Why go to Anaheim?

Posted on by under Blog, Gear, Music, Production

Not for Disney and not for The Mighty Ducks (which is as good as Disney anyway). Go for NAMM, probably the biggest and best event for us musicians wanting to see what’s going to be available to make noise’s with over the next 12 months. If you can get in, it’s not a public event, then there are also lots of cool people to meet and great musicians to watch including many of the greats.

Check out musicradar for some great online coverage. They update regularly and cover not just guitars and studio stuff but also bass, drums and other tech.

Anyhow, these are the companies I’ll really be keeping an eye on. Excited to see what they have in store for us:

Kemper Amps (new rack gear), Ernie Ball (new JP13), Ibanez (curious for more 7 and 8 string models). In the studio world i’m excited to see what Apogee and Slate Digital have in store. I think Slate will be showing off the Raven touchscreen console. Looks pretty ace.

No doubt my wallet is going to get dented this year! :)

Alex

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The Kemper Profiler!

This is my Kemper Profiler. If you play and record guitar go and buy one. It’s that good, its changed the game.

Think of it as taking a picture of the sound and dynamics of a real amp. It doesn’t model someone’s interpretation of an amp like a pod or axe fx it actually captures a real amps sound just like you would if you we’re recording a record and allows you to reproduce it.

Ive only touched the surface of its uses and functions here, suffice to say I haven’t played this much guitar since I was 17 and wanted to be John Petrucci (actually, kinda still do). Honestly, don’t know how I lived without it.

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Instagram

Posted on by under Blog

So i’m on instagram now.  I  like it, its my favourite of the social networks by a long shot mainly because I can look at lots of guitars and gear. I’m following a bunch of my favourite players and bands and it’s pretty cool to see what goes on in their world. If abit of further inspiration was needed, then it provides. Try it. @alexlouisdoyle

Anyhow, right now it seems Twitter and Instagram are having abit of a scuffle. Hmmm, a digital pillow fight. Awesome.

Back to making music

Drop tuned and VTM

Posted on by under Blog

I’ve been writing alot.  I think this surge in productivity is partly because I recently experimented a little more with drop tunings, namely Drop C and B. It feels fresh and I think trying something new is definitely working out, creatively speaking. It’s definitely resulting in a more modern sound. Drop tuning is nothing new, it’s being popular for years in metal, but with the likes of Skrillex and Alex Clare it’s starting to find it’s way into other genre’s and even the radio. Try it, see what you come up with.

I recently picked up the  VTM plugin by Slate Digital. It’s really rather good. Sounds great on my guitars. Looking forward to experimenting more and hopefully  I can get my hands on their VCC plugin this christmas too. Talking of production, i’ve been listening to the Pensado’s Place podcast recently where Dave himself actually gets interviewed (by none other the JJP) I’d definitely recommend listening, lots of inspiring and useful information

Anyhow, thats all for now, I missed not being in the USA for thanksgiving this year so I just want to say happy thanksgiving to my american friends and anybody else that may be reading! I’m making up for it next year!

Alex

Mixing diary 2

Posted on by under Blog

So this is my second attempt and I think a much much improved one. Ive been reading various blogs and books lately and they all keep saying about giving each instrument a space and not overcrowding. I think its a principle that works both in mixing and writing and thats what i’ve tried to do here.

Firstly I tightened up most of the guitars by re-recording them. Tonally I tried to give them a much crisper flavour so it wouldnt get lost. I got rid of a few parts over the chorus and double tracked the guitars left and right to get it nice and heavy. For the intro and verses I kept the main guitar panned about 10 o’clock with the reverbed signal at 2. I picked this up from a magazine and it definitely made for a bigger sound whilst keeping the clarity. I also added some hi and low passes to most guitars and some light compression on the guitar buss to ‘glue’ them together. 

I changed the drums to something more suitable and re-balanced them. Added some reverb to the whole kit and now it fits in with the music much better. It was a quick fix and there is still plenty to look at with the drums. 

I’ve included a picture of my session file.

A step in the right direction I think. Please listen and make any suggestions. Image