PotLuck Con 2014 Highlights

A few highlights from the PotLuck Conference.

Last week we had a great Recording Boot Camp in Los Angeles. We had students from the U.S., Australia and Iceland. The next Six Day Recording Boot Camp in LA is October 20-25. It’s about half full so contact us if you would like to attend.

Right before the Boot Camp I was at the PotLuck Audio Conference. This was my first time going to the conference and I loved it. I definitely want to go again next year. The coolest thing about PotLuck is “the hang.”  It is a really laid back experience and with everyone staying at this beautiful resort in Arizona, it is really easy to meet and grab a beer with many of the great recording engineers and gear designers also hanging out, in addition to all the other folks that share your passion for recording. If you are thinking of going next year, I strongly recommended it. I am even toying with the idea of doing a Recording Boot Camp booth next year.

I spoke on a panel with a great crew: MATT ROSS SPANG (head engineer at legendary Sun Studio), MICHAEL ROMANOWSKI (Owner of Coast Recorders), BRAD SMALLING (Evergroove Studios) and PETE WEISS (Verdant Studio). And I was also part of a round table interview with several great engineers including ANDREW SCHEPS (Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, Green Day and U2), VANCE POWELL (Jack White, Kings of Leon, Martina McBride, Beck)  and FAB DUPONT (Jennifer Lopez, Les Nubian, Toots and the Maytals).

A couple of the gear highlights were the announcement of a new fet (i.e. not tube) mic from Pearlman Microphones using the same handmade capsule as his flagship TM-1. I have not tried it and do not know the street price, but I am excited about it. The Pearlman TM-1 is one of our most important mics at the studio, so I am hoping the new mics bring some of that great sound at a price point more people can afford.

One of the other highlights was a new 500 series DIY project called “Colour” ($114.95 un-built) from DIYRE- DIY Recording Equipment. You build the module and then build 3 more tiny sub-modules  that fit into the Colour module (about $25-$50 each un-built). The main module has only input and output controls and on/off selectors for each of the Palettes.  Each Palette adds some unique sound or “color”, like tape emulation, tube drive, etc. You cannot adjust any Palette parameters from the front panel, but most can be tweaked from the inside. Each Palette is turned off independently and all 3 can be run in series.

I just got some clarification from the designer of the Colour system: “Just a quick note: the correct terminology is “Colour” for the format as a whole, “Palette” for the 500-series host, and “Colours” for the individual modules. Not the least confusing thing in the world, I know!”

I just got a correction from the designer of the Colour system: “Just a quick note: the correct terminology is “Colour” for the format

as a whole, “Palette” for the 500-series host, and “Colours” for the

individual modules. Not the least confusing thing in the world, I

know!”

One really exciting thing about the Palettes is that third parties are starting to design Palettes for the Colour module. I was really interested in two new designs from Louder Than Liftoff: a slap delay and a super tiny 1176 clone!! A 1176 that is about the size of your thumb. Like all the others, you cannot control it from the front panel, so that makes it a bit limiting (no pun intended) but at $129 built, you cannot really complain since a real 1176 will run you about $2,000.

The View from Potluck Conference