The Studio Log - What Did You Do In The Studio

[Constructed Identity]

Could buy a new synth, but it would distract me from making music, I am quite far along with the next album. The first five tracks of which will be in 7/4 time. I thought it was unusual, but a quick search on YouTube brought up a video with a list of great songs that are either in 7/4 time (Blondie’s Heart of Glass) …or start in 7/4 time. They still sound like techno sort of so let’s call them IDM. I put up the first on SoundCloud. viewtopic.php?t=622447

[thecontrolcentre]

I cleaned and levelled up the audio for a short promotional film my mate needed to get finished by today. He was very happy with the results and has managed to hit the deadline ok.

[edited for typo]

[justin3am]

I finished the last track for my upcoming release. Only took just short of a year to complete 6 songs.
It's 43+ minutes of some of my most aggressive music to date. It was a challenge to mix such that the raw edge still shines through, while also making room for some more delicate details. I'm really proud of the work I did, despite a lot of difficulty over the last two years. Next it will go to my mastering engineer and I'm working with a visual artist I really admire on the artwork.

I can't wait to share with everyone!

[thecontrolcentre]

I can't wait to share with everyone!

[justin3am]

I can't wait to share with everyone!

If I remember, you were one of the only people to buy my first CD! You and Runagate.

[thecontrolcentre]

If I remember, you were one of the only people to buy my first CD! You and Runagate.

Yeah that's right. It was cool getting a CD in the post.
I've bought several of your online albums since then.

[foosnark]

(The theme/inspiration is "suspension" -- sus chord drones, audio "suspended" in infinite reverb/frozen buffers/delay feedback/loopers.)

That has been really easy inspiration. I haven't strictly stuck to sus2/sus4 chords, but sometimes whatever chords or clusters come naturally out of playing with Multimod or Synclavier V's "voice chorus" etc. and then start transposing by fourths and fifths...

Besides those, a few new toys get some credit for keeping me fired up... Walrus Audio Slöer, Halogen FM, Sofia's Daughter (VCV Rack module).

I have 45 minutes of music but I kind of just want to keep working on this. So I might make a really long album (with some pretty short tracks by my standards).

[Constructed Identity]

By listening to a video with the DFAM I’ve determined that the filter/oscillator on it is much better than my Behringer Edge. Not really surprised but it will keep me from using it as a synth. It is, however, surprisingly good as a drone synth by just turning the tempo&decay way up. I haven’t made any drone yet.

[ghettosynth]

By listening to a video with the DFAM I’ve determined that the filter/oscillator on it is much better than my Behringer Edge. Not really surprised but it will keep me from using it as a synth. It is, however, surprisingly good as a drone synth by just turning the tempo&decay way up. I haven’t made any drone yet.

Not that it matters that much, I'm not going to spend $600 on a DFAM, but, I would like to see the video in question?

[Constructed Identity]

By listening to a video with the DFAM I’ve determined that the filter/oscillator on it is much better than my Behringer Edge. Not really surprised but it will keep me from using it as a synth. It is, however, surprisingly good as a drone synth by just turning the tempo&decay way up. I haven’t made any drone yet.

Not that it matters that much, I'm not going to spend $600 on a DFAM, but, I would like to see the video in question?

Here is the video. At 3:50 -4:06 in particular you hear open filter with resonance- Edge breaks up in this area, but it is a percussion instrument anyway and the real magic happens with the "1-2 FM" AMT knob so yea.
Behringer 2600 has two better filters but I think Kobal is the best in ladder filters.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Wrote a song and now farted around for days on how best to arrange it.
At this rate I expect to still be thinking about whether to use a glockenspiel on the song on my death bed.

[Constructed Identity]

Over the weekend I picked out the hardware for and installed a shelf above my synth rack for various stuff to display. I also worked on an ambient track utilizing a pad I made on 3rd wave, speaking of which I installed the new firmware on it yesterday. Downloaded the free programs and was deciding which ones I wanted to keep. It’s funny they added sample play on the synth because it highlights its major flaw, looked like it has 3 mb of space left for added samples.

[crimsonwarlock]

Update on my Scarlett 18i20 problem: By now the problem with the self-switching dim-switch manifests itself within one hour from turning the unit on. After that, the LED by the switch is basically a light show, with audio constantly being switched to dim and back. Conclusion: my 700 Euro audio interface is now an expensive doorstop

I know, it's a gen-1 that I bought about 7 or 8 years back. But it is still in mint condition (apart from this issue) and has never been dropped or similar, has always been operating in a dry space, and only a few hours a day (and not even daily). From my perspective, it should still work flawlessly.

Well, I just ordered a Behringer UMC-1820 at a fraction of what a new Scarlett 18i20 costs (can't afford a new 18i20, wouldn't get one if I could). And the Behringer comes with ADAT lightpipe, so I can still hook up my OctoPre (but I'm actually thinking of selling that one and getting the Behringer equivalent).

[foosnark]

I had a Saffire Pro 40 where the monitor Dim switch would switch itself at random. I went to a UMC1820 -- which was pretty much a clone of the gen 1 18i20 -- and it wasn't awful, but found that the drivers weren't great, latency wasn't great, I had random clicky glitches in my recordings, and its more compact size also meant it runs hotter.

I replaced it a couple of year later with a 3rd gen 18i20. It was used or b-stock/demo, I don't remember which. It was worth the extra to eliminate the glitches, reduce latency and just have zero issues.

Price increases since then make the 4th gen a pretty expensive proposition, and from what I see online, 4th gen is really NOT an upgrade from 3rd -- you get fewer front panel controls, in exchange for some kind of phone remote app and autogain. 3rd gen, used or refurb, are still under $400 which is about where they were 4 years ago.

[crimsonwarlock]

I had a Saffire Pro 40 where the monitor Dim switch would switch itself at random.

It is a problem that seems to haunt almost every Focusrite model interface. It's crazy that they don't acknowledge it and come up with a solution. That's basically why I'm done with Focusrite. If you get a secondhand or refurbished one, there's no telling if or when it starts doing this.

I went to a UMC1820 -- which was pretty much a clone of the gen 1 18i20 -- and it wasn't awful, but found that the drivers weren't great, latency wasn't great, I had random clicky glitches in my recordings, and its more compact size also meant it runs hotter.

I'll see how it behaves when it gets here

I replaced it a couple of year later with a 3rd gen 18i20. It was used or b-stock/demo, I don't remember which. It was worth the extra to eliminate the glitches, reduce latency and just have zero issues.

Well, as I said above, no more Focusrite for me. Seeing online posts about almost every model can develop this issue, I steer clear from now on. I've seen posts reporting this, from almost ten years ago, and still no solution. That's crazy.

Price increases since then make the 4th gen a pretty expensive proposition, and from what I see online, 4th gen is really NOT an upgrade from 3rd -- you get fewer front panel controls, in exchange for some kind of phone remote app and autogain. 3rd gen, used or refurb, are still under $400 which is about where they were 4 years ago.

I couldn't even stretch my budget to around $400 currently. If I could, I would have bought a Presonus Studio 1824c, which would've probably given me a free Studio One license on top. Right now, I'm getting the UMC-1820 for about the price of a Focusrite Solo, so...