Award Sounds

I'm glad that Kontakt and Logic work together. I just wish it were easier.

Versions

The upgrade to Logic 8 has helped a lot. For me, the Logic upgrade was a no-brainer. I waited a couple of moths to see what the bug reports were coming through, then took the plunge. Regardless of how it interacts with Kontakt, the Logic upgrade was worth it. If you include the tighter integration, then it becomes even better.

Templates

also known as "Is it wrong to apply effects to an accurate recording of a guitar amp?"

Following some comments, I've recorded another audio clip of the 1224GT. There are a few differences to the last set of clips.

• There is only one audio clip
• The clips is based around the variations in tone available from the pedal board
• I don't touch the amp throughout the whole 7 minutes.
• In the clip, I talk you through which of the buttons have been pressed
• The mp3 is at a bitrate of 192k

Some background to the recording:

Ok, picture this: I changed over a 2x12 cab for a 4x12 cab in order to get a better sound for recording and then only mic up the bottom two drivers because that's what sounds best.

So why not use the 2x12?

If that's not enough of a surprise, it's even the same two drivers that were in the 2x12 at the start of yesterday's session.

But it does sound better with this guitar and amp combination and that's what counts.

I've spent a few hours yesterday trying to capture the tone being played through the new guitar amp. Nothing seemed to work properly. I'd tried closed back and open back speaker configuration, close miking, miking at all distances between 3 inches and 3 feet, miking on axis, off-axis, miking the cone through to the outer edge of the mic. I've used a mixture of dynamic, condenser and ribbon microphones. But still no joy.

The 2x12

I received the new guitar amp a few days ago, it's a Matamp 1224GT. And what an amp it is! Here's my first impression, not a complete review.

Versatility

The amp is loud, very loud, but has a number of features to help manage the volume:

I've just been using a BLUE Bluebird and I'm remarkably surprised at it.

Initial Impressions

I'll admit, I didn't expect much. This microphone retails at just over £170. When I last compared prices, a month or so ago, that was about $300 USD. So it's not up there with the classic Neumanns. That's ok, it's about just over a tenth of the price. It's a large diaphragm condensor. And the pack I was using came complete with a shockmount and pop-shield.

I like it when something just works, but I always feel a bit ambivalent when I can't really notice it working.

The Kit

In this case, I've just been using the Radial Engineering Reamping Kit. It consists of two main components (the J48 active phantom DI and the X-Amp amp driver) plus a power supply for the X-amp and a plastic box to hold it all in.

Plugging In for Re-Amping

Mention an octaver to a musician, especially a guitarist, and you're heading for a conversation about Hendrix.

It can be used for other styles. So here's a quick trick for writing funk. Forget the bass when you start. I half-expected to get lynched, but bear with me, at least until the end.

Background

I like the old P-funk of Funkadelic and Parliament. I think what made me hear it more was the inclusion of a distorted guitar in a funk show. This was often played in sync with the bass guitar.

Setting the groove

A short series of articles on collaborating with other people to make your music better, make it heard or to help them move their music forwards.

1. Recording

1a Engineer