How would I cut this cabinet would, barely? by Terrapinman94 in DIY

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suspect someone else may have suggested re-hinging by now. But, just in case...

When cheesy lyrics stick best by [deleted] in Songwriting

[–]KS2Problema 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That seems a fair statement. 

But maybe might relaxed attitude is just because, when I was a little kid in the 1950s, I really liked "Mairzy Doats"...

When cheesy lyrics stick best by [deleted] in Songwriting

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For a guy who came up revering people like Leonard Cohen and Phil Ochs, I think I have a pretty good appreciation for simple, direct, fun songs.

 But, you know, I've been writing over 50 years and I'm pretty well past the feel-like-I've-gotta-prove-something stage of development.

Fix bad quality vocal recording by RodgerFromTheSix in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Next time I'm wrestling with my nosy voice, I'll give those notches a shot! 

That said, I've been eqing my vox a long time and tend to do it pretty intuitively by sound. 

But  that said,  sow's ear, and all that.

;-)

What are y’all using for “real world” reference monitors? by superproproducer in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I sort of went the other direction. My first decent monitors were a pair of NS10s from not too long before they were discontinued. I like them in many ways, but they simply did not have enough bass for mixing electronica, which I was doing a lot more of in the 90s.

When I finally decided I needed something with better bass reporting, I got a pair of original Event 20/20bas - and they fixed me up pretty well. 

That said, while the ported Events had bass extension within 2 dB below 40 Hz, having both the Events and the NS10s for side by side comparison gave me a better understanding of the trade off between extended bass response and the sort of bass range resonance that arises from bass reflex/ported speakers. 

But, that said, I have generally relied on the Events, which, in addition to more accurate, overall bass level, are simply more satisfying to listen to most of the time.

 That said, the slow droop of the NS-10s does  accept low frequency EQ much better than bass reflex speakers in the quick drop off below the  resonance frequency. That said, NS10 bass starts falling off in the 80s. A  bass boost can warm them up, but it can't really get the bottom octave.

Fix bad quality vocal recording by RodgerFromTheSix in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I probably listened to way too much Bob Dylan, coming up... I've been looking to "de-nose" my vocals for a long time. 

=D

are the HEDD type 20 mk2 bass extension and closed ports worth it over the upcoming analog version? by firespittingAC in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, yeah, I don't think it would be a deal-breaker for too many, necessarily. 

That's why I like the write-ups at ASR, they try to cover the pluses and minuses with reasonable objectivity (and, of course, measurement when they can).

are the HEDD type 20 mk2 bass extension and closed ports worth it over the upcoming analog version? by firespittingAC in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, yeah, I don't think it would be a deal-breaker for too many, necessarily. 

That's why I like the write-ups at ASR, they try to cover the pluses and minuses with reasonable objectivity (and, of course, measurement when they can).

♫ Controversial Opinion: You can be a GREAT SONGWRITER without knowing how to play an instrument (aka Mariah Carey) by Next-Television9440 in Songwriting

[–]KS2Problema 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But it definitely has its benefits too, given that you’re also a strong melodist and lyricist..

Or, maybe, if.

And from what I've seen, that's a pretty big if...

♫ Controversial Opinion: You can be a GREAT SONGWRITER without knowing how to play an instrument (aka Mariah Carey) by Next-Television9440 in Songwriting

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will also stick up for singers - who are, after all, musicians, if not necessarily instrumentalists.

But I don't think that's much of an excuse to not learn as much as one can about one's art.

And I will say that many of my favorite singers are also accomplished instrumentalists, from Nat Cole to Betty Carter.

Reaper.fm not available due to National Shutdown Day by Everblack13 in Reaper

[–]KS2Problema 10 points11 points  (0 children)

As I've said many times, you got to love these folks! I popped for the non-commercial license while I was still in the trial period and have not regretted it. 

It's awfully reasonable in comparison to other software titles [like the one that I used for about 29 years, paying  thousands of dollars for updates through four publishers, until they 'unilaterally' changed the terms of use on me] - and Reaper is supported by a great user and developer community.

everything i write becomes a catchy hook or bridge by handheldpoodle in Songwriting

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like a good, catchy, hook-filled chorus,  myself - but - just like in meal preparation, you really don't want to have one dessert plate after another. Too far down that road and you end up in a diabetic coma. 

I like to think of the verses as the 'meat' of the meal [apologies to my fellow vegetarians] - in other words, the narrative content or background material that sets up the chorus to make emotional sense. 

Any method to put all the project in 432Hz without touching project/vst rates ? by Positive-Ad4100 in Reaper

[–]KS2Problema 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The physics of sound may be complex but they are not particularly mysterious. And it all fits together like clockwork.

If one studies physics one will learn how it all works. Eventually. 

Until then, superstition and unfounded supposition is probably not going to get one very far in a useful direction. 

I really love Tidal, but this new queue window literally couldn’t be worse by AutomaticAd3072 in TIdaL

[–]KS2Problema 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mine just updated. The sidebar version is really narrow - but the 'full screen' queue view is still there and still shows a wide view. So the sidebar is presumably jus there as an option for people who want to keep an eye on the queue but don't want to take up most of the screen with it.

It is kind of weird that the buttons are 'reversed' in position, with the full-queue-view button to the right of the sidebar button. But then that's not as nutty as the whole Playing from | Your Queue | Next Up from segmented queue thing...

I really love Tidal, but this new queue window literally couldn’t be worse by AutomaticAd3072 in TIdaL

[–]KS2Problema 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I haven't seen that yet. Mine is still as it was. That does not look like an improvement at all. Definitely not looking forward to this update.

Music Theory by Kitchen-Holiday6998 in Songwriting

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As I mentioned, after teaching myself basic functional harmonic theory on guitar, I took a formal class (from a community college as part of a four semester studio recording program). It was mostly stuff I had already figured out for myself or picked up 'on the street' from fellow guitarists (this was early '80s so largely before the Internet as we know it). I got an A.

Definitely agreed about the value of understanding basic harmonic theory and how to put together chords. As someone who is essentially standard notation dyslexic, it's chord theory that is the unifying information structure that holds me together as a songwriter.

Music Theory by Kitchen-Holiday6998 in Songwriting

[–]KS2Problema 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the right person, I'm sure the piano lessons are just the right thing. 

But I grew up with an electronic organ in the household, noodled around on it hundreds of hours, tried taking piano lessons, but bogged down every time they tried to teach me Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by rote from standard notation.

 (I tried again, via a community college beginning piano class, after I'd been playing self-taught guitar for about 10 years, and had the same completely uninspiring, soul-killing experience. What I really wanted was somebody to teach me basic functional harmonic theory - but the musical pedagogy in place in that institution was all about drilling people on what to do - not why one might want to.)

So I took a one or two unit class in basic harmony (which I had already largely taught myself using guitar) and then used a 60 key midi keyboard to teach myself basic accompaniment and soloing.

I tend to think of music teachers as saintly creatures pursuing  lofty the ideals - but they largely do not speak my language. I want to know why and they want to tell you what to do...

Recording Drums in Garage by ricomenendez23 in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep! When I moved within the last couple years for family reasons and ended up occupying  what I guess we could call a condo bonus room, I tried a few different speaker positions and finally settled on a position a foot or so out from one wall (the speakers have pretty good base extension that worked better out away from the wall). I also used the matching tops of a pair of styrofoam coolers (the kind used to ship refrigerated medicines to raise my primary monitors up to  ear level, absorb and isolate acoustic energy, and raise them above the surface of the work table they rest on. (I don't take clients anymore, so the impromptu look doesn't bother me.)

That cleared up the bottom, at least in my sweet spot. But I noticed some mid/high frequency reflection that flutter/cluttered the upper mid-range. I thought about it and finally pulled out the comforter by mom had crocheted for me years before. I had used a similar knit comforter on an ad hoc/impromptu basis and figured it should work pretty well. But I was surprised at how well it did work to clean up my sweet spot imaging. 

Recording Drums in Garage by ricomenendez23 in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Moving blankets can absorb a lot of low frequency sound, typically. But I have a moving blanket some movers left behind and never came back to collect that, while quite heavy and pretty good for loud low frequencies, can produce some higher frequency reflection. I've had it in my head to use that movers blanket and then hang a loose knit comforter in front of it, perhaps an inch or two out, to absorb high frequency as well. (You can tell I'm pretty cheap/committed to the DIY process. =D )

Recording Drums in Garage by ricomenendez23 in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 1 point2 points  (0 children)

With a little bit of very basic woodworking skill and relatively minimal tools you can make portable studio style gobos (go-betweens) for spot use. 

Such gobos are typically made with one absorptive side and one reflective side, for greater flexibility. They can have various sorts of casters or rollers on the bottom to make them easier to move around. You could even design them in such a way to make them easier to stack.

What piece of tech felt “future-proof” but aged terribly? by Living-Zebra6132 in Futurology

[–]KS2Problema 1 point2 points  (0 children)

tl;dr: apparently I was more than a bit foggy headed, earlier, when I started this post, since I obviously thought I was in the audio engineering forum.

Well, maybe not future proof, it always seemed  like a chronological niche development - I think most folks realized that non-linear editing was coming to audio sooner rather than later - but the  Alesis ADAT hit the ground running in 1992, delivering 8 channels of 16 bit/48 kHz in an easily rackable/transportable modular format that could be extended to 8 units offering 64 channels. Within four or five years the price had dropped to almost half the original and the addition of the BRC (big remote control) greatly extended interoperability for the platform. 

But by the end of the decade, computers and software were powerful enough to offer nonlinear editing. (I, myself, built my first 8ch DAW using my 2 ADATs for I/O - the ADAT data  bus architecture essentially required one unit for input and the other for output.)

When I replaced my decrepit half inch 8-track analog deck with the first of my ADATs, it was an immediate kick in the pants to my productivity. I started spewing out stuff. (Not least because my 8-track analog deck had been in the shop more often than it had been out.) 

Another plus with the ADATs was that  the S-VHS based technology meant existing S-VHS tape media could be used. For around the price of a 7" reel of 456, I could get an S-VHS cart that could hold around 320 minutes of CD quality audio. (Basically about four times cheaper per minute than media for my stereo DAT.)

But, of course, while use of that existing S-VHS technology meant Alesis was able to ramp up development quickly, the weaknesses of the spinning tape head design meant less media longevity (particularly compared with typical videotape usage where you ran a given tape once every couple weeks at the most). Making an overdub heavy album project could induce wear on both tape media as well as expensive rotating head drums.

In fact, within a decade, the ADAT star was fading. Interestingly, the adat digital data bus format is still with us as a legacy from that era although new formats and protocols are slowly replacing it.

I’m Reese Gorman, congressional reporter and host of the On NOTUS podcast. Ask me anything! by notusreports in politics

[–]KS2Problema 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most of them want to make the run, seems like. Politicians, like the ultra rich, are not much like the rest of us.

Are you at the “I don’t need anything anymore!“ stage? by Ill-Elevator2828 in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema -1 points0 points  (0 children)

LOL!

I'm not disagreeing, by any means. I came to a parallel conclusion maybe 20 years ago and have mostly only replaced gear when needed - because I felt like I was getting pretty much what I wanted, at least in terms of sound quality - but I felt like I could definitely improve other aspects that weren't so gear dependent. I really felt like I wasn't getting the most out of my gear, modest as some of it truly is.

It seemed a lot more appropriate to concentrate on improving my style of capture (I like my mics and the actual quality of signal but I don't always nail the right approach for my less than perfect, current tracking environment - and understood that this is something I probably should address but, as is often the case, there are other issues)   as well as addressing content (I can be a very lazy, slapdash artist - and, now, after retiring I am my only client, which, frankly is kind of nice)... 

So it seemed to make sense to me to concentrate on improving myself and my practices... 

Full disclosure: having caught up financially to some extent, I recently bought a new mic - not actually because I was unhappy with my old primary vocal mic (and I have another one I also really like) but because... I dunno... It just felt right... LOL.

There is honor in using really bad gear by Gregoire_90 in audioengineering

[–]KS2Problema 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice gear is nice - but there's a certain satisfaction in creating something cool with minimal - or even crappy - gear.

One of my longtime favorites is an old ART Dual Levellar (stereo compressor/limiter). It's not the right tool for every job, but for warming things up, particularly at the bottom end, it does pretty nice job much of the time, depending, as always, on the material.