The GLS ES-57: Name Dropping Gear Review

Name Dropping Gear Review:


GLS ES-57 - $30  ($50 on Amazon)

If you listen to the show you know two things about me:

1. I drop gear names, and 

2. I love good cheap mics

So lets start dropping names and get this review on!

Everyone knows. And they know well that the number one standard studio mic that everyone has is: the Shure SM 57. Every studio has several, they are workhorses, they never break and they are only $100. Should you have one? Shure! Do I? Nope.

The GLS ES-57 is an inexpensive microphone that hangs with the big boys. A dynamic mic that works equally well on snare drums, guitar, and voice.

First Impressions:

You might need to drop some serious names, and if you do, get your self a whole gaggle of sm57's. But if you're looking for value and quality, save yourself 70% and buy yourself a whole bunch of this clone.

This mic has a nice weight to it, it feels like a good dynamic, and it sounds great. Tons of people have done A/B tests online, so head over to gearsluts.com if you want to compare. But this mic stands on it's own. It has it's own clear EQ curve.

I use this mic all the time on guitar cabinets, and it responds fantastically. Guitar tones from clean to crazy distorted are faithfully reproduced.

This mic has found it's place as my top snare mic. One inch off of the rim, pointed to the center of the head gets me a great snare sound. When I use a four mic setup for drums, then this mic gets me where I need to go.

Lastly, you'll find yourself listening to the mic every week on the podcast. That's right. It is a fantastic vocal mic, especially for speech and voiceovers. While Eric uses the MXL BCD-1 (previously reviewed on this site), I use this $30 mic. The proximity effect is great, and it takes EQ great.

Negatives:

This mic only has negatives, if you really care what other people think about you and your studio. Someone once told me, that it's an ok mic for some situations. Seriously? I use it everyday and get fantastic results. Don't get caught up in name hype. Recognize quality where it is. Get it, get several. You will always find a fantastic place for this jewel of a mic.

Final Thoughts:

I'm a cheap gear name dropper, I know this, and it's awesome to be that. This mic gets used all the time in my studio. While I sometimes think about picking up an SM57, I don't really need one. I've got this guy, and he works great.

--Art

Name Dropping Gear Review: the MXL BCD-1

Name Dropping Gear Review:


MXL BCD-1 - $170

If you listen to the show you know two things about me:

1. I drop gear names, and 

2. I love good cheap mics

So lets start dropping names and get this review on!

This week's mic review is of the MXL BCD-1. A large diaphragm dynamic mic that a simple Google search shows: nobody's using it! Sounds like a perfect mic for me. At $170 I felt I could take a chance on a large diaphragm microphone that could be awesome or terrible.

First Impressions:
Got it quickly from amazon, and realized this feels like a nice mic. Heavy is the first word I would use to describe it. The mount had a hard time actually keeping the mic from rotating, and I struggled to tighten the side screws enough to keep the mic in place. Taking the mic off of the mount, and then re configuring the hardware allowed me to help the mic sit straight where I put it. A small downside, albeit a downside.

I plugged the mic into my interface (a Presonus XMAX preamp) and turned the gain up. It definitely needed more gain to get to a recordable level than say a condenser microphone, but it seemed the XMAX preamp was up to the task. It's a clean microphone that faithfully reproduces voice well. It comes with a hefty proximity effect that Eric loves to use in the podcast (so much so that I have to roll off a little). This is a mic that you want to get right on top of.

Negatives:
The microphone comes with no pad and no roll off switches, both of which would be nice, but neither is truly necessary. I take care of both of these things in my DAW.

Final Thoughts:
I've used this mic in many different recording situations, and become in many ways, my "goto" mic, as I reach for it first when recording Guitars, Bass Drums, Singing Vocals, and Broadcast Vocals. I always have it out and ready on a stand since I know it's going to end up on just about every recording I do. Some of my clients call it my "Golden Mic" because it makes their voice so deep and gorgeous. And I'd have to agree.

So if you've heard the praises of a large diaphragm dynamic mic such as the SM7b or the RE-20, then you will realize the value of an inexpensive, high quality alternative. The BCD-1 fills this need for my studio.

--Art

Microphone Insecurity... Just get over it!

This article also appears on the author's own website found here: art-moore.squarespace.com.

This weekend I had a great opportunity to do sound at my church for a large conference. (We call it Stake Conference). It's a series of two meetings, one on Saturday evening, and another on Sunday morning. Both of these meetings had special musical numbers, and needed sound reinforcement.

Happy Corner Episode 3

smileyfaces be damned!

As we start the weekend, what is better than a good appetizer; something to wet the musical palette (if you will).  What happier way to get the juices flowing than by reading another "Eric's Happy Corner!"

As we start the weekend, what is better than a good appetizer; something to wet the musical palette (if you will).  What smoother way to get the juices flowing than by reading another "Eric's Happy Corner!"

Name Dropping Gear Review: Joey Sturgis Gain Reduction Plugin

Name Dropping Gear Review

Joey Sturgis Gain Reduction Plugin - $35

Getting that vocal track to sit just right is never been an easy task, but once you get it right, there's nothing better. Right now my vocal chain is rather plugin heavy, so when I caught wind of the Gain Reduction plugin, I thought "Anything to simplify, let's try it out." So lets drop some names and get this review on!

Looks:

First off I love the way this plugin looks. I made a rule to myself a long time ago, that I wasn't going to use a plugin unless the design of it was awesome and this one hits it out of the park. From the distressed look of the faceplate, the rooster style knobs, to the tape labels, this plugin has a great design, I love bringing it up in a session.

Ease of Use:

Four controls... That's it. Slay is the amount of compression. Gain controls volume, and Body seems to be a nice high pass filter. I haven't used the LoFi option, but it does sound good. I just haven't had the right project to try it on. When most compressors can get a bit confusing with attack, release, ratio, knee size and make up gain, Gain Reduction simplifies this and says, "How awesome do you want it to sound?"

Sound:

So how does this thing actually sound? Great. It's meant for aggressive vocals and it definitely colors the sound. But in a good, pushed preamp kind of way. This isn't going to be your goto for a clean compressor, but it will bring your vocals into focus, and help them fit in the mix.

I first tested this on my own voice. I use a large diaphragm dynamic mic (the MXL BCD-1). I was quickly able to recreate my normal three or four plugin vocal sound with the Gain Reduction. But dialing in the perfect sound took no time at all.

I then used it in a session I was doing for a local country band. The vocals were male, and not at all aggressive. Would this work for my particular application? I applied the effect and turned the Slay button on just slightly. I shot for only 4-6 db of gain reduction. Again the vocals just sat well. I applied a little reverb and the vocals were ready to go.

Final Thoughts:

I just like this plugin. It's the reason I watch out for the boutique guys. It sounds good, it's easy to use, and it speeds up my workflow. For $35 it's a great tool to have in your back pocket.

--Art

Eric's Angry Corner

It could be that I’m too old and I just don’t appreciate the zeitgeist of youth, but I find myself frustrated and even angry with much popular music has to offer. What better way to express my anger than through a nicely worded blog post. You have entered Eric’s Angry Corner!

Eric's Happy Corner

As I start me weekend, I need a good appetizer; something to wet the musical palette (if you will).  What better way to get the juices flowing than Eric's Happy Corner!

It is a difficult job to cruise the interwebs and find some quality content.  Having to search through so much to find something actually enjoyable requires stamina, perseverance and most of all, the stubborn opinion that whatever you like is the correct thing for others to enjoy.  Don't get me wrong, people should be able to have their own opinion, but it would be good if they checked in with me before writing their music.

First cool song this week goes to Paloma Faith
At First I thought to myself, "well that's odd, their studio looks alot like a Kitchen,"  Then I realized, "they actually have a kitchen in their studio...no wait...that's an actual kitchen."  I don't know why singing in the kitchen is so cool, but this video sure makes me want to do it more.

I really like her voice, and the song is a nice throwback to the days of yor.

Second Cool Song of the week goes to Villagers
One time I had an acid trip that was amazing, I was this dude on stage and my face was painted.  Then craziness ensued.  Yes, I know what you're thinking, "how did they know to make a music video of my acid trip from years ago."

The song structure is not overly complicated, but interesting enough to keep me wanting more.  Very cool song idea, and the lyrics are rather poignant.

The coolest song of the week goes to Band of Skulls
I started listening to this song and I thought to myself, "interesting verse, chorus is cool; but does it really grab me?"  Next thing I knew 30 minutes went by and I had it on repeat.  I still can't get enough of this song or this band right now.  This band is so tight, they remind me of 80's spandex.

There you have it, Eric's Happy Corner, now my "Talking About Noise" listeners, get out there and write some music! I command you as your music Overlord!

Eric’s Angry Corner

It could be that I’m too old and I just don’t appreciate the zeitgeist of youth, but I find myself frustrated and even angry with much popular music has to offer. What better way to express my anger than through a nicely worded blog post. You have entered Eric’s Angry Corner!

I absolutely love breaking down songs and their interrelated components. There are two ways to do this, one can look at the song from a purely songwriting perspective and one can look at the song from a production perspective. In modern music the two roles have completely different effects on the outcome of the song and in an ideal world the songwriter would hire a producer to help finish and polish the song. Unfortunately the DIY musician (everyone listening to the “Talking About Noise” Podcast) needs to become both, as most of us don’t have the money to hire professional producers. In that regard I find it very enjoyable break songs apart and look at as if I’m a songwriter aspiring to become a producer.

My Favorite Free Compressors

Another post from my blog. Enjoy!

Compressors

You know you can never have enough plugins right? And good free plugins are just awesome. Here's a list of the free compressor plugins I've enjoyed using...

Density mkIII is a great bus compressor. I'll throw it on my drum bus, and then on my master bus. When my other compressors just aren't getting it done, I'll throw it on my vocals as well.

NastyVCS is my go to plugin for vocals. I'll bring up the saturation and bring up the compressor. Badda-bing, I'm ready to go.

Molot is a great Russian looking old school interface, and it just looks great. I like using for guitars and Bass. I need to play around with it more on vocals and such.

Limiter No6 is a limiter/compressor I often use on my Master for a quick and dirty "Mastering" level (I'm not a mastering engineer, but I like to throw a limiter at the end of my mixes so they're similar levels to other recordings.)

ReaComp is the stock compressor in Reaper. You can use it in other hosts as well. It's a good solid compressor. I would definitely add it to your "locker".

JB Broadcast Processor, I can't get over how much I like this multiband compressor/limiter. It's got lots of things in it, a compressor, spatial processing, brickwall limiting... Take some time and get to know this one, it's totally worth it. Good on vocals, good on Master Bus limiting. Lots of options. In fact pick up all of the JB plugins, or buy their updated stuff at toneboosters.

Blockfish is a great compressor, one to have in your "plugin locker". In fact pick up all the "Fish Fillets" plugins, I use the Deesser all the time...

Anyway, enjoy. I'm sure there's more/better compressors out there, but I've had a ton of success with these ones! Have fun! 

My Favorite Free Reverbs

This is a post I wrote months ago on my blog, and I thought it might be helpful here to our listeners!

Reverbs

A good reverb is awesome. Just a little bit really warms up your sound and gets things working well. Too much of a bad reverb?... Ugg. Anyway I'm making a list of my favorite free ones, mostly so when I need to find them again, I'll have a nice list...

Ambience is my go to Reverb. I probably use this maybe 70% of the time. The presets are setup to be used in a bus situation in conjunction with your original track. But if you bring up the dry signal you can use the presets right in your track.

epicVerb is awesome. I love the simplicity of the Dry/Wet Knob, and the different room settings (Hall, Plate, Room, etc.) make it simple to dial in a great reverb sound.To my ears, epicVerb doesn't seem quite as wide as Ambience, which I really like. I use this when I need a nice tight reverb. I love it on my drum bus.

Glaceverb is a great runner up for me. It's different, but has a good sound. Have a go at it and have fun.

ReaVerb!!! - The three above are: algorithmic reverbs. Reverbs that are computated based up on parameters (aka knobs...) Convolution reverbs such as ReaVerb (available only in Reaper, but there are other convolution reverbs such as SIR that you can download, I just love ReaVerb). ReaVerb uses Impulse files (recorded in real rooms) to create the reverb effect. Download some Impulse files from Pipeline Audio and Noisevault (Noisevault is down right now, but it should come back at some point)

One of my favorite things to do with ReaVerb is use an impulse file from a guitar cabinet as a speaker emulation on my guitar tracks. Most Convolution plugins are *not* low latency so be careful using them to track in realtime.

ReaDelay - sometimes what you need is not a reverb, but a delay. Using a delay on vocals, may get you more of the sound you need, without all the roominess a reverb can bring. If you find that the reverb is just not doing it, try your delay. I happen to love ReaDelay, and it's a part of the ReaPlugs package which you can use on any host. (ReaVerb is not).

Nasty DLA is a great Delay for Reverb type effects, but it will color your sound a bit (not necessarily a bad thing). Best to use it in a bus arrangement so you can control the coloration.

From the "It's not free but totally worth it, so other people have said" category I present:

Valhalla Room

The guys over at HRS talk about this plugin nonstop, and even had the creator on the show. I'm completely happy with Ambience, Epicverb, and ReaVerb, but if you got to have the greatest and the best, I pretty sure this is it. $50 bucks brings you the reverb happiness. I've used the demo, and it sounds so good! I've since bought this reverb and the hype is true. It sounds great!