My studio is located in the greater Vancouver area of,
British Columbia. All recording is currently done on a Mac Pro
using Protools 8. The signal chain consists of Neumann or custom Mills
mics, Avalon 737-SP pre amp and Apogee A/D converters. Digidesign really stepped things us with the new version of ProTools 8. Adds considerable fuel to the ProTools/Logic debate.
For
most of my acoustic violin and viola tracks I use the Barbera
5 string acoustic violin, it's a beautifully made instrument with a rich
tonal color. For live applications I use the Barbera bridge but it's too dark
for recording so I'll swap in a traditional bridge. The instrument has also
been fitted with a Mills
Mic for both live a recording applications.
Barbera
Systems Ultralight 5 string is the warmest electric violin I've ever owned.
The Barbera sounds really smooth but unfortunately Rich no longer makes them. Rich
Barbera's multi-transducer design gives a really even response across
all 5 strings. It's still a very "direct" sound so I only use it for live
or tracking electric and synth violin parts.
For
electric guitar tracks I usually use a 1961 Fender Strat. It's almost entirely
stock with the exception of the bridge pickup, a Dimarzio
vintage blues.
I either use a Vox
AC30 top boost with vintage Celestion 30's, a Dave Vidal hot rodded Fender Princeton, or various amp modellers. I'll DI using the Avalon U5.
Occasionally,
for fiddle tracks I use my Grandfather's 1920's
German Amati knock off with a Bagg bridge and Mills mic, run through a Rane
AP13 pre-amp. The coolest thing about the Mills condenser mic is that
it's in a constant fixed proximity so you never step out of the sweet
spot. It adds some really nice "air" that you can't get with
just a bridge. The advantage of using both the Bagg
bridge and Mills
mic is that there's an additional fundamental response with the
bridge pickup.
For
acoustic guitar I mike up an older Tackamine and occasionally mix in the line
signal. The
direct signal from these guitars always sounds a bit bright so using it
with a mic and tube pre smooths that out and is helpful in getting
some body to the sound. Tackamine's split bridge is brilliant for intonation
too.
The Godin
A8 Mandolin is a really solid live instrument. These guys really did their homework, it sounds
quite acceptable when you just plug it in and run it flat. The action comes
pretty high so I had to shim the neck to lower it. I also had the nut
replaced with the spacing cut in half so it plays a lot easier than stock.
Had
to throw in a shot of my old Roland GR synth guitar. This is the most radical
production guitar ever. Definitely looks better than it plays. It rarely
ever comes out of the case.
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