PreSonus Blog

Monthly Archives: March 2013


Making Of AMO + NAVAS rework for David Penn pres. Kadoc – The Night Train

Andrew J. Hulshult on Studio One for Game Audio

68690_518558918161798_699699084_n[This just in from Andrew Hulshult, who is using PreSonus Studio One on an upcoming remake of the PC FPS Classic, “Rise of the Triad.” I asked him to do a little piece on using Studio One in Audio for games, and instead of a blog post he wrote a book! It follows.]

Hey PreSonus!

Studio One has been more than a blessing for my workflow, time, and creativity while working with Interceptor and Apogee on Rise of The Triad. I can create, edit, mix, master and deliver a product to my team that they love within a very small window of time. I absolutely would not have been motivated enough from the constant crashes and saving issues of other previous DAWs to have the ability to work on this project if a good friend of mine had not introduced me to it. It is very refreshing to see a company that is obviously made up of hardcore musicians, wanting to make the technological struggles of a recording session a thing of the past.

Getting Started

In 2010, I was truly sick and tired of the problems I was having with sessions while trying multiple DAWs. I found things that I really enjoyed about each of them but unfortunately the bad outweighed the good for the most part. At this point in time I had seen that there was a remake of an old game I used to play called “Duke Nukem 3D.” The person making it at the time (Frederick Schriber) was working solo. Immediately, I decided to remake a couple of the songs from it and send them his way. They follow.

Duke Nukem 3D Reloaded theme remakes: “Grabbag” and “Stalker.”

Gear used:

Guitar: Les Paul standard, Mesa Boogie studio preamp, ProEQ, and Channel Strip.

Drums: BFD2 assigned to a bus with multiband compression.

Bass: Ibanez sr300 direct using Guitar Rig 4 with the Channel Strip on post.

Master Chain: Multiband Compression usually starting with the “slightly loud” preset and working from there, ProEQ, and a limiter.

 

I had recently seen my friend and engineer Kevin Deal (Bexarametric) use Studio One and I was very impressed with it, so I decided I would give it a shot. I bought a copy of it and was amazed at how easy it was to just drag and drop instruments into the DAW and how fast it was. I remade the entire theme song within a few hours and Studio One blew me away! I had never had a DAW this easy to use before. No crashes, no problems loading plugins, no edit problems after reopening a session, just raw power that was easy to use.

Getting the job

Although the mixes were VERY amateur at the time, Fred was very pleased with how fast I was able to get him these tracks and asked me to join the team and work on the music for the game! I was extremely excited that I got a super cool job on the side doing what I love to do. So I continued through about 6-7 more tracks with Frederick and the boys that would later become Interceptor Entertainment. I was able to create, mix, and give a shot at mastering (heh) with all these tracks very easily. Unfortunately the project was put on hold for reasons I cannot disclose… but before it was put on hold, we got lots of press on the game and we were receiving a lot of fan support.

Rise Of The Triad 

Not too long after the project was put on hold, Fred got a call from Apogee’s Terry Nagy. They wanted to do a remake of Rise of The Triad. I was told that I would have to send Terry a demo of a remake of one of the game’s most memorable songs, “Going Down the Fast Way,” by Lee Jackson, and I only had three days to do it. I was very excited at the time, but I was also extremely nervous. Here I was, some guy in his bedroom writing songs through a small interface into some cool software, and now I had to really prove myself to someone who had worked in the game industry for a good portion of his life with Apogee, 3D Realms, and Gathering Of Developers. They had quite a few auditions, and some pretty good ones at that, but after spending three days to re-create this monster of a song I presented it to them and they loved it! By the time I was finished, I couldn’t believe how much automation Studio One allowed me to do. It looked like I opened up a session of MS Paint and just started scribbling random lines all over the place. Right after they heard it, I got the job on Rise Of the Triad for music and some small voice-over work. I also created the trailer we used for the unveiling at QuakeCon 2012.

Rise of The Triad reveal Trailer: “Going Down the Fast Way”

Gear used:

Guitar: Schecter baritone black jack custom, a 60/40 blend of a Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp and the “Ultra Sonic” head and cab in Guitar Rig 5, ADA MP-1 V1.38 and Ampire with overdrive on some leads, Whammy pedal, 535Q Wah pedal, and the Studio One Channel Strip effect.

Drums: Studio Drummer and SSD Platinum (on one stereo channel), Multiband Compression, Channel Strip, Limiter, and Transient master.

Bass: Musicman Stingray through a Tech 21 bass driver set to a light overdrive, through the Guitar Rig 5 bass cab. Compression is set to very fast, and in some cases is blended with the Mojito synth playing the same notes very lightly to add a cool low-end effect.

 

 

Using Studio One with Game development

This software really shined when I found I was able to sync all my audio to video. So when the team needed to create another trailer that required some big percussive sounds, I could do it VERY quickly with the Presence library’s machine sounds! It was seamless creating  oddball stuff with Studio One. An example that comes to mind was this last trailer we did. I took a recording of a big floor tom, then stretched the audio with incredible ease, with no processing or real significant taxing on my CPU while doing it. After, I would create a Buswith OpenAir and find a cavernous space. I would then enhance the low end just a bit with ProEQ and some multiband compression. I would then create something very close to a long bass drop with some automation, chorus, compression, and Mojito. Then I would blend the two sounds together and I had the biggest drum hits ever! I did all this without leaving my seat once in about a twenty minute period…VERY cool.

With these projects, the ability to create a song in a small time frame is critical. I have a day job (as most of us do) that limits me to about two days a week to punch these songs out. So it is CRUCIAL that nothing gets in the way of my creative freedom. On any given day off, I will sit down and open up Studio One, and drag Ampire into a session then bring up the song I am recreating on the top window with a click track and learn the song. After I have some solid takes, I will check out how close they are to perfect with the transient detection and audio bending, so I can store those guitar licks for when I start building drum tracks. Next, I will open a drum plugin and start creating 4-5 beats over each section. After I find some riffs that play nicely with each other, I  drag them around and start seeing what arranges well with what, a sort of “trial and error” composition. I usually settle on a decision in an hour ot two. Mixing is what really takes the time, along with automation and mastering. I will say that being able to save my plugin presets on one channel has been a godsend though. I can recall these at any time on any session for drums and that rocks!

In Closing

I would say that anyone in the game industry that is looking for something simple and much more powerful and CPU-friendly than the stock audio automation built into most engines should give Studio One a try for sure. It will do wonders for you. I would not be doing any of this today if this product was not released. Thank you PreSonus and thanks to the PreSonus community for giving feedback regularly to help them build the audio monster that 2.5 is today. You all ROCK!

Harmony Central’s Footage of L’angelus and Keb’ Mo’ from NAMM 2013

Thanks to Harmony Central for this! This footage is from our new product launch party from NAMM 2013.

PreSonus is Proud to Sponsor Deli Mag’s StompBox Exhibit in Austin at SXSW!

1068_422400297807383_1153561886_n

 

[Headed to Austin for SXSW? We know your feet will be tired from pounding Austin’s hot concrete, but while you’re there, be sure to tread on over to The Deli Magazine’s StompBox Exhibit! Myraid stomps from good ol’ BOSS standbys to whacked-out Pigtronix weirdness will be equally represented by PreSonus headphone amplifiers. More info on the footacular stompstravaganza is copy/pasted from their press release below. Call it “journalism.”]

WHAT: StompBox Exhibit
WHEN: March 15-16, 2013
WHERE: Clayworks Gallery, 1209 E 6th St, Austin
AUSTIN, TX – After launching the “StompBox Exhibit” concept in 2011 – i.e. a compact display of guitar pedals which allows visitors to test and compare them in the headphones – and after the successes of the 2012 edition at Main Drag Music in Brooklyn – which saw 23 manufacturers and 5 sponsors involved – The Deli Magazine and Delicious Audio are presenting the first edition of the Austin StompBox Exhibit.
200+ Pedals in the “Live Music Capital of the World”
 

This free, interactive, in-the-headphones display of guitar pedals will coincide with the busiest days of the famous live music festival hosted by the Texan city every March. It’s scheduled for Friday and Saturday March 15 and 16 in a room facing Austin’s most frequented stroll: East 6th Street, in the middle of Austin’s East Side (the city’s “hipstery” neighborhood a few blocks East of downtown).

The exhibit will attract thousand of pro and semi-pro guitarists who will flood the Texas capital in search of gigs and exposure during the biggest live music event in the US. Musicians are invited to bring their own guitars and plug them in directly into the pedals (there will be demo guitars available). They will be able to test the pedals directly via headphones, which will be plugged into an amp emulation unit and a PreSonus headphone amp.

Sponsors and Participating Manufacturers

 

Headphones will be provided once again by Shure, amp emulation by Line6, pedal boards by PedalTrain, headphone preamps by PreSonus, Guitars by Reverend, cables by Planet Waves, guitar strings by D’Addario, and pedal power adapters by Visual Sound. Guitar accessories by Oknob will also be present.

exhibit

 

 

 

 

This is the list of the participating stompbox manufacturers: 

T-Rex
TC Electronic
BOSS
Zvex
Vox
Blackstar
Fender
Ibanez
Pigtronix
RAT – ProCo
Analogman
EarthQuaker Devices
Line6
Bearfoot Pedals
Wampler
WMD
Enormous Door
Station Audio
DIY Kits
ZT Amplifiers
Fairfield Circuitry
Diamond
Eventide

 

PreSonus LIVE Airs Thursday! 2p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST / Noon PST / GMT -6

PreSonus LIVE Airs Thursday! 2p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST / Noon PST / GMT -6

Following up our greatest PreSonus LIVE ever, join Justin as he mixes, masters, and releases the tracks we recorded with Briana Tyson,making them available for sale on Nimbit! Tune in and WIN! We’re giving away fashionable PreSonus T-Shirts.

http://www.presonus.com/videos/presonuslive

 

 

http://www.PreSonus.com/videos/PreSonusLIVE

Women in Pro Audio Vol 1: Katie Tavini, Producer/Mix Engineer/Mastering Engineer at Limefield Studio

[Katie Tavini is a professional audio engineer (producing, tracking, mixing, mastering) who began working at Limefield Studio in 2009. She now works as a freelance engineer throughout the UK across wide variety of genres. She also still regularly works from Limefield Studio (Manchester), but really enjoys working in different environments and acoustic spaces. She’s keen to take projects into new studios and can frequently be found with a bag full of gear heading out to work on location. She’s known for having amassed a selection of unusual microphones, that she’s keen to bring along to any studio or location recording.]

katie recordingAs a female engineer I feel pretty strongly about this!

My first degree course at Uni was Acoustics and Audio systems—I was the only girl out of 120 guys and absolutely hated it! But at 18, I didn’t know any better. I then went on to do a Music degree, majoring in classical violin performance, arrangement and recording studies.

I loved this, as we were pretty much just left to our own devices in the studio, and you found that the people who really wanted to do it came out with a great portfolio, and the people who weren’t that interested gradually stopped using the studios.

It was interesting to see that most of the people who weren’t really interested in audio were females. I think a lot of girls don’t really have that much of an interest in learning how to wire up a studio, or if they do get studio work and they realize that they’ll be sleeping on the floor of the studio and working away from home for the next two months they lose interest.

However, the female engineers I do know who have persevered with it now all have great reputations and are putting out some amazing work of a really high standard.

I’ve had some funny experiences from men in studios but I’m sure every female engineer has, at the end of the day if you’re passionate about something enough to make it your life then you’ll ignore it and focus on the main priority—helping bands make great new music.

Thanks,
Katie Tavini

 

How to Sell Music on SoundCloud

UPDATE: We’ve got a killer new video on this very subject. The original blog post follows after this video:

 

SoundCloud_MoneyAs a Studio One user, you’re well aware that SoundCloud® has rapidly turned into the “YouTube of music discovery.” We’ve offered the capability to upload directly to SoundCloud from Studio One since version 1.1, and chances are, you probably already have music available for streaming from your SoundCloud account.

Streaming is nice, but did you also know that you can add a “buy” button to your SoundCloud player? All you need is music available for sale in your free Nimbit account, and you’re ready to sell to the millions of fans who listen music on SoundCloud every day.

Hmm…SoundCloud and Nimbit, what a coincidence… Starting with version 2.0.6, Studio One can now also upload your music to Nimbit.

Here’s how to add “Buy” buttons for your songs on SoundCloud that are available for sale on Nimbit:

1. Get the deep link for the track you want to sell from your Nimbit store by visiting your store, clicking the share button between the play button and track name, and copying the link that appears.

SoundCloud_Money

2. Now, go to your track on SoundCloud that you want to sell, and click the edit button. It looks like a Pencil.

SoundCloud_Money

3. On the “Info Page That Loads” click “Show More Options”
SoundCloud_Money

4. Paste your Nimbit Link in the “Buy link” field

5. Your SoundCloud Player will now display a Buy Button, check it out below. I’ve embedded the actual player for the track I used in this demo so you can see for yourself. For the purpose of the demo, I set the price for this track to free, but you can set the price in Nimbit to whatever you want or to “Name Your Price” to let fans pay what they want.

Don’t have a Nimbit Account? Sign up now for Nimbit Free to start selling and promoting your music today.

Watch the video below to learn more about Nimbit.

John Tulley on Recording the Twin Killers with the StudioLive 24.4.2 and Studio One 2.5

[This just in from John Tulley, recording engineer for Twin Killers!]

The StudioLive 24.4.2 and Studio One 2.5 work so great together. Twin Killers music has a very eclectic sound palette and during the recording process the creative flow is quickly shifting through ideas and sonic spaces. The mixer/DAW combo allows me to get sounds dialed in quickly, without a rack full of gear, print awesome sounds and keep the creative process flowing. The layout always makes sense and is very clean. You’d be hard pressed to get so much power out of any other two tools while always remaining to stay in such a musical headspace!”

The song was recorded by John Tulley in Andrew Martin’s home studio. Greg Saunier of Deerhoof mixed/mastered the track. Paul Charbonnet directed/recorded the video, and Andrew Drazek edited it.
Thank you so much!