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Threecircles Recording Studio is now the proud owner of a stereo LA-3A compressor clone – the Serpent Audio SA-3A. This is a unit based on the revered levelling amplifiers originally made by UREI and now released by Universal Audio. We have various plugin versions of this famous compressor, most notably the Waves CLA-3A from Chris Lord-Alge and also Universal Audio’s own emulation on our UAD 2 DSP processor card.

“So why build a hardware version then?” I hear you ask…….

Well, first and foremost, it allows me to track instruments through the unit, adding tone and vibe on the way in. Secondly the LA-3A tends to be one of the plugins I use more than any other – it does wonderful things to guitars – so now I can save lots of time getting the sound I want on the way in!

The build itself was fairly straight forward – two PCBs, the majority of the  components and the faceplate all came from Serpent Audio in the USA. The hardest part was waiting for everything to turn up: the rest of the chassis came from Collective Cases, as well as a matched stereo pair of T4B optical attenuators from Kenetek Audio. I also needed to get some decent 22 guage hookup wire, 14 switches, an LED and the pots and VU meters from the guys at Hairball Audio.

Once everything arrived and import taxes were paid – the only real annoyance of not being able to easily source some of the parts in the UK – I went about stuffing the PCBs with the components:

The above pictures shows all the components that came with the kit, including the input transformer on the left, intermediary transformer on the right and output transformer at the back. The 8-socket ring to the right in the socket for the T4Bs.

Here you can see the completed PCBs with the newly arrived T4Bs safely housed in their sockets. The T4B is an optical attenuator that Read More →

Threecircles Recording Studio is now the proud owner of an API 6B 500-series lunchbox.

So what’s that all about then??

The lunchbox system was developed by API to house their series of modules, including famous EQs and compressors such as the API 550a, 550b & 560 EQs and the 527 compressor.

The great thing is that you can mix and match which modules you want, to create your own collection of processors in a convenient, portable, powered rack unit.

The choice of modules available is staggering, with heavyweights such as Neve and SSL getting involved with their own 500-series modules such as the famous 1073 preamp from Neve and the SSL series EQ and dynamics.

The first module I chose was the Elysia Xpressor, a Mono/Stereo compressor that is getting a whole lot of love online, especially on the Gearslutz forum for it’s transparent compression and high-end sound. The unit is a workhorse bus-compressor, meaning it will sound great on a drum sub-mix and even on the whole stereo mix thanks to it’s built-in high-pass filter meaning that the compressor doesn’t over-react to low-end material such as kick drums and bass guitar. The Xpressor also has a blend control so you can choose between a mixture of dry sound or compressed sound giving you access to instant parallel compression – real mix glue potential!

So what’s next to fill the 4 empty spaces?

I have my eye on several potential candidates – the problem is that I can see myself soon needing another lunchbox rack…hmmmmm…..

Lindell Audio make a rather nice Pultec-style passive EQ for a very reasonable price so a pair of them would be nice. They also make an 1176-style compressor which has a blend control too, and you can never have enough 1176s….

API 512c preamps would be nice for the classic API punchy sound – especially on guitars.

Neve 1073 preamps need no introduction…

An API 550a EQ would be a great choice, as would the API 560 graphic EQ, both of which I currently have as plugin versions from Waves – but the hardware would enable recording through them – always better in my book.

And then there are all kinds of other goodies from Shadowhills, Retro, Radial, Great River…..the list goes on!

Watch this space for more modules coming soon!

So I finally took the plunge and invested in a new UAD 2 Quad PCI card.

“A What?” I hear you say?

Its a processor that sits in my Mac Pro and allows me to use lots of lovely plugins! More importantly it takes all the heavy lifting away from the native system so you can run many more plugins without taxing the computer’s CPU. This means that I can run biger mixes with higher track counts and more processing – a good thing!

The UAD comes bundled with 1176, LA-2A and Pultec plugins – all very nice (I have 3 hardware 1176s – very nice!) but I have also purchased the Classic Compressor Bundle – emulations of the dbx 160 VU, the LA-3A – just about my favourite compressor, and the revered Fairchild 670.

“The What?” I hear you say?

The Fairchild 670 is a vintage mono compressor from ye olde studio days that was used extensively at EMI studios (Abbey Road to you and me) by the Beatles amongst others. The units weigh in at a gut-busting 65lbs and cost around £30,000 on the used market so I’m not likely to be buying a real unit anytime soon. The good thing now is that I can use as many emulations of the Fairchild as the UAD will allow – 88 according to UAD’s website! The Fairchild 670 from UAD is modelled on the unit housed at Ocean Way Recording in LA as well so sounds pretty good…

The other plugins I have invested in recently are the VTM – Virtual Tape Machine – emulations from Slate Digital. These bring emulations of Studer and Ampex tape machines to the digital world – giving warmth and punch to your recordings. These plugins go hand in hand with the other plugins we have from Slate – the VCC collection. These plugins emulate classic consoles such as SSL, Neve, API and Trident so your tracks can sound like they were tracked on a $30,000 tape machine and processed through even more expensive consoles!

So next time you’re in the studio make sure you choose the tape formula and console you want me to use!

So why are these so useful?

Speakers like the ones pictured don’t tend to be very flattering and also tend to over-emphasise the mid range so they will really highlight any Read More →

I have lusted after UREI/UA 1176 FET compressors all my music tech career. They are one of the compressors that is name-checked more than any other and seem to be a go-to for many engineers – with good reason: they have an ability to go from transparent glue to all-out pumping madness with just a few small changes to the setup and impart something magical to whatever you use them on – even when bypassed.

So how to satisfy my lust for a unit that costs around £2K per unit? Many people seem to think that the UA re-issue units haven’t captured the magic of the original units – but trying to find one of them is like finding hen’s teeth! The only other option were the Purple Audio MC77 clones, but they still stack in at around £1200 each – and let’s face it, one is never going to be enough……

So I decided to set myself a challenge – I would build a couple. Read More →

I often get asked this question, especially when teaching or in the recording studio: “which microphone should I use to record X?”.

The answer I always give? – “the one that gets you the sound you want”.

It sounds kind of flippant I know but it really is that simple. You can save yourself a whole load of of time by simply putting a microphone up and having a listen to what you are capturing. Try moving the mic around while you are listening on headphones and see whether you and the musician/band are happy with the sound.

Not what you want? Move the mic.

Need it brighter? Try a capacitor/condenser mic or move more on-axis.

Need it warmer? Try a Valve/Tube mic or Ribbon if you have one.

Not the right kind of sound? See if you get nearer to the sound with EQ and if not, switch the mic out for something with a different character. I always try to get the best sound first without having to resort to EQ – just a personal preference.

Now it gets interesting when you “mix as you go” – A very common practice nowadays due to dwindling budgets for recording studio time. I personally follow this approach and try to get the sound I want in the mixed track as I go along Read More →

I was hanging out with my brother-in-law the other weekend (hey I kind of have to – he made my website! ;0) and he was having trouble getting a guitar track to fit in the mix. There wasn’t a lot going on in the song – mainly drums, bass and guitars with a few vocals – but he was having some real trouble getting all the elements to be heard clearly in the mix, especially when it came to the chorus which sounded kind of wimpy.

This is when I gave him some tips on using an HPF – High Pass Filter and this should be the first bit of EQ’ing that you master before you start cutting and boosting all over the place.

The theory is that there will be an awful lot of bass information recorded on a track when you don’t need it. For example – Read More →

The final thing I do is to wire up the ratio board with the correct lengths of coloured wire as per Mnats instructions. Some of the colours are different due to what was available to me but as long as you are keeping a note of what colours you have switched you’ll be fine.

You can see from the picture that the wires are fairly tough, straight wire – this is the smallest gage hookup wire I could get at Maplin as the holes on the ratio board are quite small diameter. In my first build I had to cut away some of the copper wires to fir them through the hole so hopefully this will make a better connection. The only problem with this wire is that the shield melts very easily when soldering but a bit of practice goes a long way! Read More →

Just a quick note to let people know of some improvements that have been made to the recording studio recently.

We have bought a new 40-input DDA FMR console to replace the old Mackie 32-buss desk that did us proud for a number of years. The new desk sounds absolutely lovely and has some great preamps (DDA went on to found Audient!). The desk also has a lovely EQ and generally more polished sound quality compared to the Mackie so fun times ahead!

New plugin bundles have been added to the control room as well. We now have the Slate Digital Trigger plugin for excellent drum replacement, as well as Read More →

At this point you can start to stuff the main PCB. It’s a really good idea to stuff the power section of the board first and also hoookup the power transformer so that you can test your power rails and make sure you don’t blow the board. This will also save some heartache later on if things don’t work and you have to start troubleshooting……

First I hookup the power transformer:

Next I stuff the power section of the PCB ONLY: Read More →