|
Truth is, Randy has always dreamed of having a recording studio in his
basement. When he bought his home, his wife knew that he needed a music
outlet to maintain his sanity. She agreed without hesitation to give him
the basement. He still owes her a nice backyard in the deal! Thus,
Crystaline Studios was created...named after their daughter Crystal
Alexandra whose time on earth was all too short...
The studio includes
two rooms. The Control Room is the bigger room with all the recording
gear...
...and the
keyboards.
The studio room is
where the acoustic recording happens (the quiet room where the mics are
used).
Here is a list of
the equipment used in the studio (updated January 2010):
Mac Pro Xeon
8-Core - This is the 4th Mac Randy has had in
his studio. It does all his sequencing AND audio recording using Digital
Performer version 6 from Mark of the Unicorn. More and more instruments are
moving to the computer which is why he has to keep upgrading the machine.
Some of his favorites are the Garritan Personal Orchestra, Native
Instruments B4 II Organ, and Steinberg's Groove Agent drums.
Mac Dual 500
G4 - He also has an old G4 that hosts a
sythn card from Korg called Oasys. It cannot run on the newer Macs, so he
keeps the older machine around for occasional use.
Marc
of the Unicorn - Digital Performer -
Although this is a hardware list, Software has become the NEW hardware.
Randy has been using Digital Performer since around 1986 (when it was
called only Performer). He has have never used anything but DP, so he can't
honestly tell you how it compares to other Sequencing/Audio packages. But
it does EVERYTHING he has ever wanted it to do.
Virtual
Instruments - Aside from the Virtual Instruments
included with Digital Performer, he also owns/uses...
- Native
Instruments - Kontakt 4
- Native
Instruments - B4 Organ
- Native
Instruments - Scarbee MM and Pre Bass
- Vir 2
- Mojo Horns
- Garritan
- Personal Orchestra
- Garritan
- Jazz and Big Band
- Steve
Slate - Platinum Drums
- Steinberg
- Grove Agent 3
- MOTU -
MX4
Other
Plugins - Aside from the Plugins included with
Digital Performer, I also own/use...
- Nomad
Factory - Producer Pack II
- Sonalksis
- Multi Limit
Mark
of the Unicorn 2408 - This
is the audio interface for the Digital Performer Software. This is how the
sounds go in and come out of the Mac.
Mark
of the Unicorn MIDI Time Piece -
Randy has two of these. They are the workhorses that handle all the MIDI
routing in the studio. This box allows Randy to record using two keyboards
at once (which is a lifesaver with some drum parts).
Yamaha
s90 - This is a fully weighted keyboard, so
it feels more like a real Piano and has all 88 keys. It also has some
outstanding Electric Piano sounds Randy uses all the time.
KorgM1 - Although a classic in the synth world, Randy no
longer uses it much for sounds. Rather he uses it as an auxiliary MIDI
controller with unweighted keys (for organ parts especially).
RolandSPD20 - This is a drum pad with some really nice drum
sounds...It allows Randy to play drum parts with sticks which adds just a
little more feel to the groove...especially in the high hats.
RolandJV1010 - Randy bought this little module for use on the Sam
Cardon and Michael Dowdle tours. But he liked it so much that he uses it in
the studio too. Some of the sounds are just great.
RolandSC88 - This is such a useful sound module! Randy used it
for years on drums, electric pianos, and pads all the time. It only has
left/right outputs so he records the individual drum parts/sounds to tape
before final mixing.
Emu
Performance+ - This is still one of the best
acoustic piano sound modules Randy has ever heard. He still uses it on
projects today...
Allen&HeathGS3v - This is a 24-channel mixer but has 48 actual
inputs that can be used during mixing. The coolest part of the mixer is the
automated mixing features. It allows the computer to control the volume of
24 of the 48 inputs during mixing. Randy remembers the days when we noted
all the volume changes by marking masking tape next to the fader. He had to
memorize all the moves and change them as the song flew by. Seems like a
distant memory (read: nightmare) now!
DigiTech2101 - This used to be Randy's main box for electric
guitar tones. He still can't seem to leave it behind. He still loves some
of the tones. He uses it for much of his clean electric guitar work. There
is a stock patch called LA X-Delays (or something like that) that he just
loves...probably because he wrote the patch for DigiTech (so he may be
biased slightly).
JohnsonJM250 - Now THIS is Randy's baby. He can't tell you how
much easier it is to play electric guitar when it automatically sounds
great. That is what the JM250 is...never miss tone...and gobs of it. It
sounds so good, he even feeeeeeels like a real guitar player sometimes.
TascamDA20 - Randy uses this to listen to old mixes and some
archiving now...since all the new stuff is recorded and mixed directly to
the computer.
TascamDA88 - Randy used to have several of these multi-track machines
to record all old projects. He still has one now just for transferring old
project into the computer.
Mics - Randy loves the AudioTecnica 4050 Large Diaphragm
mic for just about everything. He also has a pair of AudioTecnica 4040
Condensers which are great on steel string guitars. More recently, he added
a Blueberry Mic by Blue Microphones. It is a great vocal mic and really sounds
great on female vocals.
Mic
PreAmp - Along with the Blueberry Mic, he
picked up a Universal Audio 6176 PreAmp and Compressor. The combination of
the Blueberry and the 6176 simply sounds wonderful.
Guitars - Randy plays a pretty blue Signature Electric. He
used to tour with a fabulous guitarist named Rich Dixon (I was the
keyboardist/singer), but when Randy started covering guitar work too, Rich
passed this guitar onto Randy (It was given to Rich by Signature). He was
kind enough to let Randy hang onto it. Rich is also the closest thing Randy
ever had to a guitar teacher. He would drill Randy for hours with scales
while they sat bored to death in their hotel rooms. Just one more person to
whom Randy owes so much! "THANKS RICH!" We believe Signature is
out of business now, unfortunately. Randy also plays an Alvarez Spanish
Classical (a beautiful gift he was given the last time he played in Spain),
and a lovely Taylor Acoustic (yet another gift..."I don't what more to
say except that I simply have amazing friends"). He also have two Bass
Guitars - a Fender 4-string and an Ibanez 5-string. Oh, and we shouldn't
forget his nice little Mandolin...
Whew! I think that
is it!
|
