PreSonus Blog

Category Archives: Recording Systems


Recording School Band Rehearsals

John Mlynczak, Education Market Manager for PreSonus, shows us some of the basic ins and outs of recording your school band’s rehearsals via the AudioBox 44VSL. He also shares a bit about the best way to mic the band.

Jam in the Van Commits Joshua Tree Performances to History

Aptly-named Jam in the Van travels around in a a KILLER tour van that includes a StudioLive 24.4.2 and a sweet, sweet, paint job. They record all their in-the-van performances, shoot some killer video, and post the results online for the benefit of all musiciankind.

Here they talk a bit about their use of the StudioLive and QMix in getting their productions done. Hot stuff comin’ through!

Learn more about Jam in the Van at—wait for it—www.JamInTheVan.Com!

Fluff from Guitarist Facts Chooses PreSonus Interfaces to Bring the Heavy

Fluff

[This just in from Fluff, AKA GuitaristFacts, who has an absolutely KILLER YouTube channel full of heavy metal riffage, gear demos, facial hair, and all the endeavors where the three coincide. He produces his videos as skillfully as produces his music, and he’s chosen some PreSonus gear to help him along the way. He was kind enough to share a few paragraphs about his recording tricks and experiences with PreSonus gear.]

Hello, my name is Ryan, but my friends call me “Fluff.” I make guitar-related gear demos on YouTube in my home studio for companies all over the world. Pickups, speakers, guitars, pedals, microphones, you name it. I also produce the occasional record and re-amp guitars for rock albums, and record about five days a week. For all of this work, I rely exclusively on couple of pieces PreSonus gear that I simply would be lost without.

I should probably mention that I try to capture every kind of guitar tone, from brutal to chiming. In order to produce a wide array of tones, I need an interface that offers flexible signal routing, low latency and high-quality instrument inputs, as well as low noise on the outputs. The PreSonus FireStudio Project is perfectly suited for all of these needs. Two instrument inputs, (I keep one set for guitar, one set for bass) loads of inputs and outputs and +48V power when needed to run my condenser microphone for when I do voice work. WIN!

I also use the PreSonus Studio Channel as my go-to mic preamp. The built-in EQ and compression make it extremely versatile for clean guitar tracks, vocals, huge distorted guitars, and bass cabinets. I am also a tube nut, and I find that replacing the stock tube (a high-gain tube with good midrange) with an inexpensive NOS 12AX7 JAN tube (usually about $30 on eBay) can really round off the harsh highs I sometimes experience while recording high-gain guitars, and fattens up my signal prior to going into my FireStudio Project.

When it comes time to record, I use a Heil PR30 about 90% of the time for guitars, as that mic has a very flat frequency response. Knowing this, I can get the microphone placed in the ballpark (usually around the area where the dust cap meets the speaker cone, on-axis) and then use the Studio Channel’s EQ to fine tune the highs and mids (I typically boost about 2dB in the 3K range with a medium Q) until I find a nice sonic pocket for the guitars to sit in the mix. If I want to add a bit of flavor, I will add a Shure SM57 plugged directly into the FireStudio Project and then bring the volume up on the SM57 to add some bite and ‘oomph’ for palm mutes on the distorted guitars.

As for the aforementioned re-amping, I plug straight into the FireStudio Project and adjust the input level so I am seeing an average -16dB, with peaks no louder than -12dB. This way I have some wiggle room when outputting the DI through my re-amping box (I use a Radial ProRMP), as sometimes I need a stronger signal to go over a long lead or something like that.

I am asked quite often which interface people should get when diving into home recording, and I always say PreSonus for two reasons: first, they have the computer driver experience that allows their products to work the first time, right out of them box, problem-free. Second, the customer service and support is outstanding. I found out first hand when I called about my 8-year-old FirePod interface and was treated like I was in The Rolling Stones.

Seriously, why can’t more companies operate this way?

-Fluff

Twitter

YouTube

 

 

 

Olesya Star’s Unusual Duet

olesya_star_christmas2012[This just in from PreSonus Artist Olesya Star, who recently completed an unusual duet.]

As an independent artist, people always tell me that to survive you have to take 2 steps left whilst walking forward or you’ll go in circles, so I always keep an open mind to new ventures, avenues and pathways through this minefield called the music biz. One such diversion presented itself to me recently in the form of a country duet, originally meant for Dolly Parton, but sung by Tim Rose. Tim was an original American troubadour who was a founding Greenwich Village folk musician in the 1960s, and former band member with the likes of Mama Cass (Mamas and Papas), and later in life Andy Summers (The Police) and Mick Jones (Foreigner). Sadly, I never met Tim Rose before he died in 2002, but by pure chance I was asked by an old friend of Tim’s  if I would supply “Dolly Parton-like vocals” and work the track, originally recorded in 1988.

The tracks were originally recorded on 2″ tape, so the tape needed to be baked and digitized prior to landing on my studio desk. I had 24 tracks to play with that had been encoded at 24bit/96khz, which I brought immediately into PreSonus Studio One Professional v2.  The job of identifying the microphones that were used in the original recording was completely irrelevant with Studio One, as it was far simpler just to make the recording sound how it should by using the simplest included Studio One features: Channel Strip, CompressorPro EQOpenAIR reverb and, my favorite by far, the Mulitiband Dynamics effect on the Master channel which glues the track together—sometimes much better than using summing mixers that cost in the thousands.

I recorded my vocals through the PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL, dropped the majority of unnecessary channels/recordings, and sculpted a rough mix before handing the final session over to my producer/mastering guru, Adam Mills. Adam  added some heart-poundingly heavy kick drum and a sprinkle of the missing magic by adding just 2-3% OpenAir in the Mastering/Project section of Studio One, as an insert, with a tight room preset— and no more pre-delay than 15-20ms. There you go, now I’m even handing out secrets!

The result is “You Can Hurry Darling (And I’ll Walk Slow)” which now sounds like I was in the room with Tim Rose at the same time, All thanks to Studio One and PreSonus. Here’s a sample, the full single drops Feb. 14!

Lynn Fuston Presents: The iPad Chronicles

Lynn Fuston, head honcho over at 3D Audio, posits a compelling question.

 “Would it be possible to assemble a system that could record 16 inputs onto a multitrack for under $2000?”

The answer is… well, read for yourself. It’s a bit of a lengthy thread but well worth the time. SPOILER ALERT: His solution involves and iPad and the AudioBox 1818VSL.

 

Here’s a highlight:

"I ran a test last night. 16 tracks at 24/96. Recorded for a minute. Added another 16 in record for a minute while playing back the first 16. Then added 5 more stereo tracks. Hit record. Then added 6 more stereo tracks. Hit record. 

Several observations:

1) This is not real world because we don't record 1 minute songs.
2) CPU usage at its highest never exceeded 30%. There are CPU and Disk Space Usage meters right on the front of the mixer.
3) I got "Low Memory" messages at least four times, so I finally quit every other app BUT Auria. That seemed to eliminate the problem.
4) It only bailed on a recording one time, and that was when I had the buffer set to 128. I upped it to 256 and it seemed fine. By then I was playing back 42 tracks at 24/96 and recording 12 more.

I considered doing a stress test and recording for a long duration but file management using iTunes, at least to someone accustomed to using a computer, seems like a real headache. I'm going to wait to do that test until after I finish my actual music recording. I don't want to fill up the drive with huge empty files.

Like the guy at the Apple store told me, "the iPad is designed for GATHERING information." Fascinating. In the big picture, I think he's right. It's a content-vacuum. Videos, pictures, audio: it's designed to collect info. It's really easy to import stuff into an iPad. Exporting (apart from tossing it into iTunes), not so much. So far, it seems like the recording will be the easy part. At least to this seasoned pro who is accustomed to using multiple backup drives and backup utilities like SyncPro and drag and drop file management."

Read the entire thread over at 3D Audio! There’s some great mobile recording opportunities with this setup…

 

Halocene: PreSonus-Powered From the Garage to the Warped Tour

Halocene has been using PreSonus since their first purchase of a FireStudio years ago. Of late they’ve picked up a StudioLive console, a Eureka, and Studio One Professional 2… and in-between they’ve opened for Jimmy Eat World and Blink-182.

Lesson learned: You don’t need to be signed to a major with world-class studio access to open for a band who is. Just get some PreSonus.

Oh, also be sure to write good songs and be young and enthusiastic. That helps, too.

 

PreSonus Nominated Four Times in the SOS Awards!

Wow! We’re flattered! I mean, really. The PreSonus Audiobox 1818VSL,  Studio One, and the StudioLive Mixers (the whole fam!) are nominated in this years’ Sound on Sound awards.

It’s a user poll, not one of those “Critic’s choice” things…  so, you know what to do here… right?  Make your voice heard, and we thank you for your support!

 

 

Mix Why You Should Hate Snakes and What you Should do About Them


Mix
recently ran a fascinating piece on exterminating pests. Not nutria or bollweevil, but pesky snakes, who have continued to envenom audio production despite our release of Virtual StudioLive and QMix. We’re trying our best, and appreciate Mix calling attention to the good fight!

Here’s a snippet:

“I work in live sound, and I’m done with audio snakes. No, I don’t mean I’ve switched from copper to Cat 5. I mean that I’m done, totally, forever. And my mixer? I have one, but you won’t see it. It’s behind the stage. And my iPad? No, I’m not playing Angry Birds, I’m mixing the band from the best seat in the house, right next to my wife and kids. I don’t even think about monitors anymore, the band takes care of them on their own. And because there’s no snake, stage racks or separate monitor system, everything takes less than 20 minutes to set up. Just put the mixer near the stage, connect the band and powered speakers, and go. Even crazier, an entire system for a 600-seat venue can fit in a Honda Civic. Oh, did I mention I’m doing all of this with a $1,999 mixer and some free apps? Welcome to the future of portable sound.”

Hop over to Mix for the full article!

Derrick Jeror is the founder of Housetop Media in Corning, N.Y., where he specializes in system design for houses of worship.

Rick’s Video Blog: Setting Up a StudioLive with an iPad and Mac Mini

Apple fanboy Rick Naqvi should probably be hitting up Tim Cook for a sales commission.  Here, he extolls the virtues of the iPad and Mac Mini… but it doesn’t end there. This isn’t just another “Wireless control of the StudioLive via iPad” video. This is something else. This has bells and whistles.

First, Rick sets up his Mac Mini to auto-launch VSL on boot. So, assuming proper connections and having everything powered up, his Mac Mini will auto-connect to his StudioLive seconds within powering up.

But keep watching… it gets real interesting. Via the iPad, Rick uses VNC Mocha Lite to connect to his Mac Mini desktop: no monitor required! This configuration allows you to run and interface with both VSL Remote and also access Capture or Angry Birds during the show. Rick keeps it simple and thorough at the same time—but you might wanna make sure you know what an IP address is before viewing.

Bobby Duthu’s Drum Recording Techniques

Bobby Duthu and PreSonus

This just in from Bobby Duthu, PreSonus enthusiast, recordist, pro drummer, and all around great guy! He had posted some photos to our Facebook album of user studios of his home studio that piqued my interest… so I checked in with him and found him very open to sharing some of the methods to his madness.

Hey, Ryan!

Thanks for the kind words and also for the compliment of posting me on your site and blog. My rig is simple really. My interface consists of two FireStudio Projects daisy-chained together, resulting in 16 available mic inputs for ease of drum set miking. For software, I use Studio One Artist on a MacBook Pro. 

My drum set recording techniques are also fairly simple, actually. My studio room is 30×20, very live-sounding, and features a 6-piece Sonor Designer Series drum set and Paiste 2002 cymbals.

I start by making a determination of how the drums should sound based on the particular song being tracked. I like to begin this process by attempting to achieve the desired sound acoustically, and slowly add effects if necessary. If effects are needed, I take full advantage of any number of plug-ins and/or sends included in Studio One Artist, like reverb and compression for example, but the emphasis remains on the acoustic sound of the drums.

Tuning and mic placement are of course vitally important to this process, although other factors do contribute. For example, drum head selection and striking technique can greatly affect the sound of a drum as well. Where miking is concerned, I prefer double-headed toms with mics placed a minimum of an inch and a half from the top drum head and at about a 45 degree angle.
For snare drum, I use one mic top and bottom, and for bass drum, mics about 3 inches from each side of the batter head. I also find overheads and room mics in various configurations to be invaluable. To maximize my choice of mic configurations, I use two Presonus FireStudios daisy-chained together allowing a total of 16 available inputs, which comes in very handy for drum set miking. 
After that, it’s all about playing technique which can affect the drum set sound as profoundly as effects in some instances. This is yet another area for which Studio One has an answer with it’s extremely flexible metronome settings. I find the swing settings to be very helpful when looking for just the right feel.
Ultimately, in my experience, most producers and engineers prefer as raw of a drum track as possible, with minimal effects and EQ. This allows more flexibility for the engineer to the overall track, which in the end should collectively be our most important consideration.
The simplicity and efficient design of my PreSonus interfaces, along with Studio One, allow me to achieve my goals by helping me to remain less focused on tech support and more focused on performance!

Have a great weekend!

Bobby Duthu

Bobby is a pro session drummer in Nashville. If you need some drums on your next record, or would like to tap into his network of talented studio cats, hit him up!