Check out my Presonus TubePre Sample

[adclark]

I used a Presonus TubePre (drive around 12o'clock) to record a double track accoustic guitar track for a piece I'm working on. I like to record the same guitar track twice and pan for a good stereo effect. At the link below is a 30 sec. sample of a passage (I looped it twice for this purpose, you'll hear a click at loop interval) with only the accoustic guitars. The rest of the tracks are muted (you can hear a bit of the beats bleeding through my headphones). I actually like the way the guitars came out. They add a nice texture to entire track. Remember, I have added reverb, some EQ and compression to accomadate the entire mix with other tracks. If this was a solo guitar piece, I would have mixed, eq'd etc.. differently. The effects here sit well with entire track. I'll post when finished. I just wanted to share the kinds of sounds one can get with a cheap piece of gear with a bit of tweaking. I used an ADK-A51 mic, presonus Firebox interface, Presonus TubePre going into Logic 6. The guitar was an Epiphone EJ200 (jumbo). I recorded this in my bedroom/Den low budget studio. Mic position between soundhole and 12th fret (approx 7 inches back). I'm going for an "All Things Must Pass" wall of sound meets U2/Coldplay type sound for this track. Very crispy yet haunting and dark. Remember, I'm not a true guitar player. I'm a drummer who can play basics on other instruments and has to live with using drum loops and samples since I live in a condo.

Presonus Sample

[silencethevoice]

I just wanted to say that this sounds pretty damn good. I am in no way a seasoned engineer like most of the people here, but it sounds pretty full and warm to me. What kind of guitar are you playing, and what processing has been done?

Ryan

[adclark]

I used an Epiphone EJ200 (based on Gibson j200). The processing is essentially just a tad bit of EQ to warm it up and a bit of compression (very small amount) to make it stand out in the mix a bit. A slight bit of "room" reverb. My room is totally dead. I use mainly the T-Racks mastering suite and Logics own reverb. The T-racks suite has simple presets like "a bit warmer" etc.. Very useful for non technical people.

[adclark]

Also, I have a little trick I do which is hardley noticable when full fix is on. When played in the entire mix, it sounds nice. At first pass, I record first accoustic guitar to the main rythym track (drum loop, bass, etc). The second pass, I mute everything and play along to the first pass of guitar that I recorded. It gives a little bit of "players strumming together around a circle" feel. Also, it keeps the "pick strum" just a bit out of sync which works nice when panned in stereo and listening through headphones. Also, I'll properly tune the guitar for the first pass and not retune for the second pass (unless something major happens to the tuning). If you do quite a bit of playing and retakes during the first pass, the guitar will detune slightly. The detuning is just enough for a fuller sound (as if 2 differnt players tuned their guitars) when blended with first pass. I'll also change mic position a bit as well. I have another accoustic guitar and use it sometimes for the second pass.

[silencethevoice]

very interesting. I guess it just goes to show that it really is a combination of a lot of little things done right.. The creativity of the engineer complimenting the creativity of the musician.

[adclark]

I'll post a rough mix of the track in a couple of weeks.

[cdkelly]

that sample sounds outstanding! I've actually heard several albums that were done with, say, the tube pre or Blue Tube and it truly amazes me what can be done in the right hands. It was our goal to make something in the price range of the ART TubeMP but make it sound nice and cool looking, but the better one's 'green thumb', the less and less the gear matters. Myself, I need everything lined up at my disposal and even then I sometimes don't hit my mark; I'm always inspired by what the truly gifted can do with so much less than a world class studio. Keep up the good work. : )

Chad Kelly
PreSonus Audio

[adclark]

Thanks. I originally had just the guitars when you hit the link. I posted a rough mix of complete song later on. I have remixed the song numerous times. I'm down now to the final mixes and should be finished this week. I'll post when finished. The Tube pre really helped me along with adding color to acoustic guitars and to the Bass as a DI.

[Reggie Love]

Nice sound... Has that TV series / production / library music feel... (this is a good thing!!! ) Definately a demo worth sending off to people who deal in that type of music although competition in this area has become very stiff of late.

[Albert]

You are using the TubePRE in exactly the right way in my opinion, i.e. splitting the gain between the tube drive and the gain controls. It sounds way better like that than trying get most of the gain on the gain knob and then adding a little drive. The tube drive is so clean that it can be used as a normal gain control until you get in the upper reaches of it's travel. Looking forward to hearing more of your samples.

[adclark]

Thanks for positive replies. The problem I'm having with this track is knowing when to stop tweaking. I'll never have EVERYTHING perfect. I wish I had an "on the fly" attitude. I've been reading a lot about the Beatles recording/creation process. John would always record and listen to basic mixes and was completely satisfied (I guess if I had to leave my tracks in the hands of George martin and Co. I would be just as satisfied). Where Paul was more into tweaking this and that etc.. it's just human nature i guess to try to be perfect.

[cdkelly]

the track sounds great. I just checked out the Quicktime final mix...
very good! Someone once sent me an album he did on a Blue Tube original, and another fellow once sent me an album from Norway or Sweden (can't recall) that he did entirely on a Tube Pre, cheap mic cable, and a Studio Projects B1 microphone w/ shockmount. I was blown away. Emily Lazar once said in an interview I read that the better the enginner, the less the gear matters. That is so true, and it seems that the more renown the engineer is, the less it matters and the less anyone asks or cares what their setup consists of. The 'engineer' is what is being marketed once you reach that point, nothing else. I'd probably have to have the ADL and a U67 to do what some people have done with a Tube Pre and B1. Studio Projects, btw, makes some very decent affordable mics, one of the better ones to come out of China, to be sure. I'm more of a fan of the C1, as it handles bass and SPL better than a B1 and tends to have more frequency response. I used a pair of Rode NT1a's and had an original NT1 since like 97 when I first started recording seriously, and when I heard the C1 I felt that it literally dwarfed the NT1, extending both lower and higher than what the NT1 could do. Still, the NT1 has a certain sound good for vocals. I did many a cool demo in my studio on the original NT1 and the vocals came out oustanding always.



Chad Kelly
PreSonus Audio