tommypatzius

tommypatzius's Reviews

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tommypatzius

Stagg Black Tambourine

Every big chorus section needs at least 2 tracks of tambourine.

tommypatzius

DJAY

I use it on my iMac and iPhone. It's great for pretending I'm a DJ, and for having fun throwing my mixes in with Top 40, just to make sure they're sounding great.

tommypatzius

Waves

Waves plugins are tried and true! I love all the Chris Lord-Alge stuff, the digital remodeling of classic compressors like the 1176, LA-2A, and the Fairchild. I love the L2, the Kramer Master Tape, the SSL stuff, the PAZ Analyzer, Center, everything really!

tommypatzius

Melodyne

I'm always blown away with how powerful Melodyne is. It's unreal that I can tune individual notes so effortlessly, and still can't believe I can view chords separated into individual notes on a piano roll, and tune those too! Crazy!

tommypatzius

Apple Logic Pro X

I don't use Logic as religiously as I do Reason, however Logic is an amazing tool and can do at least one thing that Reason can't. Run plugins. Anytime I want to throw a Waves plugin onto one of my tracks, Logic is the way to go! To be fair though, Logic has some seriously awesome sounds built right in, and I'm always happy whenever I launch it.

tommypatzius

Propellerhead ReCycle

The best way of slicing up audio files of drums, loops, single shots, anything really. I love how it automatically fades samples that you slice from a loop so that you're not left with an individual hit that ends abruptly and poorly. This is Reason's ultimate sidekick if you're into sampling, or just want to expand your creative potential.

tommypatzius

Apple TV

Cancelled cable. Never looked back. The Apple TV is too good for words.

tommypatzius

Propellerhead Studio Combo

These ReFills add a lot more tools to the already great factory ReFills that make up Reason's factory sound bank. The Abbey Road Keyboards are the best for livening up a track. The Electric Bass patches are by far the most realistic, most dynamic, and most innovative hyper-sampled bass sounds I have ever heard. I always use the Fender Precision and Rickenbacker basses as early on in the track as I can because they're just that good! The Reason Pianos and Reason Drum Kits are also the only option I seem to take for programming realistic sounding live drums, and grand pianos into the mix.

tommypatzius

Propellerhead Reason 7

Nothing is more central to the recording process for me, than Propellerhead's Reason. It's so stable, so good, so pure! It compliments the iMac and MacBook Pro so well, and is the ultimate tool for getting my ideas across musically.

Version: Propellerhead Reason 7
tommypatzius

Kala Solid Mahogany Pocket Ukulele

This is the smallest ukulele I've ever seen! It's only 16" in total length, but it's got a great sound, and incredible build quality. I've recorded this ukulele onto many tracks, and have a lot of fun every time!

tommypatzius

Kala KA-TE Mahogany Tenor Ukulele

This is an excellent ukulele! It comes with three nylon, and one steel string. It's always in tune, and has an onboard pickup so I can record direct in if I choose, but also sounds great mic'd up. I've snuck this ukulele into so many of my mixes.

tommypatzius

Yamaha PortaSound PSS-460

What a great little FM Synthesizer! It boasts stereo output, and has such a primitive, cheesy sound that is sometimes just what I need to add a little fun to a mix. It dates back to 1987, and some of the patches are modeled (poorly) after instruments such as saxophone, trumpet, oboe, flute, piano, jazz guitar, and koto for example. You can also use the digital synthesizer faders to create your own sound, which can come in handy when you're looking for a synth lead, or pad, or even synth bass sound that you know you could only get from a little synth like this. It doesn't support MIDI (not surprising) so for recording the audio into my DAW, I'm using a stereo auxiliary to 1/4" jack rig that I pieced together from parts I found while digging through Radio Shack.

tommypatzius

Apple EarPods

For the size and price, they don't sound bad at all. Plus, they look great! I always have to put a mix through the EarPods test, because there's no doubt about it, whoever your fan group may be, the majority are going to be listening to your music on these (or MacBook speakers).

tommypatzius

Beats Studio Titanium

These Beats over-ear noise-cancelling headphones are nothing short of great! Say what you want about Beats, but I've used all the competitors flagship headphones, and these are priced at what they are for a reason! Other headphones in this price bracket, and higher don't really impress me the way the Beats Studio do. Very crisp highs, beautiful mids, and very tight and controlled low end. If you want to hear the full frequency range the way you were meant to, listen to your favorite mix on these!

tommypatzius

Lexicon Lambda USB Interface

This little interface is great at what it does, which is records one or two channels simultaneously. I don't use this too often these days, because I'm lazy and opt for my Apogee MiC or JAM since they're both direct to USB and I rarely record more than one track at a time, but the Lexicon Lambda definitely serves it's purpose and I am very happy I have it!

tommypatzius

Shure SM58

The classic stage mic! I love how it's also not bad at being a studio microphone. It's tried and true, and built like a tank. Seriously, I could use it as a hammer, and then go on to record vocals with it and it will still sound great!

tommypatzius

Apogee JAM

This is another awesome product I have from Apogee. It's the easiest, most basic way of recording any instrument directly into a Mac, iPhone or iPad. Just plug in, adjust the gain and start recording! Works for guitars, keyboards, ukuleles, bass, even dynamic microphones if you have an XLR to 1/4" adapter. The sound is great too, of course!

tommypatzius

Apogee MiC 96k

An amazing portable studio-quality microphone. Seriously, this mic is amazing! It records audio at 24 bit 96kHz quality, and captures all the little details in the room so well. What's great is it plugs right into your Mac's USB, or into an iPhone/iPad, and has Apogee's incredible digital-audio converters built right in. So all you really have to do is adjust the level with the gain knob, and start recording!

tommypatzius

Akai LPK25 MIDI controller

This little guy sits right between my iMac and bluetooth keyboard. It's always plugged in, and ready to go for whenever I launch Reason or Logic. It's light, simple, looks great easy to play, and overall just really convenient. I also like to take it on trips and compose on the go.

tommypatzius

M-Audio Axiom 61

This MIDI controller is perfect! It compliments my DAW's Reason & Logic flawlessly. I love how I can program each fader, knob, and pad to control anything and everything I want to inside of Reason. I use the Pitch and Mod wheel to bring out the little extras that make certain patch presets come alive. Also, I really love how the keys are semi-weighted, and allow you to provide aftertouch, and the best part of it all is there are 61 keys, so it's great for demoing the full range of any software instrument.