Fluff from Guitarist Facts Chooses PreSonus Interfaces to Bring the Heavy

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Fluff from Guitarist Facts Chooses PreSonus Interfaces to Bring the Heavy

February 27,2013

[This just in from Fluff, AKA GuitaristFacts, who has an absolutely KILLER YouTube channel full of heavy metal riffage, gear demos, facial hair, and all the endeavors where the three coincide. He produces his videos as skillfully as produces his music, and he's chosen some PreSonus gear to help him along the way. He was kind enough to share a few paragraphs about his recording tricks and experiences with PreSonus gear.]

Hello, my name is Ryan, but my friends call me “Fluff.” I make guitar-related gear demos on YouTube in my home studio for companies all over the world. Pickups, speakers, guitars, pedals, microphones, you name it. I also produce the occasional record and re-amp guitars for rock albums, and record about five days a week. For all of this work, I rely exclusively on couple of pieces PreSonus gear that I simply would be lost without.

I should probably mention that I try to capture every kind of guitar tone, from brutal to chiming. In order to produce a wide array of tones, I need an interface that offers flexible signal routing, low latency and high-quality instrument inputs, as well as low noise on the outputs. The PreSonus FireStudio Project is perfectly suited for all of these needs. Two instrument inputs, (I keep one set for guitar, one set for bass) loads of inputs and outputs and +48V power when needed to run my condenser microphone for when I do voice work. WIN!

I also use the PreSonus Studio Channel as my go-to mic preamp. The built-in EQ and compression make it extremely versatile for clean guitar tracks, vocals, huge distorted guitars, and bass cabinets. I am also a tube nut, and I find that replacing the stock tube (a high-gain tube with good midrange) with an inexpensive NOS 12AX7 JAN tube (usually about $30 on eBay) can really round off the harsh highs I sometimes experience while recording high-gain guitars, and fattens up my signal prior to going into my FireStudio Project.

When it comes time to record, I use a Heil PR30 about 90% of the time for guitars, as that mic has a very flat frequency response. Knowing this, I can get the microphone placed in the ballpark (usually around the area where the dust cap meets the speaker cone, on-axis) and then use the Studio Channel’s EQ to fine tune the highs and mids (I typically boost about 2dB in the 3K range with a medium Q) until I find a nice sonic pocket for the guitars to sit in the mix. If I want to add a bit of flavor, I will add a Shure SM57 plugged directly into the FireStudio Project and then bring the volume up on the SM57 to add some bite and ‘oomph’ for palm mutes on the distorted guitars.

As for the aforementioned re-amping, I plug straight into the FireStudio Project and adjust the input level so I am seeing an average -16dB, with peaks no louder than -12dB. This way I have some wiggle room when outputting the DI through my re-amping box (I use a Radial ProRMP), as sometimes I need a stronger signal to go over a long lead or something like that.

I am asked quite often which interface people should get when diving into home recording, and I always say PreSonus for two reasons: first, they have the computer driver experience that allows their products to work the first time, right out of them box, problem-free. Second, the customer service and support is outstanding. I found out first hand when I called about my 8-year-old FirePod interface and was treated like I was in The Rolling Stones.

Seriously, why can’t more companies operate this way?

-Fluff

Twitter

YouTube

Category Studio Channel | 1 Comment »
Posted by Bellsauce

Charlton Combs—PreSonus at Home, PreSonus on the Road.

November 27,2012

[This just in from Charlton Combs of CombsAudio.]

Hey PreSonus!

I am currently on tour as the front of house engineer for the Sounds of Liberty, which is a vocal-driven worship group. We have six main vocalists, a seventh who plays rhythm guitar, plus drums, bass, keys, and lead guitar. We play at events such as the March for Life in D.C. which brings in over 200,000 people, large houses of worship such as the Brooklyn Tabernacle, Prestonwood Baptist Church, and other large religious events such as the Southern Baptist Convention. We also have played many of the pre-debate parties in this current election—we do everything from political events to houses of worship with several thousand to several hundred. We travel with our own gear. I own a multi-track rack outfitted with strictly PreSonus gear.

I use PreSonus interfaces on the road and they have never let me down. The XMAX preamps are second to none as far as quality, sound, dynamic range, and price point. The overall quality of the units are impressive, the build quality is solid, all connections are sturdy, and most importantly, they are straightforward to use. I have never been in a situation where I have experienced driver issues or any other connectivity problems. This is a key point for me, since many times I find myself in a situation where a quick load- in and setup is necessary—the last thing I need is to have a driver let me down or not be able to connect the units to my laptop! I use three FireStudio Projects in tandem directly to PreSonus Studio One Professional 2 software.

The sound of the XMAX preamps is where I really fell in love. The preamps are true to the source, and replicate exactly what the microphone is giving me. Microphone choice and placement are key factors in my audio methods, and it’s comforting to know that the time and work I put into choice and placement will not be skewed by the preamps. The A/D converters also aid this pure sound, and I have yet to experience any jitter or harmful latency in my live recordings.

Finally, the dynamic range of these units is impressive, I can capture subtle pluckings and nuances of an acoustic guitar, and still have plenty of headroom for a full out chord strum. It also shows on vocals, I can go from a sweet and delicate solo, to a full out belting chest voice of singer with headroom to spare.

Overall, these units can’t be beat, and I trust my most important audio captures to PreSonus.

Thanks,

Charlton Combs

www.combsaudio.com

Category User Stories | 1 Comment »
Posted by Bellsauce

Bobby Duthu’s Drum Recording Techniques

October 18,2012

This just in from Bobby Duthu, PreSonus enthusiast, recordist, pro drummer, and all around great guy! He had posted some photos to our Facebook album of user studios of his home studio that piqued my interest… so I checked in with him and found him very open to sharing some of the methods to his madness.

Hey, Ryan!

Thanks for the kind words and also for the compliment of posting me on your site and blog. My rig is simple really. My interface consists of two FireStudio Projects daisy-chained together, resulting in 16 available mic inputs for ease of drum set miking. For software, I use Studio One Artist on a MacBook Pro.

My drum set recording techniques are also fairly simple, actually. My studio room is 30×20, very live-sounding, and features a 6-piece Sonor Designer Series drum set and Paiste 2002 cymbals.

I start by making a determination of how the drums should sound based on the particular song being tracked. I like to begin this process by attempting to achieve the desired sound acoustically, and slowly add effects if necessary. If effects are needed, I take full advantage of any number of plug-ins and/or sends included in Studio One Artist, like reverb and compression for example, but the emphasis remains on the acoustic sound of the drums.

Tuning and mic placement are of course vitally important to this process, although other factors do contribute. For example, drum head selection and striking technique can greatly affect the sound of a drum as well. Where miking is concerned, I prefer double-headed toms with mics placed a minimum of an inch and a half from the top drum head and at about a 45 degree angle.

For snare drum, I use one mic top and bottom, and for bass drum, mics about 3 inches from each side of the batter head. I also find overheads and room mics in various configurations to be invaluable. To maximize my choice of mic configurations, I use two Presonus FireStudios daisy-chained together allowing a total of 16 available inputs, which comes in very handy for drum set miking.

After that, it’s all about playing technique which can affect the drum set sound as profoundly as effects in some instances. This is yet another area for which Studio One has an answer with it’s extremely flexible metronome settings. I find the swing settings to be very helpful when looking for just the right feel.

Ultimately, in my experience, most producers and engineers prefer as raw of a drum track as possible, with minimal effects and EQ. This allows more flexibility for the engineer to the overall track, which in the end should collectively be our most important consideration.

The simplicity and efficient design of my PreSonus interfaces, along with Studio One, allow me to achieve my goals by helping me to remain less focused on tech support and more focused on performance!

Have a great weekend!

Bobby Duthu

Bobby is a pro session drummer in Nashville. If you need some drums on your next record, or would like to tap into his network of talented studio cats, hit him up!

Category FireStudio Project | 2 Comments »
Posted by Bellsauce

Nobumasa Yamada, Love Psychedelico, and PreSonus

June 19,2012

Check out this great story from MI7 Japan!

“In live concerts, there are improvisational aspects that cannot be captured in studio recordings. We had a chance to speak with Nobumasa Yamada, known for his works with Love Psychedelico, about his passion in recording these live concerts and his techniques using PreSonus mobile recording gear. Mr. Yamada shared how he built his system, the actual set-up and some techniques, based on the recording of Kemono held in Ogikubo Velvet Sun.”