Early September and I come across another Scope gem in the form of an instrumental guitar album NOTE DI VAGGIO by Planet Z member Bosone (AKA Matteo) of Alchemy Studio released on Bandcamp.  Instrumentally a mix of acoustic and electric textures, pleasant to listen to with thoughtful arrangements and plenty of variety in feel from one track to the next.

Technology-wise, as well as Scope, Matteo used a mix of several host based software packages including Sonar 8.5 Producer, Rayzoon, Jamstix, Steven Slate for the drum parts, Garritan Personal Orchestra for the orchestral sounds and some synths (Kontakt 3.5, Sonar 8.5 True Pianos).  Outboard sound sources included the Korg 01 and TG77.  The Sonic Core sound cards were used for guitar and bass processing, mixing and mastering.

I spoke to Matteo about the production of this album and of course, how Scope played a major part.

 

Dante: What Sonic Core card do you have, and how long have you been using Scope?

Matteo: I had three cards: Scope Pro, Luna and Pulsar 1.  Now I have switched to a 1366 socket motherboard and I can run only two cards: Pulsar 1 and Scope pro.  I bought my first Pulsar 1 in 2000 and still I use the same card!

Dante: What inspires you to use Scope?

Matteo: I enjoy a lot the workflow and the modular approach, with the 'virtual wiring', the possibility to route everything into everything else, the integration with external hardware (effects, synths) and the sound.  And also the quality of some plug-ins and synthesizers (MiniMax, B-2003, PsyQ, OptiMaster).  I don't have very good ears, but I feel it's easier to achieve a good mix and sound using a Scope mixer (STM-2448) and its plug-ins instead of mixing in Sonar, even if the Sonar mixer is actually more user friendly.

Dante: What plug-ins do you use on Scope (particularly for guitars and bass)?

 

 

Matteo: For guitars and bass I used Dynatube. In particular the Mesa Boogie amp for distorted sounds and Vox for clean sounds.  They need tweaking but they sit in the mix just perfectly.  The guitars were recorded using a Pod Pro with the 'tube preamp' simulation and the digital output.  I always record the dry signal (while listening to Dynatube out in real time) and then tweak the setting to get a suitable sound.  After that, I record a processed Dynatube guitar track and delete Dynatube from SFP.  I always use the STM-2448 integrated EQ, and I am also a fan of D-Compressor, MasterVerb Pro and B-2003.  With the new Scope 5.1 version I also got the new S|C Compressor which is very good according to me.  I use the TubeStrip free plug-in to enhance the drum track.

 
 

Dante:  And what do you use in your mastering chain?

Matteo:  Vinco + SBC equalizer (very subtle) + GraphEQ + E-Reflector (very subtle) + PsyQ to enhance the stereo image and to control bass and OptiMaster.  I admit I use the wizard function a lot and then I tweak it a little. I am not a mastering engineer!  It is very simple for me to boost and fatten up the sound in this way, but I am not a fan of maximum loudness.

Dante: Any future plans for more albums?

Matteo: Actually not yet!  An idea would be to re-record my first metal album 'Alchemy of life - soundtrack AD 1312' (you can find this on bandcamp along with other music) but this will be very, very hard work.  That album was recorded with the Pulsar 1 and published in 2000.  It was my very first serious work.   Another one is to focus on electronic/ambient music but I recognize this would mean almost everything and nothing at the same time.  I also have some music for solo piano (just 4 - 5 tracks) and I want to write more importantly.  But I would need someone to play the songs in a proper way (I am not a pianist!).  For my piano songs I nearly always use the piano in Garritan Orchestra and the Scope MasterVerb.

 

Dante:  I love the way you put together the Alchemy Studio promo video.  Another great example of Scope creativity.

 

Dante and Bosone September 2011