Recently I became aware of a rather new technique for modelling guitar amps, overdrive pedals and other non-lineair equipment. It’s called black-box modelling.
Author Archive | Marco Raaphorst
Sounds like tape: CHOW Tape Model plugin
I stumbled upon the CHOW Tape Model plugin. And it’s great! But there’s more to it…
Mixing on headphones is the new normal
At the bookshop of the train station the title on the front of the new Sound On Sound triggered me: mixing on headphones. I LOVE headphones.
The ultimate tool does not exist
Recently some podcasters asked me for advice on a good compressor. Many of them are using tools like Audacity or Audition and are looking for external plugins. I am a fan of Klanghelm plugins, so I recommended the MJUC jr. It’s the little FREE brother of the MJUC.
Listen to my new single: Grijs
Grijs is my new single. Out now. Lyrics by Karin Ramaker in Dutch. Grijs can be listened to on all streaming services.
Portrait of Lotte, 0 to 16 Years – Remastered now on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer etcetera
The track Portrait of Lotte, 0 to 16 Years which I created in 2015 commissioned by Frans Hofmeester for his time-lapse video (which has almost 24 million views at the time of writing!) is now available as a remastered version.
A very good marriage: Western classical music and the blues
Music theory relies almost entirely on church modes and considers the blues as an outsider. Yet almost all pop music since The Beatles is influenced by the distinctive mix of blues and church modes. It’s time to set the record straight.
IR-03 released: 9 classic presets from the Palmer PDI-03 Speaker Simulator as IRs
Today I have added a new product to the Melodiefabriek shop: IR-03, a package of 9 different sounding Impulse Responses which were captured using my trusty old Palmer PDI-03 Speaker Simulator.
Digital guitar processing: everything you need to know about Impulse Responses
An impulse response (IR) file is a superb solution for storing the sound of a guitar speaker cabinet into a digital file. A guitar speaker cabinet is known for its strong midrange and peak frequencies which are caused by the speaker and the reflections inside the cabinet.
Every plugin has a downside?
Yesterday I read the article ‘Hard Truths: Every Plugin Has a Downside’ that was published on LANDR. I asked myself: are these really Hard Truths like the writer Michael Hahn claims?
Digital guitar processing: tone control
I will always record with the volume control(s) and tone control(s) fully open. This way I can capture the unaffected tone of my guitar(s). But I can still lower the treble of the sound using a simple EQ in my DAW in the same way as a tone control on the guitar would.
Digital guitar processing: uncolored in, colored out
Back in the day we used this old saying: “you can’t fix it in the mix.” This is no longer true today since we can fix almost anything in the mix.