Archives
November 2012
November is Mastering Month at RECORDING. Our usual great selection of gear reviews and practical articles is supplemented by unique insights into that still-mysterious and vital element of music production.
Howie Weinberg is famous for thousands of amazing records, from U2 and the Beastie Boys to Muse and the Killers, but our interview covers territory that's unique -- just a little while before our interview with him, he mastered an album by a band whose tracks had been tracked and mixed by our own Paul Vnuk Jr., and as a result we are able to offer you premastered and mastered versions of several tracks online, plus a discussion of what went into the mastering process.
In addition to our interview with Howie, we talk with Grammy-winning mastering engineers David Glasser and Brad Blackwood, there's an enlightening interview with "blue-collar mastering" engineer Chris Sonia, and Darwin Grosse discusses the benefits and dangers of DIY mastering.
And there's lots more to be had in this issue! We review hot new gear and soundware from ADK, API, Audjoo, Earthworks, Ohm Force, PSP Audioware, Samson, and more; continue our look at signal flow in Recording Fundamentals; revisit the power and flexibility of Sibelius when working with sample libraries; and much more.
Whether you're curious about the magic of mastering or just want to hear about the latest and greatest tools and techniques in capturing your music, you won't want to miss the November RECORDING!
API A2D
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
API A2D |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
A company famed for its analogue hardware takes a bold step into the digital world.
API is an American manufacturer of microphone preamps, equalizers and compressors as well as full-scale professional analog recording consol......Expand
A company famed for its analogue hardware takes a bold step into the digital world.
API is an American manufacturer of microphone preamps, equalizers and compressors as well as full-scale professional analog recording consoles that adorn many of the top studios in the world. The API legacy spans over four decades with a lineup of classic designs that remain largely unchanged from their inception, like the 525 compressor and the 550b eq, along with new "classics" like the 2500 Buss compressor and 1608 recording desk.
Above all, API is respected for the 312/512 microphone preamps, which can be found in modern form in the 4-channel API 3124+ mic pre, in the 512 single-channel pre for the 500 Series of rack enclosures (another API invention), and -- better still -- in the device we are looking at today, which features two channels of this classic workhorse preamp and then goes one significant step further.
Aside from being a 2-channel mic pre, the A2D is a 2-channel analog to digital converter. As far as I know the API A2D is API's first-ever digital device. And that pretty much sums up this box: 2 preamps, 2 converters, done! Of course it is the details in between that make this device truly stand out... so let's get to reviewing it...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Earthworks DP30/C Drum Periscope Microphone
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Earthworks DP30/C Drum Periscope Microphone |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Ruler-flat response plus effortless positioning equals utterly honest drum recording.
Over the past year I have had the opportunity to get very familiar with the Earthworks line, from the PM40 & PM40T piano mic system (in ou......Expand
Ruler-flat response plus effortless positioning equals utterly honest drum recording.
Over the past year I have had the opportunity to get very familiar with the Earthworks line, from the PM40 & PM40T piano mic system (in our September 2011 issue) to the high-definition SRV40V vocal mic (February 2012), as well as the SR20 -- one of my personal favorites among utility mics (May 2012). This month we look at something a little bit different -- the Earthworks DP30/C Drum Periscope mic.
Earthworks already offers a few different setups for capturing the drum kit, such as the 3-mic DK25/R kit consisting of a pair of TC25 omnis for overheads with an SR25 cardioid for kick drum (with an inline KickPad), and while that and Earthworks' other 3-mic drum packages all focus on a stereo overhead/kick mic set up, the DP30/C breaks that mold by being a clip-on, close-mic solution for tom and snare use...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Samson Graphite 49 USB MIDI Controller Keyboard
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Samson Graphite 49 USB MIDI Controller Keyboard |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
Samson's debut in the world of USB controllers is a real attention-getter.
Samson has entered the USB keyboard controller market with a pair of new keyboards, the Carbon 49 and the Graphite 49. We'll be taking a quick look a......Expand
Samson's debut in the world of USB controllers is a real attention-getter.
Samson has entered the USB keyboard controller market with a pair of new keyboards, the Carbon 49 and the Graphite 49. We'll be taking a quick look at the entry-level Carbon 49 in our 2012 Gift Guide next month, but in this issue we're peeking under the hood of the full-featured Graphite 49. It offers a 49-note (4-octave) keyboard with a full set of remote control features in a light (about 10 pounds) and portable bus-powered package.
The Graphite 49's layout is clean and surprisingly compact; it offers pitch and mod wheels, nine sliders, eight endless encoders, sixteen buttons, four drum pads, and five transport keys, plus assorted menu and function buttons and a large backlit LCD that's packed with useful data.
The rear panel offers a MIDI Out port, one 1/4" jack for a sustain pedal, the USB connection, and a Power switch. An optional power supply lets the Graphite 49 function as a MIDI controller without a computer attached if desired, but for our tests it happily ran on USB power.
When using the Graphite 49 you actually have more controllers than are visible on the front panel....
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Plug-In Outlet
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr. and Mike Metlay
Plug-In Outlet |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr. and Mike Metlay
PSP Echo; Ohm Force Ohmicide:Melohman.
PSP Audioware products tend to be sonically amazing and amazingly affordable. Many have appeard in these pages before: The oldTimer compressor (August 2010), NobleQ passive eq (......Expand
PSP Echo; Ohm Force Ohmicide:Melohman.
PSP Audioware products tend to be sonically amazing and amazingly affordable. Many have appeard in these pages before: The oldTimer compressor (August 2010), NobleQ passive eq (April 2012) and of course the famous Vintage Warmer (October 2002), each of which has a reputation for nailing the illusive illusion of "analog" in the DAW world.
Then there are PSP's effects-based plug-ins from the sound-designer dream machine known as N2O (September 2011), a selection of delays such as the 8-tap 608 MultiDelay and the multifunction PSP 85, as well as a spot-on recreation of Lexicon's PCM-42, of course called the PSP 42 (June 2003).
This month we take a look at PSP's latest plug-in creation, one that bridges the gap between the vintage flavored analog creations and PSP's world of delay-based effects. Its name is PSP Echo...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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ADK Thor Condenser Microphone
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Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
ADK Thor Condenser Microphone |
Reviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Three patterns, three voicings, endless possibilities.
The Thor is the newest member in the ADK pantheon of microphones. By way of introduction, ADK is the brainchild of Larry Villella. Over the past fifteen years his compan......Expand
Three patterns, three voicings, endless possibilities.
The Thor is the newest member in the ADK pantheon of microphones. By way of introduction, ADK is the brainchild of Larry Villella. Over the past fifteen years his company has built a reputation for balancing quality and price point, and they were one of the earliest companies to offer good sounding large-diaphragm alternatives at an affordable price that allowed budding engineers to get into the game.
ADK also has a deserved cult following for its line of mid- to upper-level custom-shop microphones that pay homage to the classics of yesteryear. Two years ago (September 2010) we looked at the ADK Cremona 251Au and the Berlin 47Au (one of my absolute favorite front-of-kick mics). One of the many things that made these microphones interesting was that they were all essentially the same microphone (along with ADK's Hamburg 67Au and Vienna 12Au), just voiced differently.
This time around, as we summon the ADK Thor, we return to the non-custom-shop beginner side of ADK, but the paradigm remains the same as we look at a mic that started life as three separate models in the ADK line!...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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RECORDING's Showcase Of Sounds
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Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
RECORDING's Showcase Of Sounds |
Reviewed by
Mike Metlay
New sounds for Ableton Live: Soniccouture Electric Pianos, SonArte Crystal Sounds and Sound Objects, and Puremagnetik Retro Synths; Audjoo Helix virtual synth.
Don't be surprised if you've never heard of Audjoo. This little ......Expand
New sounds for Ableton Live: Soniccouture Electric Pianos, SonArte Crystal Sounds and Sound Objects, and Puremagnetik Retro Synths; Audjoo Helix virtual synth.
Don't be surprised if you've never heard of Audjoo. This little software firm is a relative newcomer on the scene; for a few years now (the beta process started in 2007) it's been marketing one single product, a software synthesizer called Helix. And what a synthesizer it is!
Trying to summarize Helix in a way that a novice reader can absorb in a hurry gave me a headache; there's a lot going on in this plug-in, and just trying to list all the features results in a pretty intimidating set of specs. It's not a huge exaggeration to say that Helix is a synthesizer that tries to do it all and doesn't miss by much.
Let's start with a basic signal-flow diagram. Helix starts with four oscillators, which are then fed through a series of six Stages (three Filters and three Shapers) and a final amplitude/gain stage, then a series of seven effects. Each voice of polyphony has its own fully-stereo signal chain until it reaches the effects, where all voices are summed together.
The result is a very lush and animated sound, with each voice animated and evolving without being constrained to what the other voices are doing. But that comparatively simple audio chain doesn't tell anywhere near the whole story, as we'll see as we examine each of the parts that make up Helix...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Q&A With A Master: Howie Weinberg
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Interviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
Q&A With A Master: Howie Weinberg |
Interviewed by
Paul Vnuk Jr.
The veteran mastering engineer discusses the past, present, and future of mastering and shares his experiences mastering a new project by an up-and-coming band... one that was tracked and mixed by the interviewer!
Howie Wein......Expand
The veteran mastering engineer discusses the past, present, and future of mastering and shares his experiences mastering a new project by an up-and-coming band... one that was tracked and mixed by the interviewer!
Howie Weinberg is a mastering engineer with a career span of 35 years. Clients include: Nirvana, Beastie Boys, Pantera, Public Enemy, Slayer, Muse, The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, Run DMC, Tom Waits, Garbage, Smashing Pumpkins, Prince, Cypress Hill, Bjork -- and the list goes on.
Recently I tracked and mixed an indie rock band from Chicago named Camera. When it came time to have their album mastered, Howie's name was at the top of their wish list. The band and I were ecstatic that he was able to take on the project and give it his final touch. He was also willing to take the time to give us his advice and stories as well as a look into the evolution of the mastering process....
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Q&A With A Master: David Glasser
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Interviewed by
Bruce Kaphan
Q&A With A Master: David Glasser |
Interviewed by
Bruce Kaphan
Known for his Grammy(R)-winning work in the acoustic and Americana realm, this seasoned pro talks about approaching the mastering session and working with newcomers to the field.
I asked one of my favorite mastering engineer......Expand
Known for his Grammy(R)-winning work in the acoustic and Americana realm, this seasoned pro talks about approaching the mastering session and working with newcomers to the field.
I asked one of my favorite mastering engineers, two-time Grammy(R) winner David Glasser of Airshow Mastering, for his advice on your expectations for a mastering session and on how to prepare your tracks....
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Q&A With A Master: Brad Blackwood
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Interviewed by
Lorenz Rychner
Q&A With A Master: Brad Blackwood |
Interviewed by
Lorenz Rychner
The nuts and bolts of getting set up for mastering and what to expect, from a Grammy(R)-winning professional with a long list of stellar credits.
Grammy Award winner Brad Blackwood works at Euphonic Masters in Memphis, TN an......Expand
The nuts and bolts of getting set up for mastering and what to expect, from a Grammy(R)-winning professional with a long list of stellar credits.
Grammy Award winner Brad Blackwood works at Euphonic Masters in Memphis, TN and has mastered records for Maroon 5, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Black Eyed Peas, and Three Days Grace. We put the following questions to him, based on this premise:
"For a recording musician with his/her own home studio, someone who may stretch the budget to afford a professional mastering house, what advice can you offer about their preparation of the mix and the delivery of the files?"
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Blue-Collar Mastering: Chris Sonia
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Interviewed by
Lorenz Rychner
Blue-Collar Mastering: Chris Sonia |
Interviewed by
Lorenz Rychner
In a recent contest sponsored by this magazine, a lucky winner got his album mastered by this strongly independent engineer whose setup defies tradition and whose results speak for themselves. Read his views on mastering "for the blue-collar music......Expand
In a recent contest sponsored by this magazine, a lucky winner got his album mastered by this strongly independent engineer whose setup defies tradition and whose results speak for themselves. Read his views on mastering "for the blue-collar musician".
Mastering engineer Chris Sonia owns and operates Dauntless Mastering in Keene, NH. Among his recent projects was the mastering of the album Farrago by Justen Cimino, a prize offered in a recent contest sponsored by RECORDING. Our website has examples of Chris's work both on that album and on two other projects he recently completed (and whose artists were kind enough to grant permission for us to post examples).
In this interview, Chris offers a down-to-earth perspective on the mastering process "for the rest of us"....
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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DIY Mastering
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Written by
Darwin Grosse
DIY Mastering |
Written by
Darwin Grosse
We've all heard the arguments in favor of having a pro master your work... but if you do want to try it yourself, what are your strategies and tools?
In this issue of RECORDING, you are reading about different aspects of the......Expand
We've all heard the arguments in favor of having a pro master your work... but if you do want to try it yourself, what are your strategies and tools?
In this issue of RECORDING, you are reading about different aspects of the fine art of mastering. Working with professional mastering engineers can be a rewarding and positive experience, but there are some instances where you may decide to do your own mastering work. The reasons behind this decision probably fall among four issues: cost, speed, quality and creativity.
Let's be frank: A good mastering engineer will cost you some cash-and will generally be worth the money spent. However, when no budget for mastering is available, you are left with no other choice than to do the work yourself. You may save money, but realize that saving this money may cost you a significant amount of time. Mastering engineers are pros because they are masters of the process; you on the other hand will have to work extremely hard to gain the insight you need to do a credible job. You also may have to purchase some task-specific tools, and that costs money. Once you are set up, you may be able to save some money by doing your own work...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 11: Signal Flow Part 3
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Written by
Eric Ferguson
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 11: Signal Flow Part 3 |
Written by
Eric Ferguson
We focus on monitor mixes and aux buses to make sure the artists we're recording can hear what they need to perform at their very best.
In last month's issue, special attention was paid to the two audio paths that exist when......Expand
We focus on monitor mixes and aux buses to make sure the artists we're recording can hear what they need to perform at their very best.
In last month's issue, special attention was paid to the two audio paths that exist when recording. The first is the record path and it contains everything encountered between the sound source and recorder. The second is the monitor path, and it entails everything between the recorder and our ears.
While implementation of these two paths varies greatly among different consoles and DAWs, the golden rule of signal flow must be followed: when recording, engineers and musicians should always listen to the output of the recorder. Monitoring should never be sourced off the record path.
This concept can be restated in a different manner: the recording level of each individual source is set in the record path, but the listening level of each source is set in the monitor path...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Sibelius 7 As A Tool For Sample Playback. Part 2: Adding Third-Party Virtual Instruments
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Written by
Jerome Gilmer
Sibelius 7 As A Tool For Sample Playback. Part 2: Adding Third-Party Virtual Instruments |
Written by
Jerome Gilmer
Our look at this powerful notation/orchestration program contines as we supplement the built-in sounds with our favorite third-party libraries.
When we left off last time (August 2012) I posed the question of whether we coul......Expand
Our look at this powerful notation/orchestration program contines as we supplement the built-in sounds with our favorite third-party libraries.
When we left off last time (August 2012) I posed the question of whether we could turn out a piece of serious, finished work if we added some of the better virtual instruments to the Sibelius 7 work environment. For this second article I was able to try out Synthogy's Ivory virtual piano, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) Epic Orchestra, and Audiobro LA Scoring Strings (LASS) 2. I think I'm at least a lot closer to an answer now...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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Fade Out
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Written by
Scott Dorsey
Fade Out |
Written by
Scott Dorsey
Taking A Historical VU.
The VU meter is the most maligned, misunderstood, and misused measuring device in all of audio. It wasn't designed to do most of what people use it for, and it actually doesn't do many of the things p......Expand
Taking A Historical VU.
The VU meter is the most maligned, misunderstood, and misused measuring device in all of audio. It wasn't designed to do most of what people use it for, and it actually doesn't do many of the things people think it does...
Read more in the November 2012 issue of RECORDING!
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