Today, during their mix session, I overheard Lily Taylor mention to Ryan Kleeman that they were looking to add some texture to a track…make it more vintage and vinyl-like. So after a quick hunt, I found a cool free plugin from iZotope, from Boston, MA. Check it out!

The ultimate lo-fi weapon, iZotope Vinyl uses 64-bit processing and advanced filtering, modeling and resampling to create authentic “vinyl” simulation, as if the audio was a record being played on a record player.

KeyToSound, a designer, developer and manufacturer of digital audio technology, musical instruments, and audio signal processors has just released an upgrade to a free instrument plug-in called “Remedy”. Great presets, a bunch of knobs to sculpt, and a classy old school design.

Download Remedy 1.1r3 for Mac.
Supports VST (including 2.4), AU, RTAS 6 and RTAS 7

Download Remedy 1.1r3 for Windows XP.
Supports VST and RTAS on Windows XP

Download the botkiller Remedy preset pack by brian botkiller
Arps, drums, lots of sounds in this little package!

Download the Remedy Preset pack by Aaron Jasinski
Great sounds to get you going! Find more info on Aaron at www.AaronJasinski.com

Download the Remedy Preset Pack by Elwood

Sean Niesen was the featured artist in the studio today. Accompanying Sean were a couple of his friends on drums/percussion and on bass. Jonathon Wong was the lead engineer, while I was the assistant engineer. The group combines an eclectic mix of sounds/timbre, ranging from the ordinary to the more abstract. They are able to combine traditional styles of music with more experimental sounds. I really enjoyed watching the group work through various sections of their track. They were able to incorporate a decent amount of layers to a section of their track without it sounding cluttered. Sean’s timbre and arrangement on guitar was definitely something I’ve never heard before.

What I really enjoyed most was watching more of the creative process as the group worked through this track. They started with a 5-6 minute jam to work on various ideas. Then, decided to focus on shorter phrases to possibly loop. Overall, it was a great experience for myself, and hopefully the other guys working on it. In my opinion, if you’re a fan of groups like Grizzly Bear and earlier M83, you’ll enjoy whatever Sean Niesen puts down. Check out some of his other music here.

- Scott McCoid

Today we are recording two tracks with local, up-and-coming Indy rock group, “The Blank Slates.” (Troy Lawton is lead engineering, with Jonathon Wong as assistant engineer.  All of the interns have been helping out this week and rotating responsibilities.) Featuring Andrea Iacopini on guitar and vocals, they produce a high-intensity, earthy nuance with a forward drive. According to Andrea, “The Blank Slates” is a “concept of ever-changing sound, where each song has space to develop into its own without allowing the band itself to be easily categorized.”

Andrea was joined by drummer Cochrane McMillan in January of this year, with bassist Martin Fowler adding to the mix later that month. Not only are they solid musicians, but their tracks are chock full of well-blended harmonies and tight fills.

In “My Only Regret,” Cochrane takes the lead on drums and has been playing solid all day, with Turkish hand-hammered cymbals adding nice texture and shimmer.  Martin has a solid ear in this tune with dead-on rhythm and innovative fills. Andrea is a natural songwriter, and struck gold with his addictive opening guitar and bass lines.

www.myspace.com/theblankslates

The goal of today’s session is to create the majority of a demo for distribution to local radio stations.

Good energy, good times, good clean fun.

-Emily Hendricks