Couture Transient Shaper And Distortion Review

Couture in Action
Couture in Action

Let’s start this one with a bang. Go download it right now. You have nothing to lose. The transient shaper portion is free to use.

THIS IS A MEDIA HEAVY POST!!!!!!!

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Cubase and Me

Cubase and Me
Cubase and Me

If you’re a longtime reader you may recognize the image above. This post is just some text discussion about me, my DAW choices and how I feel about these three products:

  • Reaper
  • Digital Performer
  • Cubase

I’m a longtime Digital Performer user, and added Reaper to my arsenal a while back. Things are changing though.

Spare me a moment to rant.

(Yes, that’s my eye)

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How to use, and buy, a Leather Strop

I’ve been doing a number of Live Streams making some leather strops, and now they are for sale on my Etsy store! along with some cool wood combs.

Parts 4 and 5 of the streams are linked after the break as well. So check those out if you’re curious.

My etsy shop will be linked in my nav bar up top soon, but for now this is the announcement.

BUY BUY BUY BUY

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A more natural drum noise gate with Couture and Reaper

Drum Frequency Noise Gating
Drum Frequency Noise Gating

Noise Gates are a staple on multi-tracked drums. The gate turns off the volume until the drum hits and it’s near-instantly turned up for the duration of the drum hit.

There’s 2 issues with this though:

  • It sounds unnatural - Having the drum suddenly pop in with whatever background noise is happening just doesn’t sound right. You get this weird blast of rumble and cymbals also messes up the mix slightly.
  • It messes with your mix - The drum mix is setup with the relationships of the sound setup somewhat statically. Having a sound pop in that completely messes with that balance can (but not always!) mess up those relationships for that split second.

I have a method that can solve both of these things in some scenarios. It’s not a cure-all of course, and like with any production technique there are tradeoffs. Let’s explore…

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Bitwig 2.4 - The Early Edition - and conclusions

Bitwig 2.4
Bitwig 2.4

The last post in the Bitwig update mini-series.

This is a quick look at the upcoming Version 2.4 along with my updated conclusions on Bitwig as a whole.

All previous post have (hopefully) been updated to reflect the new changes.

Other posts in this series:

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Mixbus 5 32c - Reviewed!

Mixbus 5 32c is here!
Mixbus 5 32c is here!

Mixbus FIVE 32c is alive! (and I’m no artist, but I tried)

I’m interrupting the Bitwig series because I think it’s necessary, and because I have the scoop.

Enough intro rubbish. On with it!

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Whats new in Bitwig 2.2 and 2.3 - The late edition

Bitwig 2.2 to 2.3 update!
Bitwig 2.2 to 2.3 update!

Yeah yeah… Bitwig 2.2 came out in September 2017 and Bitwig 2.3 came out nearly 7 months ago, but better late than never!

I’m going to cover all of the new stuff in Bitwig 2.2 and 2.3, what I think about it and update all of my previous Bitwig posts with the new information so folks that end up here don’t get an outdated impression of the software.

On we go!

Other posts in this series:

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Sidechain Better with dynamic EQ sidechaining

Why cut it all?
Why cut it all?

A typical scenario in mixing is that your kick drum and your bass, or some other similar elements, overlap spectrally. The ‘normal’ solution is a volume sidechain.

There’s a better way though! Well, sometimes it’s better, but it’s worth knowing so you can learn when to use it.

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Live Woodworking Stream Version 3

Still making the strops. Only one hour today.

Bitwig content coming in 2 days!

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Tracktion Retromod review

Retromod series
Retromod series

I’m going to be taking a look at The Retromod series from Tracktion Corporation.

I already reviewed their DAW product which was quite nice. I also reviewed their flagship synthesizer: Biotek, and that is quite a monster.

I did not pay for these products. I was given an NFR (not-for-resale) copy for review. I try my best to not let this affect my opinions. If you feel like I did, then please say so in the comments.

Retromod takes on the task of getting more vintage sounds, so let’s see what they came up with.

ALSO Video review is available too!

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