Tech Tues.: Logic Pro X - Drummer Conversion Tutorial

One of the great new features in Logic Pro X is the Drummer. Here's a quick tutorial by Anthony Finfrock on converting the standard rock kits into custom kits of your own sounds.

The Wizards of OZ - HandCrafted Labs

The OZ Passive Equalizer from HandCrafted Labs should be available any day now and I think will become popular with mixing and mastering engineers alike.
It is based on the Pultec design but has added features such as extended frequency bands and stepped controls which makes for quick and easy recalls. It can also be ordered with dual output transformers and is equipped with an outboard power supply to reduce noise and hum. Note also the the ground lift switch on each output and separate split output connectors on the rear panel.

FEATURES:

• - all stepped controls
• - pure tube singal path with tiodes, A class
• - big octal outstanding soviet military tubes
• - powerful customwound input/output transformers
• - excellent Cinemag inductors
• - point-to-point internal wiring on metal chassis, with no PCB in signal path
• - outboard PSU, to supress all noises and hums
• - dual transformer balanced outputs on demand

SPECIFICATIONS:

Input/Output level,balanced	+23dBu
Gain	up to 15dB
Noise Floor	>87dB
Input  Impendance Output Impendance	10K can drive load=0,5к
Frequency response,(+/-1,0dB)	30Hz-20Khz
THD %	< 0,23%@+23dBu
Mains	230/120V,50-60Hz, 60WA

Price TBA. For all inquiries/purchase requests etc. go here

Fri. Feature: MaCk WiLdS "OWN IT" and the UAD EMT 140 & Lexicon 224 reverbs

Grammy Award Producer and label exec Salaam Remi approached me about mixing the upcoming "New York: A Love Story" album for Tristan (Mack) Wilds who is mostly known for his acting skills (such as HBO's "The Wire" and the war epic "Red Tails"to name a few.) After listening to a few of the tracks and meeting Mack at Salaam's studio I immediately signed on to do the album.

The single named "Own It" has an "ol' skool" feel but with "new skool"elements that work really well. Salaam's production combined with Mack's delivery and energy really brings the song to life. When I first heard the song it reminded me of the many summer block parties we used to have in Queens, New York years ago.

Here's the video:

You can like Mack's Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/TheMackWilds

and follow him on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MACKWILDS



"Own It' was mixed  on a Macbook Pro with Protools 10 and a UAD Apollo. All the tracks were well recorded by engineers Ryan Evans and Gleydor (Gee) Disla with assistance from engineer Neil (Disco) Dyer. I was able to focus more on balance and finding the right effects which made mixing the song even more enjoyable.

The main reverbs used on the vocals, synths and strings were UAD's Lexicon 224 and EMT 140.
The EMT 140 was the main verb on the lead vocals, hook and main synth while the backgrounds and strings are mostly the Lexicon 224. I say mostly because on the backgrounds I also mixed in a lesser amount of the EMT 140 so all the vocals would sound like they occupy a similar space. 

Here are the actual settings I used:

These plugins are software replicas of the well known classic reverbs of the same name. I've used the original hardware on many songs over the years and UAD emulated the sonics extremely well. Both reverbs are fairly easy to use especially if you are familiar with the hardware and if not UA's extensive manual (Chapters 10 and 17) explains all the parameters in detailed layman's terms so you can use them on your next sonic masterpiece.

Visit UA's website for more info on the Lexicon 224 and EMT 140 plus the many other great plugins
and hardware in their product line.

What do you think of D16's SigMund?

D16 Group announced the impending release of The SigMund which is the newest addition to their list of plugins; The Sigmund is a highly versatile multiple delay unit. I like the layout which reminds me of a DJ controller. With the MIDI learn function and parameter mapping it should become a favorite with producers/remixers/DJs.

From the website:

"Sigmund is far from just another delay: it consists of four discrete delay units, each with its own, independent set of parameters offering an incredible degree of sound-shaping freedom. There's an ancient saying, often attributed to Aristotle: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. With Sigmund, this is especially true: each of the delay lines has complementary modules built in, independent from the feedback loop:"

Features

• 4 independent delay lines, each with:
  • Multimode filter
  • Overdrive unit
  • Separately configured pre and delay times with optional Tempo sync.
  • Delay times down to 0.1ms
  • Selectable channel mode (L+R or M+S)
  • Stereo spread
• High quality delay line alghorithm (no aliasing, no artifacts)
• Two multipurpose LFOs:
  • LFO phase retrigg option via MIDI
  • 6 waveforms
  • Tempo synchronization as an option
• Flexible Routing (9 possible topologies)
• Convenient mixer
• Master Limiter
• Presets
  • Over 200 factory presets
  • Advanced, file-based preset browser
• Miscellaneous
  • Advanced MIDI learn
  • Parameter mapping for VST / AU automation

System requirements

PC

OS:	Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
CPU:	1.8 Ghz with SSE (Multicore system 2.1 Ghz recommended)
RAM:	2 GB (4 GB recommended)
Software:	VST compatible host application (32bit or 64bit)

Mac

OS:	10.6.x or 10.7.x or 10.8.x
CPU:	Intel based 1.8 Ghz (2.1 Ghz recommended)
RAM:	2 GB (4 GB recommended)
Software:	AU / VST compatible host application (32bit or 64bit)

Visit the D16 website for complete details on the SigMund plus take a listen to the many sound examples on the page.

Tech Tues: Engineer/Producer Tony Maserati - Pensado's Place #126 plus a Vocal fix ITL

This episode features none other than Tony Maserati who mixed Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines"and an ITL that shows how to fix a vocal track that's been over de-essed ( I've used this trick many times in the  past to fix over compressed vocals).

Music Monday: Vendetta_Luv Dis featuring MH ChannelStrip3 & HaloVerb

A few months ago I was approached by good friend and producer Shomari "Sho" Dillon to mix a project for his artist Vendetta who is a rising star on the Miami hip-hop scene. I like his delivery and storytelling style. 

Here is the video for his single "Luv Dis":

For his vocals I used Metric Halo's ChannelStrip3 and HaloVerb which is included in their Production Bundle. The delay is the stock delay included in Avid's Protools.

The ChannelStrip3 is one of my favorites. It works well on a large variety of sounds and is exceptional on vocals. Vendetta's vocals were well recorded so didn't require much "surgery". The above pic is the actual settings I used for the mix. I dialed in the eq and compression then adjusted the limiter to get the vocal to sit properly on the track. The output was adjusted to maintain unity gain.
(Note the built in RTA on the graphs which is based on Metric Halo's Spectrafoo.)

The HaloVerb is a great sounding reverb that allowed me to add space to Vendetta's vocals quite easily.
All the controls are well laid out and easily adjusted. There are also multiple presets to get you started.
In this case I started with the "Vocal plate 1" and then tweaked the diffusion.

Download demos of the Production Bundle here.


Vendetta's album/mixtape can be heard and downloaded at:

http://www.datpiff.com/  and  http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/

Metric Halo’s 2013 Summer Sale

Metric Halo is currently having a Summer Sale on their product line which means huge savings for everyone. The sale prices are good until 9/15/2013.
I've been using Metric Halo products for over a decade and use my MIO 2882 +DSP along with their Production Bundle and Spectrafoo on every project.

SPECTRAFOO

From the website:

Don’t Miss Out on These Amazing Deals!

ULN-8 - The Ultimate

$5995 Now Only: $3995






2882 - The Original

$1895 Now Only: $1595






Production Bundle - Must Have

$699 Now Only: $399






LIO-8 - TEC Award Winning

$3995 Now Only: $2695






LIO-8/4p - "Astonishing"

$4695 Now Only: $3145






LIO-8/8p - Best Value

$5320 Now Only: $3495






ULN-2 - Boutique Quality

$1695 Now Only: $1395






ULN-2 + 1 Jensen - Smooth

$2145 Now Only: $1795






ULN-2 + 2 Jensen - Smoother

$2495 Now Only: $2095

This special pricing is available through your local Metric Halo dealer or distributor, as well as directly from Metric Halo via the Online Store. This pricing cannot be combined with any other Metric Halo discounts or offers including educational accounts.

Pensado's Place #122 featuring Engineer Dylan (3D) Dresdow

In this episode Dave and Herb sit with Dylan Dresdow (Will.i.am, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, Usher, Far East Movement) who shares a lot of great info on how they created the sound on some of the records he mixed. I like the analogies made between the analog gear and techniques used in the past and the plugins currently used.

This episode includes an ITL on using multiple mono reverbs on vocals.

Russell Simmons, Universal Music launch label -- on YouTube

Russell Simmons who is one of the original founders of Def Jam (along with Rick Rubin) and helped to make Hip-hop a household word and globally recognized music and culture has launched a new label venture with Universal Music on Youtube.

Here's an excerpt from CNet's article:

"Simmons's latest venture, a YouTube multichannel network called All Def Digital -- which he and business partner Brian Robbins announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January but which has yet to officially launch -- has teamed up with Universal Music Group to create a new label, All Def Music. When it rolls out later this summer, All Def Music will become the first label created to discover and develop artists on YouTube that's tied to one of the majors, a move that Universal's CEO is betting will go down as a key moment for his company....
Google-owned YouTube boasts more than 1 billion monthly viewers, and music videos are consistently among the most popular content. Most importantly, YouTube has become the go-to place for young people to find, listen to and share music -- not just from the majors but from aspiring artists hoping to break through all the noise. Which, in short, is why Simmons and his team knew they needed to be there.....
To take this on, Simmons has brought in another icon of urban music: Steve Rifkind, who is responsible for breaking some of hip-hop's biggest acts, such as Wu-Tang Clan, is now president and CEO of All Def Music and ADD Artist Management. And Robbins, who Simmons refers to as "my boss," is a veteran Hollywood producer and the founder of AwesomenessTV, a YouTube network that Dreamworks paid $33 million for in May -- less than a year after it launched...."

To read the entire article go here.

How To Sync Pro Tools 11 With Logic Pro X

A quick video by Russ Hughes of Protools Expert showing how to sync Protools 11 and Logic Pro X.

Logic Pro X available now for $199

Apple released the long awaited Logic Pro X today. It's available from the App Store for $199. It includes a new design and many new features including the "the Logic Remote app which lets you wirelessly pair your Mac and your iPad — giving you the freedom to control Logic Pro from anywhere in the room. Swipe and scroll through the massive Logic Pro Sound Library. And play any of the software instruments with your choice of several Multi-Touch musical interfaces. Smart Controls are located just above the instrument you’re playing, so you can easily shape your sound."

Here are some of the new features mentioned on the website:

Track Stacks

"Keep your sessions better organized by consolidating multiple related tracks — for example, all the drums or vocals — into a new track format called a Track Stack. Choose to have your Track Stack routed to a new auxiliary for quick and convenient submixing. Or use Track Stacks to create rich, layered, or split instruments that are easy to manage, save, and reuse."

Flex Pitch

"With Flex Pitch, there’s no reason to get hung up on a performance that’s less than ideal. Roll over any note you want to edit and all of the Flex Pitch parameters show up, ready to adjust. You can fine-tune pitch. Smooth out, add, or increase vibrato. Or even create or remove pitch slides between notes. All without having to constantly switch between tools. To make performances more consistent, simply adjust the gain of individual notes — no need for excessive compression or meticulous automation editing. You can also snap selected notes to a definable key and scale."

Drumkit Designer/Alternative Drummer

"Open Drum Kit Designer and select a kit. You can swap pieces to build a custom kit, choosing from a diverse variety of snares, kicks, toms, hi-hats, and cymbals. Finesse the sound of each drum by adjusting the tuning, dampening, and gain. And enable stereo or mono room and overhead mics. Each kit comes with its own unique mix designed by an industry hit maker. Choose a more elaborate Producer Kit and it loads with a Patch that gives you access to the full multi-channel mix, along with all the processing and routing the producer used."

"Choose one of 15 drummers from the rock, alternative, songwriter, and R&B genres for your song. Each drummer has a custom kit, delivers his or her own signature sound, and can perform over a million unique groove and fill combinations. Simple controls let you adjust everything from the drums they play on to the intensity and complexity of their playing style."

"Logic Pro X adds seven classic stompboxes to your collection. Looking for dynamic pitch transposition or dive bomb effects? Go with Wham. For iconic distortion, there’s Grit. Crank up the woolly blues or a sizzling lead with Tube Burner. Get funky with Dr. Octave, which produces tones one and two octaves below what you played. Capture the classic sound of ’80s flangers with Flange Factory. Tweak the tone with the Graphic EQ stompbox. And for a psychedelic backwards delay effect, turn to Tie Dye Delay."

Visit Apple for complete details on Logic Pro X.

This product won Best Of Show at Summer NAMM 2013

Tattletale is a fully customizable, portable alarm system that is easy to setup and install. It was one of six winners at this years Summer NAMM for "Best Of Show". It's not gear or an instrument but is definitely essential in protecting both. It is currently used by the Rolling Stones on tour and to protect a traveling copy of the United States Constitution.

The Tattletale requires no wires and takes approximately one minute to setup depending on number of sensors and accessories being used. It can easily be moved from location to location and even though portable cannot be easily tampered with once it's armed.


FEATURES:

INSTANT PROTECTION
Tattletale is a complete alarm system in one compact unit. Just plug it in. There is no complicated installation, no special tools are required, no wires and no appointments.

PORTABLE ALARM SYSTEM
You own it. You can move it from one location to another at any time.

WIRELESS SECURITY
Tattletale sends an instant wireless signal to 24/7 emergency dispatch. With the addition of long range wireless accessories tattletale can protect anything, anywhere, anytime.

THE FASTEST ALARM SIGNAL
Tattletale uses a wireless data link to send the alarm signal. This signal is a one-way data packet that travels over the digital data control channel of the existing cellular network. There can be no dropped calls!

NO PHONE LINE TO CUT
Thieves typically cut a phone line before entering a premise. Data packet technology is superior to conventional alarm systems because there is no phone line to cut. The digital wireless alarm signal also eliminates the chance that a power surge will cause a false alarm.

USE IT ANYWHERE
Use Tattletale anywhere in the United States and Canada. There are no long distance and no roaming charges.

20 HOUR BATTERY BACKUP

Even unplugging tattletale won’t stop it. Its fully chargeable battery back-up means your tattletale is on, even if your power isn’t. You really can plug it in and protect it all.

Available Accessories:

         motion sensor

smoke detector

entry point sensor

All sensors can be placed up to 300 feet from the base unit and come with Lithium batteries good for 1 to 3 years depending on the sensor.

There is also a keychain remote that is "used to send up to 5 different wireless signals to the tattletale base unit. Arm your perimeter and outdoor sensors with the home button, arm all sensors with the away button, disarm your unit with the lock button, and toggle chime mode with the bell button. By pressing the home and away buttons at the same time you will trigger a panic alarm."

Here's a video showing how easy it is to use Tattletale:

Visit http://www.tattletale.com for more info. They are currently running a limited time offer for $349.

Dave Pensado - How to get great Stereo Bass Tracks

In this ITL Dave shows how to get great sounding stereo bass tracks without losing low end. This tip also works great with synths and guitars.

http://www.pensadosplace.tv

With a name like Silkworm it has to sound good.

Sonic Farm is a boutique audio company that is very popular with some engineers and producers. They make excellent gear and now have a 500 series preamp named Silkworm. I'm quite sure they took no shortcuts in the design or manufacture of the Silkworm and it's sonically on par with their other gear.

From the website:

"The design concept is: mic input transformer, then an active gain stage in a discrete OP amp form, followed by a choice of output transformer or a solid state balanced line driver.
This concept has been used before with units such as API 312 and John Hardy 990, except that they don’t have a switchable output configuration. The differences also lie in the design of the discrete stage, and of course the choice of both transformers.
The discrete gain stage has an extremely low distortion even in an open loop test.
The 2-stage active servo loop makes DC coupling free of output offset.
The 3-way character switch (named “vibe” because of lack of space) in fact does a complex input impedance manipulation to achieve 3 very useable tonal variations:
“S” for smooth, gives a warmer, smoother top end, good when more sibilant or harsher mics are used.
“P” for present, is a linear frequency response coupling.
“W” for warped, yields a hump in high mids or treble frequencies, and is interactive with microphone’s output impedance. Great for rock vocals, snare drums, or anything that needs to cut a bit better through the mix."
"...and the output has a split personality, solid state or transformer driven. We have done a lot of testing in local studios and everybody loves this preamp. Engineers compared it to everything else they had and it held it’s own next to much costlier units! In fact, some testers decided to keep theirs, although those were prototypes! When in transformer mode, Silkworm sounds just like Neve 1073LB. This was not intended, it just happened; it has a completely different design approach. In solid state mode, it sounds cleaner. Input transformer assures that the tone is never sterile even at cleanest settings."

Features:

• Fully discrete gain stage
• Full DC path, no coupling capacitors 
• Servo control for minimal DC offset 
• Maximum gain 64dB (mic) and 49dB (instrument) 
• Cinemag input mic Transformer 
• Transformer or solid state balanced output, switchable 
• 3-way character (vibe) switch 
• Gain regulation twofold: 3-pos range switch and trim control 
• Mic input impedance: variable
• Instrument input impedance: 2.2MOhm

Available directly from SonicFarm

Price $700

UAD v7.1 with Pultec Passive Eq Collection, Millennia NSEQ-2 Parametric Eq and Flex routing for Apollo Interfaces

Universal audio has announced their v7.1 software for the the UAD-2 and Apollo platforms that features a Pultec Passive Eq Collection, Millennia NSEQ-2 Parametric Eq  ($299 each) and also new Flex Routing for the Apollo interfaces. I've used the hardware versions of both eqs (and UA's original plugin emulations of the Pultecs) on many mixes.

If the new Pultecs are anything like the 1176 Collection I'm quite sure they sound fantastic. I can't wait to try the new plugins on my next project.

"New! UAD Plug-ins included in UAD v7.1:

- Pultec Passive EQ Collection - Legendary EQP-1A, MEQ-5, and HLF-3C EQs Immaculately Modeled for the UAD-2 DSP Accelerators and Apollo Audio Interfaces

• Faithful circuit reproduction of the most popular outboard studio equalizers ever made
• Models entire electronic path of three Pultec EQs — including tube amplifiers and transformers — for colorful, highly-musical distortion characteristics

- Millennia NSEQ-2 - Developed By Brainworx, Premium Mixing/Mastering EQ Offers Unique Twin Topology Design With World-Class Sonics And Features

• Faithful model of the legendary Millennia NSEQ-2 Class A Twin Topology (Vacuum Tube and Discrete Solid State) Parametric Equalizer
• Switch between tube and solid state topologies
• New features such as M/S (mid/side) mode, Link mode, and an Output Trim control

New! Flex Routing for Apollo and Apollo 16:
Flex Routing not only speeds up workflow, it adds another level of flexibility for Apollo and Apollo 16 users in studio and live situations.

• Route up to eight hardware inputs to hardware outputs* with optional monitor mirroring
• Apollo headphone mix buses can be mirrored to any hardware output
• Pre/post fader switching for Aux mix buses
• Vertical resizing of the Console application window
  *Hardware outputs include analog, ADAT, S/PDIF, and AES/EBU"

Check out the video trailers for each update:

WEISS A1 500 Series mic pre and de-esser

Switzerland based Weiss Digital Audio known worldwide for making some of the best high end digital audio equipment (first time I encountered Weiss was in a mastering session many years ago) has released the A1 Mic Pre. 

The A1 has all the standard controls but also includes a De-esser with variable frequency, bandwidth and threshold controls plus a listen switch which makes it that much easier to zone in on sibilance. There are also 8 dip switches located on the bottom of the unit which allow you to further adjust the response of the de-esser.

A1 Features:

- Microphone preamplifier gain rotary switch
- +48V phantom power switch
- 24 dB pad switch
- High-pass filter frequency and bypass switch
- De-esser frequency potentiometer
- De-esser bandwidth potentiometer
- De-esser threshold potentiometer
- De-esser bypass and listen switches
- Output level potentiometer (transformer balanced)
- Polarity switch
- "Listen" switch to simplify zooming in on offending sibilances  

    

Specifications:

Input gain range, pad off  Pad attenuation Output gain range	+15 dB to +60 dB, 3 dB steps 24 dB  −∞ dB to +12 dB, continuous
Maximum input level, minimum input gain, pad on  Maximum output level, 100 kΩ load	+29.7 dBu (for THD+N ≤ −80 dB)  +27.0 dBu (for THD+N ≤ −80 dB)
Input impedance at 1 kHz, pad off  Input impedance at 1 kHz, pad on  Output impedance at 1 kHz	8.4 kΩ  2.8 kΩ  290 Ω
Current consumption ±16 V  supply Current consumption ±48 V supply	≤ 150 mA ≤ 15 mA

Price: $1460 at Vintage King Audio

Kush Audio's Electra Rackmount EQ

Kush Audio's Gregory Scott has announced a release date for The Electra (short for Electrified Transient Equalizer) It's not your standard equalizer and needs to be heard to fully understand what it does.

Check out this video Greg posted showing the Electra being used on drums:


The Electra - Punching Up & Widening the Drum Buss from Gregory Scott on Vimeo.

Here's a link to my previous post on the Electra and Clariphonic Eqs: Kush Audio's Electra Equalizer and Clariphonic DSP

Cost $1649 and ships at the end of June. 

There's also a 500 series version ($599) 

which is available now for $549 at Little Fish Audio.