Gearwire Crosstalk

Did we misplace this one or something? Why didn't this go up a week ago? At any rate, here's Crosstalk Episode 51 in it's entirety; a power tube comparison, P90s explained and a look at the best free VSTs around (in our opinions) are just the tip of the iceberg.  

While the internet is more like a series of tubes than some sort of truck, power amplifier tubes are exactly like trucks, in that they handle various loads and are referred to by a different name in England (e.g., "this is my all-lorry JCM 800"). We got our hands on a certain self-biasing guitar head to check out the sonic differences between some of the major power tube types.  

We've named-dropped this producer of freeware VSTs many times in the past -- Britton is huge fan of their eight-bit plugs in particular -- but we'd never done a feature dedicated to them. So the slogan for this segment of Crosstalk Episode 51 is "Tweakbench: Right Developer, Right Time."  

Behold the Crosstalk mouth intro.

Directly proceeding a bout of Bill and Owen's a capella glory, we're eager to get to an extended viewer response section, so we blast through site news as quickly as possible. That doesn't mean we don't take time to sing Gary Wright's greatest hit, however.  

Here's your main course, folks. Crosstalk 50 is chock-full of meaty discourse on VST hosts, T-Bone Burnett's secret audio encoding format (it's 1,000 island dressing) and "HiDef" digital audio. Oh, and let's not forget The Coug (leaner than bison).  

And by "pranks" we mean "queries him about high fidelity digital audio," and as a member of the esteemed team at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Mr. Sedillo has a few choice words to say on the subject. Will Scott remember Britton from the days when he (Britton) used to drop two-track studio masters off at BGM? You'll just have to find out!  

Britton, Bill and Owen walk like heroes into Gearwire studio to talk about XO(TRIANGLE)E, T-Bone Burnett's new format. If you haven't heard Life, Death, Love And Freedom, here's your chance to hear it.  

For our 50th installment of Crosstalk, we're bringing back at least part of the old format: tiny, easily digestible segments! In this first morsel, we answer some viewer mail, discuss ugly travel guitars and do a little research on the Muse Receptor and other VST Hosts.  

The latest episode of Crosstalk features an interview with one of Chicago's fastest-rising (and youngest) hip-hop and R&B producers, Nael Shehade from Force One Seven. We pick his brain about his gear and production methods.  

Now that Bill's applied enough aloe vera to his sunburn, and Britton's -- uhh -- recovered, we've decided to take one last look at the Summer NAMM product debuts that may have been eclipsed in the standard GW news cycle by the mighty Moog Guitar.  

For about two weeks, we thought the HVAC system in the Gearwire offices was busted, but it turns out it's just hot because Summer NAMM 2008 is here! Covered: Moog Guitar and other, non-Moog-Guitar products.  

. . . otherwise known as microphones. Another expansive topic for the Crosstalk gang, perhaps, but a short bullet-point primer from Britton serves as good jumping off point for a discussion on general microphone use, and some not-so-common mic applications.  

Gearwire Crosstalk focuses on the incredibly immense field of VST instruments and plugins. The gang compares plugins to analog equipment and the use of plugins to the use of the actual instrument.  

What do dropped-C tuning and audio equipment production outsourcing have in common? They're both discussed on episode 44 of Crosstalk! As Kierkegaard said: "both production outsourcing and Norwegian Black Metal are reprehensible, but necessary evils." Or was that Dick Van Patten?  

Like all things, the Crosstalk Black Metal Riff-Off must eventually die. Autopsy results will be available on Crosstalk.  

THE SUBMISSION PERIOD FOR THE FIRST EVER CROSSTALK BLACK-METAL RIFF-OFF HAS ENDED.

IT IS NOW UP TO YOU TO DETERMINE THE VICTOR.

VOTE NOW, OR FOREVER REST IN PEACE!!!!

 

So many things get better with age -- cheese, wine, George Clooney -- but did that Ibanez Blazer Bass really attain some magical quality once it hit the two-decade mark? Crosstalk discusses the liberal use of the "vintage" tag and its implications.  

Crosstalk has dealt with amp modeling to an almost ludicrous extent, but that didn't stop the Crosstalk gang from diving into it again. The difference is, this time they're responding to Devo's Bob Mothersbaugh.  

April 24th to be exact, meaning you've still got time to conceive of and record your 30-seconds of dark-glory. If you don't submit your riff, the face-painted man will bludgeon you with that mace-looking-thing (disclaimer: it's probably a prop).  

Guess what, troglodytes . . . we're getting entries. That's right, our Black Metal Riff Off is in full swing, and the competition's already blistering.  

In Episode 41 of Crosstalk, Bill almost strangles Britton for excessive use of a vocoder, Musikmesse proves once again to be the greatest show on Earth and the guys finally get to talk about custom analog synths.  

What, did you think we were kidding? We're holding a Black-Metal Riff-Off, as mentioned in episodes 40 and 41 of Crosstalk. We haven't received any entries yet; are you scared? Of the metal? Or are you afraid of looking like a n00b in the face of Henry's chops? What to know more? Read on. . .  

When some people hear the term "low fidelity" they think "opposite of what I want to hear." And yet, there's a whole movement in modern recording that's dedicated to the "intimacy" inherent in recordings made with a $5 microphone and a My First Sony cassette recorder.  

For our 39th Installment of Crosstalk, Bill, Henry and Owen start a support group: Home Recordists Anonymous. Oh, woe are the members of HRA, forever seeking the balance between quality and afford-ability, wading through the deluge of information as to what is needed and what is not, doing battle with retail sales men and erstwhile performers alike. Hear their tale, and weep, for you are one of them!  

Crosstalk comes back from NAMM in audio format where Bill Holland, Owen O'Malley, and special guest Liz McLean Knight share their thoughts on Winter NAMM 2008.  

Crosstalk 36 says goodbye to Drew Krag, who parted ways with Crosstalk to pursue other venues, and though he will be missed, we welcome guitar tech Henry Bianco to the team. Big number 36 also takes a look at vocal harmonization with the Digitech Vocalist Live 4 and discusses more vocal effects.  

The last segment of Crosstalk 36 features some good old viewer mail. Bill, Britton, and Henry answer some recording questions dealing with mic preamps, guitar pickups, and more.  

After hearing the DigiTech Vocalist Live 4 in sweet, man-on-microphone action, the Crosstalk crew reacts to the sound. From there, they veer off into AutoTune tales and the sound of "poo in a bucket."  

When the Crosstalk gang found out that J. Irving-Giles just picked up a Vocalist Live 4, they interrupted his open mic night practice session to tweak around with the parameters on the unit as he was prepping for the biggest show of his career.  

Join host Bill Holland, snark Britton Wetherald, and new guitar tech Henry Bianco on Crosstalk 36 for some brutal reality podcasting. Get to know Henry, and find out what happened to Drew Krag. Plus, the Crosstalk gang talks about the what's going on in the gear world including the release of the Gibson Robot Guitar and Bill's latest looks into Propellerhead Reason 4.