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The Weeknd - Star Boy Album Review

Abel Tesfaye? What has gone wrong? It is clear from his latest album release ‘starboy’ that he is starting to lose that unique edge his fans have loved him for from the very beginning 2011 album ‘House of Balloons’. As the fan base increases so does the generalised pop feel integrated into the songs, disappointing for day 1 fans who thought they knew Abel from his deep, sexual and personal previous albums. The album lacks energy and depth and seemed more a label push to reach pop star status.Although after a few listens to the album some songs do start to grow on me ‘sidewalks feat Kendrick lamar’ and ‘all I know feat Future’ welcoming very talented artists into the songs. Overall it is a nice album to listen to with some catchy songs but didn’t give me the ‘wow’ I was expecting from Abel.

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Distressor.... Whats all the stress about

If you happen to be a member of the Slate Digital Facebook group highly likely you would have come across several posts and discussion about the highly anticipated FG STRESS plugin. Having read several posts and arguments on this upcoming plugin I decided to make use of a hardware version available in the Neve studio in Futurework to see what the hype was about. Taking a drum bus stem from a trap record I was working on that somewhat lacked punch I sent the drum bus to the distressor in order to add some energy into the mix. Using a setting of 6.1 ratio and getting -10db reduction I blended the signal back into the mix and I was quite surprised at the result. the mix suddenly came alive the drums had extra width and punch that was lacking. Using the HP function enable the kick to still come through whilst the snare was angry and in your face. I must say I am really excited to purchase this plugin if it lives up to the hardware it will be a to go plugin for my drum bus and even my whole mix bus.

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Magic Mic :P

I have had the pleasure of working with many microphones but the Telefunken Eelam 51 has to be the most captivating and mesmerising of them all. Costing roughly £10000 the Elam 51 definitely lives up to the pricing. Being an engineer/ producer that works that works predominantly in the box one issues i come across a lot when mixing down is the inability of the vocals to cut through the mix. Although there are several methods of achieving this it can be frustrating and time consuming. The Elam 251 achieves this in an incredible way. Coupled with the right pre amp it simply adds a sort of harmonics that enables recorded vocals to cuts through a dense record. I found that allowing it to warm up over a period of time achieves the best result. Also running it through a series of different preamp configuration enables the addition of colouration and desired tone. Whilst £10000 is quite a high price to pay for a microphone in today's age I am looking forward to trying out slate digitals microphone modelling setup and compare it to the original.

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New Tune from Protoje

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Compression can be one of the hardest tools to understand in audio engineering. Once you think you have figured it out a whole new world appears.

Here is a playlist of great tutorials to help on the subject.

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Reggae Revival ~ Chronixx

The reggae revival has become a statement that has associated with the young artist Chronixx since the release of his Dread and Terrible Ep. The emergence of Chronixx a young artist many are comparing to a young "tuff gong” is both encouraging and signals exciting times ahead in the genre. With several hits and billboards spots in his pocket he has gained himself a rightful spot as the leader of the revival. It seems his message of peace love and righteousness coupled with his care free attitude and humanitarianism  transcends all races and cultures just as that of Bob Marley in a time the world needs it. Although he wasn't nominated for a Grammy his Dread and Terrible project has been well received by pioneer reggae DJ David Rodigans and constantly has a spot on the BBC1 Extra playlist. The relationship between him and his peers is also encouraging signalling a time of great artistic collaboration. 2017 promises a release of a new album a much anticipated project

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HERE IS A LITTLE INSIGHT INTO MY WORLD

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In the neve studio working with some outboard gear

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Recording session for Liam Sulivans EP

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PUN INTENDEND 

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“I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up in the morning & see the light.”

Miles Davis

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THE NUMBER ONE REVERB PLUGIN

The VSC is the Slate Digital answer to reverb. A common problem when using reverb in a mix is trying to find the appropriate reverb for the job in terms of functionality and tone. The reverb collection is a perfect way to counter this. With 7 classic reverb units sampled this is a plugin that just keeps giving. Quite easy to navigate with presets to get you going having classic reverbs used on countless hit records at your finger print is exciting. I tested the lexicon module on a vocal channel using a long Predelay of about 250 and the result was mesmerising. Warm lush and encompassing the reverb has a nice tail the emphasis the airiness of the raspy vocals I was processing. There is also several impulse responses in the plugin with an opportunity to import ones on impulse response library meaning you can effectively take your vocals from your bedroom to the Taj Mahal. What a time to be alive.