Over the last couple of months I've been laying down piano, some percussion and assorted orchestral parts for my 2nd album, but until now, I've not been able to get a decent vocal or acoustic recording due to the lack of a good preamp or condensor mic. Thankfully, through some nice Craigslist finds I've picked up what I think is going to be a great combination for the budget DIY recording enthusiasts, so I thought I'd share them with you.

I stayed home yesterday because my city is burning down (you've probably seen it on the news with the moniker - FIRSESTORM 2007 or something ridiculous like that), and I finally got time to do quite a bit of recording; nothing like being hemmed in by fire to stir the creative juices; plus the smokey air gave me that Tom Waits drinking whiskey all-night type of vocal take (just kidding). I'll post a couple demos soon to the myspace page, but here are my new recording equipment recommendations:

Mackie Onyx Satellite. This is a newer 2 channel preamp that utilizes Makie's Onyx preamp. This is firewire, which works nicely (no latency) with my Apple G4 powerbook running all basic tracks into Garage Band, which will later be transferred into its big brother, Logic Pro for post-production.  The Onyx Pres are really nice; a lot of air, good head-room with a natural sound. I've heard nothing but praise for these preamps. It also has a lot of routing options for running headphones and speakers and has for me a much needed insert for outboard effects and compressor.

Speaking of compressors. I had a friend recommend FM Audio's RNC (really nice compressor) a while back and then I got a great deal on one (150 bucks!) and couldn't be happier. My voice has a pretty big range and I like the soft - to - loud dynamics in my song-writing. What can I say? I'm a product of the grunge generation and still consider Gish and Siamese Dream two of my favorite albums of all time. I could've used a compressor on my last album. Instead I let my post-production guy do it after it was said and done and the album suffered vocally because of it - lacked warmth and controllability. This little RNC is awesome. Squishes everything without taking the life out of it. Highly recommended.

Lastly, I've gone thru a lot of mics in 3 years and I haven't been happy with any of them. I've tried high-end mics in the studio like Neumann, but of course, cannot afford it. I've tried semi-pro like Blue's Baby Bottle, which is actually pretty good but still out of my price reach, so I tried MXL, Shure, and the highly rated Sound Precision C3, but to no avail. After reading a couple positive things about the very affordable AKG Precision 200 mic, I finally bought one. Now I realize that a lot of being happy with a mic is dependent upon your voice type, preamp and other factors, but this one is a keeper. I am a mid-rangey tenor and haven't tried it on a girl's voice, yet, but for my voice it works great. I'm still experimenting on acoustic and will probably use it for some drum overheads, so the verdict it still out on that, but for a price conscious garage recording do-it-yourselfer, it is well worth the $180 you'll probably drop on it.  

So, if all goes well, I'll have the new album out hopefully at the beginning of 2008. - BT