Recording Results
Ok, As I mentioned in my last post, the mackie 32x82 mixing console was really a pain to get setup correctly. However, after a few days of having it setup , recording is a real breeze and an enjoyable experience. TO my ears, the depth and detail of the recordings were much better than when I was using the 14chmackie mixer, Hard to explain in words, but it is af is I had tken multiple stereo sources and panned them all to the center of the stereo field with the 14ch mixer, with the 8buss mixing console, there is a much larger stereo field and each instrument has its own space. Much more balanced and more depth and nice detail as well.
My friend came over and I played him a CD of tracks recorded with my 14 ch mackie and then a track recorded with the mackie 8buss 32x8x2. Right away he could tell a big difference and mentioned the stereo field and the depth and detail were better with the 8 buss Mackie.I was glad to hear that he heard was I thought I was hearing. In any case,at the height of my frustration getting it setup, I can honestly say that i was about to pack it back up and sell it. I am now glad I didn't and took my time getting it connected and in use.The audio results is where it really paid off.
The mackie sr 328b 32x8x2 mixing console is analog but works so well with a digital recorder. Even a small Roland VS-890 Digital recorder (the vs890 has 24 btui a/d and d/a converters but almsot non exsistant mic pre's). Withthe mackie baord I found a real nice balance ebtwen the analog nd digital worlds. I highly recommend picking up one of these boards. Prices have come way down for used analog boards because everyone is going digital or to a mixerless digital recording studio via PC. However, there is no question that using the mackie 32x8x2 as a front end for the digital ercorder really works well ad for routing signals ,it's great with tons of options. I can't wait to mix several guitar amps (2 solid state and threee tube amps) into buss 5 and 6 and route those to tracks 1 & 2 of my digital recorder.Very nice!!!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Mackie 32x8x2 mixing console update
MAckie 32x8x2 mixing console update
Ok, I got the Mackie sr 328b 32x8x2 mixing console and it was huge; I was in awe of the sheer size of the mixing console, all those knobs!!! wow, but why did I get this board? Well, I have a 14 ch mackie 1402 provlz board and it was to record my albums, 127 so far (you can hear samples at my website http://wwww.dtguitar.com).
So this board has 32 ch's and more importantly 8 busses. What I was not expecting was the amount of cables needed to rewire my home studio to incorporate this board. I mean it's unreal really. It took at least 15 new cables and ultimately about 40 cables overall. Secondly, I assumed I knew how to hook this board up and use it. I thought it was like my 14ch mixer4. totally wrong!! It took me three days of hair pulling frustration to get it wired right and that is just to one of my digital recorders. Just figuring out which jacks to plug in my speakers/monitors was a challenge, do I use the min studio outs? The control room outs? The aux outs? How do I avoid running into problems with the digital outs of my PC? more on this later...
Ok, so, like all used big consoles, upon first hooking it up you get crackly potentiometers,knobs, eq switches turned on or patched incorrectly,etc...I got burned on big mixing consoles before such as a wheatstone tv/radio board where the cables to hook it up cost more than the board, it used amp connectors which are obsolete and hard has hell to find and expensive as can be, I had another board and it was no good ,too noisy, so at first I was losing patience with this used mackie board. however, I have used mackies in the past and they are great sounding boards. Finally, after some trial and error and reading manuals, I did get the board hooked up and the kinks worked out. I had to make my way passed the spaghetti of wires to actually get to my guitar and try my first guitar. I was using the inserts of the busses to go to my recorder..Ok, RECORD!! ..upon playback I got this crappy sound, worse than my 14ch mixer, sound muddy and just lousy. Ok rewire the board and try again, this time I used the tape sends/returns to go to my recorder (conveniently located on the back of the board.NOT!!).well hidden...ok RECORD!! This time the recording was clean and sounded amazing!!! I didnt get any extra noise from the board I could hear, the digital inputs of my recorder took care of the digital drum samples, the mackie handled the mic's and line level analog stuff.
Ok, the recording was clean and heavy; guitars sounded like miked guitars through the 32 ch mackie mic pre's,plenty of headroom and the eq is amazing, like a blanket was removed from the microphones. Very nice!!! Also, the mic pre's and the eq ch sound more defined than the mic pre's and eq on my 14 ch board (almost like the 14 ch board was a similar to the 8 buss which sounded like the real deal).Also, for a digital recording , to my ears, the board sounds almost "vintage", that is the be the word to describe the sound, vintage as in warm sounding. I could easily hear more depth and warmth in my digital recording compared to my 14ch mixer to digital recorder which sounds much more modern ,no warmth at all, and themic pre's on the 14ch are the vlz pro mic preamps I felt they lacked detail compared to the 32x8 mackie mic pre's.
To explain the mike pre's, the mckie 32x8x2 mic pre's have depth and detail, when you mike a sound cabinet, it sounds like a miked cabinet, on the 14 ch mackie, you get the guitar sound but you dont get as much depth and you can't really tell its a cabinet being miked. Overall, my recordings sound much more like a band recording with the mackie 32x8x2. Just the real deal in my recordings where as the 14ch sounded good but not as much depth.Also the 32x8x2 has 100mm long throw faders and they are nice compared to the 60mm faders on the mackie 14 ch board which are crappy. SO, its a great sounding board, and granted there are better sounding boards (up to $250,000 hah or more), but for a home studio, this board is a really great.Its analog but plenty clean for digital.
The 14ch mackie gave me some good recordings and sounds more modern in a way, but the mackie 32x8x2 does give you a warmer "big" studio sound I have found.The trade off, is the 14ch has simplicity when recording that is great compared to the 8 buss 32ch mackie. I mean it can be really complicate to setup, but after its setup and then recording is easy. I guess its getting there which was tough.Now I know how to record with the 8 buss mixer so that it makes it as simple as the 14ch mixer. What I discovered is how I was used to having my gear setup a certain way in the studio ,even guitar cabinets, moving them caused chaos for a few hours trying to get the sound I am used too.
I will post some recordings of the mackie 32x8x2 on some tracks I did with it. I was tempted to sell the board as I was getting frustrated with it and figured why make the recording process more complicated. But, now that its setup and I understand it ,I think I may keep this board.The sound quality and ease of use should be the determining factor and so far, compared side by side, my new recordings with the mackie 32x8x2 are simply better sounding than my previous recordings.
I also learned some important lessons,one, you have to patient with new gear, especially one as complicated as this board, secondly, to improve musically,you have to be "brave" enough to take the risk of changing things. This is a tough one mentally,as when one is used to having things sound a certain way and it sounds god, then why mess with it.I felt this way, but now I am thrilled I took a chance and worked with it. So we will see.
My friend PSB , who is a great musician with good ears and a studio of his own, will come to check out the board and the recordings I made with it. I wonder what he will say about the old vs the new board and the sound quality. Wow talk about growing pains, incorporating this board was really difficult to do. I was so used to doing my thing with the 14ch mixer.I guess its called change, and to change the way you record your music is really a tough thing to do, it was a mini crisis in a way for me. Thoughts of "oh no, why did I change anything I was getting a great sound,now its ruined" or "now, I get a worse sound than I had",etc.. But, I think I made a good choice in working with the bigger board and the sound is better. So anyone out there who is comfortable with the way they record, it pays to take a chance and force yourself to try to keep improving your recordings!! Happy thanksgiving by the way!!
Ok, I got the Mackie sr 328b 32x8x2 mixing console and it was huge; I was in awe of the sheer size of the mixing console, all those knobs!!! wow, but why did I get this board? Well, I have a 14 ch mackie 1402 provlz board and it was to record my albums, 127 so far (you can hear samples at my website http://wwww.dtguitar.com).
So this board has 32 ch's and more importantly 8 busses. What I was not expecting was the amount of cables needed to rewire my home studio to incorporate this board. I mean it's unreal really. It took at least 15 new cables and ultimately about 40 cables overall. Secondly, I assumed I knew how to hook this board up and use it. I thought it was like my 14ch mixer4. totally wrong!! It took me three days of hair pulling frustration to get it wired right and that is just to one of my digital recorders. Just figuring out which jacks to plug in my speakers/monitors was a challenge, do I use the min studio outs? The control room outs? The aux outs? How do I avoid running into problems with the digital outs of my PC? more on this later...
Ok, so, like all used big consoles, upon first hooking it up you get crackly potentiometers,knobs, eq switches turned on or patched incorrectly,etc...I got burned on big mixing consoles before such as a wheatstone tv/radio board where the cables to hook it up cost more than the board, it used amp connectors which are obsolete and hard has hell to find and expensive as can be, I had another board and it was no good ,too noisy, so at first I was losing patience with this used mackie board. however, I have used mackies in the past and they are great sounding boards. Finally, after some trial and error and reading manuals, I did get the board hooked up and the kinks worked out. I had to make my way passed the spaghetti of wires to actually get to my guitar and try my first guitar. I was using the inserts of the busses to go to my recorder..Ok, RECORD!! ..upon playback I got this crappy sound, worse than my 14ch mixer, sound muddy and just lousy. Ok rewire the board and try again, this time I used the tape sends/returns to go to my recorder (conveniently located on the back of the board.NOT!!).well hidden...ok RECORD!! This time the recording was clean and sounded amazing!!! I didnt get any extra noise from the board I could hear, the digital inputs of my recorder took care of the digital drum samples, the mackie handled the mic's and line level analog stuff.
Ok, the recording was clean and heavy; guitars sounded like miked guitars through the 32 ch mackie mic pre's,plenty of headroom and the eq is amazing, like a blanket was removed from the microphones. Very nice!!! Also, the mic pre's and the eq ch sound more defined than the mic pre's and eq on my 14 ch board (almost like the 14 ch board was a similar to the 8 buss which sounded like the real deal).Also, for a digital recording , to my ears, the board sounds almost "vintage", that is the be the word to describe the sound, vintage as in warm sounding. I could easily hear more depth and warmth in my digital recording compared to my 14ch mixer to digital recorder which sounds much more modern ,no warmth at all, and themic pre's on the 14ch are the vlz pro mic preamps I felt they lacked detail compared to the 32x8 mackie mic pre's.
To explain the mike pre's, the mckie 32x8x2 mic pre's have depth and detail, when you mike a sound cabinet, it sounds like a miked cabinet, on the 14 ch mackie, you get the guitar sound but you dont get as much depth and you can't really tell its a cabinet being miked. Overall, my recordings sound much more like a band recording with the mackie 32x8x2. Just the real deal in my recordings where as the 14ch sounded good but not as much depth.Also the 32x8x2 has 100mm long throw faders and they are nice compared to the 60mm faders on the mackie 14 ch board which are crappy. SO, its a great sounding board, and granted there are better sounding boards (up to $250,000 hah or more), but for a home studio, this board is a really great.Its analog but plenty clean for digital.
The 14ch mackie gave me some good recordings and sounds more modern in a way, but the mackie 32x8x2 does give you a warmer "big" studio sound I have found.The trade off, is the 14ch has simplicity when recording that is great compared to the 8 buss 32ch mackie. I mean it can be really complicate to setup, but after its setup and then recording is easy. I guess its getting there which was tough.Now I know how to record with the 8 buss mixer so that it makes it as simple as the 14ch mixer. What I discovered is how I was used to having my gear setup a certain way in the studio ,even guitar cabinets, moving them caused chaos for a few hours trying to get the sound I am used too.
I will post some recordings of the mackie 32x8x2 on some tracks I did with it. I was tempted to sell the board as I was getting frustrated with it and figured why make the recording process more complicated. But, now that its setup and I understand it ,I think I may keep this board.The sound quality and ease of use should be the determining factor and so far, compared side by side, my new recordings with the mackie 32x8x2 are simply better sounding than my previous recordings.
I also learned some important lessons,one, you have to patient with new gear, especially one as complicated as this board, secondly, to improve musically,you have to be "brave" enough to take the risk of changing things. This is a tough one mentally,as when one is used to having things sound a certain way and it sounds god, then why mess with it.I felt this way, but now I am thrilled I took a chance and worked with it. So we will see.
My friend PSB , who is a great musician with good ears and a studio of his own, will come to check out the board and the recordings I made with it. I wonder what he will say about the old vs the new board and the sound quality. Wow talk about growing pains, incorporating this board was really difficult to do. I was so used to doing my thing with the 14ch mixer.I guess its called change, and to change the way you record your music is really a tough thing to do, it was a mini crisis in a way for me. Thoughts of "oh no, why did I change anything I was getting a great sound,now its ruined" or "now, I get a worse sound than I had",etc.. But, I think I made a good choice in working with the bigger board and the sound is better. So anyone out there who is comfortable with the way they record, it pays to take a chance and force yourself to try to keep improving your recordings!! Happy thanksgiving by the way!!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
mackie 32x8x2 and Crate tube amps
Crate Tube Amps update
I received 2 more crate v33212 all tube combo amps, they are blowing these amps at $xxx.00 each!!! WOW, I did not hesitate as the list price on each amp is $650.04, which is a little below average for most tube amps as most all tube combo amps are about $1000 or more , for example look at the price of a 2x12 marshall:
I received 2 more crate v33212 all tube combo amps, they are blowing these amps at $xxx.00 each!!! WOW, I did not hesitate as the list price on each amp is $650.04, which is a little below average for most tube amps as most all tube combo amps are about $1000 or more , for example look at the price of a 2x12 marshall:
Sunday, November 16, 2008
crate all tube amps: v33212 and v212b 2x12
Crate v33212 all tube class A 2x12 combo amp
ok, ams had these amps at ridiculously low blowout prices, the 33 watt 2ch 2x12 combo amp had 3 12ax7 preamp tubes and 4 el84 power tubes and 2 12" speakers with f/x loop, boost, presence and extension speaker jacks for $xxx.00 list is somewhere between $599 or more, similar all tube combo amps are easily $800 or more and if handwired boutique amp then prices range from $1000-3500. So I was very skeptical. I went ahead and ordered one but was thinking I would get some toy tiny practice amp I could play around with while watching TV; I couldn't have been more wrong!!
The amp arrived and as I unpacked it, I couldn't come over the size of the amp, I mean it is a full size combo amp. IT looked great and was as solid as could be. Has a power and standby toggle switches and I plugged it in and was blow away!! The clean channel was as clean as could be, glassy almost chimey as any quality tube amp (think jimi H's little wing or Wind crys mary), it has plent y of bass and mids and high's and I was expecting a puny sound, instead , you would swear you were playing a 4x12 cabinet. The clean channel can also be overdriven and has a 3 band eq and reverb. The reverb was a simple spring reverb and is the weakest link of this amp, but usable at about 1 or 2 settings, but the f/x loop and an external f/x unit would take care of that easily. anyway, any kind of clean sound is easily attainable and reminds me of a fender twin or a vitnage marshall.
Then the lead channel, now here is where I was really amazed!! This amp is a total beast, I mean it is loud as can be, I mean it reminds me immediately of a 100wt vintage marshall, the overdrive is all tube and it sounds like it, it reminds me of a marshall jtm 45 1/2 stack or a marshall jcm 900, (think old sabbath,ac/dc,judas priest, jmi hendrix) more than a hotrodded marshall jcm 800 ala van halen, just a thick growling marshall tone, the speakers were clear and handled any volume with ease. the tube warmth was amazing,. For any modern metal sounds you would need to add a distortion pedal. I was just amazed, I could not turn it past 3 at the most and that shook the walls of my house.
I then tried it with my pod xt live and compared it to the solid states I was using, WOW!!! The line 6 offered the exact same preamp sound as the amp, however my 2x12 solid states amp could not provide the tube amp dynamics and growl that the crate tube amp could. I was sold.You just cant imitate the sound of a tube power amp and the speakers broke up at just the right time.
Overall, these are the most amazing amps and reminds most of all like a true "vintage" marshall amp!! yet they are $xxx.00 (the price of about 2 12" speakers?). They should have called this amp "the poor man's Marshall".I liked them so much I have an other on order.
Crate v2112b 2x12 speaker cabinet
Equally as impressive is the crate v2112b 2x12 speaker cabinet. Comes with two crate 2x12 speakers wired for 8ohm mono and 16 ohm stereo. Again, I was amazed at the price and even more amazed by the sound and size of these cabs. Blowout price new was $xxx.00 (about the price of one raw celestion speaker?!!). These cabs are as big as the v332112 amp and sound just as good. ?I was afraid they would put some poor sounding speakers in these but instead I got 2 outstanding sounding speakers that are firm, warm and clean sounding. the cab reminds me of a 4x12 cab in that it has that bassy sound that most 2x12's do not. just a great deal!!!!
Overall
The crate v series of tube amps and cabs have made my guitar setup sound so much better that I cant wait to record with them, all tube!!!! great!!
Mackie 32x8x2 8-buss mixing console
I have been using a 14channel mackie 14ch mixing board which is tiny and was doubling in my guitar rig and also as a mic preamp for my studio recording setup. Well no more!! Mackie came out with these new onyx mixing consoles which sent the price of their analog mixing consoles plummeting, yet the quality is superb sound wise!!I found a used mackie 32x8x2 mixing console used for $xxx +xx s/h, not bad for a board that new sells for $3699.00 (even now on sale?!).32 as in 32 channels, 8 as in 8 buss and It is huge, about 4 feet across and looks so cool, but more importantly is the sound, great mic pre's and super quiet operation. So it will work great with my digital recorders. I love the mackie analog sound!!!I use my little 14 ch mackie ,but now it can go back to my guitar setup.
I had tried to replace my mackie 1402 mixer with a behringer but the difference was terrible, so bad that I immediately took back the behringer. The mackie is just a great sounding board. I plan to use the board for recording of course, but into my roland digital recorders, adats and emu emulator x with sonar. Best of all for me is I can record several different amps at one time and mix those amps into one buss which will feed one of the digital recorders. super cool!! It will just be the centerpiece of my home studio. It should arrive soon then I will know much more.
Optionally it has a meter bridge which is about $500 and give led metering on all channels, Mine doesn't has the meter bridge, but I may add it if I find for a decent price in the future.
ok, ams had these amps at ridiculously low blowout prices, the 33 watt 2ch 2x12 combo amp had 3 12ax7 preamp tubes and 4 el84 power tubes and 2 12" speakers with f/x loop, boost, presence and extension speaker jacks for $xxx.00 list is somewhere between $599 or more, similar all tube combo amps are easily $800 or more and if handwired boutique amp then prices range from $1000-3500. So I was very skeptical. I went ahead and ordered one but was thinking I would get some toy tiny practice amp I could play around with while watching TV; I couldn't have been more wrong!!
The amp arrived and as I unpacked it, I couldn't come over the size of the amp, I mean it is a full size combo amp. IT looked great and was as solid as could be. Has a power and standby toggle switches and I plugged it in and was blow away!! The clean channel was as clean as could be, glassy almost chimey as any quality tube amp (think jimi H's little wing or Wind crys mary), it has plent y of bass and mids and high's and I was expecting a puny sound, instead , you would swear you were playing a 4x12 cabinet. The clean channel can also be overdriven and has a 3 band eq and reverb. The reverb was a simple spring reverb and is the weakest link of this amp, but usable at about 1 or 2 settings, but the f/x loop and an external f/x unit would take care of that easily. anyway, any kind of clean sound is easily attainable and reminds me of a fender twin or a vitnage marshall.
Then the lead channel, now here is where I was really amazed!! This amp is a total beast, I mean it is loud as can be, I mean it reminds me immediately of a 100wt vintage marshall, the overdrive is all tube and it sounds like it, it reminds me of a marshall jtm 45 1/2 stack or a marshall jcm 900, (think old sabbath,ac/dc,judas priest, jmi hendrix) more than a hotrodded marshall jcm 800 ala van halen, just a thick growling marshall tone, the speakers were clear and handled any volume with ease. the tube warmth was amazing,. For any modern metal sounds you would need to add a distortion pedal. I was just amazed, I could not turn it past 3 at the most and that shook the walls of my house.
I then tried it with my pod xt live and compared it to the solid states I was using, WOW!!! The line 6 offered the exact same preamp sound as the amp, however my 2x12 solid states amp could not provide the tube amp dynamics and growl that the crate tube amp could. I was sold.You just cant imitate the sound of a tube power amp and the speakers broke up at just the right time.
Overall, these are the most amazing amps and reminds most of all like a true "vintage" marshall amp!! yet they are $xxx.00 (the price of about 2 12" speakers?). They should have called this amp "the poor man's Marshall".I liked them so much I have an other on order.
Crate v2112b 2x12 speaker cabinet
Equally as impressive is the crate v2112b 2x12 speaker cabinet. Comes with two crate 2x12 speakers wired for 8ohm mono and 16 ohm stereo. Again, I was amazed at the price and even more amazed by the sound and size of these cabs. Blowout price new was $xxx.00 (about the price of one raw celestion speaker?!!). These cabs are as big as the v332112 amp and sound just as good. ?I was afraid they would put some poor sounding speakers in these but instead I got 2 outstanding sounding speakers that are firm, warm and clean sounding. the cab reminds me of a 4x12 cab in that it has that bassy sound that most 2x12's do not. just a great deal!!!!
Overall
The crate v series of tube amps and cabs have made my guitar setup sound so much better that I cant wait to record with them, all tube!!!! great!!
Mackie 32x8x2 8-buss mixing console
I have been using a 14channel mackie 14ch mixing board which is tiny and was doubling in my guitar rig and also as a mic preamp for my studio recording setup. Well no more!! Mackie came out with these new onyx mixing consoles which sent the price of their analog mixing consoles plummeting, yet the quality is superb sound wise!!I found a used mackie 32x8x2 mixing console used for $xxx +xx s/h, not bad for a board that new sells for $3699.00 (even now on sale?!).32 as in 32 channels, 8 as in 8 buss and It is huge, about 4 feet across and looks so cool, but more importantly is the sound, great mic pre's and super quiet operation. So it will work great with my digital recorders. I love the mackie analog sound!!!I use my little 14 ch mackie ,but now it can go back to my guitar setup.
I had tried to replace my mackie 1402 mixer with a behringer but the difference was terrible, so bad that I immediately took back the behringer. The mackie is just a great sounding board. I plan to use the board for recording of course, but into my roland digital recorders, adats and emu emulator x with sonar. Best of all for me is I can record several different amps at one time and mix those amps into one buss which will feed one of the digital recorders. super cool!! It will just be the centerpiece of my home studio. It should arrive soon then I will know much more.
Optionally it has a meter bridge which is about $500 and give led metering on all channels, Mine doesn't has the meter bridge, but I may add it if I find for a decent price in the future.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
the silent audio studio : move PC out of control room
The silent Studio Idea
This is actually a great idea. The silent studio . IT should be a no brainer but I have seen almost no studios base don this simple idea. I have been in studios including my own where they are trying to mix and master and record for tat matter and in the same room they have a super noisy PC whirring away. Terrible noise form the cpu fan, power supply fan and additional fans, even noisy hard drives. In my case it was like an air conditioner running. It was really irritating especially when recording mixing and mastering.
Solution: put PC in other room
obviously remove the computer from the room. You could put it in a closet but then there are heat issues,etc..So, here is what I did. I put about a 2.5" hole in my wall to the next room. I put it near the ground as the next room is my living room, the hole was simple to do as it was dry wall. I just used a simple drywall saw and made a round hole. ALso, I found these metal chrome covers that attached at each end and really gave it a professional look. ALso, I made the whole in the living room to be easily hidden by my home theatre speakers.
Considerations: Cables
ok, the PC is crutial to my home studio for recording ,mixing and mastering audio, so I had to get extension cables for everything, an expensive proposition if you buy locally , I checked and saw cables for $30.00 each!?! NOT!! online I found discounters who had extension cables for cheap ,about $10.00 for a vga cable, and then 2 p/s2 cables and ethernet cable and usb cable,etc... One thing I could suggest is to consider a cheap KVM switch used to switch PC's while still using the same keyboard,monitor and mouse, the cbales for this are cheaper in the long run.
Also, instead of lengthy cables, if you have a laptop, you could use remote desktop to access the noisy PC. This may work, but the video is the problem, if you have a fast video card in your pc ,you lose that performance as video is over an ethernet cable. I opted for just extension cables so far.
OVERALL
This sounds like a simple task, but I found this to be quite a task. Poking a hole in your wall is a nerve racking thing. After you have done it though and it looks good and you have not destroyed anything and have nice wall plates covering it, then its not so nerve racking. Also, after that there is no turning back, as your almost there. Then there are the cables, lots of them, 2 midi cables, spdif i/o cables, toslink cables, etc...and the regular pc cables and finding the right length. IT gets expensive. You can easily spend $100.00 on the cables alone. However, it may be the best $100 ever spent to improve your studio. When you think that people buy audio tiles and audio foam and so on which is really expensive, then this is not so bad and while a pain in the butt,; the result will make it worthwhile. My studio room now is really quiet and I can hear things so much better on my monitors. I wont ever put a noisy pc in my studio again. ever.a laptop would be fine, but my audio interface cards require a pc , so this was a great solution. Also, buy your cables online and you can get a deal. Local stores (not all) tend to sell the $40 vga cable extender that can be had for $8 online. You wont regret this simple way to really improve your studio.
This is actually a great idea. The silent studio . IT should be a no brainer but I have seen almost no studios base don this simple idea. I have been in studios including my own where they are trying to mix and master and record for tat matter and in the same room they have a super noisy PC whirring away. Terrible noise form the cpu fan, power supply fan and additional fans, even noisy hard drives. In my case it was like an air conditioner running. It was really irritating especially when recording mixing and mastering.
Solution: put PC in other room
obviously remove the computer from the room. You could put it in a closet but then there are heat issues,etc..So, here is what I did. I put about a 2.5" hole in my wall to the next room. I put it near the ground as the next room is my living room, the hole was simple to do as it was dry wall. I just used a simple drywall saw and made a round hole. ALso, I found these metal chrome covers that attached at each end and really gave it a professional look. ALso, I made the whole in the living room to be easily hidden by my home theatre speakers.
Considerations: Cables
ok, the PC is crutial to my home studio for recording ,mixing and mastering audio, so I had to get extension cables for everything, an expensive proposition if you buy locally , I checked and saw cables for $30.00 each!?! NOT!! online I found discounters who had extension cables for cheap ,about $10.00 for a vga cable, and then 2 p/s2 cables and ethernet cable and usb cable,etc... One thing I could suggest is to consider a cheap KVM switch used to switch PC's while still using the same keyboard,monitor and mouse, the cbales for this are cheaper in the long run.
Also, instead of lengthy cables, if you have a laptop, you could use remote desktop to access the noisy PC. This may work, but the video is the problem, if you have a fast video card in your pc ,you lose that performance as video is over an ethernet cable. I opted for just extension cables so far.
OVERALL
This sounds like a simple task, but I found this to be quite a task. Poking a hole in your wall is a nerve racking thing. After you have done it though and it looks good and you have not destroyed anything and have nice wall plates covering it, then its not so nerve racking. Also, after that there is no turning back, as your almost there. Then there are the cables, lots of them, 2 midi cables, spdif i/o cables, toslink cables, etc...and the regular pc cables and finding the right length. IT gets expensive. You can easily spend $100.00 on the cables alone. However, it may be the best $100 ever spent to improve your studio. When you think that people buy audio tiles and audio foam and so on which is really expensive, then this is not so bad and while a pain in the butt,; the result will make it worthwhile. My studio room now is really quiet and I can hear things so much better on my monitors. I wont ever put a noisy pc in my studio again. ever.a laptop would be fine, but my audio interface cards require a pc , so this was a great solution. Also, buy your cables online and you can get a deal. Local stores (not all) tend to sell the $40 vga cable extender that can be had for $8 online. You wont regret this simple way to really improve your studio.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Hard Drives and Backup for guitar Audio studio, 51st Grammy awards
Hard drive failure
Ok, back in business, I had 2 500gb lacie drives fail and they contained all 127 album masters since 1999 and the motors seized up on both drives. SO I had to get the data recovered which i did. I highly recommend lowcostrecovery.com ,they got all my data back and it was 1/2 of what others charge. EXCELLENT!! Ok, so, I also sent back the faulty usb 2.0 lacie drives and got warranty replacements on both. So, now I am all set. I also got 2 sata 500gb int drives for $39 each from geeks.com, what a deal. So, lesson learned. backup your data and set it aside. I made the mistake of backing up my data on external hard drives and thn using those drives in my setup which was a costly mistake. So at the very least i will set aside one of those 500gb drives if not both. I also learned that for my critical data, the only real back up is on DVD. I should have known this as I had cd-r's from 1997 that were still god and the data had been lost on hard drive ages ago.
In addition, let me tell you of my experience with external drives:
1)LACIE 120gb external firewire- firewire drives are the way to go, faster than usb 2.0 and much more reliable, I had this thing going 24/7 for several years now
2)iomega 1tb ext drive usb 2.0- decent so far, but it really only works well with vista, xp is has a problem about a write delay ,because of the mother board chipset wich is totally lame
3)LAcie 500gb usb 2.0 Porsche - really decent ,wrks well with xp and vista, but dam fragile!! I had drives in my pc tower where the tower got knocked over an yet the drives were fine, here the tiniest of thing and its game over, I would wrap these in 4" of foam all around and even then that may not be enough, I should go into the data recovery business because lots of people are going to lose their data from ext drive errors, or being dropped ,etc.. just super fragile
4)int 500gb drives sata and IDE - internal drives are the way to go, they are faster than ext drives, more reliable and in the case can take more of a beating if something should occur
Grammy Awards entry list
Ok, I made it!! I am officially listed on this years Grammy entry list. Very cool for an independent musician like me. This is my sixth year in the Grammy entry list. Now keep in mind this is not the same as a Grammy nominee. To be a nominee you have to be one of the top 5 in a category which is voted on by the voting member's of the recording academy. They vote from the people listed in the entry list. So, if I get to be one of the top 5 in a category I am in then I would be a Grammy nominee. But, this never happens sadly, at least not so far. For me, i am just pleased to be included on the entry list and to participate. This year was weird because they put me in the pop category?! best pop instrumental performance and best pop instrumental performance. I am not disagreeing because in a way my music is not super heavy rock all the time, though I would consider it rock. Though rock gets heavier every year. Well, not big deal, especially as I would not stand a change in the rock categories this year when there is Joe satrini, RUSH (one of my favorite bands) and others. SO, I am fine with it, next year though I hope to be in the rock category. So , I keep my fingers crossed as you never know. I hope to participate ten times, so this is number 6. We will see. This year was harder as I had to get a cd with general distribution (thank you amazon.com, create space, cdbaby !!) which I did for modern rock guitar vol.110 "The station"!! Sweet!!!
EMU emulator X 1010 pci Sound Card and EMU 0202 i/o card
The Emu sound card is amazing sound quality wise. I was using a creative labs audigy which was ok , but it was nto a pro sound. The emu can do 192k/24bit!?! WOW!! I usually use 44.1k/24 or 48k/24 or 96 depending on the application. anyway, this card has 8 adat in/out, 2 spdif in/out, midi in out,optical in/out and analog in/out, hardware dsp F/x's which are really neat and don’t eat up cpu cycles, hmm, let's see what else, oh yeah , it has a mixer of sorts where you can assign sends and returns which is useful for monitoring and recording. Its also a sampler and I have not even used that yet. Well, the sound quality through my Mackie 824's is just fantastic, really pro quality, great fro doing my albums!! Just super clean, it has the same a/d and d/a converters as the digidesign protools hd3 $super expensive setup...so ork for me, I wont be going back to my audigy anytime soon...oh yeah its got 12 in/12 out and firewire too...I like this emu card so much I am thinking of getting the breakout box which will give me an additional 8 adat input/outputs, so that would be a total of 16 adata in/outs and i have to adat units so that would be great, that would give me 16+24+4+4= 48 tracks a/d, ok cheating a bit as my vs's can record 24 tracks digital, but can only transfer 1 stereo master . Anyway, plenty for me and with really great sound quality. I should also mention that this card w3as given to me by PSB!! PSB is an accomplished musician as well and decided not to use this card for his setup. So I do appreciate him passing it on to me!!! He has helped me out a lot and we get along even though our approach to music, home studio recording could not be more different. Each has there way of doing things....very cool!!
Modern Rock guitar Volume 128
Listening right now to new tracks I just recorded for vol.128. Really pleased with my guitar tone , the actual recording quality and the track is really good. It's all coming together and this track for me is a good representation of my style. It has a lot of atmosphere almost like new age yet it's rock a well. Hmm, even though it is improvise on the spot and recorded live, I do hear (see) a definite direction and this track is a real improvement sound quality wise. I think I am still improving even after 127 albums. I am still amazed at where these tracks lead you musically. Awesome!! It's like a different world...musical world....
Lionsgate calls Denis...1/2 a call from Sharon
Ok, so I get this email from lionsgate from someone who says he is fom lion'sgate and he wishes to speak with me about working on some lionsgate projects. YEAH RIGHT!! Was my first thought, however I do recall sending lionsgate my music like a year ago and getting rejected immediately. SO curious to get this email a year later. however, it cant hurt to see if its legit or not. Saps (friends and others) enjoy messing with aspiring musicians and pass them selves off as representing such and such,etc...I have been around long enough to know this form experience and there are very few legit "calls" in the music business. So I am playing it by ear, however, my music would work great with film projects and so on. In fact, films do inspire me and my music is designed to create moods and atmospheres which films do as well. Anyway, we will see, I may never hear from him again. In any case, I am perfectly happy just doing my albums and enjoy playing. It is not fame and fortune I seek, it is to continue playing and develop my style and approach to music...ok that sounds sappy as hell, but it is true. I just really enjoy creating my albums and trying to develop my style. So, I am skeptical with emails like this. Some people create music to please others and its good as a form of communication, but for me, I create my albums to please myself as selfish as that may sound, though I hope others will like it as well..
oh now what is this 1/2 call from Sahron, well let me explain, my friends were in line for some concert tickets and over heard a guy telling people he got 2 calls from sharon ozzborne to play guitar for ozzy, supposedly he went on to say that he partied with keel in their tour bus and so on...hahah, well , my friends were amused and told me about it, so ever since that has been the crowning achievement...to get 2 calls from sharon?!?! haaha, so silly, so if you get a call from metallica and they need a replacement guitarist quick, well that would be 2 call from sharon, if it would be only temporary gig then that’s 1 call from sharon, if it an audition well that’s only 1/2 a call from sharon, hahaah....so stupid and silly, but so funny and over the years I can honestly that I have gotten many "1/2 call from sharon" and one or two times "1 call from sharon" but never "2 calls", also if a call/email/contact is suspicious or turns out to be a scam then that was "1/2 call from sharon but the phone got disconnected.....). Lame, you know, the truth is , for me anyway, people are gullible and I guess they want the brass ring of fame fortuen so badly that they lose sight of just the fun of playing and creating. Years ago I was very naive, having played a year or two, I thought I could get into a really well known band and so on, I am glad I didn’t as I realize just how long it really takes to develop your own style and to play proficiently. Anyway, for 1/2 call from sharon...leave a message...well see....hahha but for lionsgate, I wish it were true because I think my music would be really ideal for film...
Film/script idea
ok, I have this idea for a film script, opening scene is as follows: a realtor shows a family a home, its feel good candyland family with white house picket fence etc,, so the family dog gets out and runs around to the back yard while the family is being shown the house by the realtor (you hear him saying "yes, its just the right size for a family, little billy can have a room all to himself" and you hear the fate asks the kid where "muffy the dog is" the kids just mention of she is outside, she is ok, the realtor says its ok the back yard is fenced in, now the camera panned to the back yard and yes there is little muffy running around ,she stops to take a dump and then continues running in the back yard , she is barking a bit and having a great time, then suddenly, she falls into a sinkhole and you only hear a faint yelp, later th family goes outside and they call for muffy but she is nowhere to be found?!?!?! CUT- ok that’s the opening scene , oh except for the little muffy dog laying dead after falling a good 10 stories in a sinkhole. YES!! CUT!! ACTION!! haha..the movie would be about a family who buys a house only to discover it is slowly being swallowed up by a sink hole and then the sinkhole is the largest in history and threatens to eat up a development and then 1/2 the state hahaahha.....wow I would go see this movie.... actually I read in a paper long ago about a young teacher who just had a child;he went to his kitchen one morning and then fell to his death when a sinkhole opened up in his kitchen. I mean talk about a freak accident, anyway, this would make for a good horror movie though I could see where it could be done very poorly and would be almost humorous rather than a drama or horror film as I envision it.
Studio Furniture and projects from hell
ok, even with the added used desk for $25 I still have issues with this studio room. I need access to all my stuff but still need space to play and record. Its coming along, but what a project geez... I finally realized that I have just too much stuff in this one room. I am tripping over stands and stuff.SO today is Sunday and I will finally get to take this stuff to storage and set up this room. It's fully functional and I am please about that, but there are still things I want to implement that I have not had time to do, such as swapping out a rackmount power amp single space with a 2 space amp which is much cleaner better, but to do that I need the right cables, then I have to hook up my 2 other v digital recorders, as I am using only one at the moment, then I have a tube power amp I need to experiment with , will it work better than solid state with my modeler? Also I have rc-50 looper, do I incorporate it into my main system or do I use it as a separate setup, i was thinking of creating a small setup for small solo stuff, t would work with these two small fender monitors, then I have 2 guitar to setup a yamaha pacifica that has ten's I need it to have 099's string wise. then I have a mexican strat that needs to be set up properly. Hmm, i also have to replace a fan in a tube amp and I have to return a furman rackmount power strip deal as it has a faulty switch. I tried to do this but the saps haven’t gotten back to me. Well, then I have sonar DAW software that I have to experiment with and see if I will use that to record with, this could very cool, but just not had the time and most of all its this furniture. I have this microwave stand that I painted black and my PC that I rack mounted will fit in there with the adats perfectly. 19" so I would not have to buy a separate rack case, but haven’t had time to do that and will the cables fit from the recorders to the pc and so on , truth is I want to get the pc out of the studio so it is really silent either that or I need to replace the fans in it. I have these laptops I could use which are silent, but then the audio card and all that would get lost and buying really long cables seems a bit silly as t would be 50ft midid cables, 2 50ft spdif cables, 1 adat 50 ft optical spdif cable, to 1/4 t0 xlr etc...it would cheaper to just change out the fans, I don’t even know if they make a 50ft spdif cable...Ihaev see 3 or 5ft but thats it. anyway stuff to work out as usual. I am slowly learning that you just don’t setup a n audio studio one time, it evolves continually. Also, I need to continue playing and recording so I only a small amount of time to mess with this.
Cable wraps
Last night one of my monitors suddenly started making a hum, turns out it was the cable was going bad. So I opened my closet to replace it and found instead a jungle of cables, all wrapped allover the place, it took me an hour to untangle everything. Lesson learned, use cable ties for all your cables when not in use. Then you never have to mess around and untangle cables and you actually know what kind and how many cables you have. After spending an hour I discovered a had a cable that I was about to order. I would rather spend a minute cutting a cable tie than I would spending an hour untangling (and probably damaging) a mess of cables. Plus it easier to store them.
Gear Maintenance
recording 128 albums has been a challenge as far as gear maintenance goes. Just laying and recording taxes your gear. I have been lucky in many ways as I have only had a few pieces of equipment crap out on me. But this is because I really try to maintain my gear. Granted I have worn frets down to nothing from playing but there is not much to do with that except a re-fret job, but its the same with gear. Cables in particular I discovered they just end up going bad at point or another. I make them when they have been replaced so I wont use them again. ok that’s a lie, that’s what I should do , but I haven’t until now haha. But I really am doing this now. You know when I played gig's , the equipment took such a beating it is had to believe. I mean I would get cable ends torn off, tubes broken, rack ears bent, rackmount case covers bent or broken, and on and on, even footswitches would just come back from a show all bent up, same when recording, it is not that I am not careful. but I do use the gear I have often. Some gear I use isn’t made anymore so I had to go and hunt and find a back up, in particular the lexicon jamman (not the new pedal that sucks) but the old rack mount units. I now have 2 as if one dies I would need the other, it is essential as it syncs to the drum samples for my emulated bass. The roland rc-50 was supposed to replace it but those bozo's couldn’t get the midi part to work /sync haha, even now!!! So I had to resort to gong back to the lexicon. So I found aback up which I should not use unless it breaks. anyway, I guess I should count my blessings that most of my gear is still functioning properly.
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