Nathanael_I

PVC is not a good choice. It isn't that rigid. And it looks bad. The nice thing about splurging for the Gibralter stuff is that it looks great, it is completely custom, tears down easily, has memory locks... It's just fantastic. The stands I build with it are rock solid - as solid as my 900lb grand piano. The keybeds don't move. I like this. The other thing is this - it's like getting Lego's as a kid. After a while the parts build up, and as you reconfigure, you realize how easy it is to have EXACTLY what you want. And then you always do. I have a box of spare clamps and parts now, and every once in a while I need to buy a fresh tube, but I have three stands right now, plus the studio drum kit. I've had and not had laptop wings, Ableton holders, a place to put an OB-6 desktop synth, etc. The stands allow you to dress cables beautifully and have a very nice stage appearance. Form and Function. Yes, it costs more. But it's a durable investment. Neither the clamps nor the pipes go bad.

For stands, I like the Pearl 900 and 1000 series. I have mostly 900 series. But I switched to a Gibralter rack setup for the studio kit. All the Pearl stuff drops right in without adapters. I think the main sizes are all standardized. Tom mounts? Pearl does it one way, others do it differently. But I think the main diameters are all standard on recent stuff.

I have the Slate Digital Vari-Mu bus compressor on my master bus. There's a switch to put it in M/S mode, and it doesn't ever leave that position. I get the mix as absolutely good as I can without it. Then I turn it on, get it so that the needle is barely moving 1-2 dB maximum on mid or sides. And then I play with the makeup gain and see where the sweet spot is between the sides and mid. There's always a place that the sound just gels. Hit the bypass and the sound gets smaller and not as homogeneous. Working with that plugin and what it does has me desiring to explore a real Vari-Mu from Manley, or Knif, etc. In terms of single instruments, I use MSED to adjust the image of Blumelein pairs on piano or overheads. I've also used it to help put synth patches where I want them as it can narrow them, or push them just to the sides as ambiance. So, I guess, yes, I use M/S regularly and instinctively - once you know how to manipulate the apparent width, it's a creative choice. My dream master bus is a M/S chain with a VariMu style compressor and a stereo EQ. That "finishes" things for me.

I'm with you Craig, I don't get it. I'm a "buy really nice stuff and try to keep it mint" guy. The musicians I know are all playing real vintage stuff that looks worn because it is, or are playing clean gear. Maybe people are buying them for decoration, wall displays, etc. Most pianos are "PSO's" (Piano Shaped Objects) meant to show visitors your good taste and fat wallet. Apparently a large percentage of Steinways go into homes to be "statement" furniture and not to be played daily. I suppose I really am the opposite of the "fake vintage" since I'm generally not even interested in real vintage stuff. I'm more curious about what is the best available today, and what sounds can be made with that vs. recreating something from the past. But it's just an aesthetic choice on my part. There are certainly producers and musicians who get hired because they can make some historically informed sound correctly. I'm not sure these relics actually help with that, though - they just look the part.

I've tried to go back to a Kronos... But after using a laptop rig, I just can't. It's so slow to do anything on it. It does not sound anywhere near as good. Gig Performer is so good, and laptops are so powerful relative to audio that it's not close. A weighted action of choice, a laptop, and an analog poly would be my choice over a Kronos. I don't think the young players are wanting a workstation, and they already had a laptop anyway. I think a lot of younger players travel with hardware analog and modular synths and a laptop if they are playing new music, and might prefer an MPC to 88 notes. I think the number of people playing 60's - 80's cover band music is not a growth market, so the "do everything in one board" is just not something with broad economics behind it. I think if the music is primarily about piano, organ, or e-piano, people use the real thing, or something that only tries to do that well - like Vintage Vibe or the now excellent digital pianos like a Yamaha P515, Nord Grand, Kawai, etc. But if it's just a "sound" and not the "instrument", then a laptop will do. My sense is the Americana/Roots music scene is heavily based on "the REAL THING", and a Kronos would not be preferable except in a bind. I suspect churches and other markets that use very small amounts of the capabilities of these machines have kept them going. So much good music has been made and performed on a Kronos. But I think there are lots of other ways now....

I could never find joy in Reason. The UI felt contrived and clunky, I thought the soft synths didn't sound good compared to Omnisphere and other things I had. It just wasn't for me. I gave the license to a friend and kept going with Logic and then ultimately switched to Cubase/Nuendo. Of course, it is actually powerful software, and in the right hands, more than capable. I've never used Rewire, so I guess I have no idea what I'm missing. I treat Nuendo and Ableton as completely separate universes and will export/import audio as required.

I think you are correct that it was a case of not being able to buy back her masters. My understanding is that like most recording artists on a major label, she did not own the masters. The record label did. She had opportunity to get the masters, and was told of the sale before it happened in case she wanted to purchase them, but didn't. And then was outraged when they were sold for $350M or some significant sum. But it all really doesn't matter. She didn't have rights to the masters of her work before or after the sale. Someone else did and exercised those rights. Whether she is unhappy about it or not, she has every legal right to re-record her songs for whatever reason she wants - she wrote them and and make new recordings. The hand-wringing is just drama. Happily she is wealthy enough that re-recording her whole catalog is an option. For most recorded musicians in the history of the world, her situation is a) familiar, and b) much more final than hers.

My aesthetic is a "sound stage". It isn't necessarily "natural" in the sense of the image a space pair would give of a 100% acoustic event, but natural in the sense of being a continuous space. I like the image to exist in the space between the speakers. I find that hard panned things tend to "stand out" and break the illusion of credible space, often accentuating the speakers as a discrete sound source. It could be a valid creative choice for that reason, but I don't see any reason to not use all the space.

It's not an exact match, but what Elk Audio are doing is to build an OS platform for the purpose of making hardware easy for software people.... Humans still have physical presence, so hardware will not go away... it's simply the best haptic experience.

Happy as both buyer and seller. Have shipped, have picked up. Vastly better than eBay in my experience.

Ableton is fine for mixing. Mixing is mostly about learning to listen... Any DAW has more than enough tools to manipulate audio. Use what you like - it will take a while to master, so you might as well learn what you want to end up knowing.

To complete the thoughts on how this guitar recording stuff works, here's how a re-amp box works: You cable: Audio Interface out > Re-amp box in> Reamp box out > Amp Input > Mic speaker cab > Audio I/F mic input You play back a DI'd guitar recording out of the DAW. You set the channel output to be the output of the audio interface cabled to the re-amp box. You then have another track set with it's input as the mic'd guitar cab. You record arm this track so that it plays out of the DI track, through the amp, and then back into the recording track. The whole idea of re-amping is that you can then record different amps, change amp settings, etc without replaying the part. You can record the guitar and then do the "tone" later. This is great for experimenting, double-tracking, or realizing that the original part doesn't fit as the track evolves and then one can keep the playing, but change the tone. If you can't mic a cab, I don't think re-amp offers anything to you. I should also mention ISO-Cabs. I have an ISO-Cab from Jackson AmpWorks. It has a Celestion Gold inside and drops the volume 30dB. It takes a very loud amp down to conversational levels. If you put an ISO-Cab on a foam isolation pad so it isn't vibrating the structure, you could probably use your amp.... Another option....

For a different DAW, anything out there will do what you want. For $60 there is Reaper - massively capable - will have a learning curve. You could try PreSonus Studio One. I'm guessing you are on PC... The small version of Cubase is probably workable - it isn't crippled like ProTools Free. Ableton will work... really almost anything except ProTools Free. If you can't mic a cab, I think you will need to take digital amps or amp simulators seriously. There are very good sounding options. In hardware, it is hard to beat a Kemper or an Axe-FX, but they cost like regular amp heads. Almost every vendor has hybrid amps that play through speaker and low volume, but the actual signal is all digitally processed and available as a recording ready output on the back of the amp. And in the world of amp sims, you'll need to spend a few hundred to get one of the big names and then you will have so much variety it will blow your mind. Some DAWs come with bundled amp sims. I've used the full version of Cubase or Nuendo for years, but I'm not close to the entry level platforms to know what is the lowest cost option. I do know that if you get serious about amp sims or digital amps, you will find goodness.

Wes, you have some simple cabling issues. GTR>Pedalboard>DI>Focusrite #2 is certainly an OK signal chain. This will NOT record any of your amp however. It is just recording the guitar and pedalboard. To put this signal into an amp, you either need to use an amp simulator plugin, or you need a re-amp box to take the signal out of the computer and out to an amp. If you can't turn your amp up to taste, the re-amp path seems uninteresting. The FX send>Thru port is a patch that I don't understand. The DI "THRU" is an output - it is the same signal as is going to the Focusrite #2. I'm not sure why you wouldn't have it going to the input of the amp. Having the input of the amp patched to the input of the interface doesn't make sense. That's two inputs patched together. You need an output going to an input. Normally, one would have: 1. DI path: GTR>Pedalboard>DI>Focusrite #2 just like you have 2. Amp path: DI Thru > Amp IN > microphone on amp speaker> Focusrite #1 input This way you would get a clean DI signal for re-amping or software amp sims, and you would get a recording of your amplifier. Avid cripples ProTools Free for a reason. But why use it? Use other software that lets you use an amp sim or even includes an amp sim? There's so many options. You could also buy a Kemper or Axe-FX and have amp stuff for days that the neighbors will never hear.

This. +1000

Yeah, probably not hard. I mean, piano is easy too - all you have to do is push keys and it plays the note right every single time... ;-) Acoustic drums are incredibly sensitive - what one can do with a high hat or a snare drum boggles the mind. I worked on drums for about 2 years. It very much improved my timing. I can play basic beats. I am zero threat to any skilled drummer. Like any instrument, its a rabbit hole... How far do you want to go? How far do you need to go? There's a decent amount of technique to learn to do it right. It's a big hill - keyboard skills don't matter. I've spent hours and hours tuning drums and really studying the process. My pro drummer friends still tune better, in seconds... like anything, there is real skill. But acoustic drums have to be one of the most rewarding instruments to play. So visceral. I never understood why it was called "playing a feel" until playing drums, one feels the rhythm all over one's body, and there's a feeling when everything is right that is much, much more subtle on a piano.

Can you describe how you have things wired? A DI box is normally used to record the output of a guitar or a bass at the other end of the cable. That's the "direct" in direct box. Do not connect the speaker output of your amp to the audio interface. That will likely end its life. If your amp has a speaker simulation or pre-amp out, it may give you some kind of recordable output. But if it only has a speaker output, then yes, you will need a re-amp box. You would plug your guitar into the direct box and record the direct signal, Then you would play back through the re-amp box, which would then connect to the amp input or your pedalboard input if you have one. You would then need to mic a cabinet or something to capture the signal. If you are using a newer modeling amplifier, it should have a line level output that can go directly to your Scarlett. Can you provide a little more detail on what you have and how it is connected?

There are people who collect these things. I know someone who collects the early Macs - the rectangular ones with built in screens... He has a display of them in his office..

I've got the Argossy Dual 15KL. It's big, has lots of storage, and was a great purchase. I've reconfigured what I put in the racks several times, but the desk endures.

I believe that film mixer Alan Myerson does a lot with delay/Haas panning. It's been mentioned in a lot of interviews. And he is working on gazillion track movie scores....

The thing is you don't need to copy ALL the data into RAM. All the orchestral libraries in Kontakt use a pre-load buffer of only 60kb by default. This gives enough that everything else CAN be streamed from normal SSD. Nord will do whatever they think is best, of course. Their instruments tend to be narrowly defined. They are NOT going after the Kronos/Kurzweil space....

Nord - the company that never gives you exactly what you want - everything is always crippled in some nonsensical way. I do have a Nord Grand that I enjoy thoroughly - and NO FATAR ACTION! Which is a huge plus in my book. But the MIDI implementation is skinny. Why can't it be a great master controller, have some wheels? Because it is a piano? Silly. It is not a piano. It is digital and it runs software. It can be whatever it is programmed to be. I don't regret it, but Nord's skinny piano samples mean little in a world of spectacular software pianos. I just wish they would make the best instrument they are capable of, not endlessly narrow "positioned" things.

The multi-timbrality was a big deal to many Solaris owners. It wasn't to me. Most hardware analog synths are not multi-timbral, and 10 voices of polyphony is great for pretty much any playing. Use it with a DAW and it is no concern at all. Just render it as audio and keep moving. It isn't a Kronos, so no one is playing piano on it. I suppose with 4 OSC per voice, one could have a Minimoog bass and still have room for a 9 voice something else or a 1 voice 4 OSC lead + 8 note pad. There's still plenty of useful things. My OB-6 is only 6 voice polyphonic and I enjoy it greatly. The big deal about the Solaris is: 1) It sounds amazing 2) the modulation matrix and 3) its got everything. It's essentially a 10 voice polyphonic semi-modular synthesizer. The facilities are deep: 4 OSC, 4 Rotors, 4 Mixers, 4 Filters, 4 VCA's, 5 Envelopes, Ring Mod, AM, Looping envelopes, FX, loads of oscillator and filter types.... I'm not even getting it all. The modulation is destination-based, just like a modular synthesizer. Basically any parameter can be modulated by any mod source. This includes the envelope parameters, all filter parameters... It isn't a matrix with limited slots. If a parameter accepts modulation, it can be modulated - every one if you desire. The user community has provided many banks of sounds, and I think the set shipped from the factory is now over 1000 sounds. The architecture is very flexible and once you understand the mixers, it is possible to create many arbitrary synth topologies, replicate classic analog synth architectures, etc. It is many synthesizers in one box.

I'm sure your Bechstein is a delightful instrument. The top European brands make excellent uprights. The Fazioli dealer here in the Bay area also carried Bechstein when I was there last. The grands are excellent. I preferred the Fazioli, but at this price point and level of execution, they are all excellent instruments (and better than any piano I've owned). If they were'nt so large and expensive, I'm quite sure I could rationalize owning several pianos, just like guitarists. "They are all different". Its so true!

While artistry never goes out of style, production taste certainly does. Sheet music and no internet didn't keep lots of music alive. Ephemeral sound only recordings aren't going to either. Almost nothing lasts 100 years. People, corporations, art, music.... Most of it is lost. Go 200 years and its even more true - even wildly popular cultural phenomena are washed away and forgotten. And strangely, some things that were not popular or broad survive and end up in museums or have some impact. Its all unknowable.