Second Set of Ears

For my Dad’s birthday I recorded him a song.  I’m posting it on here to give a slightly more complex breakdown of a song being recorded.  For vocals and Saxophone I used an AKG Perception 220 (the same one featured in the radio drama).  For acoustic guitar and bass guitar I used a countryman DI (the same one used in the last Anatomy of a song recording.)  For electric guitar I put a Shure SM-57 in front of my guitar rig.  The volume on the guitar rig was set very low.  The AKG and countrymen-recorded sources have a medium room reverb plugin preset on them, and each source has an EQ plugin with a corresponding preset (i.e. vocals would have a vocal eq preset)  Here’s how it sounds.

 

 Standard Podcast [3:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here’s a song I wrote about 3 years ago the I did a quick recording of recently.  The recording is very basic, as I recorded the guitar by plugging my Manuel Rodriguez e Hijos Mod. Cutaway B classical guitar into a countryman DI and running that into a Digi 003 rack+ interface for protools.  What’s more is the vocals were done with a Shure SM-57 with a toboggan hat used as a windscreen/pop filter.  Somewhat primitive on the vocal methods, I know.  Nonethleess, here’s how the combination sounds with the help of some plugins.

 

 Sirens [4:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I’ve done a radio mystery play that uses an AKG Perception 220 condenser microphone on several different voices and sources.  All of the audio is recorded with this mic except for the music which was done with a midi keyboard in Xpand!

 

 AKG on a murder mystery [4:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Here is the first gear demo for the site, featuring the Dual Rectifier 3-channel solo amplifier head from MESA Boogie.  This is my (Ian) first gear demo that I’ve ever done.  It serves two purposes: 1) to get a demo out there for this amp, and 2) to serve as somewhat of an example for how gear demos should be done on the site.  Without further ado, here’s the demo. (there are 3 videos)

First off, I start with a tour and overview of the amp’s features:

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I took a few minutes to introduce myself and my background to not only allow you to get to know me better, but so you knew why I decided to do this site in the first place.

I’ve created a video introduction of the site.  It’s fairly brief, but I wanted to be sure to explain not only the function but the concept.

I’ve got a reasonably sized pedal board as you can see from my guitar rig page.  Something alot of people take into account when they are purchasing a pedal is whether it is considered “true bypass” or not.   What’s interesting about this consideration is that it’s not so much about what the pedal does when it’s, but when its off.  When a stompbox in your signal chain is turned off.  Stompboxes in bypass are capable of coloring your sound even when they aren’t activated.  Many people prefer to employ pedals that use true bypass so that their signal stays as clean and true as possible, which is admirable.  Some people, however, appreciate the nuances that pedal circuitry can do to your sound when in bypass.  I wanted to write about this for two reasons.

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Before I get going on music gear and techniques, where you get your gear should be taken into account.  This site is not affiliated with any stores or other businesses.  So this post is not pushing any one way of attaining your gear.  But not all of these ways are created equal.  You can go to online stores, walk in to a music store, go to a pawn shop, hit up ebay, or know a “guy.”  What do I mean by knowing a “guy?’  I mean two things, you either know someone personally who owns what you want and is willing to sell it to you, or you know someone who can get what you want for you.  Let’s take a look at all of the means of getting your gear and the benefits of each.

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Audiophiles, techs, musicians, rejoice!  I am about to put more control in your hands in regards to your gear and techniques.  How? you may be asking.  By letting nothing get between you and your sound.  Musicians and techs of all walks of life strive to create a sound that is right for them.  But when you’re looking around online for new gear, techniques, etc., you run into biased reviews and sales techniques among a host of other things.  Even when you are just listening to demos of gear or songs that use the sound you are looking for, there are numerous factors that are affecting the sound.  Here, the factors and biases are pointed out so that you can approach your sound more knowledgeably and ultimately be more successful in creating the sound that you love.  After all, what matters is what sounds good to YOU!

Not only will this site help expose the mysteries of how things sound the way they do, I will post some interesting things that others have found and allow you to post some things that you have learned.  This way we can all learn from each other.

Added Bonuses! In relation to music I will post all sorts of cool stuff I come across, whether it be tech related, good deals, new gear, up and coming artists, and other goodies.  This site will provide you with all sorts of great things with music and music technology.

While you are here, check out some of my links to my other sites.  While being an audiophile, I am also a musician.  Check out some of the other places you can find me and interact with me there.  Now without further ado… this is SecondSetOfEars.com