New tracks and DIY reflection

[Beeswax]

I just launched my web site with a couple of songs and a home for my DIY accomplishments, among them an 1176, EQN and Lola mic pre.  Like everyone here, I take a special pride in recording my songs through gear I hand made - root to branch as they say.  I'm grateful for great exchange of information provided by members of this site.

http://marcsmithmusic.com

 

[anjing]

Sound's good Marc! Whats microphones are you using?

 

[Beeswax]

Too many to remember!  But the vocals are actually through a Shure KSM 44 and a Lola mic pre I built.  Same with some guitars.  Acoustics through a Lucus.  Other stuff through u47.  It's a mix of my own little DIY home studio and some really amazing gear at Strange Weather Studio, Brooklyn.

 

[Beeswax]

Wow Anjing!  Your blog is amazing.  The console is incredible!  What an enormous undertaking.  How long have you been at it?

 

[iomegaman]

Really smooth tones, site looks nice easy navigation, really impressive Marc!

 

[L´Andratté]

I´m pretty much done with Rock/Pop nowadays, but I really enjoyed your songwriting/performance/production! I like my music with a bit of honesty!
8)

No need to talk about your DIY, others will do that! ;D

Thanks!

 

[anjing]

Wow Anjing!  Your blog is amazing.  The console is incredible!  What an enormous undertaking.  How long have you been at it?

Sorry i did not see your post. Thanks for the nice comment on the console. It's more then a year now!
I really like your acoustic guitar sound on the first song. I also like the overall sound and vibe of your recordings and compositions.
It's quiet an ordeal, you have to create the song, sing it, arrange it, play it, record it, mix it..and build the equipment you used to record it...
Hat's off, i'm doing something similar but it seams i haven't mastered  the juggle art just yet!

Regards,

Pierre

 

[Beeswax]

Thank all of you for the kind words.  I look forward to sharing another track in several weeks.  Anjing, I do write and arrange all my songs and play guitars, drums, vocals, but fortunately I have some talented musicians now getting on board with me.  I track them at my place and other tracking was done in studio.  Mixing was also done at an incredible studio in Brooklyn, the owner of which is on GroupDIY, an avid builder.  I wish I could take credit for it all but I finally came to my senses and realized I needed help if this stuff was ever to get off the ground. 
Please share more about your console and other builds!  Music too?  I didn't know such a kit was out there though I've seen the Custom Console chap who designs the tube units. 

Best,
Marc

 

[anjing]

Thank all of you for the kind words.  I look forward to sharing another track in several weeks.  Anjing, I do write and arrange all my songs and play guitars, drums, vocals, but fortunately I have some talented musicians now getting on board with me.  I track them at my place and other tracking was done in studio.  Mixing was also done at an incredible studio in Brooklyn, the owner of which is on GroupDIY, an avid builder.  I wish I could take credit for it all but I finally came to my senses and realized I needed help if this stuff was ever to get off the ground. 
Please share more about your console and other builds!  Music too?  I didn't know such a kit was out there though I've seen the Custom Console chap who designs the tube units. 

Best,
Marc

Thats a very clever way to go about it! Collaboration helps bring a project to the next level! I don't have much to show as far as music projects that i can share, there is this http://youtu.be/MO2JVxN49i4 a song that me and my wife did on youtube, it's not finished yet...
As for the eztube mixer you can find the new thread here http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=51829.0 Ian did all the work in making this possible!

Regards,

Pierre

 

[Beeswax]

Nice song, Anjing.  What isn't done about it?  What else will you do it it?  How many channels are you making for the mixer?  Does Ian sell "kits" or is it every man for himself? 

Marc

 

[anjing]

Nice song, Anjing.  What isn't done about it?  What else will you do it it?  How many channels are you making for the mixer?  Does Ian sell "kits" or is it every man for himself? 

Marc

Well i need to better out the fills and try to create a better build up...hopefully remix the song using the eztube mixer! Thanks for listening.
As of today my plan for the mixer is 6 mono channel with Ian'S 3 band pultec, one stereo channel with 2 band pultec and an 8 channel summing card, so 16 channels in total. I have direct out for four of the mono channels so i use them for recording to daw. I will have two mono aux sends and 2 stereo aux return eventually.
Ian sells the pcb's and you can get all the parts very easily, nothing difficult to find especially if you're in the states. I got most of the parts from mouser and newark. It's a very rewarding project!

Regards,

Pierre

 

[Beeswax]

She has a lovely voice.  Wish I knew French!  What about the design for the console itself?  Is this your design or is it largely based on the racks holding the modules?  I would LOVE to combine my woodworking and electronics on this kind of project.  Are Ian's cost estimates about correct?  1000USD per channel? 

Marc

 

[KDE]

Which pots did you use for the EQN. I noticed yours where quite a bit shorter than everyone else which is a plus for me. Im building some EQN's and this would be a big help.

 

[Beeswax]

I tried to go through some BOM histories but it's just too chaotic.  I'm pretty sure though I got em right off the BOM that Peter has on the build thread. 

 

[anjing]

She has a lovely voice.  Wish I knew French!  What about the design for the console itself?  Is this your design or is it largely based on the racks holding the modules?  I would LOVE to combine my woodworking and electronics on this kind of project.  Are Ian's cost estimates about correct?  1000USD per channel? 

Marc

Thanks for the compliment i'll be sure to tell her!
As for the design of the console you use the building blocks that Ian if generously offering and do as you like. I decided to go with a 6U channel with both the preamp and the eq on one panel. Some other go full modular with 3u blocks... I'm using the subracks stock but you could go with custom side cheeks and custom lenth rails... As for the 1000$ a channel i don't think it's that much altough i'd have to check. I'm doing it a bit at a time but haven't really stopped and add the costs...i'd say it's more around 500$ to 600$ a channel.
With wood working skill you could make a very sexy cabinet for the console!
The way i see it is a bit like some folks who build vintages cars from scratch or some others who build an airplane from a kit. It's a once in a lifetime project!

Regards,

Pierre

 

[Beeswax]

Anjing, you are really inspiring me!  That is a really reasonable price per channel!  Where are the panels from?  It looks like you designed them yourself.  I like the layout of your console and I especially love the big volume knobs, like the old Universal Audio consoles.  But the real question is how does it sound so far?  I have been thinking to build the REDD47 mic pre from dripelectronics but now I'm really wondering if I should begin this console project.  If I can track into my DAW as I continue to build more channels, then I'd have the best of both worlds. 

Marc

 

[anjing]

If I can track into my DAW as I continue to build more channels, then I'd have the best of both worlds. 

Marc

Hi Marc,
    you're reasoning is exactly the same as mine, the best of both world.
The panels i designed and Frank does the cnc work.
You should go to the official thread to investigate and ask questions over there. The original thread is here http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=48039.0
The sound is very subjective but to me it's very good.  I've been thinking of a demo recording with the console to show the sonic characteristics and i will do so soon. For now i just have this test recording wich is mixed in logic but was tracked using the ez tube mixer direct out. https://soundcloud.com/pierre-petit-4/eztube-direct-out-test
If you ever pass by this neck of the woods you can pass by and see the tubes.
Btw Ian did a recreation of the redd eq you could use for the eztube mixer.

Regards,

Pierre

 

[Beeswax]

Pierre - that sounds really nice and warm.  What mic did you use? 

 

[anjing]

Pierre - that sounds really nice and warm.  What mic did you use?

It's an AKG C414-BTL II

Regards,

Pierre

 

[DaveP]

Really nice work Marc, both the gear and the music, I shall be following you on Soundcloud.

Anging, you and your wife make a great team, loved her song (she could add harmony to good effect at various points)
The video is very well done.

best
DaveP