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Butch Vig names the ten essential pieces of gear for the Smart Studios sound


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I thought this was an interesting article.

 

https://reverb.com/news/10-essential-pieces-for-the-smart-studios-sound

 

 

How many of you have some of the items on his list? I've got a couple of the things he mentioned. I think one of the things that kind of surprised me is that not all of it is super-expensive. In fact, most of the things he listed are reasonably obtainable.

 

 

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I own nothing fancy like that. I record directly into my HP laptop with a Digitech RP-150, or a Blue Yeti for vocals and acoustic. I don't sound like a Hiroshima or Paul Simon album, but I generally sound better than most local bands' records in terms of production. Talent, on the other hand...

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I was very surprised at how many 'antique/retro' units their studio relies heavily on...a Roland Space Echo? Really? Don't get me wrong' date=' it was aces back in the day, but noisy and ...I'll say it, sometimes uncontrollable.[/quote']

I don't know a lot about Vig, but I do know that Dave Grohl would be of the mindset that a vintage item like the Roland is awesome because of its inconsistencies. It wouldn't surprise me if Vig also records with tape like Grohl.

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A Mirage sampler? Good Lord. I bet no one there does edits! Besides, you can make any sampler sound like a Mirage. Take off the highs, and run it through a bit reducer.

 

Then again he didn't say 10 essential pieces, but the 10 pieces to get his studio's sound. So I guess his sound is kinda vintagey digital.

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Their schtick is a lo-fi thing, and I kind of got the impression their studio was trapped in that era of analog to digital conversion; Quadraverb, Oberheim DMX, Ensoniq Mirage, Space Echo, dbx 160, Lexicon PCM 70 [still a workhorse, but dates back to the mid-1980s]...all items one would find in a studio more than a decade [or two or three] ago [the space echo is truly a deep retro call].

 

I owned a Roland Space Echo [and an EchoPlex] back in the 70s and early 80s, and I loved them immensely, and in many ways regret having sold them when I 'retired' from playing to finish college [at night], but techological changes have rendered their functions obsolete in favor of more reliable analog and digital delays/loopers...albeit minus the mojo...

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A Mirage sampler? Good Lord. I bet no one there does edits! Besides, you can make any sampler sound like a Mirage. Take off the highs, and run it through a bit reducer.

 

Then again he didn't say 10 essential pieces, but the 10 pieces to get his studio's sound. So I guess his sound is kinda vintagey digital.

 

 

I think Smart Studios was recording to analog tape, but they obviously weren't against tracking digital sound sources like that Mirage.

 

 

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