New Arrivals For November

My home studio revamp is in full swing. I’m hoping to complete it this month, so that I can spend the winter months getting to grips with it all and starting to record music for myself once again.

The second hand market on eBay has picked up a little since the horror show that was October. It feels like the number of items is up a little, but I haven’t really felt tempted by any of the items put up for sale.

Focusrite Clarett OctoPre

When I bought the Universal Audio Apollo x6 last month, I screwed up. For some unknown reason, I thought the Apollo x6 came with four mic preamps. It does not; it only comes with two.

That turned out to be a happy accident. It made me start looking around at the market for dedicated mic preamp units for the first time. And it turns out that it was cheaper to buy the Clarett OctoPre than it was to return the Apollo x6 and pay the extra for the Apollo x8. Cheaper, and now I’ve got 10 mic preamps.

I’m going to say a lot more about that over on the Studio Diary.

Roland SPD-SX Percussion Pad

I hate programming MIDI drums. I’ve always struggled with anything beyond very basic 4/4 rhythm patterns. I can play drums a bit (although I’m very rusty). I’d love to be able to play my MIDI drums in.

The Roland SPD-SX percussion pad is a compromise. I simply don’t have the space for a proper set of MIDI drums – otherwise I’d definitely have gone that way. The SPD-SX will hopefully give me something I can play for now.

Roland KT-10 Quiet Kick Trigger

There’s no way I’m going to play drums without having a kick drum of some kind. The very concept seems totally alien to me.

One of the reasons I went with the Roland SPD-SX is because it’s expandable. It’ll take up to 4 (I think) additional outboard triggers. In other words, I can gradually add more electronic drum bits to it to make it play more like an actual electronic drum kick.

There’s a couple of kick drum triggers available for it. I went with the KT-10 partly because it was the quieter of the two, and partly I found it a little easier to play. It uses a reverse action. That means that the beater has a shorter throw, and it felt like it took less physical effort too.

Roland PDS-10 Percussion Pad Stand

I’m going to be sat in front of the Roland SPD-SX percussion pad, as if it was an actual drum kit. It’s going to have to go on a stand.

There’s not much more to say about that, to be honest.

Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8 Ohms

I’ve already got two of these. So why have I bought a third one?

When I was wiring up my stereo Synergy amp, I decided that I wanted it permanently wired up into the two Captors that I already have. That way, if I make a mistake and switch on the power amp without a speaker cab attached, the Captor will take the load and I won’t damage the SYN 5050 at all.

Problem is, I’ve gotten used to running my Marshall Origin full-on for the better dynamics and power amp sound. The only way I’ve been able to do that at home is by running it through one of the Captors. Getting a third Captor allows me to keep on doing that with minimal fuss.

Fender MTG Distortion Pedal

This one is a treat for myself for the end of a busy and demanding last couple of months. I’m a huge fan of Fender’s new line of drive pedals, and I’m determined to collect them all.

The MTG has a real valve inside it, which gives it this thick and very impressive sound straight out of the box. Start fiddling with the controls – especially the Tight knob – and there’s a lot of rhythm and lead tones to be had out of this unit. It’s going to be a pedal that I record with, for sure.

It eats weak guitars for breakfast and spits them out in a very unforgiving manner. Feed it a great guitar, and it’ll make that guitar sing. That’s probably going to limit how well it sells, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I can’t wait to get my hands on the MTG:LA, when that finally reaches local shops.

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