Gizmo Studios

It's been a while!

2013-02-04T23:59:00.001+00:00

It has been a while since I posted. Currently I am working on a few projects that will be taking up alot of my time (planning and execution of plans!)

I will reveal more soon!

New Band!

2012-03-27T14:29:00.001+01:00

Been away but have been working on some cool stuff!

Check this out guys!

Camera low light test

2012-01-27T13:22:00.004+00:00

Here is a link to the test of my new camera in a low light situation .

All music is our own.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T00:03:00.002+00:00

Merry Christmas!

Have a new camera. Panasonic HXDC1. Loving the macro focus capabilities!

First picture I took....Not edited. Straight from the camera.

SAMSON C01 / C02 Mic Bundle

2011-12-14T13:50:00.001+00:00

Okay, So I am planning on purchasing these mics. Not only are they extremely affordable I have heard good reviews.

At this price, two condenser mics is an absolute steal!

Although they retail for around the same price as the Behringer C2's (Link Here for C2's) I have previously blogged about, They are not a stereo pair. Which, can be a hinderance but can also be a blessing. I was personally looking for a small diaphragm and a large diaphragm condenser mic so this bundle was exactly what I was looking for. I was expecting to pay more than this for just one large diaphragm mic.

Both mics respond from 50-20,000 hz. Yet the C02 (Pencil Mic) is Super Cardioid whilst the Large Diaphragm mic is Hyper-Cardioid.

I think that you would have to try the mics to see if they suit your application, but anything from drum overheads, room mics, podcasting, acoustic guitar etc the possibilities are endless and at this price you can definitely not worry about losing out! A right bargin!

Thomann link to the Mics

Been away for a while!

2011-12-14T13:34:00.003+00:00

Due to health and other reasons I have been absent from the airwaves but I am now back! With regular updates and random gatherings of.... things!

Things to come!

2011-09-24T15:43:00.000+01:00

Kind of sticking with the music and also mixing the video / VFX side of things, soon, there will hopefully be a rather cool video for you guys check out!

Back at college!

2011-09-15T21:19:00.000+01:00

I have started back at college! Things are set to look good for me this year! Alot of cool stuff going to happen providing I get some things in order!

We are starting a sound to video unit which i am really looking forward too!

Q & A

2011-09-08T17:33:00.001+01:00

I have teamed up with ARTSIN Leicestershire and have answered some common questions that new bands and artists might be interested in.

More to come!

http://www.artsinleicestershire.co.uk/backstage.htm

Its been a while!

2011-09-04T15:19:00.003+01:00

Its been a while since I last posted! but things are in the pipeline! Some interesting stuff to be coming this way very soon! (It sounds like a cliché i know, but its true!)

Redo on my Grenade art!

2011-07-21T15:10:00.000+01:00

So, being rather pleased with the first outcome, I decided to do a speed art and a new "grenades" creation in cinema 4d.

I thought my first attempt was good until i put it next to these! here is the video and the picture!

A little design work!

2011-07-05T12:06:00.000+01:00

Okay, again this isnt anything to do with audio, but 3d work using cinema 4d and photoshop. This image alone took 20 minuites to render (maybe a little longer!) as I used global illumination. It was just a practice of techniques within C4D and i may do my first ever speed art sometime with something like this! The first is my final product, the second image was my first full render.

Not audio but Animation!

2011-06-27T17:08:00.000+01:00

Ok so it has taken me a while to get with it! but i finally completed a new title animation for my (soon, eventually, when i get around to it!) website!

Here it is!

Screamo bands!

2011-06-17T14:00:00.002+01:00

I have noticed recently that front men of screamo bands tend to run about alot and break mic cables! (Just a little insight!)

How far has music software come?!

2011-06-08T22:07:00.000+01:00

Take a look at this video. This is a rather nifty piece of software for its time! I think personally that some people use even worse software today! (audacity for one isnt capable of this!)

Samples?

2011-06-08T22:02:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I have an idea floating around at the moment, Title kind of gives it away, but i shant say too much! In the next few months im hoping to begin work on my first major product :)

Live Sound Shift

2011-05-28T21:07:00.002+01:00

Okay so I really got stuck in the live sound side of things last night!

Was a great night and the bands werent bad either.

It was a relativley small stage but a rather nice sized system to work with. It was just your typical live setup for a typical 3 - 5 peice band. (Guitars, bass, drums, vocals)

All monitors run through auxiliarys,as were the effect sends. Although 2 of the 3 front stage monitors had blown horns so lost all the top end frequencies, this caused problems at the start as i had to drive the remaining foldback quite hard and started to feedback. although a few tweaks with eq later, this wasnt a problem. I really like the drummers foldback system at this venue. Its like a mini PA (infact, bigger and better than some PAs ive worked with in the past!) Active sub, and passive high speakers. And it really does show that when the drummer especially can hear the power of his right leg thumping through that sub, it really does show in the perfomance!

The night was also recorded by me for a live demo and actually didnt come out too bad!

Just my two cents :)

Mixing in logic pro 9

2011-05-24T22:42:00.000+01:00

Spent quite some time today (5 hours!) Mixing a song in Logic for my college course.

I really do like the DAW itself an love the interface. I also like that the plugins are, for the majority, easy to use and very uniformed in appearance. I mention this as i have used plugins before where everything looks different and it takes precious time to find your way around and it slows down your workflow.

Will hopefully post some clips soon with what i have been doing today!

a real eye opener!

2011-05-18T17:21:00.000+01:00

At college today we had the privalege of meeting Andrew Dubber (http://andrewdubber.com/)

And i must say.... What a guy! The experience was amazing and the presentation was perfect. I really hope i do get to see him again. It was a real eye opening experience on the things he had to say! Please visit his website above!

Recording Session

2011-03-25T17:47:00.002+00:00

Ok, so this is going to be a lengthy one! (Pictures below!)

We had a recording session at my college the other day recording the band "Even More Than You", and thought I might share some of the equipment we used, signal paths etc. Links and pictures of equipment will be listed below!

Ok lets start with the drums....

Kick - Sennheiser Evo 602 (Check out my Bass Drum Recording blog from last month!)
Snare - Top and Bottom Both Shure SM57's (Bottom one Phase Inverted)
3 Toms - Each had a Shure SM57
Overheads - 2 C414's using a figure 8 pattern

Overall we got a really nice natural sounding kit, and although I havent had a chance to mix yet, I know just from the tracking that it will be a nice sound!

Using inserts on the ghost soundcraft desk we did the following:

Kick Drum - Compressed using the SSL XLogic G series compressor

Bass -DI into the desk - Into the Joemeek One Q

Vocals - Recorded seperatley using the technique in my previous two posts.

Synth - Run into the IVORY 5021 Dual Valve compressor using the stero link then to the MOTU

Everything was then taken from the desk, and using two MOTU 8Pre's into Logic Pro 9 using the aggregate device so everything had its own channel.

I was especially impressed with the Joemeek One Q. It gave such a warm, yet bright feel to the bass and it really does look good in your rack too!

Again with the IVORY and the SSL LOGIC, they are such nice peices of equipment and well worth a purchase if you can afford it.

Personally, this is the first time I really went all out and used outboard equipment rather than doing it in the software (apart from using cheaper stuff) and... people say it... and I just brush it off, but with the SSL and the Joemeek especially, I noticed a HUGE difference in sound quality and clarity. The sounds coming from these peices of equipment were simply amazing! And I definatley will be using them again!

Below are some pictures of the patch bay, taken because I didnt think i would ever fill it up so much! we even had to go get some extra patch cables!

Ok, so here are the links to the rack equipment and the prices in GBP, if you want to translate it to your currency, use THIS CONVERTER

IVORY 5021 Dual Compressor

Around £570

Joemeek ONE Q

Around £600

SSL XLOGIC COMPRESSOR

Around £2,300

MOTU 8Pre

Around £400

Vocal Sample from previous post!

2011-03-15T19:43:00.000+00:00

Here.. Just a little snippet of what was recorded today.

The vocals have been processed with compression, slight delay and a distortion. (some neat old tricks)

The rest of the track hasnt been mastered and all the levels are not final. It is simply just a "quality reference" to the vocals.

Click here for Sample!

The song is a cover of Free's "All right now" which you can buy below!

Simple vocal mic setup

2011-03-15T17:41:00.002+00:00

Here is a basic setup to record a vocalist.

(there is no pop shield in the picture but there was one during recording)

The microphone is a Neumann U87 using a figure 8 polar pattern. Which means it picks up sound from the front and the rear of the mic, but rejects sound from the sides.

Ideally the pop shield wants to be 2-4 inches from the front of the mic and the singer again 2-4 inches from the pop shield. This isn't an absolute final figure. It is just what was found to be the best in the situation, try different spacings to suit your sound.

The space used was not a totally dead environment and we also used the vocal shield you see in the picture. The mic was placed in line with the edges of the shield and in the centre of the shield (the camera angle makes it
Look off centre)

The picture isn't greatest quality as it is from my iPhone.

Great mics for the price!

2011-03-07T13:54:00.002+00:00

Here is an Amazon link to a rather nifty pair of condenser mics! Although, yes, they are made by Behringer, for the price, they do a great job! Overheads, acoustic guitar etc....

Worth the money for sure! Click the link and grab yourself a bargin!

(The price is for a pair!)

Found this video on youtube, not the best but it gives you an idea of ONE mic... they work great as a stereo pair (and like I said, you get two in the box!)

Drum sound?

2011-03-02T19:04:00.000+00:00

Ok, so if your a drummer, and have been on youtube, chances are, you know who Cobus is!

Was randomly browsing youtube (again YAWN!!) and came accross his new stuff, and i am really impressed with the drum sound, I just HAD to turn it up!

Take a listen!

Rock Band Real Drums!

2011-02-26T18:37:00.001+00:00

Ok so I stumbled accross this product randomly watching youtube videos. and i must say, i think its a neat piece of kit!

http://www.omegamusictechnology.com/products/omega-gm-1-system