Will this iPad-thing be useful for musicians and engineers?

Do we really need to talk about the iPad? There’s so much tablet fodder out there that I doubt anyone will ever come across this, but just in case someone is interested, I’d like to offer my sound-guy perspective on the device.

First Thoughts:

My first impression of the device as images and tweets were pouring out of the closed-door press conference, was that this gadget looks a lot more square than I expected.  But my first music-related thought was that this device could be AWESOME at wireless, multi-touch-enabled MIDI controlling.  It’s not hard to imagine the iPad running a touchscreen version of Ableton’s Launchpad hardware unit.  There’s really enough space there to see mixing control surfaces like the Jazzmutant Lemur and Dexter app.  So, yeah, first thoughts were “this is kind of square” and “big multi-touch screen with wifi and bluetooth = totally rad control surface apps!”

Nitty Gritty:

Sadly, in tune with the general disappointment of the day, the features (or lack thereof) started to get in the way of the potential of this device to make an exceptional addition to a music-nerd’s arsenal.

As terrible as Apple’s 35mm line input jacks are on laptops and desktops, I wish there was one on the iPad.  An internal mic means you can interface with most apps that need audio input.  Except that you can’t plug any other mics or input into this device for use with the various stereo or multitrack recording apps already out for the iPhone.  I’m not thinking I’d use this to track important vocals, but the ability to record from a line input would have been incredibly useful given the supposed portability of the device.

Some might point out that there are peripherals that plug into the docking port of an iPhone or iPod and enable stereo recording with better line and mic inputs.  But this just brings up a new sore point – no USB connectivity.  I’m sorry, but just out of principal, a device this big which in some ways was designed to replace carrying around a laptop NEEDS USB ports.  Even one of those ridiculous mini USB ports would have been an improvement.  Sure I can add peripherals like card readers and improved sound cards at the docking port – but only ONE AT A TIME.  And even then, that’s contingent on what hardware features Apple has decided to prevent us from using through software (e.g. why can’t I transfer files over bluetooth with my iPhone?)

Next, and not really as vital is the lack of expandable memory.  The ability to add more flash cards to this device would have been useful if I could see the iPad being used as a regular portable audio recorder.  However, because of all the dang port-limitations mentioned above, you can either add a better sound card to the device or a card reader – but not both at the same time.  There goes my idea of using the iPad as fancy microtrack.

Final Thoughts:

If I had more money, I would buy this thing.  Yes, I just complained about it all over this post (and for about an hour at dinner last night – sorry to my girlfriend).  But it’s a giant touch screen that will run Automap, and touch-based synths and drum machines, etc. Like I said above, it won’t be an exceptional tool for audio-nerds, but it will definitely work for some people, and its undeniably cool to control your DAW with a little touchscreen.

I know Apple treats their pro-sumer customers (i.e. Logic Pro or Final Cut users) like children – locking us out from obviously useful features and forcing us to upgrade every year or so.  Maybe the next round of iPads will fare better with the blogosphere elites, but despite being slap a hundred time by it, Apple is the hand that feeds me gadget-treats.

Unless google comes out with an awesome tablet and figures out how to run pro-tools in Android.  Then I’m google all-the-way.

Sanjay and I started this site in February and really didn’t know what we were aiming for. Over the past several months, however, the site has picked up some steam and hopefully a ton of readers. I thought I’d go through the posts (all 334 of them) and pick out my favorite posts, products, and more.

Videos

This site started out as a type of Q&A site where we’d post tutorials (both video and text), so that was the first part of our major content. While the tutorials have kind of taken a back seat to new product news and reviews (more coming soon), we can’t forget the first few posts on our beloved site: FX bussing and sidechain compression inside Reaper.

Questions and Answers

Recording, mixing, producing, mastering…there’s a lot of different avenues to express your creativity sonically. Inevitably, however, you’re going to run into some questions. That’s where we come in. We’ve covered some pretty important (albeit it dry) topics thus far, so feel free to catch up on our past Q&As:

• Acoustic Guitar Maintenance
• Creating MIDI Regions with Ultrabeat
• I/O Buffer Size and Latency
• Vocal Isolation
• Recording in Reaper
• Recording Education
• Vocal Reverb
• Why Do I Need Mastering?
• Building A DJ/Production Rig
• How to Deal with Compression That Pumps
• DJ Controller on a Budget
• Uneven Levels in a DJ Mix?

Tutorials + Articles

Aside from the video tutorials we’ve done, we’ve also done a few text-and-picture tutorials and a whole bunch of topical tutorials.

• Changing Your I/O Buffer Size
• Recording Your DJ Mixes in Audacity
• Miking Guitar Amps
• EQ Basics
• Using Inserts as Direct Outputs
• Intro to Mixers
• Parallel Compression
• Real Life Reverb
• Intro to Preamps
• Seeing Your Mix
• Know Your Signals
• Getting A “Warm” Sound
• Polar Patterns
• Processing Vocals
• Sidechain Compression in Reason
• Rewiring Reason Into Reaper
• Quantizing MIDI in Reaper
• Input Modes
• Reverb in GarageBand
• Parallel Compression in Live 7
• “What Programs Can I Make Beats In?”
• Super Simple Mastering in Logic
• Intro to Compressors / Part 2
• Recording Inside Live
• Practically Using Compression
• Basic Routing in Live
• Creating Mono Output Sends in Logic
• Logic 8 Tutorials You’ll Probably Like
• Vocal Editing Basics
• De-Essing De-Mistified
• Basic Vocal Mixing
• Grid Settings in Reaper
• GarageBand to Logic Part 1 / Part 2
• So You Want to Start Making Music?

2009 and Beyond…

2009 was a pretty big year for us. Not only did we start the site, but we also started building contacts and relationships with pro-audio and music manufacturers all across the world. We got some gear to review and also brought you news on some new and exciting gear. We attended our first trade show (AES in NYC), and hopefully we’ll be attending some more this year.

Be sure to keep a look out for more gear reviews, new articles, and more tutorials in the new year.

Either way, keep the emails and comments coming! Without them, there’s not much of a site!

The European Commission is talking about limiting the default volume limit of mp3 players sold in the EU.

They’re suggesting 85 dB as a default maximum volume while still allowing users to override the max volume up to 100 dB.

Sounds good right?  Makes sense that we need to protect our ears.  Most audio engineers know that they listening to things too loud, too long will hurt your hearing.  It’s just a little sad that we can’t just manage our own volume. But sometimes it has to come down to laws to get people take care of their heads.

I suppose this isn’t entirely new news either.  iPods have had the ability to volume limit for a long while now, it’s just like smoking, eating incredibly fatty foods, or drinking a ton of alcohol.  We might know why its not good for us, but just keep doing it.

Any thoughts? Would you like to have governments telling you how loud is too loud?

This isn’t really Music Production-related, but it seems relevant to how we relate to our readers.  The FTC has some new regulations that kick in Dec 2009 that requires publishers to disclose if they received free products for review or were paid in anyway for their endorsement.  It also requires that people selling things disclose any relationship to a person providing a testimonial for said product.

Roughly speaking this translates into: “Hey Internet, stop lying or it will cost you $”

While it does require me to type a few extra sentences in some of our posts – I think it’s about time bloggers were told that their honesty matters, especially in situations where people look for some sort of help or advice.  Misinformation directed at nabbing sales is a huge problem for people sifting through the ever-growing population of “blogs” out there.

Last, and I think most important, I’d like to say that most manufacturers and software developers aren’t looking for a free thumbs-up.  Sure, we submit our reviews for fact-checking, but we’re not getting told how to interpret who a piece of gear is good for, or what features are lacking in a software package. As we try to cover more gear and review more software, inevitably we’ll have to develop relationships with the makers and sellers of that equipment.  Our promise is to give you honest, un-pretentious and practical advice about your music production needs.

As always, we can be reached at askasoundguy@gmail.com

Also, I’d like to make one thing explicitly clear: I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. I’m not qualified to give you legal advice. Please go read through the regulations yourself or talk to an actual lawyer before you go making changes to your content, etc.  http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

Obviously AES is an audio nerd’s dream come true: it’s wall-to-wall gear and like-minded individuals talking shop and other having fun. There’s parties, lectures, and even science-heavy white paper lectures (for those who are into those kinds of things). But most importantly it’s gear. Whether new or old, analog or digital, software or hardware, it’s all used for recording, mixing, mastering, post production, and more.

We literally walked by every single exhibit and gave every product some attention. However, some products blew our mind a little bit more than others, so I thought I’d go through the tech that I was most excited about.

• Cloud Ribbon Microphones:  Particularly the JRS-34. These microphones sound and look amazing because of their background and the people involved with them. Stephen Sank, who’s father replaced Harry Olsen at RCA, has been restoring and modifying classic RCA ribbons for some time now. RJ Cloud and Stephen Sank have been developing modern ribbons with vintage souls since 2006 and the mics are now becoming available to the general public. The mics sound amazing, are built inside the United States, and are considerably cheaper than buying an RCA 44/77.
• Audient Zen: It’s no secret that the way of the commercial studio is going the way of small, efficient, and hybrid. I love giant analog consoles, and while I’m sure they’re still being sold, I’m sure consoles like the Zen are being sold much faster. The Zen offers you all the flexibility you’re going to need from a small-form analog/digital console with a considerably lower price tag than it’s competitors (even if you buy it fully loaded). The console designer has been designing circuits/gear since the 60s and was on-hand to give me an in-depth tour of the board. And, as much as I love SSL, Neve, and API, I must say that this is the only desk that got me really stoked.
• Dangerous Music D-Box: Okay, confession time: I can be a bit behind in terms of higher end gear. I don’t work in a big studio. So while I was a bit familiar with Dangerous Music’s tech, I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing and hearing the D-Box until Saturday. After being given a very detailed tour of the box, I have to say that if I was ever building a serious project studio around a Pro Tools LE system, I’d HAVE to own this thing. It’s a monitoring solution, cueing setup, talkback/headphone solution, analog summing box, and D/A convertor.
• Two Notes Torpedo VB-101: With all the buzz surrounding the Digidesign Eleven Rack, I have to believe you’re going to hear a little bit about this amazing unit once it starts coming around in the United States. The Torpedo is based on a convolution algorithm which delivers amazing sounds. It’s got 16 amp/8 studio microphone choices, USB control with the Torpedo Remote software, 24bit/192kHz analog I/Os, AES/EBU/SPIDF digital I/Os with a wordclock sync, and is fully MIDI assignable. That’s all well and good, but the two best features of this unit is the fact that you can use your own guitar/bass amps the box and you can create your own IRs (impulse responses) with the Torpedo Capture software! Have a buddy in Europe with a killer amp/mic combo that you’d like? This software and box gives you the ability to do that. A must have for any serious studio guitar player.
• Grimm Audio LS1/AD1: Confession time part two: I’m a scientist and I’ll never try to convince you that I am. So when Sanjay and I met with the Grimm guys and they went into the reason their gear is world-class, a lot of it went over my head. Which is all well and good because as much as I love great sounding stuff, I also love great looking gear which is why the Grimm stuff caught my eye (A/D convertor with wood front panel? yes please!). Knowledge of high-level audio science or not, the LS1 (they’re flagship studio monitors) were astounding. They’re sleek, built solidly, and sound like some of the best monitors I’ve ever heard. Make no mistake, though: this is high-grade, expensive, and most definitely pro gear. The price tag reflects this, but I’m 100% certain that this gear is worth every penny.
• Thermionic Culture: By now it should be no secret that I’m a huge fan of hand-made, high quality, analog gear. Thermionic Culture makes gear that falls under each of those three criteria for awesome gear. From preamps to EQs and just about anything in-between, these guys have all the bases covered for your tracking, mixing, and tone-shaping needs. The great thing about the gear is that while a bit more pricey than your run-of-the-mill dbx or M-Audio gear, it’s certainly well worth it for any studio desiring the all-valve analog sound whether it be project or commercial facility.
• Endless Audio CLASP: When I read the press release for this, I had to read it again to make sure I had read it right. A way to incorporate that somewhat forgotten tape machine into your daily digital work? Endless Analog is making that come true with CLASP (Closed Loop Analog Signal Processor). The way it works is simple: once the CLASP rack-unit is installed, it runs as a plug-in inside your Pro Tools system. As you record, it hits your tape machine first and then goes right into your Pro Tools system. Your PT transport now can control your tape machine transport, you can do tape punches just as easily as you can do punches in PT, and you can even change the speeds at which your tape machine is running on the fly. It’s kind of expensive but has taken a number of years to develop. It’s limited in it’s market as it’s really only open to studios that already have tape machines or newer studios that have a tape machine in their budget, but it’s amazing nonetheless.
• Novation Launchpad: The APC40 seems to be a pretty big hit with Live users, but I think this piece of hardware might put a pretty sizable dent in the market for Akai. At first glance, you may notice what this device doesn’t have: no faders, no encoders. But what it does have is much more important. It has a) a lower price ($199 retail), b) great feeling pads, c) the ability to link up to six units together at a time and work in tandem with an APC40, allowing you to work with both at the same time, d) the high-quality you’ve come to expect with Novation controllers, and e) Automap. Don’t write this thing off. You can still control sends, levels, panning, and all the other stuff with the Launchpad, just in a slightly different fashion.
• iZotope Alloy: I’ve been a fan of RX since I was introduced to it a couple of years ago so I make sure to check out everything that comes out of iZotope’s factory. Alloy is a somewhat rare departure from their normal territory, but I’m stoked to get a hold of this. I’d write a bunch of words about the software, but perhaps you’d like to watch our video in which the head of iZotope’s beta-testing department gives us a great walkthrough of the program.

So ends my giant wall of text. While there was tons of gear at this years show, the above pieces were my absolute favorite. There wasn’t a lot of disappointments at the show, but there were a few.

• No Digidesign!
• No Akai
• No Apple
• Overall smaller show than last year which means…
• SSL and Neve booths weren’t as large as they’ve been in years past
• I’m not meant to live in NYC, as this trip has shown me
• The Javits center’s food sucks and is too expensive

Other than that, it was a blast. We’re definitely going to be at AES San Francisco next fall, hopefully with an intern or two doing most of the writing (we missed a lot of great parties to write!). Maybe we’ll get a shot at NAMM in January? We sure hope so.

Closing note: Sanjay took quite a bit of video at this years AES including demos of the Launchpad, CLASP, Alloy, and new gear from both Monster and Waves. Be sure to check out and subscribe to the YouTube channel here!

Coleman Audio VU Pumpkin

If you’re at AES in New York this weekend, make sure you check out Booth #162 to see the fantastic VU Pumpkin!  It has LED backlights and was probably the coolest and geekiest thing we saw all day.

Also, you won’t find cleaner, more solid monitoring and metering solutions made by a nicer Man with a nicer wife anywhere.  So if you’re heading over to check out the pumpkin, make sure to say hi to the Coleman’s and see the fantastic monitoring solutions.

AES New York 2009

Just landed in New York so I thought I’d mention – The 127th Audio Engineering Society Convention is going down Friday – Monday October 9-12th New York, and AskASoundGuy.com is going to be there!

We’re excited to get you guys some interviews, looks at new gear, and possibly some pictures of awesome swag.

If you’re going to be there, shoot us an email at AskASoundGuy_at_gmail.com!

Bedroom Drum Miking

Phew.  It’s been a terribly crazy month for AASG – getting ourselves prepped for  AES, my mind being blown by Logic 9, traveling back and forth between Orange County and the Bay Area repeatedly, and a ton of dental work.

But I’m finally back in the saddle, ready to pick up where I left off.  Lots of Logic 9 stuff coming your way, and hopefully a cool interview or two.

This month, however, has also been a learning experience for me as an engineer.  In the scope of one project, I’ve recorded in fantastic studio, tracked in several bedrooms, pulled beat-detective-related all nighters, and done my best to navigate the ever-complicated schedules of musicians.

The biggest lesson I’ve taken from this is simple: You can play music your whole life and still not be ready for a session.

I say that not to speak ill of the musicians I’ve been working with – they’re great.  But no matter how well you sit in the groove, shred your axe, or make that bass talk – recording is a whole different animal.  And being successful at recording often has more to do with preparation and work ethic than it does with talent.

Some people might scream at me for causing the end of “good music” as we know it for saying that, but let me qualify it.  Talent, creativity and inspiration are essential for great music.  But they require a context – a space to happen.  Sessions can be perfect places for moments of musical genius to happen, but only if you’ve done your homework.

Recording sessions tend to take longer than expected, move slower than normal practices and shows, and require more repetition than most bands are used to.  Often times, putting in hours of hard work at session is the only way to achieve random brilliant takes.

So all of that being said a few big tips to help your session go well:

1) Practice.  It’s gotta be tight. You have to know how the song fits together in all these parts.  I’d even suggest recording your practices – just one mic in the room if thats all you have. Then listen carefully to those practices and get used to listening to yourself and judging yourself on some sort of objective level.

2) Know your parts.  You’ve got to know how the song comes together.  Figure out some of the tones you want, where solos and embellishments are placed, even some rough bpms (if you record to a click then you NEED to figure this out before hand).

3) Practice to a Click.  This only really applies if you’re recording to a click or if you want your sound to be as tight as humanly possible.  Either that, or be prepared to spend some dough having your engineer time-correct your drums.

4) Bring a notebook.  Yeah it’s lame but, if you’re recording yourself then one of the biggest things you’re not getting is an engineer.  That little geeky guy who pushes buttons and turns knobs, actually does a lot more than that.  A thoughtful engineer will take notes during takes – noting where timing slips, or a wrong note gets hit.  Even just noting some of what the band “feels” about takes.  These notes are a the best place to start editing different takes together, and judging various takes against each other.

But if you record yourself, then you’re not getting an engineer so I’d at least write down a few notes between takes – you know that awkward “what did you guys think?” conversation you have after playing through a song?  That’s the stuff you should write down.  It may seem unimportant during the recording process – but you’ll find it saves you a lot of time later.

I’d suggest heading over to CG to read on, but I’d like to throw a Sound Guy spin on this.

I’m not going to say I downloaded a lots and lots of pirated music when I was in highschool (1999-2003), but I will say that every single person I knew – even ones still using dial-up – knew HOW to find music for free.

Even after the big push to put DRM on CDs and in the iTunes Store – it’s simple enough to get around.  Seriously – just about anyone can do it any number of ways.  Not saying it’s right, just saying it’s easy.

I honestly believe that DRM tended to just point the potential audience of recording artists AWAY from “legitamate” channels, and built up a feeling of “I don’t trust you, you don’t trust me” between artists and audiences.

Being a Sound Guy – That SUCKS.  My work involves helping artists turn their creative goals into something real (and hopefully saleable) but if we actively work towards tainting the relationship between artists and audiences, we’re KILLING our industry.

Anyway, we all know DRM hasn’t accomplished much, and I’m happy to see it go.  I’d just like to stop talking about it so often, and focus more on what’s important.  Making music that has value and means something to people.  I really believe that when an artist creates something great, lots people – even the people who know how to find it for free – are willing and happy to pay for it.

Just my two cents.

First of all, if there actually are any of you – thank you for reading and sending in questions and leaving comments. The site would not be much without an audience of passionate, hip, and dedicated musical-types.

As the “Editor” of AskASoundGuy.com I have the pleasure of announcing my new month Editor’s note.

Not sure how I’ll use this aside from:

1) Weighing in on some recent happenings in the Music World.

2) Offering some Opinion Pieces (which will try to stay as even-handed as possible).

3) Dealing with Administrative and Site News.

Now for the Real Editor’s Note for July:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Things you should be reading (besides AASG)

1) TapeOp – Yep, #1 on our list is actually a print magazine. Subscribing is free.  Yes FREE.  The advice is great, honest, and comes from a range of experiences.  It’s the closest thing to a mentor most young recordists, producers, etc can get. The big man over at TapeOp, Larry Crane,  also runs a studio in Portland called Jackpot!  He’s also hilarious and pretty insightful.  So seriously, if you’re not reading the last, great music production magazine – then you should be.  For it’s awesomeness, TapeOp gets 5 out of 5 Ben Heads.

2) Synthtopia – I’ve quoted and re-posted stuff from Synthtopia.  There’s a reason for this: I read that sight EVERY DAY.  Seriously, great resource for anyone who gets a *little* turned on by knobs, buttons, faders and multi-color LEDs.  Whether you dj, produce, or record, synthtopia is a badass place to read, hear and see new/old/vintage/cool/weird/nerdy stuff. For bringing you the best in nerd-pron daily, Synthtopia gets 5 Ben Heads.

3) Noise Addicts – Yet another great online music magazine.  These guys regularly churn out audio-nerd awesomeness.  From Eavesdropping on printers to Dissecting Stevie Wonder’s Magic Clavinet.  Anyway, awesome although not always super-practical, so I give it 4 Ben Heads.

4) MatrixSynth – Synth pron.  Pretty much.  Still great, and I wish I could give it more – but 3 Ben Heads.

5) Radio Exile – Last on this short list (and there were more I’d like to post) is a true Music Blog.  Radio Exile writes about band, music videos, cool stuff, and the industry in general. It’s great for finding new music AND having clever things to say at your next audio-nerd house party.  5 Heads.

So keep this list in mind next time you find yourself wondering – what happened to books?

There’s still great reading out there – you just have to look for it.

As always – more reading suggestions are welcome!