tgrover

Nice review. I am working my way through the drums samplers. Never a big fan of BFD2 - Always preffered EZ drummer over it. Just feel the drum samples are closer to be ready to be mixed in EZ than in BFD. Both very powerful tools though and since Superior Drummers came out for me it just put it ahead of BFD. As SD now has the flexibilty and the sounds. One i tried and dismissed recently was addictive drums. But i guess its all down to personal taste.

have used sonar since version 3. Running at 8 now. Did use reaper for a period of time which i do really like but i know sonar inside and out and dont see the point in learning a new tool/system. I have sat in front of them all now and i dont see much difference between the platforms - very hard to say one sounds better than the other. Use the sonitus comp and EQ with in sonar but thats about it. Most EQ now with Voxengo Gliss. And for everything PSP.

This is one of my go to guitar plugs love it!!

i dont think you can really have a VST that emulates the pre amp stage - if i have read that correctly. the whole point of the pre amp stage is to get the sound as good as possible from the source. I have a joe meek 3q which for the price is pretty nice - it has some good options on - comp and eq. Does colour the sound so use it depending on what you are after. My main pre is True Systems - this unit has changed my whole approach to vocals.What this unit does for my vocals is gives me exaclty what the mic sends out. Keeps it pure and the signal recording now is so close to the finished article its great!! But if you are after vst plugins. I recommend the PSP audio mix pack 2. http://www.pspaudioware.com/

When recording vocals i always try to get as tight a sound as possible. I like to add everything later. I record with a AKG 414 or Solidtube mic about one foot from a wall which is layered with acoustic foam. The opposite wall about 8 foot away has a section of foam on as well. I always use a pop screen - two reason one to take away the pops and secondly this gives an uneducated singer a position to be. My mic goes into a True Systems P solo - which is a wired gain pre amp, at this point i record. All i have on tape is the uncoloured vocal take. In sonar - i use the plugins form PSP Audio. Usually Mix pressor first - then EQ - then if required i run it through the PSP mix saturation to just add a little ommhhppp. I will have a send on this track to the vst breverb which i will add as necessary.

thing with breathes is they dont seem to bad until you start to add effects to the track and sometimes they just sound awful. A singer with good recording technique should be able to elimate this from the recording. Some songs they sound good on - where its a more real take - more high quality productions you wont hear them. I generally take them out. I want to mix the singing not the breathes!

is waves GTR3 - now free.... worth looking at. You need very low latency via your host though.

I have a rectangular room which is helpful. So i have the desk facing towards the furfest away wall. Have used the mirror trick for placing absorbotion on the walls. Floor is carpet and the ceiling has been left alone. Its a very dry room for recording which is what i want and unless i really crank up the noise when mixing i dont ever get any bass builds up. Windows have thick curtains across.

depends how good your product is. I have been offered about 10 different publishing deals. Decided against them all. reason being at this moment in time i wont get much use out of a deal of this type - i am not selling and not about to be on the radio... and whilst i know i am not in a strong position doesn't mean i wont be in the future and when/if the decent deal comes along i will be stuck to a small publisher. But if this is the first offer they have given you they are offering a low deal. Why would they offer 70 % upfront when you might accept 50%. If you are after a real deal 'deal' then a lot of labels have sister companies that hold the publishing rights. By having a deal that does nothing for you could end up bittin you in the ass when a label comes along and realises it will cost them 50k to just buy the publishing deal.

If you dont want to sound like your influences. dont learn how to play their songs

a record label is just a company name that has been registed. It costs about 20 quid i think to set one up if you are to go DIY. Or you could try and get yourself a record deal. If you get a record deal then they generally look after everything for you. But you cant choose this... the company will have to choose you. So do you need one - everyone wants one but most dont get one. You need to tell us your aims to determine if you require one. I sold about 1000' cd's. I am not part of any label.

looking at the site. Just use cd baby. Looks like they get it on itunes etc as well for you. http://cdbaby.net/submit They take a cut of 9% for digitial download or 4 bucks per cd sold and its cost 35 bucks to setup. So ideally you dont want to do anything other than an album as you might only break even.

as an example. Get your songs copyrighted. Get registerd to be on itunes sell through them. Thats the simplest way. The money will be paid directly from itunes to your own company or if you want, use cd baby to sell as a 'real' product. Publishing is required if you are actually making money through air play etc, Are you at that stage yet? As they will make sure if you music is played you get paid. I did this myself and i still am owed money from HMV. It can difficult to do so best left to someone else. I am a bedroom producer. So i create the music. I pay for the cds to be burnt. I sell them via itunes and cd baby. Do we sell many? No. At this point you might then need a label, some A and R guys and publishing house to push the music out. But thats only if they want you.

Now the competition is at its highest the idea of 'making it' seems a stupid one. Even if you do then the financial reward is very small. And although not in it to make money - not getting paid doesn't pay the rent! So now i am just developing myself as a producer.Suprised how much i am enjoying it as well. About to release my debut album with my gf and about to finish the 3rd solo album.

what DAW software are you using?? I would go with EZ drummer. I think its as simple as can be for creating drums. Inexpensive for what it is. If you have a song that has been recorded in time, i dont mind doing you a drum track so you can see how good it is.