STUDIO
SETUP
Hardware
:
Dual
Core 3.2ghz PC, 2MB Ram, 500GB HD (+ 160GB External HD)
: The hub of my setup.
Terratec
EWS88MT soundcard : A pretty old card and not very
exciting card with a breakout box with 8ins/outs and midi in/out
too.
Evolution
MK461K Master Keyboard : Bog
standard master keyboard - does the job.
Blue
Sky Media 2.1 System : This is my recently purchased
Monitoring system. Often overlooked for dance music this is
very highly rated and comes with two monitors and a subwoofer
which really helps sort out the bass end of a track. The bigger
brother of this system is used in many top studios worldwide
including the Skywalker Ranch, which is Lucasfilms audio post
production facility.
Samsung
22" Widescreen Monitor : A recent
purchase, upgrading from an old, ugly and very bulky 19"
CRT monitor.
---
Software
:
I'll
not give away all my secrets but here's a few bits and pieces
from my setup...
Cubase
SX3 : I don't like getting caught up in the Cubase
vs Logic arguement, both are excellent packages, more than capable
of helping you to produce great music - it's the ideas in your
head and the notes that you play that count in the end though,
not the software you use.
Spectrasonics
Trilogy : A great soft synth dealing with all things
bass, from acoustic and electric guitar through to all manner
of synth basses. I've used the bass guitar sounds on many of
my tracks.
Spectrasonics
Stylus RMX: I use this quite a lot for dealing with
REX files (both drums + instruments).
reFX
Vanguard / Nexus: A lot of people think of these synths
as trance machines but there's a lot more going on here than
that and the sounds are great. There's also a ton of official
and user banks for Vanguard which are well worth checking out
too. Nexus has some very classy sounds but it's more of a rompler
than a full synth so you can't edit the sounds too much.
East
West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Gold : As i've
started to become more involved with music for media companies
I need a broader range of sounds, and this is a terrific package
for orchestral sounds. It's not for the faint hearted though,
it's got around 15gb worth of orchestral sounds on-board! The
realism of the strings works really well on dance music so they
often crop up in my tracks.
Mda
ePiano : Check this free plugin out for some nice
sounding Rhodes Piano. Despite it's rather simplistic approach
I've actually used this on quite a few of my tracks. You can
liven up the sound a lot by the use of FX like phasers, flangers,
etc.
Sample
CD's : Too many to mention! A very important part of
my sound over the years.
Other
Samples: I love to sample from really old jazz records,
particularly brass stabs and the like. Bits of speech from films
and more obscure sources are also a good way to spice up a track.
---
DJ
Setup:
Ableton
Live V7: Ableton
is a great package for laptop DJing. I've also used it to put
together various Mix CD's for Bargrooves / Seamless Recordings
in the last few years.
Toshiba
Laptop / Echo Indigo Soundcard
Evolution
UC33e: A good solution for mixing with Ableton.
---
THE
SCRAPHEAP (For all my old gear that's either collecting
dust up in the loft or been sold on) :
Yamaha
AN1X : As with all the hardware synths / modules that
I've got this has been overshadow by it's software counterparts.
This one still get's used though as my master keyboard (although
some of the keys have lost their touch sensitivity which is
driving me insane at the moment!).
Novation
Nova : Another unit that's lying gathering dust thanks
to software (see Novation V-Station). It's a great bit of kit
though and was used heavily in some of my early Bellboy and
Panther releases. *UPDATE* : I've now sold
this unit as I didn't really need it anymore, The V-Station
soft synth does a fine job in it's place now.
Roland
JV1080 : The classic workhorse synth module. I never
did get a whole lot of use out of this one but i'd be reluctant
to sell it since it's wide range of sounds will probably still
come in handy at some stage (for example when i get round to
writing that movie score or tv advert....it doesn't hurt to
have dreams!). *UPDATE* : Another casualty
of my recent hardware clear-out, I always liked this unit for
things like pads, etc but the Spectrasonics Atmosphere soft
synth has now eclipsed it.
Yamaha
SY35 : This was the first half decent synth I owned
and I got some reasonable use out of it without ever being a
big a fan of it. Haven't used this for years, outclassed by
many of todays VST's.
Roland
E5 Synth : It's difficult to find evidence that this
thing actually ever existed, the D series Roland synths were
much more popular. This was the first synth I bought, a rather
neive purchase whilst still in my teens. This thing was built
like a tank but it was a load of crap, just basic GM sounds.
I've still got this lying around somewhere - i'd have sold it
years ago but nobody in their right mind would pay money for
this.
Mackie
1604-VLZ Pro : Bought for me by the guys at Bellboy
this mixer didn't get as much use as was expected when I headed
down the software path. Really solid, reliable mixer though
and another bit of equipment i'll probably hang onto for some
time to come. *UPDATE* Yes, you guessed it,
another bit of hardware that was considered surplus to requirements
in The Great Studio Clearout of 2004.
Tascam
DA-20MK2 DAT : Something else to add to the redundant
gear list - seems like nobody bothers with DAT's these day,
a CD-R is all that's needed for mastering purposes nowadays.
*UPDATE* : Go on, take a guess!
Spirit
Absolute Zero Monitors : Not the best monitors available
i'm afraid, the bass end is weak and so it's easy to overcompensate.
I've got used to them over the years though so i've stuck with
them but i'm sure i'll upgrade to something better in time.
Samson
Servo 170 Amp : Standard studio amp, can't go far wrong
here.
Back
