Studio stocking fillers

As this is our last blog post of the year we thought a stocking filler wish list would be a great way to get out of having to write something of substance!

So in no particular order, here's bunch of cost effective and cool stuff that will give you the perfect excuse to slip away into your studio whilst the relatives argue, because as Einstein's theory of relativity states "time goes more slowly when you're with your relatives".

DIYRE colour palette and modules:
Occasionally a product comes along that makes you wonder why nobody thought of it before. A 500 series host "palette" can be loaded with your choice of 3 analogue saturation and distortion circuit boards (so called "colours"), each of which can be added to the signal path individually. And there are kit versions. And it's very cost effective .. http://www.diyrecordingequipment.com/collections/colour

Orchid Electronics re-amping box:
A complete no-brainer, great product at a great price, and John at Orchid is a gentleman .. http://www.orchid-electronics.co.uk/Amp_Interface.htm

Stage Electrics GPO patch cords:
If you own a type B GPO patchbay you know the expense of buying or making patch cords. Stage Electrics have the answer. How do they produce these so cheaply!? Brilliant .. http://www.stage-electrics.co.uk/shop/sales/extension-cables/audio/cables---screened---gpo-jack-type-'b'

Yamaha Rev500:
The reverb effect processor that Yamaha put in their O1 and O2 series mixers are selling for a pittance on eBay. Absolutely the greatest reverb editing interface ever.

Electro Harmonix Soul Food overdrive pedal:
Ridiculously cheap and ridiculously grungy! .. http://www.ehx.com/products/soul-food

RPGT Photography softbox lighting kit:
OK, so they're cheap and won't stand up to professional or outdoor use, but for £60 you get 2 lights and stands that work brilliantly for lighting your YouTube video productions .. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NGCXJ2A?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

e-Instruments Session Keys Electric R Rhodes piano instrument plug in:
Our current favourite Rhodes at a discounted price .. http://www.e-instruments.com/instruments/pianos/session-keys-electric-r/

Are We Still Rolling by Phill Brown:
An account of a life at the recording console, Phill's book is an amazing journey through the history of recording and "indulgence". What we can't work out is how he remembered it all! .. http://www.phillbrown.net

Bumblebee RM5 ribbon mic kit:
Arthur Fisher's excellent and cost effective ribbon mic. It's a kit, but even a 5 year olds could assemble it. Take the plunge ..  http://www.bumblebeepro.com/products.php?disp=3503

And finally .. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUU8vjSTpP8

Have a great Christmas.
FairFax

Why we shouldn't mourn the demise of the "music industry"

The music industry as we know it today was only ever a temporary aberration. In its current form it owes it existence to 3 technical innovations. These 3 innovations allowed a lucky few to profit in ways that previous generations of musicians could only dream of.

The first was the invention of the gramophone. This made it possible for a recorded performance of a composition to be duplicated and purchased and for an audience to listen to it where and when they wanted. The gramophone could not be easily pirated and an industry grew to exploit the vast profit potential. 

For the past 70 years or so we have come to accept this version of the "industry" as the norm. But it wasn't always like this. Before gramophones, music was either performed live to a small audience (opera audiences were bigger because opera singers are louder) or sold as sheet music for families to enjoy at home (many families had pianos). Music was much more about community and shared experience. Folk musicians in particular didn't expect to earn fortunes. They were part of a tradition that shared music.

The second innovation was commercial broadcast radio financed by advertising. Now a live performance could be broadcast to hundreds of thousands, and when recording technologies arrived those performances could be recorded and broadcast again and again for additional ad revenues. In order to maximise sales, the companies that bought the advertising began to dictate how music should be conceived and created and the 3 minute pop song was born.

The 3rd innovation was electrical amplification and the development of the PA. Now a live performance could be heard by thousands. Paying thousands.

Musicians and composers didn't complain about any of these innovations, why would they? But now the Internet and new technologies are undermining this business model. Yes, digital technologies are devaluing music as a commodity, but NOT as an art form. Now we may begin to ask ourselves why should music makers have ever earned fortunes from music when farmers, teachers, nurses and coal miners earn so little?

The true value of music can't be defined by sales figures, critics or the phoney awards given out by the industry as part of their marketing strategies. Music is an art form of the people and for the people. 

Now that everyone has the means to create, record, market and distribute their own music it would seem that music may finally be returning to whence it came and perhaps should have stayed. Music lovers will make, record, perform and listen to the music they love, not for money but for the shared pleasure of a great art form, and the critics, curators, middle men and exploiters can go to hell.

For us home and project studio owners this is good news. We can forget about the money and concentrate on the music. It doesn't matter how many or how few people hear or love our music, only that we benefit from the huge personal satisfaction that the creative process brings us.

Thanks for reading and watching
FairFax

There's tape and there's tape

The analogue tape versus digital non linear audio recording (DAWs) debate is probably academic now that tape is no longer a practical option for the vast majority of amateur and professional sound engineers. However, it's still an interesting subject and for digital natives who have never used tape there are lessons to be learnt.

24 track 2" recorder

As with most evaluations we must always remember to qualify the parameters of what we are comparing. Statements such as "tape sounds better" are clearly going to be incorrect if we are comparing 24bit digital with a compact cassette based portastudio.

The reference point for most engineers who still evangelise tape will be 24 track 2" running at 30ips with Dolby SR noise reduction. Such systems were (and are?) hugely expensive to purchase, operate and maintain. The last time we checked back in 1995, a reel of 2" cost upward of £130 in London and lasted about 16 minutes ( if memory serves). A decent 24 track recorder would have set you back £20k+ and 24 channels of Dolby SR, well forget about it.

A reel of Ampex 456 2" tape

The last multitrack we used had some form of DBX noise reduction which turned hi frequency sounds like cymbals and triangles into weird modulated sounds. Bear in mind that 16+ tracks of analogue without NR could be intolerable unless you had a rack of noise gates, which many studios were forced to purchase.

The more cost effective 16 track 1" recorders were game changers for home studios but even if you liked their sonics no sane person could argue that they even began to approach the frequency response and distortion specs of 24bit digital.

The problem is that we may love what tape can do to a signal but not for every source. There are lots of sounds we need to hear back unaltered.

Understandably this has lead to the development of new outboard processors and plug-ins which seek to add some tape saturation and distortion flavour to those sounds we think sound better with it. To many of us this seems a great compromise. All the pleasing sonic aspects of tape without the wow and flutter, crosstalk, inter modulation noise, hiss and tape degradation issues (although no doubt someone somewhere is programming a plug-in that does these too!).

Slate Digital Virtual  Tape Machine plug-in

Those of us who struggled with tape on a daily basis during the 80s and 90s are delighted with digital and somewhat bemused by some digital natives enthusiasm for vinyl and tape. 

Maybe everyone should be compelled to finance and record at least one LP on tape and then share their experiences. Now wouldn't that be an interesting debate?

Thanks for reading and watching
FairFax