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Post by drbill on Apr 18, 2024 20:16:58 GMT -6
Yes it does! It becomes important when I FEEL it's important. Unfortunately the laws of the universe will not agree, if you feel it's important to jump into a fire then it will most likely burn you. An idiocracy statement I know but practical sciences are generally derived from well let's face it stupid yet clever in retrospect, it's people who found out the hard way. Marie Curie for example, who knew radiation kills huh? Well we do today that's for sure. We can say it freely today but someone had to find out.
Audio is a very simple scientific premise in the grand scheme, even me the dummy here noticed the less than perfect anomaly when I was desigining equipment 20 years ago. I wish I had the successful career you had Bill, I might even trade my leftie for it but this one area where there's no real plausible arguments besides you like to damage to your signal. Satire my friend. I've never use an external clock.
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Post by drbill on Apr 18, 2024 18:27:47 GMT -6
It becomes important when you have too much expendable cash! No it doesn't, science doesn't often change because you want it to unfortunatley. Yes it does! It becomes important when I FEEL it's important.
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Post by drbill on Apr 18, 2024 18:16:34 GMT -6
It becomes important when you have too much expendable cash!
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Post by drbill on Apr 17, 2024 18:10:34 GMT -6
Yeah, no worries guys. ^^^^. The above could never make it in the real world. <<rolleyes>>
If y'all get tired of your fav songs by your fav artist, all you have to do is have AI generate more new hits for you.
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Post by drbill on Apr 17, 2024 13:17:39 GMT -6
I believe you, you’ve been doing this a LOT longer than I have. I’m still confused though. If I’m recording off the repro head in real time, everything’s going to align over the long run, no matter how long you record. Not necessarily. Not if you are transferring off the repro head. The reality is that it will all become evident once you start doing it - and you'll either need to address the issues or you won't.
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Post by drbill on Apr 17, 2024 10:52:41 GMT -6
PPS - this is the kind of BS $#&%$ we should be using AI for.....
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Post by drbill on Apr 17, 2024 10:51:05 GMT -6
I added a new title to my works on Friday, including the artist, and low and behold, there is no artist for it now. Go figure. I find it really hard to get paid for any royalties. The fact that I can't even edit a work is very problematic. We are completely at their mercy to fix what they deleted to begin with. Not happy about it. I could have lost tens of dollars.... They (BMI) have just introduced new software to manage/track your works a couple of days ago. I have not tried it yet. It's under your online user account.
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Post by drbill on Apr 17, 2024 10:46:29 GMT -6
PS - even in the above scenario, drummers or producers or engineers who are EXTREMELY sensitive to timing issues might start to feel uneasy as the chunk of audio you selected (15 sec, 30 sec, 1 minute, etc.) comes towards the end of its length - only to feel "OK" again, as your edit brings things back into perspective.
A way to deal with this is to figure out how many samples out you can "feel" - either consciously, or subconsciously, and make your edits for that length of time. This could necessitate 20+ edits in some pieces. It's tedious. And your level of rhythmic sensitivity is going to be the key factor as to how complicated its going to be. I had one very famous producer I worked with who could easily feel 10 samples. This approach with Tape would have been a nightmare scenario for his work flow.
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Post by drbill on Apr 17, 2024 10:39:40 GMT -6
The issue with that approach will be tape machine drift. Without the deck locked to a synchronizer, and then the synchronizer resolved to black burst it will "drift". How much, how little? It depends. Enough to care, enough to be unusable? Depends. Even the voltage of the AC can affect the speed of the deck. So can heat. Or the phase of the moon. Analog tape machines do not play nice like digital machines do. So - if I was in your shoes -
I'd feed a drum machine or external click to both DAW and Tape and record both. Use a side stick or something with a very clear transient for easy visibility. Then feed the analog recorded click and record it back into the DAW. Then line up the first "clicks" to each other. Then play back the DAW and see how much "drift" there is over time. Do you hear phasing, flanging, actual delay between the two? It's likely there will be some degree of this - the longer the recording, the more likely.
When doing film/ video, we often had 15+ minutes section, and the drift could be substantial - causing lip sync to look like a bad Japanese dubbed film. If you're only doing 3 minute songs, perhaps it will not be so egregious. At any rate, record the max time you might ever use. Then..
As mentioned, line up click #1. Go 30 sec in and see if there is any drift. Then 1 min in. Then 1:30, etc. all the way down to the end. If there is zero drift, then you are the luckiest guy around. IF there is drift - don't freak out. It's 100% normal.
Go to your daw. Figure out a formula of how many samples you will "pull up or slip back" the DAW click every 15, 30 or however many seconds. For example, if it's drifting 10 samples every 30 seconds, make an edit every 30 seconds in the TAPE to DAW track and slip the 1st edit 10 samples, the second 20 samples, the third 30 samples, etc.. Some elements like drums will be more critical. Some things like a string pad might be OK all the way through. Its all going to depend on the amount of drift.
Keep in mind, the amount of drift CAN vary from day to day depending on the electrical voltage and how regulated your deck is. The RIGHT way to do this is to lock and resolve your deck with a synchronizer and blackburst, and you may be able to be completely stable with zero drift. That approach is several levels up the analog food chain and requires $$$, special cabling and decks, and a lot of experience/knowledge of a tech who knows what they are doing.
Good luck.
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Post by drbill on Apr 17, 2024 9:51:17 GMT -6
The game is close to being over for those who write for : - commercials - TV - B & C level films. A level blockbuster films will still hire a real composer. - Youtube videos - reality TV - anything that does not require a "artist" personality to drive it. (And even there, AI is accelerating) In the last 6 months since I really thought about this, the strides that have been made are astounding. There are no brakes, and there is no political will to stop even if there were brakes. If you're OK with your musical experience being the total sum of playing your guitar in a coffee shop for $50 a night, then all is good - those opportunities will continue, although you'll have much more competition from the other musicians whose careers have been annihilated. If you seek a studio career as an engineer, or studio musician, or arranger, or composer, or producer / etc. there will be little work for any but the AAA level guys/gals with long standing career experience and accolades. This will destroy the middle class musicians. Some are saying make as much money and invest as much as you can right now, because by 2030 the work force will look nothing like we have now, and even jobs may be a thing of the past. Just "believing" that this will go like past trends is naive. Buckle up!! Of course it's not a trend and it won't go away, but neither will the public's need for 'real' entertainment. That means live performances by living breathing musicians that they can relate to on a personal level. There's no question, technology has decimated millions of jobs over the last 200 years. I for one am grateful that I don't have to ride a horse to get to work to pick cotton in field for 12 hours a day. When tech does something just as well and more efficiently than humans, I say bring it. Yeah, there's pain with progress, but nothing can stifle the human spirit. People won't stop playing instruments or writing music just because computers can do it better or more efficiently. People will create because they just have to. It's in our DNA, and technology will be there for us to make it better. As for an example with AI, already a decent Chess (or Go) program can beat the shit out of the best players in the world playing their A+ game 100 times out of 100, yet the (human) chess world is enjoying a renaissance of popularity. Sure, there are tournaments where computers play computers, but guess what? Almost no one cares. They prefer to watch smelly meatbags playing the game. Me? I always wear a seat belt. My personal perspective tends to focus on making a living in music - as that's what I've done my entire adult life. Of course you are right - music made by humans will continue. Perhaps we'll even head back towards the early 20th century scenarios of "sitting around the piano singing songs in the living room", but I kind of doubt that with virtual reality beating at the door. However, the opportunities to do music on a significant professional level, with the time and effort and growth that full time efforts directed towards the love of your life - music - will wane. It's sad, and what's sadder is that leaders COULD control this, but greed and power seem more important at the time. I feel exceedingly lucky that I grew up when I did and had a career at the time period I did. Blessed and grateful.
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Post by drbill on Apr 16, 2024 16:02:58 GMT -6
The game is close to being over for those who write for :
- commercials - TV - B & C level films. A level blockbuster films will still hire a real composer. - Youtube videos - reality TV - anything that does not require a "artist" personality to drive it. (And even there, AI is accelerating)
In the last 6 months since I really thought about this, the strides that have been made are astounding. There are no brakes, and there is no political will to stop even if there were brakes. If you're OK with your musical experience being the total sum of playing your guitar in a coffee shop for $50 a night, then all is good - those opportunities will continue, although you'll have much more competition from the other musicians whose careers have been annihilated. If you seek a studio career as an engineer, or studio musician, or arranger, or composer, or producer / etc. there will be little work for any but the AAA level guys/gals with long standing career experience and accolades. This will destroy the middle class musicians. Some are saying make as much money and invest as much as you can right now, because by 2030 the work force will look nothing like we have now, and even jobs may be a thing of the past.
Just "believing" that this will go like past trends is naive. Buckle up!!
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Post by drbill on Apr 15, 2024 19:35:33 GMT -6
Could be. . All I know is that for me, there is no abandoning a true hybrid setup. There is MUCH more to mixing than just "sound" and sonics. Are you still using a lot of plugins? What's interesting is how hardware increases the dynamic range. The mix with the hardware-treated file was DR13 and the pure ITB mix was DR12. An experienced mastering guy once told me that the ITB mixes he received didn't really have much in the way of dynamics compared to hybrid or pure analog mixes he mastered. There was a few things I had to change up just adding these Shadow Hills plugins. The other thing with hybrid is that you have to be able to play the mix all the way through without the cpu running out of processing. So, I'm guessing most hybrid mixes are using something like AAX DSP or really efficient native stuff. If I recall, you've got a really great Pro Tools HD setup. A lot of times when I'm loading up instances of Satin, I'll be lucky if I can get five seconds of playback lol Not really. I wouldn't call it "a lot". I certainly have plugs on every session though. Lots of trim plugins of course, a good amount of Chop Shop filter plugins as I don't have a ton of filter hardware units, most of my delays are plugins, and some reverb plugs. I'll use some EQ's to "add to or subtract from" the hardware EQ's. Most comps are hardware unless I run out. . As you mentioned, I"m running HDX, but most all of my plugins are native - not AAXDSP. Never have a problem with my upgraded 2010 Mac cheese grater, although it's due for an upgrade this year.
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Post by drbill on Apr 15, 2024 17:26:48 GMT -6
Sums of experience and music I'd say, I was walking down the street and heard someone clattering on some bins which sparked an interesting idea. Not saying it was a good one but sometimes even a car indicator can spark something due to rhythm alone. Then for me mood is triggered usually by memory or situation which often sets the timbre.. This is outside the confines of professional writing though and in those regards I sympathise, yeah it sucks but even then what's the difference today? I'm honestly asking. We have an onslaught of material mathematically devised to hit the most amount of streams whilst tens if not hundreds of millions of tracks (maybe more) flounder within the void. So AI adds to the ever overflowing pile and what? Unless you're in the right circle or have a massive social media advertisement budget what's changed? As someone just writing songs and wanting to play live, nothing has changed for me. I'm an outsider looking in, the expectancy of anything successful dissolved when the internet went into full swing. The one benefit I have over AI is arms and legs, so playing live should still be a fun thing to do. Also it would be interesting if AI could deliver something like Opeth which is I guess popular within its niche but certainly different.
Arms and legs make for a much more compelling live show typically. Sure do. And they are working on that. . Just wait till they execute the hot babe model - then the final frontier (did you notice my nice alliteration? AI is KILLER at artistic alliterations) is lips moving. <<thumbsup>> Lest anyone doubt or have their head in the sand, music 20 years from now will bear virtually no resemblance to music 2024, and certainly not to music 1979. At the rate of progression, it might take only 10 years.... Glad I'm in the phasing out stage of my career as opposed to the ramping up stage. My sincerest best wishes for those of you just starting out....
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Post by drbill on Apr 15, 2024 14:01:50 GMT -6
First thing I'm curious about it doing a full song front to back and splitting out each and every thing to tape and digital along the way. Have a clean feed from the preamp going right to the converters, and splitting it off to the tape machine and recording the repro head back in real time. I must not have been paying attention. I thought you were getting a multitrack. LOL. Me as well. I thought this was the 4 track headstack and it makes sense. I think reading the intent of doing full songs, splitting everything out to tape and digital on a 4-track is challenging enough, but sounds like alot of slow work on 2-track. Having to dump tape after every 2 track pass.IME, going to digital FIRST and then dumping to tape doesn't get "the tape thing". Gotta go to tape FIRST, then transfer to dig and stay there - at least until final master. Tracking to dig, dumping to tape and back to digital doesn't really get the thang.
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Post by drbill on Apr 15, 2024 10:00:59 GMT -6
I must not have been paying attention. I thought you were getting a multitrack. LOL.
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Post by drbill on Apr 15, 2024 9:55:45 GMT -6
The real problem - if there is one - for AI generated music is copyright. Music production companies are already stipulating "NO AI GENERATED MUSIC" as they know that copyright issues go hand in hand with it. The laws need to catch up quickly, or we will end up in a quagmire far worse than the ones we are already bogged down in. Already much of my catalog has been tapped to "train AI" bots. Who owns that upcoming creation that some of my greedy publishers sold to train bots?
How will it end up? Who knows, but 100% for sure it will be poised to destroy the human creatives, while making 100's of millions for the tech crew. Anyone who has their head buried in the sand thinking AI cannot do what they can creatively has not been paying attention. All of us who call ourselves "creatives" are the sums of the music we have heard since birth. Our creative muse has been "trained" by those who came before us, and mixed in with whatever DNA is pointing us towards. AI is not much different than that.....
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Post by drbill on Apr 15, 2024 9:41:31 GMT -6
If I ever got the chance to use a setup like Bill's, I imagine it would be a radically different experience and I'd have to learn what works and what doesn't. Could be. . All I know is that for me, there is no abandoning a true hybrid setup. There is MUCH more to mixing than just "sound" and sonics.
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Post by drbill on Apr 14, 2024 10:36:34 GMT -6
I was a bit surprised that you mentioned that you could "see" that the heads were bad. Usually it takes high magnification / microscope to determine that. But sometimes it's possible to see with the naked eye if it's really super bad. Please, no toothbrush. . 93% Isopropral (only the expensive and pure stuff - not the drug store diluted stuff) or preferably dedicated head cleaner, and tons of q-tips. Buy the wooden stick ones for more efficient leverage. As you have no learned first hand - no used tape. Unless you are constantly baking it - and even then, baking will degrade it. Use good (new) tape only. Lots of people "get away" with used tape, but IMO, creativity, time and efforts are worth more than saving a few bucks. Good luck.
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Post by drbill on Apr 13, 2024 20:12:41 GMT -6
Udio text prompters are the next level "songwriters".....
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Post by drbill on Apr 13, 2024 20:08:58 GMT -6
Bring your own near fields was a first step I never used to do an outside session without bringing LSR28P's. What a PITA. Especially when I was mixing in 5.1. But it was worth it. I could sus things out pronto when bringing my own "near" (more like mid) fields.
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Post by drbill on Apr 11, 2024 19:15:21 GMT -6
If you really want vibe find a Ampex 1100 or 440, just get ready to learn how to break without spooling on the floor.. Haha!! Indeed ericn . For sheer ferocity and punch, the 2" 16 track Ampex MM1000 I once had was a beast. No equals. But running a session on it? . You got really good at punching roughly a half second before the in point, and yeah, tape handling? Haha! A different world LOL
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Post by drbill on Apr 11, 2024 17:51:54 GMT -6
There’s a Mara MCI near me that I was considering getting, even though it was much more expensive. I’ve heard prints of my same mix and stems through a dozen different machines at this point and I liked the Otaris better Cool. But if you are stepping into a tape machine of ANY brand, maintenance and service should be your #1 priority - by a long country mile. Mara still supports the MCI's. I'm out of the loop on Otari's as far as service is concerned, but you should line up a tech and service before even considering a tape machine. This coming from someone who owned and loved many over the years. Service, keeping them up and running is always far more difficult than you might expect. There was a period of time where I had to spend about $500 every time I turned one on. The closest tech in Los Angeles was 30 miles, and 2 hours away at best. That's what killed tape for me.
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Post by drbill on Apr 11, 2024 15:12:26 GMT -6
If you are looking for tone and tape mojo, head towards Ampex and / or MCI. Otari machines had great mechanicals, but not much tone IMO.
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Post by drbill on Apr 11, 2024 10:04:24 GMT -6
Also, the comp/limit knob switch was on the back, deep in a rack, so I have no idea if I was using them in LIMIT mode or not. It just sounded good when I patched in, so I didn't ask questions! Oddly enough, I almost always use my opto "comps" in Limit mode. (2a's & 3a's)
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Post by drbill on Apr 10, 2024 18:14:15 GMT -6
One thing not really mentioned here.... Build quality. The construction is second to none. Hands down. I know this gets said all the time, but really, I've owned TONS (literally) of gear over the decades, and nothing save my Manly Vari-Mu comes even close to the same build quality. Something to keep in mind. I expect this unit to easily go 50 years and far outlive me without a hiccup. I've had to replace the fans in mine as they get old and worn out. But that's it. Whaaaaa?? What a POS. I'm going to sell this thing immediately!!!
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