Archive for 'News'

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 This is a unit based on the revered levelling amplifiers originally made by UREI and now released by Universal Audio.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!

It is nearing the end of 2011, and what a year for us it has been! It has been one of our busiest years yet, working with clients both old and new and creating some wonderful music along the way.

So what has happened since the last update?

July

We saw Echo Echo return to the studio, for 5 days this time to record 3 new tracks, check them out on their demos page. We also welcomed back studio regular Sue Heath and Read More →

Check out this video of “Only You”, all recorded at Three Circles Studios at the end of August.

More details on the band will be available soon on our demos page.

We have had a very busy 6 months here @ Threecircles.
Recession? What recession! Here’s the lowdown:

The boys from TZAR were back, although this time they’re calling themselves “Echo Echo”. They came in for 2 days to record just one track, meaning that it all ended up sounding rather lovely! We then said hello to new band “In Too Deep” who recorded 6 songs over a period of a few days, as well as extra sessions for mixing and recalls. Sue Heath, the singer in In Too Deep like the studio so much she threatened to be back to record solo material….
January also saw an addition to Chris’ roster of production work with “Carli”, writing rock-tinged ballads. Read More →

Haven’t updated in a while as we have been rather busy lately. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

In July we had many sessions with Eksel, who was finishing off his album which is now available on iTunes. We also continued working with Janet Wheeler who braved the studio with a broken knee! July also saw the return of the 8 Ash Green festival which we have provided the sound for for the last 3 years. The festival was a great success and the next one is already scheduled for the 16th of July 2011.

August saw more sessions from Eksel and Nai-T as well as a return for local band The Croft who were adding overdubs and edits to their 3-track E.P. Read More →

May and June have both been busy months. May started with lots of work with meditation therapists, producing background music and recording the meditations. We continued to work with Deborah Coote and her sister Susie Keene on separate projects. We also heard that one of our previous clients, Charli XCX has been signed up to Universal Records and we wish her all the best. Charli can be found online HERE.

Read More →

Another month, doesn’t time fly!?

We are into the Wedding/Outdoor season which means that we have been busy with PA hire this month, starting with a wedding in Royston where we provided PA, turntables and lighting for the evening entertainment. We are also heavily into talks with a local enterprise about providing sound for a local outdoor festival in Saffron Walden in early summer. Check back for more news on that and for lineups etc.

Read More →