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Studio

I maintain a small project studio, which I've long nicknamed the "Construction Zone." Based on Digital Performer, MOTU audio systems, Mackie control surfaces, and Focusrite mic pres and channel strips, it provides 54 channels of 24-bit analog and digital audio I/O, automated mixing with moving faders, and an automated patchbay for access to outboard gear. See below for the obligatory equipment list. This is an old photo, but it conveys the general setup.


Recording and mixing

Apple Power Mac G5 Dual 2GHz (details below), MOTU 2408mkIII and 1224 (x3), Frontier Tango 24 and Tranzport, Mackie Control and Mackie Control XT, MOTU MTP AV USB (x2), Panasonic SV-3700 DAT

Mic pres, dynamics, and eq

Aphex Expressor, dbx 266XL, FMR RNLA, Focusrite ISA 430 mkII channel strips (x2) with A/D converter, Focusrite ISA 428 four-channel mic pre with 2nd gen. 8-channel A/D, Focusrite Green 5 channel strips (x3), Symetrix 525

Microphones

LDC
AKG C414 EB P48, AKG C414 B-XLS (matched pair), Manley Reference Cardiod, M-Audio Sputnik

SDC
AKG C480B/CK61 (x2), Countryman Isomax II Omni, Earthworks QTC-1 (matched pair), Shure SM-81 (x2)

Dynamic
Electrovoice RE20 (x2), Sennheiser MD 441U, Shure SM-57 (x2), Shure SM-58

Other
Cascade Vin-Jet, MiLab MP-30 (x2), Yamaha Subkick

Group Buy
TNC ACM-583 (x2), ACM-1200 (x2), ACM-100, ACM-200 ribbon

Effects

Lexicon NuVerb (x2), Eventide DSP7000, tc electronic Fireworx, Korg OASYS PCI (x2), Roland SRV-330, Vox ToneLab LE, Aardvark Aardscape

Software

Music apps
MOTU Digital Performer; BIAS Peak Pro 6; Jam 6; AudioFinder; Celemony Melodyne Studio 3; Propellerhead Reason 3 and ReCycle 2.1; Peterson StroboSoft

Effects plug-ins
Waves Platinum Bundle 5, AudioEase Altiverb 6 and VST Wrapper 4, Audio Damage Liquid, Dr. Device, Mayhem, Mayhem, Discord, Deverb, Reverence, Ronin, Dubstation, Phase Two, Automaton, 907A, and 914, Line 6 GearBox Gold and PodFarm, PSP Nitro and Vintage Warmer 2, Camel Audio CamelSpace and CamelPhat 3, Celemony Melodyne Studio 3

Virtual instruments
Korg Legacy and Legacy Digital Edition, MOTU Mach 5, Native Instruments Reaktor 5, Akoustik Piano, Elektrik Piano, and B4 II, Propellerhead Reason 3, Synthogy Ivory 1.5, Spectrasonics Stylus RMX

Monitors

Mackie HR824 monitors, Cambridge Soundworks "smalls" (why simulate cheap speakers when you can get the real thing?), Sony MDR-V6 and Ultrasone Pro650 headphones, Mackie Big Knob, Aphex HeadPod 454 headphone amp, Roland KC-500 keyboard amp

Synths and samplers

Korg OASYS88, Korg OASYS PCI (x2), Korg Wavestation A/D, Korg Wavestation SR, Emu e6400 Ultra, Roland S-760, numerous sample libraries (details below)

Controllers

Yamaha KX88, Korg KONTROL49, Korg microKONTROL, DrumKat 3.5 (with HatKat, DW5000 and KAT mini Kick), PalmTree AirDrums

Guitars

GFI SD10 pedal steel (6 pedals + 6 knees, custom copedant), vintage Mullen D10 pedal steel, Industrial Guitars Indy Rail, Rogue brass-body resonator, George Dennis optical volume pedal (plus a tele and acoustic on indefinite loan from my kind brother)

Other Gear

Mackie 1202VLZPro
EbTech Hum Eliminators (x3) and Line Level Shifter
Peterson Stroboflip and Strobosoft tuners
Extra Mackie 1202 (comes in handy!)
Josephson Jecklin Disk
Ultimate Support MC125 boom stands (Best. Stand. Ever.)
Lucid ADA-1000
Radio Shack sound level meter (ear protection)
Korg tuner (a different kind of ear protection)
Couch (comfy!)
Espresso machine (tasty!)

Percussion

Drums
Daveed 9.5" ceramic doumbek; Fat Congas string cajon; GEF doumbek; Gope cuica; JCR solid-shell bongos; Meinl Luis Conte Brass Timbales and Fiberglass Tri Sound Ibo; LP Classic conga & tumba and Aspire 10" & 11" congas; Pearl Travel Conga and 13" and 14" timbales; Remo Paulo Mattioli inline-tuning 13" djembe, 14" key-tuned djembe, two prototype 10" soloist external-tuning doumbeks (yes, they sound different from one another!), 18" Roto-Tom timpani and 6/8/10" set, and small and large surdos; RhythmTech Laptop Snare; Tycoon TK-35 cajon; West Cliff Percussion ashiko; handmade udu, small moroccan fish-skin ceramic doumbek, naal and damroo talking drum

Shakers etc.
LP Cyclops shakers (small and large), One-Shot shakers (small, large, and studio), Salsa maracas, Soft Shakes, Go-Jo Bags, Multi-Guiro 2, large and extra-large caxixi, large ganza, and large and mini Afuche/Cabasas; Meinl Spin Spark Shakers, Headed Spark Shakers, Luis Conte shakers (live and studio), Skin Shaker, and Kessings; Pearl Tang-Tang shakers; Remo small and medium Fiberskyn Tube Shakers; Rhythm Tech CANZ (Hot Salsa Red); Shakka Shakerz ADL-4 shaker; Toca African Shakers and Rattan Yellow Bell Shaker; Tycoon skin shaker; abalone shell and sea-snail shell rattles; handmade seed pod, reed, and basket shakers; wooden and plastic egg shakers; large and small rain sticks

Tambourines etc.
Rhythm Tech steel and brass Pro tambourines and Engelhart Jingle Shakes; LP dimpled brass Cyclops tambourine and RMV pandeiro snare; Meinl 10" wood pandeiro, brass jingles tambourine and brass Jingle Sticks; Pearl Shakerine, Ganziero, pandeiro, Mini-Shakerine, Mini-Ganziero, Liso Shaker, and 8" Tombourine; Remo Sound Shapes Click Clack; 6" Caribbean church tambourine, various handmade wooden and metal sistrums

Blocks, claves, and wooden instruments
LP African clave and Monk Bell; Pearl Cata (aka guagua or kata), high/medium/low Elite woodblocks, and low clave block; Toca gecko clacker (kokoriko); rosewood claves, Vietnamese chun mo (triple temple blocks), devil chaser, wooden and metal spoons, totumo fruit gourd spoons, Cuban hardwood salsa clave, pocket kokiriko, traditional wooden guiro, bamboo angklung, kpoko-kpoko

Bells and metal instruments
Black Swamp Spectrum and standard triangle beaters; Fredrico Percussion Cowbell; LP Mambo cowbell, Deluxe Black Beauty cowbell, 25-bell sleighbells, and Lu Bar Chimes (with TreeWorks Chime Damper); Majic Wands; Meinl Liquid Triangle; Mid-East Flexi-Tone; Pearl Tri-agogo, Tri-bells, Hi and Low Agogo-Pop, and Primero 6" cowbell; set of Per Del tapered triangles; Rhythm Tech Engelhart 11" and 15" Ribbon Crashers, Square Bell, and Reco-Reco; Rhythm Tech Trigger Triangle; Sabian hand-hammered triangle; Zildjian metal castanets; Peruvian ankle jingle bells, Indian bell bracelets and belt, small and large Tibetan singing bowls, several adodo bells

Kits
Tama Starclassic Performer Birch (10x12, 11x13, 12x15, 18x22); Ludwig Black Beauty 6.5x14 and Hammered Chrome Supraphonic 5x14 snares; Yamaha Rick Marotta HipGig drum kit with add-on 12" tom

Cymbals etc.
Diril 15" D hats, 20" flat ride, 17" D thin crash, 12" splash; Dream Bliss 14" hats; Factory Metal original Cross Crasherz (6, 8, and 10"), Street FX Cross Crasherz (6, 8, 10, and 12"), Street FX Hi-Hat Jingler, and original Celtic Bells (8 and 10"); Paiste 14" Dark Crisp Hats and 20" Signature Dry Crisp Ride; Sabian 10" Crasher; Zildjian 13" Armand hi-hats, Armand 19" "Beautiful Baby" ride, 18" and 16" K Dark Thin Crashes

Hardware
DW 5000 Accelerator kick pedal; Factory Metal MultiStackers (3); Gibraltar Cymbal L-Arms (3); Pearl Icon rack, S-1000, CH-2000 (2), CH-2000S (2), and BC-2000; Yamaha hat stand

Sticks etc.
Pro-Mark Broomsticks, Vic Firth Birch Tala Wands, and a wide variety of mallets, brushes, and unusual sticks


Computer Hardware Details

Main system
PowerMacintosh G5 dual 2.0, 4GB RAM, OSX 10.4; MOTU PCI-424 with one 2408mkIII and three 1224 interfaces; 4 internal drives, with drives 3 & 4 mounted via Sonnet Tempo SATA and Sonnet G5 Jive

OASYS PCI host
PowerMacintosh G4/800 (Sonnet processor upgrade), 960MB RAM, MacOS 9.2, Korg OASYS PCI

NuVerb host
Quadra 700, 20 MB RAM, MacOS 8.1
Lexicon NuVerb x 2

All computers routed through a Sony 21" monitor via an IOGear 4xUSB KVM switch.

Other Software

OASYS PCI Plug-ins
Harm Visser; Zarg Music; Orwell Digital; Norsez; Brandon Daniel; And my own, of course!

OS9 Software
Arboretum Hyperprism & Ionizer; Antares Auto-Tune; DUY Shape, DaD Valve, Max, & Wide; AudioEase Rocket Science bundle; Waves Platinum bundle; Transfer Station; Galaxy Plus Editors; Max/MSP; ReBirth; U & I MetaSynth; Delay Calculator


Sample Libraries

PLEASE NOTE: I DO NOT TRADE SAMPLES. DO NOT ASK!

Akai
Best Service: Ethno World, Dance Mega Drum-Kits
Bolder Sounds: Vol. II Granular, Vol. 3 Bolder Pianos
Ilio: Skippy's Big Bad Loops, The Memphis Horns
Q-up Arts: Jason Miles Psychic Horns
Sampleheads: Dave Samuels Marimba & Vibes
Sonic Reality: Interactive Drum Kits
SoundEngine: Post Prepared Piano
Sounds Good: Drum Tools
Spectrasonics: Liquid Grooves Groove Control, Retro Funk, Metamorphosis
Universal Sound Bank: Raricussions, Mediterranean Instruments
Voice Crystal: Legacy (The Definitive Analog Sampler Vol. 1)
Wizoo: Platinum 24 Electronic Drums, Platinum 24 Latin Percussion
Yellow Tools: Pure Drums, Pure Guitar

Roland
Big Fish Audio: Ross Garfield The Drum Doctor Does Drums
Bob Clearmountain Drums II
Denny Jaeger Master Violin Library
Ilio: Trancefusion
Masterbits: Climax 7 Bass
Prosonus Strings Vol. 1
Q-up Arts: Kit Watkins Ambient Realms
Spectrasonics: Burning Grooves, Liquid Grooves, Distorted Reality, Bass Legends, Supreme Beats

Stylus RMX
Backbeat, Burning Grooves, Ethno Techno, Skippy's Noizbox, Stark Raving Beats, New Orleans

WAV and AIFF
Big Fish Audio: Pod (WAV/Acid)
Masterbits: Raver's Revenge (WAV)
Rarefaction: Etymology (AIFF)
Sounds Good: G-Soul, Laidback, Popped Vol.1 (Audio, WAV, AIFF)
Zero-G: dh v2.0 (Audio/WAV)

 

OASYS
Korg: EXs3 Brass & Woodwinds
KARO: Philharmonic Strings, Granular Atmospheres, Movie Collection

Emu
Dan Dean Bass Collection Volume #2
Emu: Producer Series Vol. 2, Hollywood Sound Effects (Producer Series Vol. 3), Analogia (Producer Series Vol. 6), Old World Instruments (Producer Series Vol. 7), Platinum Phatt (Producer Series Vol. 8), Formula 4000 Techno Trance, Formula 4000 Earth Tones, Formula 4000 Analog Odyssey, Formula 4000 Hip-Hop Nation, Dance 2000, Definitive Series Millenium Synths, Emulator Sound Library 1-9
Q-up Arts: Holy Grail Piano
Rob Papen Techno Synth Construction Yard
Sampleheads: Dave Samuels Marimba & Vibes
Sonic Reality: American Heartland, Interactive Drum Kits, and Vintage Timetraveler

SampleCell
LemonSky Labs: The Rhythm Guitar Project
Sampleheads: Pocket Syndrome Vol.1

Audio
AMG: Tony Mason…Steamin', Keith LeBlanc Fresh Killed Meat
Big Fish Audio: Digeridoo, Rich Mendelson's Freaky Jazzy Funky, Roots of India, Helter Skelter, xperts of techno, Ross Garfield The Drum Doctor Does Drums , Ross Garfield The Drum Doctor's Drums 2,
Bolder Sounds: Vol. II Granular
BT Twisted Textures
e-Lab: Xstatic Goldmine 4
Greytsounds: Marco's Loop D' Loops/John Wilmer's Live Loops
PowerFX: The Drummers of Motown
Q-up Arts: Voices of Native America
Rarefaction: A poke in the ear with a sharp stick
Sampleheads: New York City Percussionworks, Pocket Syndrome Vol.1
Zero-G: Deepest India