Studio

Cosmic Noise Studios The studio setup July 2008.

This is the home and sometimes portable studio where I work on projects. It is constantly evolving and occupies a room in our house.

My current studio setup

In general, equipment comes and goes on my desktop. I switched over to a software-only production system years ago, and have not regretted it at all. There’s less hassles with cables, recording to audio tracks, remembering patches, and so on. My mode of working is to work with a few software synths at a time, learn them well, and when they get boring, move to another set of synths. Same with effects. After a while you start to know them inside out, and it’s easier and faster to make decisions.

Also, with Logic and Ableton Live, there’s so much already in the base setup concerning synth and plugin effects, so sometimes there’s really no need to even load in external plug-ins. But as any pack-rat producer I collect software along the way, so that’s the reason the list below looks long. Anyone starting, just get a good DAW and you could easily work with the provided plug-ins for a very long time.

MacPro 2×2.5GHz, 6 Gb RAM

Just now the MacPro 2.5 GHz is the main computer, running MacOSX 10.5.5. Even if I will start using my MacBookPro more and more as a portable studio system as its powerful enough for most productions.

M-Audio FW410 Firewire Audio/Digital Box

I got this box when it was one of the first cheaper FireWire systems out there. Yes, it was one of the first. I expected driver issues, and there were those, but now my setup has for the last nine months been very stable.

The trick is to avoid using outside power supplies to the box, instead letthe box shut down and restart via the Firewire power handling. Also, depending on the driver release, going to sleep mode is bad…Yes, I can’t properly do an iPod sync over the same FireWire connection,and I dread to hook a Firewire hard disk to the same connector setup…

Event TR8 Studio Reference Monitors

I spent days and days trying to find the perfect monitors, went at that time through all the known reference monitors with a decent price, below $1000 or so.

Always ended up with liking the Event TR8 monitors. Monitors are a personal thing.You really need to go with your heart, as you will sit and listen, and listenand listen, for many hours, hopefully not too long. But you don’t want toget your ears tired or annoyed due to bad monitors. Spend money and time until you find monitors you like.

Why do I like TR8s? Well, they go down to about 35Hz so I could check out any rumbling or low level kick and bass levels. They sound nice, I could listen to any kind of music through them, without getting that effect of ‘linear reference monitor boringness.’ They could stand out for abuse, sudden loud bangs that happens by mistake, sometimes killing other monitors.The price is right, too.

Logic Pro 9.1 DAW

It took a while for me to tame this beast, I’ve been using Logic Pro since the4.x days. The interface was a challenge, the setup, configuration, just getting it to work with MIDI was a challenge. But major version by major version the UI elements improved. The 7.x series are quite usable to the point of me now really having fun with the DAW.

But actually the secret feature set are all the software synthesizers bundled with the 7.x release. Sculpture is amazing, I like the ES2vector-based synthesizer, and all the plug-ins and other parts are top-notch.And Logic is now finally very, very user friendly!

With Flex in Logic 9 I have less and less need to even start Ableton Live. Also, I like to simplify my production setup and Logic has plenty of plug-ins and other tools. This way I could move projects from desktop to laptop and back, with minimal hassle.

Ableton Live 7.0.16

I’ve used this amazing audio sculpture dream tool since the 2.x days. What could I say. I like audio products that makes the musician smile, and have fun creating. I feel like a jazz musician improvising with a whole studio…

Reason 2.5

I purchased Reason long time ago. The SW synthesizers are very good,I seem to use Maelstrom in more places than I expected it to be used. Also, drum programming is fun with Reason. If my sons need game music for games, I could start Reason and whip out something game-ish in about five minutes or so. Otherwise I use it mostly to produce loops of all kinds.

Various Camel products, Camel5000, CamelSpace, CamelPhat

Oh, Camel rules. The Camel 5000 is a fun fun fun additive synthesis synthesizer, good for evolving and strange sounds. Only drawback is how much CPU juice it really requires. CamelPhat is my new favorite compressor/distortion tool. CamelSpace is good for creating rhythmic delay patterns of all kinds.

Izotope Ozone 3

I use this one mostly for the final mastering. Ableton Live does not really have good mastering plug-ins by default, they are decent. However, with Ozone 3 that’s corrected. It has a very good limiter, and the exciter section is something I also use a lot, to warm up the final mix. I also like the interface, such as how the graphic eq works.You could really clean up bad productions quickly with this mastering plugin.

PSP VintageWarmer 2.0

Alas, the secret is out. Vintagewarmer was this odd Polish productfor mastering and limiting use. It takes the harsh bit-stream and converts the material to a more soft and naturally saturated blend. In addition,it works as a brick-limiter. If you want to join the club of highly compressed sound, but still there’s something natural in there, then VintageWarmer is for you.

Zebra 2.5 SW Synth

I’m using this one more and more nowadays. What I like about Zebra is itsmodular system, you could hook together really crazy combinations, and see what happens. Also, it has basic electro-buzz sounds that I need a lot nowadays. It’s definitely one of those sleeper synths, not all know about Zebra2, but those who know, really likes using it.The included mini-version Zebralette is also good to have around. Also, I use the ZRev plugin that is part of the Zebra release, as well, as it has a nice artificial reverb sound.

Automat SW Synth

It’s a free software synth — very handy to make electro buzz sounds. I use it here and there to add lead lines with a raw Oscillator sound.

Octopus SW Synth

This is a FM synthesis SW synth with character. Does not sound like any other FM synthesis product I’ve seen. You could actually make gritty sounds with this FM plugin — if you load in sound waves and let Octopus analyze it and it tries to emulate it via FM, nice rough sound…

Vanguard SW Synth

I was looking at getting a Nord HW synthesizer, but stumbled upon this product by a reference by a fellow producer. Hey, saved $1000 dollars. You could get a very saturated trance sound, and much more, with this SW synthesizer.

NI Massive

I have this one, the sounds are indeed massive, this is one of the first software synths that have extremely powerful waveforms, not that Zebra is close, and Vanguard has its strong movement. I use it for various techno and electro productions. Only drawback is that it takes a lot of CPU cycles.

Orca

It’s a free one-oscillator synth, but it has its own charming sounds that could be used from time time. This is one of those softsynths few know about, so it’s good to have around.

RMIV Drum Machine

In addition to tons of drum sets, it also has a nice set of various MIDI drum patterns that I load in and modify for my liking.

AlphaCM

I got this one from one of the Computer Magazine editions, compared with FreeAlpha it has a modulation section that makes the sounds more extensive.

Absynth

I’ve used this synth from time to time, for textural work it’s very good, sound very alien and has a lot of landscape-focused sounds available. But best not to go overboard with too much Absynth.

SFXMachine RT

I use this for psychedelic effects and other oddities as it has a nice range of really strange effects.

Guitars, Basses, Amps

I’ve been using Ibanez guitars since 1978, so my main guitar is an Ibanez RG model (RG750, black.) I have a new guitar, Ibanez RG350DX that I’m just now breaking in. I also have an Ibanez Roadstar II which is a nice Stratocaster clone, more weight in the body which makes the sound more sustainable.

My main bass is an Ibanez ATX3 (rosewood frets). I’m always looking for orphaned Ibanez electric and bass guitars to my collection. I have an Ibanez SX3EX3 as a backup and fun bass, it’s lightweight and has that raw/metallic SX sound which is good to have from time to time. I also have an SX P/J bass that I use more and more.

I’m also a big fan of Line 6 gear. I’m using a PodXT as the main preamp for guitar recordings as well as for guitar on stage. With a Line 6 Shortboard it is easy to configure and play various sounds over a huge domain of guitar sounds. I place the PodXT as an effect send/return on my Marshall JCM900 50W combo so that I get the warmth of tubes with the flexibility of the PodXT — best of both worlds. Tube amps also have a better mid-range so they sound louder on stage, as well.

I recently also got Line6 PodFarm Platinum that is already in heavy use for any kind of guitar and electric bass recordings — there’s really little need for real amps in a studio with something like PodFarm. In addition to all the cool amp simulations in Logic Pro 9 I’m also using Guitar Rig 3. So there’s enough of guitar and bass sounds in my studio. If I count in the Zoom B2 and G2 pedals with their amp simulation models, can never run out of guitar sounds…

As for bass amplification I have a MarkBass CMD 121P, 300W 12″ combo unit that is 27 pounds — makes it possible to take all my bass gear to practice or events in my Mazda 3. And the MarkBass sound, especially the mid-range, is so neat, fits the pocket in all band configurations so far that I’ve been involved in as a bass player. I don’t even mind DI the bass directly to the PA in case the PA has sub-woofers. Also, I have an Avatar 2×10 Neo cab in case I need to push 500W as a bass player — so far I’ve seldom had this need.

My guitar amp is a Marshall JCM900 50W combo. It has the classic Marshall sound and is lightweight but has the punch so it’s the best of both worlds.

I use a Zoom G2 as a pre-amp/effect unit for guitar and bass playing, it has an easy way to tune the bass as well as nice compression as well as effects in case I need those on-stage. I also have an LD150 bass amp that also works surprisingly well as a clean guitar amp. But it’s placed in my studio as a practice amp for quick rehearsals, it’s a clumsy amp as well as the interior has breaks due to the poor design.

I have a couple of old Boss pedals, Chorus and Flanger, also an E-Bow, those are fun.