Thursday, January 15, 2009

XONE - Bringing Progressive Metal To The Masses!



XONE (pronounced zône) is a modern metal band, founded by Will Austin in 2001, integrating elements of progressive rock, driven by story-oriented lyrics, expressed with a depth of passion, and delivering an eclectic but captivating sound that cuts across all musical borders. The music takes you into a XONE…

Connecting with the listener is my goal. Anyone who feels my music is important to me!

Fans say XONE's influences, which range from Rush, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Evergrey, White Zombie, Van Halen, Tool, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Peter Gabriel, The Police, Godsmack, U-2, and more, can be heard in many different aspects of our music. The lyrical styles range from the re-telling of historical events, exploring the dimensions of both inner and outer space, to everyday relationship encounters, which touch a nerve that we can all relate to...

Give XONE a listen, and let me know what you think!



Homepage
http://www.xonelive.com

XONE Album: The Emperor's Dream
http://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Dream-XONE/dp/B00T6GY8OI/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1424478507&sr=1-1&keywords=XONE+the+emperor%27s+dream



XONE at Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/XONE



Monday, January 12, 2009

The Drum Mic XONE 2


With our latest XONE album, The 4th Dimension, finally released, we are currently recording our next CD in our San Pedro Studio at KOOS Rehearsal. The Drum Mic setup has evolved a bit from our earlier blog on the subject. We employ a 10 mic setup on Jason’s Kit, and we are getting the best drum tracks we’ve ever recorded!

Jason still uses his excellent set of BeyerDynamic Opus Drum mics to capture the full sound of his Blond Maple Yamaha kit with Gibraltar Rack. We have singular mic coverage of the Kick, Snare, Left Overall, Right Overall, 12" Tom, 14" Tom, 18" Floor Tom, Ride Cymbal. The Hi-Hat, Cowbell, and Splash Cymbal get covered by a single Opus mic. A single MXL Condenser mic is set directly in front of the kit to capture the Room. 10 Channels of great mics capturing the sound of his kit, going into a Presonus Digimax FS into Pro Tools Digi 002 Rack in 24 bit.

The tracks are then transferred to an HP running Sonar 7 PE, where I add C4 Compression to the Kick and Snare, and add EQ to every channel. The kit is panned the same as it stands in the room (audience View), with certain Tom parts doubled in stereo. I add Reverb to the Snare, Overalls, Hi-Hat, Ride, and Toms. Listening now, I can say that the drums on our next XONE CD are going to sound way better than anything we’ve ever had before, thanks to good mics, correct placement, and quality DAW/Plug-Ins!