Gear

I decided to share with you all the software and equipment I use to create my music.

Hardware used:

Line 6 UX2 USB sound card
Shure SM58 microphone
MXL 990 microphone
Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones

I've already posted a photo of my guitars in an older post. But I didn't show the acoustic that I use so here it is.

Epiphone PR-100NS acoustic

KRK Rokit 5 active monitors

Miditech Midistart Music 25 keyboard

 

Epiphone Valve Junior 5 watt guitar amplifier

Zoom B3

I use the balanced XLR output in true bypass mode as a DI. I have the 1/4 inch mono out going straight to my guitar amp. This way I can record the dry (unprocessed) signal whilst enjoying the live feel of playing through an amp. There is also a 'bonus' feature - I can turn up my amp and create natural feedback which improves the sustain of notes even on the dry signal

Software I use (in order how frequently I use them):

Audacity
Mixcraft 6
Addictive Drums
Voxengo Spectrum Analyser v1.9
ToneBoosters EBU Loudness Meter

Variety of Sound (all of their plugins ROCK)
Ignite Amps PTEq-1a
GVST Plugins by Graham Yeadon (mainly for the simple high pass filter)
Tin Brooke Tales TLs2095-LA (compressor)

TDR Feedback Compressor
jsAudio CompShaper (multi-band compressor)
Flux Stereo Tool (phase rotator)
Digital Fish Phones Blockfish (freeware compressor)
KeFir (freeware impulse response loader)

TSE BOD v2.0 (bass preamp sim)
Ignite Amps SHB-1 (bass amp sim)

Ignite Amps NRR-1 (guitar amp sim)
Ignite Amps Anvil (guitar amp sim)
Poulin LeGion (guitar amp sim)
CrySonic SpectraPhy (hard limiter for mastering)
MIDI File Mapper by Mark Heath (freeware)

Notes about Addictive Drums

For most songs I use a custom preset which has all the channels from AD sent to independant channels in my DAW. That is so I can process the drums using whatever VST plugins I want to use. I will also use the 'BryKit' preset for anything from pop punk to metal. I've found this preset to sound extremely punchy in a mix yet maintains enough authenticity to fool most people into believing a real acoustic kit was recorded!