Ribbon microphones: what are they and how they work

 

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's article!

Today were going to talk about ribbon microphones.
Ribbon microphones are a a particular type of microphone that use a thin ribbon of a conductive material (for example aluminum) between the poles of a magnet to record the sound, and this particular construction allows it to sound very pleasant, round and sensitive to certain frequencies, but at the same time makes it quite fragile, therefore it needs to be handled with more attention than a regular dynamic mike.

Ribbon microphones were first introduced in the early '20s of the past century, and they were praised to be the type of microphone more suited to reproduce the whole spectrum of human hearing (20hz to 20khz), and with the time, as per the other types of microphones, technology evolved and today we can count on microphones that are less fragile than before (although it's still importato to observe caution when handling them), made with more solid and durable materials, with various types of sensitivity pattern (cardioid, hypercardioid, variable, uni-directional, bi-directional and so on), active and passive.

The active ones work more like condenser microphones, meaning that they need an energy source in order to work (never use the phantom power on a passive ribbon microphone or some internal component will break!!), while the passive ones work like dynamic mikes, and are used often to microphone brass instruments and guitar amplifiers.

Speaking of guitar amplifiers, there are 2 main techniques which are very popular in recording studios, and that involve both a ribbon microphone (such as the famous Royer R-121) and the omnipresent Shure SM57: the most famous is the one in which the ribbon microphone is in vertical in front of the center of the dustcap, next to the speaker grill (to take the high end of the tone, since it doesn't sound too brittle or harsh), and with the SM57 pointing towards the edge of the dustcap, so it's slightly off the center and this way it captures a bit more the body of the tone.

The second technique is the other way around: the SM57 points towards the center of the speaker, essentially capturing the high end of the amp, and the ribbon mike is slightly away from the speaker grill (we're talking around 15cm) and off-center, so it will take more the low-mids part of the guitar tone.

Either way, it's essential to check out the position between the two microphones to minimize phase cancellation, so if you notice there are a lot of phase issues try moving one of the 2 microphones in order to align the phase, plus if the guitar amp volume is extremely high, it could be also a good idea to tilt slightly the ribbon mike off axis in order to prevent the sound pressure to hit the ribbon too frontally.

Obviously these are just a couple of the thousands of possible mic placements, but they are a good starting point when trying out a ribbon microphone.

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How to randomize the velocity of a drum sampler to make it more realistic

 

Hello and welcome to this week's article!

Today we're talking a bit more in depth about a topic we have already mentioned in our article about MIDI dynamics: the fastest way to make more realistic a MIDI drum track, by randomizing the velocity.

One of the many parameters you can assign to a MIDI note is the Velocity: it's a value from 0 to 127 (like the other MIDI parameters) and it is meant to mimic the natural strength variations in our playing; 
basically it represents how soft or hard we hit a note, that can be a keyboard or any other instrument.

Now, when talking about virtual drumkits, nowadays there are on the market very extensive drum libraries, that arrive to dozens of Gb in size, and the larger is the library the more samples there are, also for a single drum part: a single snare, for example, can have 15, or even 25 velocity layers, that represent various intensities a drummer can hit it.

The more the velocity layers the more the sampler will sound realistic when playing it live, but even if we are writing down the drum MIDI parts note by note with the mouse, modifying the velocity it's quite important to make the drums sound less robotic, to the point that some drum sampler have also a "humanizer" function inside that randomizes a bit the dynamic variations in strenght of the hits.

Some DAW have directly the humanize function, for example in Studio One you just highlight the MIDI part you want to make more realistic, right click and you can choose "Humanize" or "Humanize Less" to reduce the effect, but the humanize function will also slightly move the MIDI notes in timing, so if you want only to randomize the velocity you need, while the same notes are still selected, to pull down the Action menu again and select Restore Timing.

In other DAW, where no humanize function is available instead, you can usually choose the MIDI part and under the Velocity section there should be a randomize velocity function that lets you dial in a minimum and maximum value, and the notes will be with a randomized velocity within that range.
What range to choose? It depends on 2 things: the genre (if the dynamic excursion is huge, like there are press roll parts, it's better to randomize them separately or write them note by note) and the number of velocity layers in the sampler. If you have some pre-made MIDI groove for that specific sampler you can load some and take note of the minimum and maximum velocity of each drum part, so you can be sure that the range you enter will have samples available, otherwise you can be conservative and choose quite a narrow range, in the area that sounds better to your ears (for example 70 to 90, or 80 to 100).

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Review: Audio Assault Blacksun (with video sample)

 

Hello and welcome to this week's article!
Today we're going to review an amp sim from Audio Assault that is currently free if you are member of the AA mailing list: the BlackSun!

The BlackSun is an emulation of a Blackstar head, probably an HT Club 50 (even if it's not explicitly stated), which is a 2 channel tube head with EL34 tubes.
Among the other features, this plugin has a preset manager with several presets ranging from clean to hi gain, a "double track sim" which emulates recording 2 layers of the same riff, the "my amp" function which generates some slight hardware variation unique for every registered plugin, and it has a knob that is typical for Blackstar amps, (in the original amps is called ISF, in this plugin it's called Mode), which lets you choose between a "Marshall" and a "Mesa Boogie" voicing and all the gradients in between;
a "Marshall" voicing will mean a tone with more pronounced upper mid range, slightly more nasal and twangy, while a "Mesa Boogie" one will be a with a stronger low-end and more scooped mids, that lets out more high end than upper mids.

As per the other recent Audio Assault amp sims, also this one features a very nice, resizable GUI, 3 stompboxes (Gate, Booster and Tube Screamer), an FX Rack in the loop with Graphic EQ, Delay, Reverb and Chorus, a Dual Cab Loader which lets you also move around the microphones with any ir (thanks to a system of eq and envelope filters I imagine), and many other features.

How does it sound? It sounds very well, in my opinion, especially with the "mode" knob in the "Marshall" side, because a problem that I have found in some Audio Assault amp sim is the fact that they are all very "American sounding", for modern metal, while this one can replicate very well a British tone that is also hi-gain, tight and defined, and that it has that nice clear upper midrange.

This makes Blacksun one of the most versatile Audio Assault amp simulators, because the original head itself is extremely versatile, it has a lot of gain and tonal possibilities and I think anyone should definitely try it, also because they just released a pack with '80s style presets which adds a lot of fun to this amp.

Thumbs up!

Specs:

- 2 channels

- 3 stompboxes (gate, boost and screamer)

- Dual Cab loader with IRs created by Seacow cabs

- FX rack with eq, delay, reverb and chorus

- preset manager

- mode knob to change the flavor of the amp

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Using a wah in fixed position to boost a solo

 

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's article!

Today we're going to talk about a particular way to make a solo cut through, which is used by many musicians: to emphasize only a certain mid range area which is obtained by using a wah in fixed position.

Let's start by reminding what is a wah (click here for a dedicated article with free vst plugins): it's an envelope filter, which means basically an equalization filter that can be fixed or controllable in real time via a pedal control and that according to its settings will emphasize a certain area of the midrange of the guitar tone adding gain and harmonics.

A wah boosts and cuts a certain area of the midrange of a guitar to make it cut more through the mix, and when it's used with the foot control in a tasteful way it can really make the guitar almost talk, or cry like a baby (the famous Dunlop CryBaby is called like that for this reason).
This mid range boost, which is usually a rather narrow range between the 300 and the 3000hz makes the sound from dark to very bright and harmonic rich, but the most usual application when doing distorted solos is usually when it's kept around the central position, which means a boost around 1000-1500hz, which makes the tone very honky and recognizable.

This nasal tone is the core of the solos of many famous guitarists, which sometimes just set the wah in a certain way without even moving it, just to have that distincitve mid range, boxy boost when doing solos, and the tone obtained can be heard for example in many Queen, In Flames or Blind Guardian songs, bands very different among themselves which make extensive use of the wah both moving the filter in real time or leaving it in a fixed position according to the song, and this use of the wah also just in a fixed position as mid boost has led to the creation of several stompboxes which replicate just that: a wah with a fixed setting (for example the Dunlop CryBaby Q-Zone or the Magnetic Effects Midphoria).

When trying to recreate this type of effect in the studio when we don't have a wah at hand we can start with a not too steep high pass and low pass filter, between 300 and 3000hz, then we can draw a bell quite wide, around 1200hz and add some db in this area according to taste.
Obviously these settings are just a starting point, feel free to play with the filters amplitude and the position of the bell according to the tone you are looking for, and if you feel like you lose a bit too much sparkle try to be less aggressive with the high end roll-off or maybe to add a harmonic exciter.

I hope this was helpful!

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Audio Assault - Bulldog (with video sample)

 

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's article!

Today we are going to review the latest virtual amplifier by Audio Assault: the Bulldog!

The Bulldog is the amp sim of a VHT Pitbull, a 3 channel hi-gain tube head famous for being very tight and aggressive (and also very expensive).

This virtual amp is quite a faithful representation of the original one and offers several solutions to make it a very flexible suite: a tuner, 3 stompboxes (gate, booster and a Tube Screamer emulation), a rack with 3 effects (a graphic eq, a delay and a reverb), a preset manager, the function "my amp" which modifies slightly the tone in a way that is unique for every purchase (like it happens with real amps, which usually never sounds exactly the same among them) and a handful of IRs made just for this amp.
The fact that there are few IRs compared to other Audio Assault amp sims can be due to the fact the one I'm trying it's a beta version, but if it's not, I consider this a good thing anyway, since they clearly took time to pick the IRs that sounds the best with this amp rather than put hundreds of them and forcing the player to navigate for hours between them before finding one that suits the head.

Among the other features it's worth to mention the resizable UI and the double track emulation, which doubles the track you are recording in order to make it sound like there is a second layer, and it can be a good songwriting tool, to put down ideas faster and that already have that "wall of sound" feeling.

How does it sound?

This is clearly one of the best and most usable Audio Assault amps, they have improved constantly through time and in this specific one I must say (also thanks to a good choice of impulses) the low end is very present and in focus (which is something not very common in amp sims, realistic low mids that doesn't sound muddy) and the highs are very clear and defined, making this a very usable amp simulator.

This plugin is good not only for high-gain metal tones (in terms of pure metal sound Sigma is still superior), but also for clean and crunchy ones, which sound very warm and credible, and I can only suggest anyone interested to check it out.

Thumbs up!

Specs taken from the website:

- 3 channels

- 3 stompboxes: gate, booster and Tube Screamer

- Fx rack with eq, delay and reverb

- Tuner

- L, R and Stereo Routing

- 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x Oversampling options

- 2 Graphics engine

- My Amp Feature for an unique tone

- Double track emulation

- Presets system

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Track Grouping Cheatsheet

 

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's article!

Today we're going to check out a visual representation of the track grouping of an average project, I have borrowed the idea from a similar cheatsheet I've found posted from a user (thank you, Toby!) on the URM Academy Facebook page, but I have modified it a bit according to my workflow and naming conventions.
I consider this visual representation an useful tool because it tidies up the concepts we have been already analyzing in detail in our home recording main article, and in our project preparation one.

Let's start by saying that this picture is by no mean a fixed rule, you can modify it according to your workflow, remove and add all the tracks/groups you need etc, but it could be considered as a solid starting point if you're new in mixing a project with with a full rock band and don't know where to start. 

Let's begin from the left, here you have all the individual tracks: almost all of them are routed into subgroups and/or groups, this is made to make you process the tracks in groups, if possible, thus saving time and computer resources (as opposed to processing them individually), and when you have your sounds right and the relative balance within the group, you can literally just move the group faders to balance the main parts of the mix among them (eventually balancing only the drums, bass, guitars, vocals, synths and fx groups, just 6 faders, is much easier and gives us a much better perspective once the ground work is done).

Why the Sub Drops etc... track is alone and goes straight into the Stereo Out? Because we don't want it to be part of the "Fake Master", we don't want all the low end of these tracks to hijack completely the buss comp creating a horrible pump effect. Eventually some pump effect can still appear when this track will reach the limiter, and we will have to be good in finding the right volume for it to arrive to the limiter without creating problems.

I hope this was helpful!

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Review: Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb

 

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's article!

Today we're going to review one of the most historical guitar amps of all times: the Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb!

The '65 Deluxe Reverb is one of the most iconic amps ever produced by Fender, and its latest reissue is still on sale today from the producer, hand assembled in the USA with premium components.
This amp, historically, is suited for Country, Blues, Classic Rock, but in general its clean tones have been loved and used by guitarists from all genres.

The amp features 4 inputs: 2 for the normal channel and 2 for the vibrato one (the difference between the 2 inputs is that input 1 is 6db louder, so you should use it fwith lower output guitars, while input 2 should be used with high output ones).
Instead of the usual overdrive channel, channel 2 is a vibrato channel, meaning that has a vibrato effect always on, and there is also (only for this second channel) a reverb, with the knob in the amp acting as dry/wet mix control. 
Finally, to be noted that in the eq section there is no mid control, only bass and treble.

How does it sound? Let's start by saying that like all amps of this type, even if it's a small 22w combo, this amp is LOUD, and the more you crank it towards the breakup, the more the sound becomes harmonically rich (althought a bit noisy) and it can enter also into mild overdrive territories.
The basic clean channel is the definition of Fender clean: squeaky clean, with a lot of attack and top end but at the same time with deep bass, a combination that makes it sound almost like a piano, while the vibrato channel is similar to the clean one but with an adjustable vibrato effect, which can be useful in certain genres, and a very good reverb.
If you need only the reverb you can lower the vibrato settings to the minimum, until it basically disappears, and you will remain with another normal channel to which you can apply the reverb.

Regardless of the genre you play, this is an amp I suggest anyone to try, because it's the history of guitar and because it's featured in countless records, from the '60s up to now, and it lets us peek into a time in which in the amps there were different features, and maybe guitarists also had different needs.

Thumbs up!

Specs:

- 2 Channels

- Power 22 W

- Equipped with: 1x 12" Jensen C12K speaker, 8 Ohm

- Controls for: Volume, treble, bass, reverb, speed, intensity

- 4 Inputs - 2 per channel

- Speaker out

- Spring reverb

- Tube Vibrato

- 4 Preamp tubes: 12AX7

- 2 Preamp tubes: 12AT7

- 2 Power tubes: 6V6

- Dimensions (D x W x H): 24.1 x 62.2 x 44.5 cm

- Weight: 20 kg

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