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Donna

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Posts posted by Donna

    Pop rarely innovates

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted · Edited by Donna

    john, thou sayest it.

    Cynical for a reason, Steve as you well know! What madness is it shoving a contract in front of a saloon singer, 17 pages, with merchandizing shares writ into it? I thank God I seen what others've been through, one carrot after another in too many cases - and that for folks willing to do just about anything to make it.

    Who wants to be an indentured servant? No way. I hope the times do change...enough. We shall see.

    Ever view "The Agony and the Ecstacy?" It's about Pope Julius "commisioning" Michaelangelo to paint the Sistene chapel ('scuse me, I have no spelling gene right now). There's a part in there where painter Raphael rebukes M.Angelo for not apologizing to the Pope (when Julius broke a stick in anger on M.angelo's back). It went something like, But there is no art without a patron. We must fawn, kiss hand...to do the things we must do, or die.

    It's a very good flick.

    Analog

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    This is coming clearer with everything I read, Deo Gratias! I seem to know what you're talking about (constant q, sweep, etc;) without knowing that I knew. Grateful reference this is. I really want some more reading here before I record again, and you guys are providing it.

    Well, I'll just think about whether trying to do the choir is a tangent of no worth or whether it IS.

    Hee hee, YOU? B**tch?

    PS: when you guys put someone's post in quotes, how do you also copy the name of the post-er?

    Have a good one!

    Alexis Midiverb II

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    Hey everyone.

    Well, I do have an alexis midiverb II here. WHERE the manual is, or that nice laminated card describing all its powers; or where the external plug went to so I could find out by hearing the dang thing, remains a mystery.

    Hosekeeping bummers aside, I've done some seraching, and have yet to find if this unit

    can be a compressor for me.

    If it can do some kind of job compresion wise, I'll track down a way to get an ac adapter.

    Thanks very much!

    Singers

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    Those are good suggestions about the mics (plural), Bong.

    Prometheus, the spindle...do you mean the thing the CD disc sits on, when the CD cover is opened up? Do you really have them hold it manually? Seems something could be worked out w/ wires, I'll have a go!

    Am I doing something wrong? The signal seems too hot in my ear, etc; when I sing. Even with

    others who know how to record, seems I rarely stay 3 inches away. And I'm not a wailing diva, I wish I was. But the engineers never correct me when I'm singing with my face closer to floor than mic for certain parts.

    BTW, what I do in rec. the only voice I've ever done, is to try not to overcompensate with boominess, because things sound too bright in the first place. The little knobs I put kinda in the middle (the 2 knobs which sit on top of one another...threre are a pairof them for each track).

    Analog

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    Me dear! john, after reading your last post I realized I'm not even sure what "EQ" is!

    But the thing which baffles me in recording (and that I call EQ) are the little knobs to get the sound boomier or tinnier, more present or more remote. "Gain" maybe? There're two for each knob, kinda set up on top of one another.

    Then, there's the "Trim" knob, which I often turn way down 'cause it's so hot in my ear w/ the headphones (even w/ that left channel blown).

    Hey, that quote about choirs has got me thinking! Do you guys reckon it might be good for me to record a choir w/ my four track? Just to learn. I wouldn't mis-represent myself! The Latin Mass choir lets me sit in most of the time, and I'm sure the director would be open to a little experiment. It's very low-key and I'll just tell 'em I know nothing at all. That should take any pressure off.

    Prometheus, maybe they sing more exuberently at the end because the music is marked double forte?

    Analog

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    I think you've hit a nail on the head their... If you don't make a good recording, you are not going to get a good mix, and if you don't get a good mix, you are not going to get a good master... It's interesting that you should say that about the tape recorders, that is exactly how I first got interested in multitrack recording too... Very poor quality signals, but it was the first time I ever got to make music with a lot of layers to it... But yeah, the addage is that you can't polish a turd and turn it into a diamond. If you have a poorly done recording, you are at best going to achieve damage limitation at the editing and mixing stage, so it sounds to me like you're already thinking about all this the right way...

    It seems to me from what you're saying that multitrack recordings with a lot of effects are something you are quite new too, and it is pretty daunting at first. But the first steps are always the hardest and it does come together more and more easily as time goes on. To answer your question, there are times when I've had days when everything has just went right and the artist has delivered a great performance and I've not had to add any effects at all to tracks. My recording room is about 75% anechoic due to coverings that I have put up on the walls and general clutter which absorbs and diffuses reflections, which right away improves the clarity of a recording vastly. They don't need to be expensive, There are plenty of substances you can buy cheaply that are great for absorbing or scattering sound. What I did for my walls is nailed up some of those foam mattresses that you can roll up for camping, because my maw and paw had a few spare ones (they are very avid hill walkers and have a lot of camping equipment).

    Yeah, weren't those the days, just learning and hearing the layers? I once did 9 bouncings, the last part being hitting a wine glass w/ a pencil for a chime. It was sublime! The finished product was at least 3 steps lower (b-4 I knew of the strawberry field splice) and only special ppl are allowed to hear it. These things are dear to me.

    Thanks for the encouragement! I know you're right in what you say about good reording essential for good mix for good master. I shall be very happy to acheive a good signal on anything.

    My set up is in a very small but high ceiling'd room, so it's boomy in a vertical way. I used to experiemnt w/ material to soak up sound and will do so again after reading what you wrote about it.

    Winamp

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted · Edited by Donna

    Nightwolf,

    Re: what we have, does this help? Husband wrote:

    "We have Windows XP Home Edition. We connect to the internet through a phone line and modem. It sounds like you were trying to download something to listen to (?). There will be a delay for the downloading, sometimes several minutes depending on length of the song, etc... That may have prompted the hourglass, but usually there's a way to tell the download progress.

    You may want to try Windows Media Player instead of Winamp. Its in programs. On the other hand, I'm not really sure what you're trying to do."

    Re: what I was trying to do initially was listen to john's "Awaken" from his music page. Just now I tried again: I clicked on "lo-fi mp3 stream", and what came up was 1) a Winamp box 2) then two black boxes replaced the winamp one. Of these two new boxes, one was center screen and small. It looked like a tape recorder. The 2nd box was at upper left and "Thinger" or something like that was written at its right.

    The arrow and hourglass were on as soon as the black bloxes came up. Nothing indicated that anything was loading.

    I waited 12 minutes after clicking on low-fi and nothing. The win amp boxes (as soon as I minimized that page) went totally white and remained on the screen when I was back to the desktop picture (and the winamp window minimized). I can't maximize the winamp window; as soon as I hit "close" it'll do as I said in the first post.

    So it was a stream. What does that mean?

    Appeciating your patience...

    Analog

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted · Edited by Donna

    Half-way there man, already have one monitor speaker!

    Thanks for the link, john nightwolf.

    I am happy to hear the opinion about adding effects later, that's natural to me. Besides, there's too much other stuff I'm trying to figure out while recording. Like EQ!!

    Do any of you use no effects at all (save compression)? I don't right now and I'm liking this. I think it helps to hone in better on performance and dynamics...or maybe it's my way of seeing glass half full because the technicals of recording are not my strong suit!! It's a way to get by, too, til the needed gear appears.

    That's the way I used to work when my love affair w/ analog began. You know, two little tape recorders bouncing back and forth. Doing tapes like that got an anti-mix, but good playing/singing developed. Although, come to think of it, I was manipulating the sound back then...compression to me is turning away from the mic when the loud notes come.

    There's always a tension I've had between making good tapes vs being able to play it live and better yet, un-electric. They're not mutually exclusive but I get worried when I have to patch a lot...even tho I barely ever sing live (much less play). I want to keep strength up in being able to execute that song all the way through and well.

    So I want the song to be good with no or minimal effects, as well as with.

    Babbling off topic over.

    Winamp

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    So I'm trying to hear stuff from this site, but the last two attempts were a "winamp" situation.

    When I clicked on what I guessed was the "play" button (it was marked >), the first time nothing happened, but the little windows remained when I tried to close the box (window?), but w/ no words or tapedeck-thing, just white boxes. It finally agreed to close and I got a "this program isn't responding" message.

    The 2nd period of trial, the hourglass appeared everytime I moved the mouse over the winamp tape recording picture box thing. Couldn't do anything. Trying to get rid of it, same thing happened as above.

    Thanks for any help.

    -Donna

    Analog

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    That's good news, john... I think it's time to beg old friends to let me borrow a compressor. I'd love to play around with it and try mix after mix. I like to do that anyway. GREAT definition of a bot.

    I will remember the caution you gave Prometheus. OK, now rocket makes sense.

    Great suggestion (I cannot recall now who) about trying the mix on dif. speakers/phones/cheap one, too.

    Steve, I also listen the next day. Rarely is it as good the next day as it was the day before. I just play it and play it as I go on about the day, too.

    Analog

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    Er, which guys? WHOM do I trust?

    Prometheus,

    Bless your heart for that offer.

    I have nothing digital yet, have no idea where the jing$ will come from to get it, and know virtually nothing about any of this stuff. I just found myself here and now have impulsively enrolled in this little cyberschool as it were, to learn everything I couldn't for the past five babies or so.

    Does the compressor only work with a signal being put in or recorded - not afterward, as in mixing?

    I can't wait to get MP3'd! And I hope you listen to the trashy analog demo's (which I love)... If this happens to be at night after you've had a few, I can hope for a severe and thorough critique, which would give me joy eventually).

    Analog

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted · Edited by Donna

    But I will add that the mixes have evolved; and/or there's more ways to do it. I remember first hearing J.Jam/Terry Lewis stuff and being astonished. Now it seems rather dated, however. Kinda sad.

    I have one song which was done (via a friend) digitally. I wanted minimal effects on it. It's

    just a guitar, bass and vox. Everytime I listen to it I'm struck at it being just what I wanted.

    Natural and clear; I can hear my voice "warming up" and getting better throughout (not something I

    wanted but oh well), so it recorded true, sho nuff. The perfect clean-ness which I have a horror

    of, and tend to associate w/ digital, just ain't there!

    You can also hear the click or strum of the strings themselves (hard to explain this...but very pleasing and seems truly true of capturing the sound of that guitar, something quite subtle and percussive about it).

    And I love ananlog, too, but maybe I won't as much down the road. I cannot get the mix clear and distinct

    yet the parts melding together. I blow into the high red everytime I open my mouth, too. (Compressor...

    what's that?)

    Analog

    in Music Production and Recording

    Posted

    Prometheus,

    Yes, I believe you that digital will make things easier. The discussion is helpful and interesting.

    John,

    Well that's is, ain't it? Overcoming embarassment to ask q's.

    (Hmm, what were mine? That sound of the Strawberry Field's splice is all I can hear now)

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