Hello everyone!
Yes, I know it's been a while. Too long, in fact! Quite a bit's been happening over here and I've had to take some time away from the studio to get life up and running here in Austin. I'm happy to report that all is well, and 2015 is shaping up to be a great year ahead. I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio and getting back in touch with all of you as well.
I also wanted to take a quick moment to thank all of you again for your support, and for sticking with me through it all. I wanted to also wish each and every one of you and your families a happy and safe holiday season.
Some great things are in the works for 2015. We're in a new city, new music is coming, it doesn't get any better than that.
There's lots more to come after the new year, so until then be well and we'll see you after the new year!
This was one of my more memorable Spotlight shows. This was the first on-location interview I did, hauling a portable rig into Manhattan and broadcasting from an "undisclosed location". We made reference to the "concrete cell" we were in because it was exactly that; a concrete cell with acoustic treatment on the walls and no circulation. Regardless of the space...
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Did a great private party this evening with the PA rig and was thrilled with how smoothly it all went, and how well it sounded. Mackie SRM450 tops, Mackie Onyx1640i console, Audio Technica ATW2120 Handheld Wireless mic sounded fantastic! I used the Firewire connectivity on the Onyx board to let me run an aux into Logic on my MacBook Pro for some silky reverb, which I returned to a pair of faders. Zero feedback, and a pristine recording that sounds like it could have come out of a studio. For a simple piano and vocal gig, I couldn't be more happier.
If you have an event or meeting coming up and need a PA system, JBRecording can help. You can call 855-906-1176 extension 3, or send an e-mail .
Living in an apartment has its benefits, but for music production there are always a few drawbacks as well. Other than drums, the main problem I run into is that of having access to an in-tune well-kept grand piano. With technology ever-improving, the software solutions available nowadays have really been getting very impressive and quite affordable as well. I wanted to do a quick head-to-head comparison of a few piano samples that are out there.
First, let's take a look at where we started. The below sample is using the "Steinway Grand" that comes with the standard install of Logic Pro.
Listen to jbrecording / Logic EXS24 Steinway | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.
Not bad for having come out in the late 90's. That patch has been available since, I believe, Logic 7 or Logic 8, but it might even be older than that. I've only been a Logic guy for the last few years.
Next, we'll take a listen to a piano from a well-known audio plug-in and virtual instrument manufacturer, Native Instruments. They've been known for some very successful and widely-used plug-ins like Kontakt, Reaktor, and Battery, among others. They released a package of pianos a some years ago called "Akoustik Piano", and this is the sample of their "New York Grand".
Listen to jbrecording / NI NY Concert Grand | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.
And, finally, we're going to listen to another sample but this is from a small developer called VI Labs. I'd never heard of these folks, but I was introduced to them by a friend the other day, and I'm beyond impressed. This is their "American Grand" which comes in a 3-pack with an Italian and German counterpart as well. In their documentation they reveal that it is in fact, a sample of a Steinway D.
Listen to jbrecording / TrueKeys American | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.
I greatly enjoyed the TrueKeys American, and will be using that as my go-to piano for now. There are many other options available for software pianos, the most well-known being Synthogy's Ivory which is quite fantastic. However, it comes on quite a few DVD's, so you'll be spending some time in front of your computer feeding it discs for at least an hour. Those with newer iMacs or Retina MacBook Pros will need to make sure to have an external SuperDrive for the install; doing so over Remote Disc would be just painful.
The only processing done on these recordings was use of the Universal Audio Lexicon 224 reverb and Precision Limiter to sweeten things up. I made sure there was very minimal limiting to preserve the audio on the recordings.
What's your favorite virtual instrument piano? Or if not piano, what's your favorite virtual instrument in general? Post a comment, I'm always interested to explore new software offerings especially those from lesser-known developers.
Thanks for reading!
A few years ago, my band Faces East went down to Big Blue Meenie in Jersey City to record basics for our first CD. The crew at Big Blue was great, and the sessions went really well. Overdubs and initial mixing was done and the album was rushed to iTunes. A few years later, I decided to pull out the old tracks and revisit the mix of one of our tunes. For your listening enjoyment, here's the revisit of "High and Mighty", mixed and mastered by yours truly.
More tunes to come. Enjoy!
-JB
