Freebie Fri.: FREE HQ Trap Drum Kit plus Youtube/SoundCloud Contest.

ModernMixing.com is giving away a free high quality Trap Drum Kit and also offering a chance to win a kit that contains over 300 sounds. To enter the contest you first have to download the free kit (name and email required) and then post the link to a track you made with the free kit in the comments section on their Youtube page.

From the website:

"Trap Music is known for hard hitting drums and 808 basslines but a lot of the samples tend to sound harsh or tubby. I specifically went through every sound and tweaked them with EQ, Tape Emulation and a few other tools to get the cleanest, yet most aggressive sounds I possibly could......"

"These sounds were all recorded from analog gear into a pair of API 312 preamps. If you are familiar with API’s you know how wonderful the midrange is......"

I downloaded the kit and the sounds are of high quality with plenty of room to eq, compress,saturate or distort as you see fit.


The kit contains:

1. MM-TDHQ-1.Clean 808 Kit
2. MM-TDHQ-808s
3. MM-TDHQ-Claps
4. MM-TDHQ-Crashes
5. MM-TDHQ-FX
6. MM-TDHQ-Hats
7. MM-TDHQ-Kicks
8. MM-TDHQ-Open Hats
9. MM-TDHQ-Rides
10. MM-TDHQ-Snares
11. MM-TDHQ-Toms
12. MM-TDHQ-Tuned808s

Get more info and download the FREE Trap Drums Samples Kit here.

UAD v7.6 with 3 new Brainworx plugins.

Universal Audio has released a v7.6 update to their popular UAD software that includes 3 great new plugins that were developed by Brainworx:

1. The Brainworx bx_Refinement Plugin which can be used to reduce harshness and/or edginess to your tracks or full mixes. This will come in handy on a current project which has some overly edgy guitars.

bx Refinement Features

• Reduces harshness and breathes life into recordings
• Fixed, dynamic or modulation based damping of unwanted frequencies
• Mid/Side processing
• Soft & hard damping provide second order filtering and higher order filtering respectively
• Solo filter allows to hear just what you’re removing from the recording
• Subtle saturation and presence controls enhance the material without changing its character

Take a look at the video to hear it:

2. The Brainworx bx_saturator V2 Plug-In which is great for adding distortion/saturation to sounds. It's capable of subtle enhancement to extreme distortion and works in M/S mode.

Brainworx bx_saturator V2 Plug-In Features:

• Turns standard sounds into exciting ear catchers
• Makes mixes sound louder and wider without clipping
• Allows adding saturation and distortion in different amounts to different frequency bands
• Add just a little to soften a mix buss or pile it on to an individual tracks for a dramatic effect
• Mono Maker sums very low frequencies so you can widen the rest of the stereo field without phase issues

Here's the intro video:

3. The Chandler Limited GAV19T Amplifier Plug-In. Those that are familiar with the hardware will be happy to know that it now available as a plugin. The GAV19T is capable of a multitude of tones and is a favorite of many guitarists.

Chandler Limited GAV19T Amplifier Features:

• Faithful emulation of a modern boutique amp inspired by classic British tone monsters
• FX Rack features lo-fi delay, noise gate, and filter controls
• 75 impulse responses with multiple speaker cabinets recorded in a state of the art room with stellar gear
• Feels like a real amp when played through Apollo’s low latency monitoring
• Bias control emulates hotter or colder preamp tubes for different flavors of distortion
• Drive features four modes, Treble Boost, Full Range, Aggressive, and Mids with a boost amount to dial in just the amount of the selected frequency range desired
• Tone controls feature Baxandall style curves which allow huge changes in frequency without changing the tone of the amp
• Re-Amp less than perfect DI guitar tracks, previously recorded with other guitar-amp simulations

Visit UA's website for more info and download the v7.6 update to demo the new plugins.

A Multi-Vitamin for sound.

Waves Audio has released a new plugin called the Vitamin Sonic Enhancer. It's a multi band enhancer that gives you parallel eq, compression, saturation plus stereo width control all in one. It might not be the first to offer some of these features ( Izotope's Ozone and Pro Audio's Dynamic Spectrum Mapper comes to mind) but at $99 it's hard to resist. I haven't yet tried it but felt I should mention it on the blog. 

Would you add Vitamin to your list of go to plugins?


From the website:

"Waves Vitamin is a multiband harmonic enhancer and tone-shaping plugin that can make any track sound powerful and full of spark by mixing an enriched version with the original signal."

"Whether used on vocals, guitars, synths, drums or an entire mix, Vitamin opens up the sound in a way that truly complements and enhances the original signal, ensuring your tracks get the nutrients they need."

FEATURES

• Parallel multiband harmonic enhancer with five individual bands
• Control over the crossover frequency points between bands
• Control over the mix of the direct signal with the enhanced version
• Per-band stereo width control
• Punch control for smoothing or accentuating punchiness and dynamics
• Zero-latency processing

Here's a video review by our good friend ProtoolsExpert Russ Hughes:

Have you heard the Sound Skulptor CP5176?

Sound Skulptor is a French based audio manufacturer that specializes in high quality D.I.Y.

kits. The CP5176 is a 500 series module that is based on the Urei 1176 Limiter/Compressor which is considered a studio classic. I would love to demo the CP5176 in the studio. (Think I might have to call Josh and Chris over at Little Fish Audio to see if we could arrange it.)

You can read my post on the Urei 1176 here.

CP5176 Features

• Cinemag transformers on input and output,
• 5 ratios + SLAM mode (all buttons mode),
• All discrete class A audio path,
• DOA based, API* 2520 compatible, output stage (discrete Op-Amp),
• High pass filter in the sidechain,
• Distortion mode adds 3% of second harmonic, close to Rev A,
• High resolution gain reduction meter,
• Available assembled or as a full kit (everything included)

CP5176 Controls

1 Input Potentiometer that sets the signal level before compression. It defines the compression threshold.

2 Out Potentiometer that set the signal level after compression (make up gain).

3 Ratio Rotary switch that sets the compression ratio from 2 to 20. Ratio 2, allowing more subtle compressions, has been added to the original circuit. The SLAM mode is the "all buttons pressed" on the 1176.

4 Attck Potentiometer that sets the attack time: The delay before the compressor starts reducing gain.

5 Rel Potentiometer that sets the release time: Time that the compressor takes before returning to the "no gain reduction" state.

6 Gr High resolution gain reduction display: 16 LED's from -1dB to -22dB.

7 HPF Inserts a 80 Hz high-pass filter in the sidechain. Produces a Fat sound and eliminates bass driven pumping.

8 Dist Modifies the signal balance on the FET, adding second harmonic distortion. Close to the Rev A version of 1176.

9 Link Connects two compressors in stereo mode.

10 LED that shows the bypass status.

11 Off Compressor bypass button (hardware by relay).

CP5176 Circuitry

1 Original Cinemag input transformer. 2 All discrete audio path with high grade components. 3 Discrete Op-Amp output circuit, pin compatible with API* 2520.

4 Original Cinemag output transformer. 5 Easy setup of 3 trimmers with a voltmeter, without iteration. 6 16 LED's gain reduction meter.

Get complete info on the CP5176 including assembly guides on the website.

Kit: 295.00 €/ $407.51
Assembled: 495.00 € / $683.79

Tech Tues.: Tips on using UAD's Fairchild Tube Limiter Collection.

I've been using UAD's Fairchild Tube Limiter Collection on a recent project and have come to appreciate the enhancements and differences between them and the original Fairchild Limiter plugin.

From the website:

"In 2004, Universal Audio released the Fairchild 670 Legacy plug-in, which was quickly heralded as the best 670 emulation available. Today, UA’s team of DSP experts have improved the original Time Constants and gain reduction curves, while modeling — for the first time ever — the complete tube-powered amplifier and transformer sections of their hardware counterparts. Far beyond other Fairchild emulations, only the new UAD Fairchild Collection is based on accurate circuit models of Ocean Way Studios' “golden-reference” units."

Fairchild Limiter Collection Features

• Includes the mono 660 and stereo 670, each with their own sonic attributes and feature sets
• Models entire electronic path, including tube amplifiers and transformers for complete analog color and behavior
• Modeled after Ocean Way’s famous, meticulously maintained golden Fairchild channels
• Lateral-Vertical mode for stereo imaging and balance control
• Includes custom hardware Stereo Sidechain Link mod  
• Six attack and release Time Constants (plus additional Time Constant variations with Sidechain Link)
• Includes all-new “digital only” features: Sidechain filtering, Dry/Wet parallel blend and Headroom
• Includes artist presets from Darrell Thorp, Michael Brauer, Ryan West, and more
• Requires a UAD-2 DSP Accelerator or Apollo Interface available from authorized dealers worldwide

Here'a a video by UAD with some great tips on using the Fairchild collection to enhance your songs:




The Fairchild Tube Limiter Collection is currently on sale for $149 (reg. price $299).

Tech Tues.: API's The Box

THE BOX from API was introduced at the 135th AES Convention last year and has since garnered a lot of attention as a great small format studio console.


From the website:

"THE BOX is a small-format recording/mixing console designed for professional project studios, home studios, and production facilities of all kinds. Optimized for the digital era, THE BOX handles all the functions needed for production not provided by most DAWs, including mic preamps, input signal processing, high-quality mix bus, cue sends with talkback, monitor control, and more, without the redundant capacities of larger consoles. Most importantly, THE BOX provides the legendary "all discrete" API sound in an efficient, cost-effective package."


Here's an excerpt from a Mixonline review by Wes Maebe:

"THE BOX is a very cool vintage-looking, small-format recording/mixing console. In a way, it harkens back to the old split design. Channels 1 and 2 have a 550a 3-band EQ each, while channels 3 and 4 have free 500 Series slots, allowing you to customize that part of the console. In addition, all four recording channels have insert send and return points to hook up your favorite outboard processors."

Features

• Two (2) input channels with mic/instrument/line preamp, HP filter, & integral 550A EQ
• Two (2) input channels with mic/instrument/line preamp, HP filter, & 500 slot
• Two (2) compressors assignable to input channels or program bus with stereo link
• Sixteen (16) summing channels (20 channels during mix)
• Stereo program bus with master fader, insert, and external input
• One (1) stereo and (2) mono auxiliary sends/buses
• Stereo cue send/bus & headphone system
• PFL, AFL, and solo-in-place solo modes with stereo solo bus
• Full-featured monitor section that supports two stereo monitor systems
• Talkback system
• Comprehensive rear panel connections with balanced inputs and outputs
• Integrated power supply

VintageKing Audio did a video presentation on THE BOX:

also take a look at this video by Cool Pony Media on tracking with THE BOX:

MSRP: $17,995

Freebie Fri. Extremely Late Edition: The TDR VOS SlickEQ plugin.

Ilpo Karkkainen of resoundsound.com sent me an email announcing a free new VST/AU   EQ plugin called the TDR VOS SlickEQ.

 From his review:

" The TDR VOS SlickEQ is a mixing/mastering equalizer designed for ease of use, musical flexibility and impeccable sound. The plugin is a collaboration of three very talented people: Herbert Goldberg (of Variety of Sound), Fabien Schivre (Tokyo Dawn) and  VladislavGoncharov (Tokyo Dawn/Vldag Sound). You might know these guys previously from plugins like TDR Feedback Compressor, VOS Thrillseeker and Vldag Molot just to mention a few. There’s no need to say this but I’m going to say it anyway: these guys know what they’re doing. Hearing they are putting their great minds together to work on a free plugin was just fantastic news for me, and the results didn’t disappoint ".

I tried the plugin and found it has good sonics and ease of use. I especially like the fact that it has different EQ models, different saturation types and a M/S mode. It's hard to believe that the TDR VOS SlickEQ is a free plugin.

From the manual:

"In order to “warm up” the material with additional harmonic content, SlickEQ offers a switchable EQ non- linearity and an output stage with 3 different saturation models. These options are meant to offer subtle and interesting textures, rather than obvious distortion. The effect is made to add the typical “mojo” often associated with high quality analogue audio gear"

FEATURES:

• A clever auto gain function that automatically compensates for changes of perceived loudness during EQ operation.
• Mid/Side operating mode.
• Four distinct EQ models: “American”, “British”, “German” and “Soviet” with optional non-linearity.
• Four output saturation stages: “Linear”, “Silky”, “Mellow” and “Deep”.
• Easy to use A/B comparison feature.
• Support for mouse wheel adjustments (doesn’t sound like much but it’s always a big one for me)
• Advanced 64bit multirate processing scheme that eliminates typical problems of digital EQ implementations such as frequency-warping, quantization distortion and aliasing.
• Clean, user-friendly interface.

Here's a short preview of the presets and EQ modes of the TDR VOS SlickEQ:

The TDR VOS SlickEQ plugin is available for Windows as VST and VST/AU for Mac. You can get it on the TDR VOS SlickEQ download page.

For Protools users who would like to try this plugin or any other VST plugin take a look at this post on Protools Expert where they list 7 ways to host VST Plugins in Protools:

http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2013/7/10/7-ways-to-host-vst-or-au-plug-ins-in-pro-tools-11-and-earlie.html

NuMuBu Live! ONLINE GEAR EXPO webcast at 4pm EDT

I'm doing a live webcast on numubu.com today at 4pm as part of their ONLINE GEAR EXPO. I'll discuss UAD software and other plugins plus some hardware. I will also do a Q&A session on engineering and gear.

To see the webcast just go to my numubu profile and click on the Live Now! link.

My webcast was cancelled due to technical issues.

My apologies due to technical issues we had to postpone my webcast today. I will re-broadcast tomorrow. Time to be determined. Please tune in for the other broadcasts scheduled for today.

NuMuBu Live! ONLINE GEAR EXPO!

NuMuBu Live! ONLINE GEAR EXPO starts now!

TODAY & TOMORROW, MAR. 27 & 28. Free to watch and participate via chat, enjoy live product demos with great brands and artists.


Numubu.com (which is an online community of musicians, artists, producers etc.) is having a Gear Expo via webcast today and tomorrow (Mar. 27 & 28). I'll be on at 1pm DST featuring Universal Audio's UAD plugins plus some other gear. You can watch and ask questions via a live text feed.

Here's the schedule:

TO WATCH, SIMPLY CLICK ON THE LINKS THROUGHOUT TODAY'S SCHEDULE:

9:00am - HIWATT
www.numubu.com/hiwatt

11am - SONUUS w/James Clark
www.numubu.com/sonuus

11am - TREM KING w/Rusty Bickford
www.numubu.com/tremking

1pm - UNIVERSAL AUDIO w/Gary Noble
www.numubu.com/garynoble

2pm - GHS STRINGS w/John Moody
www.numubu.com/ghs

2pm - DIAMOND BASS COMP w/Bernie Landry
www.numubu.com/bernielandry

2pm - CHAPMAN GUITARS w/Rob Chapman
www.numubu.com/chapmanguitars

4pm - NO SWEAT w/Joe Watson
www.numubu.com/nosweatamerica

5pm - GIBSON & PRS w/Ant Glynne
www.numubu.com/antglynne

6:30pm - TREM KING w/Rusty Bickford
www.numubu.com/stevecooke

8pm - STETSBAR w/Eric Stets
www.numubu.com/stetsbar
________________________

FRIDAY, MARCH 28:

10:30am - PEERLESS GUITARS w/Richard Okkerse
www.numubu.com/peerlessguitars

3pm - VINTAGE 47 AMPS & DIVA PICKS w/Scott Goldberg

www.numubu.com/scottgoldberg

_______________________________________________________________________

AND ON MONDAY, MARCH. 31: NO FOOLS ARTISTS FESTIVAL - Live performances by artists from NuMuBu and the Second Life virtual world.

Click this schedule for times.

For questions and info, contact us!: live@numubu.com.

Warm regards,

The NuMuBu Team
www.numubu.com

Tech Tues: Logic Pro Masterclass with DJ/Producer MAKJ

Popular UK online Music School Point Blank recently posted a video of  DJ/Producer MAKJ  showing how he produced one of his biggest EDM hits "Encore" in Logic Pro:

"MAKJ explains how he makes his kick drums, how to make a track sound big in the club, how to EQ basslines, how he makes his drops and how he designs his own sound effects."

Point Blank offers online courses in Electronic Music production and mixing using popular DAWs such as Logic, Ableton Live and Cubase. Take a look at some of their free sample courses here.

Here's the video:

The Auganizer.

I use Protools and Logic Pro daily and always wished that Logic had the 3rd party plugin organization that Protools provides. Well it seems I'm not alone because someone has developed an AudioUnits plugin manager called the Auganizer.

The Auganizer allows you to rename and arrange your AU plugins any way you like.

It's compatible with most Mac OSX DAWs that utilize AU plugins such as Logic Pro, Garageband and Ableton Live. It also works with 32 and 64bit plugins.

I downloaded the Auganizer demo and 99% of the plugins were successfully scanned, identified and the proper GUI displayed.(The ones that gave some issues were expired demos that I had forgotten to remove from my system.)

Take a look at the Getting Started Guide to learn how to implement the Auganizer's features.

FEATURES:

• Allows you to rename and organize AU plugins.
• View plugins in Coverflow mode (see 1st. pic)
• Familiar Mac interface, so it's easy to use.
• Non-destructive; won't alter plugins in any way.
• Multi app support and supports MacOS X 10.6 to 10.9
• Ability to backup, export and import settings with single button reverse
• Inexpensive, Price: $34.99

Freebie Fri.: PrismSound's Free Professional Audio Workshop and webcast.

PrismSound is a leading manufacturer of high end converters and interfaces for over two decades. (I used their ADA 8XR converters on all the mixes for "Back To Black" at Circle House Studios). 

They're having a free Audio Workshop event and webcast today at 1pm EDT featuring Edward J 'UK' Nixon.... "who will demonstrate his approach to the workflow, mixing style and processes which earned him his title as Chief Engineer of the Grammy Nominated production super-group, The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League (Sir Paul McCartney, Nas, Mary J. Blige, Rick Ross & Drake)."

The main topics that will be covered are:

• How do the pros do it?
• What makes great gear great?
• How is that hit sound achieved?
• What does it take to become a successful and in demand engineer?

You can register for the workshop at Mic to Monitor USA Tour 2014 WEBCAST.

If you can't attend/watch the workshop at 1pm a recording of the event will be provided by PrismSound for later viewing.


If you happen to be in Miami for the Winter Music Conference (WMC) PrismSound is doing another workshop at the Miami Convention Center on March 24 and 25th at 4pm. There's
also a workshop at The University Of Miami on March 26 at 6pm.

The workshop will feature good friend and Grammy winning Producer Dwayne ‘Supa Dups’ Chin-Quee who will "share his production experience and knowledge which has resulted in over 25 million record sales to date for his work with Eminem, Drake, Bruno Mars, John Legend, Mary J Blige, Estelle, Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion), Akon, Rihanna and many more."

Register for the Miami workshops at:

• 24th March, 4pm Winter Music Conference, Miami Convention Center

• 25th March, 4pm Winter Music Conference, Miami Convention Center

• 26th March, Miami, University of Miami

Kush Audio's UBK Pusher is not your ordinary plugin.

The UBK Pusher from Kush Audio looks like it came from another planet. An alien manifestation of what a sound mangling plugin should look like. Kush Audio's Gregory Scott has a reputation for making hardware and software that has very unique qualities with exceptional sound. If the Pusher sounds as otherworldly as it looks we're all in for a treat.

So I downloaded the demo and tried it on some stock drums in a Logic Pro X session. I quickly made 4 presets and then proceeded to go through some of the built-in presets.

Here's a short video of the UBK Pusher plugin. (My apologies for the audio quality. It was done spur of the moment on my laptop speakers):



FEATURES:

• Unique “Transient Enhancing” distortions

• Magnetic Saturation behaviors not possible with Analog

• 4 Chaotically Interactive Magnetic Cores

• Punchy Diode Limiter with variable Attack & Release

• Colorations ranging from subtly sweet to downright alien

• Multi-point Serial & Parallel Blend signal flow

• Cheat Mode labels & explains everything clearly

• iLok 1 or 2 required

Here'a video of Greg showing his products at NAMM 2014 (The UBK Pusher is featured at 1:55):

The UBK Pusher costs $149. Download the demo and give it a try.

Leave me a comment. Let me know what you think of the UBK Pusher.

Tech Tues.: How To Widen Guitars and other stereo imaging tips.

In his latest ITL (#99) Dave Pensado gives some tips on widening guitars when mixing.




Take a look at my earlier post on Dave's ITL #86 which gives more tips on mixing rock guitars:

and also my extended post on stereo imaging tips which features both hardware and software stereo enhancers:

Go Primal.

SoundToys has released another free plugin called the little PrimalTap which is based on the
classic Lexicon PrimeTime Delay. 

The PrimalTap is being offered as part of a contest which ends March 28th. The Grand Prize winner will get free SoundToys plugins for life. Go here for full details.

From the website:

 "The little PrimalTap captures the highly distinctive sonic imprint of this quirky, and well-loved (by those in the know) vintage digital delay. Don't be fooled by it's simple interface, Little PrimalTap lets you unleash your creative urges to echo, loop, warp, distort, mangle, or create cacophonous cascades of otherworldly sounds."

The plugin supports Mac/Win and runs in 32 or 64bit as AAX/RTAS/AU/VST.

It's completely free but you need to sign up for a Soundtoys account if you don't already have one and use this redemption code: 386-7932-032

Take a look at the Soundtoys video of the little PrimalTap:




Have fun!