# Studio upgrade (chillbot)



## chillbot (Jan 9, 2017)

Planning a lengthy 3-4 month overhaul of the studio. Lengthy because I'm trying to squeeze this in and plan it out whenever I can, then need to find a week or two-week window where I can tear into it and rewire everything.

I may have some questions that warrant their own threads but mostly I thought I could keep everything mostly contained in one thread if that's ok. I know there are some gearheads on here (like myself) that like following this stuff.

I always have done all the wiring myself... to me, putting together a studio is months and months and months of planning everything before I plug in a single cable... so it really helps to talk this out and get ideas and hopefully cut out any potentially problems.

Backstory: this is coming about from getting completely burned out sitting in front of my computer with my samples all day every day for the past 20 years or so. I want to get back to being a musician again and feeling like I'm making music and not just programming a computer. I might as well get a desk job. (No offense to those of you with desk jobs I'm sure it's fantastic!)

There's nothing much to be done with orchestral tracks but on other stuff I've been playing a lot more live bass & guitar which is very satisfying, despite the fact that I suck at both. So I filled the studio living room with toys... it helps just to get up now and then and move around and play real instruments and tweak knobs and everything else.

I also have 6 slave computers, which is left over from the days where you could only have 4GB of ram in a computer or whatever... it's really unnecessary now. I barely use a fraction of the ram I have available. So I want to tighten that up and get down to 2-3 max.

I'm hoping to do this in stages. So first the living room, then upgrade the computers, rework the template/samples, etc, rewire everything. I bought Sonar Platinum last summer and still haven't installed it (I'm on Sonar X3e).

*STEP 1 (FINISHED): SOME TOYS*

Over the last year I've picked up a Hammond A100 with leslie, a Fender Rhodes, a Yamaha C3 piano, a Minimoog Voyager, A Dave Smith Prophet 08, and I have an order with sweetwater for the Arturia MatrixBrute if it ever actually gets released. My Voyager and Prophet I’m just using with a portable speaker for fun... nothing is connected yet.... which brings up:

*STEP 2: WIRE THEM*

I've got some guys coming in the next week to run conduits under the living room floor for all the wires.

OK here come all the questions....

Recommendations for mics for the piano? What do we think about these all-in-one systems:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PianoMicSys

How about the leslie?

I see that the mic situation could get very expensive very quickly from the recommendations I've already gotten. I would definitely like to keep the cost down as much as possible in this department. My interest in recording the piano and the hammond is just to get that "live" sound, not necessarily to have the best possible high-end recording. If I needed that I can use HZ Piano. Or my VK-8M. I love buying gear I'm just not a fan of spending a lot on things like mics and cables (though I force myself to buy good cables) because they aren't "fun".

What about preamps? Again I'm not thinking crazy high-end.

I'm looking for a board for the living room that will handle all the mics plus all the other toys listed above, maybe with a little extra room to plug in a bass or guitar, then send the stereo mix out digitally to my main studio boards. So I guess maybe 16 channels would do. Any recommendations? Built-in preamps? I like the looks of the Yamaha TF1 though I'm confused does it not have digital outputs on a digital mixer?

This looks about right maybe if I picked up one used:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-LS9-16-Mixer-studio-console-mixing-board-WITH-customized-Brady-Case-/351887377126?hash=item51ee1f42e6:g:VwwAAOSwxg5XxePf


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## synthpunk (Jan 9, 2017)

I applaud your philosophy change and wanting to incorporate more live performance, that should be a goal of all of ours.

I also concur in minimalization if possible getting rid of clutter, excess, and things you don't use really allows your imagination and creatvity to run in my opinion. Eno says Freedom inhibits creativity.

What is your budget for a board ? In the middle of the road I'd recommend taking a look at the Toft ATB for new. There are also a lot of used boards out there with many people going ITB. If you consider that route you do have to proceed with caution because almost all boards will have some kind of issue. On the lower end new I would take a look at Allen & Heath Zed series.

More than happy to add input through your new Journey.


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## chillbot (Jan 9, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> More than happy to add input through your new Journey.


Thank you very much.

I do worry about used boards... especially anything with motorized faders. I use 2 Yamaha 02R96s in my main studio and after about 10 years of use the faders all went to hell. I brought them to the shop and had them refurbished and now it's been about 5 years since then and they're all going again. I would honestly try to replace them with something else... but... I have this custom-made furniture that they fit so nicely in. And I do love them. But I don't think I can keep getting them refurbished all the time and I can't afford $20k for a new set. Not sure what to do...

I don't have a budget in mind for a board for the living room but the Toft is a bit much for a board that is basically just going to be a submix for the Yamaha. What is it about the Toft that you like, the preamps? And I am hoping to find a board with digital out because I'd like to run the stereo mix into the Yamaha and be able to leave the channel "up" all the time without worrying about any small amount of hiss. The distance between the submixer and the main mixers is about 30 feet and it would be going through a conduit with a bunch of other cables so the potential to pick up some noise is there.

Actually the Allan & Heath QU-16 looks about perfect. I'm not real familiar with that brand, are they good? Thanks!


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## gsilbers (Jan 9, 2017)

that's definitely a mouthful .

as for preamps, if you are not into high end, you might want to try the warm audio pres, the golden age 73 mic pre or the FMR really nice pres. all very affordable and very nice sounding compared to the originals they clone after.
the warm audio just released a 4 channel api clone pre.

or use the pres from the mixing boards if you get one.

I remember from my old school days that for composer studios high paced placed I worked at in NYC , everything was wired directly. that way if you use the piano you only open up the pro tools session and selected the channels and pam. mic and pres and board all routed there. no need to change a cable or anything.
same with guitars, etc.


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## chillbot (Jan 9, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> I also concur in minimalization if possible getting rid of clutter, excess, and things you don't use really allows your imagination and creatvity to run in my opinion.


I bought these Neve 5059 summing mixers for all of my synths since I have a ton of them I didn't want to use up all the inputs on my board. Mistake... in a workflow sense when I'm in a hurry I will almost always go to omnisphere or zebra instead of pulling up a hardware synth because of the extra step of going through the Neve. Again, it feels like sitting in front of a computer instead of making music... I want to get back to knobs! So with cutting out at least 3 of my slave computers, that will free up 24 inputs on the boards... I'm going to go back to hardwiring all my lovely synths directly into the board.

So all that said, I have two of these for sale:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/5059Sat

No rush, I'll post in the classifieds later on or on ebay when I get to that stage... but I thought I would mention it here since it's kind of a specialty item... if anyone happens to need/want one. $3,750 new... two years old... I would take $2,400 each.


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## chillbot (Jan 9, 2017)

Any opinions on either of these as submixers? Looks like either could work for me... not sure if the preamps are decent or sucky.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SLMAD16

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Qu16Chrome

From the input I've received so far these are some of the options I'm considering for leslie mics, 3 mics total:

LESLIE TOP

$1,800 sennheiser 441 x 2

$1,000 lauten audio LA-320 x 2

$1,650 (on sale) akg C414 x 2

LESLIE BOTTOM

$380 sennheiser 421

$450 electro voice RE20


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## synthpunk (Jan 9, 2017)

For preamps you might want to look at API lunchbox you can get a rack with four slots up to 10 and then pick out a which flavors you like you're also not limited to preamps you can add compressors or EQs and other miscellaneous modules as well. Then run those into you yamahas or audio interfaces through patch bays. That would be the route I would go.

For Leslie I like a D112 on the bottom and a pair of MD421's on top. SM57's also work well on top and I'm sure if you want to go with RE20's of those would work as well.

For piano I like a pair of Cole's ribbons on top that is my favorite. I can get away with just about any LDC over the strings but usually like a Tube Mic. You can usually find some good deals on used Mic's on eBay, your local Craigslist, or reverb.com.

The Toft ATB is about the eq's. Smooth an open mid-range. The Allen and Heath Zed pres are highly regarded. If this is just a sub mixer for line inputs I would look for a used Speck or Mackie 3204.


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## wst3 (Jan 9, 2017)

looks like a really fun project!!!

some random thoughts...

The Earthworks Piano Mic System is awesome. I've yet to see it used where it did not compliment the piano. You could maybe do better with a couple of Schoeps or DPA microphones and custom rigging, but the PianoMicSystem literally drops into place and works. You can still play with placement, but it's all there in one handy package, and I really like Earthworks microphones (well most of the time, they are a bit too honest for my budget mando<G>!)

Recording a Leslie - there are dozens of ways to do it, and they all sound different... no surprise there! I like a bug dynamic on the bottom, I use an RE-20 or a MD421, depending on the cabinet, room, and song. Both work really well, and I've seen others use a D112 and get great results, I'm just not smart enough to figure out how.

On the top the skys the limit. I generally use a pair, but could place them on either side, or in a crossed configuration, or whatever. Pair of what? Pretty much anything, I like SM-57s, C-451s, Earthworks SR77s do a really nice job, and I'm dying to try a pair of Royer R-101s next chance I get. I have also tried C-414s, but I am the oddball that doesn't really like them on loudspeakers. Again I'm probably doing something wrong. (I did try my C12A on a Leslie once and was really pleased with the result, wish I had a second one!)

While there is something to be said (budget protection?) for picking microphones for specific applications I suggest selecting good all-around microphones and work your way up from there. None of the microphones I mentioned require organ donation, and they do a nice job on lots of things.

Microphone Preamplifiers - go big, don't go home! I'd start with a pair of really great preamplifiers and add from there. That won't always work since sometimes you need more than two channels, but it is a way to start. My top dog is a Millennia Media HV3, only because I couldn't afford the 8 channel version, and I couldn't afford the John Hardy, which from my limited experience is maybe the best there is, although the GML is pretty amazing too. After that I'd add a couple channels of classic Neve, a couple channels of classic API, get a couple channels of classic Trident if you can find them, and so on. Daking and Grace Audio would be on the list as well.

Philosophical question time - is it better to have 8 channels of one really great design or two channels of neutral and two channels of this and two channels of that. I don't know the answer I'm afraid, just mentioning it.

Summing boxes for synths sounds like such a great idea, and maybe I tried it too soon, but it didn't work for me. There was (at the time) a really big difference in sound between sending MIDI CC 7 and using a real fader. I preferred the later. It probably works better today, but before you invest I'd make sure you can return them if you aren't happy with the results.

A mixer - I'd love to talk you out of the QU16 and similar... if you really want to go that route I'd take a good look at the Presonus stuff. It's built solid, and it appears to be built by folks that still have some passion for audio. It isn't going to replace the API or Toft or similar, but its the best of the small form factor digital mixers I've tried. If it were me I'd figure out a way to get something along the lines of the API "The Box" - it is still $12K or more and it isn't the API you might remember from years gone by - which is both good and bad<G>. A friend of mine recently installed an Audient ASP4816 at a school in NYC and he is raving about it. He wasn't happy about their choice at first, but he's been really happy with sound quality, features, build quality, etc.

Cant' wait to hear more about your adventure!


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## chillbot (Jan 10, 2017)

Thanks a ton for your responses. I am taking everything into consideration and love looking at everything suggested. Still working on a board/preamps... that might take a while.

I think I'm going with the Earthworks piano system... I've heard nothing but good things and I love the fact that it will be harder for my bad engineering skills to come into play. It seems like a no-brainer for what I'm looking for.

My list for leslie mics keeps getting longer but after balancing budget and the actual size of the mic (I don't have a ton of room behind the leslie) I'm going with two AKG C414s on top and a Sennheiser 421 on the bottom. As a first start, anyway. As Bill said I like the idea of having a few decent all-around mics that I can use elsewhere as well.


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## synthpunk (Jan 10, 2017)

Also consider having your Leslie modded with a direct line out off the preamp. You can have a local Tech do it or if you're into DIY there's plenty of information available on the Hammond message board.


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## gsilbers (Jan 11, 2017)

just saw this



and the summing box plus piano reminded me of this thread


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## chillbot (Jan 12, 2017)

My studio living room has a piano in it! So weird so crazy so exciting. Still getting used to it.






I ended up going with a Soundcraft mixer for the living room.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SiEXP16

I'm sure it's not the greatest choice but balancing budget with the fact that it has digital outputs and wordclock (most don't) and is rackmountable... I decided to put a floor rack next to the rhodes which will be a good spot to throw a headphone amp and a power conditioner as well.


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## givemenoughrope (Jan 12, 2017)

I meant to chime in on the mic pre's. Is it too late to think about Seventh Circle Audio or Black Lion?


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## chillbot (Jan 13, 2017)

givemenoughrope said:


> I meant to chime in on the mic pre's. Is it too late to think about Seventh Circle Audio or Black Lion?


Interesting stuff, I hadn't heard of either. Prices look decent, are they good?

I'm skipping buying separate preamps for now but leaving room and plan to add them later this year.


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## gsilbers (Jan 13, 2017)

black lion falls around the same area as golden age pre and warm audio. great clones and great sound for little cost. 
seventh circle audio is good but its DIY unless you buy them from someone who already built one.


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## givemenoughrope (Jan 13, 2017)

chillbot said:


> Prices look decent, are they good?



I have the BLA Neve Clone and their Auteur (cleaner, transformerless). I am thinking of jumping ship to the new Seventh Circle one shot clones. A bit more $ but people/gearslutz love them. I think they use a better transformer and the circuits are closer. I just saw a video of Peter Gabriel's home studio which had them. I went back and forth between almost jumping on them or Warm, Sytek, GAP, etc for various kinds of pres...but I realized that I like having a DI on the front for printing synths, bass, etc with the SCA has (the one shots). 

Once I get the SCA pres we can shoot them out if you want.


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## synthpunk (Jan 13, 2017)

I think going with The Lunchbox 500 format makes a bit more sense because you can mix and match modules from different manufacturers not only mic premps but EQs compressor limiters, etc.

The 7th Circle modules have a very good reputation (N72) but use their own format z (rack) unless the newer ones work in the lunch box?

I am going to start a separate preamp thread this weekend but I'll say if we're going to go with a Neve style preamp how about one actually designed by the person behind the name and legend himself  the Rupert Neve Designs 511 is a great bargain at about $500 each.


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## givemenoughrope (Jan 13, 2017)

they're 1/4 rack space
https://seventhcircleaudio.com/products/PC01


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## chillbot (Feb 1, 2017)

UPDATE

- Conduits have been run under the floors for cables

- Mics and mixer for the living room (piano, rhodes, hammond/leslie, etc) have been purchased

- I am currently planning on using the preamps on the soundcraft mixer but there's space left in the rack to add preamps later... I did pick up a 2nd Avalon vt737sp just because I like it so much

- VisionDAW is building me a brand new snazzy computer, should arrive Monday

- Steve (formerly of KK Audio) built me a custom monitor stand (yes, just one)

- Bringing my 02R96s to Audio Rehab (North Hollywood) for all new faders and displays

- Sold my Neve 5059s... you guys missed out on a great deal

- Nick Batzdorf and gsilbers came by and took a bunch of extra cables off my hands

Next Monday I plan to shut everything down... rearrange the furniture and re-rack and re-wire everything... migrate to the new computer... take the 02Rs to the shop... mic the piano and leslie... install new SSDs in the three slave computers I'm keeping... download and buy a bunch of new samples (any suggestions?)...

I said in the OP this would be a 3-4 month process but now that I've found the time I'm hoping to be back up and running within a week.... wish me luck? I have the wiring and equipment planned out to every cable and bolt... the bottleneck will either be the mixers being refurbished or else migrating to the new computer... easy to underestimate the snags you run into with computers....

Still waiting on the Arturia Matrixbrute... so frustrating. Sweetwater has been shipping them but apparently I'm not high enough on the list... I've only been waiting since October. I just saw a shop in chicago list one on ebay and I clicked "buy it now" immediately and the guy wrote back and said 2 minutes before I clicked "buy it now" he sold it to someone on the phone, sorry.

Going to have a 24gb Win7 machine w/Hammerfall DSP card (4-unit rackmount) available on Monday if anyone is interested.


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## gsilbers (Feb 1, 2017)

chillbot said:


> UPDATE
> 
> - Conduits have been run under the floors for cables
> 
> ...



nice. 

im guessing arturia is as small as moog and i saw the moog factory and its tiny. so they might be very overlwelmed. better communication would be nice though. 

i havent even started going through all the cables! man did i bite more than i can chew. so many! i might have to give away a lot of those cables! Or maybe turn it into art work  

What mics did you go with at the end ?


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## chillbot (Feb 1, 2017)

gsilbers said:


> What mics did you go with at the end ?


Looked at lot of options but wound up going ahead with what I mentioned above:



chillbot said:


> I think I'm going with the Earthworks piano system... I've heard nothing but good things and I love the fact that it will be harder for my bad engineering skills to come into play. It seems like a no-brainer for what I'm looking for.
> 
> My list for leslie mics keeps getting longer but after balancing budget and the actual size of the mic (I don't have a ton of room behind the leslie) I'm going with two AKG C414s on top and a Sennheiser 421 on the bottom.


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## synthpunk (Feb 1, 2017)

That's the first time I've seen that photo of your place for some reason very nice vibe.

I got something very nice from you in the mail as well.

Is the Arturia replacing the Prophet ?

Wish I had the dosh for a Neve. I will be needing a rack mount sub mixer for my keyboards down the line. But vacation and then new converters are next up for me.

Can you pm me KK Audio Steve's info for future reference please. He made me some beautiful stuff over the years.

You're asking this lot for sample Library recommendations? LOL
I've gotten lots of little stuff over the last year probably too much but isn't it always. My favorites for bigger libraries over the last 2 years have been Albion V Tundra, Cinematic Studio strings, Output Exhale, LA Drama Drums. Spitfire Olafur Arnalds EVO's & Toolkt, B5 organ, Mercury Boys Choir, and 24 Gongs.




chillbot said:


> UPDATE
> 
> - Conduits have been run under the floors for cables
> 
> ...


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## chillbot (Feb 1, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> You're asking this lot for sample Library recommendations? LOL
> I've gotten lots of little stuff over the last year probably too much but isn't it always. My favorites for bigger libraries over the last 2 years have been Albion V Tundra, Cinematic Studio strings, Output Exhale, LA Drama Drums. Spitfire Olafur Arnalds EVO's & Toolkt, B5 organ, Mercury Boys Choir, and 24 Gongs.



That's funny your list is mostly my list.

Albion V Tundra -- top of my list
Cinematic Studio Strings - second on my list
Exhale - have it
LADD - have it
Olafur Arnalds EVOs & Toolkit - have it
B5 - I am too in love with my Roland VK-8M and now I will have the real deal wired for recording as well
Mercury Boys Choir - on my list
24 gongs - on my list

I only really buy samples once a year, I don't like dealing with it. Also on my list is Spitfire Brass, Spitfire Harp, 8dio Studio Percussion, update to Ethnoworld 6, and either Orange Tree Corebass Pear or Straight Ahead Acoustic Bass (any thoughts?)...


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## synthpunk (Feb 1, 2017)

For bass the Premier Acoustic 2 is my go to. I also occasionally use the Modwheel Lowdown for unique sound design stuff (there is a free tasty morsel patch on their website), and the Embertone for orchestral power. When I'm not lazy I put the RE-20 on my old Kaye and actually play some parts 

The Spitfire Harp is very ambient (Air Studio) I use it and the VSL (w/ fake RR script) for a dryer sound. There have also been a couple new harps (Chocholate & Elysium) in recent months people seem to like.

Berlin Brass gets allot of love as well.

It looks like you would have a lot of Keyscape already covered how about OMNI2 ?

I'm holding out for Cinematic solo strings, the Spitfire choir or Strezov choirs later this year.



chillbot said:


> That's funny your list is mostly my list.
> 
> Albion V Tundra -- top of my list
> Cinematic Studio Strings - second on my list
> ...


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## chillbot (Feb 1, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Can you pm me KK Audio Steve's info for future reference please. He made me some beautiful stuff over the years.


I don't believe Steve would have a problem with me posting his new company.... he was the lead designer at KK Audio and designed all of my current custom desks and furniture with me:

Steve Widdoss
http://proworkstations.com

Like us on FaceBook:
https://www.facebook.com/proworkstations



synthpunk said:


> Berlin Brass gets allot of love as well.


It was that or Spitfire, I've been doing a lot of listening and research and asking around and decided on Spitfire. Unless someone changes my mind.



synthpunk said:


> It looks like you would have a lot of Keyscape already covered how about OMNI2 ?


Actually I forgot about Keyscape, that might be first on my list. It's funny I have so many rhodes samples... I have almost everything that's out there... but I can never get enough. I'm a total and complete rhodes addict. And yes I've had Atmosphere/Omnisphere/Omni2 since the day they came out... huge fan.

Thanks for the help!


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## synthpunk (Feb 1, 2017)

You're welcome and thank you for the info for Steve. If you get keyscape make sure you download this it's free & great work from Eric.

https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/keyscape/keyscape-creative.php#creative


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## AllanH (Feb 2, 2017)

I just noticed this thread, this so comment is a bit late: I would move all slaves out of the room and run dedicated CAT6a networking to a rack for your slaves. Modern 10G switches can also be a bit loud.


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## chillbot (Feb 2, 2017)

AllanH said:


> I just noticed this thread, this so comment is a bit late: I would move all slaves out of the room and run dedicated CAT6a networking to a rack for your slaves. Modern 10G switches can also be a bit loud.


Already done!


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## gsilbers (Feb 2, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> You're welcome and thank you for the info for Steve. If you get keyscape make sure you download this it's free & great work from Eric.
> 
> https://www.spectrasonics.net/products/keyscape/keyscape-creative.php#creative


 just saw the demo. very nice.
77gb! drive space is getting tight!


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## AllanH (Feb 2, 2017)

Your studio looks fantastic and an inspiring environment to work in. I'm envious


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## chillbot (Feb 2, 2017)

AllanH said:


> Your studio looks fantastic and an inspiring environment to work in.


Thank you super nice of you to say. It is definitely a dream for me, remind me to post pics of the rest of it and my main workstation when I'm finished.

The studio was a guest house behind our house, built in 1940-ish... it was literally falling down when we moved in, smelled terrible, leaks everywhere, nothing up to code. Three years ago we stripped it down to the studs, all that is left of the original is the external walls and the roof and the fireplace. So I got to rearrange the internal walls pretty much however I wanted, it was very fun. Built two studios with a small shared recording booth in between (8' x 8') and a machine room (4' x 8') with dedicated air conditioner for the computers. A network of PVC pipes run under the floors and connect everything together. A long and fun project...


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## synthpunk (Feb 2, 2017)

When you start working on those slaves make sure you clean them all out it's a messy job. A little air compressor is worth its weight in gold over a few months compared to buying canned air . Ssd will definitely help you will be amazed how fast your system becomes.

Here is some inspiration for your template rebuild. I just rebuilt mine and got it down to about 30 tracks using logics track stack feature and inspired by Jay Asher's template.


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## gsilbers (Feb 2, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> When you start working on those slaves make sure you clean them all out it's a messy job. A little air compressor is worth its weight in gold over a few months compared to buying canned air . Ssd will definitely help you will be amazed how fast your system becomes.
> 
> Here is some inspiration for your template rebuild. I just rebuilt mine and got it down to about 30 tracks using logics stack track feature and inspired by Jay Asher's template.



that pretty neat. are you hosting the synths on slaves or on the logic sessin itself?
what mac u have?


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## synthpunk (Feb 2, 2017)

One session on a late 2013 Mac Pro Vader helmet 6-core. No Vep, no slaves.



gsilbers said:


> that pretty neat. are you hosting the synths on slaves or on the logic sessin itself?
> what mac u have?


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## chillbot (Feb 11, 2017)

Studio renovation is finished everything looks great except for a million bugs and glitches. New computers are pretty much the worst thing ever. Will post pics later.

Today I bought Albion Tundra, Spitfire Brass, Spitfire Harp, CSS, Keyscape, Ethnoworld, Soundiron Mercury, Orange Tree Corebass Pear, Desert Winds, 8dio Prepared Piano, 8dio Studio Percussion, Session Guitarist Strummed Acoustic 2, 24 Gongs, and G-Player... so that was fun. Had to talk with my credit card company a couple of times.


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## synthpunk (Feb 12, 2017)

Looking forward to the gear porn Chill. Also nice library list, going to keep you busy for a while. How does the mixer sound ? One day transitioning to a new machine will go smoothly but it never seems to.


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## chillbot (Feb 16, 2017)

Turns out I take horrible pictures. Maybe it's the lighting. Or just user error. But here's a tour:

Putting greens and orange trees out back of the studio.






Studio kitchen. I decided the Moog was more important than having a kitchen table to eat on.






The new living room. Yamaha C3, Fender Rhodes, Arturia Matrixbrute, Hammond A-100, Minimoog Voyager.






Everything in the living room goes direct into the soundcraft mixer including 2 mics on the piano and 3 on the leslie, then digitally out under the floor and into the main studio. (Then the signal comes back into the living room again under the floor for the headphone amp and talkback.) It's a great setup for me since I'm the only one here but obviously I can only record one instrument at a time since I can only record the stereo mix from the living room. I ran midi under the floor to the synths so I can control them that way but I prefer to print them in real time as audio.


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## chillbot (Feb 16, 2017)

Bunch of paperweights and doorstops.






Recording booth.






Machine closet.






Assistant room (I don't have one).


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## chillbot (Feb 16, 2017)

Main studio. The furniture was custom built by KK Audio for my old studio. There are two little 45-degree angle desks, originally one went on each side of the mixers placing the mixers at a 45 degree angle to my main desk but it wasn't working in this room. So I put them together to create a 90-degree desk and had Steve (formerly of KK Audio) build me one custom speaker stand for left of the mixer.










David Ortiz and David Ortiz.






Looking the other way. Novation Mininova and Dave Smith Morpho tucked in the corner. Midi and audio cables run through the walls and ceiling (I hate cables).


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## AllanH (Feb 16, 2017)

What an amazing studio!

I suspect they are more than paperweights and doorstops


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## chimuelo (Feb 16, 2017)

Truly inspiring.
Love the gear but could have sworn I saw a Big Bertha Graphite driver converted into a putter?


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## J-M (Feb 17, 2017)

Looks absolutely gorgeous, congrats!


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## Ashermusic (Feb 17, 2017)

Fantastic, incredibly jealous.


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## Saxer (Feb 17, 2017)

Beautiful place to be!


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## synthpunk (Feb 17, 2017)

I want to cry 

Have you ever chipped in off the roof ?

Look forward to hearing the
Brute.


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## Brobdingnagian (Feb 17, 2017)

Great job! So pleased for you and thank you for sharing. I wish you many more years of happy creation and success.

How are you liking the Matrixbrute? It is still hard to get a hold of one!

-B


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## Mystic (Feb 18, 2017)

Very nicely done. What's the second studio for, if I might ask? A getaway from your main?


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## chillbot (Feb 28, 2017)

chimuelo said:


> Love the gear but could have sworn I saw a Big Bertha Graphite driver converted into a putter?


Funny you mention that... I don't think you could have seen it hiding behind the tree in the corner but I have a 6-foot big bertha 5-iron, it's massive. We also have the driver from the set but the driver is our trophy for our annual golf tournament, whoever wins gets to keep it for a year. I've only won in the 5th year (so far).









The putters you were looking at... some of them have sierra nevada (my favorite) draft handles soldered on to the shafts.



synthpunk said:


> Have you ever chipped in off the roof?


No but I can chip over the studio garage from one green to the other... (there's no windows to break).



Mystic said:


> What's the second studio for, if I might ask? A getaway from your main?


Well I've had a couple of assistants over the years... still trying to find the perfect fit.


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## gsilbers (Feb 28, 2017)

I see you finally got that maxibrute synth. how is it?


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## chillbot (Mar 2, 2017)

gsilbers said:


> I see you finally got that maxibrute synth. how is it?


Super fun and also worlds of pain, I love it but it's not like any other synth I've ever had. I'm having so many issues controlling it from a DAW I don't think it's really meant to be used like that. The bank control messages are completely foreign, you can only control any midi functions (like simple local on/off) by using software on your computer (and has to be usb, and can't go through a hub or extension). Of everything I've done in the studio it still remains the biggest enigma.

EDIT: oh and they've yet to acknowledge my two-week-old support ticket?


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 2, 2017)

chillbot, have you tried sending and recording bank/program messages to Cubase to see what they are? You're probably ahead of me on that...

Also, I'm sure you know that every single thing on that panel sends and receives MIDI, other than things that wouldn't make sense, like headphone volume. Without commenting either way on your assessment of the MIDI utility functions being in software (because I don't have an opinion - I didn't have time to play with the instrument, I just had to figure out what did what so I could document it), that's a conscious design decision they made to keep them out of the way.


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## chillbot (Mar 2, 2017)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> chillbot, have you tried sending and recording bank/program messages to Cubase to see what they are?



Actually Sonar but yes... so you say every thing sends midi data but if I record enable a track on Sonar and change patches I'm not getting anything. Every other knob yes I record midi data, but not the patch/bank changes so I'm not learning anything there.

I know it's set up this way on purpose, if it was any other synth I'd be more aggravated but like I said it's still a ton of fun. I actually have it set up to record it as audio from the synth primarily, it's just that I have 16 external synths and 15 of them play nicely with Sonar so it's kind of bugging me that I can't get it to work in that way. Not that I'd even use it in that way much, if that makes sense.

And I sent the support ticket to them a week or two ago as you suggested but nothing.


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## chimuelo (Mar 3, 2017)

Great Putters indeed.
Not a golfer yet but everyone I know claims the social value is worth the embarrassment.
I've seen some pretty artful collections mostly drivers though.
Your putters are a class of their own.


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## synthpunk (Mar 3, 2017)

Golf, a game that can't be won only played - Bagger Vance


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 3, 2017)

It's not sending patch/bank changes? That's weird.


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## chillbot (Mar 3, 2017)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> It's not sending patch/bank changes? That's weird.


Can you prod them into responding to my support ticket?


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 3, 2017)

I'll try.


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