I have a mess of parts to build various booster / distortion / fuzz pedals, and finished my first one. It's actually based off of a Rat circuit with some E-mods, and it will fuzz your face off.  I call it The Germaniac Fuzz, in honor of some of the germanium components used.  Components include mylar caps, silver mica caps, metal film resistors, silver bearing solder, a Sprague Orange Drop, an LM308 IC, Mullard OC44 germanium transistor, a couple germanium diodes and more.  Listen to some samples, from low gain to high gain, in no particular order.

I had the good fortune to record Loud & Sad at Aurum Recording in Manayunk / Philadelphia, PA this past Sunday, Feb 22, 2009.  Audio to follow.

From 2009.02.22 - Loud & Sad recording

I've been testing Indaba Music, an online music project collaboration site.  It's raw utility is amazing, and if you're into the social networking side of things, you can collaborate with strangers.  My favorite features are timestamped comments on the wav file display, online mix console (!).  Check it out:  http://www.indabamusic.com/

January has been a busy month.  Recorded the jazzed out funkitude of Compound, the whiskified murder ballads of Waitin' On A Train in a rowdy tavern, started prototyping a fuzz/distortion pedal, fleshed out my mobile rig, which now can record 10 channels of 24bit/96kHz to a super-portable rack and laptop, started early planning for LOUD & sad's next recording, and finalized the digital media for my first personal release, schedule for early February. 

loud & sad - excerpt 6 from nathan mclaughlin on Vimeo

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I found this on MAKE:Blog, and it has some good visual tips, even if you're an experienced solderist.

I found this through some hard hitting DJ blogger using it - SoundCloud.  Looks like it could be very handy with working on audio projects (e-postal style) and distributing tracks.

SoundCloud: The Tour from SoundCloud on Vimeo

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Projects on the bench:
 

• Otari 5050 BIIHD restoration - needs some major mechanical work, doesn't like 10.5" reels too much
• Dean Markley Signature Series 120 restoration - nasally tone, severe microphonics
• PFR's Shure SR107 EQ restoration - no power! missing knobs, needs a good lube and cleaning
• A/D converters - seeking viable converters to add 2 pre's to my FireStudio Project, looks like a Flying Cow from the foggy mists of history may fit the bill?
• Building a bypass / feedback loop
• Experimenting with a bunch of parts commonly found in Booster, Fuzz, and Tube Screamer pedals
• Gathering parts for a round of mic capacitor upgrades
• Last but not least - releasing my first album (ETA TBA OK?)

Listening to The Apples in Stereo "New Magnetic Wonder" the other day, I wondered who produced it, as it has such a huge crunchy constructed sound.  While I tend towards minimalist and live recording methods, this album is so amazingly well built, and seemingly by a tone freak.  Interestingly enough, the lead Apple Robert Schneider produced it with the help of Bryce Goggin and a handful of others.  Check out the 5-part documentary series behind the production of "New Magnetic Wonder", and please note the Amp Shelf.

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