"Mug's Game"

[Arjan P]

Thanks Jim, that indeed is a very sweet guitar sound. I'll expect to be using the ribbon mostly on acoustic guitar and violin, and I think the Sigma will be the one. Seems like a nice xmas present for myself

And Capt, just record those Mississippi horns and leave the 16-bit plastic ones hidden behind them in the background - layering is king!

 

[captdan]

Good idea, Arjan! Truth be known, you should've heard the 'Plastic Horns' before I processed them through the Ptools 'Air-Widener.' I brought them all the way from mostly-heinous to almost passable.

CaptDan

 

[Gravity Jim]

Capt, if you use Kontakt, the Session Horns and Session Horns Pro sound killer, if you get the voicings right (and the program helps you do that). A cool choice for live horns is The High Speed Horns, a group of guys that knock out your charts in an LA studio and sound awesome.... That is, if you don't already have a group you like, that is.

Also, Cap'n and Arjan... Thanks for the kind words. That's a simple part but the mic gives it such nice depth. I'll post some of the stuff I'm working on for an album in a few days

 

[captdan]

Actually, I'm glad to know about those options, Jim. Not just the LA players, but the Kontakt samples. But in either case, I like the voicings as they are; I think live players would definitely fatten them up.

Then again, I recall those brass hits you wrote in that game soundtrack I heard in Sept. I liked those. Kontakt, right?

CaptDan

 

[Gravity Jim]

Yup. Session Horns. If you don't want to buy Kontakt, they should run in the free Kontakt player.

Aaaaand , yes, I just checked. Session Horns ($99) and Session Horns Pro ($299) both run in the free player.

 

[Arjan P]

Well, my Sontronics Sigma ribbon mic arrived last week, and I got to test it a bit yesterday. It's a great one! Tried it on vocals and acoustic guitar, and I can totally see me using it a lot on both of these. With vocals it probably will depend a lot on the singer's voice (as it always does), but I can recall some singers from my studio's past who would have been better off with this mic (and me for having to do less processing). I'll be trying the Sigma on many many more sources, but this sure is a great addition to my mic closet. Thanks again for the tip, Jim.

 

[captdan]

Welcome to the sublime world of 'Ribbon-ship,' Arjan! That Sonotronics is a hellava mic.

Had I a choice back in 2005 - between the AEA R92 and that Sigma, it would've been a no brainer. From what I heard at Jim's studio, it blows the R92 away in several areas, not the least of which is 'imaging' and 'depth,' - two reasons to use a ribbon in the first place. Not taking anything away from me olde RCA 77D, but the Sigma is just as good, IMO.

I suspect the Sigma's 'mojo' derives from a classic RCA ribbon - often called the 'Gas Pedal' - the SK-50 Varacoustic:

http://microphonium.blogspot.com/2007/11/rca-gas-pedal-rear-view-mi-6203-d-lo.html

Pretty cool stuff.

CaptDan

 

[Gravity Jim]

So glad you're as happy as I am. It was recommended to me at a time when Full Compass was closing them out... It's a bargain at standard street price, but I got mine at cost.

 

[captdan]

Back 2 boring original topic:

Here's a remix of the track - abbreviated for 'radio friendliness' - featuring a different mix treatment of the 'plastic brass,' and a decent outro.

http://www.gliskrecords.com/#!blank/c9c4

Not to toot my tarnished horn, but I've written a slew of arrangements for live players - horns, strings, etc. I have no problems buying this brass section as 'believable' now. Moreover, I just listened to a recent J. Timberlake album with some horn parts. To be honest, they sound synthetic, although they're likely real. I don't know. And I doubt anyone really cares.

Thanks for the comments.

CaptDan