I get lots of questions about vocal booths, and the solutions are either expensive or a lot of work. If you need a quick and dirty vocal booth, this BT270-600 pressure zone trap configuration works great. The staple gun channels are what makes this possible.
Recently I’ve been mucking around with low end ribbon mics, which definitely offer a different sonic texture. I few years back I did some recording at Mick Wordley’s studio in Adelaide, and had the opportunity of using some great vintage mics and pres. I found this video on the Audio Technology site, and features Mick offering some great insights into classic gear.
I’ve been trying some of the cheaper ribbon mikes from China (Cascade Fathead, Apex 210) and I like them. Maybe not as accurate as a Royer but they do give you another useful flavor. The Apex 210 must have had a few knocks in transit as the ribbon had sagged a fair bit (think Sydney Opera House). I had a go at tightening it up and managed to do so without tearing it, but it’s pretty much pot luck in regards to the set up. It sounds much better than it did, but probably shy of factory spec! Just need a pre with lots of clean gain with ribbon mics.
Does anyone else suffer from gear performance anxiety? Like us all, I get lots of emails regarding performance in the sack (the bedroom that is), but really, its the performance of my gear in the rack that keeps me awake at night. I was scouring the forums to get a few opinions on my Protools 96 interface, and how it compared to the 192. Many opinions of the 96 rate it as barely better than a 002! So, is it time to panic? Are all those recordings I have done substandard? Have I sabotaged a hit single along the way? Could I have had fame and glory, only to be cut off at the knees by some dodgy converters? Hmmm….I’m not so sure that is the case. Sure, now I want a 192, but I have recorded some very nice drums even with a Digi 001. I even didn’t mind the Audiomedia 111 card. So, in the general scheme of things, how would you rate the following in terms of importance.
The artist. The song. The producer. The mix. The recording gear. (I’ve lumped a few factors together here).
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