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Month: March 2013

Tubescreamer shootout part 3 – frequency response compared

OK OK! Just one more post about Tube Screamers (this week). As I was comparing the plugins in the second shootout I was thinking that…

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Tubescreamer shootout part 2 – free options

I was convinced to add all the free plugin options to the shootout. So I’ve downloaded several more plugins and ran them through the same test.

There are several free options currently available: TSE Audio TSE808, Ignite Amps TS-999, Ignite Amps TSB-01, Skreamer module in Guitar Rig 5 Player, Screamer module in POD Farm 2 Free, and Greener module in Peavey ReValver HPse (free for Addictive Drums users).

I made clips of 3 different knob settings for each:
Setting 1 is 0% gain, 50% tone, 50% level (no boost, just tighter lows)
Setting 2 is all knobs at 50% (medium clipping distortion)
Setting 3 is all knobs at 100% (lots of distortion, boosted highs and boosted ouput level)

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Tubescreamer pedal shootout with hardware and software

It’s pretty amazing how many different options we have for Tubescreamers these days. There’s the classic TS-808, TS9, the TS7 which I just bought last weekend, then there’s Screamer emulations in every virtual guitar amp package and then there’s the boutique and modded screamers. Ibanez even has 5 different Tubescreamers in production today. They all sound different! Every guitarist and studio engineer has one version they swear by.

A Tubescreamer can be used as a distortion pedal of course but it’s most used as a way of tightening up the bottom-end of an amp and to push an amp into distortion while still maintaining the character of the amp. The circuit includes a high pass filter which makes a huge improvement in tightness of palm mutes, it also has a midrange hump that adds clarity to picked notes. To learn more go here.

Today I spent some time shooting out my Ibanez TS7 pedal with my CMATMods Tube Slammer (a boutique pedal based on TS-808 circuit with upgrades). Since I put that effort in I figured I’d continue and run my software versions through the same tests – Amplitube, PodFarm and GTR.

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The Ocean recording and mixing new album “Pelagial”

The Ocean are an ‘experimental’ prog-metal band from Germany. They have a new album coming out April 30th called “Palagial” which takes a musical journey to the bottom of the ocean. It is intended to be heard as one continuous 53-minute piece of music. The album was mixed by the amazing Jens Bogren.

In these two studio report videos below we get a look at some of the recording and mixing process. There’s some really cool stuff in here.

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Explosions In This Guy “Surrounded” song dissection

Community Kitchen Vol. 1 compilation is out now and you can get it free on bandcamp. This compilation was organized and mastered by Kim Lajoie…

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Gear porn – Depeche Mode working on new album Delta Machine

I’m still a fan of Depeche Mode. The EPK they have produced for their new album is packed with studio gear and synth porn.

Can you name all the synths or mics and other gear?

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