“Sound Thinking” by Joe Lambert — The Vinyl Evolution Part 1: To Cut or Not to Cut?

As you may already know, vinyl records have made a big comeback in the last several years.

This past year, sales of vinyl records were up 40%, and likely to exceed 300,000 units for the first time since 2005 when vinyl sales were close to 900,000 units annually.

In 2008, 1.88 million vinyl albums were purchased, more than in any other year since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking LP sales in 1991. That’s a lot of records! Especially considering that many people are shocked when I tell them we still cut vinyl records.

Who Is Releasing Vinyl?

In the early 2000′s I worked at Trutone Mastering and learned the art of cutting vinyl from owner-engineer Carl Rowatti who has been cutting records for over 30 years.

Most of those records we cut at the time were dance records. The DJ’s still liked playing records, so the quickest way to get your song played in front of 2,000 people in a club on Friday night was to get a reference acetate (dub plate) cut, take it directly to the club, and hand it to the DJ.

Then one day I walked into Carl’s room, and he was cutting this weird record that just sounded like a 1k test tone. I asked what it was and he told me it was called Serato Scratch, that (along with software) allows you to basically control your digital sound files via your turntable.

So it was a combination of a constant tone on one channel (about 1K) and time code on the other channel that allowed the software to work. The time code would reference any given point on the music being played and I believe the steady tone (about 1k) would allow for pitch change and scratching. I looked at him and said “you know this is the end of us cutting records right?”

Wrong! Although it was the end of us cutting a lot of dance records, soon after that I started noticing our rock and indie clients asking for vinyl.

I asked some of my clients why they were doing this: They told me that they sold more vinyl at their shows than CD’s, the profit margin on the sales was much better, and they just loved hearing and having their records on vinyl. Now, a few years later, the majority of rock records I do for labels are released both digitally and on vinyl. Most self-funded artists would like to release on vinyl as well but it often depends on if they are touring enough to recoup the investment.

Who’s Buying Vinyl?

The young iPod generation is really the driving force behind the resurgence.

I think part of the reason is the nostalgia [retro] trend that has 10-year-old kids walking around in Ramones and The Who T-shirts. Another part of it is it’s just more fun to buy this big cool record that shows off the artwork (with liner notes you can actually read ) — I know when I was a kid I would listen to my records with my friends for hours, and we would have conversations just about the great artwork that so many records have.

It also forces you to actually make an effort to listen to it in a controlled space. If the only other experience you’ve had listing to music is on your ear buds or computer speakers, it’s highly likely that the stereo you’re listening to the record on sounds much better.

Of course the record labels like the fact that it’s the one thing you can’t make a copy of. There are still a number of die-hards who have never given up on their collection, and are adamant that this is the best listening experience you can get.

Next Time…We’ll talk about the different choices available to you, if in fact you choose to do vinyl for your next project.

Now go listen to a great record!

Joe

Joe Lambert is owner and chief engineer of Joe Lambert Mastering (JLM) in Brooklyn, NY. 

Neumann Launches KH 810 and KH 870 Active Studio Subwoofers

Neumann has announced the launch of two new active subwoofers: the KH 810 ($1,999) and KH 870 ($3,199).

Both subs feature Neumann’s 7.1 High Definition Bass Manager technology, which is designed specifically to work well with high-definition video and accompanying 7.1 formats.

According to Neumann, the comprehensive 7.1 High Definition Bass Management system is an ideal complement to the Neumann KH 120 nearfield two-way monitor, introduced last fall. It can be used either as a subwoofer dedicated to reproducing the LFE channel, or as a means of providing low frequency extension with an increased maximum SPL.

The combination of KH 120 and KH 810 was created for music tracking, mixing and mastering, as well as broadcasting, project and post-production studios.

With the KH 810, facilities can assemble flexible monitoring systems for studios of different sizes, with a smooth, uniform response that ranges from below 20 Hz to above 20 kHz.

Additionally, the integrated 7.1 High Definition Bass Manager is compatible with all formats, from mono to 7.1 high definition systems such as Blu-ray. Eight electronically balanced analog XLR inputs are provided for flexible interconnectivity for modern studios.

Features of the KH 810 and KH 870 include:

•    Four-mode LFE channel processing for maximum compatibility across all formats
•    4th order crossovers and flexible acoustic controls for seamless system integration
•    Built-in volume control permits centralized system adjustment of replay levels, independent of the source
•    Electronics can be located remotely to reduce cabling, and to allow the cabinet to be mounted flush to a wall
•    State-of-the-art amplifier technologies and acoustic components have been used to ensure maximum accuracy of sound reproduction
•    Robust 10-inch driver, solid cabinet, and carefully-designed ports guarantee tight, articulate, distortion-free low frequency reproduction down to 18 Hz; even at high playback levels
•    By using sum output, Plane Wave Bass Array (PWBA) techniques can acoustically improve lateral consistency in the listening area and further increase low frequency linearity
•    System flexibility is further enhanced by an extensive range of accessories

Review: Vertigo VSC-2 Quad Discrete VCA Compressor Plugin from Brainworx

A few months ago I was at my good friend Kevin Blackler’s mastering studio.  I noticed this rad-looking piece of gear in his rack and asked him what is was.

“Oh man”, he said.  “That’s the Vertigo compressor…you ever hear this thing?  It’s awesome!”Wait…a new compressor that I had never heard of?  I needed to know what this thing was about.

Was this the Holy Grail that was going to make all my mixes 10% better just by running through it?  Was it some modern technology that amazifies sonics with a newly utilized semi-conductor giving an analog sound of some long-forgotten piece of recording myth?

Well, kinda.

After a few e-mails and phone calls, Joel Morowitz of Ecstatic Electric showed up at my door with a demo unit of the Vertigo VSC-2 for me to try out.  I used it on some mixes and to record some guitars and vocals.  It had a really, really great sound: smooth and punchy, dimensional, and hi-fi.

It was a gorgeous piece, but at the end of the day $6000+ was a lot to spend on a compressor I did not desperately need.  So with a bit of sadness, I returned the unit to Joel.

About a month later I received an email from SonicScoop.com HQ asking me if I wanted to review a new Brainworx plugin…an emulation of the Vertigo VSC-2.  I was in.

Meet the Vertigo VSC-2 Quad Discrete Compressor:

The German-built Vertigo VSC-2 is a true stereo peak detecting feed forward compressor design.  Unlike, a feedback design (1176LN, LA-2A, LA-3A) the sidechain detector, which sends the control voltage to the gain reduction (e.g photocell,VCA, FET etc…), gets its signal from the audio input and not after the gain reduction VCA.  This allows for better control of fast transients.

The VSC-2 utilizes hand-built VCA’s on both the sidechain and the audio path to give it it’s signature “1979” sound.

It’s a modern take on ‘70’s and ‘80’s VCA compressors.  The more you push it and the more you use make up gain, the more it colors the sound.  It’s really a no-expense spared “Mercedes-Benz of compressors”.  Quite simply…it’s the balls.

Game of Clones: Meet the Vertigo VSC-2 by Brainworx

Brainworx worked directly with Vertigo to develop their plugin version, which is compatible with RTAS, AS, VST and AU formats and sells for $331 from their Website. 

The plugin GUI is identical to the original’s faceplate and sports all of the cool features of the original like a true dual mono path (you can link or unlink a stereo track or use it as a true mono plugin on a mono track) and “Soft mode” which “tip toes” the ratio from 1:1 to 8:1 as the input level increases.

Also included are the low frequency side chain filters. These selectable filters gently attenuate out either 90Hz down or 60 Hz down from the compression detector, making the low end content more audible in a mix as it now less compressed.

Sound Opinions:

Functionalities aside, I want to speak a little about listening to gear.  Everybody has their own methods and practices, but I am particularly interested in not relying on my emotions or what I think I think.

I could use a piece of gear in the studio one week and a different piece the next and each could work out great on a bunch of different sources, but to know which sounded better you have to put things head-to-head.

The sonic difference between a lot of pieces of pro gear is just not that dramatic, especially ones that do not use coloration as a strength.  A little bit of gain difference on one or the other by even just a few tenths of a dB and most people will begin to ascribe all sorts of false merits to the louder piece.

When care is taken to make sure that you’re listening at equal volumes, the subtle differences of compression detection, attack and release curve variations and tone will be far more apparent.

The Setup:

The way I went about testing the VSC-2 plugin was to get it to sound good on a particular track, and then duplicate the track and bring up any number on plug-ins I normally use for that type of track and see if I could get it to sound better than the VSC-2.

I would try to keep the ratios, attack times, style of detection, input and output gains as close to the VSC-2 as I could.  I would then go back and forth to listen for sonic differences.

If there were artifacts produced by the other comp I would back off or change the setting so it sounded nice and then conform the VSC-2 to that plugin. The two main things that I liked most about the VSC-2 are the smoothness of the sound and it’s flexibility.

The Sound:

Like its physical counterpart, the VSC-2 plugin has a good amount of mid-range detail, it never sounds scooped or thin.  It’s smooth and present in the high frequency range, as I mentioned before, and it’s very hi-fi and dimensional.

One of the main things I first noticed with the physical unit, and subsequently with the plug-in, was that it always sounded like there was more gain reduction occurring than the meters showed. When I asked Vertigo, they noted their robust metering design and hinted that any difference compared to another compressor may have more to with that comps meter than the VSC-2.

Either way, I put it up against a number of great plugs, and not only did it sound as good as most, but often, it sounded better.

The Flexibility:

Whatever I put the VSC-2 plug-in on, there was always a way to get it to function well. The ability to unlink the stereo controls to widen the image, use the filters to bring up the low end information, and use the Soft Mode to tackle tricky dynamics made each task more manageable.

While most of the other plug-ins would sound great for a particular type of work but not for something else, the VSC-2 dominated on the widest variety of projects and applications because of the flexibility of it’s feature set.

In Use:

Drums
On the drum buss, backing off the attack a bit and using “soft mode” while using the fastest release time gave an amazing hi-fi punchy sound while also bringing the “air” in the room well up front.  Even with near -10dB of compression the highs stay intact and no unwanted compression artifact is introduced.

You’re never going to get a sloppy “pumping” sound because of the faithful feed forward modeling.  Throw in the sidechain filters and you can get the kick super upfront while not having to readjust what was going on with the rest of the compression.

Acoustic Guitars
Next up were acoustic guitars.  This was interesting because unlike most comp plugs, notably feed back designs, I was never able to get a splacky, clipped sound from missing the transient on a fast or not-quite-so-fast attack setting.

The attack setting on the VSC-2 is incredibly musical and again no weird artifact, just precision envelope altering.  Even backing off to a 3ms attack time I was able to drop the sharp peaks of the guitar and compress without any weird wobble effect.

Vocals
I got to really enjoy the “Soft Mode” ratio setting on vocals.  With popped “P’s” the ratio adjusts to the input level and then returns to a less aggressive ratio for the rest of the line.  Not only was I able to reduce the peak of the “P’s” with out getting a smooshed moment, but also because there was only more compression on the “P” moment there was not any overly loud inhale before the “P” or any recovery dip afterward.

Even with a normal 4:1 ratio, the vocal envelope stayed smooth with a 3ms attack and auto release.  Unlike a lot of plugs, there were many flavors I could get on the vocals that all sound smooth without artifacts.  Being aggressive or staying dynamic, The VSC-2 could handle whatever I needed from the track.

Head-to-head:

While some people may not care if an emulation sounds like the physical unit, I do.  I want to know.

I want to put them head to head, run the same material through it at the same time, through the same converters calibrated to the same level and switch back and forth and see if there is a difference, and if so see how big is it.  So that’s what I did.

Below you can watch a vid of the plugin vs the physical unit, compressing an unmastered mix I did of the song “Ladies and Gentleman” by the Brooklyn band Cold Blood Club from their forth coming 7”.  Watch it first (and LISTEN!), then read on for my thoughts.

Vertigo VSC-2 Plug-in vs Physical Unit from _TMDS_ on Vimeo.

While I was accurately able to set the physical unit to the plug-in using some phase cancellation techniques and a whole bunch of metering, as soon as you change the source material or change any of the attack, release, or ratio settings, the two pieces begin to apply their compression curves in a different manner, no longer behaving the same.

Andy from Vertigo speculated that perhaps the plug-in, or the unit, was at a different point of the compression curve when initially compared to each other.  I am not so sure.  There are only two continuously variable controls on the VSC-2: threshold and make-up gain.  Eliminating the make-up (by not using it) and adjusting the threshold until the physical unit almost completely cancels a 1kHz tone gets them almost sonically identical, and causes both plug-in and physical meters to behave identically.

So what does that mean for me, the user? It means the two work differently — the relationship between how the controls work and the resulting compression are a little different.  However, as you can hear in the video, when they are calibrated to each other…they sound nearly identical.  The physical unit is a little smoother in the upper midrange and retains a little more dimensionality, but yeah, still pretty amazing.  Besides, you’re supposed to be listening to the unit, not relying on the settings, right?

Conclusion:

If you read this far you know I am into the VSC-2 — it’s super-versatile.  Whether you’re using it on your vocals, guitars, a drum buss or individual drums, the VSC-2 dominates.

If I had to mix entirely in the box it would be my first choice for 2-buss compression.  I know mastering engineers that use it and love the sound.

Brainworx has delivered a professional plug-in that offers an outstanding modern architecture and flexibility.  Throw in the fact that it sports a near- identical sonic footprint to one of the coolest hi-fi sounding comps out there — and sells for $331 — and it’s a no-brainer.

Jason Finkel works between speakers all day in his Brooklyn, NYC mix studio, 4A.  Check his Website for contact/info and follow his new music blog This Music Doesn’t Suck.

The SonicScoop Year in Review: Top NYC Music Business News and Trends of 2011

THE FIVE BOROUGHS: Wire-to-wire, 2011 in New York City was a maelstrom of music production and business developments.

Like any battle worth fighting, there was a constant sense of two-steps-forward one-step-back pervading the action for most. Those who successfully navigated the music-to-picture minefield, shot straight with their startup, made a name in video games or were allied right in publishing may have had a banner year.

But just as often for NYC producers, engineers, mixers, studios, labels, and businesses of all levels, this year felt like a nonstop guessing game. Would Spotify and the Amazon Cloud help business, hurt it, or none of the above? Does a hit record matter anymore? Advance with reckless abandon – or retreat while there’s still time?

As we did in 2010, we review the year’s primary news and trends, filtered through the fog of war that was 2011.

On the recording, mixing and mastering front, studio openings far outnumbered closings, as facilities large and small showed their confidence in NYC by starting up, building out, or renovating.

Ann Mincieli elevated world-class studio expectations with the opening of Jungle City Studios on Manhattan’s West Side.

Downtown Music made a big statement with the addition of a vintage Neve 8014 console.

NYC mastering cornerstone Howie Weinberg departed Scott Hull’s Masterdisk for Los Angeles.

The door revolved back into Masterdisk, as another legend – Vlado Meller – exited the suddenly defunct Universal East (closed down on April 1st) and set up shop at the West Side complex.

Studios and the social scene intermingled in a new way at the first “Inside Sessions”, presented by Avid and SonicScoop at Stratosphere Sound.

NYC recording icons whose musical presence loomed large here and worldwide passed on. RIP Nick Ashford and Gil Scott Heron.

The upstate studio scene got yet another addition with the opening of the WSDG-designed World Harmony Studios, built into a 3-story 4500 sq. ft. redwood lodge.

The intense success of a Broadway smash still held sway, as evidenced by the groundbreaking work that went into Frank Filipetti’s recording of The Book of Mormon cast album.

Brooklyn remained fertile ground for new spaces, as the multiroom studio The End debuted in Greenpoint.

The End was one of a crop of next-gen large-format Brooklyn facilities opening or about to come fully online, including the bigger-better Studio G, a sizable new two-room home for The Bunker, Strange Weather, and The Motherbrain.

Facilities supporting classical music were full speed ahead, as plugged-in new mega-rehearsal space The Dimenna Center came online on West 37th Street.

Electric Lady upped the ante by installing a Neve 8078 (from Clinton Recording) into Studio A, while a vintage API 3288 starred in a new mix suite on the second floor.

The much buzzed-about branding exercise that was Converse Rubber Tracks arrived in Williamsburg – reports of the demise of the rest of the NYC recording industry prove greatly exaggerated.

723 7th Avenue became the loudest location in Times Square when Quad Studios launched Studio Q1, with three different analog summing mixers, a pair of custom Augspurger Dual 15” main monitors, and two subwoofers.

Small studios showed they were more than willing to reinvest in themselves, as seen at busy facilities like Galuminum Foil which dramatically upgraded their control room.

Smaller studios still rolled the dice and introduced themselves. Greenpoint’s Tiny Thunder Audio was emblematic of producers banking on the growing number of Brooklyn artists needing a professional space to track vocals, or otherwise focus on one aspect of the production chain.

Mobile audio remained a niche in motion, giving birth to spirited outfits like Equal Sonics.

Experimentation between artist and studio ran rampant, such as with La Dispute’s “no reverb allowed” adventure at Stadium Red.

NYC mastering stretched its own technical and creative legs, with ambitious projects like the Neutral Milk Hotel box set being finished by Joe LaPorta of The Lodge.

Ears of experience convinced Anthony “Rocky” Gallo (Cutting Room Studios) to open his own production/tracking/mixing facility in Greenpoint.

Ten years to the day after starting the world-class Bennett Studios in a converted Englewood, NJ railroad station, Dae Bennett closed its doors.

As one door closed, another opened across the river in Garrison, NY, as the prolific singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik made his residential destination, Sneaky Studios, available to the outside world.

Recordists and artists alike took a momentary break from sessions to converge at AES 2011 in NYC. Although the base of operations was the Javits Center, the real heart – as usual – beat under cover of darkness at unforgettable parties ranging from Brooklyn’s raw new Studio G space  to the East Village environs of Flux Studios.

And tracking/mixing sessions just flat-out abounded, with our best-of-2011 “Sezzion Buzz”, showing the world’s top artists and producers working nonstop throughout NYC and the tri-state area.

**

With Madison Avenue, film production  and TV series abounding – and a NY tax incentive for them to work in state – audio post activity remained fast-paced. Even as facilities dealt with constant downward pressure on pricing, there still seemed to be plenty of players in the game.

Audio post mixers and sound designers with followings remained a hot commodity, as suite-switches flew thick and fast.

The Audio Branding Congress moved from Europe to New York City in its 3rd year, attracting some of the brightest minds in the business to the Columbia campus in November.

Gotham bid adieu to HSRNY, the city’s flagship audio post facility since 1975.

Just as quickly, composer Andrew Hollander helped launch the full-service post boutique Goodpenny.

And multiroom midtown facilities like Pomann Sound demonstrated that they had staying power.

New amalgamations of synch licensing and music composition emerged at innovative places like Brooklyn’s Melody Robot.

The studio-in-studio trend continued, as video editorial house FLUID gave birth to audio post room Mr. Bronx – headed up by former audioEngine mixer David Wolfe.

Longtime musical thought leaders like Philip Glass kept NYC in the global spotlight, powering opera from Austria to BAM via his East Village HQ.

And film scoring quietly thrived, with leaders like Carter Burwell splitting his time between TriBeCa and the Hamptons to complete the hotly anticipated score for Twilight.

**

From manufacturing to music licensing, inspiration sprang eternal for the business-minded in the five boroughs.

Hardware proved it could still be born and bred in Manhattan, as Origin Point Audio introduced itself with the Senator non-linear compressor.

Original music/music supervision specialists Search Party were of many in the field that expanded, adding reach (to Oregon) and roster (Chris Funk of the Decemberists). Labels like Decon Records sharpened their internal focus on licensing with new hires. Streamlined new music supervision ventures of every stripe continued to arrive, like Synchtank, JuxMusic, and The SongHunters.

Boutique publishers saw their chance, such as the newly-opened 401k initiative from Veronica Gretton.

Creative online businesses enabling previously untenable levels of creativity launched. Brooklyn’s LegitMix, for example, vastly streamlined the clearance process for the fast release of 100% licensed remixes.

Venture capital and funding rounds were still the name of the game for many, as seen by the $6 million cash infusion received by audio fingerprinting technology company Tunesat.

Experienced professionals recognized NYC service voids yet to be filled, founding niche-but-necessary businesses such as Dr. Julie Glick’s Musicians Hearing Solutions.

No less than Sir Elton John invested in the area, as a co-founder of Rocket Music Entertainment Group. Located within Beat360 Studios, the NYC offices join its London and Tokyo brethren in managing producers, mixers and elite songwriters.

“NYC is still the greatest city in the world. It always will be. It doesn’t matter the genre, beyond NYC and into the tri-state area, it’s still the place to be. People move here for a reason: There’s an energy about being a band in NYC that’s unmatched anywhere,” Matt Pinfield told us. This on the heels of the loss of the rock radio format at WRXP, and the triumphant return of his “120 Minutes” series for MTV.

Live gatherings kept on multiplying, as examined in the 2nd year of Brooklyn’s Tinderbox Music Festival.

Digital streaming/mechanical royalty players – like upstart Rightsflow and seasoned veteran Harry Fox Agency (HFA) – competed for position.

Some NYC record labels, like savvy survivalists Razor & Tie, grew by connecting solid talent with a broadening range of media possibilities.

Established digitally-based innovators like TuneCore, took advantage of M&A activity in the music publishing sector, pouncing on experienced pros to form new ventures like its Songwriter Service, providing a slate of global copyright/licensing/royalty collection services. Other startups in the sector came of age, as Downtown Music’s SongTrust celebrated its first full year in business.

Retail got the gear into the people’s hands, providing equipment of course, but also NYC-elite levels of support. Top sellers like Alto Music NYC continually kept its customers informed with live group sessions, while B&H re-examined the microphone purchase process.

Talent buying for live venues, events and festivals remained a solid pillar of the industry, as evidenced by the launch of Blue Note Entertainment Group, and the busy agent/artist rosters of longtime midtown talent agencies like The Agency Group.

NYC-based virtual instrument developers Heavyocity and SampleLogic are in it to win it, with increasingly popular music creation tools for scoring and original music production.

Leading area studio design firms saw sufficient demand to expand overseas operations. John Storyk’s WSDG implemented German and Spanish offices, and Troy Germano’s Studio Design Group teamed up with Mexico’s Jose Reyes to form RG Germano Studios Tampico.

The passing of Steve Jobs caused the audio industry – and many, many more – to pause and reflect.

On the night before AES, Avid announced Pro Tools 10 and the new Pro Tools HDX DAW systems, which the company called a “gigantic leap in sound and speed”.

Exactly seven days later, Avid announced its latest restructuring, eliminating 10% of its workforce.

The AES welcomed its new Executive Director, Firewire audio pioneer Bob Moses, who assumes his new role on January 1st, 2012.

Special thanks to SonicScoop’s  many talented bloggers, reviewers and contributors who helped make all of the above possible in 2011. Equal thanks to all to our great visitors who are coming along for the journey. Happy New Year, from all of us at SonicScoop!

– Janice Brown & David Weiss

Free Fridays — Freeware Plugin Picks! Mastering EQ, Virtual Amp, “Pedals”, More

Audio and music lovers of all kinds, gather around for the fifth installment of Free Fridays! This week’s edition brings us a digital recorder and sonic enhancers to get our tracks Crunck in the club. Get you some!

J1000 VST Plugin – “ALPHA” Parametric Mastering EQ

Today’s first freeware plugin is a mastering EQ that offers a variety of options to ensure your mix sounds the best it can through the use of Mid/Side processing. As J1000 puts it:

“ALPHA is parametric equalizer made for advanced mastering tasks. It is concieved to be the only EQ you’ll need to achieve the desired spectral balance. Since mid/side channel processing is the best way to handle the most of contemporary music, the whole concept is based around it. It doesn’t skew stereo symmetry and often you’ll be able to tweak vocals, kickdrum, snare or bass (mid channel) and to create more spacial stereo image by boosting desirable frequencies on side channel. Also, it offers spectrum shifting with three predefined filters for bass, midrange and treble.”

 

Igor Nembrini – Crunck Free Virtual Guitar Amp

Next on the list is a Windows only VST plugin. Crunck is a virtual guitar amp that has similar controls you would find on any other type of amp and the fact that it is based off of a JCM 800 amp makes it worth a try. Windows users get all the good stuff! According to Igor:

“Crunck is a virtual guitar amplifier, is inspired of my Marshall JCM800 mod  2210.

This software is freely available.

For the moment is available only for Windows VST format.

- GAIN – Determines the amount of gain applied by the Pre Amp.

- BASS, MID, TREBLE – Tone Stack controls.

- PRESENCE – Small amount of boost at frequencies above the treble control.

- VOLUME – Output level.

• Multi-stage distortion
• Two stages of output EQ tone stack
• 8 x oversampling
• Should run in most 32-bit DAW hosts as well (support for v2.4 VSTs required)”

 

ToneBytes – “Pedals” Effects Plugin

The company that brought us the Turnado effects plugin now supplies our gear lust with an emulation of guitar fx foot pedals for free as celebration of their two year anniversary. Users can create a combination of effects for instrument and vocals alike. Pedals is available for Windows and Windows only. ToneBytes sez:

“Pedals — is a VST effect plug-in for Windows, designed for processing electric guitar and bass. It is also possible to process other audio sources for a variety of artistic techniques.

For more convenience, Pedals’ GUI simulates real devices for sound processing: guitar pedals, amplifiers, speakers, etc. There are a total of 19 models of pedals, 2 amps, 7 speakers models and 3 rack units. These devices are not a copy of the real-life models, each with their own sound, but their working principles are identical.”

 

Tek’it Audio – RECsoprano Plugin Instrument

Remember back in grade school when you first tested your skills as a musician on a ‘recorder’? Well now you can relive your glory days with a virtual version of it from Tek’it Audio

RECsoprano is a free soprano recorder plugin instrument, adding envelope control, a selection of tunning, polyphonic voices and a polyphonic portamento to recorder samples from Mihai Sorohan.

• Samples played and recorded by Mihai Sorohan
• Recorded at 32 bit, 44.1KHz samplerate
• Realtime fingerings visualisation
• 3 tunning: Modern, Renaissance and Baroque
• Polyphonic portamento
• Monophonic and 8 voices polyphonic mode
• Full MIDI automation support
• Easy MIDI learn on all parameters
• Preset manager, rename, copy, save, load…
• Undo your changes to initial preset value
• One click preset randomize

Analoginthebox Releases W735 EQ Plugin

German software developer Analoginthebox.com announced that is has released the W735 EQ VST plugin.

For those looking to bolster their mixing/mastering toolkit with a distinctive new EQ emulation of a classic piece of gear, the W735 may prove to be an exciting find. It is currently Windows only, available for 39.99 € (special introductory price of 34.99€, or about $47 USD).

Analoginthebox describes this intriguing new EQ/filter plugin this way:

“The W735EQ is based on the very rare and hard to find W735/1 equalizer which was designed and manufactured by the RFZ – Rundfunkzentrum Berlin / Deutsche Post. It’s design was also used in the EB800 as a Mono-Module.

Only a few of them ever were built and survived the post Berlin-wall-time. We’re happy to own two of these rare and special equalizer, and that we have ported them for you as a plug-in.

The W735EQ VST Plug-In is a toneshaping tool with an analog look and feel – and sound. Users are describing it as very smooth with very musical sounding boosts! It is very rare and unique, also because it’s not another emulation of a big-brand-equalizer!”

Sessions at On Air Mastering: Mala Strana, Guitars, Drum the Jaguar

It’s been a busy season of sessions at Greenpoint’s On Air Mastering. Electro, Bolivian folk, salsa and straight-up rock have all been through OAM founder Julian Silva’s stylish suite.  To wit:

– Electro experimentalists Mala Strana

– Bolivian folk artist Agua Clara

– Billy Carrión, salsa hero

– The latest EP from Brooklyn duo Guitars

– BKLYN rocker Hollis Brown

– Drum The Jaguar was at OAM.

– Optimism abounds for The Skeptics new album, Prosthetic Heart.

– Queer cabaret outfit Twilight Of the Idle

– Songwriter de Brooklyn Sabrina Ellie

– Shoegazer Anna Morsett‘s Hinges

– And Columbian outfit Amós y los Santos

Treat yourself to a look/listen at Amós y los Santos:

Sonic Studio Releases soundBlade 2.0 Digital Mastering Suite

Straight out of Marin County, CA, ultra-fidelity digital audio systems provider Sonic Studio has released soundBlade 2.0 in place of its predecessor, PreMaster CD. The new mastering suite comes in three separate versions with different features and price points. Each are capable of Red Book and Scarlet Book premastering.

The three versions are available now for Mac or PC for the following introductory prices: soundBlade LE for $329 ($395 MSRP) – upgrade from PreMaster CD for $149. soundBlade SE for $$795 ($895 MSRP) – upgrade from PreMaster CD for $549. soundBlade HD for $1695 ($1995 MSRP) – upgrade from soundBlade 1.x for $495.

For more info, take a look at some info direct from Sonic Studio on soundBlade 2.0:

“Sonic Studio :: soundBlade 2.0 Released !!

Bring studio-quality sound to your final masters. Experience a level of detail and spaciousness from instruments and vocals that will blow you away!

soundBlade opens AIFF, WAV, BWF and SD2 stereo files as well as compressed formats like Apple Lossles and FLAC. It edits, sequences and provides essential PQ support, AU and VST plugins, and much much more.

Press Release

With soundBlade LE, which replaces the PreMaster CD product, users can edit, sequence, and specify important meta-data for use in replication and distribution. With the ability to import uncompressed and compressed audio formats from a variety of sources soundBlade LE provides important tools for Mastering. With advanced gain processing, the acclaimed Sonic EQ, multiple dither algorithms, and sample rate conversion included users are assured of the absolute best sound possible.

soundBlade SE brings additional features including 2/4 Tracks, recording, AU / VST plugin support and much more. This new product provides the complete tools required to record, edit and master your work.

soundBlade HD is the complete toolset with an extraordinary complement of tools for the best sounding workstation available today. With 8/16 Tracks of editing, 8 Track Recording, Sonic EQ, QuickTime, advanced SRC and more.

All products come complete with the ability to create, edit, open, and repurpose DDP File Sets. In addition the ability to make references copies using the “Make Secure Player” feature allows secure delivery, playback, and CD burning for your clients to approve their masters.”

Flux Releases Elixir True Peak Multichannel Limiter Plugin

French software developer Flux:: sound and picture development has announced the availability of the Elixir true peak multichannel limiter plugin.

According to Flux:
“Elixir is a novel kind of program limiter carefully designed to accomplish a truly pure natural sounding result without changing the nature of the audio material and its timbre, presenting none, or effectively reduced, conventional limiting ‘pumping’ effects even during heavy processing.

ITU-R.BS 1770 and EBU R128 Compliant

Intended to fulfil the requirements of the broadcast, post-production and mastering industry, Elixir provides real True Peak output level in accordance with the ITU-R.BS 1770 and EBU R128 norms, and for surround sound/multichannel operation Elixir provides up to eight channels of simultaneous processing.”

Parameter Morphing Slider with Automation

Flux’s handy Morphing Slider — a very handy control we’ve experienced on other Flux plugins — provides morphing between the parameter settings of slot A/B allowing for creative and useful real-time tweaking, is included in Elixir. Enabling the Automation control button exposes the Morphing Slider to the host automation.

For more information on user interface, workflow, and processing, visit Elixir’s Web page.

Elixir is currently available for an introductory price of $139.00. Visit the Flux Web store to see other bundle price options.

“Sound Thinking” by Joe Lambert: What’s the Right Sample Rate?

In this series, Joe Lambert addresses the FAQs he fields as a mastering engineer.

Q: Joe, how do I know what sample rate I should be working at?

A: Most of us work in the digital world when making music to some degree. Many things play a role in the sound of songs we’re working on, and one of the first things to choose at the beginning of any project is the sample rate: the most common choices available today include (but are not limited to) 44.1kHz, 48K, 88.2kHz and 96kHz.

If you’re working in the audio-for-video/music-for-film realm, 48kHz is the standard, so I think it’s best to work at 48kHz from the beginning to avoid having to do any sample rate conversion later on. Those with  old computers and hard drives, you’ll want to avoid the higher rates of 88.2 and 96 because they will just slow you down — if your computer is capable of handling them at all.

First Things First

Sample rate or sampling frequency is the number of samples per unit of time (usually seconds) taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. What that means is for one second of 44.1kHz audio you get 44,100 individual samples, 48,000 samples per second for 48kHz and so forth.

44.1 was chosen because of a discovery by Harry Nyquist while working for Bell Labs on the concept behind digitizing sound. He found that when trying to have enough information to reconstruct the original waveform, the sampling rate must be at least twice the signal bandwidth. Our hearing range at best is between 20Hz and 20kHz. Therefore, the sampling frequency is chosen a little higher than 20kHz  since the practical filters used to prevent aliasing have a finite slope (i.e. 44.1 is a little more than double 20kHz.)

As digital audio matured, high- resolution audio formats such as DVD-Audio and SACD were introduced in the late 90′s. They provided a variety of higher sampling rates: 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192kHz. At about the same time the iPod was introduced and — as we all know now — while the audio world was trying to get more high-fidelity the consumer was actually more interested in portability, size, and MP3′s. This played a part in why DVD-Audio and SACD never became the industry standards that the industry hoped for.

The Bottom Line

OK, this info so far is pretty easy to find on many different audio websites. So the real conversation for us interested in making music is, “Which one should I use? What sounds best?”

Many search for that “analog sound” and many engineers have their own idea on the “best way” to achieve that while working in the digital world.

In my opinion if you want to get the warm “tape” type sound, the combination of 44.1kHz and 24bit are the closest sound I hear when listening back to mixes I get. One big reason for this is the anti-aliasing filters that are at the input and output of digital signal processing systems.

An anti aliasing filter is a filter added before the sampler and ADC. It attenuates the higher frequencies greater than the Nyquist frequency to prevent the aliasing components from being sampled. We can dive deeper into that in another article.)

If you want to go higher resolution you may want to start with 88.2kHz. This is becoming more and more popular with mix engineers. It sounds wonderful with extended, warm-sounding high end. Also, since we are converting it down to 44.1kHz for most of today’s listening devices the math makes the downsampling easier and doesn’t involve interpolation like 96kHz.

If you find 88.2kHz or 96kHz sounds best to you, will you still think that after it’s been sample rate-converted for CD and other digital release? Good question. I say, use the higher sample rate if you like it best — the end result, when converted properly, will retain the overall sound quality quite well.

Keep Your Commitments

When you have made your choice in sample rate (and bit depth) it’s important to stay there for the life of the project. Sample rate conversion is something to avoid — once you have tracked at a specific sample rate, keep your mixes at the same sample rate.

From there, make sure those mixes are what are used for the mastering session. There is no good reason to work at 44.1 then up-sample rate convert to 88.2 just to deliver for the mastering session — and you definitely do not want to work at 88.2kHz or 96kHz, and then master from a file that was converted to 44.1kHz. Let the mastering engineer do the conversion from the sample rate you produced your project at with a very high quality converter when needed. (Note that if you tracked at 16bit and want to increase your bit rate to 24bit for mixing, this is actually a good idea. It does no harm to the original file, and gives you the extra plugin and mix bus headroom.)

I’ve done many great-sounding records with all of these sample rates. Hopefully these observations, along with your personal prefererences, will help you to achieve the sound you and your clients are looking for.

Joe Lambert is owner and chief engineer of Joe Lambert Mastering (JLM) in Brooklyn, NY. To send Joe a question and visit JLM, go to www.joelambertmastering.com.

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