|
Post by schmalzy on Apr 8, 2020 14:04:41 GMT -6
New Glarus made one of my top 5 beers of all time.
It was called Olde World Porter. It was a sour porter and it was BONKERS good!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Apr 7, 2020 1:32:19 GMT -6
North Dakota is blissfully underestimating how effected we're about to be. Lots o' folks still out doing stupid shit in groups. Over 20% of our state population is designated as "high risk" so all of these unsafe behaviors seem to me to be pretty foolish...but our timeline seems to be about three weeks behind what the coasts are seeing so I'm sure carefree ways will soon pass. Luckily our state is well-equipped with hospital beds but we're a little understaffed. We've had our fourth virus-caused death today and I only see it going up.
Personally I'm in good shape. My wife had an emergency appendectomy on Sunday so that was a fun way to shake up the monotony of being isolated from others. They wouldn't let me into the clinic, then wouldn't let me into the ER when my wife was rushed over, then wouldn't let me into the hospital to visit while she recovered. I understand the reasoning completely but it was definitely a little odd to not be able to visit my wife or talk to a doctor. Surgery went well. She's home and trying to manage the pain. I had to go to a pharmacy and that was a pretty wild scene. The improvised protections for the pharmacy staff were completely brute force but probably quite effective - they hung heavy plastic sheets from the ceiling to the countertop and prescriptions slide out from underneath the plastic after you've paid.
The studio is busy-ish. I have a couple projects that are in the mixing process and a country EP that needs guitar overdubs and vocals then will be edited and mixed. The two people from that group who would potentially come in to do that are both very worried about the virus (one is in an at-risk age group and the other has a housemate who is immunocompromised). They want to come in and do some stuff so I'm going through and doing a series of deep cleans, disinfecting passes, and quarantining to make sure that it's as clean as possible for when we decide to start moving forward with them. I also have the new studio space to work on but I haven't really had the time to do so. When I wrap these mixing projects then I think I'm just going to cut the parachute and move it all into the new space forcing myself to get up and running as quickly as possible.
That was longer than you were all asking for...but a long-winded extrovert like myself is going to have a hard time being brief when my self-isolation practice is in full-effect. Thanks for allowing me to vent!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Apr 1, 2020 10:34:12 GMT -6
I plan to implement Luna to some degree provided I can safely update my computer to work with the required OS.
I'd love to have a few different virtual instrument options beyond what I have now. The overall vibe of the communique so far seems to be geared towards easy tracking when inspired (or under-the-gun...it's funny how they're the same thing). I'd love to have an easy-to-use instrument option to get decent sounds quick for writing/producing with artists. Hopefully Luna wants to work with me in that way!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 29, 2020 20:59:15 GMT -6
Man, that ceiling seems awful low to me. I can't really see how you could get a cloud in there. Maybe Jeff could come up with something, but 9-9.5' sounds really problematic to me. I wouldn't have imagined 9' 9.5" to be too low. How high would you recommend for a control room? I know the answer is "as high as possible" but what's realistic? What's everyone else have going on in their control room? I imagine I could get 6" of insulation plus 6" of air gap up there - enough to really significantly control reflections - and still be a foot and a half higher than my current situation!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 27, 2020 4:48:08 GMT -6
Well, one of the companies got back to me.
They suggested my desk be at the corner between the two 14' walls and to use floor-to-ceiling tube-style traps in the 90º corners. Then panels next to the listening position and at the back of the room covering most of that angled wall and continuing 4' past the 45º angles. Suspend something from the ceiling above the mix position to sort that out. I'd probably also do something further back in the room just to make listening back there a little better, too.
I hadn't even thought of this layout because I didn't think sitting near that 90º corner would be a good idea. It definitely opens up the back of the room to be a little more useful, though.
Any thoughts on this layout?
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 26, 2020 15:03:37 GMT -6
Not sure what acoustic treatment you already have but I’d consider filling the entire 14’ wall on the top with 12” deep Roxul safe n sound, then cover with wood slats or cover the sad n sound with kraft paper so you don’t kill the high end, and cover with fabric. Then place your desk against that wall and spot treat the rest of the room. Maybe but some broadband absorbtion on the angled wall with some diffusion on the back wall with the door. How high are your ceilings? A good cieling cloud can work wonders. Ceilings are 9' 9.5". Those are the two locations I had in mind, too. Either at the top of the photo so I have symmetry side to side for the listening position or desk along the angled wall and symmetry all over (but walls throwing sound directly back at the listening position). Something I should mention: the isolation in this room was a big consideration. I've got pretty good isolation so that means all the sound inside the room is staying inside the room. The reverb time is obnoxious right now. I'm imagining a significant ceiling cloud and stuff in the corners would help that significantly. I've never gone from a super reverberant room to a controlled room so I'm not sure how much will be needed to get me there. I understand the first reflection point stuff but I'm not sure how much treating the first reflection points plus the ceiling plus the corners will reduce the actual reverb time or if I need to go more along the route Tbone suggested of some amount of absorption on a significant portion of the surfaces. I currently have a pretty substantial list of acoustic treatment. My current room sounds TERRIBLE so I just killed the reflections in the room. I built it all to stand on its own aside from the ceiling clouds. Here's the list of my current acoustic treatment: 2 - GIK 244 traps over my mix position on the ceiling. 4 - 72"x16"x5.5" panels filled with Safe N Sound 2 - 48"x38"x5.5" panels filled with Safe N Sound 1 - 48"x47"x5.5" panel filled with Safe N Sound 3 - 48"x31"x3" panels filled with Safe N Sound two are on the ceiling 1 - 92"x72"x3" panel filled with Safe N Sound on the ceiling...that I can't get out of my house without cutting in half! 8 - 72"x24.5"x2" panels filled with ComfortBatt (which is similar to Safe N Sound) I also have a few other panels someone gave me with some OC 703 but I haven't measured them and they're stashed away right this second.
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 26, 2020 13:48:24 GMT -6
Hey, all! I have a new control room I've just built. It's the size it is simply because it's the largest amount of space I could give up in my new heated shop studio space. I was hoping for a little guidance and/or thoughts. Here's an ultra-quick sketch of the room. It's done already. All the measurements relating to the wall lengths are accurate within 1/16th of an inch on the inside of the room. The stuff around the door is a little up in the air because I'm not exactly sure where it's all going to line up. It's just the rough opening at this point. There is nothing in this room yet so my desk, monitors, and treatment can go anywhere. There's no window (cameras and cheap TV screens are better for sound isolation!). Just the door and a small hole where I'll be running cables through. Does anyone have any thoughts or guidance they can lend me? I've had two thoughts regarding desk/monitor placement and those things change the acoustic treatment pretty significantly. I've reached out to a couple companies who have said "we'll get back to you this week" and two weeks later I've not heard from either of them. This weekend and this next week - with the virus and all - is a great time for me to make SERIOUS progress on the acoustic treatment construction. Take a look at the photo and let me know what your thoughts are! Thanks so much!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 21, 2020 15:55:15 GMT -6
That Chad guy is sure a nice chap. I bought this passive Re-amp box directly from him and was so impressed that I had to take a picture of it for you guys. It has a fairly hefty transformer in it that it is able to produce around 10db of extra gain to drive that signal just a little harder. Everyone seems to want it harder today. The metal casing is much thicker then I was expecting and being passive its super quiet. So everything screams quality at you. Talk to Chad if this piece peaks your interest as he only makes them in small batches at a time. Cheers 3 - Red by BEANAT19, on Flickr Not sure who this Chad character is but I could definitely go with a different reamp box that includes some available gain. How would a person get ahold of this "Chad" you speak of? What did the cost look like for that bad boy? Great photo, by the way!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 11, 2020 11:39:22 GMT -6
I'll take that SM7 off ya'! If you never use it I'm sure it's not worth more than $80. You probably also have an SM57 that you never use that gets right about the same price on the used market!
My SM7 is one of the most versatile mics in my studio. Put it anywhere near a reasonably loud source and you're probably going to get something usable! Kicks, snares, toms, rooms, guitars, bass amps, aggressive vocals, tambourines that need to blend rather than stand out.
I'm not pretty enough to be a hipster but I'm not above allowing people with cool ideas to come into my place and make cool music no matter their look.
I can reinforce the Pearlman TM1 being awesome. A friend of mine has one and loves it.
I'm a huge fan of my Vanguard V13. At $800 it's a steal. It sounds lovely and unhyped and full and it's been immensely useful in my tracking process.
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 3, 2020 17:31:43 GMT -6
My favorite limiter has been Stillwell's Event Horizon for quite a while now. It just sounds good until it sounds bad. You know right away when you break it.
I've also used Voxengo's limiter...it feels like a clipper. I like it but it gets hairy quickly.
D16's Frontier is free but is also pretty useful. I've moved away from using it often but it's been good every time I needed it!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 3, 2020 17:22:40 GMT -6
I always make sure to give a long-ass spiel in advance about keeping egos in check and how my view of music is about serving the song not the individual egos in the band. I warn them I'll probably mute some stuff. I warn them I might chop some stuff up. I tell them I'll do anything to serve the song and help them make the song better in the revision process until the song starts being sacrificed by the "more me" or ego phenomenon. I tell them that often looks like three or four rounds of revisions before we start undoing the mix and accidentally making it more about egos, expectation, and opinions than about the song.
Then I'll ask them what they feel the goal of the mixes is: is the goal to present the song in the most emotionally resonant way possible or is it to stroke someone's ego. NO ONE HAS EVER said "to stroke someone's ego."
Sooooo...that lets us as a whole creative unit enforce a rule on the mixes:
No one can comment on their own thing. If it ACTUALLY matters someone else will notice it and bring it up. I don't care if a singer thinks they're pitchy in a spot or they sound too weak in a moment (often times I WANT that weak moment...humanity!). That's their fear getting in the way of allowing for emotional connection. If a drummer says "that was pitchy" then we all know it's distracting from the emotional effectiveness of the song. If a singer is like "I'm a little flat" I don't care. If it was actually a problem I probably fixed it already...especially since it should have been handled in tracking!
This is kind of a playing chicken with the artist. If they trust you and your mixing as much as they trust themselves and their tracking then the mixes should be fairly close after the first version or the first revision. Of course, we can end up in round six of revisions pretty quickly but I think it all evens out in the end. If I go the extra mile for a client with love and enthusiasm for the project and they leave feeling good about the whole thing then that's a win. If they elect go to someone else for the next project and they get nickel and dimed on every thing you can guess who they're going to go back to for project number three (unless the second production absolutely slays the first one).
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 2, 2020 16:58:11 GMT -6
My Apex 205 is my favorite for tambourine.
Give it some distance. Half or more of hand percussion sounds are the sound of the instrument in an ambient space. Sometimes the right mic is a condenser. I find it's a better choice when I'm looking for more ambience than direct. I'll use the ribbon when I need a more balanced direct/ambience sound.
The thunk of a hand always annoyed me. I'm often using a wire brush (the kind you use on snare drums) as my striker for a tambourine with no drum head. Paint brushes (not for drums) are also sometimes helpful. They sound soft but still give me the strike.
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Mar 1, 2020 12:37:15 GMT -6
I do all my processing in Reaper then export the entire record as a single .wav file. I add metadata and export DDP, individual .wavs, and MP3s out of Hofa.
My processing in Reaper is something like this:
ReaEQ for any hpf or notching that needs to happen. A Kush EQ for tonal shaping. Most likely to be the Hammer but is sometimes Electra or Clariphonic. Oeksound Soothe if necessary One of the Kush Omega plugs if I need some more tonal shape and saturation. This decision is typically made before the EQ choices. Kush's Novatron or AR-1 for compression if necessary. Cleaner compression would come from the Focusrite Red 3 plugin. Every now and then the Boz Digital Labs +10db strip is the right choice here instead. JST Clip to eliminate anything spikey. SOMETIMES it'll go before the compression. It just depends on what I'm trying to do. If I'm mixing I'll probably handle that big transient stuff in the mix but what I get from mixers is a crapshoot. Reaper's Event Horizon Limiter Vlad's Limiter No9 just to make sure I have inter-sample-peaks sorted out and possibly a touch of a different sounding limiter and clipper (the ISP limiter is at the end). Voxengo SPAN for frequency analysis Youlean Loudness Meter to check RMS/Lufs.
The only things that are really always there are the ReaEQ, JST Clip, and, Event Horizon, Vlad Limiter, and the analysis stuff. The rest of that is as necessary. Basically the Kush saturation and compression is all vibe stuff. If I need a touch more sauce it'll probably come from those plugs. The Kush EQs are fairly clean though Hammer seems to add a little love.
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Feb 29, 2020 20:28:24 GMT -6
Three things that I find most important and useful from the UA world:
1. Ampeg amp sims 2. Auto Tune Realtime Advanced 3. Raw (Rat) distortion pedal
Getting a clanky, driven, clear, deep, and compressed bass tone easily and quickly on a full-band tracking day without committing to it is super helpful. One input and I'm getting something close enough to where I want to go eventually that the live tracking feels like the finished track without having to worry about going too far with the drive/clank/etc.. Monitor the amp sim but record the clean DI (or if I love it I can print the amp sim). Awesome!
Making a vocalist feel more confident is almost always going to get a better performance. Some light real-time autotune to nudge the pitch closer (if that sort of thing is helpful for the performance) has been great. That little bit more confidence in what they're doing takes their mind and their worry off their pitch and allows them to put it all on the performance. It's been super helpful in my world!
I always find a way to use the Raw distortion pedal on every mix. Vocals or drum parallel or a DI guitar before an amp sim or whatever. It's nice to have an option of something that sounds good and gnarly that isn't taxing on my CPU.
I could see someone really digging in to the compressors or the tape stuff but I have a workflow and plugins I rely on for that stuff already. I'm not super interested in tinkering with a bunch of that stuff. Console 1 channel strips (which you can substitute most UAD plugs into), other plugs where necessary, LA2A on bass bus because it sounds good, and it's all good! The interface (Apollo 8 not even the x8 ) sounds good so I'm stoked!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Feb 27, 2020 8:49:35 GMT -6
Same here. Mic lines are hard patched to preamps. Preamps half-normalled to converters. Extra inputs on things (line inputs on my console and on my preamps) are half-normalled to get signal straight out of the converter outputs. My goal was to think of it in the most used ways and need as few patch cables as possible...and to have the opportunity to mult stuff out of the preamps into a couple different inputs/signal paths. Extra outboard pieces are outputs over inputs but not normalled. Setting up this way, you'll never track an un-compressed vocal again but you'll have the safety of an un-compressed vocal to fall back on if you push too hard...which is a thing I like doing! Mics should never be patched through a typical (TRS or TT) patchbay*. I have a small XLR input only bay that feeds the inputs of my 8 channels of outboard pres; the mic ins in the console are hardwired to a snake.
* - there would be to potential to accidentally apply phantom to the output of a device that doesn't want to see it in the event that somebody makes a mistake. Also you don't want to run phantom through connectors that don't make simultaneous contact on th + and - connections; phantom relies on that simultanous contact to prevent sending a unbalanced +48 volt burst through the connected device.
Fear not! My mic line snake is hard patched to my preamps. My first patchbay points are after preamps. If I want to use channel 1 on my console I plug into channel 1 on my snake. I appreciate you making sure I'm not doing something potentially terrible!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Feb 26, 2020 11:38:17 GMT -6
If you're setting up your gear to work hybrid fashion with no patching necessary to put the gear into your DAW hardware insert - DAC outputs on top row to Gear A inputs on bottom row. Bay A. Gear A Outputs on top row to ADC inputs on bottom row. Bay B. Then, yes, best to half normal, or full normal. Barring any software issues in the DAW this will work perfectly. (It's how I have my gear now. Started this go-around in the tie line approach. Bailed and set it up ala my second paragraph. Much less patching.) Same here. Mic lines are hard patched to preamps. Preamps half-normalled to converters. Extra inputs on things (line inputs on my console and on my preamps) are half-normalled to get signal straight out of the converter outputs. My goal was to think of it in the most used ways and need as few patch cables as possible...and to have the opportunity to mult stuff out of the preamps into a couple different inputs/signal paths. Extra outboard pieces are outputs over inputs but not normalled. Setting up this way, you'll never track an un-compressed vocal again but you'll have the safety of an un-compressed vocal to fall back on if you push too hard...which is a thing I like doing!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Feb 26, 2020 11:30:09 GMT -6
Hello all. I have rescued all the mics that were available for rescue at MicRehab. Shannon will not be back for a while. The business is gone for now. Feel free to reach out to me if you had a mic there and we can see if I recovered it. As of now I have a few that I don't know who the owner is Thanks! Dave Wheeler You're a saint. I don't even have a mic with Shannon and I feel like this is a huge load off a collective community of humans. "Thanks" from the cheap seats!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Feb 14, 2020 8:34:41 GMT -6
I'm always using multiple reverbs.
I want some things closer and some things further back. I want some things crisp but in a space and some things a little blurrier.
I've been really loving using a fairly bright reverb lately for some stuff. That's in stark contrast to my normally very filtered ambiences. I guess lately I can find a reason to use it for a well-timed splash of high frequency stuff on most songs.
A little trick that feels like it gets me wider and more interesting ambience sounds: take two channels with similar verb settings, sum them each to mono (so you've taken two individual reverb channels and made them mono), and hard pan (or soft pan - live your own dang life!) those two channels opposite each other. Instead of one stereo reverb channel where things are spread into the stereo landscape based on their algorithm you now have something a little wider (if that's what you need) and a little more interesting because the reverbs don't exactly match. You know; like a real room! There are a million variations to this (such as narrowing one of the channels to be spread 100% left to middle and the other from 100% right to middle) but the important part is it feels like you're creating some more perceived width and naturalness (that's not a word is it?) by having a non-symmetrical ambience situation. I most often do this with my shortest verb on a song.
Send everything getting that type of reverb to both channels in varying amounts. I'll often send a lot more of hard panned sources to one side or the other depending on the intention of the part.
Valhalla Vintage Verb is my go-to but I've been digging Kush's Gold Plate, Soundtoys Little Plate, and Softube's TSAR verb for variety of sounds.
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Jan 17, 2020 12:06:56 GMT -6
I'm ALSO always blown away by people not collaborating more. Some of the coolest stuff happens when you combine multiple people's ideas and skillsets. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Hopefully I'll be able to pull the trigger on a Silver Bullet in the not too distant future. Truthfully, I'm more frugal than I am smart so we'll see how that goes! If only there were a stereo LDC mic being talked about on RGO as much as our favorite two-channel color (colour?) preamp? Perhaps some special editions with matching paint schemes could get people considering...
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Jan 17, 2020 8:59:05 GMT -6
...and now the "Hey...do you guys have a favorite 500-series rack?" post makes more sense!
I wish I could jump on this, for sure!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Jan 16, 2020 12:44:11 GMT -6
Well, don’t forget that UAD works closely with Softube. And they have just released Console Fader, which is a very badly integrated product on most DAWs... This was my thought. I remembered seeing something about Softube having a big announcement today, too... We'll see how that shakes out!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Jan 15, 2020 21:58:31 GMT -6
I REALLY don’t need this but too good a deal to pass up. Gretsch USA Custom 24x14, 13x9, 16x16 and 18x16. Also came with a 6.5” Black Beauty snare. Time to sell some drums I’m overloaded Yipes! That thing looks killer!
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Jan 5, 2020 2:35:38 GMT -6
I'm keeping myself from buying the Softube Fader and their channel strip thingy. I have terrible news. I have Console1 (don't have Fader...yet...it'll be a while, though) and it changed my mixing drastically. I'm getting MUCH better results now. I feel like I do better with knobs and simultaneous adjustments than I do with a mouse. Console1 helps me do that. I have the SSL strip it comes with and just got the API strip. I've never used anything API-ish before (other than the Kush Omega A plugin) but it seems to get me where I want to go faster. The SSL is good, too. I just think the API thing fits the way I want to hear stuff...having both isn't a bad thing. The SSL is exactly the right strip for certain things. One caveat: I wouldn't bother with Console1 if I didn't use a DAW that had full Console1 integration. Being able to pan, adjust sends, ride a fader, etc. from the channel strip surface is great and I don't think I'd be happy if I had to jump through the hoops that a DAW without the full integration forces you to jump through.
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Jan 3, 2020 0:21:49 GMT -6
I'll often use a dual mono compressor on a guitar bus. It compresses the two sides in similar but non-equal ways. Width is a perception of differences between things on the left and right sides...sooooo...to ME it feels like it gets a little wider. More accurately, it's probably just me hearing the stereo differences more making the existing width seem more noticeable rather than actual widening in the way a M/S processor or spatial widener does it.
There are guys who use dual mono on their mix bus citing the same sort of logic and observations. I don't ever really like it. It makes me feel like I'm turning my head as I'm listening to something.
|
|
|
Post by schmalzy on Jan 1, 2020 14:02:32 GMT -6
Is FM radio true stereo?
If "yes" then M/S is true stereo. FM radio is transmitted in two signals: mid and side.
|
|