Posts

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Spectre Sounds Viewers Comments

Over at Spectre Sounds, Glen has posted his latest answers to comments left by his viewers. This week, instead of answering the questions himself in his own inimitable style, he’s asked a bunch of his friends and famous YouTubers how they would answer instead.

The question that caught my eye was about whether or not to go with Apple for recording music (rather than use Windows). A lot of Apple’s decisions in the last few years have been very unhelpful to creatives in many fields, including music. On Twitter, I see a lot of people talk about moving away from Apple when it’s time to buy their next computer. Over the next couple of years, I guess we’ll find out how many people actually take that step.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Glen’s video.

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Customising The Mouse In Reaper

Over on Reaper TV, Paul Charlton has posted a great video on how to customise Reaper to speed up your workflow. He shows you how to setup macros that you trigger via a keyboard shortcut – and that act on whatever the mouse is pointing at.

Yeah, it’s difficult to summarise succinctly. Paul does a much better job than me on explaining it:

Reaper’s low price makes it seem like a baby DAW, but as you can see in this video, it’s anything but. If you’re recording at home and looking for a DAW that you probably won’t ever outgrow, Reaper should be the first DAW you check out.

I’ve been using Reaper for several years now, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what it can do. I’m a huge fan of Reaper TV. I think it’s one of the best resources out there for learning what Reaper can do, and how to use Reaper.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Paul’s video.

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440 hz or 432 hz?

Over at Chords of Orion, Bill has posted a video comparing two slightly different tunings: A at 440 hz compared to A tuned to 432 hz.

Standard tuning is to tune the note A to the pitch of 440 hz. But you don’t have to. There’s a long history of alternative pitches . And some things just sound better if you tune to a different pitch.

Have a listen to Bill’s video and see for yourself which you might prefer. Can you even hear the difference?

Please head over to YouTube and leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed Bill’s video.

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Laura Cox Rocks Out

… with her Bacchus Mistress and its single Lollar P90.

If you’re new to Laura, she’s been posting videos of her playing for several years now. As time’s gone on, she’s developed a great American country rock vibe with her tone and phrasing. And she always lets her playing do the talking.

Please head over to YouTube and leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoyed her playing. And please – don’t be a dick about the fact she’s a woman.

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Angela Petrilli

Mary Spender’s Tuesday Talk this week is an interview with Angela Petrilli of Roses & Cigarettes. They met at Winter NAMM 2018 thanks to John Meyer’s PRS press conference.

Check out the full story in Mary’s video.

Angela talks about her Martin acoustics, and from the look on Mary’s face, they’re clearly a couple of very special guitars. She also mentions the upcoming acoustic EP that she used the guitars on. Mary also teases us about an acoustic jam with Angela … but we’re going to have to wait for her next video to enjoy that.

Please head over to YouTube for all the links in the description, and to leave a like an supportive comment if you enjoyed Mary’s video.

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PRS SE Standard Range Demo

Over on the Andertons channel, Chappers and The Captain take a look at the new PRS SE Standard guitars.

The SE Standard range is their new entry-level line, offering classic PRS guitars at great prices. Whether you’re just starting out or looking for that third guitar after your Strat and Les Paul, take a look at PRS. They make fantastic instruments, and Paul Reed Smith is a great believer in only making instruments that are good enough to use professionally, no matter the price range.

Please head over to YouTube and leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoy their video.

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Are Your Pedals Too Bright?

Brian Wampler makes great pedals. He also makes great videos about pedals, amps, tone, and the guitar signal chain.

In this short video, he addresses a common question that crops up in Wampler’s after-sales support: why does the tone get a lot brighter when you add another pedal to the chain?

As Brian covers, the real problem is that the signal chain was artificially dark and dull in the first place. The culprit? Pedals that aren’t true bypass, and that don’t have an internal buffer. Watch the video for the full explanation.

Please head over to YouTube and leave a like and a supportive comment if you enjoy Brian’s video.

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Spectre Sound’s 1,500 Dollar Studio Challenge

Can you record everything in a rock / metal band for a budget of just 1,500 dollars? Including a real drum kit? That’s what Galen Fricker of Spectre Sound Studio set out to prove in his latest video.

If you’re looking to start your own home or project studio, this is a good place to start. There’s some really good information in here, including a look at some of the mixing plugins Glen used in Reaper for the demo track.

Please head over to YouTube and leave a like and a supportive comment if you like Glen’s video.

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UAD v9.5 Is Out!

Universal Audio has released v9.5 of their plugin software platform today. The highlights are three new plugins to buy:

  • Helios Type 69 Preamp & EQ
  • Friedman Buxom Betty Amplifier
  • A/DA Flanger

To promote the release, Universal Audio has posted some short promo videos over on YouTube:

If you’re not familiar with UAD … they’re custom software plugins that you buy and run on Universal Audio’s Apollo hardware. Each plugin is a faithful recreation of some of the finest studio equipment around. Although the hardwae and the plugins aren’t cheap – right now, the Ultimate 6 Bundle is £2,999 – they’re a lot cheaper than the real gear, assuming you could get it in the first place.

I’ve had the Apollo Twin for about 18 months now, and I wouldn’t go back. I’ll write some articles about my experiences with it soon.

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JHS Bonsai Demo – All The Tubescreamers!

I think this was released at Winter NAMM 2018?

Over at Premier Guitar, John Bollinger has posted a demo of the JHS Bonsai – 9 different Tubescreamers in 1 standard-size pedal housing.

The Tubescreamer is probably the most-cloned pedal of all time. With a few notable exceptions – like the Wampler Euphoria – if it’s a pedal in a green housing, it’s normally an outright Tubescreamer clone or something based on the Tubescreamer circuit.

Tubescreamers can be difficult to dial in. The traditional 1 tone control either works for you or not, and over the years, the Tubescreamer circuit has evolved to offer more options to suit different players and rigs. Having 9 of these in a single housing could be very handy indeed. If 1 circuit isn’t working for you with a particular guitar and amp, one of the others probably will.

I’ve got a Mad Professor Little Green Wonder on my board. It’s there for when I use my Strat. A ZenDrive into a Tubescreamer is a magical sound 🙂 I’m tempted to pickup a JHS Bonsai at some point, for the extra flexibility.

If you like the video, please head over to YouTube to like the video and leave a comment there.