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Archive for February, 2010
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
Here’s another week worth of Twitter activity from @theaudiogeek.
theaudiogeek
Posted in Site News, Tweetdump | No Comments »
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
My good friend Joe Gilder of Home Studio Corner has just announced his first Video Tutorial Series: Understanding Pro Tools.
I watched the series yesterday and they are excellent, similar quality to Groove3 or MacPro video, and so much better than the tutorials provided by AVID. This is 3+ hours of all new content, created specifically for this series.
Understanding Pro Tools
*** This is an affiliate link, buying through this link supports Audio Geek Zine ***
It’s 3 hours of beginner tutorial content split up across 9 HD videos (Quicktime). $39 to download.
Topics covered:
- Video #1 – Overview – This introductory video explains what I’ll be covering over the course of Understanding Pro Tools and gives a basic overview of Pro Tools itself.
- Video #2 – Track Types – Learn all about the five different track types in Pro Tools. Learn what they are and why you would use each one.
- Video #3 – Mix Window – Learn the ins and outs of the mix window.
- Video #4 – Edit Window – Learn the ins and outs of the edit window.
- Video #5 – Recording – Learn how to record both audio and MIDI.
- Video #6 – Editing – Learn what to do with the audio and MIDI once it’s recording. I discuss the various different edit modes and editing tools available.
- Video #7 – Mixing – While this video isn’t intended to TEACH you how to get a good-sounding mix, I do show you all the mechanics of setting up a bouncing the final mixdown.
- Video #8 – Mastering – After talking about mixing, it only makes sense to briefly explain what mastering is.
- Video #9 – Preferences & Troubleshooting – This is a catch-all of topics and advice that weren’t covered in the first eight videos.
All the details are on the site.
Understanding Pro Tools
*** This is an affiliate link, buying through this link supports Home Studio Corner and Audio Geek Zine ***
This is an excellent intro for anyone new to Pro Tools, definitely worth checking out.
Posted in New Product Announcement, Tutorial, Video | No Comments »
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Ian Shepherd (ProductionAdvice.co.uk) is organizing a Dynamic Range Day in protest of the Loudness Wars that have been going in recent years in the industry.
Dynamic Range Day is March 20th, 2010
Join us in a day of protest against the CD “Loudness Wars” – more info below
- Show your support – check out the Facebook Event
and RSVP to say you’ll “attend”
- It’s easy to take part – just SHOUT (type in all caps)
ALL DAY, EVERYWHERE !
- Use the Twitter hashtag #DYNAMICRANGEDAY
- And when people ask, tell them why you’re shouting
More info here: Dynamic Range Day
Posted in Commentary; Rants and Jokes, Mastering | 2 Comments »
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
There’s a few days left to grab Steven Slate Drums EX for $20 from AudioMIDI.com. Steven Slate Drums is powered by Kontakt. It comes with version 3.5 but the newest (still free) is Kontakt Player 4. Personally, I found the it extremely difficult to figure out the Multi-channel output for Kontakt, it was the first time in a long time I’ve had to read a manual for a plugin.
To save you some of the same headache, here is a Pro Tools Template I’ve set up using Kontakt 4 player. Use the import Session Data command to bring the tracks into your session.
*IMPORTANT* – Whenever you load a new Multi-patch in Kontakt you need to click the “reset out map” button. See image below.
Download the template here: DOWNLOAD
Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Don’t get the wrong idea from this article, I’m not hating on home studios, I have a home studio, I host The Home Recording Show. I’m not complaining, just pointing out some of the negative sides of the average home studio. An average home studio being a room in a house or apartment that was not specifically built to be a recording studio. Purpose built home studios are the exception, they have some of the qualities of professional studios, but some of the downsides still apply.
- Less than ideal acoustically. More often than not the home studio is a spare bedroom or in the corner of the basement. Most home studios have little invested to improve the sound in the room.
- Noise issues. Professional studios are constructed with extreme acoustic isolation in mind. They keep sound from escaping and outside sounds interfering, allowing them to operate at any time of day. In the home studio you have to deal with your neighbor mowing his lawn, children running around and other noises. Additionally you can’t work at a normal volume too early or too late in the day without neighbors or your family complaining.
- Never ending money pit. You may think you have everything you need but it won’t be long until you succumb to G.A.S.
- Low perceptions of quality. If you’re trying to use your home studio to make an income, there is a limitation on the kind of work you’ll get. A major label is not going to send a band to your bedroom to make a record. There is still plenty of jobs you can do at a quality level but you’re at a disadvantage from the start.
- Pro studio owners HATE you because you take business away and put out an inferior product. Whether that is true or not can cause some heated debate.
- A major distraction. You just wanted to make a quick recording of a song idea. You spend the next two hours doing software updates, scrolling through synth patches to find the perfect one and oops you’ve forgotten that great idea for a song.
- It changes your role from musician to engineer. Instead of spending your time improving your playing and songwriting abilities you must spend your time learning recording techniques, troubleshooting,
- Equipment that doesn’t match in quality or is low quality overall. Cheap mics into a cheap mixer into a built-in soundcard using cheap cables. If you want a professional sound there is a minimum level of equipment that must be invested.
- Less respect for your time. I’m finding I sit around waiting for late clients much more in my home studio than as a staff engineer at a studio. Another side of this, a band spends two years recording their album in their home studio but could have gotten the same or better results in two week at a professional studio. Time has value.
- It never ends. Without strict self imposed time limits you will never finish the album. A fear of commitment and the ability to tweak absolutely anything makes things take so much longer than necessary.
So there’s 10 negative sides to this Home Studio thing we’ve gotten ourselves into. Obviously these don’t apply to everyone, and some points are very general.
Without my home studio, this website and half my income wouldn’t be here. On the other hand I’d probably have a lot less grey hair on my head and a lot more money in the bank.
I’m well aware of the limitations of my studio (the room specifically) and what it is perfectly capable of accomplishing, however this doesn’t satisfy me.
There is a long of discussion of this topic on episode 65 of The Home Recording Show.
Comments? Agree or disagree? Tell Me!
Posted in Commentary; Rants and Jokes | 9 Comments »
RT @gmgranka: There’s an overturned car on fire outside the workplace. I’m guessing we won something?
[in response to:The Secret Service computer system runs on a 1980s IBM mainframe with a rock-solid 68% uptime http://tinyurl.com/yart6kg ]
