Secret Weapons Pt II
OK. Before i divulge even more of my "super secrets" (yeah right), i know there are many people reading this thing who never post comments. Well, its about time you did. I want all of you people to chime in with a tip of your own with one of your top secret weapons. Now, i don't care if your an experienced engineer or a just starting out producer, i don't care if you have a recommendation for the best budget mic pre or the most high end microphone, your favorite keyboard sounds, or whatever. SHARE SOMETHING. I want this post and the responses to be about sharing ideas and info. Trust me, giving up one of your secrets is not going to end your career, and if many of you all chime in, we all might learn a few things and we all might get a little better at what we do. OK, lets hear you.
My tip of the day is the Line 6 Variaxe Guitar. This thing is a gem. Its a modeling guitar, a la what the POD does for amps, this does for guitars. For a studio piece, its amazing. You can sit down and have like 50 different tones to check out without touching your amp setting. and the tones, in my humble opinion, alot of them sound great! If you spend some time pairing up the right guitar tone with the right amp, the results can be stellar. I'm really digging this thing thru Amp Farm, and the Native Instruments Guitar Rig II, and its also killer thru real amps. I ran it thru my Madison half stack and DAMN, the Madison is a really good sounding, really versatile head and cab (i had them custom load my 4x12 cabs with 2 different types of speakers, so depending on where i put my mic's, i can even vary cabinet tone :-) and the Variaxe thru the Madison produced awesome results. I definitely wouldn't take this guitar on stage (just bought the bottom of the Line model, which doesn't stay in tune well), but i can definitely see investing in their top line model ($1,500 ouch), but a great guitar.
And here's the best part......... are you ready.......
NO HUM!!!!
thats right, for all you guys recording guitar and all you get is hum and buzz, the Variaxe DOES NOT HUM AT ALL. It doesn't have standard pickups, so no RF interference!! How bout that! That alone sold me.
OK. So, between Secret Weapons part 1 and part 2, hopefully you picked up at least one cool new thing to try or check out. Now its your turn. Whoever you are reading this, take 5 seconds and offer up something. favorite plugin? virtual synth? software? hardware? speakers? (Event of course :-) whatever. and trust me, even if your new, other "new" guys read this too. something you share could really help them. ready....go. If i get good responses, I'll keep divulging more of my secrets.
-Ken Lewis
My tip of the day is the Line 6 Variaxe Guitar. This thing is a gem. Its a modeling guitar, a la what the POD does for amps, this does for guitars. For a studio piece, its amazing. You can sit down and have like 50 different tones to check out without touching your amp setting. and the tones, in my humble opinion, alot of them sound great! If you spend some time pairing up the right guitar tone with the right amp, the results can be stellar. I'm really digging this thing thru Amp Farm, and the Native Instruments Guitar Rig II, and its also killer thru real amps. I ran it thru my Madison half stack and DAMN, the Madison is a really good sounding, really versatile head and cab (i had them custom load my 4x12 cabs with 2 different types of speakers, so depending on where i put my mic's, i can even vary cabinet tone :-) and the Variaxe thru the Madison produced awesome results. I definitely wouldn't take this guitar on stage (just bought the bottom of the Line model, which doesn't stay in tune well), but i can definitely see investing in their top line model ($1,500 ouch), but a great guitar.
And here's the best part......... are you ready.......
NO HUM!!!!
thats right, for all you guys recording guitar and all you get is hum and buzz, the Variaxe DOES NOT HUM AT ALL. It doesn't have standard pickups, so no RF interference!! How bout that! That alone sold me.
OK. So, between Secret Weapons part 1 and part 2, hopefully you picked up at least one cool new thing to try or check out. Now its your turn. Whoever you are reading this, take 5 seconds and offer up something. favorite plugin? virtual synth? software? hardware? speakers? (Event of course :-) whatever. and trust me, even if your new, other "new" guys read this too. something you share could really help them. ready....go. If i get good responses, I'll keep divulging more of my secrets.
-Ken Lewis
posted by Protools Mixing at 2:28 AM
9 Comments:
One of the only sounds I still use from my SY85 is the sub bass - 1D4, on the electronic disc. Very reliable, and perfect for beefing up a more weedy sound.
Also I audition mixes through an old Panasonic boom box, which is very revealing...
and you can pick up an sy85 for $200 now!!
Here's some Hip Hop drum sampling stuff I wrote..
Read it on my MySpace blog.
P.S. Somebody let me know if my link isn't working..
http://www.myspace.com/peritusradio
Hey Peritus,
That was an awesome breakdown of how you work. Do you use that system to look for only hits, or do you use it for instance to look for old soul records to sample and loop, or maybe an obscure orchestral passage that you can chop up and lay into a beat? I've used Recycle. What it does is really crazy, but i havent used it like that (see even i'm learning stuff!!)
So, come on people, post some shit. we only have two user tips so far, this blog should be FLODDED with your tips/tricks, etc... I know i have more than 2 people reading this thing, so hey you, the person reading this right now, give something back, post a tip. Any tip, from simple to super tech.
-Ken
Thanks...
ReCycle is great fun...
I use a very similar system for my loops. However, my destination fomat, with loops, is always REX2 (with a back-up of WAV)...Also, all loops end up in one giant folder.
The naming convention, for loops has numerals for "sample" and "version"...
"x###" = sample/loop
"v###" = version
It basically ends like this:
x001v001.wav
An example would be:
Sample Collection\Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - 02 - Girl From The North Country x001v001.wav
If I sample the song again, the "sample" number goes up +1. Any time that I edit the loop, the version number goes up. Full file rentention...
-Joshua
P.S. My sampling system is older than my drum hit system... I will probably revise my procedure soon.. Clutter is my enemy!!
Just thought of a new one...
When sampling drums from vinyl, make a few passes, at different speeds (pitch bend works best). That way, you'll have a good selection of pitches for your "kits"....
Don't know if it's a secret weapon or not, but when I'm let's say "writer's block" and need inspiration I'll take a 2 bar loop of a groove and build a track around it. With my own drums, keys, basslines etc. Once, I get a groove I can live with, I remove the loop completely. At that time, i can add more instrumentation or leave as is. But the feel is still there from the original loop.
Here's a tips of how i make a new song, make a beat or remix a beat.
Wave lab or Cool Edit depends on the sample.
Fruity Loops -Drums& Samples
Live - Drums&Samples
Reason - Instruments
Sample Tank - Instruments
I sequence into Live...then into Pro Tools.
Live...Next I'll post how I make the Samples do some crazy shit is the best way i know to describe it. LOL. Wrap Marker's is sick and hands on feature in live.
next I will talk about protools I have over 10 years of experience with PT and I still feel like a dummy
MajikBass- Thte Remix Geniunes
www.myspace.com/Houseofrepsmusic
Whatsup Guys??
Secret weapon, Regions in Soundforge, select a range and hit shift and R, then go on to the next section and highlight it and hit shift and R. do as many regions as you need then select extract regions from the tools menu and soundforge will export these individual pieces in a wave file each ready to load up in any sampler. I have never liked using recycle and i find using soundforge soo much more precise with the key command its quick too/ Peace .
Post a Comment
<< Home