PreSonus Blog

Sweetwater’s NAMM 2013 Coverage of the StudioLive 32.4.2AI

Our friends at Sweetwater spent some time at our NAMM booth getting details on the StudioLive 32.4.2AI from Rodney, our European Product Marketing Manager and technocrat. Big thanks to both!



StudioLive 24.4.2 on the Adam Corolla Show

[This just in from Mike Dawson, Engineer/Voice/Producer on The Adam Carolla Show!]

Hey PreSonus!

I wanted to share a bit about our use of the StudioLive 24.4.2 on our broadcast. It’s awesome to have all the built-in effects. I never know what’s going to happen at any given moment on the Adam Carolla Show. Debbie Gibson was a guest on our show during  her and Adam’s run on Celebrity Apprentice together.  She started singing “Billy, Don’t be a Hero,” by Bo Donaldson. I immediately mixed her mic into the reverb I’ve selected for solo vocal performances (always impromptu!)  and she sounded pretty bitchin’.  She looked at me through the glass and winked, saying something like “Hey, you’ve got an engineer that knows what he’s doing.” Adam joined in the song, and with the touch of a button they have perfect studio quality reverb on vocals. After the show, Debbie Gibson hugged me.

Most recently, David Alan Grier was doing a hilariously dirty Teddy Pendergrast impression. Again, in milliseconds, reverb is up and easily engaged and disengaged without having to fumble through auxiliaries and faders. This is a bad-ass piece of machinery. I use it in my own production studio, and even travel with it for on-site recording and engineering gigs.

The StudioLive console is so easy to set up for impromptu live performances in the studio. In the past few months, I’ve engineered and mixed live performances by Barry Zito and Kelley James, Susanna Hoffs and Hoobastank, and they all sounded like they were supposed to.

Damn good.

 

Ghostfeeder’s Fifth Member—The PreSonus FireBox!

[This just in from Ghostfeeder, electro-rockers and FireBox enthusiasts from Rochester, NY.]59779_564662676885117_1231343093_n

For three years strong, my PreSonus FireBox has been a companion for Ghostfeeder on the stage as well as in the studio, and not once have we experienced artistic differences. The ‘Box is an undeniable asset when it comes to simplicity. When I was initially getting into recording for Ghostfeeder, I was a bit apprehensive about the amount of gear and technological know-how that seemed necessary to properly equip Ghostfeeder for self-sufficient recording. The fact that I literally just had to plug in the FireBox in to my computer in order to get great sound right off the bat pretty much squashed that apprehension. I was able to leave the diagnostics and troubleshooting to the online message boards catering to those who bought products made by the competition. As a result, every guitar, bass and vocal on every Ghostfeeder release has been recorded through the Firebox.

My preference for simplicity extends beyond the studio and into performance gear as well. My FireBox can push sound just as smoothly as it accepts it. It is an indispensable part of Ghostfeeder’s live presentation, pushing enough juice behind our backing tracks to fill any sound system without a hiccup, all while feeding our drummer a custom mix to his headphones. We house the Firebox in a custom-built tripod rack. It allows us to have our FireBox, our DMX light controller and our laptop all mounted onto one module for easily moving all of our technology onto and off of the stage with little fuss. The PreSonus Firebox is the unofficial fifth member of GhostFeeder.

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Sonic Sense Pro Audio Gets a First Listen to the PreSonus Eris Monitors!

[This just in from Sonic Sense Pro Audio! They just got a hold of the new Eris monitors, and had this to say:]

Today Sonic Sense had a visit from our buddies Mark Stone and CJ Lewis from PreSonus. We were lucky enough to get first listen on PreSonus’ new Eris line of studio monitors. All of us here were VERY impressed. Stay tuned for video demos and comparisons!

 

Rick is up to Something Big…

What do you suppose he’s planning for THIS rig?

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Using the MPC Renaissance to Control PreSonus Studio One Transport

Check out this killer video from mecprosound over on YouTube! He just uploaded this tutorial on setting up the Akai MPC Renaissance controller to control transport in Studio One like a boss.

 

Bill Edstrom, and Why He Chose to Write a Book on Studio One.

Studio-One-book[This just in from Bill Edstrom, Pro Audio Author and all-around gem of a man.]

Hey PreSonus!

I’ve done projects in just about every DAW on the market. To use most of these systems you need to be in a very technical frame of mind. About three years ago, I was looking for something simpler—something to get creative songwriting ideas out. That’s when I discovered Studio One. The workflow made sense to me and it helped me write.

As I got more interested in Studio One, I discovered anther great thing—a community of users that were amazingly helpful and enthusiastic. I started contributing to the PreSonus Forum with some free YouTube videos which lead to my work with Groove 3. I went on to create four volumes (24 hours worth!) of video training for Studio One.

When I started talking to Bill Gibson at Hal Leonard about some book concepts, I really wanted to do a Studio One book. I think they see the potential for this DAW because they have already published Larry the O’s book Power Tools for Studio One with a second volume on the way.

My book is designed as concise introduction to the core features of Studio One. I wrote it for the person that already has some experience with another DAW. The book content is really focused on getting up to speed with the software as quickly as possible. There are also 12 new videos included with the book covering some of the key concepts that would be tricky to explain in writing.

Why Studio One? Well, besides being great software, PreSonus has been amazing to work with. I have had the chance to meet Matthias and the PreSonus Software team at PreSonuSphere and NAMM and they have been very welcoming. The rest of the PreSonus team including Rick, Jonathan, Brad, and Jim have been friendly and great hosts in Baton Rouge. I also really enjoyed presenting to a group of Studio One enthusiasts as part of PreSonuSphere 2012 last year.

At first, I was recording with Studio One as a canvas for creativity. But I realized that I could produce music end to end without really needing to use other tools. Back in March 2010 I put together my first rather crude Studio One video called “Fun With PreSonus Studio One.” That video has 42,000+ views. I think the title sums up my experience with Studio One. It’s fun to use!

Regards,
Bill Edstrom

You can (and should) get Bill’s book from the following retailers:

Powell’s
Barnes and Noble
Amazon

 

VERY Early Rage Against the Machine Footage Just hit YouTube…

From CowProd over on YouTube. Rage Against the Machine playing Zed’s Records in 1992 before they made it huge…

 

The Winner of the Dream Rig for Your Dream Gig Sweepstakes Sounds Off!

[This just in from Steve E., winner of the 2012 Dream Rig for your Dream Gig Sweepstakes!]

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Looks like home to me.

I wanted to send you a picture of me and the gear and I wanted to thank all of the companies involved in hooking me up with all of this awesome equipment!

This is truly a “Dream Rig” and I have only began to scratch the surface of what the combination of the ADL 700 preamp, Blue Microphones Kiwi mic, and KRK monitors have to offer.

So far, I have tracked my dad and I on mandolin and acoustic guitar respectively just using the Kiwi into the ADL 700 with excellent results. Hopefully soon, I will have an heirloom double album of my dad and I playing traditional old time music on one disc and a re-mastered version of my dad and grandfather paying the same exact tunes back in 1967 from a reel to reel tape. This equipment couldn’t have come at a better time! I I also have recorded my daughter Isabella singing into the same combo and I am totally blown away with the details you can bring out with the onboard compressor and EQ settings. By the way, all of the awesome artwork behind me on the walls is hers, too.

The possibilities are endless! When I combine the ADL 700 with the Kiwi and its 9 polar patterns it is just mind boggling! In addition to this, the ability to switch the EQ in before the compressor is a really awesome feature, along with being able to bypass either one or both at the flick of a switch. This truly is a match made in heaven…

I have also ran the new Monoprice guitar into the ADL 700 instrument input and achieved an excellent funky single-coil blues sound along with pumping the gain up a bit and getting some smooth crunch and creamy sustain. I can’t wait to track some bass through it!

My next major project is to record a full-length album with my friend Keith for our band Letchwurth (this is the dream band I selected when I entered the contest.) This equipment will take our recordings to an entirely new level—just as long as I can bring my recording and mixing skills up to the same level, ha! We cannot wait to start tracking with the new equipment. This setup blows away everything we had before! Also with the new Pro SoundCloud account we will be able to post everything up for everyone to hear. Look out for Letchwurth “Ringworm Eraser” in the future…

Before I won the contest, I had a few cheaper dynamic mics and one condenser along with the Focusrite liquid Saffire 56 preamp/firewire interface you see on the bottom of the ADL. In addition to this, I only had headphones to mix and monitor with, so with the KRK VXT4’s and 12S sub have been able to mix and monitor the right way. This speaker combo is absolutely perfect for my small home-office and I am totally amazed at the detailed sound-field that these speakers deliver. I am now able to hear details that I never even knew were there, even with headphones! Of course, I couldn’t have hooked it all up without all of the cables and accessories from Monoprice. My setup is now complete! What else could I need?

Thanks again to everyone involved with putting this equipment into my lap and allowing me to step beyond the next level with my recording capabilities!

I am truly thankful and view it as a sign to capture high quality recordings with my friends and family for many years to come.

Some Post-NAMM Greets from Bad Seed Guitars

[This just in from Sheldon Currington, titanium luthier extraordinaire. Cave and I got to interview these guys at NAMM 2013 and we just got this kind follow-up from them. We’re thankful to to have these guys on our buddy list.]

Hi PreSonus!
This is just a quick email to reconnect after our NAMM 2013 show experience.
We have just landed back here in New Zealand after what can only be described as a whirlwind tour of the USA and so this is the first chance I have had to make contact with you regarding our time talking at NAMM 2013.

They look like Good Seeds to me.

They look like good seeds to me.

I want to thank you for taking some time to show us around while we visited Baton Rouge and PreSonus after NAMM. We had a truly amazing time at NAMM for a first year, and learned an awful lot about what we can do for the years to come. And it was a great thing that you did for us to show us around the PreSonus facility on our way across the country. We had a total blast and were really well treated by everyone that we visited, it makes these trips so much more worth it when you can shake hands with the people that you connect with on a regular basis. I am sure my father would agree! Thank you so much for sharing your time with us! Also, please thank the others that spent time with us playing at PreSonus HQ. The amp sounded awesome and I think he is onto a great thing there, with the personalized features he combines into such great sounding units! Very cool!
Please also pass on my thanks to both Cave and Ryan for coming down to see us at the booth and shooting the interview. Those guys were great, funny and easy to get along with… which made my nervous interview just a little easier! Please let them know I am very grateful to them both!
Now that I’m back in New Zealand I will be running Bad Seed full steam ahead to build new and innovative custom guitars, I cant wait to get into it! We had such an amazing response to the guitars that we bought over to NAMM and it’s inspired me to put the creative hat back on and set off on some new projects.
Keep in touch and let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas, or if there is ever anything that I can do for you.
Best Regards

Sheldon Currington
Bad Seed Limited
www.badseed.co.nz