In this week’s podcast, Russ, Mike and Dan discuss the value of old or discontinued Avid hardware, they discuss the value of limitations in production, they answer your questions, share community feedback, and their finds of the week. Also in this week's Podcast, there is an opportunity to get an exclusive 35% off Exponential Audio stereo reverbs, but you have to listen to the podcast to get the discount code!
Tip From Exponential Audio - The Chorus Effect In Reverbs
Michael Carnes from Exponential Audio has very kindly shared another tip. The Chorus effect in reverbs was originally designed as a way to reduce unpleasant resonances and room modes in those early reverbs. Chorus worked by introducing LFO-controlled pitch shifts into the reverb tail. It wasn't much loved among reverb designers, but was a necessary compromise because of the limited power of those first reverbs. But mixers didn't care; they liked the effect of the modulation and this became a staple of mixes in the 80s and 90s.
Chorus really isn't necessary any longer, but mixers still like the effect. The Exponential Audio R2 family of reverbs provides this effect, but with a twist. Obvious modulation, with pitch modulation ranging from subtle to nausea-inducing is still available. But a visit to the Chorus page in the R2 will show a pair of options with the intriguing 'Fat' label. The Fat mode drives the chorus so that pitch goes up and down at the same time. The result is unexpected, in that the pitch effect is very hard to detect. Instead, the reverb just gets fatter.
Sometimes tracks may be well-recorded and well-performed, but still somehow sterile. Fattening the reverb can add extra richness and warmth.
Deals
Don’t forget to check out the deals from our Partners on our Deals page. It’s the last few days for quite a few of these deals. Highlights include iZotope are offering discounts on RX6 as they have announced RX7 is on its way. Avid are offering Student and Teacher discounts and Softube are having a Reverb Deal month.
Talking Points Kindly Sponsored By Universal Audio
Looking for a new audio interface? Well, for a limited time, you can buy a Universal Audio rackmount Apollo interface, that’s the Apollo 8, 8p, 16, or Apollo FireWire, from an authorized UA retailer at an unprecedented savings of up to 20% off the RRP. This offer is valid until September 15th 2018.
You can find out more about this deal by visiting UAudio.com.
Talking Points
Used Pro Tools Bargains You Can Buy Second Hand On eBay Today For A Fraction Of What They Cost New
Competitions
This month we are offering you the chance to win a copy of Oeksound Spiff or Soothe. Both plug-ins are worth 149€ each and we have three of each plug-in up for grabs in the prize pot worth nearly 900€!
The team at Puzzle Factory Sound Studios are giving the Production Expert community and exclusive chance to win one of two tickets for the next MixDirection masterclass with Mix Engineer Dax Liniere to be held on the 27th of October 2018.
Avid is getting close to the millionth download of their free software, Pro Tools First, Media Composer First, and Sibelius First. To celebrate, each day one person will win a 1-year subscription to Pro Tools, Sibelius or Media Composer until the one-millionth target has been reached. Plus, the one-millionth person to download an Avid First Product will get a FREE 2-Year Subscription and software add-ons.
Community Feedback Kindly Sponsored by RSPE Audio Solutions
RSPE is proud to announce the new ASC Nano AttackWall. It’s a mini version of the ASC AttackWall that takes all of the acoustic benefits of its bigger brother and shrinks them down to fit on your desktop. Get a reliable, repeatable, and accurate sonic space that’s extremely portable, so you can take it with you when you move or work in another studio. Learn more at RSPE website.
Questions From The Community
Iman Hojjat - Wants our advice on the best way to maximise his IO using an Orion 32HD and an old 192.
Bruce Halstad - Asks whether we think Velvet shares the same sample set as Structure or Xpand! - We don’t think they are and we go on to make some recommendations in the electric piano category.
Source Connect Now
As you may know, we are spread out around the UK & Europe when we record the podcast. In the past, we have used a variety of internet-based solutions so we could hear each other. We have settled on Source Connect Now which gives us ISDN equivalent quality audio using a Chrome browser, no software to install. You can get a free account from Source Elements.
Find Of The Week
Mike - iZotope RX7 is on the way. They have announced that soon we will be able to reshape the intonation of a dialogue performance, rebalance musical elements in a mix, isolate or remove vocals from a song—and all in multi-channel audio up to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2.
Russ - CleanMyMac X
Dan - Soothe by Oeksound - Expert’s Choice