john

Hey I bought a Carillon about two years ago. I had some intial problems with the fan and a few other bits, and the system ended up being returned to base. The system was fixed and has remained stable ever since. I have to say honestly that the system is really good, but as to how much of that is due to Carillon, I have my doubts. I expected a bit more after sales service too. I've received one update on the sample library (6 cds), but that's it. I also expected to be contacted about a viable upgrade path, but yet again, nothing. Most of the good features I am happy with are down to me doing my homework when I ordered the system. On a good note, it's good to have people who know about sound and computers on the end of a phone. It's good that they run audio diagnostics. They present a nice tidy pack with all your software, and all the software is installed and working. One other point, this system, running windows 98 2nd edition has crashed twice in those 2 years, and that's pretty good for windows 98. It does look nice though... Cheers John

Hi Has any used any online music services that they would recommend? What benefit were they? Were they value for money? Cheers John

Dr Death Was any of the advice any use? Cheers John

Hi What soundcard do you use? Pros/cons? I use 2, a Creamware Powers Sampler and a Creamware Pulsar 2. The cards are great, really flexible and high quality. Take all the load off your main processor. Con: The DSPs create a lot off heat, so you need some major cooling from some decent silent fans. Cheers John

Well, at least you didn't sit with the piano on your lap and watch your guitar go up in smoke... Cheers John

Hi Didier Very similar, but vague notion, applied to music. Where global effects/treatments etc are added to a track that is more or less complete. Often it falls into standard music production, but I guess some people give it the 'Post Production' name to identify it as a distinct phase. It's become a little more popular in recent times for some kinds of music. Cheers John

Hi Ant recommendations for good sample libraries for the ESI samplers? Cheers John

Hi What does Post Production mean to you? Do you go through this phase with your recordings? Cheers John

BS Do I detect a hint of bitterness? :'( You missed ROADIES! I haven't used DAT for ages, but I would still consider one as a portable recorder to capture ambient sounds etc. Cheers John

Dr Death I should also plug the series of very good articles in our Business Articles section. You an view them here: http://business.songstuff.com/articles.php Cheers John

Hi I realised you were joking. Sorry Didier, I know I've been a bit remiss on posting to the boards, but puting in the improvements to Songstuff has taken ages! btw, I'll send you instructions on how to log in to the members area tomorrow, and at long last we can get the Artists area off the ground. Dr Death, I agree with Didiers comments. On a general note I would say if you want to be treated as a professional then you need to act like a professional. By that I mean you need to pay attention to detail so that what you produce and how you behave is professional. As an individual who doesn't have a manager, an agent or any other support, give yourself the best chance possible. Present yourself as a package. This goes no matter if you are a session musician or a writer, or a performer. What you need is to do some homework so you can develop a plan of attack. For example, don't just put all your effort into recording a professional standard demo if you don't have a way of promoting it and selling it. If money is an issue, and it usually is, you need to identify a way of getting money you can use as a budget. remember there are often alternative to spending lots of money. For example, contact the local artschool to see if any students would be interested in creating artwork for you as part of their project work. The same goes for video. Local colleges may also have audio engineering and production courses, and they may be willing to record your work at a reduced rate or for free. Local business courses may also take an interest. Some tips that should be useful. Find out who is who, locally, regionally and nationally. What do they do, hgow do they work, who do they work with. Keep it in a reference file you can use when you plan your pitch. To begin with manage and promote yourself. This will help you learn about the business. Don't accept second best, especially from yourself. Put together a promo pack. This should have promo photos, biography, contact details, website details, gig listings, reviews etc. Don't be afraid, when the time comes, to use your local free newspapers. They are usually pretty helpful. This can give you reviews for your promopack and sometime features are picked up by larger newspapers, especially during 'silly season', otherwise known as summer. Make it easy for others to help you. Give them the information and support you need. For example, don't just contact the local paper, prepare press releases, provide a pack of information to them etc. btw, local papers also take photos for their columns, so you should get a copy of any photos for your promo pack. To begin with you will have to make to and mend, but as you get more material, such as photos to draw on, be ruthless with yourself, and weed out any substandard material so you are left with only the best. Lastly, seek other peoples feedback. Not only on music, but your promo pack, your image everything. Hope this helps. Cheers John

Hi Didier, it's not the Finns influence (honest). I had just visited Dr_deaths site. what can I say it rubbed off! I was just tired... that enough excuses yet? Cheers John

Hi Dr_Death Ah, young grasshopper, you seek the secret of the sages....so here it is. Or isn't. What do you mean by professional musician? You personally, or yer band? Do you mean as a songwriter? A session man? A performer? you could work on all at once, but focus will help. It'll also help others give more targeted advice. Just visited your site. Looking not bad, although some of your pics didn't come through, and your contact email address should use a mailto:name@address.com to pop up a mail window (top tip of the day). You could of course improve it by addind a link to Songstuff! Anyway, welcome to the Songstuff forums. post back some more info and I and the other residents of this here on-line asylum for mad musicians will try and advise. Failing that we kill a chicken and read the entrails... Just thought I'd be serious for a mo. Cheers John

Hi Dave Welcome to Songstuff! (Thanks Didier). I've used most of these mikes at some point or another, but David Tartar (drumtracks) will be able to give you the most useful info with respect to using these mikes for drums. I'm heading out to a classical concert right now, so I don't have time to post much just now. I'll check back later, and if David hasn't answered, or anyone else, I'll tell you what I know... Cheers John

Hey Chris Man are you down on your daughter! How can you be so certain that she won't hack it as a guitarist? Still, you're her dad. Maybe you could encourage her towards something less demanding, like a keyboard instrument! Cheers John

Thanks olggu

Steve Did these suggestions help at all? Cheers John

Hey Rudi Did you ever get a VS? Sorry to not reply about the mastering capability. To be honest it might be a little restrictive, but I always mastered on my PC. i.e. record on the VS, mix down to PC and then master. It added to the versatility of the system. Cheers John

Hi Steve It comes to the 'why' you are converting a track to audio. Is it free up midi channels, or midi bandwidth to solve a midi timing issue, or is it to apply an audio effect that you can't do in the midi domain? I would recommend learning how to do things, and staying flexible. Some effects or treatments can only easily be done on wave forms, but as soon as you create the wave you might discover you want to change a note or note volume, so only do this late on in the process when the track is pretty settled, or if you intend building the tracks on processed loops, like Moby, you would do it earlier. If you are happy with your mix you could convert the midi tracks to audio and add another phase to your production. This would allow you to add treatments you can only do on audio, like EQ or compression, or even phase...then mix the audio tracks. Try experimenting with the process to find a way to achieve something you are happy with. Don't make hard and fast rules, that way your engineering and production, and post production can provide another opportunity to bring your creativity to the track. Hope this helps. Cheers John

Hey Pops One other thing I meant to clarify. When you record, the reson for turning the channel output down to nothing is to make sure that the monitored signal is not being fed back in and recorded withe the real input signal. This could be what the channel is using as an input signal. Ensure that the trumpet input is the only thing being recorded. This might seem over simple, but PCs are not the most intuitive for setting up signal chains, and problems like this can easily arise. Cheers John

Hey Pops No, it didn't make me feel good. Funnily enough it's not very fulfilling being grumpy. Fair enough, Dave had a point. I was being just as grumpy as you. I can understand frustration, please just don't take it out on those who are trying to help. The reason for the diagnostics is really to eliminate possible sources of the sound colouration. Like it or not you are recording onto a PC, with several elements in the signal chain. If we can isolate where the signal is being coloured we then stand a chance of why it is being coloured. What you describe is a problem of sound being harmonically changed. This could be through the signal amplifiers, unintentional EQ, or possibly a signal loop causing feedback in the signal, or a phase issue. Dave suggested your monitors, but it is unlikely if other sounds are being recorded ok. In the other thread Steve suggested placing some air between the mike and the bell of the trumpet. This might help, but might mask the actual problem. Have you made sure that the input level of your soundcard is not being overdriven by your pre-amp output? You mention that you adjust the gain to stop the clipping led from lighting. Is this on the pre-amp, or your software? Clipping could be very transient, so that the led doesn't light. you may want to take the gain back a little more, if possible monitor the signal at this stage to ensure that the signal is not clipping at all. Have you opened a recorded signal in a wave editor to check for signs of clipping? These will show up as 'flat spots' on the wave form. You will need to zoom the wave to see this. If the signal at the pre-amp sounds good but you can see visible clipping on the wave then its's very possible that your sound card input channel gain is set too high. feedback loop or out of phase signals can be harder to locate. Have you tried recording the trumpet without monitoring the output? On the PC turn the output down to nil and try recording. Is the sound still coloured? Have you recorded the trumpet via another package? just created a trumpet wave file? What I'm wondering is if what you hear is a loop issue. This would mean that the trumpet is being recorded ok. What could be happening is that the trumpet output is being fed back to the same, or different channel input. If this is the case you will either have phase issues, which will significantly distort the sound, or feedback issues which though not enough to cause a charcteristic whine, may be overdriving the output to the channel. You can at least easily check this by playing the wave back outwith vst. If this makes no difference, and the wave looks ok, the it could be the way your soundcard mixer is set up. I would really recommend that you break the problem down by simplifying the pc set up as much as possible, and checking the signal chain, by monitoring, in as many places as possible. I know this won't answer your problems directly, but it does mean you will get to the source of the problem and not mask it by doing the wrong thing. Hope this helps. Cheers John

Hey Pops Thanks for such unbounding appreciation for the suggestions you were given by the Songstuff BB members. You're too kind. Dave's right, the suggestions were provided to help you isolate the source of the sound colouration. As I am not in your studio , nor anyone else on the BB, you're going to have to answer the diagnostic questions yourself. Until you can answer these questions it will be hard for anyone to identify a solution. Sorry if that's not 'knowledgable' enough for you. Still, it's your problem. John

How's the Carillon doing? Cheers John

Hi I wondered which acoustic guitarists made the biggest impact on your approach to music? It's a broad question I guess, and as ever it may be different people at different times or in different styles. I remember the first time I heard 'Technopicker', an album by Adrian Legg. It blew me away and really opened my ears to what could be achieved on an acoustic guitar. So, whatchafink? Cheers John

Hey Kj As long as the producer can put their ego aside... Maybe the title 'producer' should be changes to 'Ego Manager'! To be honest, the phrase I find I use most when producing bands is 'Get over it...'. the transition from amateur band to a professional outfit can be a difficult one, and there are a lot of hard lessons to learn. And for those that don't learn there's always the future of wedding bands! Cheers John