Tech Tues.: Brainworx bx_panEQ

Our good friend Russ at ProtoolsExpert posted a quick review of the new Brainworx bx_panEQ. One of 3 new plugins announced by Plugin Alliance. 

(The SPL EQ Ranger Plus 

and Acme Opticom XLA-3Compressor are the others they announced.)

From the website:

Brainworx, the pioneering company that created the first Mid/Side equalizer plugin, has once again launched a game changer: bx_panEQ. This revolutionary panoramic equalizer will forever change the way you sculpt stereo tracks.
Imagine EQ'ing a crash cymbal buried in a pre-recorded stereo mix without affecting instruments panned to other positions in the soundstage. Impossible? Not with bx_panEQ! Its three fully parametric bell curve filters can each be panned anywhere in the mix's stereo field to adjust the timbre of embedded tracks with precision. No other plugin can do that!
The power unleashed by bx_panEQ in mixing and mastering applications is profound. Stretch the width of a stereo acoustic guitar track by boosting progressively higher frequencies at pan positions from left to right. Reach into the stereo mix of a live concert to tame a boomy hard-panned guitar without affecting other slices of the stereo field. Mastering engineers can discretely equalize localized spectral imbalances to correct a lopsided mix. The applications are limitless.
In addition to typical parameters like frequency, boost/cut and bandwidth, bx_panEQ allows you to dial in which portion of the stereo field you would like to equalize. Each of bx_panEQ’s 3 bands can have separate settings for all parameters - including what portion of the stereo field can be equalized - opening up entirely new worlds of sonic possibilities.
A Focus control for each filter adjusts how wide its effect will be in the stereo panorama. The filters' API-style Proportional Q design pinpoints your EQ tweaks by raising the Q factor as gain is increased or decreased from 0 dB. A Panoramic Spectral Analyzer displays the amplitude of your EQ boosts and cuts across the stereo field and frequency spectrum in real time, intuitively guiding your hand while accurately showing the relationship between spectral response and stereo width.

Here's the video review:




I plan on installing the demo later today. Will update the post with some feedback once I get a chance to use it on various tracks.

Mix Monday: Anthony Hamilton "Amen"

   I had the pleasure of mixing Sony/RCA Records artist Anthony Hamilton's new single "Amen". It's produced by Salaam Remi and James Poyser (keyboardist for the Roots.)  and featured on his new album "What I'm Feeling". (which was released last Friday March 25, 2016. Customers of the restaurant chain Cracker Barrel can purchase a deluxe edition CD at their favorite location.)

 
   As for the mix I was instructed to enhance the sonics but keep the feel and integrity of the record in place. With that in mind I used a slightly different approach when mixing "Amen".

   Here are some of the plugins and their settings that were used in the mix:

MASTER BUSS

   
   I started the mix by first placing the UAD Ampex ATR-102 and Kush Audio's UBK-1 on the master buss.

    This was then followed by Avid's stock Air Kill Eq for quickly monitoring the low end on both the overall mix and individual tracks in solo. It's also an easy way to check the High and Mid frequency bands.

      Then last in the chain was the free Panipulator plugin from Boz Digital Labs which was used to check the mix in mono. it also allows you to switch the polarity of the Left or Right side plus reverse the stereo image and also listen to the left or right side only at will.

MUSIC and VOCALS BUSSES: 

   The Protools session had a main Music buss and main Vocal buss already setup so I placed the UAD Neve 88RS on both and adjusted to taste.

BASS

   On bass I used the Brainworx bx_Opto for tone/color and shaped it with the UAD 88RS:

KEYS:

   For the keys/synths I used various plugins for each section but the main ones are:

Rhodes: 

      

   I used the UAD SSL_E Series Channelstrip for adding air and presence to the Rhodes.

Bridge section Keys: 

  I inserted The UAD CS-1 Channelstrip on the Aux master for the keys that only happen in the Bridge section of the song. I did this so the bridge keys would have their own "sonic space". I like this channelstrip because it has Compression, EQ, Reverb and Delay effects all in one plugin.

Synth Vox:

   For the synthesized vocal sound I use the UAD Eventide H-910 to add some texture without taking up too much space or causing conflict with Anthony's lead vocal.

   

   For monitors I used 2 sets of speakers plus the IK Multimedia iLoud portable speaker. 

I also checked the mix on headphones and listened on a car stereo.

NI's interview with Drake's producer Noah "40" Shebib.

Native Instruments did an interview with Drake's producer Noah '40' Shebib. He discusses his workflow, production style and how NI's MASCHINE and KOMPLETE CONTROL adds to his creative process.

Here's the video interview:

The Aston Spirit Microphone and Halo Portable Vocal Booth.

I first heard of the Spirit from Aston Microphones on a Sound on Sound Magazine video report at last year's AES show with James Young of Aston Microphones.




Then again it was mentioned along with the Halo Reflection Filter by our friends over at Protools Expert with their NAMM 2016 interview.

Vintage King Audio sells the Halo for $299.


Today I received an email from them stating that they have the Aston Microphones' Spirit in stock for $399.


From the website:

"The Aston Spirit has a switch on the mic body selects from Omni, Cardioid or Figure-of-Eight polar patterns and is versatile enough to use with most instruments and excels on acoustic guitar and vocals. Its hand-selected capsule is teamed with high-end transformer balanced circuitry using only the best components such as WIMA capacitors, the same devices you’ll find in boutique microphones costing far more than the Spirit.The Spirit is designed to deliver a beautifully open sound with sparkling harmonics. This highly accurate microphone gives a stunningly natural and transparent recording, capturing all the detail in the high range but without adding the harshness that some condenser microphones seem to. This microphone must be heard to be believed!"

Aston Spirit Features:

• Wave Form Mesh Head
• Built-in Pop Filter
• Integrated XLR and stand adapter
• Custom Chassis
• Superbly balanced mix of discrete and integrated electronic circuitry.
• Armonised circuit stage arrangement for easy integration from phantom power input circuitry to capsule voltage bias.
• A novel non-linear voltage/current source rectification to provide controlled amplification and smooth, clear audio.

Specifications:

• Transducer Type: Condenser
• Acoustic Operating Principle: Pressure Gradient
• Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz (+/-3dB)
• Equivalent Noise Level: 14dB A-Weighted
• Sensitivity at 1kHz into 1kohm: 23.7mV/Pa
• Sensitivity at 1kHz into 1kohm: 23.7mV/Pa
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio (rel. 94dB SPL): 80dB A-Weighted
• Polar pattern: Omni/Cardioid/Figure-of-Eight
• Pad Switches: -20dB/-10dB/0dB
• Low-Cut Filter: 80Hz
• 48 Volt Phantom power (+/- 4 Volts) is required for operation

Here are 3 short video demos by Vintage King Audio of the Aston Spirit:

The Spirit on drums:

The Spirit on acoustic guitar:




and on vocals:



as you can hear the Aston Spirit has a very warm full bodied sound.

I like the sound and features of the Spirit microphone and plan to get one to use on upcoming projects. 

There is a cheaper but also great sounding Aston Origin Microphone that sells for $249. 

It is a solid state (cardioid only) microphone. But for my purposes the Spirit was the obvious choice.

Freebie Fri.: Bus Driver Compressor plugin

Dontcrack.com has announced they're offering the $149 Nomad factory Bus Driver Compressor plugin for free for a limited time.This is their way of saying thank you to all those who offered their kind words and support to Nomad Factory developer Bernie Torelli who sadly has passed away after a long battle with cancer.

From the website:

"Bus-Driver is an optical compressor that provides a wide range of compression effects, reminiscent of the best vintage compressors made in the ‘60s.
Compression is one of those studio processes that is all too often taken for granted and not usually used to its full potential. Today’s producers think nothing of inserting compressors on every single channel of their DAW when mixing, but old school engineers had to learn to make the most of only a few units of compression and this made them learn them inside out to use them to their best advantage. Bus Driver is modelled on the classics from the 'golden age' of tube compressors.
Also included in Bus Driver is a Tube-Driver Saturation feature. It allows you to add the sound of a vintage tube amplifier giving you the differing electronic characteristics of triode, tetrode, and pentode vacuum tubes. So you can add the vintage warmth of the those models of the classic tubes (e.g. ECC83, 12AX7, etc..) to your tracks or on your mix bus.
Nomad Factory designed an Output Stage Soft-Clipping to eliminate digital clipping at any output level and produce a smoother distortion characteristic. This feature is in addition to the Tube-Driver Saturation Modeling included in Bus-Driver."

Features :

Usable on individual tracks or complete mixes

Full control of input levels '+/- 12dB' (sets level for Compression)

Full control of output levels '+/- 12dB' (post Compression gain)

Tube-Driver Saturation Modeling

Compression Ratios from 2:1 to infinite ('Brickwall Limiter')

Control over Compression amount

Preset management (inc. Presets by acclaimed Engineer, Ashley Smith)

Visit dontcrack.com for instructions on how to download the free Bus Driver plugin.


via Pro-tools-expert.com

The IGS Multicore Compressor & The Springtime Reverb.

IGS Audio has released a 3 band VCA Compressor called the Multicore. The unit looks very solidly built with individual controls for each band and user selectable crossover points.

From the website:

"The core of device is based on a three band, adjustable active crossover. It splits audio signal into three bands (Low, Mid and High) with a gentle slope of 6dB/oct. That allows you to control the dynamics of each band in a very musical way without phase problems. Each of the bands has its own compressor module equipped with standard controls: Threshold, Ratio, Attack Release and Gain. A very useful feature is Mute/ON/Bypass switch on each band. The "Muted" option allows you to switch off the bands. If you mute two of them, you can hear only one band and monitor its audio content and bandwidth."

IGS did a video showing how to use Multiband Compression featuring the Multicore:

Specification:

Input Impedance (balanced)      10k Ohm

Output Impedance (balanced)    50 Ohm

Audio transformers                     Carnhill VTB

Operating Level                          +4dBu

Max input level                           +28dBu

Max output level                         +28dBu

Dynamic Range                          104 dB(A)

Max Gain Reduction                   -20dB

Ratio                                           2:1, 4:1, 10:1

Attack:                                        0.1, 0.3, 1, 18, 30

Release:                                      0.1, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.6, Auto

Fequency response                     10Hz to 30kHz (+0.3dB/-0.3dB)

Signal to Noise Ratio                  90 dB(A)

THD+N                                       0.01 %

IMD (SMPTE)                            0.03 %

Crosstalk                                     88dB

Voltage                                       115V/230V (selectable)

Power consumption                   22 W

Shipping weight                        10kg



Price: 2890.00 €/$3162.09

                                         The Springtime Analog Studio Reverb

Another IGS unit that caught my eye is the Springtime Analog Studio Reverb. It is a 4 channel unit with Wet/Dry controls and a 3 band Eq on each channel.

From the website:

"The IGS Springtime is a 4-channel analog studio reverb built using pairs of springs. One short and one long pair. Every channel has separate wet and dry volume knobs. Also each channel has a 3 band EQ for the wet signal.IGS suggested using it as a stereo buss send for music tracks to channel 3 and 4 (long springs), mono vocal to channel 1 (short) plus any solo, mono instrument to channel 2 (short). Sometimes even individual instruments can be sent to both kinds of springs in parallel. If you plug it into the insert use 100% Dry and 10% Wet. On sends use 100% Wet, 0% Dry."

IGS Springtime video:

Specifications:

WET/DRY Mixer                       24-pole Elma Switches

Boost/Cut Range                      +/- 15dB

Hard wire bypass                      Yes

Input Impedance (balanced)     10k Ohm

Output Impedance (balanced)   50 Ohm

Operating Level                        +22dBU

Dynamic Range                         120dB
Headroom (@ +4dBu)               18dB

Fequency response                   20Hz-20kHz, +/-0.1dB

THD+N                                      0.001 @ 1kHz, +4dBU

VU Meters                                 Output Reverb Level

Voltage                                      90-240V AC, 10W

Shipping weight                        10kg / 20lb



Price: 2490.00 €/$2724.43


You can view my previous posts on IGS Audio including some of their 500 series products  here.

Mix Mondays: Mack Wilds - Love in the 90z

Actor/Singer Mack Wild's new single "Love In The 90z" is produced by Salaam Remi and is the 1st single from Mack's upcoming album. Both Salaam and Mack wanted the song to have a fun, upbeat but yet "New York street" feel.  I had a lot of fun mixing it and it made me nostalgic for the many summers I spent in NY.

Mack known for his role in HBO's critically acclaimed drama series "The Wire" recently appeared as one of the leads in the pilot for the new VH1's series "The Breaks".

The track consists of Mack's smooth but edgy vocals over classic "boom bap" drums alongside some warm pads and keys. On this track I mixed the drums first but would drop the vocals in from time to time to make sure that we kept the feel of the rough mix. Then the keys were added to fill out the track without cluttering the vocals or making the track feel too smooth. It was paramount that we kept it "street".

Here are some snapshots of various plugins that were used on the tracks:

DRUMS:

The drums consisted of multiple kicks and snares including beatbox samples from Biz Markie that we recorded back in the 90s. All the different drum sounds were blended tougher to sound like one drum loop. They were then fed to the same aux for overall sculpting .

On the master buss for the kick:

UAD SSL E Channelstrip

The following was placed on the main Buss for the overall drum kit:

UAD SPL Transient Designer

Neve 88rs

PSP Master Q

KEYS:

On the main chords (pads) I used the following:

and for the effects:

UAD CE-1

UAD DImension D

REVERB:

For reverb I used multiple plates in various combinations on the vocals and keys:

The Lexicon 224 was used on sounds such as the Bells, Harp and Rise FX. 

The UAD EMT 140 was used to give the keys a touch of ambience.

IK Multimedia's CSR Plate  and the Eventide UltraChannel was used on the hook vocals to put them in their own space and give them a unique sound without being disconnected from the track.

The Waves Renaissance Reverb was the original verb in the session and we liked how it sounded but I added some EMT 140 to help glue the vocals to the track.

The delays heard in the track are the stock Avid delays in Protools set to a 1/4 note with varying feedback levels.

Here's the video for "Love In The 90z":

Download "Love in the 90z" on iTunes http://smarturl.it/LoveInThe90z
Google Play http://smarturl.it/LoveInThe90z_GP
Spotify http://smarturl.it/LoveInThe90z_Sptfy
Amazon http://smarturl.it/LoveInThe90z_Amzn
Rdio http://smarturl.it/LoveInThe90z_Rdio
Deezer http://smarturl.it/LoveInThe90z_Dzr

NAMM 2016: IK Multimedia - Lurssen Mastering Console & iLoud Micro Monitors.

 IK Multimedia has released the Lurssen Mastering Console mastering plugin that works on Mac/PC and iPad. I've had mixes mastered by Reuben at Lurssen Mastering and they did an amazing job. 

Lurssen Mastering

If you have an iPad you can immediately try the app for free. The Mac/PC version will be available in February. I don't see this app replacing the golden ears of your professional mastering engineer but for those times when budget and schedule don't allow for their services it will come in handy.

From the press release:

"IK Multimedia is proud to announce the Lurssen Mastering Console, a totally new mastering tool developed in collaboration with multi- Grammy Award winning world-renowned mastering engineer Gavin Lurssen, Reuben Cohen and the team at Lurssen Mastering in Los Angeles, CA. Designed to be an effortless mastering tool for musicians and producers of all skill levels, it faithfully digitally recreates the unique "whole is greater than its parts" approach used in the studio. It provides a top of the line mastering processor chain with parameters that can be recalled as 20 different "Styles" that have been created by Gavin, Reuben and the team to reflect the settings they've developed in their decades of combined experience mastering hip-hop, rock, pop, Americana, country and more. Now, with Lurssen Mastering Console, musicians can make great sounding masters both at home and on the go when a trip Lurssen Mastering just isn't in the budget."

Features

• Created with Grammy Award winning Mastering Engineers Gavin Lurssen and Reuben Cohen
• Accurately reproduces Lurssen Mastering's unique philosophy, studio workflow and signal chain
• iPad, Mac & PC versions available
• Mac/PC version works as a standalone application or as a plug-in for your DAW
• 20 pre-made "Styles" created by Gavin Lurssen and team that reproduce the settings and gear used to master pop, hip-hop, rock and more
• 3 easy-to-navigate displays: A Studio view with controls, a Wave waveform view and a Chain view for individual processors
• Input Drive knob
• 5 band EQ with fixed frequency
• "PUSH" Knob to subtly enhance selected song passages via uniform EQ adjustment
• Full automation of audio content adjustment
• Linkable Input Drive control for stereo balance tweaks
• Input/Process assignable VU metering
• Stereo/Mono monitoring capability
• 88.2/96kHz DSP processing
• Audio import from iPad music library

Pricing and availability

Lurssen Mastering Console is available now for iPad via the App Store as a free app with a functional demo mode. All content can be unlocked via a one-time in- app purchase of $/€99.99. A standalone and plug-in version for Mac and PC is now available for preorder from the IK online store and authorized resellers for a special pre-order price of just $/€199.99. Lurssen Mastering Console for Mac/PC will be available in February, 2016 for $/€299.99. 

For more information, please visit: www.ikmultimedia.com/lurssen 

                                             

                                                   The iLoud Micro Monitor

Ik Multimedia also announced the iLoud Micro Monitor dubbed the "smallest studio monitor in the world". I have the original iLoud speaker (which has become my favorite portable speaker) so I'm very curious to hear the Micros.

From the website:

"iLoud Micro Monitors are two extremely portable, high-performance bi-amped speakers that deliver a combined 50W RMS of power for superior bass, plenty of headroom and an expansive stereo image. Whether you’re recording, editing, mixing, or mastering audio, iLoud Micro Monitor ensures your mix will translate well to the huge variety of consumer devices — headphones, home stereo systems, gaming consoles, car audio systems, TVs, and other listening systems"

Features

• Two bi-amped studio reference monitors for critical audio production
• On-board 56-bit DSP for linear frequency response
• Four high performance ultra-efficient class D power amps
• 50W RMS total power
• Phase accurate – perfect stereo imaging
• Superior bass response
• 45Hz bass extension
• High and Low frequency level adjustment
• DESKTOP switch for accurate response correction when placed on desktops
• Comprehensive audio input: Bluetooth streaming, RCA, 1/8”
• Thermoplastic enclosure designed to reduce internal resonance
• Status/peak LED

Pricing and availability

iLoud Micro Monitor will be available early Q2 2016 from music and electronics retailers worldwide, and from the IK online store, for only $/€299.99 (excluding taxes).

For more information, please visit www.iloudmm.com