Gear Review: Roland R-26 Portable Recorder

Just arrived this week, a shiny new Roland R-26 portable recorder. This little device has the best and most complete feature list of anything on the market in this form factor. Compared with the ubiquitous Zoom H4n, the Roland R-26 is quite simply another level above, putting it close to devices in the 4+ channel recorder segment. In my five hours with the device since I got home from work, and then charged some AA batteries, I've only been impressed with how it performs. The depth and quality of features on show is quite astounding. I would put it right at the top of the pecking order of portable recorders available right now.

Site Updates 2-10-2012

I've made a few small updates to the site:

Additions to the Photography galleries available from the link in the tab bar:

The new galleries are not the most recent photo's but should have been on here a fair while ago.

The first is a collection of images from a feature film I did sound on, called Looking over the Dragon; and two music concerts I went to quite a while ago now. ATP presents the Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. at Alexandra Palace; and Dorje with the Drills at The Boileroom in Guildford:

As a side note, all of those thumbnails were also produced using Adobe Photoshop Touch on my Android tablet. As I've stopped using "trial" versions of the desktop edition of Photoshop, this cut down £7 release does 90% of everything I need to do using Photoshop. In the coming weeks I might put together a quick review of the app as it's really a very powerful tool for creating and editing web graphics on the go.

The second update I've done is under the Services tab, where I've listed a selection of things that I can do for you. The list isn't exhaustive but should give a general idea of my skill set and what I can bring to your projects.

No I don't work for free...

I get a lot of offers for free and expenses only work these days, which means I also have to turn a lot of work down. The thing is that people seem to think that I'll work for free purely because I did it for a little while during a period in which, I was trying to get into sound recording for films and TV.

The typical request pans out a little like this:

     “Hi, I'm a film producer, can you come and work for us for 6 days? It's just that the guy we called first said he couldn't do it... but he said you might be interested and said you were very good at what you do... The thing is, we don't have any money, so we can only pay your expenses... But we will provide you with free sandwiches and coffee all weekend... Oh you need equipment to do your job? Well can't you bring your own? That would help us out if we didn't have to hire it in...”

Gear Review: Blackstar HT Dual "Pure Valve Distortion" pedal

    This pedal is part of Blackstars HT range of tube driven effects pedals. The HT-Dual is one of seven distinct drive pedals in the range and sits in a position that makes it probably the most versatile of the bunch. Similar to the HT-Metal, it is a two channel, foot-switchable, distortion pedal; with a drive circuit that is powered/flavoured by a standard 12AX7/ECC83 pre-amp valve.
   I've been using for about a year now in a whole host of environments and usage scenarios so I thought I'd share my experiences.

Gear Review: Lovepedal Redhead

    The Redhead is a limited run pedal which re-releases an older Lovepedal design, the Superlead, in a new shell and with a tweaked EQ/Tone control circuit. The circuit isn't completely original, it is said to be derived from something like an old Marshall Guv'nor circuit, but with simplified tone shaping controls. Some would question why you would pay the kind of money you do for boutique effects, when you could effectively build them yourself for a fraction of the cost; I say who cares. This thing looks good and sounds great, and it wasn't built by me, a second rate solderer at best.