Well, its been a while since the last drum and bass production tip. What’s been happening? Well, a colab with Fuj which is turning out pretty nice is nearly complete and some of my own stuff is starting to get there as well.

The biggest difference to my production has been the purchase of my Sennheiser HD650 headphones. As you know, I  ain’t in no flashy studio so I’m a victim of room acoustics like most bedroom producers out there.(the Ultracurve can only do so much)

Working on headphones is a good way of dealing with a bad room. Sure its harder to gauge reverb and pan positions on headphones but I can live with that because of the level of detail you get whilst working on your cans. So I spend maybe 50-60% on the cans these days.

The headphones feel and look professional and the detail and clarity is pretty damn good as well. Mixes (besides pan and reverb etc) translate really well.

Anyways… Sennheiser HD650 Headphones=WIN!

What else have I been up to? Well, (besides boring work) I’ve just been busy building up my drum hits like snares and kicks and shaker loops etc. I just create a Cubase project and load up a snare/kick/hi hat and phatten it up using layers, compression, EQ etc. Then I bounce out a few variations and move on.

*** I don’t save the project. I don’t want a whole load of Snare Projects in my Cubase Folder. If I don’t save it kind of finalizes my work.  ***

So yeah. These self created drum hits/breaks/bass stabs/bass etc have been a big help in getting tunes finished quickly and has improved the quality of my work.

So if you don’t feel like writing a tune. Take some time out and create some new snare/kick samples for your personal library.

You’ll be glad you did when you feel like writing a tune.

Why review the Zoom H2 Handy Recorder?

Well, a friend of mine was looking for a field recorder that was portable and easy to use. He wanted it to be fully featured but most importantly he wanted it to be under $200.

Well that’s easy I thought to myself, there’s loads of recorders out there!

Wrong.There isn’t that many portable recorders out there that fit the bill as I thought and the truth is most of them are pretty bad. However, the Zoom H2 does all the above quite nicely, read on to get the lowdown.

Check out some more information about the Zoom H2  here

Sample time with the Zoom H2

I’m a big fan of sampling. I think sampling adds that personal touch to a tune and makes your tracks that little bit more unique then a person who just uses samples taken from a sample CD. Now, don’t get me wrong here. I love sample CD’s and they definitely have there place but if you want to stand out you need to get your hands dirty and sample some vinyl or some sounds outside your window or down the street!

Now, I’m a lazy sod. Probably just like you and so sampling just seems like a big giant time guzzler. First you got to get to the shop, then you have to search through all those records and find the good ones, then you have to… you get the picture. Well, you can’t avoid all that hard work at the start but at the end you can and I’ll show you how the Zoom H2 saves you time!

What I do is plug the Zoom H2 into my mixer. (my new Allen & Heath Xone 42 BTW). Then, I’ll get a good level and record all the vinyl snippets at once. I just let the Zoom H2 continue recording whilst I play each and every bit of vinyl that I may have purchased or have lying around. The great thing is because I have my CDJ’s plugged into the Xone 42 as well I can sample from soundtrack CD’s etc. That’s great but…

Zoom H2 meet Mr Wavelab

Won’t I have a really long messy file? Yes, its true. You’ll end up with a pretty big file to deal with but that’s where my secret weapon comes into play. Wavelab 6. I download the file onto my computer using the USB feature of the Zoom and load it up into Wavelab. Then I use Wavelab’s Split Silence tool to chop up all the bits for me. Easy as that. Wavelab will even put all the files neatly in one new folder for me. I can then apply fx or eq or what ever I want directly onto the samples no worries.

Zoom H2 and No Frills Drum and Bass

I’m also using the Zoom H2 to record my Drum & Bass mixes and the results have been great. Because of its ability to switch between from .WAV to .MP3 I can record a No Frills Drum and Bass gig no problems what so ever! That’s over 5 hours of music, brilliant! However, the fun doesn’t end there. Because I’m recording at 320kbps the sound is very very good!

Check out the video below on how easy it is to use!

Features of the Zoom H2 I love

There’s a whole bunch of stuff I love about the Zoom H2.

• It’s small enough that it fits in the palm of your hand. Its a little bulkier than an Iphone but compact in design so you can take it anywhere without it being a hassle.
• The Zoom H2 takes a standard SD Card which is great because they’re so dirt cheap now its unbelievable. The unit takes 2 standard AA batteries which is great because I hate buying weird batteries that cost a fortune. AA batteries you can find everywhere and really affordable.
• One of the great features of the Zoom H2 is the one click record function. Just 1 click to arm the unit and then another click to start recording. Its as easy as that. You can instantly get recording with literally 2 clicks of a button. This is why the Zoom H2 is so intuitive to use.
• The Zoom H2 has 4 microphones that are built into the Zoom H2. This is how the unit is able to record 360 degrees. Absolutely perfect for recording a band or in an interview situation.

What others are saying

With over 468 reviews at Amazon with an average review of 4.5 out of 5 the Zoom H2 is killer!

Here are some of comments to date:

• “As good as the Edirol R-09 for about half the price!”
• “Much better and easier to operate than the Zoom H4″
• “H2: Great little recorder”
• “Take your new podcast to the next level”
• “Awesome Quality and Price”
• read more review here.

How much is the Zoom H2 going to cost you?

It’s hard to give you a price on the Zoom H2 because prices can and do change all the time. However, currently right now at Amazon the Zoom H2 is going for around $150. Which is over 56% off the retail price which is an absolute steal.

Anyways… if you want to find out more about the Zoom H2  or read some more review click here.

Howdy, well I know Its been a while since I’ve last spoke to you but I assure you that a lot has gone on! In and out of the studio! I suppose the most important bit of news to report to you is the addition of a new member to my studio family in the shape of a TC Powercore X8! This powered plugin dream box has been on the top of my “want” list for so long now that I almost can’t believe my eyes its in the studio! As you can see from the photos its a sexy all black beast which emits a techy blue light when its on. Very Cool INDEED!

What’s even sexier is the included plugins what come bundled with the Powercore (PoCo or short). 14 of them! YES, you heard that right, 14! I was in plugin heaven and the best news was that I had a further $500 squid to spend on plugins as well! Absolutely brilliant I say! Believe me when I say I felt like a kid in a candy store! However I won’t be going into full detail about the TC Powercore here. I’ll give you the full review in a few weeks. That way I can try some of the plugins out and give you an honest and informative review. So stay tuned!

Moving on then…

Well, it seems that everywhere I turn there is a drum n bass remix competition going on. First up you have the Sabre & Critical – One Hundred Teeth Remix Comp over at our good friends Kmag.com. Then you have the Panic Girl – Midnight Remix Comp over at ShadyBrain.net and then two competitions at Back 2 you . 1.  Breeze – We Can Rise Remix & 2. EZ Rollers – Crowd Rocker Remix. To round things up you have the Bachelors of Science – Lost inside Remix competition as well presented by IDJ and Horizons Music.

I love getting involved in Remix competitions because you get to see the individual audio samples of a certain tune and you can learn a lot from these bits. Its like peering into their minds a little and experiencing producing from their artistic point of view. I’ll be honest with you though. Even though I’ve downloaded quite a few Remix sample packs I’ve had ZERO success in finishing them. Yes, that’s right ZERO. I will now hang my head in shame for 5 minutes…

Okay, I had full intentions of finishing everyone of the remix tunes I started but somewhere along the way I lost focus. This happens quite frequently I have noticed but this time I’ll be prepared. I’ve discovered that If one doesn’t have a goal or a plan of attack you’re going to end up starting and never finishing anything. When attempting to finish a remix competition you need to set yourself some very specific goals, for instance:

1. What tempo?
2. What style? Jump up? Neuro? Liquid?
3. Another Genre perhaps? Dubstep? Trance?
4. How much of the original do you want to get in there?
5. Is there a certain sound you want to try? An Artist you want to emulate?
6. What bits of kit do you want to use?
7. … and so on and so…..

Questions like these will help you focus your goals and ideas together and hopefully assist you in finishing remixes and tunes in general. Fingers crossed!

Another big change to the studio or should I say Production flow is the use of Ableton Live. I’ve dabbled in Live for many years now but only ever so briefly and each time I walked away shaking my head in confusion! I’ve never quite “figured” Live out and how to “work” it into my Production method but thanks to Nymfo I have now. Thank you good Sir!

Live’s main strengths are obviously the way it handles loops on the fly and this is primarily how I use it. I use Live 8 to quickly audition all the loops I want to use in my tunes super quick so right now I mainly use it for layering breaks up fast. I use it in Sequencer View and lay out the tune as I go along applying EQ and Limiting as well but only moderately.

The whole Idea behind using Ableton Live 8 is to get the main ideas and loops of the song together and then export the tracks into Cubase 5 where I can go in really deep with EQ and Compression and Limiting etc. I’m still not 100% sure about Ableton Live’s summing engine but hey that’s just me. I know a tonne of producers out there getting great results JUST using Ableton Live but me, I know Cubase extremely well so I’m sticking with it for mixdowns, plus it still handles VST Plugins one million times better than Ableton Live does and this is hell important!

Another big change in the studio has been the plugin folder clean out! I’ve decided to clean out or should I say “limit” myself to only a handful of plugins again. I know I know this sound weird after just getting the PoCo but I’m going to treat those plugins like rewards.

So its probably going to be the Virus TI Snow (pictured at top of page), Spectrasonics Omnisphere, UAD Plugins and Sonnox plugins for now. Stay tuned for a VIRUS SAMPLEPACK coming soon! Also, I’ll be making a drum sample pack available to download for FREE soon as well. It won’t be massive or anything like that but I promise you it’ll be full of 100% brilliant drum hits and loops for you to use in your tunes. Perfect for adding weight and groove to your breaks.

Phew, thats a fair bit of writing then? I better get back in the studio I got a tonne of work to do!

See you on the dancefloor.

Dauntless

New Drum n Bass Production Standard?

Logic Audio was always a favourite DAW for drum n bass production but does Logic 9 stand tall?

Its an interesting question since I’m a die hard Cubase user, however,  every now and again I find myself wandering around and checking out what’s happening with the other sequencers out there. I find it refreshing to explore other DAWs and experience a different kind of work flow (or pull my hair out in frustration trying to figure them out!). This helps the creative juices flow a little more readily which could only be a good thing. I managed to finally get a copy of Logic 8 when I purchased my wife an Imac24 a year ago, so I’ve had some time to dig around a little and get my hands dirty. Well I must say that I wasn’t at first really impressed with what I saw, so it was back to Cubase land for moi! I found the audio editing to be “illogical” and some of the work flow to complexed.

Then Logic 9 came out and to be honest I wasn’t fussed at all with its arrival.

I mean, the feature list basically put it on par with the rest of the other DAWs. out there. However all was not as it seemed for lurking in the program lay some very cool new features/plugins just perfect for drum n bass production.

1. Amp Designer – Very cool plugin allowing you to mix and match 25 amps, 25 speaker cabinets and 3 mics you can place around the speaker cone. The sound of the amps are brilliant. All of them have there very own flavour and all very very useable.

The cabinets and mics sound great as well. Insert the Plugin on your bass channel and volia! You have instant access to a wide variety of sounds and textures at your disposal. I found the plugin perfect on my mids (reese bass) and awesome on my sub bass. I’ve yet to put it on my drum buss but I have all the confidence in the world that it would sound great.

2. Pedalboard – Here you have a collection of 30 stompboxes from all over the place! Fuzz, Delay, Chorus, Flanger, Treble, Wah, Overdrive and Boost. The pedals themselves sound wicked, alone or joined up together. The majority of them have a real analog sound to them. The developers over at Apple didn’t hold back on these ones. Even though we have the likes of IK Multimedia Amplitube and T-Racks and Peavey’s Revalver I do wish these plugins were available to everyone! Damn you Apple! In particular the chorus, phaser and flanger pedals sound best. Really lush sounding and warm. Quality all the way!

3. Convert to Sampler Track – I’m not really sure if Logic was listening to us drum n bass heads or not when they implemented this one but its just what the doctor ordered. Mucking about with Recycle and the EXS24 was down right CRAP! So I’m really glad they took the bull by the horns and did something about chopping up beats!

They really did a nice job of it too! Except they should have given you the option of having a multiple out EXS24 when you sliced up the audio track. This would have made more sense but hey, lets just cross this bridge first. This little feature makes chopping up old funk breaks just perfect for drum n bass or any other breakbeat orientated music. The EXS is a very capable sampler even if its a bit long in the tooth now! This feature alone is going to save you plenty of time! Trust me!

4. I wont go into detail about every new feature but some other worthy of mentioning are:

Bounce-in-place. I say FINALLY! EPIC WIN!

Flex time – Not bad at all.

Selective Track Import – very interesting.

Drum Replacer – Could be interesting

All in all the new Logic 9 is a nice surprise. Its not say, perfect but no DAW out there is. I still love the automation system in Logic and I personally still love the way it looks and lets not get me going about the awesomeness of Logic’s Space Designer Reverb and Delay Designer! In fact I would say that it has never ever looked and sounded so good! Plenty of top notch drum n bass producers cant be wrong! Now get over to the Apple store and check out the videos if you haven’t already. Definitely worth a look.

See you on the dancefloor.

dauntless

No Frills Locus Sydney

P.S For some great Q&As with big Drum n Bass artists or some general chit chat head over to sydneyfriction.com.

I regulary post and hang out there.

Peace

Howdy, every now and again I go through my old Future Music or Computer Music magazines and watch the masterclasses for a bit of inspiration or gain a little more knowledge. Now the majority of videos that they’ve brought out focus on the “house” music genre but there is still plenty of stuff you can learn from them. Besides that i’ve also found I’ve picked up new bits of information that i’ve missed in the past. Anyways, check out the videos and let me know what you think. I think Ian is a very talented producer and conveys what he is trying to teach very well. The videos are quite varied in that he goes over drums, arranging and remixing for radio etc.

In the studio with Ian Carey

There are also a few Ian Carey videos on Youtube where he talks about how he uses his favourite Sonnox plugins.
Enjoy