Audio: More Free VST plugins

The Cockos Reaper forum is a very handy place to go when your looking for free stuff. Most of the people who use the software are using because it is free/cheap, so these guys spend a lot of time looking for good free stuff. The people there have recently pointed out this rather nice collection of free VST plugins from Antress Modern Plugins.

It contains a few of their own Modern effects and tools, which cover a great many of the effects you might need for your day to day mixing. But more interestingly they have also produced a series of plug ins that emulate classic studio gear. The clones include Fairchild, SSL and Universal Audio compressors which is nice if you like the colour of those units.

Also, thanks to my freinds at the Monkey Lord forum I was reminded about FerricTDS (Tape Dynamics Simulator), which is a part of another great set of plug-ins from Variety of Sound

Check them out!

Movies: Straggler of '45

The film on which I was sound recordist in January is now approaching release to be shown at a number of the usual film festivals around Europe (and possibly the World!).

I was sound recordist/boom op/mixer for the duration of the shoot. The whole experience was a pleasure and I hope that the full movie is finished with the same level of commitment that was shown by the whole crew throughout the process.

The film is listed here:

- IMDB
- Facebook
- Twitter: @StragglerOf45

More info at Virtus Productions

Trailer after the break

Music: Nighthawk Theme by me

This is a song I put together for a YouTube competition being run by Andertons Music store in Guildford, UK. I composed it the day before and then recorded and edited this in about 3 hours.

I didn't win or even get short-listed, but it is the most rapidly viewed thing I've ever uploaded to YouTube. So I'm quite proud of it.

Also, If you are considering purchasing a Blackstar HT Dual 2 channel distortion pedal, the guitar track for this video is made entirely using the 3 distinctively different sounds you can get from this unit.

Video after the break

Audio: The cables aren't made of gold anyway!

I always hear people talking about cables and tone, whether they are guitarists or Hi-fi enthusiasts, and I think there is quite a lot of dodgy folk-lore about what is actually going on with regard to the design decisions made on using certain metals, like gold, nickel and copper, in their construction. I have a certain amount of experience in this field and would like to put a few things straight.

Film: Making Movies

I've been out and about with a few film students; this time helping, to some degree, with their grad films. The first one I was essentially renting a Compact Flash card to them as they were only supplied with a total of 20GB of recording space for their 5D mkII. The second I was doing boom work using inadequate sound gear in awful weather conditions. The third was a another one I did sound on, but a couple of month later. Anyway, while I wasn't busy I got the chance to take some production stills during the shoots. Enjoy.

Images after the jump.