Tour without bringing your own gear!... sort of

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to perform at the CMJ Music Marathon in NYC...  The only problem was that I didn't find out my band The Sour Notes were officially selected until the previous week, meaning the band would have to jump on a plane last minute and travel across the country for a 'one off' show without our gear.  The venue we were playing did have a minimal backline, though not accommodating (speaker cabinets without 'heads')... so, since we couldn't make a tour out of it and drive our gear up there in the van, we had to come up with an alternative to 'checking in' our precious tube amps at the airport.  Luckily, Electro Harmonix has a nifty line of portable guitar amplification that fits in your carry-on bag called the 22-Caliber & the 44-Magnum, which my band-mate Chris and I both used instead of our amps.  We plugged them straight into 4-10 cabs at the venue and were amazed at how great they sounded.  The 22-Caliber & 44-Magnum power amps are easy to use, having just a volume knob and a bright/normal switch that gives you two tone options.  In my opinion, these little boxes of magic sound just as real as a guitar amplifier and can even 'break up' a little when dialed right.  So, if you're already a minimalist pack-er and want to travel even light-er, look into renting the EHX 22-Caliber & 44-Magnum power amp magic boxes from us at Rock N Roll Rentals!!!  They, like us...  are show-savers!!!

by Jared Paul Boulanger

Royer's R-101 Budget Ribbon Studio Mic: An Intro to Royer

Any gear head will tell you that despite the amount of upkeep and special attention they require, ribbon microphones can produce a tone that can not be matched by any small, medium, or large diaphragm condenser, and therefore are worth their minty price tag. The richness and stability of the tone, as well as the ability to withstand outrageous SPL's makes the ribbon mic a must have. Drum overheads, electric guitar amps, and brass instruments are probably the most common applications, but when put in breathing proximity to an acoustic guitar or vocals - a characteristic 'vintage' sound reminiscent of the RCA heydays is produced.

Royer Labs, creators of the studio-staple R-121, have released a ribbon mic at a price almost $500 less than  the 121, making it their most affordable mic. Despite the lower list price -  their infamous 'offset-ribbon transducer' patent was still able to make its appearance in the R-101. Unlike the Californian sister mics of the R-101, the capsule is manufactured overseas (surprise!). However, this does not at all discount the capability of this mics performance.

I was able to try the R-101 earlier this month at Werd Recording Suite to record a piece for the bassoon entitled "Sonata" by Johann Friedrich Fasch, only it was played on a saxophone.

The heavyset mic is set - front side toward the bell for the 'less bright' tone. 

Breathe in, press record, monitor carefully, press stop, exhale. 

Not surprising, that ribbon tone in through my 80's-era Studiomaster pre's and out through a pair of Adam A7s displayed a tone that warmed my blood and almost stopped my heart - almost.

The presence of the saxophone's reedy resonance showed characteristic of a Royer mic, but there was something different - a darker tone. Personally speaking, it was not the best tone for this application. Perhaps the back of the mic would have sufficed.

Overall I was satisfied, but not thrilled about this mic, but for the price - it would be hard to say no to add the R-101 to your mic collection. 

Check it out for yourself at Rock N Roll Rentals for $24 weekly or $48 monthly!

As an added bonus, a clip of the recording:

Written by Audio Engineer/Producer Ali Ramzanali

Boss PS-6 Harmonist Stomp Box

Boss PS-6 Harmonist

By Oscar Reyna

As Boss likes to do, they have taken one of there older pedals and updated it. In this case they have taken the PS-5 Super Shifter and tweaked it a little. The result is the PS-6 which is somewhat of a multi-effects pedal that allows you to harmonize, pitch shift, detune, and super bend. This pedal allows you to do 3 voice guitar harmonies with the option select the key. A variety of intelligent pitch shift modes recall the Digitech Whammy pedal. Boss’s new technology, the Super Bend, lets you make up to four octaves of pitch bending by stepping on the pedal as if you were engaging it, which is also a feature of the Digitech Whammy pedal. You can also control pitch with the use of an optional expression pedal. The detune function is capable of creating a lush chorus sound without sounding totally cheesy. The PS-6 is a great and versatile pedal for the price (about $189 street price) all in one small stomp box. Guitarists who are fans of the Whammy pedal and bands like Radiohead, Failure, and locally Exeter will definitely want to pick this up.

The BOSS Harmonist is available for rental and sale at Rock n Roll Rentals

"You got any a dem Nooomans?"

The answer is 'Yes', we have a wide variety of Neumann Microphones available for rent at our warehouse.  Neumann is an industry standard for high quality studio mics from Germany.  I recently took home a pair of Neumann TLM 102 cardioid mics to try them out while recording a string quartet on a song for my band The Sour Notes.  I set up the pair of TLM 102's in an X-Y configuration in the middle of the string quartet who were arranged in a 'half-moon' shape about 4 feet away.  I was immediately surprised how well the TLM 102's captured the sharpness of the violins without sounding too-bright, which many large diaphragm mics tend to do.  The mic's are a little 'hot' and on the mid-range-y side, but after some minor adjustments with seating the string quartet, like moving the cello furthest away, I was able to get a nice blend of high, mid and low end from them.  The mic's really made recording that day a breeze and with the right stereo panning you can get them to sit nicely in the mix with plenty of room to breathe.  I'd recommend these mics to anyone recording strings, acoustic guitar, hand-percussion, tamborines, etc...  To my ears, they seem to work well with the types of sounds you would want a little dark while retaining it's clarity.

-Reviewed by Jared Paul Boulanger

Popular Gear So Far 2010

Most Popular Rental Items So Far 2010

PA/Live Sound 

 

Yorkville E10P:  DJs and bands alike love this compact powerhouse.  Amazing lows from a 10" speaker and clear highs.  For bigger gigs add a sub or 2 and you're set.

Yorkville LS2100P: A 21" Sub! w/ 2100 watt power amp.  It will shake the bottles off the shelves.

                          Instruments

Korg SV1:  Great Feel.  Great Sounds. Great Layout.  Sounds and feel on par with the Nord Electro, but its the layout that sets it apart.  You feel like you are in the cockpit as you turn the knobs and hit the buttons.  (And it has a tube.)

Amplifiers

Ampeg BA300/115: Thanks to Jaylinn from the Boxing Lesson for telling us to get these.  We can't keep them in stock.

Motion Sound PRO145:  Thanks Ken Tondre from the Compound for hipping us to this Rotory Speaker with regular 1/4" input.

VOX Night Train:  All tube 15watt head with Triod mode (7.5 watts.)  Couple with the 12" Celestian Greenback and you're set.

 

   Film / ENG / RTF

Zoom H4N: With great stereo mics and an additional 2 XLR ins, this recorder has been the in demand field recorder for video and bands.

TASCAM DR-680:  Tascam is making Pro gear again!  For serious field recording.

Canon7D: DSLR camera that has become popular for its HD video.

                    Recording Gear

Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5012: Everyone who uses this Pre amp with the Silk engaged comes back for more.

Apogee Duet: Apogee conversion in a compact interface.  Perfect for home project studios (if you are using a Mac.)

 

Microphones  

 Peluso 2247LE: It sounds like a vintage U47! w/ NOS Telefunkin tube.  

Shure KSM313: Shure bought Crowley and Tripp for their Roswellite ribbon technology.  High SPL and open ribbon sound.

Portico II vs. The Other Guy

I knew going into it, that having the opportunity to try out the Portico II for my home recording project would leave me regretful I could only use it for a few days, on a few instruments...

I own a far less-expensive Mic Pre at home that I decided to compare the Portico II against while recording bass guitar with similar knob settings on each unit to get an idea of what the difference  in quality would be.  First of all, if you're recording bass guitar, you might find the Portico II to be the ideal choice, because of it's additional EQ and Compressor Settings, which in my opinion sounded amazing direct input or from the mic'd bass amp.  Compared to my own Mic Pre Amp, which did not have these additional features, the initial sounds I got from the Portico II were simply wider and more well-rounded before I even hit the 'Silk' Button, which added a little extra uniqueness to it.  All in all, the Portico II is a great '3-in-1' component that would most like satisfy any home or studio recording set-up on a variety of instruments.  If you can afford to spend the extra money to rent one of these, it'd definitely kick your recording up a few notches.

-Reviewed by Jared Paul Boulanger

F.M.R. A.R.C. ; Articulation, Resonance and Clarity

FMR ARC

This is a great unit for getting clean sustain at high volumes. I used it last night at the Broken Spoke here in Austin TX. The rig is a 69' Telecaster through an early 70's Vibrolux. The fidelity was great for a live show. Don't know how it would be for recording but FMR makes great studio gear already, the R.N.C and R.N.P to name a few. The A.R.C. is FMR's first foray into the world of stomp boxes and it rules. You can get the sustain without the crunching that happens with other stomp box compressors. Easy to adjust on the fly because of the big knobs. This is really cool if you're playing through a loud, powerful amp in a small venue. Great stuff. 

-Reviewed by Gary Newcomb
after playing at the Spoke w/ Dickie Lee Erwin 07/13/2010

Universal Audio 1176LN Leveling Amplifier

In a recent mixing session I had a vocal track recorded through a Shure green bullet mic live. Inherently, the mic had a great over-driven sound but also picked up a lot of ambient drums and guitar. I used UA's 1176LN to compress the track. I used a 12:1 ratio and right away could hear the vocals more in the foreground of the track and substantially decreased the ambient noise. Just what I wanted. The compression was very smooth and didn't really suck the tone out. I highly recommend this unit for bringing up weak or over-driven signals to tape or in the mix.

reviewed by Matt Puryear.

Unit available for Rent or Sale at Rock n Roll Rentals

VOX Night Train

The Vox Night Train is a 15 watt tube "Microstackish" guitar amp. It has two switchable amp modes which deliver all 15 watts or can be cut to roughly 7 watts. I took this amp to a backyard jam with a few buddies. It simply rocks. It has a light but solid construction (Easy to carry via included head tote). Pretty bare bones, no reverb, single channel. Its kind of a screamer and on the pentode(15watt) setting, it had no problem keeping with a neighboring 80watt traynor. Quick attack. A lot of presence and very guttural. It had a very classic but unique tone. The gain and master controls are quite responsive giving you the ability to shape the drive as needed. I used the triode (7watt) setting when I was recording a tune. In this mode the tube power is "relaxed" but lets you crank the amp while maintaining clarity. Perfect for indoor low volume settings. The Night Train has a lot to offer aside from just its portability. Its truly a great jam amp very capable of achieving recording quality sounds. Rent one. Now.
Reviewed by Rene

MA-101fet Condenser Mics

The MA-101Fet from Mojave Audio is a small diaphragm, solid state condenser mic that comes with interchangeable omni and dynamic capsules. They were designed by David Royer, renowned for his Royer Ribbon mics.  I got to try out a pair of these one weekend to road test them. Now I have only a modest set up consisting of a Tascam 8ch. USB interface, a Dell, and a couple of run of the mill mics. I used the 101's on everything I did as I was writing a song but only with the dynamic capsules (my room is a perfect square). On electric guitar, I set one about three feet back from the grill and off axis from the cone. The mic delivered a smooth response that was very easy on the ears as it is designed for use in high SPL sources. Acoustic was no exception. One on the bridge and one on the octave gave me a nice accurate blend with good color. Surprisingly sweet low end. For kicks I used one for vocals as I was scratching out ideas and I did not want to put it down. It was amazing how smoothly the mic captured my otherwise kinda harsh vocal timbre. Smoked my NT-1 (unfair comparison). I did not get to use them on my drum kit though that would've been an ideal testing ground. That's where you come in, so come rent them. :)
reviewed by Rene

Korg's Kaossilator Pro

The Kaosilator Pro by Korg is the grand daddy to the Mini Kaosillator.  This synth is a good resource for sound effects to fill out a song or make it more interesting.  The Kaossilator is a good option for someone who needs synthesizer sounds but does not necessarily want to lug around a full blown keyboard setup or hire a keyboard player.  Although the Kaossilator Pro does not have as many controls as most synthesizers, it utilizes a touch pad with an x and y axis that is manipulated with with your finger.  The sound generated will depend on your hand's placement within the x and y axis.  The Kaossilator Pro also offers a little of the more popular effects and vocoding that are available in the Kaoss Pad 3, but if you're mainly after effects, I would recommend getting the Kaoss Pad 3, because you will feel dissapointed if you were mainly after vocoding and effects when getting the Kaossilator, the Kaossilator is prodominately a synth.  Besides these functions, the Kaossilator Pro also features a 4 track loop sequencer.  The sequencer is easy to use, and once you know where the buttons are, is so easy that you don't even need to look at the module. There is a tap tempo which can slow down or speed up a synth part once it has been recorded. The Kaossilator Pro is a good place to go to when you've finished a song and need a couple extra sound effects to spice things up, or even as a good starting place for writing a song.

(reviewed by Dylan) 


Available at rock n roll rentals for rental or sale!

Adam A7 studio monitor customer Review

Adrian Benavides was the first to rent our new Adam studio monitors.  Here is what he thought ...

 

"The A7s sound great! I'm using them as a second set next to my JBL LSR 2325Ps and KRK10s sub. They fill in the blanks and compliment the JBLs nicely in my room. Very upfront and great for hearing what low mids and mids are doing since my JBLs seem to scoop these just a bit being 5" speakers. The A7s are a good test for vocal placement and checking if the kick thumps enough without a sub : )"

 

We got blogged! Rental Pros!

Last week, Jason Bliley from DirectProAudio.com stopped in to exchange ideas and see how we do rentals in Austin Texas. He wrote a blog entry on his visit, read it here.

Direct Pro Audio is a nation-wide leader in internet music retail, and after meeting Jason, I can see why. They approach their business in an open-minded and fresh way. If you don't live in Texas, I would recommend buying on line from these guys.

He offered to give us any advice on installs as they are well established in that field as well. We wish their rental division, Omaha Audio Rentals, the best of luck in expanding their rental program.

Rock n Roll Rentals started our rental program modeled after the great Jack Long's rental program used at the Long & McQuade music stores in Canada. The basic idea is to make it so affordable that it makes sense to rent it, especially on monthly rentals. We use Yorkville equipment (Jack Long's company) as the backbone of our rental inventory. Their 2 year "even if you break it" warranty is the best in the business. They also manufacture great instrument amps (keyboard, guitar and bass) under the name Traynor amps (named after Pete Traynor who designed amps for Jack.) In Rock n Roll Rentals' formative years, Yorkville provided great support to Jim Norman as he expanded Rock n Roll Rentals in the recession of the early '80's. There are not many other businesses in the USA that rents music or AV equipment as affordable. One notable exception is the Doo Wop Shop in Kentucky, so if you are ever in Kentucky, look them up.

Api 500 series

I brought one of these home a few weeks back. Hearing for years about how great the eq and pre's were, I was exited to hear what everyone was talking about. Part of me wanted to think it was over priced hype. Within minutes, I was trying to imagine how I could buy one. You know, like what could I sell and do I really need a car or a kidney..etc.
Even at full gain the mic pre's were super quiet and sounded great. I'm kind of a compression junkie and I got a great fix. Its the most transparent sounding compressor I've heard. Not at all "effecty" - even at full squish.
Api eq is legendary. Its easy to see why. I found myself reamping older tracks like kick drums and vocals just to get some of that sugar. Really amazing stuff, so musical.
In the end, its so inexpensive to rent that its really ideal for any recording project. Its so portable too. I'm sold. Anybody need a third kidney?
Gary

available for rental @ Rock n Roll Rentals (only in Austin, TX!)