ToolsI guess it comes with the territory of working in a field that relies on technology - I've always been interested in what equipment and techniques artists use to create their work. While I always emphasize the work over the tools , I am nonetheless interested to know how people achieve certain results. What kind of microphone technique was used to get a specific sound. Or how an effect was created. And what equipment is in the studios of musicians, record producers and my colleagues. So for those like-minded individuals, my humble studio: I've been on a jag lately to pare my equipment to the bare minimum - mostly selling off anything I haven't actually used in the last two years. I have a tendency to collect stuff (not only gear) and right now I'm feeling claustrophobic. I'm always scouting for interesting Freeware, and it takes up no physical space in the studio, so I guess I'm trading of hardware for software. Sooooo, in order of importance, starting with the core:
I don't have a mixer anymore as it was just taking up space on the desk and wasn't used too often. I'm pretty happy with the Glyph mostly because of the excellent customer service they offer, which, when I've needed it, was well worth the few extra dollars I spent for the HD. The Firebox is a pretty recent addition but I as yet have no complaints. The primary tools linked to the computer are an AKAI S6000 controlled through akSys, and the software PEAK and LOGIC. I probably do about 75% of my work with these. akSys allows control of various sampler parameters and the quick transfer of samples to and from PEAK. PEAK is a little persnickety and I'm not overly crazy about it but since the students at Carnegie Mellon use it I feel I should too. Especially since I don't use PROTOOLS, the other major program taught at the University. LOGIC I've used since version 2.5 and it is simply an amazing program that gets better and better with each version. Its possibilities seem to be endless. For processing, I still use an old Lexicon LXP 5 which is controlled through an environment layer in LOGIC, giving me access to all the factory presets and all the parameters to create new patches. I think the LXP 5 is the greatest processor ever made in the sense that it has really unlimited possibilities for creating really odd and beautiful effects. I am going to be really sad when it finally dies. My other main processor is a Waldorf MiniWorks 4 Pole filter. This is the same filter from the Waldorf Wave synthesizer in a MIDI controlled stand alone unit. Again a virtually bottomless well of interesting possibilities. I don't have a big selection of microphones - in fact I currently own two: a BLUE Baby Bottle and a home-made stereo mic built into an Altoid box. Since I have access to the mic cabinet at CMU, these pretty much handle everything I need to do at home . I run the BLUE through a JOEMEEK VC6Qcs British Channel microphone preamp/compressor/equalizer, which I LOVE. It imparts a very distinct sound to whatever is being recorded (esp. if the compressor and EQ are in), but since I'm usually not too concerned with flat, uncolored response, it's great. And I can always go through the Firebox directly if need be. I have a small guitar rig: Yamaha AES820 guitar, Danelectro Dan-o-wah pedal, a Danelectro PsychoFlange stomp box and a rack of homemade effects including an optical compressor, two preamps, a balanced modulator (a sort of ring modulator) and super tweaky resonant filter. I like to plug the sampler outputs though the guitar effects and run this all direct to LOGIC through a homemade amp simulator or though the fantastic amp plug-ins in GarageBand and LOGIC. I also have a Smokey Amplifier mini-amp built into a pack of Camel Cigarettes that sounds pretty great and can also be used as a really crunchy preamp. Recently I added an E-bow which I'm far from mastering but have found a lot of ways to use it for making cool sounds. The Danelectro stuff is inexpensive and way over the top in terms of effects. The distortion on the Wah pedal is so overwhelming you can barely perceive the pitch and the PsychoFlange is thick enough to smother an open flame so these are maybe not the most musically useful effects but they are great sound design tools. Other random stuff laying around: a Buzz Lightyear voice-altering megaphone, (2) Casio SK5 sampling keyboards, a Casio VL-1 calculator/synthesizer keyboard, a Tibetan singing bowl, a pair of Aborigine ironwood sticks, a couple of circuit bent Texas Instruments Speak and Spells , an alto recorder, a home-made loop box and a theremin (see my theremin and maker pages for details.) Other software and freeware on my computer: Waveburner, Toast, iTunes, Pd, JHymn, Ardour, Audacity, SuperCollider, Forester, Soundhack, Tracktion, Rebirth, Wiretap. Many of these are linked on my freeware pages. I'm currently nuts about Le Synthi V3, a freeware virtual V3. There is also a Peavey PC1600 MIDI controller that used to have a pretty central position in the rig but it's been more or less retired. It's probably the next out the door. My wife has hundreds of instruments laying around the house (she's a music teacher) including a djembe, a pair of Indian drums, a didgeridoo (an authentic Aborigine termite-bored blood wood didge, which is way way cool), a pile of hand drums, bells, gongs, whistles, flutes, recorders and every hand percussion instrument you could name. It's pretty handy to have her arsenal at my disposal.  Back to main page Back to Reviews page Back to Sound Design page  On to Software page
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