Podcast: Episode 14

Introduction

Hey, it’s Ronan Fitzgerald here, from light audio recording dot com, the only dedicated resource for compact and affordable audio recording solutions. Happy Thanksgiving, you’re listening to episode 14, of the light audio recording podcast.

How’re’ya?

I’m not going to bleat on too much about Black Friday deals. If you’re looking to spend money, you likely already know what you want. While Black Friday is a great opportunity for brands to get rid of older gear ahead of NAMM in January, there are bits and pieces coming out ahead of Christmas, so I’ll talk about some of them.

Hopefully, this will inspire you to plug in and make some music this weekend.

Item one

On November first, BandLab announced updates to their app.

Firstly, they now have custom presets for their effects.

Because light audio recording is all about efficiency, that’s handy. If you’ve been following, especially at how we complete tracks, you know we use the same compression settings every time.

I’d be delighted at picking them from a dropdown menu rather than opening my cheatsheet and putting them in manually.

But, I mix on the browser version, and it doesn’t seem to be available in it. But, I’ll play with it and see what I come out with.

Next, they included the cycle feature that’s standard in DAWs, including their own browser version. This means you can select a section of your track to play repeatedly.

Finally, they updated how you browse their MIDI instruments. Now you can do it by mood.

I have to be realistic: I’ll never use that feature.

Item two

On November nineteenth, MOTU announced a couple of relatively cheap and compact audio interfaces, called the M two and the M four. It’s an interesting move because their gear is usually pretty expensive.

Anyway, the main selling points for these new interfaces are that they have USB-C connectivity, have latency-free monitoring, two combined XLR and jack plug inputs, and MIDI connection.

Both also come with LCD monitor levels on the front. And that’s very cool.

The M two has all these things, and costs one hundred and seventy dollars.

For an extra fifty dollars, at two hundred and twenty dollars, the M four has all of the above, plus additional inputs at the back of the device. The M four also has a blend knob to balance between playback and input.

All really good stuff.

It’s Windows, Mac, and iOS compatible. No mention of Chrome OS or Android compatibility. But, there never is.

Item three

Mooer are best known for their range of mini-pedals. But, they’ve dabbled in amps too.

And their latest offering looks ideal for light audio recording.

The Hornet White is an update of an existing Hornet model. It has a six point five inch speaker, so perfect for sitting on a table top.

It has a fifteen watt output, and emulates nine classic amps. The selection includes standard Fender and Marshalls.

Obviously perhaps, it has features that are pretty standard on amps at this stage. It has built-in modulation, delay, and reverb effects. It has a tap tempo function for the modulation and delay effects. I don’t think that’s as common.

It has Bluetooth, a built-in tuner, and an LED screen to show you all of what you’re doing.

There’s no definite pricing for the US, but, there’s one on eBay in Florida for one hundred and sixty three dollars.

Item four

And finally, Behringer have had a lot of rumors recently about synths they’re working on. There have been rumors, and announcements, and delays, and cancellations.

But, according to Gear News dot com, they are actually releasing a model called the TD three, which is a Roland TB-three oh three clone.

In typical Behringer style, it costs a fraction of what the original. While the original lists on Reverb for around two and a half thousand dollars, the TD three has a far more light audio recording friendly price of one hundred and fifty dollars.

Apparently, Behringer’s main deviation from the Roland is the addition of a distortion circuit, based on a BOSS pedal.

And, you have a choice of colors: red, white, or blue.

If you’ve been looking to make compact and affordable synth noise, the TB three is well worth a look.

Wrap up

And that is all. I probably won’t be back next month, because I’ll be in Ireland for Christmas with my family and friends.

If you don’t hear from me, I’ll have a NAMM round up at the end of January.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the light audio recording blog at light audio recording dot com, where you can follow the exploration of recording music in an affordable and compact way.

You can also find light audio recording on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin, and Spotify.

I’m Ronan Fitzgerald, this was episode 14. Have a great Thanksgiving, best of luck with the Black Friday bargains, and have an excellent Chanukah, Christmas, and New Year. I’ll catch you next time.