Cape Town GF get together and microphone shootout

matta · 2009-04-09T13:56:24+00:00

Hey Guys, As promised I intend to have a GF get together and 'mic shoot out' at my studio, www.dockyardstudios.com I have the industry staples like MD-421, Sm57, Sm7 and will arrange a Royer 121. I've got a 64' Fender Black Face Bandmaster and Champ to play with and we will reamp a few different passes through different mics and pres and compare the results. Feel free to bring your own mics to compare them if you like. The date will be NEXT SATURDAY, April 18th, at my studio (directions are on the 'contact' page at the link above), Time will be 12pm. Please bring some chips, beers, whatever you want and bring to share... so don't be cheap and bring 1 BEER, bring a 6 pack! It is ABSOLUTELY free, and hope to see as many of you as can make it. Please do me the courtesy of posting here if you are attending so I know how many people to expect. Cheers Matt

AlanRatcliffe

Spyke wrote Are we talking grams or cans here Alan?

Congratulations Spyke! I knew someone was going to come up with that - and you beat all the others to it.

matta wrote We will be thinking of you! I plan to make all the track available for download here for those who couldn't make it.

Brilliant!

Hah hah, I have a lounge/kitchen area where the food/drink are banishing to, no drinks/food near the expensive gear

I was just checking. ? I actually get a knot in my stomach when I see guys mixing with a glass of Coke next to the desk - especially the live sound guys. I always have to fight the urge to step over and remove it. Beer's bad enough, but Coke is just plain evil.

Neps

Alan then you'll hate me!! I always have either a beer, coffee, coke or another stronger beverage close at hand.. In studio or live.. Even been known to put my can of coke on top of my or another guitarists amp (they are friends though)

AlanRatcliffe

...and are you aware that the carbolic acid in Coke does extremely nasty things to pots and faders as well as the tracks on the circuitboard? Quickest way to write off a console completely is to pour some Coke in it and leave overnight. Some studios, the quickest way to get fired is to be caught drinking Coke in the control room.

Neps

I know ☹ But when the Executive Producer walks in an sits down next to you with a Coke.. Who am I to tell him NO :-\ And I can always blame him for any mis haps ?

matta

Cokes aside (Hah Hah)

Thanks to everyone who attended on Saturday, I hope you all had fun. I got wind from an engineer friend of mine that one of you already put some of the stuff in practice at Hillsong yesterday... nice!

I will try get all the files preped and do a write up on all the mics/placements etc so everyone can join in.

Was great meeting you all and hope we get to do it again sometime.

Cheers

Matt

nick

forgot to do a quick report back on this!

very interesting and informative. Matt firstly spoke about the different types of microphones, handling of them, price ? etc

he then stuck Rocker007 in the booth with his Les Paul GT into Matts Fender amp and got all producer on him until he got a short riff which will show the differences between the mikes. the guitar was DI'd and this was recorded then "re-amped" with him changing the microphone starting with on grill on axis, on grille off axis, 30cm away on and off axis. all done as scientific as possible (he even used a measuring tape ? )

Matt said when he finds some time he'll upload the different samples for those who couldnt make it so you can A/B them yourselves to hear the difference. definately learnt quite a bit and now I want one of those reamp boxes ?

big thanks to Matt for opening his studio and spending so much of his time (we got there at 12 and left at 5ish) to share his knowledge.

Manfred-Klose

It was a really awesome workshop!!!!

We learned about how much differnece a few centimeters makes with mic placement.
by comparing it with differrent mics like the sm57,md421 and some crappy mics as well.

Thanks matta. ?

kayDUB

Yeah, thanks a lot Matt...
Lots of valuable info was learnt on sat, a real eye-opener in terms of the huge effect just a few cms can make (like Manny said) and it was great to meet you guys! Plus Matt has some really cool gear!
Had a great time ?

p.s. i didn't see any coke ?

nick

kayDUB wrote p.s. i didn't see any coke ?

we all had a few lines before you got here ?

Heath

problem with coke is , the ice cubes make my nose all cold ........

Rocker007

nick wrote very interesting and informative. Matt firstly spoke about the different types of microphones, handling of them, price ? etc

he then stuck Rocker007 in the booth with his Les Paul GT into Matts Fender amp and got all producer on him until he got a short riff which will show the differences between the mikes. the guitar was DI'd and this was recorded then "re-amped" with him changing the microphone starting with on grill on axis, on grille off axis, 30cm away on and off axis. all done as scientific as possible (he even used a measuring tape ? )

big thanks to Matt for opening his studio and spending so much of his time (we got there at 12 and left at 5ish) to share his knowledge.

I second Nick's comment, it was very informative - i actually used one of the techniques (on axis-30cm) on Sunday at church for miking up the Fender Hotrod Deville and got a lot of comments about the guitar tone ?

Matt - thanks a lot for giving up your Saturday to educate some fools ?

ps. I think I'm going to download the studio language, Mattlish - it helps with decoding direction from the producer ? lol

Trippp

Aaaah .... crap

Missed this - would have loved to be there. Haven't seen Matt in quite a while as well.

We'll just have to do it again ... hehehe ... I'll bring my vintage D12 and MD414 mics with ?

matta

Trippp wrote Aaaah .... crap

Missed this - would have loved to be there. Haven't seen Matt in quite a while as well.

We'll just have to do it again ... hehehe ... I'll bring my vintage D12 and MD414 mics with ?

Tiaan,

Late the party again! Hah Hah, and yes it has been TOOO long since we last saw each other.

That reminds me, I got to upload those files and document the recordings!

Cheers

Matt

nick

forgot I took this, Manfred oggling the nice gear ?

Manfred-Klose

mmmh, that pre amp :'(

Edit:Think it was a Neve pre amp

matta

Manfred Klose wrote mmmh, that pre amp :'(

Edit:Think it was a Neve pre amp

Hah Hah, I do have a pair of Neve pres but we used the API 312 for the shootout, a classic guitar pre, nice forward midrange that has made many 'classic' rock records.

Manfred is actaully looking at my compressors, an 1176 REV D and LA-2A 'clone' I built for myself a few years ago.

I'm sorry I've not had a chance to write up all the info from the workshop but I have edited and uploaded all the files, will post the link to them later today.

I normalized them so you can do a comparitve test as there differences betwene gains due to mics and output levels, even though the pre gain remained constant.

By normalizing them you can easily audition them at similar levels, making it easier to judge which you like better.

Cheers

Matt

majestikc

How easy is it to build your own, I've seen a couple DIY guides on building your own 1176 replica for around $50.
Even if I could get someone else to do it and pay them it would still be worth it, if it's worth it.

Is it worth it?

matta

majestikc wrote How easy is it to build your own, I've seen a couple DIY guides on building your own 1176 replica for around $50.
Even if I could get someone else to do it and pay them it would still be worth it, if it's worth it.

Is it worth it?

Hah Hah, I think you are missing a ZERO.... $50 won't even buy you the INPUT attenuator (ONE part, LOL)!!!

If you skimp on looks, sure you can do it for around $500, but then YOU are providing the labour, and a discrete project like this takes HOURS if not days. My unit cost in the region of R8,000 to build, ex my time spent building it.

Sonically my unit is as close to the original REV D's (the one that everyone wants) and it was def. worth building, but if you are not into electronics/challenges, then you are better off forking out R15,000 and buying one with a better resale value.

Cheers

Matt

majestikc

It doesn't seem like such a good idea any more, maybe in the future

matta

Hey Guys,

As promised here is the link to the files for download: http://www.ashtonaudio.com/audio/

Apologies for the long delay, server was down for a week and work caught up with me! When I get a chance I'll give a more detailed write up of the session and how we went about recording the tracks.

The names of each file are pretty self explanatory, esp. if you were at the event.

Cheers

Matt

« Previous Page Next Page »