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Post by Randge on Feb 12, 2015 11:26:48 GMT -6
I have over 20 ribbons here and what is amazing is doing an all ribbon session. I tend to use mic pres that aren't tubed and go for the rest of the chain being pretty squeaky clean if I do that. Proper high pass filtering, a lot higher than one might think, can make ribbons sound like you are in the room with the instruments. I think people get scared when they see themselves high-passing considerably higher than they do with their condensers and dynamics,and abandon them before really seeing how great they can be. Impedance again plays a huge roll in my vintage stuff. I have full on 1930's-40's RCA signal chains to go with my RCA and Altec ribbons of that era. Matching up that era gear just kills me every time I do it. There is little to do after high passing properly and gentle high end shelving if you desire that. I am pretty lucky, as I have some pretty adventurous clients that like to get in the time machine and go back to the 50's and 60's sometimes. I will use Monty Good as a "good" example of one. He asked that we make his record with an early 60's sound and feel. Not having a tape machine till now, I had to really rely on my vintage gear to get us there. The band was a blast to record and are all huge fans of that era of music, so it was such an easy couple of days to track, with everyone live on the floor, no click track. Our click was none other then Willie Cantu, Buck Owens' drummer for many many years. If anyone is interested, here is Monte's Reverb Nation page that has a few of the songs that we recorded and mixed. Mastering was done by Randy Leroy at Airshow Mastering in Takoma Park, Md. Forgive the mp-3 degradation that about kills me to hear. www.reverbnation.com/montegoodandthehonkytonkheroesbandR Randge, do the song samples at CD Baby: Monte Good - A Texas Honky Tonk sound closer to the CD? They don't seem to have as much degradation mucking them up. Probably so, t3. The other songs are on their also. Neither have the clarity and depth of the record. I guess that's how it goes. Monty really loves big verb sounds from the 1960's and those are the first to be a degradation casualty.
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Post by Randge on Feb 12, 2015 10:33:25 GMT -6
I did use some minor eq in the master eq area, but it really didn't amount to anything. I was able to get a fast and natural snare hit and the guitar cabs feel like they are in a dense and in a much more open space. The acoustic guitar seemed to spring to live as well. I used very little on fiddle, steel and the vocals, as I has the 140 and 250 plates going to use on them. It was a fairly fast song, so I use a whole lot less verb on those. I will say, using the 140, 250 and the OW plug together sounded very cohesive. It hasn't curbed my want for a Bricasti, but this can get me by till I snag one for a really good deal.
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Post by Randge on Feb 12, 2015 10:25:51 GMT -6
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Post by Randge on Feb 12, 2015 9:20:35 GMT -6
I made a room (as a send) for the whole band to get into together and used varying amounts to help place them in their spots in the mix. This plug is intended (reverb mode) as purely location/atmosphere. It isn't a plate style verb and I think it confuses people. When you try it next, set the distances at something nominal, like 1', 8' and 16'. Then add them in to taste for the amount of room ambience you are looking for and dial in some predelay (just a little goes a long way)with the amounts of near, mid and far Mics. Solo the track you are using it on and turn it up so that you are really feeling the room. Then, back it off until you can just hear it when solo'd. Now, play it with your mix and mute it. You should feel it dry up and lose its mix perspective. Unmute it and if it falls back where you want it to go, you are golden. If it doesn't, then play with the room distance some more and find where it needs to be. I personally set up a medium-large room like that and played with the sends a lot to get to know it well. It came together rather quickly for me as to how I will normally use it. It is a subtle plugin that does a lot for 3D feeling atmospheric mixing.
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Post by Randge on Feb 11, 2015 23:29:27 GMT -6
So, I joined Cowboy in the Ocean. He is right, for natural room and atmosphere, the UA Ocean Way plug helps a whole lot in creating a world that the whole band can live in that feels real and unprocessed sounding. I combined it with the 140/250 plates and this spring reverb that I have used for a long time now. It works amazing for enhancing the shimmer on a guitar amp, making a tic tak or baritone guitar bite and shing or giving that old sound of harsh vocal verbs in the 1950's as well. It is priced nice as well. www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=28R
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Post by Randge on Feb 11, 2015 23:15:48 GMT -6
Ha! I wish that were true! I did do all of the reso on "Halos And Horns" and arranged some of the vocals and sheep dog-ed the bgv's on some of the big choir parts with Richard Denison as well. Fun times.
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Post by Randge on Feb 11, 2015 19:31:21 GMT -6
Well, its the CV-4, MK-47 and then the CV-4 for my taste. The CV-4 is smoother throughout the entire frequency spectrum and sounds like it would take eq the best of the 3. That MK-47 is nothing to sneeze into though. Cowboy, Lefty AND Bradley Walker would be proud!
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Post by Randge on Feb 11, 2015 18:38:30 GMT -6
I would be more than happy to, Tony!
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Post by Randge on Feb 11, 2015 14:42:17 GMT -6
I never even bothered plugging mine in adat. Straight to analog for me!
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Post by Randge on Feb 10, 2015 10:15:09 GMT -6
If it were a solo reso recording, I would have picked the Burl, but for getting a Reso to fit in a mix, sound natural and open, your box was the winner, Svart. I felt the Apollo sounded edgy in the mids and quite a bit brighter on the top, but not the kind of brighter I wanted to hear. 6-8k instead of a breathy and pretty 14-16k.
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Post by Randge on Feb 10, 2015 9:52:06 GMT -6
A pair of V-72's are well over $3,000 now, so I am not sure that they are off the radar. A 76, which is the same thing as a 72 with another tube stage, go for $3,600 for just one. You can have half a rack of very nice preamps for that. I found mine 15 yrs ago and paid $1200-1500 for the pair back then. That is when they flew under the radar. I have since shot my pair out with four others and for whatever reason, mine have been the gems. They will sell those in my estate sale once I am dead, but not before. I do have a V-72a in a boutique Audio rack in Georgia that I am grabbing next weekend. My wife's uncle Dave does a lot of my tech work for me and he has it right now. I am looking for another one for the empty slot in the other side if anyone knows of one or is selling one.
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Post by Randge on Feb 10, 2015 4:16:06 GMT -6
Joel is a funny dude! He made the afternoon fly by way too quickly! Depending on what you need when you record, the Heiders have the warm bottom and really good mid punch without going too far and the RTZ has the clarity and detail of a classic Neve with an eq shelf already on it to take away the mask, along with enough bottom to keep it balanced. They are my favorite modern day preamp and why I have 12 channels of them. The V-72's have that gorgeous creamy sound but I find that I have to give them some top eq to cut a mix most of the time. The much prefer the Heiders with the hi-z out for me as well. Too bright on acoustic instruments otherwise. I bet with the right snare drum, you might want the Hi-z in though. For any of these preamps (all below $1,000 except the Edwards) to keep up and surpass vintage gear costing sometimes 3 x's as much is a real feat and I commend all of these builders for chasing a sound they heard in their heads and nailing it to the wall. You are the new giants of the industry. What is even more scary is that most are boutique companies that only have a few dealers and places like VK and Sweetwater can't even see them on their radar.
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Post by Randge on Feb 10, 2015 0:12:42 GMT -6
I usually will keep acoustic instruments in FF mode as it is super fast and clean. The FB makes it more opto sounding. I catch peaks on vocals and finish with the CL-1B slow mode when I have a very dynamic vocal on my hands. The vids they posted on acoustic guitar are pretty spot on where I am running them. Maybe a tad less compression when tracking.
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Post by Randge on Feb 10, 2015 0:09:34 GMT -6
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 23:51:17 GMT -6
So I have to ask for you guys that were there. Consensus against the WA76? I find Jeff's comp to be a lot better at neutral/transparent compression and the Warm to stay darker in the bottom end and not near as grabby as the 1176's i have used before. I hope that helps, lolo. R
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 23:42:43 GMT -6
I won't call this a shootout as the guitarist (Joel Hamilton) played different parts every time And I was gonna go to bed! Thanks! Ha! Enjoy, Matt! R
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 23:34:16 GMT -6
There are CAPI VP-26 files in there also. I just couldn't fit them all in the post header.
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 23:32:52 GMT -6
Listening all evening to this and the other uploads. I love it when I hear singing or playing that makes me laugh out loud in appreciation. Been happening a lot tonight. I can really see this comp used in parallel at mix time, particularly on acoustic instruments. Or on anything, really. I am curious as to how the 526 compares to the Great River 501. I think there might be room for a pair of both in my next 500 rack. Thanks to all involved and especially Sal, JK, Jeff and Randy! You guys Rock! I am also a huge fan of the GR PWM 501's. I think that they will go to hyper compression in a musical way (for those who want to really hear the compression)as a strong suit whereas Jeff's 526 is a bit more invisible, maintaining transient detail while under -20 compression. Of course the GR will also do that (feed forward mode) if you are looking for that as well but I will have to really pit them up against each other to see who does the most invisible job for acoustic instruments. I already know that both are fantastic comps for doing what I do here. R
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 23:25:19 GMT -6
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 23:10:55 GMT -6
I had a friend point out that the P2 L and R were a bit wrong. It is the correct mic, just panned wrong. They weren't supposed to be panned at all and I was tired and didn't catch it until now. 1000 lashings...
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 22:58:52 GMT -6
21 downloads now! Now that's more like it! Thanks for the kind words, too! It is a bit of work, but I am glad to do it. I really appreciate the renaissance in audio gear we have going on now and will always fondly remember days like last Saturday throughout my life.
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 22:37:49 GMT -6
Damn, I just finished a record, have some money to spend and was gonna get in on the deal...
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 22:29:07 GMT -6
Most bluegrass guys are like me in that if they hear a compressor changing their tone, they are frowning at the engineer. After all, some of their instruments cost more than the cars and homes they live in combined. They care very much about their tone and a compressor is a tone wrecker to them.
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 21:56:46 GMT -6
If I were 20 again, I would get into circuit design more and know what I was buying and would have built more of my own gear and saved a lot of money.
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Post by Randge on Feb 9, 2015 21:30:48 GMT -6
Gary "Biscut" Davis is a 4 time Winfield banjo champ and works at every major show in Pigeon Forge it seems. He and I were on tour with Dolly together and he also produced her "Halos And Horns" record we did a few years ago. He is a monster player. This is the setting I used for pass 2. As you can see, there is alot more atack to be had and lots of flexibility there. R Nice. Monster player. Do you know Mark Anderson? I guess he used to play guitar with Dolly. Now, he plays with a band up here that comes through my venue on the regular. Nice player. I don't believe I know him, jcoutu1. It has been a while since I toured with her. I still play and sing on her records when she needs me.
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