Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m doing a rundown of what home studio gear I’ve used this year, and why.
Previous years: [2019] [2020] [2021]
Continue reading “2022 Review: Home Studio Gear”Making Music #3: We’re In Another Heat Wave
Making Music is where I share the process as I write, arrange, record and release my music. You’ll get to read it all: what went well, what really didn’t, the decisions I had to make along the way, and why I made them. I hope you find it useful!
This week, conditions are against me, so I need to come up with a new plan.
Continue reading “Making Music #3: We’re In Another Heat Wave”Making Music #2: Blocking Out “Ragged Perceptions”
Making Music is where I share the process as I write, arrange, record and release my music. You’ll get to read it all: what went well, what really didn’t, the decisions I had to make along the way, and why I made them. I hope you find it useful!
When I’m recording music, my first step is to create a tempo / section block map. What is that, and how do I go about doing it?
Continue reading “Making Music #2: Blocking Out “Ragged Perceptions””#TweedTalk 4: Recording A Real Tweed Deluxe Amplifier
#TweedTalk is my occasional Tuesday column, where I talk about all things related to tweed amps and tweed-tone pedals.
This time around, I share my notes on how I’m capturing the sound of my Tweed Deluxe amplifier, and my thoughts on the experience.
Continue reading “#TweedTalk 4: Recording A Real Tweed Deluxe Amplifier”Studio Diary #33: Things Are Clicking With My Studio Monitors
When I was doing my research into studio monitors, there was a concept that kept coming up time and time again. All the pros said the same thing: you’ve got to learn the sound of your monitors in your space.
This week – almost 18 months after getting my studio monitors – I finally understand what that means.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #33: Things Are Clicking With My Studio Monitors”Studio Diary #31: Attenuators Colour The Sound
Attenuators are one of the reasons we can enjoy valve amps at home without upsetting the neighbours. I’ve never really thought about how they affect the overall tone … until now.
In this blog post, I’m going to look at the two attenuators that I have – the Two Notes Captor and the Fryette PS-100 Power Station – and work out what they sound like. And I’m including some sound samples, so that you can hear the differences for yourself.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #31: Attenuators Colour The Sound”Studio Diary #29: Setting Up Superior Drummer 3 In Reaper
I’ve recently switched back from Universal Audio’s LUNA DAW to good old Reaper. Why? Because I need to work on some midi drums, and LUNA doesn’t really support that yet.
This is partly a note to myself, and partly a tutorial, on how I setup Superior Drummer 3 and Reaper to work well together.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #29: Setting Up Superior Drummer 3 In Reaper”Studio Diary #28: Returning To Reaper, After 2 Years Of LUNA
We’ve just started band rehearsals again, after a 2 year break because of the global pandemic. That means that my time with LUNA has to come to an end, at least for now.
Continue reading “Studio Diary #28: Returning To Reaper, After 2 Years Of LUNA”New Arrivals: February 2022
This month is a tale of two eras: before land war in Europe, and after the war started.
My plan was to get Hedgehog back in action, and (if they came into stock) pick up a couple of things I felt I needed for some planned recording. And that’s how the month started.
Then Putin launched his invasion of a democratic European nation, while willy-waving his nuclear arsenal at the rest of the world. While we’re almost certainly safe from major consequences ourselves, I decided to bring forward my major planned purchase of the year anyway.
Continue reading “New Arrivals: February 2022”New Arrivals: January 2022
The Christmas break is always good for getting me to wire up and fire up the home recording studio, and the end of 2021 was no exception. It was a good reminder of just how much I enjoy making music (rather than just noodling around).
So, this year, I want to at least try and have a bit more purpose when I choose which new (to me) gear to try:
- Things that will help me record music.
- Things that will help me perform music.
- Bucket list items.
- Things that will help me learn about the gear I already have.
Last year, we had one month when there were no new arrivals to write about. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have several more this year. But not this month 🙂
Continue reading “New Arrivals: January 2022”