Album Finally Done

[cmaffia]

Done! Took a long ass time.

On to the next!

https://the-sweats.bandcamp.com/album/life-in-the-big-toe

 

[Gravity Jim]

Wow, Charlie, that stuff is great!

 

[captdan]

Yes! Great album, Charlie! Fine productions and creative songs! Very consistent mixes (and some fine 'French' in that 'Go F***k Yourself track. ) "Always" sounds like a hit to me.

Interesting arrangements and tight vocals. You have much to be proud of. I hope you sell thousands of hotcakes.

Thanks for posting these. Fine examples of DM-ery.

CaptDan

 

[DJ X]

The French track flows quite nicely with the rest of the album.

Great job, Charlie!

 

[cmaffia]

Thanks for the feedback gents. Especially coming from talented individuals such as yourselves. And yes, it's important to state that these were done using DM3200 mixing ITB with Cubase. Back in the day when I was pondering whether or not to purchase the DM3200, I found it difficult to find examples of productions produced on the machine. Hopefully this post will help someone decide to purchase one of the DM's.

 

[captdan]

Not to steal your thunder, but my EP is going to 'drop' in a couple of weeks. First personal project completed entirely with the DM. I'm quite proud of the sonics on the project. Details to come.

I think one of the reasons it's difficult to find DM examples is because everything done on them sounds like SSLs or Neves. (No hyperbole there. )

PS: You may have mentioned this, but what vocal mic(s) do you use?

CaptDan

 

[cmaffia]

Looking forward to hearing it Dan! Hmmm vocal mics range from SM7B, CAD 8000 Trion, AKG 4050 and for "Hello!" I used an AKG C1000S which I typically use for my drum overheads now. For the vocals I also used external preamps, either an ART Gold MPA or a Focusrite Isa One.

In fact, here is my Mic locker:

(1) Audio Technica AT4050 - Condenser

(1) CAD Trion 8000 - Tube Condenser

(2) AKG C1000s – Condenser

(1) AKG C214 – Condenser

(3) Shure SM57 - Dynamic

(1) Shure SM7B - Dynamic

(1) Shure Beta 52A – High Dynamic

(1) Audix D6 – High Dynamic

(2) Audix i5 –Dynamic

(1) Sennheiser e609 – Super Cardioid

(1) MXL R144 - Ribbon

External Preamps:

Focusrite Isa One

FMR RNP

ART Gold MPA

2 Channel CloudLifter - "Pre-Preamp" gives +20db of clean gain for those ribbon and dynamic mics.

Behringer T1953 - Modified by replacing all Op Amps with Burr-Browns. Personally done by the creator of the CloudLifter and Cloud Microphones, Steven Sank. I no longer use it because there's really nothing special about it but it looks cool in my rack.

I should also mention that these songs were mastered through an Apogee Rosetta 200 which I am selling since I purchased the Tascam DA-3000 a few weeks ago (The DA-3000 blows away the Apogee in my opinion). Plus I no longer have that issue where I had to increase my ASIO buffers because I was playing from Cubase and recording to WaveLab simultaneously. Now I just record directly to the DA-3000, pop out the SD card, pop it into my workstation and master in WaveLab.

For my new project I'm recording live drums (first time) and using the Tascam preamps (first time as well). I will admit that the Tascam preamps sound nice. I was always fearful of them in the past thinking that my external gear would be much better but I trust them more now... at least enough to handle my acoustic drum kit. That's not to say that they're aren't other situations where you'd want to pair up specific mics with specific preamps. For example, I call my CAD 8000 Trion paired with the ISA One "The Voiceover Machine". They just compliment each other really well for that application.

Holy crap this post is looking like one of Tascman's! (said in jest of course, Steve is a talented and knowledgeable dude). OK I will stop editing now .

 

[captdan]

Well, you have one kick-ass mic collection. My assortment is far more humble; but I don't usually do vocals, so it's not really an issue.

I've been using the DM's onboard preamps more and more recently. I can't really find anything I don't like about them. Besides, it's just one less thing to have in the signal chain, which I tend to think improves the end product to some degree.

CaptDan

 

[cmaffia]

it's just one less thing to have in the signal chain, which I tend to think improves the end product to some degree.

CaptDan

I totally agree! Simpler sometimes is better. Once I got the DA-3000, I ended up simplifying how I captured my stereo mix. Maybe using the internal preamps on the drums is why it sounds so good?.....It's all internal to the board?

I still like the way my acoustic and electric guitars sound through the FMR RNP. Or maybe my mind is playing tricks? Perhaps I should record my next project using only the Tascam preamps and the DA-3000 and see how that sounds. However I still believe that having the DA-3000 in the signal chain is a big improvement to whatever is being done internally on the DM. Surprisingly I am not even using it for conversion! Simply routing the stereo mix through SPDIF OUT of the DM to SPIDIF IN on the DA and then going SPIDIF OUT of the DA back to the DM (SPIDIF IN) so I can monitor does something! The bottom range is NOTICIBLY tighter and more defined when compared the DM. The high end sounds just a tad more defined as well.

 

[Gerard]

really sweet sounding record dude...

very well crafted... has a warm and inviting sound... tasty...

kinda reminds me of a male Aimee Mann record...

 

[captdan]

Yeah, the drums sound very good on your tracks.

RE: FMReally Nice Pre: don't shoot me, but after having used my RNMP for 12 years, seems to my ears its performance is almost exactly like the DM's pres.

I use an AEA Ribbon for most of my jazz gtr tracks, and the FMR's gain always seemed more than adequate. But the DM's offer almost the same beef, the same transparency and clarity, minus a bit of noise the FMR tended to add at higher gain settings. Now, I keep the RNComp inserted into the DM and the RNP is gathering dust next to it.

Back when the RNP was introduced (around 2002), it was touted as performing very much like the classic RCA pre amps. From my dim memory of the few RCA solid state pres I recall, that's more or less accurate. So you can extrapolate from that the DM's pres are -"RCA-like," whatever that means.

CaptDan

 

[TascMan]

Fantastic Charlie!
Can anyone say...Holy Beatles Batman!
I always said I like your mixing style. So that's where Hello! was going. I didn't know it was part of a whole album. It's still my favorite. I just bought the LP. Something to listen too while flying home. Great Job,
S

 

[cmaffia]

Thanks Steve!! Beer's on me when I visit this summer!

 

[TascMan]

Forget that! If you are coming out to my place this summer, I'm buying a keg!

 

[Jarno]

Can anyone say...Holy Beatles Batman!

Indeed!
1960s: Lennon & McCartney
1980s: Difford & Tilbrook
2010s: Maffia & Montano

As I've said before: I must be the greatest fan of your music, Charlie! Keep on doing the great job.

In fact, here is my Mic locker:

Here's mine:

Hmmm ... maybe we should have "Show Your Mic Locker" thread in Gallery forum.

 

[cmaffia]

Holy crap nice mic locker! A "show us your mic locker" thread would be fun!
Holy crap what a huge compliment Jarno!

 

[Arjan P]

I totally agree with the other guys; great stuff! Nice harmonies, well crafted songs and great sounding production. Well done!