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Make any song more cinematic and epic with Hans Zimmer's Symphonic Elements. 🎬🎻 @pluginalley

#ujaminstruments #vstplugins #musicproduction

The most time-consuming part of mixing isn’t mixing.�It’s setup.
Import. Color-code. Route. Strip silence. Repeat.
Forte handles it automatically — seamlessly — even across multiple sessions.
While it effortlessly builds sessions and exports in the background…�I’m casually grabbing coffee.
If you’re still manually doing this every single time, you’re quietly losing hours.
Get instant access to a free trial + 30% off Forte.�Link in bio. 🚀

@pluginally shares a thoughtful take on the X1 headphones…

🎧 …Reflecting on the build, the sound, and what makes these headphones feel more like tools than consumer gear.

📺 Full review on Plugin Alley’s YouTube channel.

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#olloaudio #x1headphones #studioheadphones #proaudio #audiogear

Putting a little something together and using some EQs not everyone knows about @masteringthemix BASSROOM and MIXROOM are simple Mastering EQs that pair nicely with @thehouseofkush newest Clariphonic MKIII. Some unique EQ shaping with @icebergaudio sub cut @soundradix surfer EQ, DDMF’s directional EQ and @scalermusic Scaler EQ. @toneempireplugins RESQ is low key goated, 1db boosts can do soooo much. @d16group Pulsatec I think has become my new go-to PulTec style EQ on my drum bus, it has so much punch. Lastly a hidden gem I almost didn’t want to share but Crave DSP’s Transient EQ is a secret weapon for drum transient shaping.

The Quad Eight MM-310 Channel Strip EQ has a legacy most people don’t even realize shaped the sound of modern music.

Before SSLs and Neves consoles ruled studios, there was Quad Eight Electronics quietly building consoles for film scores, records, and broadcast studios.

The sound of modern recording consoles the warmth, the punch, the workflow all of it started with Quad Eight Electronics and their predecessor, Electrodyne!

I was blown away by @mixwave D.W. Fearn VT-7 compressor… but this Quad Eight MM-310?

It’s built with the same 5-star-Michelin-level DSP magic under the hood.

I don’t know what kind of sorcery they’re doing at Mixwave, but when I can crank every frequency on a digital EQ to 100% and it still sounds good… that’s just dumb.

Dumb… AND insanely useful when you’re mixing, knowing you’ve got headroom to keep pushing without hitting some B.S. digital wall, which is one reason analog EQs rule.

Fucking love this thing, great work
@mixwave team!

This @hughesandkettner Triamp MK II is responsible for some of my greatest musical memories.

It all started one freezing morning back in 2001.

A kid at school brought a CD player to class and said he had a band I had to hear.

Within five seconds of pressing play… I was hooked.

The song was “Lost Symphonies” by @saosinofficial and that intro blew my freaking mind.

Post-hardcore energy mixed with metal drums.

I became obsessed.

Fast-forward to Winter 2005 a bunch of friends and I went to the first Taste of Chaos Tour with Converge, Underoath, A Static Lullaby, Senses Fail, My Chemical Romance, The Used… and of course, Saosin.

That night, one thing stood out on stage during Saosin’s set an amp glowing with bright blue lights in the darkness of the arena.

See back then, every guitarist in big bands seemed to play either Mesa Boogie or Orange Amps… so this was different and I made a mental note to find out what that blue amp was.

Turns out, it was a Hughes & Kettner Triamp MK II.

And when I saw the price tag… welp my jaw feel to the floor 😅.

Years later, life came full circle.

My life in music production landed my a gig working with Beau Burchell the founder and guitarist of Saosin!

One of the first times we hung out we got to talking about amps and I briefly mentioned how cool the Hughes & Kettner amp at the bottom of his stack of amps was.

He told me, “That’s the tone of the first Saosin LP.”

Which I knew I knew, but at the moment made me want that amp even more.

A few years later, I finally found one on Craigslist for a total no-brainer deal.

Hours later, it was sitting in my apartment… that same glowing blue light filling the room.

Aside from the nostalgia reasons of wanting to have one of these amps it also sounds record-ready.

Punchy. Clear. Creamy.

Every time I walk into my studio and see that amp, it takes me straight back to being that kid in 2001 wide-eyed, freezing, and my life being completely changed by discovering a new band.

Today’s another day of chasing amp tones and overdrive pedal combos…

…but this time, I’m using my prized @balaguerguitars BB Thicket.

Back in 2017, when I first landed in L.A. to start making records with my mentor Beau Burchell,

I had sold everything to make the move happen.

No guitar.

No interface.

Nothing.

A few weeks later, Beau hit me with a bonus check and the first thing I asked was if he could hook me up with one of his signature BB Thickets.

He connected me with Balaguer, and about nine months later my first custom guitar showed up.

It sounded insane.

To this day, every time I plug it in…

I’m right back in that first L.A. year.

The grind, the long nights, the cheap takeout, the pure excitement of finally feeling like I had made it in music.

The Thicket still sounds thick as hell (no pun intended) and the @fishmanmusic Fluence pickups and @evertune Bridge make this guitar a complete beast for recording guitars.

Can’t wait to track with it on my new EP next year.

Gear in picture:
Guitar: @balaguerguitars BB Thicket with @evertune Bridge & @fishmanmusic Fluence Pickups
Amp 1: @evhgear EVH 5150
Amp 2: @mesaengineering Triple Crown
Amp 3: @hughesandkettner TriAmp MkII
Amp 4 : @riveraamps Knucklehead Reverb
Headphones1 : @olloaudio S5X
Headphones 2: @olloaudio S4R

Today’s been all about overdrive + amp combo shootouts and building recall presets for later.

To speed things up, I ran the amp through a Suhr Reactive Load straight into my DAW using Cabinetron from Three Body Technology for the cab sim.

Front end:

Guitar → Input on Sentry Noise Gate Send out → od pedals → back into the Sentry return and output → amp input.

I’ve tried a ton of noise gates over the years for my money, the Sentry still wins.

Best gate for this particular setup imho, hands down.

Normally, all this lives inside my KHE Amp Switcher, but I’m mid-rewire chaos right now (so it is a huge mess 😅).

Those Harley Quinn and Bane OD pedals are custom builds from years back. At one point I had ideas to get a custom Mr. Freeze, Joker, and Mad Hatter for fun.

Gear in picture:
Guitar: @schecterguitarsofficial Mach 7
Gate: @tcelectronic Sentry Noise Gate
Harley Quinn & Bane Custom Overdrives: @spookyvibesfx
Demonic Overdrive: @spookyvibesfx Night Terror
Blue Pedal: @peperspedals Dirty Tree
Vintage Pre-Drive: @tcelectronic VPD1
Desk: @sessiondesk Gustav 2

Nearly 20 years ago, I set out to figure out one thing.

How to make records that actually sounded professional.

I built studios…

tore them down…

sold all my gear…

moved states…

started from scratch more times then I would’ve liked.

And after this latest move.

I’m finally back to losing hours in the studio every day.

Walking in each morning gives me a jolt of excitement.

I get inspired to make better videos.

Better music.

Better everything.

It’s been almost two decades…

But every time I flip the lights on, it still feels like the first night I plugged in a guitar and opened Pro Tools for the first time.

Only difference?

Now my setup’s now as it just as good as the studios I used to dream about recording in. 💪

Some of my favorite gear 👇

@olloaudio X1

Been an Ollo Audio fanboy for 5 years — since the S4Rs.

Tried everything else… nothing comes close.

Their Flat. Accurate. and Fun.

The X1s are my daily headphones in the studio and when I travel.

@rocksolidaudioengland MICRO 4K

Smallest piece of gear in the studio… but crazy powerful.

It’s basically my Swiss Army knife for plugin and midi control.

@crangesongltd AVOCET II

Got this from my mentor @beauburchell 

I used to see it in every pro studio and dreamed about owning one.

Beau hit me with a ridiculous homie discount and I jumped on it.

Now it’s my one of my most prized pieces of gear.

@audioscapeaudio OPTO COMP

There are a lot of companies that say “they make the best clones.”

But I feel like Audioscape make the most fun ones.

You can slam this thing and it still glues things in a really musical way.

T.C. ELECTRONIC M-ONE

Sits between the Opto Comp and the Avocet II as a rack spacer.

Looks cool.

Never touch it. 😂

Been chipping away at a new session called Night Terror.

A demo for my buddy’s Night Terror pedal from @spookyvibesfx … and testing another amp sim on top.

Halfway through the mix, I decided to swap my drum kit…

Dropped in the Progressive Prodigy Kit from @rsdrumsofficial

Loaded up @chris.bedan Swarm Hill preset…

Didn’t tweak a single thing.

And it sat right in.

Big, cinematic, chaotic in the best way possible, just perfect for this orchestral metalcore hybrid madness.

Huge props to @jakobtopfloor , @simensandnesdrums , and the @rsdrumsofficial team.

They built a monster.

Back at Plugin Alley HQ after a few weeks away. Time to tidy up some scripts and sessions. 😎