Category Archives for "Gear"
- in Gear , New Music Gear Monday , Plugin , Software by Bobby Owsinski
New Music Gear Monday: Exponential Audio NIMBUS Reverb Plugin
I really love Exponential Audio plugins because you get high performance effects that don’t require a ton of CPU power at a reasonable price. While the company’s existing plugins are very cool indeed, Exponential founder (and ex-Lexicon engineer) Michael Carnes has outdone himself this time with his new NIMBUS reverb, a true next-generation plugin. NIMBUS takes the […]
Continue reading- in Gear , Production , Recording by Bobby Owsinski
Time For Some Do-It-Yourself Reverb
Digital reverbs have come a long way. It’s truly amazing what you can now get for very little money that rivals or betters hardware reverbs costing more than $10k. That said, sometimes there’s nothing like the real thing, even if a little DIY is involved. Speaking of which, the wonderful TapeOp Magazine recently posted a great […]
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Now You Can Own The Console That Recorded The Beatles
Just about any piece of gear that has crossed the doorstep of the legendary Abbey Road Studios is truly revered, especially if it’s from 60s and 70s. The studio’s boffins in the maintenance department were renowned for being meticulous in creating and upgrading any gear used in the studios, which came across in recordings that still […]
Continue reading- in Computer , Gear , Production by Bobby Owsinski
Are Your Ready For A Really Fast Flash Drive?
I call it a flash drive, but you might refer to it as a thumb drive or USB stick – it doesn’t matter. It’s amazing how much we use these things anymore without giving a second thought to how convenient they are. They’re getting larger and larger in capacity, which is a good thing, but […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Creation Labs MW1 Studio Tool Guitar DI
Recording guitars in the control room has become standard procedure during overdubs these days, but there always a hassle to it. Ground loops, amp noise during tuning, and not having the amp head close by to change the tone or input gain are minor inconveniences, to be sure, but inconveniences none the less. That’s what makes […]
Continue reading- in Engineering , Gear , Live Sound , Production by Bobby Owsinski
Staying Away From Bad Solder Joints
One of the first things I learned to do when I was a young musician was to solder so I could build and fix my own cables and gear. The number of hours I spent in my parents basement burning my fingers while learning the art is forever seared in my brain. I rarely do […]
Continue reading- in Gear , New Music Gear Monday , Production , Recording , Video by Bobby Owsinski
New Music Gear Monday: GIK Acoustics Portable Isolation Booth
In these days where home studios proliferate we’re all faced with a situation where you have to record but have some room reflections that need some control. The problem is that there’s either no room to build a iso booth or not enough money, or both. Now GIK Acoustics have come up with a solution that […]
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Top 10 Guitars Of All Time
If you’re a guitar player then you certainly have a favorite guitar model, and chances are good that your personal favorite has even changed a few times over your career as well. While we can all agree on a few as all-time greats, when it comes to picking ten of them the choices can really […]
Continue reading- in Gear , Hardware , MI/Audio Business by Bobby Owsinski
The iPhone Headphone Jack Sails Into The Sunset, And We Should All Be Happy
As usual, rumors abound about Apple’s upcoming iPhone 7 release, but what seems to be getting the most attention is a piece of ancient tech history that the company appears to be leaving behind – the standard 3.5 millimeter headphone jack. While there’s a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth in the media over […]
Continue reading- in Book Excerpt , Gear , Production , Recording by Bobby Owsinski
Helpful Recording Accessories
There are a number of recording accessories that prove to come in handy almost every day you’re in the studio. In fact, a session can absolutely ground to a halt without a few of them. Here are some suggestions for some accessories that you’ll be so happy you have when the need arises. Console tape – […]
Continue reading- in Gear , Guitar , Hardware , MI/Audio Business by Bobby Owsinski
How The Fuzz Tone Was Born
If you’re a guitar player, chances are you’re in love with the distorted sound that’s so easy to create these days, thanks to a variety of amps, pedals and plugins. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a time when guitar distortion didn’t exist, but believe it, there was a time when there was no such thing. […]
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New Music Gear Monday: Dangerous Music 2-BUS+ Summing Mixer
When it comes to outboard summing mixers, there are two distinct camps. There are the mixers who claim that a summing mixer is essential to giving their in-the-box mix that analog console sound, and there are those that claim they can do just as well without one. That said, more mixers that fall into the later camp would find a […]
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5 Things You Didn’t Know About A Gibson Les Paul
If you’re a guitar player you may own a Les Paul, and if you’re an engineer you probably have to record one from time to time. That’s a good enough reason to learn all you can about the instrument, so here’s a great video that points out 5 things you probably didn’t know about the […]
Continue reading- in Engineering , Microphones , Production , Recording by Bobby Owsinski
4 Surround Sound Miking Techniques Perfect For Virtual Reality
With virtual reality becoming more and more popular, surround sound is making a comeback. While most of the concentration on the audio side of things is on mixing, the fact of the matter is that there’s a lot of interesting information that can be captured during recording. Here’s an excerpt from my Recording Engineer’s Handbook […]
Continue reading- in Gear , New Music Gear Monday , Plugin , Software by Bobby Owsinski
New Music Gear Monday: Audified MixChecker Plugin
Even back before the cassette days engineers and producers checked their mixes in their cars. Back then, some studios maintained a low power AM transmitter on site so you could run out to your car to make a quick check, but now we use all sorts of portable files to check on everything from computers to phones to even […]
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