Mac vs. PC

At Gearslutz:

I wouldn’t even consider doing a joint audio project with somebody who was using windows, because they simply don’t get it, and wouldn’t be on the same wave length as I. And if I stepped into a recording studio and saw PC’s running windows only in the control room and no Macs, I’d turn right around and walk out the door, as that wouldn’t qualify as a professional studio, according to my standards.

Opening an Axis 90 (Apex 215)

This Chinese ribbon mic comes in various colours under various names. Here in Australia it’s available as part of the Legacy brand. The Legacy variation isn’t listed at recording hacks, but a bunch of other re-brandings are.

I got one secondhand, and wanted to open it up and remove some of the mesh and filters. But I couldn’t figure out how to open the case. Finally saw a photo on Michael Joly’s site that made it clear how the covers came off.

Here’s some photos I took that hopefully make the situation clearer. Basically the covers are held on with tabs that slide into slits. My mic seems to have a few broken off…

axis90-opened-1.jpgaxis90-opened-2.jpg

A cut snake gathers no moss

karifi-drum.jpg
Ah, the months have slipped past. What’s been going down at Cut Snake?

At the end of January the senior members of Okapi Guitars recorded a handful of songs in semi-acoustic mode: acoustic guitar, congas, tastefully muted electric guitar. The Babu Three, perhaps? Los Trios Muziki?

A little more tweaking should see these tracks finished soon.

Karifi came in at the end of February for a drum recording session. Wonderful traditional drums. Must have been a dozen of them here.

The Heil PR40 sounded great on these.

Some new gear

I’ve just returned from a trip to California and Mexico. I sought out musical gear shops in various cities, but didn’t completely fulfil my dreams of bringing home heaps of cheap microphones, preamps and other goodies.

What I did bring back was:

1. Tascam US-144 USB audio interface
I bought a netbook (Lenovo IdeaPad) to travel with, and decided that after returning home I would try to use it as the basis for a portable recording setup. The Tascam US-144 was pretty cheap at Guitar Center in San Francisco. I’ve been tweaking the setup, using Wavelab as recording software.

2. Heil PR40 microphone
In LA I went to West LA music on Santa Monica Boulevard with the hope of being able to buy some cheap ribbon mics. They didn’t have any in stock, but they did have some Heil microphones. I’d read good things about these, and the price was good.

3. Audix CabGrabber
I’ve wanted one of these for a while, but the local price is too high. Looked for it in SF and LA, and finally found one (the last one in the shop) at EasyMusic Center in Honolulu.

I’ll let you know how I go with each of these when I get some time to use them.