Blue Flux
























Blue Flux Radio

Email


Guestbook


sitemap


News


search







Studio


Blue Flux Studio

Hints, tips and tricks on studio design and equipment use by Tom of Blue Flux.


The Digital Studio
Guitar & Mikes
Synths & Sampler
Mastering & Monitors
Most Important
Groundhog Studio p1, p2


Hardware Dynamic Processors and FX Units

With DAW plug-ins all the rage these days I'm sure less and less hardware effects will find their way on to a musician's wishlist. Yet as many of these processors now have a digital plug-in equivalent with similar if not identical features I'll leave this section intact. See also last paragraph for my own thoughts on the longevity of dedicated hardware effects.

Dynamic processors
appear initially as the least exciting boxes money can buy, yet when you use them on a regular basis you realise what a profound difference they can make to the overall feel of a recording. Whereas a reverb effect gives a very immediate and noticeable improvement, the value of a compressor or noise gate only becomes apparent when the song nears completion, and everything still sounds nice, crisp and noise free. I would argue that, after a reverb unit, the very next processor purchase a recording musician should make is a compressor.
For most microphone recordings I use a Joe Meek VC3 pre amp, with opto-compressor and enhancer. This is a smashing little gadget, which manages to create a nice, warm sound with plenty of twinkle, and is ideal for vocals and acoustic guitar. It is also very quiet, and provides a balanced (3 pin) microphone input in case your mixer lacks one. The compressor is easy to set up, and is capable of some seriously tight vocals, if required. 
Other hardware dynamic processors I might use during recording are the Behringer Composer stereo compressor, the Ultrafex II enhancer, as well as the SPL Vitalizer (left).



Effect processors are probably the most abundant studio gadgets on the market. Maybe because their instant effect on raw sound is very tangible, and well worth the little money one needs to shell out for those magic boxes these days.

A more recent addition to our FX rack is the Lexicon MPX 550 - and a very smart new kid on the block it is indeed.
Having always fancied a taste of that frequently flaunted Lexicon sound, I'd had my eyes on its predecessor, the MPX 500, for some time. But when the just-launched 550 turned out to be very competitively priced, there was no stopping me.
I wasn't disappointed. Its reverbs, in particular the Halls and Plates, are extremely crisp, lush, and highly editable to suit all needs. The Ambience programmes work exceedingly well in busy mixes, where they tend to add just the right amount of sheen without mushing out any background material. The MPX 550 also sports many competent delay (up to 5.5 secs), modulation and dynamic programmes, but I have to confess they hardly ever get a look in - the 550 is permanently hooked up as my master reverb processor.
The only difference between the 550 and its predecessor is that every reverb programme now sports a compressor as part of its algorithm, useful for some applications. Its operating system is extremely user-friendly, and my only gripe is that when modifying and re-saving an existing user programme the Lex insists on adding a consecutively increasing number after its name, instead of just overwriting the patch with the same name.
All in all, the MPX 550 oozes quality and class, and I feel it'll stay top dog in the rack for years to come.
With reverb catered for by the above, the one box that seems to do the bulk of the modulation and delay work is the Alesis Quadraverb 2. This is an extremely flexible piece of kit, with 8 effect blocks that can be configured literally any way you want. It uses a virtual patch chord system, and once you have become used to their operation, patching up delays to EQs to flangers becomes very intuitive.
Because of this flexibility, real off-the-wall effects can be programmed in a few minutes - more than can be said for many other effect units I know. From any EQ under the sun to 4 second delays, from ring modulation to pitch shifting, the Q2 also features some very high-quality reverb algorithm.
Alesis stopped making the Q2 some years ago, and I bought one of the last units on the UK market. But should one surface on the second hand market and you're looking for a great all-rounder - snap it up quick.

Other units that get a look in: The Digitech TSR12 multi FX - another great all-rounder, and though it's getting on a bit, the chorus and dual pitch shifter in particular still sound extremely pleasing. Then there's the ageing Yamaha FX500 - mainly used as a second delay processor, though it also features some mean and extremely cutting digital distortion.

And yes - now that computer-based plug-in effects are all the rage, it's hard to see where the future for hardware boxes might lie. Personally, I'll be hanging on to my own black boxes for quite some time yet, I guess. Especially on the reverb front, something like a Lexicon MPX550 takes a lot of CPU-hungry beating. Besides, with multi-channel digital interfaces now quite affordable, there is no reason not to incorporate some of your better effect units into the digital recording chain. See my Digital Studio page for more info.


Synthetics

Before the advent of samplers and esotheric signal processors, synthesizers were really the only way to obtain fresh, unique sounds. Some would argue they still are. And with the recent synth resurgence, fuelled by the sheer affordability and accessibility of their PC-hosted clones, it looks like the market has prooved them right.
I've owned quite a number of synths over the years. Some finally went the way of all inanimate objects (Ebay) to make room for others. But here are those that I feel have the right stuff to endure in our studio:
 
The Yamaha TG33 is, in my view, a much overlooked classic synth. When Sequential, an American synthesizer company, went into receivership, some of their brightest engineers fled to Yamaha. They took with them their Vector Synthesis method, already implemented in their ill-fated Sequential synths, and applied it to good effect to the TG22, and its keyboardless brother, the TG33. 
The joystick gives the game away - vector synthesis permits fading between the 4 voices that make up the patch, either in real time, or as recorded data file that is saved with the patch.
The voice architecture of the TG33 is quite basic, but that also makes it very easy to edit. It is capable of very convincing analogue emulations, great bass lines, and very atmospheric pads. First released in 1990, these can still be snapped up second hand. Probably for a bargain price, too, given their other-worldly design and the instant-street-cred vector joystick
 
Small world - after the Sequential engineers spent a year with Yamaha, they jumped ship and joined Korg (no surprise, perhaps, since I recently learned that Yamaha hold a majority share in Korg), where they also had a hand in the design of their Wavestation synth.
This is probably the most important synth I ever bought, because the sound-shaping potential it has to offer is virtually limitless. It may be a bit complex to program, but well worth the effort. Even today, a more than a decade after its first release, one can still recognise some of the Wavestations signature patches used in TV commercials and sound tracks - talk about longevity. And now that Korg have re-released the Wavestation as part of their Legacy Synths plug-in, this baby is going to be with us for a good while longer yet.

During the recording of our all-guitar album "Sugarbeat" in 2001, synths never got a look-in. That was the deal I made with myself, and the discipline paid off - no keyboard playing meant pinpoint focus on guitar performance. But as confessed to on the Making of Sugarbeat page - my fingers were itching for some ten-digit exercise at the end of it.

Korg Triton LE
Barely 2 weeks after the release of Sugarbeat, that thin piece of plastic got the better of me, and I found myself in the local music shop pumping the keys of that Silver Dream Machine above - the Korg Triton LE. Fatal move! 30 minutes later my car boot snapped shut with a satisfied clonk - Triton on board!

The Korg Triton is one of the pinnacles of performance-oriented synthesis in a workstation box. It's got a bit of everything, without being shallow in any department. Knobs, sequencer, dual arpeggiator (fantastic!), effects, and sounds that make your nostrils flare like railway tunnels. The Korg Triton LE is the economy version of the Triton, but all that's missing is the sampler (though available as a retrofit option), 6 separate outputs (you still get 4 outs), and the touch screen. The latter is not really missed, since the 8 function buttons beneath that pretty blue screen of the LE are very functional, and the menu is quite intuitive. My only gripe is that the buttons in general are a bit clickety clackety, which may be useful for positive feedback to the user, but I'd have preferred a softer touch. Many buttons are backlit in the "on" position, which is nice.

The arpeggiator is the jewel in the Triton crown - especially since you get two of them. Setting up a new arpeggio from scratch is dead simple, and many presets can easily provide a useful starting point for new ideas. It took me a while to realise that the arpeggiator output is recorded as MIDI note data to the sequencer. Although this means that data recorded thus is not easily modified (Arp Gate & Arp Velocity will have no effect after recording), it also means that there is no limit to the number of different arpeggiator patterns one can record into a song.

The Korg Triton LEs Realtime Controls. Some are fixed, others can be assigned to any desired parameter. All movement is recordable to MIDI.

To the right - play mode buttons, with sampling mode select, if installed.

In Combi (Multi) Mode, the Korg Triton is an absolute MONSTER. I guarantee hours of bliss to anyone playing a Triton in Combi Mode for the first time, followed by zillions of ideas for future songs. A word of caution, though - the onboard effect are heavily drawn upon to make Combies sound as good as they do. If you intend to isolate some voices to use in your composition, they really need the effects to sound ace. Powerful and flexible as the onboard Triton effects are, there are still limitations. Best to select the pivotal voice you want in a song, and copy it with its respective effects into the Sequencer (Multi Mode) setup. Additional Triton voices could then be sent to the two individual outputs, and treated with external effects, or routed through individual components (say reverb only) of the selected on-board master effects.
Note: Korg have released at least one new operating system for this synth, perhaps even more by the time you read this. I have installed version 1.5, and found many of the improvements well worth having.



Sampling - Hardware vs Software

And welcome to another blast from the past (cue drum roll): my trusty old EMU ESi32. This was, and still is, a fine machine with superb editing facilities for its age (I know I know - I'll get to that in the next paragraph). I had it fitted with 32 MB of sample RAM, partnered with a 2 GB external hard drive. An upgrade to OS 3.02 just before the ESi32 was discontinued has proved a cheap way to get extra features, which included loads of new filters. As part of Blue Flux's set up the ESi32 supplies many percussive sounds, orchestral samples, and wacky effects, most of which I've sampled myself off just about any conceivable source. I have also been known to record some of my own guitar playing, which I then chop up, re-order and process, to yield rhythmical phrases and sequences.


EMU ESi32 sampler

Alright - so with Sonar as my new studio hub, the option of using a software-based sampler has clearly not escaped me. Yes, the EMU ESi32 has a friendly and reliable face which I would genuinely miss in the studio. It's also very immediate when it comes to recording and mapping my own sounds. I don't even find its meagre 32MB RAM too limiting. But when it comes to compatibility with modern sample libraries, the poor ESi can only look on in geriatric bemusement.



Samplebase Satellite
So Blue Flux goes forth, bathed in the crackling white torchlight of progress and technology, and after some research plumps for Samplebase. I'm the first to admit that, with a rammed selection of software samplers out there, my deliberations were somewhat brief - suck it and see seems to be the best approach in these free-trial-download days. However, the fact that I feature Samplebase on this page will already tell you that, perhaps by luck alone, my choice wasn't that poor.
Satellite Free, Samplebase's fully functional  free player, installed with ease and worked right off the bat within my Sonar set-up. I immediately liked the interface, particularly the simplicitiy with which every channel's knobs and fader can be linked to any Midi controller. Once I got used to treating Satellite as the self-contained submixer it is I had little problems getting it to do what I wanted. Changing the settings in its Details tab at first seemed impossible until I realised that all I had to do was to click and drag on each parameter - Duh! Actually, Samplebase have put together a bunch of useful tutorials which I'd advise any noob to watch. The pdf manual is also very helpful if a tad on the lengthy side.
What I like best of all about Samplebase though is their sample library retail approach. You can choose from a very decent range of instruments or construction sets, each of which is called a "Soundblock" containing up to a hundred or more patches (multi-sampled voices) which, for convenience, come pre-arranged in Multis, ie. sets of related patches mapped over a number of keys so that you can get creative straightaway. Each Soundblock can be downloaded for a (IMO) very reasonable price that seems fair given the high quality sounds you get in return. So if your song requires some blues guitar riffs, say, go audition what's on offer, pay, download, and you're away. Easy peasy.
From what I've tried this far, loop points and tempo accuracy are spot-on, and time-stretching is also handled with aplomb. One thing to note is that Satellite Free withholds access to more detailed Patch and Effects editing. For full functionality Samplebase invite you to purchase the retail version, Satellite Pro. To date I don't feel too restricted by Satellite Free, hence cannot comment on the additional benefits of the Pro version. I would however recommend any new users to also download Samplebase's free Ignition soundblock, a juicy 70MB showreel of many of their retail Soundblocks that's very usable indeed.
Now that I've found out that I can also import my own samples (as .wav) into Satellite I'm fast becoming a convert to Samplebase's uncomplicated creative process. I'm also happy to report that, despite running Sonar 4 on an ageing W2K op sys 1GB RAM laptop, Satellite's processing draw is frugal - even with up to 10 Midi channels firing from within Satellite my overall CPU load only increased by about 10 to 15%.
All in all then a big thumbs-up to Samplebase for ease of use, flexibility and control, and a kick-ass sample library sold in convenient and affordable chunks.



Mastering it All

For Blue Flux at least, mastering became the first studio activity carried out with the aid of a computer. I've used Cool Edit 2000 (CE2K) for many years, and considering its modest price tag this package has proved extremely solid and versatile. It even sports a recovery file option which permits automatic retrieval of an unsaved session in the unlikely event of a crash - brilliant!
 
The main screen of 
Cool Edit 2000 - uncluttered, yet extremely versatile 
Frequency Analysis window in CE2K Spectrogram, a stand alone spectral analysis program which reveals at what frequency range your song's energy does, or does not, reside in.


With Cool Edit capable of hosting DX plug-ins (and VST plug-ins, if wrapper installed), here are the main tools I currently use for post-processing our final mix:

Izotope Ozone 2 Mastering Tools
Para EQ, Mastering Reverb, Loudness Maximizer,
Multiband Harmonic Exciter, Multiband Dynamics,
Multiband Stereo Imaging
www.izotope.com

Excellent mastering tool, though learning curve a bit steep.
Multiband (up to 4) Exciter and Dynamics especially useful.
Comes with many helpful presets, and an informative manual.

Voxengo Elephant Mastering Limiter v2.5
"The most remarkable feature of this brickwall limiter is its ultimate transparency.  Unlike many existing limiters, it does not adjust the dynamic structure of the processed audio material, but instead brings sound limiting and loudness maximization without any audible 'pumping' effects."
www.voxengo.com
Just the ticket to tighten up a ready-mastered song and boost it by those vital few extra dB's. This limiter really is quite transparent (source material dependent, of course, and up to a point), and most importantly, it's easy to use.
The Agenda was at the Elephant's receiving end, and came out crisp and strapping. Thumbs up!
Ultrafunk Multi FXs - Compressor, EQ, Reverb, Phaser, Modulator, Surround, Wha Wha
www.ultrafunk.com
Good selection of standard FXs. 
EQ, auto-wah wah and reverb especially noteworthy.

Plug-ins are available from countless manufacturers, and even more locations on the web.   http://www.hitsquad.com/http://www.fxpansion.com/index1.html   and  http://www.thedirectxfiles.com/  are three good starting points.


Monitor Matters

Let's not forget the most important mastering tool - our ears. In the end, every decision on how much EQ, what level of compression, and which type of reverb, has to be ratified by our humble lugs. If it sounds right, it is right, right? Well, no. Every studio owner will have a story or six to tell about that fantastic mix that just fell to pieces on the family hifi.
Obviously, neutrality is the name of the game here. The less colouring imparted on a mix by over-ambitious studio speakers, the higher the chance of your masterpiece still sounding reasonably true to its original intent on those dreaded Argos speakers suspended from your aunt's living room ceiling.

The types of studio monitor most home and project studio owners will be interested in are near-field and mid-range monitors. The former, as suggested by the name, tend to sit close to the listener's head, typically between 1 - 2 meters. The advantage here is that any offending room acoustics have less of a bearing on the perceived sound accuracy. The obvious drawback is the near-field's limited bass response, which is why they are frequently augmented by a sub-woofer. As for mid-range monitors, the above rationale begins to reverse itself. Bass response, by virtue of their chunkier dimensions, becomes more natural and effortless. But control room properties, particularly any untoward resonant frequencies and unwanted early reflections, require a significant amount of attention.
Just to complete the picture, there are of course full-range monitors. But given their four-figure-upwards price range, I shan't dwell on them here. Other than to say that they're very expensive...

My longstanding mid-range (although some would still call them near-field) monitors are made by Richard Allan, a company no longer in existence. I doubt they'd deserve a 5-star rating from distinguished studio owners, but I have latched on to their open and unfatiguing sound. As you can see, they are intended for sideways mounting, although I find their treble and bass homology suffers a little as a result. A passive design, they are driven by my separate Rotel amp. They are wall mounted on adjustable wall brackets from Argos - yes sir!

 
I am occasionally prone to taking a dose of my own medicine. What with my stern words at the start of this section about ears being the most essential recording tool, I did in the end decide to walk the talk, got hold of a sack trolley, and carted a pair of active Genelec 1029A monitors into Groundhog Studio. Yes, they most certainly are weighty, despite their diminutive size. The heavy duty die-cast aluminium enclosure lends them their extreme rigidity to coax wicked sound pressure levels from such a tiny package. It's fair to say that as near-fields go the 1029A's are probably in a league of their own when it comes to sound quality and bass response. They're not cheap, but after the first listening test I knew where my money was going. 
Bought primarily as an alternative to the perhaps less-than-neutral Roger Allans above, I can recommend them heartily. They feature a number of (albeit well hidden) dip switches to adjust bass & treble response for just about any type of installation, and they sure look the part.


Much as the 1029A's bass response impresses, of late I felt that their lack of welly in the sub-bass category (60 Hz and below) can lead to nasty suprises when playing what sounded like well-rounded tracks on a chunky hifi system with plenty of oomph. Unwilling to fork out the hefty sums required to acquire Genelec's own sub woofer, I settled for a Samson Resolv Sub88 unit. This brand has not enjoyed the best of reputations in the past, but Samson have now re-aligned their target market to include more serious applications, thus convincing me that their sub woofer might just be the right compromise for me.
Turns out it was. Together with a few nice touches like balanced connectors and a remote for sub and system mute, this baby has now completed my near-field monitoring set-up. Don't expect ribcage-shattering seismology. But the Resolv certainly closes the bottom gap left ajar by the Genelecs in a convincing fashion.

And finally on monitor news: if anyone is on the lookout for a tiny tot of a monitor that punches way above its weight, check out the new Genelec 6010a range. With their lethal 1.4 kg weight packaged in Genelec's trademark die-cast aluminium housing, these little devils - and they are little, at181 x 121 x 114 mm - amaze with their sheer authority. Coupled with a subwoofer they'd make a fine near-field monitoring system for those with very limited space. I now use them as speakers with my desktop (non-studio) PC to provide reliable monitoring for off-studio audio edits, sample previews and even just as a serious alternative audio system to assess new Blue Flux mixes.

Genelec 6010a

Heads Up

Especially when performing tricky edits, it's vital to be able to discern every tiny glitch, click or mismatch. Obviously a good pair of studio monitors are essential, but the volume levels required during edits can be quite fatiguing. 
I never used to like headphones as an alternative, since their aural sound distribution always sounded wrong, or at least artificial - the sound seemed to come from inside your head, and mixes sounding great on headphones usually disappointed when played through loudspeakers.


By chance I came across the AKG HEARO 888 chordless headphones in a hifi shop, claiming to generate a full spatial sound distribution equivalent to that experienced by loudspeakers. This I had to check out! And right enough, the "sound in your head" syndrome is gone. As a result, you forget you even have headphones on, a perception further aided by their chordless design.  You can wander around the house, listening to your latest mix in the kitchen - quite an experience. Their range is quoted as 50 meters (through walls), though realistically, after more than about 20 meters from base the odd drop-out occurs. The sound quality is excellent, and the AKGs speaker simulation (called IVA - Individual Virtual Acoustics) can be set to Stereo or Surround, and the Panorama (i.e. the distance between your virtual speakers) can be adjusted.

The AKG HEARO 888s are very well made, comfortable to wear, and extremely revealing. They will not replace the need for good monitors, but I can thoroughly recommend them as a 'second opinion' sound source for editing and mastering of most material. They are of course equally useful as a pair of quality headphones for recording in general.

And Finally ...

For the recording musician, the studio must fulfil many functions. But for me, the most important requirement is that it works the way it should. And that is synonymous with saying - keep it simple, stupid!
Hassle in the studio means no output, days of aggro and endless telephone calls, and probably the loss of many a good idea. A studio that works well should not be touched, modified or upgraded unless there is a real creative or qualitative benefit to be had. Many commercial studios must of course sport all the latest gear to attract customers to pay their high rates. But lucky home studio owners need not fall into that trap. It takes time and effort to get a studio to run smoothly, to optimise ergonomics, to get used to equipment, even to give the place a pleasant ambience. Once happy with it, all the time should be spent on using the studio for what it was built for - making music.
 
 
Blue Flux Music
 To hear the music 
of Blue Flux,


The Digital Studio
Guitar & Mikes
Synths & Sampler
Mastering & Monitors
Most Important
Groundhog Studio p1, p2


Top

Copyright Enthalpy Publications 2009