SOFTWARE

• Reaper - Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

  • Cockos Reaper is my favorite DAW, by far. I started with ProTools and did well enough, tested a few other products and landed on Reaper with no intention to change. Reaper is extremely affordable and fun to use… Additionally, there are TONS of resources available to better learn the program, and the stock plugins are of a surprising quality and are light on the CPU. 

  • The stock ReaPlugs (Reaper) and JS (JesuSonic) plugins are great for preliminary mixing and even translate well in the final mix

• Third Party VST/VSTi Plugins:

  • iZotope Music Production Suite

  • Superior Drummer 3 (w Midi Drum Kit)

  • Valhalla Reverbs

  • IK Multimedia Total Studio 2

  • GG Audio Blue3 Organ

  • Soundtoys EchoBoy & EchoBoy Jr.

  • A handful of products by Waves 

    • Down the line, I will acquire plugins by FabFilter and Soundtoys to incorporate on the next album

•  Non-Audio Software: 

  • Affinity Designer / Photo / Publisher 

    • I cannot say it enough... I despise subscription based software. Adobe does a great job of convincing most people that you can't live without it, but they couldn't be more wrong. Affinity by Serif offers the same (if not better) features than Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop at an extremely fair price (wait for one of their sales). Affinity also sells workbooks and provides a ton of tutorials directly on their website. Cancel your subscription and check them out! 

HARDWARE

• Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD Audio Interface

  • Apollo Twin USB (my preferred audio interface; will acquire in the future)

• HP EliteDesk Tiny 705-G1 Computer 

• JBL 305P MKII Studio Monitors with VideoSecu Speaker Stands, and small Bose speakers for additional reference

• AKG K701 Closed Back Headphones

• Monoprice 8323 Closed Back Headphones (unbelievable bang for the buck)

• Samson SR850 Open Back Headphones

• Shure SM7B Microphones

• CL-2 Cloudlifter (For SM7Bs)

• Shure Beta 58A 

• Shure SM57 Dynamic Microphones 

• Audio Technica AT2035 Condenser Microphone

• Steadman XL Pop Filter 

• Zoom H5 

• Homemade vocal/isolation booth (custom cut 1-inch PVC tightly wrapped with layers of moving blankets – 3.5ft x 3.5ft x 7ft) with a large Marantz Vocal Sound Shield inside for additional isolation

  • Here's a link to view a similar DIY isolation booth (the one I made is double wrapped with the top covered)

• Yamaha S08 Keyboard

• Alesis Vi61 Midi Keyboard

• Ephiphone Les Paul Standard (Solid Body Electric Guitars) – Black Ebony & Custom Built Cardinal Red

• Johnson Bass Guitar (very old, not sure they make these anymore) 

• Yamaha & Dean Acoustic guitars (both are generic models, nothing special, but I love their sound)

• Boss Katana Artist Guitar Amplifier with Boss Tone Central

• Boss FX Pedals (ran through a BCB-60 Pedal Board)

  • GT-6, PH-3, DD-7, BD-2, CH-1, DS-2, RC-3, FS-5U 

• I have all kinds of miscellaneous gear/instruments lying around the studio I use randomly and sporadically. I’ll change up cables, adapters, FX chains, location of recording and position of mics as necessary and end up using a different approach for each song. I also have various electronics such as power strips, line conditioners, and high-quality cables (1/4”, 1/8”, Balanced XLR, TRS, USB-A to USB-B (preferably 3.0)) to encourage better audio fidelity.