Archives
October 2009
CLICK HERE to purchase the October 2009 digital edition.
It's October! Time for the AES Convention, a ton of new recording technology releases, and an issue of RECORDING that's filled to the brim will useful ideas on two of the most important topics our readers want to know about -- Mixing and Mastering.
It's time to take your tracks to perfection with the good advice and useful techniques provided in this issue... many of which come from award-winning engineers who know what they're talking about, yet go against the "common wisdom" everyone supposedly knows. You can find out how Grammy-winner Joe Chiccarelli goes for his best mixes, and learn the simple, basic ideas that get him where he needs to go in a hurry. Mastering guru Bob Katz tells you what you REALLY need to know about mastering... not what "everyone knows is the right thing to do." And we have articles on drum replacement, mixing the oft-abused bass guitar, learning what mastering is all about, and even an article about removing the sound of a room from a recording in that room!
Also in this issue: a comprehensive look at the very affordable, very powerful, very portable, and very VERY cool Zoom R16 recorder/interface/control surface, fantastic mics from Lauten Audio, two very different preamps from Benchmark and Universal Audio, an affordable and great-sounding compressor from Chameleon Labs, and more. There's lots to learn and lots to enjoy in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
Pick it up now on the newsstand... and so you get your next issue early (and save on cost), why not hit the big red Subscribe Now button on this page and have RECORDING delivered to your door each month?
Zoom R16
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Zoom R16 |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
With or without a computer, this portable recording marvel doesn’t disappoint.
It’s always a treat to see how much the Zoom gearheads manage to cram into a tiny package while keeping it all handy and useful. At the last Wint......Expand
With or without a computer, this portable recording marvel doesn’t disappoint.
It’s always a treat to see how much the Zoom gearheads manage to cram into a tiny package while keeping it all handy and useful. At the last Winter NAMM in Anaheim, I saw Zoom’s newest product, the R16, carefully displayed under glass as a prototype. I’m glad to report that the R16 is now out, alive and very well. How does it fit into the Zoom lineage?...
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Lauten ST-221 Torch Microphone
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Lauten ST-221 Torch Microphone |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
A pencil condenser mic with an unusual and seductive sound
It’s hard to believe it’s been a little over two years since we introduced Lauten Audio and its first offering, the Horizon tube microphone, to our readers (August 2......Expand
A pencil condenser mic with an unusual and seductive sound
It’s hard to believe it’s been a little over two years since we introduced Lauten Audio and its first offering, the Horizon tube microphone, to our readers (August 2007). The Horizon featured a unique sound with one of the lowest noise floors I have heard in a microphone, and it had a stylish Nuevo-Retro look. To quote that review: “From build to shape to sound, its qualities exceed those of many other tube mics in its class...”
Since that time Lauten has gone to market with three additional models, and today I introduce you to the runt of the litter, the ST-221 or Torch, but don’t let its size fool you. The Torch is a small-diaphragm pressure-gradient tube-based condenser microphone. It is sold only in pairs (no, you can’t buy just one) with a set of interchangeable heads offering a choice of cardioid and omni polar patterns....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Benchmark MPA1 Preamplifier
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Reviewed by
Paul J. Stamler
Benchmark MPA1 Preamplifier |
Reviewed by
Paul J. Stamler
Clarity is the byword in this remarkable little preamp
The MPA1, from longtime pro equipment maker Benchmark, looks pretty basic. It’s a 2-channel 1RU half-rack device, with gain controls, phantom on-off, a highpass filter a......Expand
Clarity is the byword in this remarkable little preamp
The MPA1, from longtime pro equipment maker Benchmark, looks pretty basic. It’s a 2-channel 1RU half-rack device, with gain controls, phantom on-off, a highpass filter and polarity inversion on each channel, plus a pair of LED level meters. Unusually for a box this small, the power supply is built in, rather than an external wall-wart. The only frill is a headphone jack with its own control. A small row of mysterious LEDs by each level control, though, gives hints that this very basic preamp may harbor some subtleties....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Reviewed and Revisited: M-Audio ProFire 610
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Reviewed and Revisited: M-Audio ProFire 610 |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
A time-honored design meets modern DSP tweaks.
In our May 2004 issue, we looked at the FireWire 410, M-Audio’s first affordable multitrack audio interface using FireWire. At the time, USB 2.0 was still a long ways away, and ......Expand
A time-honored design meets modern DSP tweaks.
In our May 2004 issue, we looked at the FireWire 410, M-Audio’s first affordable multitrack audio interface using FireWire. At the time, USB 2.0 was still a long ways away, and if you wanted more than stereo I/O, you needed FireWire... and the M-Audio box represented a new price point for this technology.
Time marches on, and now there are a gazillion audio interfaces using USB 2.0 and FireWire that surpass what the old 410 could do, but there’s still a place for the half-rackspace basic interface in many studios, and M-Audio has modernized the 410 into a tasty little box called the ProFire 610....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity Preamp
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity Preamp |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Twin architectures offer infinite tone choices.
In our January 2007 issue we looked at a pair of single-channel microphone preamps by Universal Audio known as the SOLO series. The tube-based SOLO/610 was a direct descendant ......Expand
Twin architectures offer infinite tone choices.
In our January 2007 issue we looked at a pair of single-channel microphone preamps by Universal Audio known as the SOLO series. The tube-based SOLO/610 was a direct descendant of Universal Audio’s classic Putnam-designed 610s of yesteryear, while the SOLO/110 (now discontinued) was a single channel of the newer high-fidelity 4110/8110 solid-state series. For around $800 each you had a choice of classic or clean, but only a double purchase would get you both... until now....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Plug-In Outlet
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay and Paul Vnuk Jr.
Plug-In Outlet |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay and Paul Vnuk Jr.
Reviews of the 2C Audio Aether reverb plug-in and Abbey Road Brilliance Pack.
From the Abbey Road review:
Abbey Road Studios in the 1960s produced what is arguably some of the greatest recorded music of our time, and ......Expand
Reviews of the 2C Audio Aether reverb plug-in and Abbey Road Brilliance Pack.
From the Abbey Road review:
Abbey Road Studios in the 1960s produced what is arguably some of the greatest recorded music of our time, and most of it was done on then state-of-the-art/custom-built REDD series EMI tube desks. What you probably did not know was that each channel only offered two bands of equalization, with a high-frequency boost of only 5 kHz. In 2009 it’s almost impossible to imagine crafting a mix with only two bands of fixed eq!
Luckily the engineers at EMI felt the same way and solved the problem by creating a series of passive external “presence” boxes that would fill in some of the missing frequencies. Luckier still is that Abbey Road’s plug-in division have modeled them as part of their growing line of historic, vintage plug-in recreations...
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Chameleon Labs 7802 Tube Compressor
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Chameleon Labs 7802 Tube Compressor |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
This rack compressor claims tube quality on a budget—does it deliver?
The 7802 from Chameleon labs is a new stereo opto-tube compressor built to evoke the classic optical units of the past, but at a price tag that almost any......Expand
This rack compressor claims tube quality on a budget—does it deliver?
The 7802 from Chameleon labs is a new stereo opto-tube compressor built to evoke the classic optical units of the past, but at a price tag that almost any studio can afford. In fact, it appears that Chameleon’s goal is to provide classic high-quality sound in an affordable box....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Recording's Showcase of Sounds: Big Fish Audio Stratos
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Recording's Showcase of Sounds: Big Fish Audio Stratos |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Stratos: Drones And Atmospheres is a library of texture/drone “construction kits” created by Steve Sechi of Funk/Soul Productions for Big Fish Audio. It’s unusual in that there is practically nothing beat-oriented in the entire library, nor are th......Expand
Stratos: Drones And Atmospheres is a library of texture/drone “construction kits” created by Steve Sechi of Funk/Soul Productions for Big Fish Audio. It’s unusual in that there is practically nothing beat-oriented in the entire library, nor are there single-hit sound effects per se. It’s all, well, drones and atmospheres—useful bed/texture elements for creating music for visual media, commercials, or for adding magic to more conventional mixes....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Joe Chiccarelli and the Perfect Mix
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Interviewed by
Mike Metlay
Joe Chiccarelli and the Perfect Mix |
Interviewed by
Mike Metlay
A Grammy-winning mix engineer/producer talks the talk.
With work for a list of artists ranging from U2 to Elton John, Beck to Rufus Wainwright, Counting Crows to Michelle Branch, and Café Tacuba to Julieta Venegas, and a sol......Expand
A Grammy-winning mix engineer/producer talks the talk.
With work for a list of artists ranging from U2 to Elton John, Beck to Rufus Wainwright, Counting Crows to Michelle Branch, and Café Tacuba to Julieta Venegas, and a solid half-dozen Grammy awards on his shelf, Joe Chiccarelli is a well-established force in the world of high-stakes mix engineering. He is also, thank goodness, a friendly and approachable source of worthwhile advice that any engineer can learn from. Joe recently answered a few questions on the art of the mix....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Mastering Engineer Bob Katz—The Voice of Experience
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Interviewed by
Fabio Garcia
Mastering Engineer Bob Katz—The Voice of Experience |
Interviewed by
Fabio Garcia
This famous mastering engineer doesn't let us forget that it is not about the latest tools and techniques (although he uses them all)... it's about the ears, the sound and the musicality.
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECOR......Expand
This famous mastering engineer doesn't let us forget that it is not about the latest tools and techniques (although he uses them all)... it's about the ears, the sound and the musicality.
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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The Mixing Workshop: Mixing Bass Guitar, Part 1
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Written by
Sean Shannon
The Mixing Workshop: Mixing Bass Guitar, Part 1 |
Written by
Sean Shannon
The bass guitar helps form the foundation of a track, and its placement in the mix is crucial to a big, professional sound. Here are some tips to get the bass right in your mixes.
Many times an engineer will be mixing a track that h......Expand
The bass guitar helps form the foundation of a track, and its placement in the mix is crucial to a big, professional sound. Here are some tips to get the bass right in your mixes.
Many times an engineer will be mixing a track that has a DI (direct inject) track, which is a recording of the bass directly from the bass itself, and an amp track (or tracks), recorded from mics placed at the bass amp.
If you are using a computer DAW (digital audio workstation), you can zoom in on the bass tracks so you can see both the DI bass track and the mic track(s) next to each other on the screen....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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What the Heck IS Mastering?
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Written by
Dave Martin
What the Heck IS Mastering? |
Written by
Dave Martin
A studio owner’s look at a sometimes mysterious process.
Looking around on the various online forums, I see that in much the same way that musicians have taken the recording process into their own hands, they’ve also begun d......Expand
A studio owner’s look at a sometimes mysterious process.
Looking around on the various online forums, I see that in much the same way that musicians have taken the recording process into their own hands, they’ve also begun doing their own mastering. While DIY is often a good thing, I realize that quite a number of those mastering their own projects really don’t know what mastering should entail—and for that reason, I decided to offer my own thoughts on the subject....
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Recording's Drum Column
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Written by
Mark Hornsby
Recording's Drum Column |
Written by
Mark Hornsby
We look at drum replacement in Pro Tools once more, with tools both new (Elastic Audio) and old (doing it by hand).
Last month we started a comparison of drum editing techniques in Pro Tools by looking at some of the feature......Expand
We look at drum replacement in Pro Tools once more, with tools both new (Elastic Audio) and old (doing it by hand).
Last month we started a comparison of drum editing techniques in Pro Tools by looking at some of the features of Beat Detective. This month we’re going to continue on with Elastic Time and the old fashioned philosophy of doing it by hand. Here we go...
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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Fade Out
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Written by
Scott Dorsey
Fade Out |
Written by
Scott Dorsey
Dereverberation.
You’d think that since it’s so easy these days to generate artificial reverberation that it would be easy to remove it too. Who out there hasn’t at one time got the idea that if you invert the output of a di......Expand
Dereverberation.
You’d think that since it’s so easy these days to generate artificial reverberation that it would be easy to remove it too. Who out there hasn’t at one time got the idea that if you invert the output of a digital reverb you could use it to remove reverb from tracks that are too wet? Sadly it doesn’t work that way...
Read more in the October 2009 issue of RECORDING!
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