From the upcoming EQ mag (http://www.eqmag.com/article/james-michael-choses/jun-08/36241):
As a producer, engineer, and songwriter, James Michael has worked with artists ranging from Motley Crue, Meat Loaf, and the Scorpions to Deana Carter, Hilary Duff, and Alanis Morissette. As a singer and multi-instrumentalist, Michael is a member of rock band Sixx:A.M., with Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx and DJ Ashba. Most recently, Michael completed production of the new Sixx:AM album, followed by the latest Motley Crue release, Saints of Los Angeles. Both projects were recorded and produced with his ICON-controlled Pro Tools|HD® system, and all the guitar tracks for the Motley Crue album were created using Digidesigns newly-released Eleven guitar amp emulation plug-in.
Eleven has really changed everything for people like myself who work extensively with guitar sounds, says Michael. Weve seen the potential for years with small preamps and amp emulation plug-ins, but Eleven is the first plug-in that can honestly replace the guitar amp. It really, truly sounds like the amps it claims to emulate. Many of the older plug-ins are a bit too perfect, but Eleven captures all the little imperfections of those vintage amps. And the microphone emulations are just stunning. I can close my eyes and toggle through them, and its just amazing how accurate they are.
Listening to Michael, its clear hes a true aficionado of vintage tube technology. When I did the Scorpions album, we spent a fortune on renting a bunch of vintage amps, he recalls. Its a great sound, but the result was always a bit hit or miss. Thats the nature of tubes. Sometimes a particular amp is exactly the sound youre looking for; other times, its just not quite
As a producer, engineer, and songwriter, James Michael has worked with artists ranging from Motley Crue, Meat Loaf, and the Scorpions to Deana Carter, Hilary Duff, and Alanis Morissette. As a singer and multi-instrumentalist, Michael is a member of rock band Sixx:A.M., with Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx and DJ Ashba. Most recently, Michael completed production of the new Sixx:AM album, followed by the latest Motley Crue release, Saints of Los Angeles. Both projects were recorded and produced with his ICON-controlled Pro Tools|HD® system, and all the guitar tracks for the Motley Crue album were created using Digidesigns newly-released Eleven guitar amp emulation plug-in.
Eleven has really changed everything for people like myself who work extensively with guitar sounds, says Michael. Weve seen the potential for years with small preamps and amp emulation plug-ins, but Eleven is the first plug-in that can honestly replace the guitar amp. It really, truly sounds like the amps it claims to emulate. Many of the older plug-ins are a bit too perfect, but Eleven captures all the little imperfections of those vintage amps. And the microphone emulations are just stunning. I can close my eyes and toggle through them, and its just amazing how accurate they are.
Listening to Michael, its clear hes a true aficionado of vintage tube technology. When I did the Scorpions album, we spent a fortune on renting a bunch of vintage amps, he recalls. Its a great sound, but the result was always a bit hit or miss. Thats the nature of tubes. Sometimes a particular amp is exactly the sound youre looking for; other times, its just not quite
. And most of the time, theres no guarantee you can get that same sound the next day. Sometimes the sound changes even while youre working, and youre just praying for 20 minutes more with the same sound. Now I can honestly say those days are over Ive got Eleven.
From a producers perspective, Michael says that Eleven offers a level of flexibility that was never an option when recording traditional micd guitar amps. Eleven [along with Pro Tools] gives me a lot more control over the editing process. I can really zoom in on the waveform of a guitar part. More importantly, it gives me the ability to change a part in the context of the mix. Lots of times you work hard to build up a nice musical bed, then you pop the vocal in and it just doesnt work; maybe you need to try a different cabinet or room mic, whatever. Now I can do that. I can make changes right up until mastering. Its really a dream come true.
You can also stream the whole cd at iheartmusic.com to check it out.
From a producers perspective, Michael says that Eleven offers a level of flexibility that was never an option when recording traditional micd guitar amps. Eleven [along with Pro Tools] gives me a lot more control over the editing process. I can really zoom in on the waveform of a guitar part. More importantly, it gives me the ability to change a part in the context of the mix. Lots of times you work hard to build up a nice musical bed, then you pop the vocal in and it just doesnt work; maybe you need to try a different cabinet or room mic, whatever. Now I can do that. I can make changes right up until mastering. Its really a dream come true.
You can also stream the whole cd at iheartmusic.com to check it out.
