Distributed in 94 countries, Mix is the world's leading magazine for the professional recording and sound production technology industry. Mix covers a wide range of topics including: recording, live sound and production, broadcast production, audio for film and video, and music technology.
LAST WEEK’S MIX NASHVILLE EVENT WAS AWESOME. Two jam-packed days of seminars, panel discussions, hands-on product demos, music performances and fun. Interestingly, one of the more unexpected highlights was a mostly informal get-together party after the first day’s conclusion. With free beer, food and cookies, it was a great chance for all the attendees to talk, do a little networking, make a few industry contacts and check out some great local talent. One of the more unexpected things was that for a “local” event, I talked to people who had come from Colorado, New England, Atlanta, New Mexico, Los Angeles and even Indonesia–and all of them said the trip was most worthwhile. For some highlights, click on MIX NASHVILLE and check it out, but the bottom line was everybody said the event was great. It’s definitely gonna happen again next year–be there.
If you wanted solid advice on recording and live sound, there was plenty to be heard at the Mix Nashville seminars. I was hosting three different panels —on using plug-ins live, studio design/speaker optimization and placement and “Recording the Band,” a panel about tracking during live shows. During the latter, veteran Robert Scovill offered this suggestion: When you’re on tour and recording lots of shows, make sure that along with your multitrack files, also include a 2-track mix with your archive. This way, weeks, months or years later, someone who may be going through dozens of shows (or more) won’t have to load and re-create an entire mix session just to determine which song performances to use. Even if you’re pressed for time, a board mix on CD-R will do as a quick reference. And make sure you label and document everything.
Sometimes it’s the little touches that can make your life a lot easier down the road–even when you’re off the road.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com/ariel.html and check ‘em out. ________________________
What do YOU think? CLICK ON THE “COMMENTS” LINK BELOW AND SPEAK OUT!
THERE’S SOMETHING COOL, HIP AND INHERENTLY GREEN about recycling and every now and then I go by this very cool (and very Berkeley) place called Urban Ore, which is just a couple blocks away from the Mix offices. This is a locale where people bring old furniture, leftover building materials and obsolete technology stuff to be resold, reused and otherwise redistributed to people in the know. It’s essentially a huge old warehouse and outdoor sales area brimming full of STUFF of every sort (and well sorted), ranging from consumer electronics, plumbing/electrical supplies, picture frames, desks, sinks, tubs, windows, doors, slightly overused–meaning really beat up–musical instruments and occasionally (but alas, not too frequently) even PRO AUDIO.
But today in the electronics section–among the piles of Kodak Ektagraphic slide projectors, 1970s-era slide programmers/dissolve units (in case anybody is old enough to remember olde-style multimedia/multimage), Mac 8600s, vintage PCs, turntables, cassette decks and piles of Jaz/Zip/Bernoulli drives–was a more unusual item.
A Neve/Necam 96 power supply.
Unfortunately, no other Neve gear was lurking about, but at a mere $50 buckaroos, you could have this monster of monsters: About six rack spaces high, it must have weighed about 100 pounds–they just don’t make ‘em like this anymore. What awesome construction!!! I was even tempted to bring it home and adopt it myself for resale or some future project, but this was like the big one you toss back into the pond, hoping that it will make someone else’s day.
But the real mystery in the back of my mind was what tales this thing could tell. Where did it come from? What great projects did it once supply (pun intended) the juice for? Some things I may never know, so if anyone DOES know, let me know and help me finish this Unsolved Mystery for the rest of the world…
I hate telling you this, because, for one, I don’t want anyone to be misled and think that among the porcelain toilet tanks, printing presses and dictaphones that haunt this place, there are boxes of dusty Neumanns in every corner–which there aren’t, although today, they had a 15-inch Peavey Black Widow woofer (untested and missing its aluminum dust cap) for $12, a solid-looking single-15 cab in faux wood finish–empty, but sporting road handles and dual front ports for $25 and an empty (but extremely heavy) dual-12 cab–it was a generic roadcase-looking box (no handles)–for $20 or so. Yet at the same time, they were trying to sell some heavy black/chrome older steel Atlas speaker stands (NOT MIC STANDS) priced about $260–I’m not sure who came up with THAT price!
So you never know what to expect. Besides this week’s Neve PS, they also had a Sony SDDS 35mm projector soundhead for $25–not bad if you need one–and an Ampex 35mm mag stripe stereo reader (the “penthouse” style) also for $25, but it will be a while before that one moves… Oh, and if you happen to need to need some 35mm exhibition reels, they have both 6,000 and 13,000 foot versions in stock this week.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com/ariel.html and check ‘em out. ________________________
What do YOU think? CLICK ON THE “COMMENTS” LINK BELOW AND SPEAK OUT!
SOMETIMES THE SIMPLE TECHNIQUE WORKS BEST. Our senior editor Blair Jackson came to me with an age-old problem. One of his kids was doing a play in a high school gymnasium and the audio was terrible. Some well-intentioned person had evidently hung some dynamic mics over the stage, which helped, but added no intelligibility and when cranked up to provide more gain, created an awful feedback problem. Fortunately, in this case, they DIDN’T have the budget for wireless mics. For some reason, every amateur theater group thinks it’s some kind of panacea, even though wireless (especially cheap wireless) often creates more problems than it solves, unless your sound engineer is extremely astute.
To make matters worse, the entire sound system had floor-mount XLR mic jacks, which were hard wired to a PA head (of unknown brand/origin) that was located in a locked closet that now one seemed to have access to. The way the PA operated was simply to plug a mic(s) into a floor jack and it was live. Blair asked what I would recommend. I loaned him a couple of Rode NTG-2 shotgun mics (the ones that can be phantom powered or run from a single AA battery) and pre-set them in the bass rolloff position.
I figured this was probably the safest choice, and with the non-access to the mixer/PA head/whatever, would safely skirt any “but there’s no phantom power” issues. I suggested placing them on boom stands located just in front of the stage, and raised a couple feet above the floor level–to avoid emphasizing foot noise.
After the gig, I asked him how everything went, and he replied “it was fantastic” and mentioned that several people sitting in the back said it was the first time they could ever make out the dialog from the cheap seats. Anyway, it just goes to prove that sometimes a simple approach is best.
When not working on MIX stuff, George Peterse n records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com/ariel.html and check ‘em out. ________________________ What do YOU think? CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK BELOW AND SPEAK OUT!
I MET HIM ABOUT A YEAR AGO–FOR THE SECOND TIME. Actually, I wrote a blog in this space about 12 months ago about a wonderful coincidence that led me to rediscover Les Lewellyn, and now he’s gone, having passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 12. You see, I was originally searching on the web for his older brother Bob Lewellyn, a guitarist I was in a band with back in 1968–in Naples, Italy, my home town. The only reference I found to Bob was something about him playing a session on one of Les’ recording projects, for his band Preying Lizard, but I also discovered that Les was somewhat of a messiah for independent music, offering help, guidance and exposure through his #1 rated web music podcasts at PreyingLizardMusic.com.
Les loved music of all kinds and did much to help so many independent bands. He will certainly be missed, but I find at least some solace here in the knowledge that Bob Lewellyn will be taking over the site and podcasts, a lasting tribute to the great work begun by a true music hero named Les Lewellyn. He will not be forgotten.
When not working on MIX stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com/ariel.html and check ‘em out. ________________________ What do YOU think? CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK BELOW AND SPEAK OUT!
IT’S JUST SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS AS YOU GET OLDER. Your friends start dying. I’m just returning for a funeral for a good friend Joe Desmond, a well-known industry figure with more than a quarter-century in pro audio and M.I. sales. Joe passed away on January 16, after being diagnosed with liver cancer last fall. After college, this native Bostonian went west to California for his first job as a Guitar Center salesman. Moving rapidly he soon had opened and managed stores in California and Illinois before starting his own company, which exported rare guitars to Japan. In 1987, Desmond went to work for Furman Sound in Northern California, and during his 17-year tenure there, becoming a major force in bringing the company from “Furman-who?” to a position as an industry leader.
A couple years ago, he left Furman to found Joe Desmond & Associates (www.jdagear.com), a rep firm and import business located in nearby Rohnert Park, Calif., handling top suppliers such as Adamson, Aphex, BBE, Danley, ETA Systems, FBT, G&L Guitars, Nady Systems, One Systems, Raxxess, Rolls, sE Electronics, X2 Digital Wireless and others. Joining Desmond in the operations at JDA was his wife Pam, who he met at the NAMM Show in 1982, back when she was working as an ad executive at BAM (Bay Area Music) magazine.
Held in Joe’s local church, his memorial service was packed with friends and and an impressive turnout of industry associates–many of whom traveled quite a distance to attend. Among those were Bob Reardon (of SE Electronics), Marvin Caesar (of Aphex), Dave Angress (Guitar Center), Lynn Martin (American Music & Sound/Allen-Heath USA/Focusrite USA/Hagstrom guitars/etc.) and many others. The service was beautiful, with great music and clean audio from the system Joe had donated/installed in the sanctuary. One memorable moment was a moving poem written/read by Joe’s daughter Jillian and a wonderful eulogy by one of Joe’s friends, who recalled that in his final days, Joe talked about the fact that his spirit will always be with us. And somehow, I think Joe was right on this one…
When not working on MIX stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com/ariel.html and check ‘em out. ________________________ What do YOU think? CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK BELOW AND SPEAK OUT!
I FIRST GOT A REAL SWISS ARMY KNIFE back in the early ‘70s, when I spent a lot of time troubleshooting gear. I finally managed to destroy it (it essentially was worn out to the nubs) after it saved my butt about a thousand times, repairing hundreds of pieces of A/V gear, from simple P.A. rigs to elaborate 70mm projection systems with 6-channel Dolby playback. I even filed down the flat screwdriver that stuck out of the side of the knife body at a 90-degree angle so it would fit those reverse-threaded XLR set screws that holds the connector into place. That same attachment also made for a pretty formidable brass-knuckle effect, although that particular usage wasn’t mentioned in any of the official Victorinox literature.
Anyway, it’s too late for Christmas now, but I just heard about a slick new entry in the Swiss Army line—even cooler than the company’s Cyberknife of a couple years back, the one that even included mini Torx drivers for repairing PCs.
Although it’s a whopping $1,200 retail, Wenger Giant Swiss Army Knife™ V1.0 #16999 certainly tops anyone’s gift list—or for those companies looking for the ultimate in tradeshow swag—this one’s the ticket. At an actual size of 8.75×3.25-inches (WxL); and weighing in at 2 pounds, 11 ounces, it’s a bit large for the average pocket. However you get a lot here…
It touts 85 implements with 110 functions in all including a 2.5″ 60% serrated locking blade; nail file, nail cleaner; corkscrew; adjustable pliers with wire crimper and cutter; removable screwdriver bit adapter; 2.5″ blade for official world scout knife; spring-loaded, locking needle-nose pliers with wire cutter; removable screwdriver bit holder; phillips head screwdriver bit 0; phillips head screwdriver bit 1; phillips head screwdriver bit 2; flat head screwdriver bit 0.5mm x 3.5mm; flat head screwdriver bit 0.6mm x 4.0mm; flat head screwdriver bit 1.0mm x 6.5mm; magnetized recessed bit holder; double-cut wood saw with ruler (inch & cm); bike chain rivet setter, removable 5mm allen wrench, screwdriver for slotted and philips head screws; removable tool for adjusting bike spokes, 10mm hexagonal key for nuts; removable 4mm curved allen wrench with philips head screwdriver; removable 10mm hexagonal key; patented locking philips head screwdriver; universal wrench; 2.4″ springless scissors with serrated, self-sharpening design; 1.65″ clip point utility blade; philips head screwdriver; 2.5″ clip point blade; golf club face cleaner; 2.4″ round tip blade; patented locking screwdriver, cap lifter, can opener; golf shoe spike wrench; golf divot repair tool; 4mm allen wrench; 2.5″ blade; fine metal file with precision screwdriver; double-cut wood saw; cupped cigar cutter with double-honed edges; 12/20-gauge choke tube tool; watch caseback opening tool; snap shackle; mineral crystal magnifier with precision screwdriver; compass, straight edge, ruler (in./cm); telescopic pointer; fish scaler, hook disgorger, line guide; shortix laboratory key; micro tool holder; micro tool adapter; micro scraper–straight; micro scraper–curved; laser pointer with 300 ft. range; metal saw, metal file; flashlight; micro tool holder; philips head screwdriver 1.5mm; screwdriver 1.2mm; screwdriver .8mm; fine fork for watch spring bars; reamer; pin punch 1.2mm; pin punch .8mm; round needle file; removable tool holder with expandable receptacle; removable tool holder; special self-centering screwdriver for gunsights; flat philips head screwdriver; chisel-point reamer; mineral crystal magnifier, fork for watch spring bars, small ruler; extension tool; spring-loaded, locking flat nose-nose pliers with wire cutter; removable screwdriver bit holder; phillips head screwdriver bit 0; phillips head screwdriver bit 1; phillips head screwdriver bit 2; flat head screwdriver bit 0.5mm x 3.5mm; flat head screwdriver bit 0.6mm x 4.0mm; flat head screwdriver bit 1.0mm x 6.5mm; magnetized recessed bit holder; tire tread gauge; fiber optic tool holder; can opener; patented locking screwdriver, cap lifter, wire stripper; reamer/awl; toothpick; tweezers; and of course, a key ring—you won’t lose your keys if this sucker is attached—guaranteed.
Of all these functions, my fave would have to be the “12/20-gauge choke tube tool” (some of use work some pretty tough gigs), but the “shortix laboratory key” sounds intriguing as well…
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
AFTER WAY TOO MANY YEARS, APPLE FINALLY did a real makeover on Logic, its flagship music/audio production software, now offered as the “Logic Studio” bundle of production tools. It’s sort of the Final Cut Studio approach, which includes FCP, Soundtrack Pro 2, Compressor, DVD Studio Pro, Motion and more–pretty much a script to screen package.
And there’s a lot of good news here. Gone is Logic’s clunky look, instead Logic 8 uses a single-screen interface that’s streamlined and fast. The surround mixing is elegant and there’s a vocal comping feature that’s just amazing. Also in the bundle is Soundtrack Pro 2 (the same version from the FCP Studio bundle), Studio Instruments, Studio Effects (with some 80 plug-ins) and Studio Sound Library, with 18,000 Apple Loops and 1,300 sampled instruments. At $499 it’s almost stupid NOT to buy this package—whether you own a Mac or not.
But what really floored me was the not-so-lowly MainStage. Intended to simplify using software instruments onstage, this standalone app provides a live performance rig for guitar/keys/bass. Virtual keys instruments and guitar/amp/effects modeling is nothing new, but what’s the big deal?
First of all, ya gotta wonder why this is in a studio production bundle anyway. Someday, Apple might wise up and include this with its iLife software, but that’s not the point. I was absolutely amazed by the keyboard setups and their ability to do splits. Again, no biggie—I even have left/right-hand organ/bass splits on my vintage ’60s Farfisa organs. Custom splits are nothing new and nearly any decent keyboard controller can store/recall different split presets for different songs. Yet the real trick with MainStage’s split keyboard mode is its ability to do intelligent splits.
Many of us have experienced the frustration of playing a bass line that as it moves up the scale, will eventually start playing piano notes. But playing left-hand bass/right hand melody parts on a keyboard that can move the split as you play, keeping you in range is pure magic. Evidently MainStage runs some algorithm that tracks your hand movements and moves the split point accordingly. It’s awesome and is probably worth the program’s $499 bundle price. Of course, once your include all the other apps—Logic 8, Soundtrack Pro 2, etc.—this is one amazing bargain.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
WITH THE AUDIO EDUCATION FOCUS IN THIS MONTH’S MIX, I figured I rant about the learning process. When I was a high school kid back in the Paleolithic 1960s era, I wanted to learn electronics. I experimented a lot (destroying a few radios along the way), assembled Heath and Knight kits, and regularly built DIY projects featured in Radio-Electronics and Popular Electronics magazines. In-between splattering solder on my thumb and digging into these articles to figure out how to adapt the circuits to 220V/50 Hz operation (I was living in Europe at the time), I couldn’t help but notice some ads featuring a stern-faced guy who said, “Get more education or get out of electronics!”
The pitch was to promote a correspondence school’s learn-at-home electronics course. These days I can’t even recall which school it was from, but that man’s message was clear and very relevant. Today’s systems—live or recorded, analog or digital, virtual or actual— are more complex than ever, and keeping up with changing technologies requires continuing education.
However, textbook and in-class training alone aren’t enough — actual hands-on experience can make all the difference in the world. For example, changing a diaphragm on a high-frequency compression driver isn’t exactly rocket science. All you have to do is select the right replacement part (with the proper impedance), remove a few screws, match the polarity of the wires, plop the new one into place, and tighten things down.
However, there’s one detail that shouldn’t be overlooked: the procedure should be done with a nonferrous screwdriver. Unless you’re using a brass or an aluminum screwdriver, the powerful gauss field of the driver’s magnetic structure will yank the tool out of your grasp, attracting it into the center of the driver, instantly shredding the fragile, and very expensive, diaphragm. When it happens in the real-life, non-textbook world, it’s not a pretty sight and hardly a lesson that’s soon forgotten.
Other lessons aren’t so technical. Once, while walking through an audio school, I noticed a leather couch in the back of one of the facility’s control rooms. I asked the instructor if he felt the material was the right choice for a school, where students—carrying a pencil (or even a screwdriver) in their back pockets could damage the upholstery. The instructor replied that if this scenario did occur, it would be better for a student to learn the lesson at school rather than on the job. His reply was simple, but spot-on.
For me, that decades-old message from the mean-looking guy in that electronics magazine still holds true.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
EVERYTHING SEEMS TO HAPPEN IN THREE’S. I’m not sure if it was my good or bad luck, but all three of the Fender tube amps in my studio have died in the past couple weeks. I’ve got a 1972 Deluxe Reverb, and two 1969 Bassmans—one with a stock 2×15 cab (we use that for bass) and the other set up for guitar with a Fender Showman Tone Ring single-15 cab, with the original JBL D130 woofer and the bizarre—yet cool-sounding—ported design.
The good luck part was that these things have run for decades (some, like the Deluxe—with the original tubes) and almost no maintenance. The bad luck part was that they all finally stopped working. Anyway, I figured it was time to go through these thoroughly, clean ‘em up inside and out and start from scratch—with all new tubes. I called Groove Tubes and they were very helpful with suggestions on exactly what tubes to use. They rate their power tubes with individual distortion ratings, so you can tailor the tunes to the spacific application/musical style/tone you’re looking for. So getting the tubes was the easy part.
I must be getting old, because I had nearly forgotten the weirdness one encounters when disecting old Fender amps, with their arcane (those four long screws) method of hanging the amps upside down—bat style—inside the cabinet. That itself isn’t so weird as trying to figure out who actually has hands with fingers skinny or long enough to hold the nut in place while reassembling the thing. But reassembly wasn’t the problem. The hang-up (pardon the pun) came from the amp assembly getting stuck on part of the sheet metal that shields the top of the amp (under the handle) from stray cosmic radiation from other galaxies. So on one of the Bassman heads, I had to completely remove the front grille and take the amp chassis out the front of the cab. Yuk!
From, there, things were a lot easier, especially when I saw that all the caps looked good. Somehow I was expecting to see sweatly blobs of goo and drippy caps, but these looked fine. But ALL of the pots exhibited noise, so each one got a shot of Caig DeoxIT and came out sweet—no static at all… And besides blowing a ton of dust out, I also hit the tip contact on each jack with a couple light file strokes—just to clear the light corrosion that can build up. Then came a cabinet wipedown and reassembly the retubing, which was all Groove tubes, except for a favorite Mullard 12AX7 that went onto one channel on the “guitar” Bassman. I did have some Groove Tube 12AX7M’s (these are the modern recreations of the vintage Mullards), but since I did have one nice NOS Mullard, it went in anyway.
After a quick bias check (highly recommended) and a couple hours burn-in—probably not necessary, but after spending an afternoon working on the amps, it was Miller time (actually Dos Equis time) at the local taqueria, which provided a nice respite before giving the amps the listening test. All were greatly improved, but the Deluxe Reverb was absolutely amazing, with exceptional tone and sustain. Morale: if an amp’s worth having, it’s worth retubing—definitely.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
ONE OF THE CHORES OF RUNNING A SMALL LABEL is promotion, and when you don’t have a lot of money, you need to look into all kinds of outlets to get the word out about your artists—ALL KINDS…
Last weekend, I went to The Expo 2007, described as the San Francisco “Bay Area’s grassroots connection fair for independent arts, music and culture.” It was a pastiche of free workshops, music performances, art show and bizarre bazaar—all wrapped up into a one-day event. I was there to help promote Chelle & Friends, a group that does an amazing blend of R&B/spiritual/gospel/jazz vocals that cross genres and decades. As they were among the featured acts, we went along to hawk CDs, t-shirts and merch.
It was everything I expected—more or less. It was a very San Francisco event, more from the diversity of experiences offered, from the publishers selling underground picto-novels and photo essays on extreme piercings and body fluids—not for the squeamish—to painters, sculpturers, radio stations, a couple small record labels (us included) and several arts groups/schools, including the Women’s Audio Mission. A worthy non-profit organization, the San Francisco-based Women’s Audio Mission is dedicated to the advancement of women in the recording arts, with access to audio technology, and training in its use to record sound for music, radio, film, television and the Internet for women and girls.
In the long-cherished local tradition of hippie-dippiedom, the turnout for the event was sparse. It was well-underpromoted—signage at the site was almost nonexistent, so even finding the place if you were looking for it was difficult. At the same time, there was a huge, packed home-improvement show in the Gift Center pavillion across the street. I’m sure that some of those attendees could have been persuaded to check out the cool art/music festival just 50 yards away—if for only to pay the modest $2 admission and kick back, have a beer and listen to some music during their lunch break—had they known about it.
But attendance aside, there was a bright side here. Yeah, we moved enough CDs and merch to make it worthwhile, picked up a couple of future gig bookings, and I even had a chance to check out some of the other acts, which leaned toward punk-folk, some blues and a few I will never have the words to describe. One interesting act in the latter category was the Hobo Gobbelins, a “troglodyte jug band” that offered an intriguing blend of eerie vocals and instruments (banjo/dobro/accordion/tuba/fiddle/ukelele/washboard) and green/black face painting with some delightfully fun—and yeah, pretty dark—songs about rats, eating brains, decapitations and such. I bet they’ve got Halloween gigs booked up through the next millennium! But they were a fun diversion: Somebody needs to sign these guys—they’ve cornered the market on the hillbilly gobelin genre. Only in San Francisco…
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
