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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 14, 2017 14:46:14 GMT -6
Moral of the story is that it certainly allows me to understand how much time I need to do my best work.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 14, 2017 14:44:26 GMT -6
^Deposits are fine Doug. But this has to do with an unknown amount of time, really. There is no way to know, other than [as Martin rightfully pointed out] how long it will take to become happy with the work. I can only estimate it. They hold me to that. But Mixing takes a lot of time. Clients don't know, so they can't budget for it. Even I don't know. No one is prepared to be unhappy.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 14, 2017 14:21:53 GMT -6
Adam, you did that for you, and it was the right thing to do. It was a classy move. That kind of dedication is something people will pick up on unconsciously, and it will do you good eventually. Just say to yourself you paid it froward. It was classy. But it's not a good way to stay in business. Especially if it is a constant thing that happens on every project. If it is professionals you're dealing with this does not happen. Or actually, it happens to a degree, but no one asks you to do it for "free". Very true Bill. Staying in business is another thread probably. Most of my clients aren't pro's. The pro's do handle themselves well. Although, I can name a few who don't like to pay their bills. Shit happens. Like when they book and turns out they can't make the session. A pro will still paypal me for the time. And I am happy to accommodate another session at a later time.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 14, 2017 14:17:25 GMT -6
Adam, you did that for you, and it was the right thing to do. It was a classy move. That kind of dedication is something people will pick up on unconsciously, and it will do you good eventually. Just say to yourself you paid it froward. Absolutely true Martin! Myself was at the forefront of my mind. And now, I know myself a little better. Its just really tough when bands want you to estimate the time needed, and then put a brick-wall on it, while there is no problem pole-vaulting over it when needed.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 14, 2017 13:11:36 GMT -6
Damn, this is a tough one....
I had a group of guys in my place recently, they were a 4 piece band, vocals/ac.gtr, drums, e-bass, e-gtr, I recorded 11 songs with them all playing together for basics. In one 8 hour session. Cost them $400
Next Session: Overdubs. Happy Happy e-Guitars, all the over the place. Oh yea, Re-do the Vocals and Acoustics as well. 5 Hours $250
Next Session: Attended Mixing of the Album. Mix down 11 songs, averaging 45mins-1.5 hours per song. Sounding pretty good. Good enough to get Bar gigs with. Since there was no more budget for external Mastering, I offered to do it myself, without charging them. End result, Album sounded final and good for the time we spent. $400
Next Session: Un Attended Mastering. About 2-3 hours. Tried not to ruin it. $0
2-weeks later..... long story short,
"Adam, we need a many revisions to these songs, here is what we need" [.....I can't even begin to explain this] $0
After they let all their friends listen to the album, they had too much feedback. Which caused them to change their minds about the way the songs sat. $0
There were too many quibbles for my taste, [and for the time we had spent, I think their expectations were quite FAR for what we were doing]
I think the very first time you recall and tweak something, its simply not a mix anymore. You gotta tweak another tweak just to make the tweak. So the amount of tweaks they required, simply sounded horrible to my ears [they had been dictated by others in car stereos or bose pills or whatever]..
Whilst, I then and now, refuse to put my name on a "Tweaked" version of a Mix, so I proceeded to tell them I would listen to the problems they are having with the work WE BOTH did. They chalked it up to their "none-experience" in the studio. I told them I could do recalls, but would need to be paid for my time.
Then they returned with the sales-pitch to "sell me" in completing the album for them properly and that it would be in my best interest to do so. Alright.
So, what I did was pretty much this. I proceeded to listen to the problems and went into the studio, mixing each and every song from the top of the quality control ladder. This time, unattended: I spent nearly 2-3 hours on each mix, sculpting, carving, cultivating, curating all their concerns.
About 14 hours later, their album was finished. $0
After about 20 hours, it was Mastered. $0
No Recalls, No problems. Estimated Value around $1000
Have not yet got any more work from their record,
Cheers and coffee!
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 12, 2017 8:22:09 GMT -6
I got a Nuke option for you.
Step 1) Copy the Audio Track that needs a Strategic Targeting of Nuclear De-Essing Assault
Step 2) Put An Equalizer Plug in on the Copy Track. Anything with Super Sweep-able Q and Lots of Options.
Step 3) Put a Nice Compressor Plug that you like, with a Side-Chain input - on the Dry Vocal Track.
Step 4) Now Assign the output of the Copy/EQ track to the Side-Chain on your Nice Vocal Compressor
Step 5) With the Copy Track, REMOVE all Frequencies that you DONT want to Compress, and BOOST the SNOT out of the Areas you DO want to compress...[errr, uhm... nuke].
Step 6 Target the sum-bitch with the EQ unit and breath fire and fury, destruction of SSSSSSSSSS as you need.
Or, if you're like me.....and you're lazy -- You might just use something like Waves C6.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 10, 2017 9:16:28 GMT -6
^cool, thanks!
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 10, 2017 8:56:37 GMT -6
I really like working on Neotek consoles whenever possible. My tech Joe Hates working on Neotek Consoles whenever possible. We used to joke around with him and say, "Needatech" consoles loved him. hahaha. These things are popular in Boston. There are like, 20 of them around.
Good luck with yours!
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 10, 2017 7:47:06 GMT -6
Where can you purchase one of these? Is it only on the Kickstarter? Thanks,
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 9, 2017 10:57:13 GMT -6
I'd love to try the Chandler REDD mic too, who knows, maybe that thing is the 47, 67, and 251 all rolled into one, and you don't need a preamp. Having tried this mic out, it is worth the time! Its a radical departure from other mics, but gives off a vibe of "handle everyone, and then some", whereby it emits the characteristics of "many great and timeless things" all at once. The Hugeness of a 47 in the lows, the sweetness of the M49 in the mids, the regal, staunch clarity of the C12/ELAM, and the magically Delicious compression of the REDD47. Yes this mic sounds delicious without the preamp in the way, but with varying options, you can stack more tube sound on it and it becomes even more huge. At least, when patched into my preamps, this mic continued to sound more finished. And by finished I mean the multi-stages of gain creating a compressed and equalized final product. This mic has a "superstar" vibe.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 9, 2017 10:45:33 GMT -6
super cool
love passing signal through transformers,
I am going to beg the Coil Audio dudes to make a box of fun like this with their line transformers
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 8, 2017 8:18:41 GMT -6
Context is king!
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 8, 2017 7:43:34 GMT -6
P1 into the Warm sounds nice I don't think the mic sounds grainy
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 7, 2017 8:11:39 GMT -6
Awesome video demo!! Thanks for posting. (I watched the video on my desktop computer speakers) This is certainly extremely interesting to me. Like all things in audio, its a compromise. When I heard the first take and judged the dynamics, I felt the R-84 sounded wonderful on your voice. Especially when in the higher register. Had an "old" quality to it. Perhaps a little dull, or dry/warm. Etc. However you say it, it felt flattering to your voice, but also not super detailed.
During the Second example, the quieter parts had more "life" and air. Which I really liked over the first example. However, the louder parts where not as "ear cozy", so the sacrifice here is that you will get more detail, but a bit harder to handle transient.
Thanks again for sharing! Super Cool. The Loading off the plate is nice. If the circuit could use some type of Non-Linear Compression after the input amplifier, I might get the "match made in heaven" feelz!
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 4, 2017 8:22:08 GMT -6
Interesting. Yea, some glass sounds less than smooth. Obviously, they aren't sitting around listening to different tubes. But good to know at least they ship them with quiet tubes. I am now curious how much the signal changes through the device, so I would like to listen with my gear at some point. I want to check out your place sometime. I could bring one of these up for you to check out. That would be killer! I will check my schedule and see what's possible. I was just thinking about some kind of "end of summer" demo night at the studio. But my brain isn't at full capacity at the moment due to a long night of mixing Hippity Hop Music with Tons of Bass.... The only box I have in house that is like a "pultec-lite" is the Hazelrigg VLC-1 channel amp. It does have a simplified LC-type EQ, [for enhancing the "sweetest" areas of the tube stage before it], which I have been enjoying. In addition, I will try and get some other boxes to check out. Kewl!
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 4, 2017 7:08:06 GMT -6
^Are they noisy? or just bad sounding? Actually they are quieter than the tubes I've been swapping in. They are just rebranded Sovteks so nothing special. They have a little bit of an upper midrange edge I don't like. Brad Interesting. Yea, some glass sounds less than smooth. Obviously, they aren't sitting around listening to different tubes. But good to know at least they ship them with quiet tubes. I am now curious how much the signal changes through the device, so I would like to listen with my gear at some point.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 3, 2017 9:56:47 GMT -6
^Are they noisy? or just bad sounding?
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 3, 2017 6:59:38 GMT -6
So its worth the rack space then,
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 3, 2017 6:11:08 GMT -6
since all these plugs have varying qualities, I would certainly think the math inside the box matters to the reverb. But perhaps the sound of these units are cooler because they have analog amplifier components to them as well. They just have a particular sound. As does your Interface's ADA's Electronics. Most of the time, the Converters are the differences we hear, though the calculation crunching def matters. There are tons of good digital options these days. There are a few hardware units out there that set themselves apart, and w/ plug ins, I find that most days I have to dink around with them to make them sound better. With a better hardware unit, you don't have to do much work.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 1, 2017 17:27:22 GMT -6
hmmm, not sure it was me, but we do ship shit loads of Fedex stuff
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Post by adamjbrass on Jul 31, 2017 9:11:40 GMT -6
Been looking myself, I am planning to buy a M49 kit and customize my own, though I saw Ben at Beezneez making a M-49 body recently, so I dunno. But I really want a M-49 style mic in my collection. May have to trade someone...
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Post by adamjbrass on Jul 31, 2017 7:20:50 GMT -6
Wow, this looks intense. Been meaning to try out Jeff's stuff, gonna try and get it going.
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Post by adamjbrass on Jul 27, 2017 8:42:51 GMT -6
dang, sorry to hear, I am sure Matt will sort you out fast. He has been great to work and has awesome customer service! I bought them from KMR Audio in the UK (I'm in Spain), but I hear they're pretty good with customer service too. I take it that you haven't found the mics to be specially fragile, right? Matt ships them to us well packed, and I have not had any problems myself. In use, the Stager's handle anything you throw at them, but like all Ribbon mics, care should be taken. In your case, best thing to do is notify KMR and have them sort it out. Did they pack them well?
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Post by adamjbrass on Jul 27, 2017 8:15:09 GMT -6
My pair of SR-2N arrived today. Within seconds of testing it in front of a drum kit (Blumlein pair) one of the mics started to cut out. I assume a faulty/damaged ribbon. I'm really careful with handling, and haven't blown any ribbon on any other mic, so I suppose it was already damaged in transit or something. The few seconds while it worked, the pair sounded good. Great low end. The capture was a bit roomier than I thought it'd be. I can't wait to have it replaced so I can resume testing. dang, sorry to hear, I am sure Matt will sort you out fast. He has been great to work and has awesome customer service!
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Post by adamjbrass on Jul 27, 2017 8:07:03 GMT -6
Concur with Doug and the proximity of these guys - Not to rain on the testing parade as this is sort of a daunting task to begin with - but we've found that for low wattage recording amps (such as the oahu used here) you can put the sr-2n right up on the speaker with no issues ALA 'sm57 style' - it only gets bigger and better. The AEA 44 - i have no experience with personally, but with an RCA 44 id start at the same distance adam did - and then slowly move it closer/back/side to side until the magic spot is found. Not saying adam didnt do this but its hard to keep two very different ribbon mics to 'speak' in a similar fashion or close enough to analyze with a fine tooth comb -so for that i applaud this effort. Ideally, a passive ribbon mic should be amplified downstream by something with a transformer coupled input as intended by its original design. In the past (80's til now) ribbons were closeted due to sounding 'shitty' when used with an SSL or other transformerless consoles/preamps - but somehow worked great when plugged into that old crusty tube preamp being used as a doorstop in the corner of the tech closet. Transformers like to 'talk' to each other on the audio line and that language cannot be replaced/supplemented by electronic balancing when it comes to a passive ribbon, sure some heroic SS efforts can be implemented - but at a cost much greater than a simple transformer can provide easily. Impedance is very important with these simple passive/mechanical devices and only a proper transformer on both ends can keep it 'stiff and happy' enough to reveal its intended performance. The 'distortions' that people refer to are usually due to these floppy impedances in the signal chain between the mic and pre. Id be interested in a shoot out with the sub $1500 AEA mics against the Stagers - seems like a more 'fair' fight but this pretty much sums it up pretty well. Big Thanks to Adam for this! Right on! Was a fun shootout. But alas, only will yield so much information Hopefully enough to make an informed decision about a purchase hehe Anyway, I can tell you I noticed the exact same thing with the Proximity effect on the Stager. When its hugging the source, it absolutely gets bigger. The 44 just does not need to be close to anything. Sometimes I hug things with it. Things that need a Hug....but mostly, I pull "Andre the Giant" back off the sound all the time. I do like to put mics on my Oahu close, but I typically use about 1 foot or 2 with most things. like tube mics and stuff. Though, thats just my perference. If we had a blues harp mic and a real player, I would modify my approach! But, I like the air in between the speaker and the mic. But I get why people close mic'it. I would do that if tracking live. And also use the Nulls to my advantage! When you get a vocal in tight on the SR2N it starts to sound identical to the Warm and Cozy feel I get with the AEA44. Obviously they are different, so...In the price range, the R84 might be a good one to shootout with, since it has less-proximity effect compared to the 44. I have a client who shot those out and preferred the Stager. Everyone's ears may gravitate towards something :-P Like mine, when I plug my 44 into the CA-286. It makes me think Jim Morrison is hovering over my shoulder. Interesting info about the transformers. The NPNG is a transformer-less front end, but uses a Jensen output transformer. I think it has a 7-transistor discrete front end, before it even gets to the 13 transistor op amp. Karl told me only 5 transistors are in the path. The remainder are simply creating an "environment" haha. Needless to say, the NPNG blows the roof of a Squalid Stale Logix Preamp! LOL
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