gear giveaway

EV PL-80a – live Mic for soft voiced singers

A dynamic microphone designed for live performance use, the Electro-Voice PL80a is a fantastic sounding mic that delivers world-class performance at a price that every musician can afford. We began testing the mic before we had any idea of its price, and almost everyone who spent time using it thought…Click on the title for more

EV PL-80a – live Mic for soft voiced singers

Recording The Beatles – Book Review

There are Beatles fans and there are Beatles fans, but there’s a particular kind of Beatles fan that is unique – that is, the recording engineer geek Beatles fan. Many people (almost everybody) loves the songs, but few of us actually worship the way the songs sound. And even fewer…Click on the title for more

Recording The Beatles – Book Review

BOSS VE-20 Vocal Processor Review

I've been getting a lot of pressure from the singer in my band to hook him up with effects for his vocals lately. I've been reluctant to put together a vocal effects system for him because of the usually kludgey nature of adding effects to live vocals: running a mic…Click on the title for more

BOSS VE-20 Vocal Processor Review

The Filmosound Specialist Guitar Amp from At Mars Amps

A couple months ago I mentioned a new amp maker, At Mars Amplification. ( http://atmarsamps.com) At Mars is a boutique guitar amp maker out of Minnesota. Their flagship product is the “Filmosound” amp. “Filmosound” was the branding on the audio amplifiers from vintage Bell & Howell film projectors. At Mars…Click on the title for more

The Filmosound Specialist Guitar Amp from At Mars Amps

Abbey Road Plugins – RS124 Compressor

The latest addition to the Abbey Road Plugins lineup is the RS124 compressor. The RS124 was a compressor that Abbey Road was known to make great use of throughout the 60’s, and it was considered to be an integral part of their drum sound on many famous recordings. Many of…Click on the title for more

Abbey Road Plugins – RS124 Compressor

Choosing the right Recording Studio

To the aspiring rock-star who is blissfully unfamiliar with the recording studio, music is undoubtedly a lot of fun – until the idea of recording materializes. This natural transition from a general and “liquid” perception of a live sound to a “solid” and set in stone recording often proves to…Click on the title for more

Choosing the right Recording Studio

Recording Hacks review of SE Gemini II

We had an SE Electronics Gemini II in for testing earlier this year. We checked it out on vocals, nylon and steel-stringed acoustic guitar, drums, and more. Here's what we think about it. The Gemini II is remarkable for its topology — it is one of a handful of dual-tube condenser…Click on the title for more

Recording Hacks review of SE Gemini II

DigiTech Hardwire TR-7 Tremolo

Hardwire has generated quite some buzz recently with their high quality, sturdy lineup of stomp boxes, including a Reverb unit that employs venerated Lexicon algorithms. The manufacturer has recently released a new addition to this set, the TR-7. This is a true stereo tremolo, rotary, and vibrato pedal, offering effects…Click on the title for more

DigiTech Hardwire TR-7 Tremolo

Oldies but Goldies: BBE Freq Booster

The now discontinued BBE Freq Boost is an interesting proposition for the vintage crowd: How far will you go to recreate the sound of the 1960s and 1970s? First a little background: The Freq Boost is a treble booster, which is essentially a precursor to the now-ubiquitous overdrive pedal. Guitarists…Click on the title for more

Oldies but Goldies: BBE Freq Booster

BBE’s D82 Sonic Maximizer plugin

Though not as popular as compressors, maximizers (sometimes called exciters or enhancers) are many engineers' "secret weapon" for adding extra pop and sizzle or smoothing out rough-edged tracks. For those familiar with studio compressors, BBE is to maximizers as DBX is to compressors: affordable and dependable. BBE's D82 Sonic Maximizer…Click on the title for more

BBE’s D82 Sonic Maximizer plugin

Massey Plug-ins L2007 Mastering Limiter

How does this sound to you… a set of totally awesome FREE plug-ins (that is, with an unlimited demo period), and if you want to have settings that are savable, automation and bypass mode you can buy each program for between $69 and $89? Sound amazing? Well, that’s the deal…Click on the title for more

Massey Plug-ins L2007 Mastering Limiter

Cabinet – Convolution Speaker Cabs by Audio Ease

Cabinet is the latest piece of software from Audio Ease, the company that brought you the highly regarded convolution reverb plug in Altiverb and Speakerphone. Cabinet (which costs only $60) is actually a basic version of Speakerphone and is geared specifically toward guitarists and bassists. This software is a set…Click on the title for more

Cabinet – Convolution Speaker Cabs by Audio Ease