PatrickJ

Thanks for sharing, I also grabbed their Tube Screamer and RAT plugins too. You might also be interested in this one http://www.soft-amp.com/softamp-psa

Hi Guys, I'm a relative new to the world of DAWs and mixing but I'm working on a couple of projects with some friends and some original songs written by the guitarist. I'm using Cubase 10.0 (thinking of upgrading to 10.5 as it's less than £20 to do) and a Focusrite Scarlet Solo. Interesting to see what Plugs-in you guys with more experience use for your mixing (both free and paid). Cubase's stock Studio EQ and Compressors seem to work quite, I also have EZ Drummer 2.0 for my rhythmic needs. The Focusrite came with some software bundles and the Softube Saturator and Reverb which I both like as starters. I found a free Tech21 PSA 1 emulator which also seems to work quite well for both Bass and Guitar. Any other recommendations? I'd like a Multiband compressor for sure but is there anything else you guys favour in your mixing projects? Thanks

I finished recording and mixing my first song this evening. The SansAmp Bass Driver was fantastic and just what I needed, though I did have to abandon Pro Tools and go back to Cubase. I followed many of the tips found in this video, I even got hold of a free SansAmp PSA plug-in to add the additional OD. Pro Tools is a lot better than Cubase - it's more intuitive to use and I was able to do a few more tricks with the Busses and Aux tracks than I've been able to replicate in Cubase but the limitations of first quickly become apparent when doing serious production work.

I'm keeping my evening clear Monday and will eagerly await the next installment of the602.. the Auditions.

Hey, that's where I grew up

Welcome welcome, where from the Devon are you?

I guess I can understand from his perspective why he might feel a little hard done by, however, after listening to the EP you guys are neither a RHCP clone nor your typical pub covers outfit. It's an originals band and if the creative process is to get in the studio and jam ideas out then he needs to be comfortable with that. If he's not, or it's just a rehash of frusciante riffs then he's just not the right fit. The other thing I noted from both the audition piece and EP was the bass is going to be a very prominent instrument and guitar needs to sit back a bit. I thought your old guitarist did that well - I'm switching to Team Mike, he did that too!,

I happened to be in Brighton today and stopped into GAK. Came home with a SansAmp Bass Driver. I've only had a chance to play with it for a few minutes but I'm very impressed with the first few recordings I did. I like the parallel out feature which allows me to record both a Clean DI and effected signal within the DAW as though I was both mic'ing and amp cab and taking a di feed from it.

I couldn't find it on Apple Music but I'm listening now on http://the602.uk

** now looking for this EP so I can listen **

Oh man, sounds like things didn't go well at all with Maurizo - and we all had such high hope's for him. Sorry it didn't work out.

Oh no - that doesn't sound good. A problem with Mr. Maurizio or a wider band thing.

Well you've still got Maurizio :).

I've been using Newtone strings recently for my Jazz bass and Acoustic guitar - I order them direct from the Newtone website. For La Bella strings Bassdirect prices always seem to be much cheaper than anywhere else (the same may apply for other brands too). Otherwise I go to Strings Direct. SD prices aren't always the best but their customer service is always fantastic.

Thanks for the recommendations on DAW's. I fancied giving Pro Tools ago as, alongside Logic, it seems to be the industry standards. I don't have a mac which ruled Logic out and since Pro Tools had a free version I thought I'd give it ago. Not that I want to be a professional recording engineer it's just there's an awful lot of great resources out there on how to do things in Pro Tools which has been helping alot. The VST and general plugin support is an issue though, it wouldn't be so bad if the Avid market place items were more affordable but 419£ for their VST amp pack is a little steep! I do have a Focusrite Scarlet Solo on the way which includes the Creative Pack for Pro Tools, effectively a selection of plugins that will work the First version so hopefully there will be some useful additions in that, though I don't know if a bass amp will be included. If all else fails I do have a fully licensed version of Cubase Elements which I can upgrade to the latest release for £10 however, I am finding Pro Tools much easier to use than Cubase. I'd love to do this. I watched a number of videos on best ways to record bass and it would appear the favoured approach is to take both a DI and a Mic'd signal and blend them for the final mix. I do have an AKG kick drum mic I could use but because I'm doing my recording in the evening I can't play through an amp at any volume so recording via mic is a bit of a no go. It has to be either direct into the audio interace or through some sort of DI solution first. I think I will take a similar approach, in fact my guitarist came round this evening (in an acceptably socially distanced manner) and recorded the guitar tracks for 3 songs he has composed. He played into his pedal board and Boss Katana amp with his usual settings and we recorded in PT via the Rec Out jack into my current audio interface. I can now do some final tweaks to EQ and add some compression where I need too. I was also thinking of picking up something like a EBS Microbass II or Tech21 Sansamp and using that in front of the audio interface for the bass parts. Although last night I did get some alright sounding recordings direct in from the bass with my active Jazz bass.

Gutted - I was waiting with genuine anticipation as to how it was going to work out with Mike. Do you think it's cold feet?

Hi Guys, I'm very interested in this thread. I've decided to try and learn Pro Tools. After installing the free "First" version yesterday I have spent the past two evenings working with a little 1 minute demo recorded by an guitarist I known on his iPhone and turning it into a full mix. Yesterday I was working with my Sandberg P but I could not get a recorded tone I liked. The free edition of Pro Tools doesn't let you use 3rd party VSTs so no Amp / Cab aims so my bass track is direct in via the audio interface. Any tips on getting a great bass sound from a dry DI in without the use of VSTs? Or should I use some sort of pre-amp for some tone shaping before the AI? Other option maybe to mic up the amp.

I've watched the video a few times now "trying to get it". The drums are good and Rocco does a great job of keeping in locked in and leaving plenty of space for all those busy fills - didn't love the parts he played with a chorus (I guess?) effect. I didn't even mind the dancers, they added some interest to the video. What I couldn't get was the guitar part - to me it just sounded awful.

Pure Blues arrived today and I fitted them to my VS4 this evening. Really liking them so far, great tension and sound "played in" straight after fitting them.

I've recently switched to Mogami for both my bass and amp speaker leads. Perhaps a few pounds more than some other brands but far cheaper than anything by Tsunami, Evidence Audio, Vovox etc. Previously I used Planet Wave American Stage cables. They were good too and come with a life time guarantee. I've used designacable for speaker cables for my studio monitors, they don't get much abuse but seem to be well made, and were pretty good value too IIRC.

It's a hell of a name to live up too.

Is @Silvia Bluejay the advertised anti-intruder device? Does @Happy Jack keep her in that box ready to leap out at unsuspecting ne'er-do-wells?

You might need to change your name to Mandy to fit in.

And let's be realistic, you can't have two Andy's in the band!

In fairness is outro solo was pretty good but I didn't like what he did on the first half of the track. Thought the other guys did much better at blending with the bass. Though I'm looking forward to @Dad3353's mix - I am wondering if mixed alongside Mike it might somehow just work.