buy, beg, borrow, or steal an “electronic drum kit” that consists of strategically placed trigger pads and pedals. The drummer still plays the instrument, but the sounds are pro studio samples.
Understand that there is a huge difference in sampled drum sounds out there among the thousands of different products that hear and comprehend MIDI. Some are cheesy and sound dated. Some are not natural or may be out of context for the style of music. Don’t settle for the basic GM drum kit in a sound module. You can mix things up and get lots of combinations just from one keyboard or module. You may also combine sounds or pick and choose between several sound generators. I’ve used as many as four different sound sources at the same time to get the right “kit” sound.
The sequencer itself doesn’t make too much of a difference. The way you use the sequencer makes a world of difference. Drumming is all dynamics and timing when you get past the basic sounds. The sequencer will record and allow you to edit these aspects of a “performance” whether you’re striking a key, hitting a trigger pad, or clicking a mouse. One severely over-used tool on most sequencers is the “quantize” button. This tool will allow you to correct timing imperfections and, in some cases, allows you to level or smooth out dynamics. Drum and percussion tracks that are totally quantized sound way too perfect. This is when you get what I call the “drum machine effect” – hated by all but the most loyal of DEVO and Kraftwerk fans. A little time error is not displeasing. Too much can really sound stupid though, so be careful with this. Also, be mindful of dynamics and try to think like a drummer when constructing fills. When in doubt, refer to a recording of the drummer and try to capture his unique style.
Once you’re familiar with a sequencer and you’ve created a familiar working environment, you can crank out songs in very little time. It sure beats spending half a day tweaking the snare so it doesn’t sound like a trash can lid. The bottom line is that with a properly sequenced drum part using high quality and appropriate drum sounds, you can reach a new level of quality in your overall sound.
Chuck Butler
Music Director, MONSTER TRACKS Original Music
It would be impossible to give one answer to this question. If I had to, I would say that only ears/talent makes the ultimate difference. I have met many talented engineers who could make an awesome sounding recording with what (we would probably all agree) was less than professional gear. By the same token, I have met many engineers who have the latest and greatest of everything, and still can’t seem to make magic.
Having said that, I would point out the following tools that “opened my ears” and (once I had them) made me say, “so that’s how they do that”…
- If you are into MIDI sequencing, and you use a dedicated sequencer (or one that’s built into a synth) you really should find a way to get into computer based sequencing. Software like “Vision” or “Performer” (I use Performer) allows you a degree of control over your music (not to mention the other MIDI devices in your studio) that is unparalleled.
- We always had some pretty decent mics around our studio, but we never realized how good they _could_ sound until we invested in some outboard mic pre’s. Don’t take my word for it; do what we did. We got our dealer to loan us a half-dozen pre’s (both tube and solid state) and did our own tests between them, and the console pre’s we had been using. The results were amazing—and I might add that not all of our engineers agreed on every pre. There was just one that we all agreed sounded incredible (Milennia Media), and we now have one in every room.
- Mix automation is really helpful in creating polished mixes. I don’t know many top engineers who don’t avail themselves of this technology. But just because you may not be able to afford an SSL with Ulitimation doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. There are a number of inexpensive MIDI driven automation systems—yet another possible use for the sequencer I mentioned in #1. ProTools has automation; Mackie offers it; get it, use it.
- Mix bus compression is essential for most applications. What I recommend is that you patch the final output of your mix through a stereo compressor, and adjust to taste. Choosing a compressor for this is a tough, and very personal choice. Many top records are mixed through the SSL compressor that’s built into those consoles; many other engineers use an outboard Neve or other high-end expensive device. However, as it was with the mic pre’s, this is a very subjective choice. Personally, I believe that sending your entire mix through a single set of electronics has a way of “unifying” the sound, making your mix more cohesive (it is for this reason that I’ve never heard a software based compressor that quite does the job for this purpose). At the same time, this device is going to “color” your sound in same way—make sure you like the color. Super expensive stuff aside, I like the Joe Meek products very much, some dbx units are o.k., and I even have a Klark-Technic that sounds pretty cool…
Hope this helps.
John Woodle
SPM, small potatoes multimedia
Besides a good set of ears and some judgement, nothing has been more critical to a final mix for me than having the right near-field monitors. Over the years we’ve been moving closer and closer to the truth, wearing out many a pair of those white Yamahas, but I must say that Tannoy tells the truth for me now, from the 6.5’s to the newest powered pair. When you hear the same mix at the console with the volume down, down the hall with the volume up, and in the break room when you cock an ear to listen for deception, you HAVE the truth. Tannoy does it for me.
Gary D. Pobst
The one piece of gear that has improved my sound the most is the Yamaha ProMix01. The Promix gives me level automation, great on-board effects, three compressors, and instant recall of the mix. Another extraordinary value and productivity booster for me is SoundTrek Jammer Pro. It gives me great bass lines and drum fills, melodic ideas, and rhythm parts.
Anthony R. Tajanlangit
Manager, The Aquatones
The BBB Sonic Maximizer has done wonders for me. Without it, my output was muffled and vague. Many musician friends of mine, noticing this, added it to their setup as well. I play with The Aquatones, a sequencer-based band in Dubai.
Another “secret” is the Digitech Studio Vocalist. Who wouldn’t think it’s a choir singing behind me?
Jim Milne
owner, Takanna Sound Studio
Here in Greenland it’s cold, dark and remote. Even a small glitch in the system and everything stops. A breakdown anywhere in the system means you fix it yourself or send it the States or Denmark and wait until the dog sledges arrive in one and a half months. When it does arrive you hope and pray that under the tarp is more than just an insurance claim. Complete reliability has been the first requirement for my studio, then there’s the problem with pristine sound.
One look at an iceberg floating the fiords tacking through the crystal air powered by current writhing waters that show thirty feet below the surface and the level of competition for “clean” goes up nine notches. Well, let’s get to the point.
Ever heard an iceberg sing? The stresses built up inside these Goliaths when released by the etching salt water make the delight of owning two ears an extacy. Capturing these sounds in the pitch black of an eighteen hour night has not been easy. Reflecting these sound off of a recording seemed impossible until I patched my best cables through the “Finalizer”. Bang for the buck, can only describe my elation when out of the main monitor system came night, fiord, white ice, growling, gnashing sea floor scraping bottom, piercing crept-up-behind-me sheets of scream-and-whine highs de-ja-vu the freezing, recording session at the beginning of the salt water abyss and at the end of 400 meters of power cable. Transported back to the source, mother nature. I actually turned around to share my delight with someone but found myself grinning from ear to ear, alone. I turned back and heard the outdoors coming out of my monitors. “The Wizard Series – Finalizer” is absolutely the best piece of gear I have ever purchased. Without a doubt the greatest improvement here at Takanna Sound Studios came from the introduction of t.c.electronic’s “The Wizard Series: Finalizer”! Just the presets brought me out of the refrigerator and into the warm, lush sound I couldn’t seem to get , try as I may. This wonder of a box has added years of experience to my credit and has lit up every single time I’ve powered on. A rare treat here in arctic night.
Michael Bierylo
Virtual Planet: Music and Sound for Film, Video and Multimedi
In response to your “What one piece of gear or technique has made the most difference in allowing you to achieve “pro” sound in your studio work?” query, I’d have to say good reverb. In my case I’ve found the investment in Lexicon’s PCM 80 and PCM 90 to provide a quantum leap in what comes out of my project-class studio. Since most of my work is desktop audio, the crucial element is providing a convincing sonic space for music and sound. These Lexicon pieces are far superior to any plug-in available and to my ears are well worth the cost. I might add that although I’m pretty committed to the ProTools platform for digital audio production, I feel that it’s important for anyone working at this time to balance their tools between computer based and dedicated processor/ recorder environments. The nice thing about these Lexicons is that as long as there is 110 volts AC and balanced lines, they will deliver.
I might add that without Genelec (or comparable) monitors, I probably would not be as attuned to the level of performance these devices provide.
Brian P Strines
Of course, purchasing a Mackie 24-8 console and two TASCAM MDMs was a big step up from my multi-track cassette recorders, but the biggest improvement in sound caused by one single piece of gear was when I started recording direct with an ART Pro MPA. A key sound I listen for in a song is the bass guitar. The sound we get now is much more realistic, with a clear, deep, round tone and no flab. The recorded signal sounds much more like a live performance than ever. Our bass player loves it when used for his tracks, and I can even get a decent tone with my $75 3/4-scale bass, which says something. In other areas, vocal tracks have also improved in their tone with the Pro MPA, as have drum overheads. I look forward to getting ART’s Pro VLA!
ZBIGNIEW ZIEMKA
What bring my studio on the “pro” level is time we`ve spent recording (in first instance) vocal tracks and then mixing it with the rest of stuff. It really made the difference when we started to work with vocalists 3, 4, 5 times longer, looking for these details which makes music worth listening.
Dennis Dean
The Voice Works
Two greatest improvements in my studio –
Critical listening on a pair of uncolored headphones… my own standard – Sony MDR-V6s. These phones add nothing to the audio going into them, which is why I like them. I check each signal separately, looking for problems, then the mix. The mix is then readjusted depending on final usage. (Most mixes aren’t listened to on headphones, but speakers, so I make the final adjustments listening to monitors.)
Aphex 109 vacuum tube parametric EQ. Not expensive, but it gives my digital audio a “fatter” tube sound, and – probably more importantly – allows me to boost the high frequencies from around 12Khz. Just enough to add some “breathiness” to a vocal (I do a lot of voice over work and radio commercial mixes – no ‘live’ music recording) and brilliance to production music in the background. Gives my final product a much improved sound.
Steven M. Brown
Audio Paragon Digital Recording Services
One of the single greatest things that I’ve ever done for the quality of sound in my studio is surprisingly also one of the least expensive. I focused on the things that a lot of people really don’t think about.
First, I replaced all my patch cords with heavier, higher quality ones. Especially heavy gold Monster Cables between my mixer and the digital audio card in my computer and gold microphone cables. I know that some people claim that gold doesn’t make a difference, but if you have high-end equipment, you can ABSOLUTELY hear the difference. You may expect to spend a few hundred dollars on patch cords, but it is well worth it. It can really add that professional sound to a small studio.
Second, good surge suppressors with EMI/RFI filtering can really help to eliminate ground loops inherent in computer-mixer connectivity. In my opinion, APC makes the best of them. They not only protect your expensive, sensitive equipment, they also greatly cut down on noise in your outboard gear.
Mark Grace
Several years back I helped build and operate a studio that, literally, sat on the edge of a cornfield in a rural community. We found out only after we built it that everything we did during construction was advantageous to great recording!
Other than modifying our older mixing consoles to minimize channel crosstalk, and taking every precaution to reduce noise in all of the signal lines, the devices that made all the difference in the end mix was our rack mounted DBX units.
The expansion from somewhere around 60db to upwards of 95db made an incredible difference to our ears (as well as our clients, who often commented our quality of sound surpassed the bigger studios up-town!).
Steve Gregory
The two pieces of gear that really made a difference for me was firstly the Waves plug-ins for mastering and secondly a Waldorf Pulse+ synthesizer. The Waves plug-ins for my Mac have revolutionized the quality of what I can get as a final product in a small home studio, and the Waldorf Pulse gives me true analog bottom end and searing eads with extensive MIDI control in a way that I have never got out of another synth.
Don Malone
- ears – amazing results come from really listening
- adopt the warrior attitude
- process all information
- do not just rely on preconceptions
Per Mattsson
- Build a real good listening room (no parallel walls, good reverberant controlling wall panels etc.)
- Buy real good monitors and an amp that can handle them. You need extra power to handle the sometimes high dynamics that comes of raw studio material that is uncompressed. 250-500 Watts should be adequate.
- Most important: Spend many many hours learning to really mix music. Listen to those mixes in your car. Take your mixes to other rooms and other audiosystems and listen there. Compare with work by others that you like. A good exercise could be to learn to enhance certain instruments (or vocals) not change of levels but by EQ:ing. Good equipment makes a change but a good engineer makes all the difference.
JEFFMIC@aol.com
Without a doubt—THE t.c. electronic FINALIZER!!!!
Chad Jenkins
I would HIGHLY recommend to any studio that does not have the T.C. Electronics FINALIZER to get one! I have not purchased one as of yet, but have been able to work with one for a few weeks. This machine is awesome. It even made a cassette 4 track version of a song seem ready for AIRPLAY! I cannot even begin to tell you how great it is. You just have to get one and see for yourself. It makes your mixes come alive, giving them the punch and sparkle that no enhancer can give.
This piece of gear is the next best thing to having BOB LUDWIG working for you.
Gregory P. Booker
MooseHaven Recording
I’ve only one product that means more to my studio than any other, it’s the speakers. After I bought my Event BAS 20/20’s I heard all the problems that have been nagging me for years. Not even headphones detailed my sonic problems like these monitors. For instance, I was using to much reverb, wrong EQ, and way too much bass, and until I heard the problems I couldn’t correct them.
Kevin Brislin
deep kimchee
The one piece of equipment that has allowed me to get “pro” results from an otherwise semi-pro studio was the purchase of a Roland VS-880 with the effects card. By having eight tracks of digital audio to play with (not including the virtual tracks), being able to bounce back and forth between my Tascam DAT for mixes and submixes, being able to fly in tracks and effects quickly, having the effects card provide two stereo effects available for any channel…this was big doin’s for my studio.
I’ve been able to incorporate acoustic instruments into what was usually all MIDI productions easily and efficiently. Having my Opcode Vision sequencing software sync to the VS880 flawlessly has enabled me to work in a fashion that I’d never been able to do easily when I had an analog four-track synced to the computer (thereby losing one of the tracks for the sync tone.)
For very little money, I have been able to increase my productivity, increase my ability to do more complex projects and have a very pro sound to boot.
Tom Bowlus
With regard to what one piece of gear helped the most in making our product sound “pro,” I would have to give the nod to the Peavey VMP-2 tube microphone preamp. Our “studio” is based on two ADAT-XT’s, and hearing all of the hype about tube mic pre’s being essential in a digital studio, we picked up a VMP-2 as well as an ART Dual Tube MP. The Peavey sounded loads better, and we ended up using it as much as possible. It makes *everything* sound better, in my humble opinion, of course.
Matthew Lien
My recommendation for that “pro” sound is:
Provided you have a recording studio that allows you to capture and monitor accurately, and you have the ear to record and mix well, the one step that is either overlooked or undervalued is Mastering. Too often, the engineer will “master” her/himself, or not at all, assuming the mix was the final process.
Reputable mastering labs and mastering engineers know what the industry “sounds like”, and have the expertise and gear to smooth your project over. Furthermore, as they are removed from the project, they can be truly impartial to what they are hearing. If the project has a future out in the real world (as verses the reel world), then it will be worth the expense to properly master your work.
David M. Delbridge
President/CEO, Resort Records Inc.
Digital changed my life. I don’t in any way mean to put off the analog “purists” out there — they possess a dark magic that I respect, though never obtained. After a decade of amateurish demos, I retired the Portastudio for a used SV-3700 DAT recorder.
Though not my intention to retire tape-based multi-tracking immediately, the first test was such a revelation that I opted for sequencing direct-to-DAT until I could afford one of them there fancy new ADAT things. [Two months later, I had a second-hand unit in my hot little hands, thanks again to CompuServe’s MIDI/Music forum.]
I don’t know that analog would’ve allowed me the results to “go pro.” But, thanks to digital (and Mackie, for the first affordable 32-channel console), we are now Resort Records of Lake Tahoe, tracking and mastering in our studio, “The Resort.” I invite everyone to drop by our live Internet Cam and say “howdy.” Now, “The Internet.” That’s another story….
Michael Costa
Waves L1
Lenny Iacono
Thanks for asking! Having built a custom studio for just over 3 years now, I’ve experimented and dabbled with every idea that comes into my head. Being a vocalist, the one thing that REALLY made a change in my sound was getting a Neumann U87 and Focusrite Red 7 Pre. This Pre is so smooth and airy, it gives that lush sound that is impossible to define but immediately recognizable. Like standing in a field of mint.
The Neumann mic is like a window. The first time I sang into it, I saw light and understood what the rumors were made of. What I love is that it’s not too bright nor too dark. But the details are all there, every last one. And since music is about inspiration, this mic inspires, right down to the last goose pimple.
But there’s one last thing. I’m recording everything into my Mac via Pro Tools III. Using Logic Audio as my (MIDI/Audio) preferred software interface, ’cause it’s so incredibly flexible and customizeable, and the TDM Plug-ins are a little more than partly responsible for “that Pro Sound”. Knowing what I know now, hard disk recording is the finest most flexible medium we have at our fingertips. If I had only one suggestion to make to the serious recordist it’s… buy a Pro Tools system or share your friend’s. And don’t forget the right mic and pre. Remember, the music makes the song, but the voice makes you listen.
Josh Jenkins
The one thing I believe in for creating quality audio is simplicity. Invest your money in excellent microphones; a clean, quiet console, and a quiet tape machine (if analog). Spend money on a couple of quality outboard units. The key for me has been remembering that I should go for QUALITY not QUANTITY.
Don’t worry about how much equipment you can get, instead focus how good the equipment you’re buying is. You could even SAVE money with this approach.
Take for instance Mackie. Mackie makes some of the quietest consoles on the market, yet there cost is often comparatively low. Think Quality, Not Quantity.
Jason Deatherage
Fort Cosmos Studios
The piece of gear that made my studio start to sound “pro” was a Rode NT-2 microphone. I had done about a dozen albums and could never quite achieve that sparkling top end that you hear all over Dire Straits albums and the like. It’s just not something you can EQ in very well. When one of the albums I recorded was released by Virgin Records I could finally afford to buy a proper microphone. I sprung for an NT-2 and have been amazed at the difference a good mic can make. I use it for everything. My only problem is that I really need ten of them. It’s great as a drum overhead; I put it over the drummer’s head facing down at the kit, close mic the ride and the hi-hat with my two AKG C1000s. The crashes bleed into the ride and hat mics just enough to give a nice stereo image to all the cymbals and the Rode gives the beautiful top end shimmer.
JC. Gutierrez
Musical Producer
The, most important gear in the studio to make it sound PRO are your ears, take good care of them, keep«em well trained and sharp, listen to CD«s and live music, capture the subtle nuances on different types of music.Second place is your recording pat; Get a good mic. a good preamp, compressor, and above all a quality mixer, Mackie is great choice if you are on a budget, Oram is not cheap but sounds great too, when recording avoid the fix on the mix criteria, you better get your things in good shape from the start, avoid using excessive EQ, or FX, this is a discussion point due to the artistic side of it. in general clean is better, give room to the instruments in your mix, and finally masterize on a decent media like DAT or MD or at least 1/4 tape. Good luck and keep on recording.
Rob McGaughey
In response to your “One piece of gear Summit…” hmmm… that’s tough because I think that chain can only be as strong as it’s weakest link but at the same time I hate to wimp out and not give a real answer. My studio is based around Digidesign’s Pro Tools III and I have a collection of nice microphones, nice signal processing gear (especially TDM plug-ins), and good monitors. So assuming the whole signal path is on a pretty reasonable level I think the item I own that made the biggest difference in my sound is the Oram MWS 2 channel mic. pre / eq. It’s really musical, a big sound without tubbiness, and the eq allows you to really dial it in quickly and accurately. The preamp sounds great by itself and the eq makes it incredibly flexible for many applications. I use it on everything including voice, stringed instruments, brass, electric guitars, percussion, etc.. I recommend it highly for nearly any style of studio, if you use a microphone and care about how it sounds the MWS will make a difference. Before I bought my MWS I did an extensive comparison involving a wide variety mic pre’s both tube and solid state ranging from a few hundred dollars to over $3600. per channel and found the MWS to be the best overall value.
Rob Brayton
My current studio is a converted bedroom (9′ x 10′ x 8′) with just the bare necessities, yet I am getting better results than when I had room 15′ x 21′ x 9′ that was crawling with gear. The main difference is simply that the equipment available today is vastly superior to that available even five years ago. For a relative pittance, I was able to buy a pair of Earthworks QTC-1 microphones, a Mackie 1402VLZ mixer and HR 824 speakers, ART Pro VLA compressor, Alesis Quadraverb 2 and a digital recorder for less than the cost of my original 12-channel mixing board. With this setup, I am able to capture incredibly detailed sound–detail that was previously only available for those with very deep pockets. My problem now is that I am capturing the sound of a “less than ideal” recording space made even less ideal by omni microphones.
The one piece of gear that made the most improvement was that I built movable sound absorbing panels (AKA gobos). For less than $75 I cut a 4 x 8 x 3/8 piece of plywood into unequally-sized rectangles, built a frame around the edges with 1 x 4’s, stapled burlap to the front and stuffed insulation inside. Then I used 1 x 4’s to build stands for the three panels. Now when I record, I place one panel behind the microphones and a panel on either side. This decreases the undesired room effects from the recording and lets the source more clearly shine through. I have also noticed an improvement in going with 100% balanced cables that I made from Mogami Neglex 2534 oxygen-free quad wire. I have effectively controlled most source-noise by processing the recordings with careful use of the Sound Forge noise reduction plug-in.
Sven Terje Bang
I run a small project studio in Oslo – Norway. Until recently I recorded on 8 tracks and did mixdown by hand. However, the computer I owned for sequencing and CD-burning had a cheap stereo sound card (sound blaster something). I recorded all parts one by one into Cool Edit, which is a really cheap piece of software compared to what you get. I reassembled the audio bits in the multitrack window, then recorded all the effects(there are lots of tracks) and finally got a completely automated mixdown for virtually no expense at all. The computer is not particularily fast (100MHz, 64mbRAM, 3gig HD), but it does the job well.
Automated mixing sounds better. Now I can do all the little pan things, ride the volume to perfection, have as many tracks of effects as I bother to have and can remove every click, pop and heavy breathing from the vocal tracks.
Now I’ve just bought an Event Layla (8 in 10 out) which features glorious sound quality compared to the sound card.
Pro Tools on the cheap.
John E. Van der Brook
A few months back, I purchased an Equi=tech balanced power system and WOW! I cannot believe the difference. It’s like taking off the window screen and looking out; it’s like cleaning your glasses for the first time in a year; it’s like I just bought a new pre-amp, recorder, processor, etc.; it’s like jumping from 8 MB RAM to 64 MB RAM on your PC. It’s like suddenly, there was no noise in the system, and since most of my acoustical recordings are running at -20 or -30 dbu, without compression, system noise and distortion is a factor.
I cannot attest to what improvements will come from close miking techniques, but for those who record live events (bread and butter work), run, don’t walk, to balanced power.
For most live recordings I am using a pair of AKG 460’s with omni capsules, a Mackie mixer, Sony R-500 DAT in the SBM mode.