TOPSOIL Studio Gear List

MICROPHONES
LD Condensers
(2) ADK A-51
(2) AKG C414B/ULS
(1) AKG C4000B
(1) Audio-Technica AT3035
(1) MXL V77
(1) Peluso 22 47
(1) Peluso 22 251
(1) Red Type B w/ Geffel M7 cap
(1) Studio Projects C1
(2) Studio Projects B3

SD Condensers
(2) AKG C451E
(2) AKG C1000S
(2) Audio Technica 4041
(2) Josephson C42
(2) Peluso CEMC6 (cardioid and omni caps)
(1) Shure 849

LD Dynamics
(2) AKG D112
(2) Electro-Voice RE20
(1) Red5 Audio RVD1
(4) Sennheiser MD-421 II
(1) Shure SM7
(2) Shure Beta52

SD Dynamics
(2) Audio-Technica ATM29HE
(2) Audix D2
(1) Audix OM2, OM5, OM6
(2) Electro-Voice RE15
(10) Shure SM57
(2) Shure SM58
(8) Shure Beta57A
(1) Shure Beta58A

Ribbons
(1) Beyer M260
(1) Fostex M88 or something
(1) Royer 121


PREAMPS & CHANNEL STRIPS

(1) A-Designs MP2A
(1) Altec 1567A
(1) Ampex 351
(1) Aphex 107
(1) API 3124
(1) DBX 376
(1) DBX 385
(1) Joe Meek VC1
(1) Joe Meek VC3Q
(2) Rupert Neve Portico 5012


COMPRESSORS

(1) Altec 436C
(2) ART ProVLA
(1) DBX 160A
(1) DBX 161
(1) Drawmer DS201 Gate
(2) Empirical Labs Distressor EL8X
(1) Empirical Labs Fatso
(4) FMR RNC
(1) Joe Meek SC2.2



EFFECTS

(1) DeltaLab Effectron II
(1) Ibanez DM1000
(1) Kurzweil Rumour
(1) Lexicon PCM60
(1) Line6 Echo Pro
(1) Roland SRE555
(1) Roland Rhythm Arranger
(1) TC Electronic M3000
(1) Yamaha SPX900
Lots of pedals by Boss, DOD, Ibanez, Electro Harmonix, Dunlop, MXR, Morley etc.


RECORDERS

Alesis HD24
Digidesign ProTools
Carver TD1400 cassette deck
Fostex CR300 CD-R
Fostex D-10 DAT
HHB CD830+ CD-Recorder
MCI/Sony 1" analog 8-Track
Tascam Portastudio cassette 4-track
Teac 1/4" analog 2-track


CONVERTERS

Digidesign ADAT bridge
(2) RME ADI-8 DS
(1) RME ADI-2


ANALOG CONSOLES

Studiomaster Classic 8 24+16 channel
Yamaha PM1000 16 channel (in the middle of a refurb)


MONITORING

CR:
Dynaudio BM15A
Yamaha NS10
EV Sentrys
Big huge Technics
Samson Control C matrix

Headphones:
AKG K240s
AKG K271
Direct Sound Extreme Isolation
Grado SR225
Grado SR80
Sony MDR-V600s

Session Pics

All the bad puns you can handle!


Who doesn't like to play with their organ sometimes?







It's a late 30's Hammond Model E and a Leslie 22R



Drumming up bidness...







On location at Oshkosh Rhythm Institute



for kicks...



Countering the dumb drummer stereotype, Hannah is always reading between takes





Stoopid tip #4,763,936: give tired clients some kind of crazy concertina to play with.






A look at the lower end of things...









I didn't buy a 22 47 thinking I'd use it on the back of a bass cab, but there it is-




Ode to wreckchording:


















Ready for my vocal shootout, Mr. Ragamuffin...



The Peluso is the one!




Guitars









Double your RE15s, double your fun.

"We Need A..."


Band: we need a vibrato pedal!
Dirty: here's a rotating speaker and a Bassman

Band: we need a good distortion pedal!
Dirty: here's a cranked Mesa Boogie and a Celestion




Band: we should probably use a click track for this one.
Dirty: asketh and ye shall receiveth

-reserved space-

Thoughts on A-Designs MP-2A Audition


I got into the new A-Designs MP-2A recently and though I'd post some impressions of it in the wake of an indie rock session.


The MP-2A is the newest version of the MP-2 and MP-2r (higher gain for ribbon mics), which have been very well regarded tubed mic preamps. In both cases, the "2" represents the 2-channel version (the single channel version is, of course, the MP-1/A). The new "A" version makes a few additions--it adds a "tone" switch on top of the impedance switch on the old version. The new switch appears to be a low-pass filter. The A also has a 20db pad and a polarity switch, giving it further flexibility for various sources, mic techniques and subsequent mixes. I came away with a great impression of the old MP, my only real gripe being that it didn't have quite enough gain for ribbon mics, necessitating the higher gain "r" version; however, the new "A" made this ragamuffin happy by offering 60db out--enough for a ribbon.


In a recent session, I used the MP-2A on guitars--an SM57 on a Marshall cab and head, and a Sennheiser MD-421 II on the same cab but with a Peavey head. I also made good use of the MP-2A's 1/4" DI ins, which are on the face of the pre where they should be IMO. The DI sounded very nice with a Fender American P-Bass straight in, and also worked well for a Novation synth. The LPF tone switch was fery useful with the synth because it took care if a layer of unwanted high-end tizz, while helping it to hang back in the mix where we wanted it.


In all cases I would describe the sound of the MP-2A as being clean for a tube pre--this isn't a tube pre that darkens the sound nor is it bright--but still imparts the harmonic richness and bloom assiciated with quality tube gear. This is the same conclusion I drew of the original MP-1 that I heard last pring, which suggests to me that A-Designs has managed to keep the sonic signature of the preamp while adding more useable gain and greater sonic versatility via the new "tone" switches should you want to tailor the sound further. Finally, setting the gain...the great thing about this pre is at "normal" settings--with the VU meter staying in the -5 to 0 range--you get that beautiful clean sound with the smooth high end sparkle--or, if you want a little adventure, you can crank that level knob more. When you get the level well into the red, instead of harsh clipping you hit the tube harder and get that nice phat tube compression/harmonic distortion going on and it's just tits in the right application. Try it on guitars! Just be careful not to "pin" the needle past the red for any prolonged period--this can physically damage the meter. Oh, and speaking of that level pot--users of the old MPs may have found the level pot a little odd in its nonlinearity. The new "A" addresses this--the gain increases much more predictably along the level knob's travel clockwise (though to be clear, the old pot never really bugged me, but I did find it functionally a bit unusual).


Peter Montessi of A-Designs (who I might add is one hell of a good, personable fellow and graciously willing to feild questions about his products) cautioned me that the MP-2A's tube could have a tendency to ring--an intended design parameter and the nature of the particular tube type--and as such, should be kept reasonably well isolated. Also, like any tube preamp, the MP-2A dissipated its share of heat and care should be taken to give it sufficient ventilation in the rack. I have mine racked up in an ATA style shock case with plenty of space above and below, and have had no problems with ringy tube.


This MP-2A's build quality is, like my three ATTYs, exemplary. The fit and finish are excellent and the preamp has a solid feel all around, with good connectors and gorgeous back-lit VU meters for each channel that are not only serious eye candy, but highly functional. I always prefer a good classic VU to a glitzy led display--not only aesthetically, but functionally. For some reason, I have an easier time setting gain with an old-skool VU. Something about that needle dancing about must get just the right mix of chemicals going in my brain!


I'm pleased with the MP-2A. It has more than addressed some niggling details about the old version while retaining a sound that it is in my opinion not only very lovely sounding, but unique in a time of preamp makers trying to make their products sound like someone else's. I applaud A-Designs' efforts to this effect!


As I use this preamp more on subsequent sessions I will add more thoughts on this piece here in this thread.

I saw a thread a while back that you busted out the Kelsey mixer and were having some good experiences with it...care to elaborate further? I'm kinda interested.

The Kelsey does what it does. It definitely has that...I dunno..."vintage" old-skool sound to it. It's not clean like the A&H but it's good for effect--particuarly the crankability of the channel gain. I get get a really crunched sound out of the channels particularly on kick/snare/drum room tracks before hard clipping takes over and ruins the party. I've rather enjoyed playing with cassette 4-track demos on the Kelsey as well. Definitely an old school lo-fi adventure! The fixed-band EQs can be very amusing or real unfortunate as well


All in all, this board was well worth the hundred bucks I scored it for, and has been amazingly reliable--it's survived -20*F temps in winter storage back when I had nowhere else to put it and keeps on tickin. I suppose I should locate a couple extra channel strips before my luck runs out...

So...it's officially been over a year, here, buddy...you can't tell me you've been doing NOTHING this whole time...

Nosir, in fact lots of changes have been made over the last year! Went from my own little basement studio into a much better, shared space. We just made some changes there and once my current project is winding down, I'll be overhauling this journal.

Stay tuned for a much longer gear list, better rooms, a RAWK CR, some pics and a bunch of gear babble!

Alright, updated out gear list at Topsoil, a sort of collective of gear belonging to me and two other guys. There are couple more engineers from the area who work out of the space but don't contribute any gear, and we make ends meet by renting out the studio as rehearsal space during the week.

The space is in a very old building; we have a nice hardwood/high ceiling live room, a dead iso booth, a good sized well treated Control room, and plenty of very groovy house instruments which I have yet to list...highlights include an assortment of Fender and Gretsch guitars, a late 1930's Hammond Model E organ and 60's Leslie 22R, Vox Jag andsome funky analog synths, some cool old Gibson and Magnatone amps and a bunch more stuff!

Pics etc to come later!

Do you mind telling me what you use those AKG C1000S for? I hate those things!

A few words about Fatso please?

quote:

Originally posted by nbarts:
Do you mind telling me what you use those AKG C1000S for?

Nothing. I don't dig em. They don't belong to me although I suppose it's nice to have a couple spare sdc/mdc around...for...that...um...possible...situation...in which...451s, 4041s, CEMC6s C414s or C42s may not work better.

On a side note, a C1000s was my first condenser. Actually wasn't bad on a mando and couple ukes a former studio mate had...IIRC...when I moved on to better mics I sold it for enough to get some sweet stickyicky and a burrito. Both were tasty.

quote:

A few words about Fatso please?

Me like. I've only used it on the 2-track. It can be used to color a signal and I've also used it to compress very slightly too. Lots of color options, fat, sweet, fat and sweet etc--LOL. The "warmth" thing can sweeten up and/or smooth over the high end. If I want to crank up some high shelf on tracks on the console, the warmth settings can help smooth over some edge. The Tranny can be nice on some tracks, especially thinner or lighter mixes, for improving the bass through smaller speakers. Other times it can make the bass freqs worse but it's worth experimenting with. Bunch of simple compressor configurations, but I haven't tried tracking with it yet. Can get a little more oomph to the right mix or kinda pull things together with careful and conservative comp settings on the mix bus. The comp is like the warmth settings where a little goes a long way, and I've mostly only used the Buss comp. You know how Empirical Labs stuff can be--gotta tweak just a little and listen, tweak a little more and listen, so on & so forth. Their gear is musical enough that you can overdo things before you know it!

When I need to compress on the way in it's usually a vocal or bass and I default to a Distressor. Ah lubs mah Distressors. I've noticed from the way he sometimes leaves it set that the engineer that owns the FATSO uses it for tracking pretty commonly. Gotta try it out on a session where I have more time to fiddle around! You know how clients can get impatient!

-reserved space-

Sweet jeebus - is that a 'shared space' or a music store showroom?

Shared space...although that pic with all the hand drums on the wall was a location session at Oshkosh Rhythm Institute, so that's their stash of drums....but yeah, Topsoil is a shared space with three main contributors of gear. I'm one of 'em. We have us some stoopid fun toys, and a great selection of grubby pedestal RAWK ashtrays though no smokin' in the CR or when studio mics are up.

Looks good

How do you keep everything from rattling when recording in the same room with your drums and guitars hanging?

I've never worried about it

Hey man,

I'm looking to for a partner to open a commercial studio. There are a few people interested, but I've never worked with them before. Looks like you have some experience in this field. Can you give me some advice about how to go with this sort of stuff?

quote:

Hey man,

I'm looking to for a partner to open a commercial studio. There are a few people interested, but I've never worked with them before. Looks like you have some experience in this field. Can you give me some advice about how to go with this sort of stuff?

We keep it really simple. We're all essentially freelance and attract our own clients on our own and work out of a shared space on a shared schedule. One guy tends to handle such things as rent checks and overseeing the use of the studio during certain days of the week by rehearsal bands which really helps us pay the rent. Otherwise we all just have to trust one another around each others' gear, try to keep things relatively clean and the above fellow and I are the two that use the studio most so we try to maintain the place together--for example meeting on an off day to update the patch bay, tidy up the racks and change light bulbs or the like.

Otherwise it's pretty informal and everyone kicks in on the rent and utilities at a space that none of us could afford on our own but works independently in what's essentially a gear collective. Cooperative rather than competing as the market here is small.

Whelp, just a note to say I updated the pics slightly.

In other news, I lost my personal practice space (basement studio) to flood water earlier this summer. That really sucked...I was able to dry out and disinfect some of the gear that got damaged, like my drum kit and all the cords in my cable bag, which are back more or less to their old selves now (thank god), and my Epi Valve Jr. which worked perfectly once it dried out and was Lysoled off despite having been totally immersed in icky sewer water! Wow!

On the bad end, I had a whole bag full of mostly handheld dynamic mics--SM57s, Audix OMs, Beta57/58s, Audio Technica 29HEs and so-on and they all got totally immersed. I'd come in from a rough live sound gig the night before, I was tired and I just tossed the mic bag on the floor and went home to sleep. Bad mistake!! More than half of them were destroyed but the odd thing was that it wasn't certain brands or models that held up better than others--a couple SM57s were OK after they dried out, and a couple were destroyed...it was the same deal for the Betas and Audixes. The Audio-Technicas held up surprisingly well as did a D112...I mean, I POURED water out of that D112, left in the sun for a couple days to dry up, plugged it in and damned if the thing didn't work just same as always!!

The mics that didn't work or didn't work right after the flood all got replaced with Shure Beta57s and I have to say I have really started to respect those mics--especially for drum mic'ing and live vocals thanks to the tight patterns (tames bleed) and good gain-before-feedback.

My Rhodes piano suitcase amp got stuck in a few inches of water but it's OK thank GOD...though the humidity exposer meant I needed to set it up and voice it all over again.

Lesson learned--never put your mics on the floor no matter how tired and beat you are! And no, none of my insurances covered anything, nor did federal aid. Other stuff that was destroyed included things like a headphone amp, my vintage Kelsey mixer and lots of odds and ends like patch and mic cables that were on the floor, drum accessories, some paperwork, and some acoustic treatments etc. Could have been much worse but still a mess and a big pain...

Anyway, cut my losses, replaced the essentials and took a good lesson from it all...very glad the studio I keep most of my gear in stayed dry!


**********************


As for what I'm up to now...I did a quick'n'dirty punk demo which wrapped up last month and I'm currently in the studio working on a full LP project with an Oshkosh-based band called Silence DoGood. These guys are young'uns, chick bass player/vocalist, chick drummer and a cool fellow on guitar. They're doing a tasty indie rock sound that takes influence from such varied bands as Modly Peaches, Incubus, Death Cab, Black Keys, but some songs borrow flavors from things like jazz and bluegrass and a song or two even has little dashes of big band and disco beat to give it all a unique flavor that's tough to put into one or two genres or categories other than to call it "indie rock".

Gear-wise, there's Neve and API and vintage Altec preamps galore with the A-Designs filling in the gaps, Shure Betas all over the drums with Josephson C42s or AT4041s on overheads, Peluso 22 47 is doing much of the vocal work, and the guitars are a real mixed bag since we're using anything from Marshall amps to Mesa Boogie to Fender Bassman through cabs ranging from Marshall 4x12 to a Celestion 1x12 to a portable Leslie. Mics really depend--I've had RE15s, Senn 421s, Royer 121, and even an AT3035 on the cabs. For bass this is the first project where I've tried mic'ing the back of the cabinet for extra bulk and depth. Some sessions were done with the cab mic'd front and back and others were done with a more typical cab front mic and DI blend. We'll see which way mixes better.

This is a fun project and these guys are putting a good dollop more effort, whimsy and fun into recording than many others in this area. The band is learning quite alot about the recording process, the importance or performance, dynamics control and applying for focus and care to their arrangements, and I'm getting a good chance to try out different techniques and experiments more than the slew of demo work I've been doing which is much more mic-it-up-and-go. Generally we're tracking the core elements (bass, drums, and either scratch or first-part guitars) live in the big room (with headphone cues and isolated amps). Then we're overdubbing vocals, b. vocals, and extras like percussion bits or special effects or organ parts and so-on.

We also expect to be tracking one song live pseudo-bluegrass style in the live room with a couple room mics and some accents. The parts are a snare/floor tom/high hat in sort of a psuedo-cocktail kit sort of thing, acoustic guitar w/vocals, a banjo, and guest violinist. We did some scratches with this setup last week to see how that would go and give their drummer something to practice to and I think it should be good fun and a big departure from the rawk and/or roll we've been doing so far. These cats are young but talented and they tickle my whimsy.

Fun fun!