Recording - December 2014 - 6

RECORDING MAGAZINE DECEMBER

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Reviews
10

FeatuRes

10 Recording's 2014 Holiday Buyer's Guide.

32 Zero To Hero.

Real reviews of twenty fun and useful audio products
from Akai, Aphex, API, ESI, Final Mix, Gig Gear, JBL,
Novation, Ploytec, Radial, RØDE, Shure, Sonnet,
Strymon, and UVI!

Here's a great way to make money with your studio:
offer a package that takes an aspiring band from
zero (no music in hand to distribute to their fans) to
hero (a finished EP for sale at gigs, giveaways,
promotions, etc.) in a single afternoon!

REVIEWS BY MIKE METLAY, PAUL VNUK JR., AND DARWIN GROSSE

BY SEAN SHANNON

28 Focal Alpha 50 and Alpha 80 Monitors.
The French firm renowned for its high-end reference
speakers releases a line of affordable, great-sounding
monitors for any small studio.
28

38 Audio Minutiae.
There are a lot of people out there trying to sell you
products that won't help your audio, playing on your
fears of what might be wrong with your sound system.
It's time to smash these myths and get down to what
you can really do to improve your tracks!

REVIEWS BY PAUL VNUK JR.

30 Samson MTR201 and MTR231 Condenser
Microphones.
Samson's latest studio mics, one cardioid and one
multipattern, offer great build quality and all the
tools you need for a variety of recording tasks.

BY ETHAN WINER

42 Great Guitar Gear + Great Setup = Great
Sound.

REVIEWS BY PAUL VNUK JR.

Throwing money at the problem of less-than-great
guitar tracks will only get you so far. You can't just
buy cool new toys... you have to learn to get the
most out of them.

36 Yamaha MG12XU Mixing Console.
The newest MG mixers feature improved preamps,
one-knob compression, built-in effects, 24/192
USB I/O for your DAW, and more.
REVIEW BY MIKE METLAY

BY FRANK MARRA

44 The Phase Monster-Part 2.
What if you're not recording a bunch of musicians at
once, and only using one mic at a time... can the
Phase Monster still rear its ugly head? You bet it
can-and here's how to chase it away.

48 Reviewed & Revisited:
GForce impOSCar2.
32
36

Already a fantastic emulation of a rare and beloved
analog synth in its first incarnation, the latest version
boasts a whole slate of improved features.
REVIEW BY MIKE METLAY

BY PAUL J. STAMLER

50 Nine Unusual Guitar Tips.
Want to shake up your playing and discover new
inspiration with your guitar recordings? Here are nine
easy tricks to do just that.

56 Recording's Showcase of Sounds:
AmpleSound Acoustic Guitars and Good
Loops Guitar Kitchen Vol. 1.
Need great guitar sounds? Here's a virtual instrument
that creates convincing guitar parts in your DAW, and
a quick and easy library of song structures for fast
composing.

BY BEN LONG

60 Session Templates In Pro Tools.
These tips for setting up a "blank slate" ahead of
time will work with Pro Tools as they are, and can be
easily adapted to any other DAW, speeding your
workflow and letting you get right to the music.

REVIEWS BY GARY ESKOW

BY GREG OGAN

58 Recording's Showcase of Sounds:
Rob Papen BLUE-II.
A massive upgrade to one of the DAW world's most
beloved virtual instruments takes it to the next level
in many ways.

RegulaRs
4

Fade In.

Talkback.

Readers' Tapes.

REVIEW BY DEVON BRENT

72 For Your Bookshelf.

We wrap up our Holiday Buyer's Guide issue with
quick reviews of three books you'll find worth your
while, from a biography of Peter Gabriel and a selfhelp course on breaking songwriter's block to the latest
wit and wisdom from Mixerman.
REVIEWS BY MIKE METLAY

BY MARTY PETERS
COVER DESIGN BY SCOTT SIMMONDS

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Recording - December 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2014