toiletbag

They're really good. Chris Lorg Alge had them emulate some of his 1176's, LA-2A's and LA-3A's. They are all different so he uses certain ones for certain sounds. They have a load of his presets which are a good starting ground, but I always end up tweaking the hell out of them. It's good to see what some of your favourite mixers are doing.

I'm building a Rev J, it's based on the Revision F but with some mods. There's more info about it here Building The DIY Gyraf 1176 Clone

If it turns out well, and I've got a couple of good mates who can make sure everything is right, then I'll definitely post some pictures up. I'm super excited about it.

After that, I need some good preamps!

Sounds wicked man, all the best with it!

I'm in need of some 'character' pres; I've been putting money away for a lunchbox with 2 API 512c's and a Great River mp-500nv.

Have you tried the CLA plug ins Toiletbag? They're rather tasty.

I'm gonna be getting myself an 1176 in the new year. And by getting, I mean building. Awaiting the arrival of the boards.

I've not man, but I'd be interested to try them. My experience of the Waves stuff is limited to the Diamond bundle, some of which is really useful. So the fact that they've started doing their own signature emulations is interesting.

Good luck with the 1176! You should stick up some photos when you get it underway! Incidentally, what model are you basing it on? The Urei?

In terms of good VSTs, I can't recommend the UAD stuff enough. Accurate emulations of sought after vintage gear that if, like me, you've been using stuff like Waves etc is like night and day.

The initial outlay for the card and constant GAS for plug-ins burns a hole in your wallet, but it's worth it. I literally use the UAD stuff all the time, like the Pultec EQ, Fairchild, 1176, EMT plate reverb and they've just brought out a Studer emulation that looks amazing.

If you're mixing in the box, it's a no-brainer. Dae yersel' a favour.

How wrong you are. I've experienced guitar players who can't play, I've experienced bass players who can't play and I've experienced drummers who can't play.

Yeah exactly, and if you apply the same sort of anti-utilitarian logic to the broader spectrum of recording then it doesn't make much sense.

'Oh well boys, that take was the best one and it was still pish. I could reach for those incredibly useful editing tools and try to make your recording something that everyone is happy with, or I could just take your money off you and send you on your way with a recording that sounds like a one man band falling down the stairs'.

If you're against things that enhance one's ability, you might as well forget about compression, EQ and triggering as well.

Let it be said that good drummers, vocalists, bassists, and guitarists mix themselves, and others... Well, they need a little help.

My singing used to be so out of tune that the only time I tried autotune with it, it placed my vocal in a completely different key. True story.

For what it's worth, though, in general, I think autotune is completely and utterly cheating. If you don't use such a device on any other instrument, then why vocals?

I feel anyone can learn to sing to an acceptable level if they practice. Nobody starts recording guitar on songs unless they can play guitar, or until it's been practised and perfected, so it amazes me sometimes that people who can play guitar, arrange songs and write lyrics seem to think they can just waltz up to a microphone and start recording it without extensive practice.

Cheating? Perhaps, but I've had to use it on violin and bass because the intonation was so bad. It's a life saver in some capacities.

Then you have a level of expectation from bands that you have to try and meet. If they want me to use it then I will, end of story.

Agree with this. Another benefit of using a computer DAW too is that if it is just one phrase out of a verse that is pap you can create a new track and drop yourself in for that phrase. Much much more fiddly on a multitracker, for those that are a bit more pernickity.

Yeah, I most commonly just comp loads of takes together in this vein when I'm mixing vocals. I couldn't imagine going back to an 8 track because, while the learning curve for DAWs is a lot steeper, it's a much quicker process once you've got to grips with it.

Does anyone here admit to using autotune?

There's a tuning VST included with Reaper. I turned it on the other day and it doesn't do a bad job, seems to smooth out the vocal without being noticable. But I still left it off the end mix as it felt like cheating.

Autotune is unfortunately a necessary evil sometimes, especially if you subscribe to the view that you can't polish a turd, but you CAN roll it in glitter.

I use Melodyne though, because the graphical mode in Antares is far too fiddly. It's great from a compositional point of view as well. It's great if there's a great take with one stray note because you only correct the parts you want to correct.

I'd suggest the weakest application for an SM57 on drum kit is as an overhead but it isn't impossible and it really depends where your expectations lie.

The key to any drum recording is to have the drum kit sounding as good as it possibly can in the room, before you press the record button. You can't just 'fix' things later on a recording - especially not when only using 1 or 2 microphones for the entire kit.

Oktava Mk-012 condensor microphones were thought to be good bang for buck at budget end last time I checked. I remember them being just over 100 each.

Those Oktavas are great; easily modded and the ability to change capsules is cool. But again, outside Huw's budget based on what he's previously said.

Ultimately, you can make almost anything work, it just depends how much work you're willing to put in to get what you want. The right tools make this process quicker and easier. I would agree that two 57s on overhead would be preferable to the other mics mentioned because a 57's off axis response is better than anything made by Behringer.

The fundamental issue is that Huw's budget is not in the same price range as a lot of decent 'budget' audio gear, so I would suggest rental rather than buying a bunch of crap that you're going to just chuck out later 'cause it has no re-sale value.

I have no idea how relevant that is.

Hmm, they did at one point as I remember, perhaps not now. Those wee ZT amps seem really cool despite being SS.

I think the Classic 30 is a massively underrated amp. I think the reliability and build quality of new Vox stuff is somewhat questionable.

There's a Japanese company that make AC15 clones that are amazing, as used by Deerhoof. I can't remember their bloody name though, which is, of course, nae use.

I will. Cheers Ross.

Have you only been using it in mono because you only have one or because it won't sound right in stereo?

Yeah, I've only got one ribbon at the moment (a CAD Trion). Ribbons tend to have great low end response and can smooth out harsh sounding cymbals, whereas I find a lot of cheap condensers have poor off-axis response, making the shells or cymbals sound trashy.

If I were you Huw, if you're looking to do one-off demos I'd just hire a couple of decent mics for overheads (Neumann KM184s or Royer-121s, even AKG 414s) and buy a bunch of SM57s for close Mic'ing. You'll be able to use those mics on a variety of other things too.

You should check out the Recorderman overhead arrangement. It's a variation on the Glynn Johns technique. It's very difficult to get a piss-poor sound this way as it ensures the kick and snare are phase-coherent, and it gets the most out of a kit in a crappy room.

On that note, I've been using a ribbon mic as a mono overhead recently with great success.

Hullo folks!

Last minute announcement, but we're going to be playing at Drummonds this evening!

We weren't sure if it was going to go ahead as we were originally supposed to be playing with Shutter but they've had to cancel as one of the poor lads has broken his wrist.

We're not sure who the support is, but it's free entry if anyone wants to come along for a gander.

Cheers!

Big Trouble in Little Richard is excellent. Where did you record it? Sounds really full and awesome, and that's just through my shitty laptop speakers. Straight to the point, not too much fucking about, which I like. The "Turn your collar..." bits sound really Woomble-esque in their delivery and the way the voice sounds a bit apathetic, if you ken what I mean?

Like, Epic! I like also, but not as much. I think I've heard that one before. It flows really well but is far removed from a classice verse chorus song structure which is often a sign of a promising song writer. Incidentally, who is the main song writer?

I missed you guys when you played with Mondegreen and that lot but would like to see you. Gigs with Carson Wells will definitely be on the cards I hope.

Hey man, Robin recorded it at his new studio and I mixed and 'mastered' at home; it was an interesting experiment for both of us, but it seems to have turned out pretty well sonically.

The tunes are normally written by Cal and I on the guitars and we take them to Mark and Mike and they write the drum and bass parts. We all chip in on the vocals and that sort of thing. Occasionally songs just come about by jamming in the practice room though, so it's a bit of a mish-mash in terms of songwriting.

Definitely need to get more gigs booked with you lads! We'll get you's down here again soon.

Some good lyrics, some I found a bit dubious, but the music is awesome. Never listened to you guys before, will deffo check out your Abdn show.

p.s great song title.

Thanks man! Appreciate the criticism.

It'd be nice to see folks at the Aberdeen show if they can make it along.

The song titles are just daft!

Hullo folks,

We've just released our new single. You can hear the tracks over at our Bandcamp page and, if you like, you can purchase them (so you can listen to them in the shower et al.) for 2. You can download our debut EP for free from there too if the notion takes you.

We'll also have physical copies of the single ready for our Aberdeen and Dundee shows in September with Shutter and the Twilight Sad & Errors.

We're hoping to record the album later in the year.

Thanks!

I use ER-20s, and while they're better than the 'wotsit' variety, there's still a noticeable dip in the mids and highs.

I'd expect this to be the case unless you're willing to pay considerably. To be honest, it's probably good investment; your ears are arguably the most valuable thing you own if you play music.

Tune is fucking braw!

Just to add weight to the argument, I think Dennis is fantastic. He diagnosed and repaired a fairly rare problem in my AD30 (blown PCB track) and did some tweaking for 40 quid, and it's never sounded better.

Top geezer.

I'm well excited about this! Can't wait to hear the Min Diesel EP, and Mondegreen seem totally sweet.

Kudos on the description of us as well; that's pretty much the closest one I've encountered yet

best guy to see is dennis marshall in dunfermline

dennis marshall

forget brucies or r&b. quite often depending on the job he'll do it while you wait

This man speaketh the truth!

I agree with pretty much everything in this post Ross.

I've got myself a Sound City L50. When it works I hope it'll be just like your AD30. Stick the Blackstar Dual and Holy Grail in front of it and I have a 3 channel amp with reverb and no sacrifice of tone.

Aye! My pal has that Blackstar pedal, it kicks out some grunt like. Michty!

Apparently the Blackstar mid-range stuff is pretty good. The other guitarist in my band just put a deposit on the HT-40 combo - apparently it's amazing for the cash!

limitations

are what I look for in a guitar amp. I like it when amps are one-trick ponies; they provide one sound and they do it very well. My AD30's a lot like that in a lot of respects, it's the simplest amp in the world: gain, bass, mid, treble, volume and that's it.

When amps try to cover as much territory as possible, that's when things start to go amiss, introducing effects loops, reverb units, and a bunch of stuff into the chain. At the end of the day, you want an amp to highlight two things: your playing and your guitar's tone; if there's more potential to obscure either of those two things than you necessarily want there to be, then I'm not really that interested.

My DSL50 seemed to take the worst of my guitar's sound and bring them to the forefront. The AD range is actually a great match for Teles, I'm well happy with it. In saying that though, I'd like a Fender Twin and a JMP so I'd have different sounding amps for recording with.

I guess one of the other reasons I don't use both channels is because when you step on the footswitch, it seems to take about half a second to switch, with a block of silence inbetween. Ungood.

Yeah! That used to piss me off as well. What fucking use is that? Cheers Marshall, I've just forked out a bunch of dough for this amp and it doesn't even allow me to actually make use of its twin channel versatility in a live setting; their marketing department must have their work cut out for them these days.

I'm not much of a fan of 900s either, but I love the 2203 800s and '70s JMPs.