As I mentioned in part 1, I like options, and those options extend into my studio monitoring. The HMX-56 discussed in part 1 gives those options for headphone monitoring, but what about the studio engineers who prefers to hear what their mix sounds like through different studio monitors? I personally have three sets of studio monitors in my studio area, but often times lack the motivation to switch the jacks between these sets. It can be a pain because my area is not large, and I need to move monitors around to get at the cables. That was until Charlie Wicks at ProCo Sound solved this problem for me by sending me the "Switch Witch".

The Switch Witch is one of those pieces of gear that is so absolutely simple in design that it is brilliant. Housed in a single rack space the Switch Witch has one very simple function. It allows you to check your mix between four different sets of powered monitors. Hook up is easy. You can run to the Inputs on the Switch Witch from either your main outs, or your control room outs from your mixing board. You then hook your monitors into the four separate sets of stereo inputs on the Switch Witch. On the front panel are four on/off toggle switches that allow you to select the monitors you want to hear at any given time.

The Switch Witch requires no power, thus it has no power supply or cord to worry about. It is basically a self contained signal routing device. Now I do not need to worry about changing out cables, because all of my monitors are hooked up at all times, and can be accessed by a simple flip of a switch.
In my studio, I control three sets of monitors in my control room by running my stereo signal from my control room outs of my Mackie Onyx board to the Switch Witch, the fourth control will soon be hooked to a set of monitors in the instrument room, so that the musicians can listen to the playback between recording sessions. The HMX-56 allows me to also run six pairs of headphones for extra monitoring with up to six separate mix settings during recording. The HMX-56 is connected to the Mackie Onyx board via the main outs, and in this configuration, both the headphones and monitors are always within easy access.

Gary Allen

I have long been a fan of having as many "useful" options available as possible in my musical equipment. This probably stems from the fact that I do not have one particular style that I play, so having muti-functional guitars and amps makes it much easier to transition between genres.

This penchant for options has continued into my personal recording studio, and even to my monitoring environments. For example, if you have ever tried to record, I am sure you have seen the frustration of players who felt that they could not hear themselves well enough. I recently received a very cool headphone amplifier from Mackie that I believe is one of the most useful pieces of equipment that I have seen to date for headphone monitoring.

The HMX-56 6-Channel High Output Headphone Matrix Mixer/Amp, offers incredible flexibility for each individual in the studio recording environment. You can route the main outputs of the missing board to this amplifier, but furthermore, by using the subgroup outs, you can also route 4 sub mixes consisting of individual instruments, or groups of instruments to the HMX-56. This gives that ability to set up six separate headphone mixes, so each player can have the ever popular "more of me!" in the mix. Each mix will have the main mix, but each of the four subgroups can be turned up or down on each channel individually to each players preference. This is such a cool tool for the studio, and can cut down on a lot of frustration. It will also allow each person to hear what they need to hear, thus allowing them to give their best performance. Overall, the quality of musicianship will be better in your overall recording once it has been mixed down.

The other great part of this amplifier is that it can also be set up to run stage monitors in live situations. It is the same concept, except you would be taking the outputs to individual stage monitors instead of headphones. While each person again hears what they want to hear, the main mix for the audience retains the integrity of the mix created by the soundman.

While all of this sounds great, there is a problem. The HMX-56 will be discontinued soon, if it has not been already. I could not find it in the major online stores anymore, but it is still on the Mackie website, so I suggest that if you want one, you better find one and purchase it soon, or go to e-bay to find one. If you run a studio and need a headphone amplifier, this is my choice and my recommendation.

Gary Allen

Hey folks -

We get so enamored sometimes with all the cool stuff for electric guitar, I think our acoustic friends get left out. Well here’s something really cool I saw in the latest issue of MMR. It’s called the Shadow Stompin’ Bass from Shadow Electronics.

Actually, I tend to play acoustic more than I play electric so this is GREAT. I can see this adding a great groove dynamic to a solo-set, without having to rely on a backing track. Combine this with a looper and you could really have an amazing sound going. I could even see this in a small band setting, like bluegrass or celtic styles.

Check out the website and show them some GGH love:

http://www.shadow-electronics.com/start.html?lang_id=2

Here’s a vid I found so you can grab a taste. I want one for Christmas…

OK - Does anyone remember your grandparents saving used tin foil from a habits they learned during the depression. You probably thought they were crazy! Well, maybe the economy is starting to get to me too since I thought of a way to recycle those little tins you get from breath mints.

This may seem quite obvious to many of you - But on one of my many EARLY morning trips through the airport, I dropped by a Starbucks for some wake up juice. I picked up a little aluminum tin of chewing gum and after opening it I thought to myself - man this little box is pretty cool, it’s a shame to throw it away.

Then I thought, man this would be GREAT to put pics in and keep them organized, since usually I just chuck them in my backpack and I have to fish around the bottom for my favorite.

Well - then I came across a similar but slightly larger tin made by Eclipse Mints. This one not only fits picks, but also will fit my little D’Addario Strobe Tuner! All in one convenient little box.

I suppose you could paint these tins and/or put cool decals on them.

Hey I’ll tell you what - I’ll give a free D’Addario Stobe Tuner to the person who can decorate the coolest “Pick Tin”. Of course, you have to submit to my judgement of “cool” but hey, it’s my rules.

Dan