Re: [Harp-L] Two new short pieces by Richard Hunter

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bill Hines wrote:
<Richard, what did you use for the backing (drums, etc)?
<
<Richard Hunter wrote:
<> Hi all,
<>
<> I've been doing a series of short pieces to present some of the sounds I've developed for the <Digitech RP250.  Two of the latest are now available at:
<> http://taxi.com/rhunter  
<>

I do my recordings on a computer-based system, with Cakewalk Sonar 8 (Producer Edition) as the basic platform for recording and mixing audio.  I use a lot of different software instruments on that platform.  For these recordings, I used Manybass for the bass guitar parts; Wusik Eve for the electric piano parts; EZDrummer (with the Funkmasters expansion) for the drum patterns and samples; VB3 for the Hammond organ lines; and Fabfilter Twin 2 for various parts (synth bass, drones, strings, kick drum, etc.) on "Walk Slow Talk Loud".  

I have literally hundreds of different software instruments and effects on my system, maybe (probably) too many.  Most of them I picked up (legitimately) for free; there are lots of developers out there creating free high quality music production software.  As it happens, none of the instruments I used on these tracks are free, but several of the effects are, including the delay and flanger I used on the harp on "Walk Slow Talk Loud", and the frequency analyzer I used on just about every track. 

Manybass retails for about $120; EZDrummer goes for about $179; VB3 is about $50.  Those are three of my mainstays, and although we're already up to about $350, it's a small fraction of what a decent bass guitar rig, drumset, and Hammond organ with Leslie would cost you--never mind the space in your house to hold it all and the mics to record it.         

If anyone reading this is interested in getting into computer-based recording, I strongly recommend that you start reading Computer Music magazine (http://computermusic.co.uk).  Every issue is loaded with information about EXACTLY how you record and mix instruments of all sorts.  By "exactly" I mean they don't just tell you "Compress and EQ the snare"; they tell you exactly how to set the compressor and the EQ to get a particular sound from a particular record. They also supply the equivalent of a complete software studio with every issue, and it's decent stuff.  The difference between the sound of my recordings three years ago and the sound now is largely the result of my subscription to that magazine.

Regards, Richard Hunter
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
more mp3s at http://taxi.com/rhunter