Join Rip Rowan in a new installment of Point-to-Point, as we dissect a song from the new hit album by the Old 97's, Blame it on Gravity, and show how the song came together from pre-production through final mix.

The problem with control surfaces is that by the time there are enough controls on the surface to actually do the job, you've pretty much rebuilt a complete console.  But Dexter gives you near-total control in a tabletop-friendly format.

Getting a good kick drum sound often seems more like luck than skill. It's all too common: a small, thuddy kick. Poor attack. No tone, or bad tone. The kick doesn't cut through... or, if it does, it sounds so bad, you wish it didn't.  Fortunately, there's new help for your limp, flaccid kick drum.

Two questions perenially surface in the world of pro audio:

1. Why are Macs dominant in pro audio, when Windows has such overwhelming market share?

2. Should I get a Mac or PC for recording?

By now you've probably been wondering where we've been. To tell the truth, so have we.

Well, ProRec's demise is a powerful testimonial to the importance of a robust data backup strategy. After over eight years of uninterrupted service, our main web server experienced a (third) failure of its RAID array, and the entire contents of the server were utterly corrupted.

Normally, this would not have been such a disaster. Because, over the same eight years, I maintained a live mirror of the site at another location. The mirror - updated every 15 minutes - was an exact replica of the main site. In just a few hours following the complete loss of the main site, I could have the DNS redirected to the mirror server, and ProRec would magically come back online.

However, as is often the case, Murphy had other plans.

A Perfect Storm It's really amazing how events conspired against us this time. Because, as it turns out, the mirror site was temporarily unavailable. Worse, it was undergoing a one-time rebuild - and its mirrored contents were temporarily erased with the intention of rebuilding them from the main site. So when the main site was lost, there was no mirror, and no way to restore the mirror.

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In my last studio, I was fortunate to have a great sounding control room. I can’t take any credit for this; it was sheer luck-of-the-draw. Some interplanetary alignment of room dimensions, carpeting type, and speaker placement converged to give me a near-perfect listening environment. There was no need for any kind of special room treatment. The mids were smooth and offered precise imaging, and the bass response was very flat down to a solid 30 Hz. I got a little spoiled. However I got the opportunity to relocate the studio to a new location with a larger and much better sounding tracking room, and had to take the offer. In most ways the new studio is superior to the old one – all except for the control room. The new studio’s control room is a too-small 8 by 13 foot operation, with a roof that’s just a little too low, and severe bass response issues. After a few weeks of working in the new control room I had started to adapt to the room’s anomalies by trusting my gut (instead of my ears) about the bass...

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I’ve been a fan of Cakewalk music software ever since Greg Hendershott was the only employee. Cakewalk has always had a good combination of usability, power, and relative simplicity. When the application added audio in the mid 1990s, it wasn’t clear at first if the application would remain a “MIDI sequencer with some audio features” or if it was on a track to become an “audio multitrack with MIDI”. Many arguments have ensued about what was, and what should be the direction of the product. When the product was renamed “SONAR” it removed any doubt: the mission was multitrack audio. And with SONAR 4, Cakewalk has reached a level of sophistication that most of us doubted for years it would ever reach. When it comes to multitrack audio recording, SONAR 4 is the best of breed, managing to somehow combine terrific power, performance, and usability into a single elegant package. For people unfamiliar with SONAR, a complete rundown of its capabilities would (and does) fill a book. I cannot devote time in this review...

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When I moved into my new facility at Pleasantry Lane studios, I made a commitment: no new rack gear, and no mixers. I am on a quest to downsize the hardware and optimize my use of a pure computer-based approach to engineering. Of course, when swearing off mixers, one quickly bumps one’s head against the problem of monitoring. You need some kind of control over the monitors, you still need a talkback, you need a headphone mix and you need a little routing so you can play back CDs or record to a cassette deck. What you need is for someone to take the master section from a large-footprint studio console and cook it down into a little box for DAW users. You need a Big Knob.

Mackie’s big knob was designed with the DAW user in mind. The unit features a large, high-quality volume knob, low noise op-amps, a small but useful set of inputs and outputs, a talkback section, three headphone outputs, and other nifty features for DAW users.

Ins and Outs The Big Knob gives you five inputs: two 2-track inputs, a master DAW input, a phono input, and a phones mix input. Any of the first four can be routed to any output. The phones mix input allows you to route a custom mix to the headphones while monitoring a different mix.

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When I was building out the space for our new studio, one thing started to annoy me. The studio was constructed as a production studio, with a separate control room and nice big tracking room. I loved the layout, but I spend a lot of time tracking... myself. In the old space, the DAW was in the primary tracking room - it was a working musician's workshop - so I could, for example, set up the drums right at the computer, and run the rig from the drum kit. But in this space, with its dedicated control and tracking rooms, I would be forced to trek back and forth from the recorder to the instrument whenever I was recording myself. What I needed was a remote. Back in the day, we had remote controllers for our recorders. Whether this was a simple "record" button attached to the deck by a wire, or a complete remote unit on the ADATs, you could generally remote control the recorder from anywhere in the studio, if you had enough wire. But, now that the recorder is a computer, how is one supposed to handle...

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Audio-Toys, Inc. (ATI) made a name for itself in the past decade with its series of Paragon mixers, which have earned high marks as monitor and broadcast mixers. With the 8MX2, ATI is earning high marks for its mic preamps. The 8MX2 was apparently designed primarily to be a front-end system to an DA-88: it has 8 mic inputs, feeding a single DB25 output jack. The 8MX2 provides limiters on every channel, making it an ideal candidate for a live remote rig. Additionally, the 8MX2 offers some limited mixer capability, rounding out its usefulness as a front-end to an 8-channel digital tape machine.



The front panel controls are fairly straightforward. Each channel has a pair of dual knobs which control input gain, limiter threshold, mix level, and mix pan. Switches are available on each channel for phase and phantom power. Another pair of switches control the mixer input selection and cueing selection. It's easiest to understand the functionality by...

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I have had the pleasure of reviewing several of Shure's KSM line of studio condensers, and generally speaking, I have found these microphones to be sonically accurate and all-around useful mics. The KSM line includes the KSM 27 and 32, which are side-address large diaphragm cardioid condensers, the KSM 44, a multipattern large-diaphragm condenser, the 109 and 137, which are small-diaphragm cardioid condensers, and the latest offering, the KSM 141, a multipattern small diaphragm condenser. I received a matched pair of KSM 141's in a functional plastic carrying case. The case lacked the sophisticated feel of the elegant case provided with the KSM 44. Inside the case were two mics, a pair of windscreens, and mic clips. The mics were finished in the same champagne finish as the rest of the KSM line, and had an elegant, utilitarian look and solid feel. The first thing you'll...

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"Colorful" mic preamps have been the primary focus of the preamp market for the past few years, and with good reason. Many recordists who moved from analog tape to digital media during the 1990s found that they missed the natual compression and coloration of tape, and sought relief in vacuum tubes and colorful overdriven circuitry. I have to admit that I am quite a fan of colorful preamps, and own a few that range from "pretty and warm" to flat out "rack-mounted stompboxes". Most of my recordings require some character, and I like to be able to crank up some tubes and get a little hair on my signal when the urge strikes. But what about those times when you need to be clean? What do you do when you need a straight wire with gain? Enter the True Systems Precision 8.

Great Numbers, and a Couple of Frills The Precision 8 is a no-nonsense 8 channel preamp with a few cool features and tremendous sonic purity....

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I’m a big Rush fan. Yeah, I know. Me and 50 million other drummers. I’ve been listening to this band since they showed up on my radar in the late 1970s, and have always followed their tours and new albums. I admit that I fall into the camp of wistful fans who yearn for a return to the art-rock glory days of the band (which pretty much makes me an old burnout) but I still like to hear the new stuff and see what these dudes are up to. And, Rush’s return to a more guitar-oriented (and acoustic-drum-oriented) sound has reignited some of my interest in their performances. Rock music is all about the guitar, and few people are as interesting to listen to as Alex Lifeson. And don’t even get me started about Neil Peart. The other interest I have in this band is that they have always been at or near the forefront of recording technology. They were one of the first bands to jump into digital recording, where they definitely learned some tough lessons, but the engineering work done on their CDs has usually been top-notch. I can almost always learn something about engineering from listening to the production of a Rush CD....

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Every so often a product comes around that justifies a real rave. The Sonitus:fx R3 plug-in package is a perfect example of a product that I just have to praise loudly. Sonitus:fx is a PC-based (DirectX and VST) plug-in bundle that offers a very usable assortment of innovative and practical plug-ins at a value-conscious price. This new version 3 release sports an updated user interface, enhanced metering, several new plug-ins, and some new optimizations. The bundle is available on-line directly from Ultrafunk (http://www.ultrafunk.com), or you can buy each plug-in individually. However the whole package is so damn useful you're better off with the whole bundle. What's in the Bundle? The package features ten individual plug-ins: Compressor, Delay, Eqaulizer, Gate, Modulator, Multiband, Phase, Reverb, Surround, and Wahwah. Each one offers 32-bit floating point processing, VST automation support, A/B comparison switch, and a host of cool presets. The package has...

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The Aardvark Direct Pro Q10 is a 10-input / 10-output 24 bit PCI combination preamp and soundcard for Windows and Mac. The system features 8 balanced audio inputs and outputs, MIDI I/O, and S/PDIF I/O on RCA jacks. Supported sample rates include 44.1KHz and 48KHz, and an upcoming driver update will give the soundcard 88.2 and 96 KHz capability. In addition, the Q10 ships with a free copy of Cakewalk Pro Audio v.9. What's in the Box The system includes a small PCI card and a breakout box. Like other Aardvark products, power for the breakout box is provided by the PCI card, which means no power cord or wall wart - a nice feature. The PCI card is dominated by the large shielded cover which has a professional look and feel. Aardvark Direct Pro Q10 (front and back)

The breakout box utilizes eight combination XLR / 1/4" Neutrik inputs on the front panel, and eight 1/4" balanced outputs on the rear panel. The rear...

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I was asked last year to review the new 3.0 version of Waves Native Gold Bundle. Anyone familiar with my work knows that I am a vehement advocate of Waves' products, and have used Waves tools on virtually every project I have ever done for the last five years. Of course I offered to do the review, and I figured it'd be easy. After all, how hard is it to review a product you love? Waves Native Gold bundle offers a huge host of great processors, including EQ, compression, reverb, chorus, flange, dithering, and the highly acclaimed L1+ Ultramaximizer limiter. These plugins run the gamut from the practical - such as the surgical Q10 EQ - to the utterly zany - such as the totally wacked-out Enigma. The new version 3 processors sport a pretty new user interface, which gives them a nice, 3D look as opposed to the tired, flat, sterile look and feel of the previous versions of plug-ins. Many of the processors have been optimized to offer superior performance versus the previous versions when used on modern CPUs...

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A Learning Experience Mixing a CD remotely was a true learning experience. Usually, when tracking a CD, either I am producing the CD or I've been working with a producer since the outset, so I am either setting the artistic vision for the project, or I'm in constant contact with the person in charge of the vision. On this project, I simply took my best shot and won the gig. Now I've got 13 CDs of raw, unmixed tracks in my hand, and I'm really hoping that I'm not about to really piss someone off. In the end, I had to assume that if I won the gig, then the producer and artist must be vibing with my work, and so I had to trust that my mixing decisions would be in line with their artistic vision. I had to go on faith that if I was their choice, then my gut would lead me in the right direction. Turns out I was wrong. When I heard the tracks for Everlasting, my mind said, "DISTORTION. LOTS OF DISTORTION. DISTORTION ON EVERYTHING. SPARE NO EARDRUM. MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE." And so I put together a...

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Mixing the Drums On this song I was presented with some unusual and creative drum tracks to mix. As Rob explained, the drum kit was made to sound very trashy. No mics were used on toms, as they were not played. Instead we had mics on the kick, snare, hats, and overheads. We also had a very crappy sounding mic under the snare, and another ugly sounding mic in the room. Presented with these choices, I decided to take a reasonably straightforward mix on the kit using the 5 main mics on the kit, and leave the ugly snare and rooms mics out of the drum submix. That way, I could use those colorful mics later in the mix. The drummer had used an undamped kick drum with quarters taped to the head and beater. The mic was placed very close to the head, giving the drum a strange, empty, clicky sound. I rather liked it as it was - raw, boomy, round, and thumpy - but it had too much "roar". That roar can step all over the mix - and with 48 tracks, I was going to have to get everything to sit nicely in its place....

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A Little Piano Listening through the rough mix that Rob had provided me, it was apparent that there was a piano part that doubled the bass line. Since I had decided to base the verse around the bass part, this doubled line was very important. I knew that if those parts were going to work together, then I had better pay close attention to the piano and get it sounding right early on. Soloed, I though that piano was rather muddy and mono. It was recorded as a stereo track, but the sound was very up-the-middle. EQ could fix the muddiness. I didn't need any more bass down there, but I definitely saw room for the piano's nice overtones. They would really help the bass line stand out. With some radical EQ - a -18 dB low shelf @ 50 Hz combined with a +7 dB boost @ 2500 Hz, the piano lost its tubbiness and became meaner.



But, with...

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Guitars Most of the guitars on this track were cut with one mic on the guitar cab, and one mic in the room. Usually this is done to provide some mixing options - close and distant. However on this song I was able to use both tracks effectively. For example, on the "tapping" guitar part that starts the song I could have only used one track, and panned it. However by using both tracks, I can get the sound to be a little larger. And due to either careful planning or sheer luck, the sounds are nicely out-of-phase - not too much, but enough to push the sounds out to the edges of the stereo image. So the effect is that the part is balanced, but not mono. The sound from this guitar was pretty muddly, mainly from the close-miked amp cabinet. I used a bass cut on that track @ 160 Hz and a treble boost out around 2600 Hz to bring up the angry distortion. The distant mic was much closer to the desired sound and just needed a little cut around...

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Vocals The vocals on this song were recorded as several distinct chunks: 1. A single track of lead vocals on the verses and the bridge 2. Doubled lead vocals on the choruses backed with a single track sung an octave up 3. Eight tracks of background vocals 4. One extra track singing the "what's your plan" line in the choruses The unprocessed lead vocal