New Guy- First Post-

James Wilsey · Post by **James Wilsey** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:40 pm

Longtime lurker, first time poster..

Just thought I'd introduce myself before asking a bunch of questions....

My name is James Wilsey- I'm primarily a guitar player. I played guitar with Chris Isaak for 12 years and made 4 albums with him. I played the lead gtr on Wicked Game, also sequenced the rhythm track for that song in Performer (pre DP).

I have used Performer (before DP) since version 1, but not for much for several years. I'm embarking on a new (solo) album- I plan to record drums in a Pro-Tools studio, take the tracks home and edit and overdub in DP. I have DP 5.1 and the features (and manual) are somewhat daunting.

I need to get an interface soon- I haven't decided which one yet....

Anyway- lots of great info here and I'm sure I'll be visiting more often as this project gets underway-

Cheers!
Jw

dosuna11 · Post by **dosuna11** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:05 pm

Hi and welcome. I love my 828 MK2. Therre are some mods that can be done to it really beef it up. http://www.blacklionaudio.com/index.html.
I haven't done this yet but word is it is very good and I will do this when I get through my next project. I have done all my drums in the studio in PT playing to a scratch track, had them compiled to 1:1:000 and then imported them right into DP. Works great.

RCory · Post by **RCory** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:08 pm

Welcome James - you'll find lotsa helpful folks 'round here.

Good luck

C

Mr_Clifford · Post by **Mr_Clifford** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:16 pm

James Wilsey wrote:I played the lead gtr on Wicked Game, also sequenced the rhythm track for that song in Performer (pre DP).

Man, that guitar line was one of THE lead guitar moments of the last 20 years! And at a time when everyone else was playing Jackson, Kramer & Ibanez. I guess Fender doesn't pay you a royalty for helping re-popularize the Strat.

I don't suppose you feel like giving up some of your guitar tone secrets on the forum?

Phil Jeffers · Post by **Phil Jeffers** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:17 pm

Hi James, so humble for a musician with such cred! Chris Isaak just played in Sydney the other night... my mum has a huge crush I think, she loved the concert. Wicked Game is easily his best work.

Yes DP is a bit daunting isn't it? I'm a long time Pro Tools user who crossed to DP pretty much for its surround mixing capability. I think with any app, it••™s when you need to produce work (rather than just tinkering) that you'll nail it. I bought the Mac Audio Lab DVD which is very helpful. It's a DVD that plays in QT (hard to copy for obvious reasons).

I'd recommend the Mackie Control Universal. There's a whole chapter dedicated to it in the manual and I've had good luck with it here. One of the best features about the MCU is that you can add as many XT extenders (8 extra faders) as you like. I'm about to buy an extra 8 faders.

You might consider getting some extra plug-ins also... there's a few standard MOTU plugs that are cool, but for higher production values I'd recommend some higher end plugs... UAD-1, Power Core, Waves, Altiverb...

Welcome! Unicornation are a friendly and most helpful bunch. They're the best forum. You won't regret the DP 5 decision.

Cheers, Phil J.

taggart · Post by **taggart** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:22 pm

Hi James!
I'll put my vote in for the Traveler. Although, one might run out of XLR's sooner than one expects! I do mainly sequencing and vocals/gtr so I've never really missed the extra XLR's.
P.S. Love your work with Chris. Sweet stuff!
Oh, come on! I'm in North Dakota. Let me fawn over and rub "cyber elbows" with a famous person!

"Still hayseed enough to say 'Look who's in the big town.'"

James Wilsey · Post by **James Wilsey** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:05 pm

Thanks all-

I doubt that I'll need a lot of inputs and outputs- the only thing I'll be actually recording at home is guitars, one at a time...I'm mostly concerned with good quality A/D, and bitrate compatibility with whatever we record in pro-tools- I'm guessing it'll be 24/96. I'll probably be mixing in a 'real' studio too- I don't have the outboard and mixer stuff (and the environment) to do it semi-right.

I've been looking at the Traveler and some of the RME stuff. I think it may be best to go firewire for convenience sake-

I like MIDI and synth programming- but I'm not much of a keyboard player. I guess that's part of the reason I got into performer in the first place. I'll be sequencing quite a bit.

I do know more about guitar than DP at the moment and I'm a longtime Mac-nerd-...In the 80's I was a consultant for Apple on Audio and MIDI stuff, and work as a mac IT consultant now.... I've also spent many years in studios working with very talented engineers and producers- going back to the pre- digital age....And I know some about guitars and amps and stuff- so I hope to have something to offer to the forum in the future.

Anyway, my record is gonna be some instrumental stuff that I've written over the last few years- probably not for everyone, but I'll like it. I have some crappy home demo of a few songs on a myspace page if you're interested- these were done a few years back, (and I like the songs I haven't recorded yet better!) --here's a link-

http://www.myspace.com/themysteriesla

And I've spend some time near the missile silos in Grand Forks ND- but never Australia....

Anyway thanks for the welcome- I'll be making a pest of myself soon.

thanks- jw

newrigel · Post by **newrigel** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:19 pm

James Wilsey wrote:Thanks all-

I doubt that I'll need a lot of inputs and outputs- the only thing I'll be actually recording at home is guitars, one at a time...I'm mostly concerned with good quality A/D, and bitrate compatibility with whatever we record in pro-tools- I'm guessing it'll be 24/96. I'll probably be mixing in a 'real' studio too- I don't have the outboard and mixer stuff (and the environment) to do it semi-right.

I've been looking at the Traveler and some of the RME stuff. I think it may be best to go firewire for convenience sake-

I like MIDI and synth programming- but I'm not much of a keyboard player. I guess that's part of the reason I got into performer in the first place. I'll be sequencing quite a bit.

I do know more about guitar than DP at the moment and I'm a longtime Mac-nerd-...In the 80's I was a consultant for Apple on Audio and MIDI stuff, and work as a mac IT consultant now.... I've also spent many years in studios working with very talented engineers and producers- going back to the pre- digital age....And I know some about guitars and amps and stuff- so I hope to have something to offer to the forum in the future.

Anyway, my record is gonna be some instrumental stuff that I've written over the last few years- probably not for everyone, but I'll like it. I have some crappy home demo of a few songs on a myspace page if you're interested- these were done a few years back, (and I like the songs I haven't recorded yet better!) --here's a link-

http://www.myspace.com/themysteriesla

And I've spend some time near the missile silos in Grand Forks ND- but never Australia....

Anyway thanks for the welcome- I'll be making a pest of myself soon.

thanks- jw

Hey James... This thing is made for guy's like US!
www.apogeedigital.com/products/ensemble.php

Billster · Post by **Billster** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:54 pm

James Wilsey wrote:Thanks all-

I doubt that I'll need a lot of inputs and outputs- the only thing I'll be actually recording at home is guitars, one at a time...I'm mostly concerned with good quality A/D, and bitrate compatibility

Anyway, my record is gonna be some instrumental stuff that I've written over the last few years- probably not for everyone, but I'll like it.

Hey, nice to see you here.

I'm in a very similar boat (without having played with Chris Isaak).

I've done some online collaboration stuff mixing parts recorded by different folks all over the world in whatever software they have (Cubase, PT, whatever), and I've never had a problem with sound quality or time alignment using DP.

logo80 · Post by **logo80** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:21 am

Hi and welcome! it's a pleasure to have people like you on this forum!
Regards, Lorenzo

kelldammit · Post by **kelldammit** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:27 am

hello, and welcome! i would second the traveler recommendation. it integrates very nicely with DP for monitoring, and will support the bitrates you're looking for. for higher sound quality (though i have no real issues with it as-is), the Black Lion mods are really supposed to kick things up a couple notches.
also, what kind of machine are you going to be using (ppc or intel, desktop, laptop)?

incidentally, if i'm not mistaken, it's your fault i got a strat plus! i remember reading an article where you were talking about them, and i finally found one...it's one of my fave guitars ever! still really dig 'kings of the highway'....

kell

kgdrum · Post by **kgdrum** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:38 am

hi and welcome .....i will suggest RME ,works great w/DP

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 5:00 am

Welcome, James.

Phew! Glad my guitar-recording rig isn't in my signature.
A POD and single Variax for all guitar work seems, well, embarrassing!
Doh!

Given time, I'm sure we'll find a way to extract every last ounce of knowledge you have on all things fretted.
Don't worry; it's a painless procedure, although it may help to be a willing participant.

Enjoy your "new" home.

Nicky

James Wilsey · Post by **James Wilsey** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:59 am

I like the Line 6 stuff- I've been using a Toneport with Garageband as a quick and dirty sketchpad for writing... I've been thinking about trying the plugin version w/ DP, once I get underway- I'm sure I'll use a mic an a rusty old tube amp too....My home studio is now in the dining room- the room I used to use became a baby's bedroom a couple of years ago- so micing amps will be a bit of a challenge...

I'm assuming that the AU plugin will run at 24/96 ?

That Apogee unit looks nice, but it's a bit more than I want to budget- I may get a deal on an open box RME, so I'll see if that works out. If not, I'll be looking at the traveler, etc.

It's funny- since I work with macs all of the time I am reluctant to buy one for myself- I do all my work on a powerbook, and gave my 'studio' mac to my wife- I'll likely borrow a G4 1.47 ghz dual from a client for the duration of the project. Hopefully that'll be good for what I need- I'll be running some Virtual synths, Reason, and not doing any heavy duty mixing. I also own a copy of Mach five and may be looking into a copy of MOTU Symphonic Instrument down the line.

And I'll likely be switching computers down the line so that's why I'm leaning towards a firewire interface....

Anyway- I'm still writing and trying finishing up some song starts.

I hope to get some basic sequencing on all the songs done, in case I want to overdub real drums to the sequence as an option. I'll probably start delving into it deeper in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the replies-
Jw

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