Phase Plant revisited

In January 2019 I did a review of the KiloHearts Phase Plant synthesizer.

Since then we have had a bit of a tumbleweed moment and it has all gone very quiet. The Phase Plant seems to have completely fallen off the radar. I’m not sure why that is, but it may be that it has been viewed as a sound designers tool and it’s complex appearance has put some people off. Another important point is that if you buy the complete package with all the modules it isn’t cheap. However, if you buy only the modules that you want, you get a great tool for the money.

I think it is fair to say that the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts and plugging the different modules together will give you a great sounding, flexible synth.

Mark Barkan has made me aware of a very thorough, balanced, and fair review that he has recently made of the Phase Plant. It is a long video, but helpfully he gives timesteps in the video info section so you can jump to any part that interests you.

Also see: higherhz.com

Music Producers And Bands Basic Mixing Checklist

This mixing checklist is to use alongside the Pre-Recording Checklist. Naturally the checklist depends greatly on the type of music you are producing, but this one should fit most general types.

  • Kick drum should be in mono

  • Sub bass should also be in mono

  • Solo all layers of bass and check that they are working well together. If not, fix them now

  • In the bass - roll off any very low frequencies below 20-30Hz

  • Claps and snares - low cut anything below about 120Hz

  • For a good snare - get the ‘thunk’ around 200-400Hz; a good ‘crack’ around 2-3kHz and sparkle up to 7-8kHz

  • Audio clips - make sure to use fades to avoid any clicks and pops

  • Does any percussion need sidechaining to make it groove better?

  • Make sure to EQ your effects

  • To make some elements more interesting you can use Mid/Side EQ

  • For any specific band specific fixes think about dynamic EQ (for EQ fixes) and multiband compression to control power

Cable ties

Cable ties were first invented by Thomas & Betts, an electrical company, in 1958 under the brand name Ty-Rap and were designed for airplane wiring harnesses. The common cable tie, is normally made of nylon, has a flexible tape section with teeth that engage with a pawl (yes, that is the name) in the head to form a ratchet so that as the free end of the tape section is pulled the cable tie tightens and does not come undone.

As I am about to start on a studio rewire and Ethernet network, this purchase made my day !!

1200 cable ties !!!

12 different colours

Red Bull leaves through the back door

Depressing news indeed. Red Bull Music will be shutting the doors of all its 11 worldwide music studio, as it steps back from the entertainment industry. On the music side Red Bull Records will continue. The company’s management informed staff that Red Bull would be “cancelling all music projects” on Monday 13 July. Beyond the recording studio closures, the brand will also be cancelling all of its music events. On the music side Red Bull Records will continue

As well as providing a creative haven for artists and producers, Red Bull has been responsible for hosting lectures with revered rappers, DJs, producers as part of its Red Bull Music Academy program, which closed down in 2019 along with Red Bull Radio.

Spitfire Audio releases LABS Mandolin for FREE

Spitfire Audio has released LABS Mandolin, a free mandolin sound library for the freeware LABS sound module plugin capturing the full tonal range of a classic mandolin.

The samples were recorded at Spitfire HQ studios, including a variety of articulations. The library features picked and fingered playing styles, along with tremolo and ensemble.

It seems that the samples weren’t processed apart from standard editing, so you’re getting a clean and completely natural mandolin sound.

You can download LABS Mandolin for free from Spitfire Audio’s website. Be sure to install the LABS plugin, too. It is available in 32-bit and 64-bit VST and AU plugin formats for compatible host applications on Windows and macOS.

More info: LABS Mandolin (compatible with Spitfire Audio LABS)