We thought it would be cool to showcase some gear that our Bandzoogle Support team has been using lately.
Rickenbacker 4003
I have tracked everything live, and I have tried to avoid using MIDI whenever possible. It’s helped me to get into a creative flow and add more originality and character to my recordings.
The Rickenbacker 4003 has changed the way I approach and play the bass. The lacquered neck of the rosewood bass has a punch, clarity, and ease of play that I have never experienced with my Fender Precision and Jazz basses. The high frets are also easily accessible, which has inspired me to write lines that I have never written before. It’s a bonus that the guitar looks awesome.
Strymon El Capitan
Luis is an accomplished drummer who recently added the Strymon drape Echo El Capitan to his studio. Strymon has reinvented the pedal game with this pedal. It sounds amazing on everything.
It can give your guitar sound and drum samples a vintage-classic vibe when combined with the Korg Minilogue, a favorite in the “office.”
Focusrite 2i2 and DanElectro Overdrive
Hailey recently set up her home studio to work on her Doom Metal Album. Focusrite’s sound card is an affordable workhorse that works with virtually any DAW and sounds fantastic.
You can track two versions of the same take with two inputs. Use one input for the DI signal from your guitar and the other to soak it in overdrive. This gives you more flexibility to find the perfect tone.
Adam Audio T5V 5-inch monitors
Adam, a true expert in synths and audio on stage and in the studio, recently added Adam Audio 5″ speakers to his remote oasis studio. The speakers are sleek and add a touch of class to any studio set-up. They sound fantastic.
You can connect your speakers to a subwoofer if you want to feel the bass. Adam did this.
Native Instruments Room
I thought it might be useful to mention a few plugins that have been a part of almost all the sessions I’ve worked in over the past year and a quarter. Native Instruments’ Raum reverb is the first plugin I want to mention. This reverb is so simple and beautiful. I have no idea what it’s all about.
Native Instruments always seems to give away free plugins around Black Friday and the Christmas season, so keep your eyes peeled!
RC-20 by XLN Audio
RC-20 Retro Color is another plugin I have used for everything from drums and vocals to guitars, as well as crowd noise. Golden Vessel first introduced this plugin to me in a YouTube tutorial for one of his tracks. This plugin is the coolest I’ve played with.
If I need a bit of inspiration, I plug my Strat directly into my soundcard and load the RC-20. I then just noodle. The unique sounds are my favorite. I always find something to spark an idea.
We’re excited to bring these new instruments, songs, and sounds to life in a live setting as the world slowly opens up and musicians return to the stage. It’s great to improve your skills, learn new sounds, and reinvent yourself, but nothing compares to the experience of performing live.
