“I can conduct the sh*t out of you!!!”
Found this incredibly funny Craigslist ad today, I can’t tell if it’s serious or not but I found it really funny. Reposting it here before it’s deleted. (click to embiggen)
via@Chris_Randall http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/muc/1894646334.html
I’ve scheduled the next two events for the Vancouver Home Recording Meetup. If you’re in the area, please register and attend.
Meetup # 2 – Home Recording Basics
Covering the basic equipment required for the typical home recording studio.
Venue: Long & McQuade
When: August 21 2010, 3-6pm
RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/Vancouver-Home-Recording/calendar/14374928/
Meetup # 2 – Drum Recording
Learning how to record drums like the professionals do.
Venue: Nimbus School of Recording
When: September 25 2010, 5pm September 24 2010, 5:30pm
RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/Vancouver-Home-Recording/calendar/14416864/
Setting up the multichannel output for Kontakt in Reaper is not the easiest thing in the world. I set it up a few times and it’s not fun. The last time I got it set up perfectly I saved it as a track template and now I can instantly open Kontakt and all the extra tracks with everything routed and named properly. This saves a ton of time!
Because it’s such a pain I’ve decided to share my template with you.
Installation instructions:
Download file: Steven Slate Drums Track Template
Open Reaper, go to the options menu and select “Show REAPER resource path in explorer/finder…”
Navigate to the “Track Templates folder”
Move the file into this folder. Close explorer/finder
Back in Reaper, go to the “Track” menu, select “Insert Track From Template”>Steven Slate Drums Multi-Out
Note- Whenever you load a new kit, you need to push the “Reset Out Map” in the Kontakt mixer section.
I also have a Pro Tools template for this.
This is a guest post from Geoffrey Granka of Fresh Produce Productions. Find him online at www.freshaudio.ca and @gmgranka on Twitter.
Prior to the proliferation of independent recording studios that seem so familiar to us today, studios were owned by labels. EMI artists would record at EMI studios using equipment designed and manufactured privately by EMI engineers. The same went for Motown artists, Capitol records artists and so on. Some incredible equipment was designed this way (EMI TG consoles, Coles 4038s, Fairchild compressors, etc.) but as time progressed this vertically-integrated model began to make less sense. Recording artists were working stranger hours and desired more control over their recordings (old hat studios like EMI had strict rules for engineers). Independent studios began to pop up to fill this need.
Some of them (like London’s Trident Studios) had the budget and manpower to design their own equipment while others had to contract out to specialized engineers.
Like so many things in history, the legendary Neve 1073 preamp owes much of its fame to being in the right place at the right time. It was introduced in 1970 as a module in a console custom built for Wessex studios. In these days Rupert Neve ran around the independent studios of the world designing equipment for them on request. When Wessex was looking for a new console to satisfy it’s varied client’s needs, Mr Neve was asked to design what became the A88 console.
Rupert Neve designed a solid-state preamp with transformer balanced inputs and outputs (somewhat of a rarity for the time). This was done due to Neve’s history in broadcast and radio electronics where protecting the signal from degradation was critical. Also, because this was a console pre, the amp could not be source selective. It had to sound good on everything.
Wessex Studios was more than satisfied and news began to spread through the independent engineering world. Neve had developed a versatile console that was (brace yourself) affordable. The combination of versatile and cost-efficient resulted in Rupert Neve being a very busy man, installing consoles in virtually all of the independent studios. People began to connect the great sound they were hearing on records to the equipment that recorded them, and the 1073′s infamy grew.
Eventually Neve sold his company (which later merged with AMS) and started Focusrite (where he designed the ISA preamp). He seems to have settled for now at his own Rupert Neve Designs where he still designs extremely professional preamps. None of the amplifiers he has designed since the 1073 have been reached as much fame, except for maybe the 1081, which is a similar preamp to the 1073 with a more involved EQ section.
Recently Golden Age has issued a clone of the 1073 sans EQ (the PRE-73) which it sells for $299USD. Chameleon Labs makes a clone (7602) for it selling for $799USD. Brent Averill makes a clone for $3025USD (the 1028), while what became of the original Neve company (AMS-Neve) sells theirs for around $3000USD. Original Neve modules can cost upwards of $5000USD.
Even though they aren’t so inexpensive anymore, very few people will deny that Neve made an incredible pre that has outlasted its peers of the same era. The 1073 can usually be assumed to be apart of at least one vocal chain on any major label release. Worth $5000 or more? It’s debatable, but it’s legacy is undeniable.
Lesson 1 went over the common components of a synthesizer, explained the functions of the Oscillators, and the mixer sections. Lesson 2 looked at the Envelope and filter sections of the synth. This time we’ll get into using the LFO and arpeggiator sections and polyphony options.
LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator. This oscillator typically functions in the 0 to 20Hz range, but this oscillator isn’t a tone generator but actually a control voltage to modulate the other parts of the synth.
There are just three basic controls for the LFO section
⁃ Rate (or speed)
⁃ Waveshape
⁃ Depth
Rate sets how many cycles per second the LFO operates at.
The Waveshape sets how it behaves. The waveshape options will be the same as in the tone generating Oscillators
Depth sets how much effect the LFO will have on the functions it’s assigned to
Often you’ll find the depth controls are on each of the other functions, like the Oscillators, and filter. In this case its very likely that the knob will be labeled LFO and pointing straight up is off. Turning the knob to the left or right will cycle that function down and up, or up and down.
Other synths will just have a single depth knob and some way to assign the LFO to just one parameter.
Enough talking about what it does, let’s here what it can do.
In this example there will be a tone with no LFO, then -50% modulation for oscillator 1, then 50% for the filter with a triangle waveshape.
That’s a bit extreme but used more lightly you can add a nice movement to your patches.
An arpeggiator is a built-in sequencer for the synth. When you play note or chord it will play each note sequentially. Not all synths will have an arpeggiator.
An arpeggiator has three main controls
⁃ Pattern
⁃ Rate
⁃ Gate
The pattern control chooses how the sequence will be played. Upward, downward, and random are common but you’ll usually have several variations.
Rate is the speed the sequence is played back at. In a virtual synth you can lock it to the project tempo and choose something like 16th notes.
The gate control can shorten the length of each note independent of the release in the amplifier section.
Here is a simple C-Major chord going through the arpeggiator. First set to 1/4 notes, then 8th notes, then I’ll change the pattern from Upward to downward, then I’ll shorten the notes with the gate.
Many synths will have options to control the polyphony or how many notes can be played at once. Some synths are monophonic and can only play one note at a time. Other synths allow you to choose from one to hundreds of voices. The MiniMoog was monophonic and remains one of the greatest and most imitated synthesizers. It’s amazing what you can do with one note at a time.
With monophonic synthesizers you can use the portamento function to quickly (or slowly) bend up or down in pitch to the next note without re-triggering the envelope.
Here is an example of that in action:
That’s it for part 3. We covered the LFO, Arpeggiator, Polyphony and Portamento. Start digging into these functions and try them out.
Have fun!
