This is what I’m talking about.

All musicians playing . A superb recording done live. Dawn Langstroth. This is what can be done, expect better…..Enjoy!

Here’s what a day with George Massenburg will teach you.

The magic has not left the studio.

When you sit for hours on end, lining to a grid, tuning, the compressing the soul out of music it takes it’s toll on you. Not only is it not fun, the end product sucks, and who wants to put in all that time for something that sucks.

Play live, play together. Feel the music being born together. That’s when the magic happens. That’s what I learned this past weekend with George Massenburg.

Is it perfectly timed and tuned? No. Will it be timeless and magical? Yes. Look at all the classics. It’s the little imperfections that give them character. Life. Personality. Magic is born, powerful moments in music are not created mechanically, they are created organically.

I am very inspired to 1) up the level of my tools. 2) Record in high resolution, 3) Record music live, everybody playing together, and 4) Make some magic that will last forever!

The Soul of a Mix.

Wow…how to describe this.

Music is a living, breathing form of communication. It needs to move in order to move the soul. Dynamic range in a song is what creates this movement. Songs getting louder and exciting in parts and softer and intimate in others is what we call a song with good dynamics.

By removing this…the dynamics, you remove the ability for the music to touch the soul. There is no movement, it’s just straight at you full level. no movement, no excitement, nothing to communicate the passion of the musician because the music… isn’t going anywhere. 

I’m not pointing fingers at anyone, but i want to ask the musicians to challenge themselves and the mix engineers to not go with the status quo, remember that your heart is in that piece of music, don’t hide it behind a limiter. Let the music live!

Nix the Niche

In my past rants, I’ve talked about the state of the studio business, the possibilities of post and live sound success.

The reason I brought all this up is I feel that the era of the specialist is coming to an end. If you’re not an already established studio engineer, or live sound engineer, with the over saturation of our field, it’s very hard to focus on one specialty and move ahead.

Let me encourage you that you can become successful as a specialist, but it won’t come easy. You would be doing yourself a favor along the journey if you nix your niche, and try some other things in audio. Sound design, forensics, post, music, live, broadcast, are all just a few of the possibilities to get into. Keep you mind and your focus open and you may find something that you’re really good at and get paid well doing it!

Over time you find come to find your specialty, so enjoy the journey, take in all you can and become the very best AUDIO engineer you can. Don’t get discouraged with closed doors, another will open if you keep looking, you just may have to look in a different place than expected, but keep looking it will pay off.

If you are having trouble finding that place, go volunteer somewhere for a while to keep your skills sharp. Churches, civic theaters, schools, are all places who could use someone with skills. You can’t have anything that is beneath you on your journey up. Do everything you can to contribute and it will come back to you in the form of experience!

Livin’ life live

In previous installments, I talked about  the decline of the recording industry, the decline of our music delivery system and the possibility of making a change from mixing music to mixing audio for video, because of the lack of clients due to the wide spread availability of recording software, and bands recording themselves.

One response I received through email let me know that the post world isn’t much different than music. No budgets for audio post, and low cost elements online have also taken a bite out of the post world. Is there no area in our field that has not been cheapened down?

Live Aid

Now, I am a formerly trained recording engineer. I went to school, interned, have several credits to my name, enough to become a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammy folks). I like the studio, I like the creativity, being able to lock in and create and take as long as the client needs to get it right. I hated live. I hated the noise, the feedback, the crazy people.

As time went on, I had more and more opportunities to work live gigs, attend seminars on live sound and the live environment has grown on me to the point that now it is my preferred method to work. I still like the studio, but now that I have the skills to handle the live world, I like the immediacy of the mix, the energy of the audience, and the creativity of the moment. The biggest plus in the live sound field, is that bands can’t mix themselves, so the gig is safe and in demand……right?

I’ve actually made more money from working live sound than studio, but I still do studio work because I enjoy it. Now I have several skill sets to draw upon and it’s keeping me busy.

To be continued….

Outline Kanguro

DISCLAIMER* My company Precision Audio is an Outline Dealer. But if this were not a product that I didn’t believe in, I would not be writing about it.

With the introduction Kanguro 1215, by the  Italian based speaker manufacturer Outline has raised the bar on the speaker on a stick market.  Unequalled sound plus an innovative design for portability puts this in a category all it’s own. 

Having demoed a pair of these the best way I can describe them is big concert sound… on a stick! But first let’s talk tech. Here are the specs from Outline.

Technorati Tags: Outline speaker review

FREQUENCY RESPONSE (-10 dB) 37Hz – 17kHz
(±3 dB) 47Hz – 16kHz
AVERAGE DISPERSION >5 kHz 91° x 47° (HxV)
INPUT SENSITIVITY 1,12 V (3,2dBu)
BUILT-IN PWM AMP POWER (WRMS) 2x500W EIAJ 2x1200W Peak
MAX DB SPL (peak @ 1 m) 131 dB

A Kanguro  is a  bi-amp three way- self powered system,  and comes with one top box that has a 12 inch woofer and a 1.75 inch compression driver. The sub is a 15 with a 3 inch voice coil.  And at 130 dB 35 HZ to 18kHZ they can really throw the sound!

The design is very slick in that the top box fits inside the sub cabinet for easy portability! Throw on the optional caster board and moving around is a snap!

 

I really love the design of this system. It’s very high quality and well thought out, even down to the pole which is threaded instead of just sitting in a cup. The cabinets are made from 15mm baltic birch, not plastic. Another nice addition is the amplifier has on board DSP, allowing you to set EQ, limiting, etc. inside the amp further eliminating the need for out board equipment.

Now to the fun part, how this baby sounds! I have to be honest, I was expecting it to sound great, but after I fired it up…my expectations were exceeded! Think of the best sounding concert system you have heard, that’s these…on a stick!

The best thing that stuck out to me was the definition of the sound. Just playing back tracks, These things were clear, crisp and articulate.  The sound felt “real” as if the musicians were there in front of you playing. The sub was full, and filled out nicely but didn’t really move a lot of air. So if you need chest thumping sub, you may want to supplement the system with an additional sub or two.

The Kanguro could get plenty loud (specs at around 130 dB) but it never got harsh or “bitey” in the high end when pushed hard as some speakers tend to do. The horizontal coverage was nice and wide but what I liked was when you stand behind the cabinets you can hardly tell it was on.

The amplifier comes with a set of presets accessed by push button on the back panel. But if you want to get tweaky, you need to hook up a laptop and run the included software. There are also level controls that allow you to adjust the balance between the top and sub boxes. The DSP is nice, and eliminates the need for a system drive rack. A plus if you’re also on a digital console then you’ve already eliminated most of your outboard gear, this just helps even more. Some could just carry a digital console and these speakers and have everything you need!

Now, this high quality sound and innovative design does com at a price. How much would you pay for a Ferrari?  They’re not cheap, costing around three times more than other speaker on a stick offerings, but they are well worth it. Keep in mind the Kanguro is not a plastic molded box made in China. It’s an Italian work of art, that also has the amplifier and DSP included. To me the sound alone is worth the price of admission couple that with the connivance and ease of use Outline has a winner. If you are a small band or a portable church and want sound that stands above the rest I encourage you to check these out!

sales@precisionaudio.biz

Going Post-all

Everyone in life goes through several changes in their careers. I’m now 39 and have been in the same field all my life. The world of professional audio has changed a lot since I’ve first started (see rant below) and it’s become much harder to compete with a bed room market.

I’m considering a change of focus. I’m looking at changing my business to strictly audio for video, or Post Production. I’ve done some post production work in my time and can get around pretty good in that world. My one concern is that at this late in life, is it wise to change your focus and start anew in a different genre of work? It’s not that I’m bored with where I’m at, I just have this why bother attitude when it comes to recording bands when all they are going to do is have their high school buddy mix it on his M-box…..or is it X-box? I’m at a place where I am looking for new challenges but also am longing to work with true professionals who care about quality, where skill and talent actually mean something.

 Post Production is a whole different field with a different way of working  than mixing for a cd. In post work you are mixing dialog, sound effects (sometimes creating them) and music all to video.   Since I was a child I’ve been interested in the world of audio post, especially sound design. When I was just 8 years old, I remember watching a tv special about how Ben Burtt created the sounds for the movie Star Wars. I was fascinated. I knew that’s what I wanted to do! But in a small town in Ohio, there are very few post houses. Fortunately I did still get into audio, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it! And have been able to do some post work. But with what I see as the music recording market becoming overly saturated to put it mildly,now it may be time for me to pursue my childhood dream. Breaking into something new can be scary, but if it’s something you love and enjoy, it’s going to be a fun time!  Stay tuned for more…..

The times, they are a changin’!

When I was a teenager, I dreamt of being in a big recording studio surrounded by walls of gear, working on cool music.
I worked really hard to achieve that dream. I went to recording school. Took tough jobs to challenge myself to grow. Found mentors to learn from and continue growing.
Around the time the I was in recording school, a new thing was just starting to make it’s way into the studios. The DAW. A Digital Audio Workstation back then was a two track editor that allowed you to edit digital audio quickly and non-destructively. Way easier than cutting tape with a razor blade, which, by the way, I can do.
So along comes this tool, everyone…. well, most everyone falls in love with it because it makes work faster and easier. But as anything goes- the DAW is developed, improved and enhanced. Now instead of two tracks they can do hundreds of tracks. Full on mixing automation, vocal tuning and cd mastering are all at your mouse click. And as the features went up, the price came down.  Making it more affordable to buy one of these systems than to rent out a studio to do a record.
Artists were soon buying these systems and recording and mixing their projects in their homes. Booking less and less time in a real recording studio with real rooms. This trend continues to grow as more and more studios are closing their doors due to lake of clients.
Now, I’m all for progress, but one must stop and ask, can this be a good thing?  Are the days of the big recording studio sounds gone? There was a certain magic, a vibe to the process that can’t be recreated with a computer in a bed room.
You don’t do your own dental work at home. You don’t do your own medical procedures, at least I hope not. Some should not be doing their own hair at home! Why try to make your record at home? This is something that is going to follow you around much longer than a bad haircut.
The audio recording industry is the only entertainment industry that has not moved forward in over twenty years. In fact, we are regressing.
 Not only has the quality of our recordings gone down, but the quality of our delivery media has too.
Video has moved from VHS, to DVD to BlueRay all the while, audio moves from the cd to…. well, the MP3. And there we’ve camped for years. Happy to have our ears tortured. There have been a few attempts for advancement, DVD-A, SACD and now BlueRay Audio Disc. But none have been widely embraced, not as much as the MP3. I have to ask why?
Do we as consumers, just not care? Has convenience won over quality? Are we willing to put up with amateur recordings delivered on a substandard format for the sake of a few dollars?
 Remember that record you used to love to listen to over and over again? Remember the cover art? Remember how the music would transform you, energize you and become a soundtrack for what was happening in your life? What has happened to that magic? Sure, today anyone can record, but are we getting the magic, squeezing every bit of tone out of that source that only someone who has studied and practiced their craft can do, or are we putting up a mic and saying, “yep, that’s good enough.”?
It is partly the recording industry’s fault. We didn’t push hard enough for improving our end product. Instead we embraced the faster, cheaper, methods and now look where it has got us. Our industry is proliferated with wanna be’s while studios like Abbey Road are struggling to keep their doors open.
Where do we go from here? How do we turn the ship around before it hits the iceberg? Is it even worth it? Should I just open a “Subway” shop?
Please don't get the wrong idea. I'm not ranting against the recording / mix engineer that sets up shop in their home. They still have the skill and experience that only they have by paying dues. My rant is against the guy who doesn't know the difference between phase and polarity, goes to a music store, buys a $50 computer program and then puts an add on Craigs list to record for $20. Not only does that undermine the true professional, but your total experience is going to reflect negatively on your project. And that will follow you.
 If we enough demand for quality and are willing to pay the price, then maybe....just maybe the future will be bright.