what's going on at acetone studio?

Right now at work on a new collection of Dub tracks to be titled 'Every Spoil a Dub'. Currently 8 tracks in progress with working titles which will surely change, as day follows night all too swiftly, as follows:

Goodness Dub
Dub Invader
Fast Dub
Heavy Dub (yu can hear this in completed song version here):
Troy Davis Innocence Matters Dub
Long Bassline (informative title, isn't it?)
New Dub (the first of the bunch)
Raggedy Ass Dub (intriguing, no?)
Progression Dub

I have been very fortunate to be able to buy a few new studio toys in recent months to augment the Dub experiments begun on Eating Betty In Dub and Reverbalism - jus a few likka cheap ting yunno?

Top of the list is the Fostex 3180 Reverb unit. A reasonably priced piece (ebay) of early 80s gear to approximate the lush sound of a Fisher or similar 70s make. Well, it's really all about how you use it and...coupled with a variable hi-pass filter it seems to go to just about where I want to get the sound. Always struggling for a good Tubby's sound space...you can hear it on the Innocence Matters track. I'm sure I can do better than this - but you must admit, this is a good track.

Behringer Xenyx 1002FX mixer: I bought it because I thought I might need it for a Dub workshop think I did in Gothenburg in Sweden. It's a tiny thing, no great burden in the luggage and as it turned out I didn't need it for the Swedish gig but I have subsequently found it very useful for getting sound in from more than one source or doing some simple EQ. Drawbacks - it gets really hot, so something will burn out some time. No on/off switch. Many rag on Behringer for their cheap shit, but I say - I can't afford the expensive shit. And considering the fact that most people have ears of cloth, the quibbles are often vanity driven admixtures of pseudo audio science and umbridge at the fact that they paid at least twice as much for basically the same box of components. Behringer are knockoff artists for people on my kind of budget...and cheap bastards...

Behringer condenser mics: I don't know what to make of these yet. It is better to have three microphones than one. My trusty Shure SM57 has served me well for more years than the price does justice to the manufacturer. Thanks Shure. I doubt I'll be thanking Behringer for these weak sounding mics in 14 yrs time. I'll get back to you on that.

Digitech Synth Wah: Not sure what to make of this yet. Very difficult to control. The sample settings in the little booklet that I will surely lose seem to work sort of OK, but when I got it first and just played around with it everything was pure shit. Yes. Pure. Maybe I need to get a real outboard envelope filter. i thought this would get me by to do some little gtr solo bits - and it probably will, but with more difficulty than I thought. It is a strange effect. I can get more manageable envelope filtering in software, but I want that really played, really soloed with the effect on feel, as I'm going for a more hugely analogue sound and feel for the new dubs. Hell. I'm playing most of the music rather than sequencing - back to di roots...

Classical Guitar: (a cheap one) for color and rhythm and sugar and spice. A little rounding of the harsh corners of otherwise all electric/electronic music. No steel string acoustics please!

I won't do an equipment list because it's not that kind of blog. I have what I can use to do what I need to do. When I need something else I try to find a way to afford it. I am not into synths. No space for such unrequited gear lust.

However, sometimes people throw things away. i won't details the computers but I did get a very useful Line 6 Flextone II amp from the street in my neighbourhood.

All the rest is innate talent, playing ability, composition and engineering...you decide