Nicolas Farmakalidis
Producer/Songwriter/Arranger/Engineer
President/CEO at NeilaProductions
Swing Chip on a Selmer Soprano Sax
I had a pop/funk session a couple days ago and I was overdubbing soprano sax on the track. I got the chance to use the swing chip.
I was very impressed with how the swing chip improves the sound and “balance” of the sax.
I first placed the chip on the back of the sax below the mouthpiece.Right away I noticed that all the unnecessary vibrations are eliminated and it sounded more smooth and even.
I tried placing it in a couple different spots until I found the “sweet spot” lets say, of that specific sax. I placed the chip on the back of the bell. I couldn’t believe it! The way the sax was projecting the sound was really strong. It was almost like the chip was a speaker of its own and the sound was coming out of there.
All the harmonics were more obvious and the sound was really strong, balanced and clear without any unwanted buzzing or vibrations.
Every instrument has some great spots and some bad spots. On that specific sax I had trouble with the note “B”(Soprano sax key C#).When I was recording, that specific note sounded “dead”- lots of buzzing also. After I placed the chip, the character of the note changed and it sounded much better.
The sax recorded great with the chip on.
As I mentioned above, I could really capture all the “sound details” of the sax and record it into pro-tools. The swing chip is very useful for studio recordings. Its also great for classical music since it makes everything more clear and smooth.
I highly recommend it to every music producer/engineer/musician.
Swing chip on a Fender Precision Bass
I’m working on a bass album at the moment and I gave the swing chip a try. The bass by itself sounded great so I wanted to see the difference with the swing chip.
Again I tried a couple different spots until I found the sweet spot of that specific bass.The best spot was on the bridge.
Honestly, I love the swing chip. It added a lower harmonic(50-60hz)to the bass and eliminated all the buzzing from the neck and it sounded fantastic. The sound was detailed, more rounded and it almost sounded that there was a slight compression on the sound that made the sound punchier. The lower harmonic was really clear (close to an octave) and it recorded great!
Swing chip on a Schecter 4 string
The Schecter had a very different character than the Fender. More high frequency sound and a more thin sound . (This bass player is using the Schecter for old-school slapping). The sweet spot is on the first pick up. Again, it added the lower harmonic and also it smoothen out the high – buzzing when the bass player was slapping.
Nano Liquid Ex
This is a must for every recording studio. I used the liquid on a cable and it improved the sound 100 %. It opened up the sound and the bass guitar sounded stronger and clearer.
It also changed the character of the cable a bit. The cable that the bass player was using was a bit dark and muffled. The liquid changed that and it improved the sound and it even sounded a bit brighter.
As a music producer and musician I highly recommend these products to everyone who is interested in sound and recording. In my opinion every recording studio should have these products in hand.There is something very special about how these products handle sound.
