Reverb is the spice of your audio. Without some sense of reverberation, whether natural or digital, your mixes will inevitably seem lifeless and boring. Too much reverb or the wrong type can unnaturally spoil your audio endeavors, like adding the wrong flavor to an otherwise good recipe. The key is using the right ingredients, knowing how much too add, and knowing when to stop when the mix is just right.
Here's a short clip from the Neo-Nostalgics upcoming album, a tune called John Barber. As with most guerrilla recording environments, the space in which we were recording didn't afford the best acoustics (no high ceilings, no wood floors, etc.-- a basement, basically), so we close-mic'ed every instrument to reduce the amount of room ambiance, since setting up a room mic to collect some natural reverb wasn't an option. As we expected, our final tracks were pretty clean and didn't have much of the unwanted room sound in the mix, but the tracks sound bare-bones dry and don't have that "sparkle" a nice room would provide:
In close quarter recording spaces, the trick is to fake ambiance with digital reverb while not letting on that it's an artificial addition. I start by searching for a nice effect that emulates the sense of real space, but I pay close attention to how the reverb colors my audio, especially if it adds unwanted mud that detracts from the fidelity of the dry source audio. On the other hand, some reverb parameters might react a little too brightly and actively on some transient peaks (like snare cracks or sibilant vocals) which will unnaturally emerge from the mix in ways that real acoustic reflections would never behave. This is a dead giveaway that you're using canned ambiance. To avoid this, I look for a reverb that provides "cutoff" parameters which allows control over what frequencies are included in the effect. For reverbs that don't include this option, you can always bounce a 100% wet signal to its own track and manually apply equalization to get the response you're seeking.
To fake the natural ambiance we're missing from the mix, I add the same base reverb effect to most of the instruments in small amounts. For starters, I'll often choose a small room or hall setting without a lot of bright coloration and a shorter decay time; we're shooting to make the audio sound like it's sitting in a unified space, but again, we don't want the reverb to sound distracting or unnatural. I'll add it to the drums first-- if the reverb blends well and sounds natural with the drums, it will probably sound alright with the rest of the instruments in the mix. I generally don't add any (or much) reverb to the kick or the overheads because reverb on these tracks often ruins the clarity of what we've recorded. For the snare and the toms, I'll add just enough reverb until I notice the effect, and then I'll back it off until I can't notice it anymore. I find the ideal amount of reverb occurs in the area between noticing it and not noticing it, but ultimately it's a matter left up to taste and the style of music you're working with.
After the drums are sounding good, I'll add a small amount to the rest of the instruments to bring them into the same "space," trying to find the right amount that sounds natural for each instrument and always auditioning the wet/dry ratio with the rest of the mix. Keep in mind that the more reverb you add, the more "removed" the original audio will sound from the mix, and the more predominant and possibly distracting the fake ambiance becomes. As a general rule of thumb, you don't want the effect to overtake the natural balance of your mix, so in most cases, a little bit of reverb goes a long way. For my tastes, I find that the snare and the toms will receive the most amount of reverb (e.g. 5% to 15% wet), and every other instrument gets the same effect in less amounts (anywhere from 1% to 12% wet). If I choose to apply different reverb effect to other instruments, I have to be careful that the different settings don't create a conflicting sense of space (unless of course that's the effect I'm going for) and aren't adding subtle tonal and EQ imbalances. Simply put, you don't want different reverb settings to conflict with one another. If I do use different reverb settings for different instruments, a tiny amount of small room reverb added to all tracks will hep smooth over the overall finish and bring all the tracks into a sense of unified space.
After auditioning several reverb settings for the Neo-Nostalgics track, I decided on a lively, bright, medium sized room, to give the overall mix a live jazz club feeling. The reverb turned out brighter and more active than I usually choose for a mix, but in this case, such a decision seemed appropriate for the feel and style of the music. The vocals have a different reverb plugin with a slight stereo delay effect, but I added a tiny amount of the original room reverb to to the vocal to soften the edges and place the vox in the same "room" as everything else. Overall, the room reverb is most apparent on the snare and the guitar, and the vocals now have a shimmer they didn't before, but the cumulative effect is still subtle:
Check back soon for a compilation of links to the most useful free VST reverb plugins available on the web. While you'll get better, more natural sounding results from the higher-end and more pricey plugins, there's still a lot of quality reverb plugins for free that will still do your recordings justice.
Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts
Friday, December 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Guitar Mic Techniques for Guerrilla Recording
As another addition for your guerrilla field manual, several short video tutorials on the basics of recording guitars. CHiTT Productions weighs in with other insights after the jump.
Recording guitars on fly? The slightest microphone adjustments, not to mention the microphone you pick for the job, can be the difference between a full bodied sound or weak tracks. Remember, isolation is key in guerrilla recording, because your room might not be ideal. The best and clearest recordings most often come by capturing a faithful representation of the source material without a lot of unnecessary coloration or haphazard experimentation. You want your tools to be as transparent as possible, only adding that coveted "character" (whether from a mic or an effect) only when it's necessary.
Often we choose to record with one mic as the "transparent" mic in a close-mic position (with as little room sound as possible, positioned at the "sweet spot" of the instrument/speaker). If we've got extra tracks to play with, then we'll add another mic for experimentation, maybe off axis or placed further back in the recording space. Once the mix is sounding pretty balanced in its later stages with just the dry mics laying the foundation of the mix, then we add the tracks with more daring mic positions to spice the overall flavor or character. We might even choose later on to swap out the experimental track for the conventionally mic'ed one if it sounds good, but we'd hate to be trapped down the road with a mix full of experimental mic positions that can't be used because we weren't hearing something right at the time. While and entirely close-mic'ed mix will sound, well, like a closely mic'ed mix, unless you're recording in the Taj Mahal of locations, you're probably better off letting digital reverb liven up a mix while guerrilla recording.
The quickest and truest way to get awesome tracks while guerrilla recording (since in the field we don't have the luxury of a sonically balanced mix station/control room) is to get a pair of Extreme Isolation headphones and a 30-50 ft. headphone extension cable. Get right up in the thick of it with your isolation headphones on and solo the channel of instrument in question and move the mic around until you get that sound. What's that sound? Shoot for what you imagine it would sound like if you took your headphones off and stuck your ear right close to the speaker or instrument (pain threshold notwithstanding). Let the music be as dirty as it wants to be, but good guerrilla recordings come from being as clean as possible right up front (i.e. good gain structure, isolation, conservative mic placements, etc.). We experiment in the field when time and tracks permit, but save most of the fun for the non-destructive mixdown stage.
Since guerrilla recording is often without a budget, chances are you're not going to have golden mics at your disposal. Never fear, budget mics still can kick some serious burgeios butt, and you'll never end up missing the cash you would've spent.
For electric guitar speaker cabinets, the Shure SM57 obviously ranks as the most accessible and time-tested solution for close mic'ing speakers. The best part of this mic is that it still turns up in yard sales, 18 years old, dented and still working; still a perfect addition to the mic stash, and it can mic just about anything else in a pinch. But for ~about~ the same store price as the 57 the Sennheiser e609 wins the day for guerrilla recording, even if it is just a little too pretty. It makes close-mic'ing a breeze because it hugs the grill and its supercardioid pattern rejects bleed from other instruments in your small recording space or live situation (works great for toms too!).
For acoustic guitars you've got to go condenser. The SM57 sounds too "rugged" and unintentionally lo-fi in most applications (although there are times it can actually clean up some really bad sounding instruments). Ideally we'd love to use condensers with crystalline rapport-- of course, everyone would, but they're hard to come by on a beer budget. Rode mics, such as the NT-5, seem to be the mid-pro level choice for honest and accurate mic'ing, but for the price, we've never laid our hands on a pair so we can't vouch for its authority (any donations?). More modestly priced are the awkwardly vessel-like AKG C-1000s. Nice presence with clarity, but enough bottom end to feel the wood of the guitar. If you're recording in a suitably vibrant room with little extraneous noise, the standard cardioid pickup pattern will pick up a nice amount of room sound. If not, the hypercardioid capsule will tighten the pickup pattern without sacrificing too much range.
On even more of a budget? The AT2021 is a versitile small diaphragm condenser that just works. Although it's a little active and bright in the high end while still managing to be less articulate with the high-mids, its still a reasonably impressive and budget-minded choice for recording detailed instruments. The selling point is that the AT2021 comes only with the AT2020, its side-adress bigger brother, sold as the AT2041 package. With a little searching you might find both for lower than its minimum advertised price, costing only about as much as a new SM57 in a store. Both mics share the same capsule design, take high SPLs and are very versitile, whether overheads, vocals or instruments, without adding too much flamboyant color.
Recording guitars on fly? The slightest microphone adjustments, not to mention the microphone you pick for the job, can be the difference between a full bodied sound or weak tracks. Remember, isolation is key in guerrilla recording, because your room might not be ideal. The best and clearest recordings most often come by capturing a faithful representation of the source material without a lot of unnecessary coloration or haphazard experimentation. You want your tools to be as transparent as possible, only adding that coveted "character" (whether from a mic or an effect) only when it's necessary.
Often we choose to record with one mic as the "transparent" mic in a close-mic position (with as little room sound as possible, positioned at the "sweet spot" of the instrument/speaker). If we've got extra tracks to play with, then we'll add another mic for experimentation, maybe off axis or placed further back in the recording space. Once the mix is sounding pretty balanced in its later stages with just the dry mics laying the foundation of the mix, then we add the tracks with more daring mic positions to spice the overall flavor or character. We might even choose later on to swap out the experimental track for the conventionally mic'ed one if it sounds good, but we'd hate to be trapped down the road with a mix full of experimental mic positions that can't be used because we weren't hearing something right at the time. While and entirely close-mic'ed mix will sound, well, like a closely mic'ed mix, unless you're recording in the Taj Mahal of locations, you're probably better off letting digital reverb liven up a mix while guerrilla recording.
The quickest and truest way to get awesome tracks while guerrilla recording (since in the field we don't have the luxury of a sonically balanced mix station/control room) is to get a pair of Extreme Isolation headphones and a 30-50 ft. headphone extension cable. Get right up in the thick of it with your isolation headphones on and solo the channel of instrument in question and move the mic around until you get that sound. What's that sound? Shoot for what you imagine it would sound like if you took your headphones off and stuck your ear right close to the speaker or instrument (pain threshold notwithstanding). Let the music be as dirty as it wants to be, but good guerrilla recordings come from being as clean as possible right up front (i.e. good gain structure, isolation, conservative mic placements, etc.). We experiment in the field when time and tracks permit, but save most of the fun for the non-destructive mixdown stage.
Since guerrilla recording is often without a budget, chances are you're not going to have golden mics at your disposal. Never fear, budget mics still can kick some serious burgeios butt, and you'll never end up missing the cash you would've spent.
For electric guitar speaker cabinets, the Shure SM57 obviously ranks as the most accessible and time-tested solution for close mic'ing speakers. The best part of this mic is that it still turns up in yard sales, 18 years old, dented and still working; still a perfect addition to the mic stash, and it can mic just about anything else in a pinch. But for ~about~ the same store price as the 57 the Sennheiser e609 wins the day for guerrilla recording, even if it is just a little too pretty. It makes close-mic'ing a breeze because it hugs the grill and its supercardioid pattern rejects bleed from other instruments in your small recording space or live situation (works great for toms too!).
For acoustic guitars you've got to go condenser. The SM57 sounds too "rugged" and unintentionally lo-fi in most applications (although there are times it can actually clean up some really bad sounding instruments). Ideally we'd love to use condensers with crystalline rapport-- of course, everyone would, but they're hard to come by on a beer budget. Rode mics, such as the NT-5, seem to be the mid-pro level choice for honest and accurate mic'ing, but for the price, we've never laid our hands on a pair so we can't vouch for its authority (any donations?). More modestly priced are the awkwardly vessel-like AKG C-1000s. Nice presence with clarity, but enough bottom end to feel the wood of the guitar. If you're recording in a suitably vibrant room with little extraneous noise, the standard cardioid pickup pattern will pick up a nice amount of room sound. If not, the hypercardioid capsule will tighten the pickup pattern without sacrificing too much range.
On even more of a budget? The AT2021 is a versitile small diaphragm condenser that just works. Although it's a little active and bright in the high end while still managing to be less articulate with the high-mids, its still a reasonably impressive and budget-minded choice for recording detailed instruments. The selling point is that the AT2021 comes only with the AT2020, its side-adress bigger brother, sold as the AT2041 package. With a little searching you might find both for lower than its minimum advertised price, costing only about as much as a new SM57 in a store. Both mics share the same capsule design, take high SPLs and are very versitile, whether overheads, vocals or instruments, without adding too much flamboyant color.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Audio Recording Services, Guerrilla Style
In times such as these, artists and thinking people must fully embrace the tactics of the guerrilla in order to survive. Organize in small bands, know your master plan and create backups, always stay on the move, strike quickly and with vision in order to take advantage of the adversary's inefficiency and immobility.
Guerrillas thrive on the unknown and use it to their advantage, turning the flaws of the system into opportunities for upheaval. While bureaucrats spend time trying to maintain control of territory and capital with tired old traditions, guerrillas know that the true prize is in the heart of the people, and only through unconventional exploration can this gem be revealed.
In keeping with this rich and empowering tradition, CHiTT Productions practices the art of guerrilla recording. The adversary is the big-business culture industry, with its spit-shined factory lineup featuring uninspiring permutations of the same product asking extortion prices. The revolutionary goal, therefore, is to produce an entirely different form of culture which rivals the methods and productions standards of the mainstream without compromising our underground ethics or driving us into serfdom. In this mission we understand we are the underdogs and our tools aren't nearly as pretty as the bourgeois elite, but underneath the grit in our work there's an authenticity all the money and studio "magic" in the world couldn't buy.
The tactic of guerrilla recording is to travel lightly and with purpose; bring only the things you need to get the job done right, know your tools, move into the new environment quickly, take stock of your resources, setup operations, and roll the tape to capture the vibrancy and spirit of the creative process as faithfully as possible.
CHiTT Productions specializes in multitracking live band setups-- this means that each element of the band is individually recorded on its own track, up to 12 tracks at a time and up to 48 tracks total, so each instrument can be fine-tuned afterwards for the perfect mix. The recording process is simple-- we come into your home territory with our laptop and DAW and size up the acoustical situation. You jam in a small basement? An aluminum storage shed? A cardboard box? Not a problem. We can make the trickiest recording environments produce quality recordings. We'll arrange our instruments and mics for optimal acoustic isolation and setup shop in a flash. After a quick but organized line & monitor check, and a quick playback test to see how the situation sounds, the band is ready to record.
In order to get the best out of your guerrilla recording, your group should be aware of the following suggestions and tips:
Guerrillas thrive on the unknown and use it to their advantage, turning the flaws of the system into opportunities for upheaval. While bureaucrats spend time trying to maintain control of territory and capital with tired old traditions, guerrillas know that the true prize is in the heart of the people, and only through unconventional exploration can this gem be revealed.
In keeping with this rich and empowering tradition, CHiTT Productions practices the art of guerrilla recording. The adversary is the big-business culture industry, with its spit-shined factory lineup featuring uninspiring permutations of the same product asking extortion prices. The revolutionary goal, therefore, is to produce an entirely different form of culture which rivals the methods and productions standards of the mainstream without compromising our underground ethics or driving us into serfdom. In this mission we understand we are the underdogs and our tools aren't nearly as pretty as the bourgeois elite, but underneath the grit in our work there's an authenticity all the money and studio "magic" in the world couldn't buy.
The tactic of guerrilla recording is to travel lightly and with purpose; bring only the things you need to get the job done right, know your tools, move into the new environment quickly, take stock of your resources, setup operations, and roll the tape to capture the vibrancy and spirit of the creative process as faithfully as possible.
CHiTT Productions specializes in multitracking live band setups-- this means that each element of the band is individually recorded on its own track, up to 12 tracks at a time and up to 48 tracks total, so each instrument can be fine-tuned afterwards for the perfect mix. The recording process is simple-- we come into your home territory with our laptop and DAW and size up the acoustical situation. You jam in a small basement? An aluminum storage shed? A cardboard box? Not a problem. We can make the trickiest recording environments produce quality recordings. We'll arrange our instruments and mics for optimal acoustic isolation and setup shop in a flash. After a quick but organized line & monitor check, and a quick playback test to see how the situation sounds, the band is ready to record.
In order to get the best out of your guerrilla recording, your group should be aware of the following suggestions and tips:
- Practice, practice, practice. Often bands don't realize that their material is a bit rusty or "unsure" until they hear their recordings played back to them. Spend the time to really listen to your music (turn the volume down for starters, or play acoustically if you have to). Sit down with your band mates to hash out the dirty details of each song's arrangement, dynamics, tempo, notes, etc. Unsure of what your mates are doing during a particular part of a song? Figure it out before your scheduled day to record, because all the inconsistencies will appear later on the tape for everyone to hear in high fidelity. You don't really want to waste your time (or ours) fixing problems with overdubs later, do you?
- Toubleshoot sonic problems before your day to record. What's that ringing when the drummer hits the toms? Why doesn't the kick drum have any "oomph?" What's that noise coming out of the guitar players speakers? Buzzing frets? Loud ventilation system/roommates, etc.? The list of potential problems is endless. It's always best to give us your sweetest sounds from the beginning, and weed out the bugs beforehand, because if it sounds bad going in, it's going to sound bad coming out. Be eternally picky; this is your art.
- Tune, tune, tune. The dustbins of audio history are filled with otherwise great performances ruined by out-of-tune instruments. Tune often and with great care, as if the lives of your loved ones depended on it. Every time the recording stops or a song ends, every tunable instrument should resynchronize to its glorious tonic calibration. Unless you are certifiably blessed with perfect pitch, you should own an electronic tuner and make sure that it is perfectly matched to every other tuner in use during recording. If your instrument cannot stay in tune, borrow one that can. Your listeners will thank you later.
- Know what you want to accomplish with your recording session beforehand. What songs are you going to record? Do you want to play the songs straight through like a live show, or do you want to work on one song at a time until every element is layered and nuanced? Do you want to experiment with your sounds, or do know exactly what sound you're after? Keeping a clear aim of what you want to accomplish keeps the process running efficiently, since both time and money are limited resources.
- Communicate effectively with the recording engineer. Need some more of an instrument in your headphones? Not pleased with the sound of that reverb? Too much guitars in the mix? Just say so, because we're not clairvoyant and it's not going to hurt our feelings. We'll work with you to make sure you get the sound you're after.
- Be patient. Audio recording is a laborious process to get right. While we've got the process down to a quasi-science and move pretty quickly, setup and tweaks take a little time. The more everyone can stay focused on the process and not get sidetracked, the more time can be spent recording.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Free 31-band Tones for Reference
I created these tones as a reference for live sound engineers who need a little help finding and remembering those pesky feedback frequencies. Broken down by the frequencies you'd find on on a 31-band EQ, the frequencies below 50 Hz are sine waves, and the rest are squared sine waves up to about 10,000 Hz (10 kHz), above that the tones go back to being sine waves. The choice to make the tone a sine wave or a squared sine wave was purely aesthetic on my part.
Be really careful sampling frequencies below 50 Hz, because if you don't have speakers that can push that low, it's going to sound really bad and might send your speakers into a tizzy. If you can't hear the frequencies above 16 kHz, your speakers might not push that high or you've got hearing loss similar to mine.
Frequency tones are encoded in MP3 at 160 kbs, peaking at -3 dBs. Click the link below, click "continue," then click "download" for the free 6.4 MB download and unzip.
Free 31-Band Reference Tones Download
Be really careful sampling frequencies below 50 Hz, because if you don't have speakers that can push that low, it's going to sound really bad and might send your speakers into a tizzy. If you can't hear the frequencies above 16 kHz, your speakers might not push that high or you've got hearing loss similar to mine.
Frequency tones are encoded in MP3 at 160 kbs, peaking at -3 dBs. Click the link below, click "continue," then click "download" for the free 6.4 MB download and unzip.
Free 31-Band Reference Tones Download
Monday, November 5, 2007
Essential Free VST Dynamics Plugins for Powerful Processing
The key to a full mix is to control your program material. Tame your transients, add more punch in just the right doses and cut the bleed from unwanted audio leakage. Dynamics processing can be the hardest thing to get right, but if you harness the basic elements, go easy at first and follow your ears, you can do wonders to an otherwise uninspiring mix. The following is a list of essential free plugins for the VST host application of your choice. Enjoy, and remember to support the developers.
Compressors/Limiters/Gates:
GComp Compressor | Windows VST
Probably the best sounding and prettiest free compressor I've used so far. Controls are extensive for a simple compressor: input/output gain, RMS/Peak, Attack/Release, threshold for the compressor and a limiter with softener. Best of all, it provides a waveform view to preview how your audio is getting chopped when you set the controls. But don't forget to use your ears. The GMulti is basically the same as the GComp, but with multiband capabilities and stereo enhancers. Both plugins would be the go-to compressors in most cases if they included a gate/expander, but to compensate they can be used in conjunction with GGate or substituted with GComp2.
BuzzComp Free Series | Windows VST
Less refined than the GComp plugins, the BuzzComp series still finds its uses in many mixes. The GeneComp plugins in the Buzz pack don't seem in my opinion to be very useful due to a lack of any metering capabilities which allow you to see what the compressor is doing. The GranComp hard compressors however include both a single band and multiband compressor with meters which are far more mix-friendly. I've used the multiband compressor for general mix "fattening" and it includes several presets to get you started.
Fish Filets Channel Insert Package: | Windows, Mac 9 and OSX VSTs
Includes a compressor, de-esser, and a gate/expander. While the processors are not always as transparent as they could be, there are times when it's good to have a little "bite." When bite isn't what you're looking for, it's got a soft-knee switch to smooth things out. The gate/expander I've found to be especially useful on kick, snare and toms for getting rid of leaks from other instruments and pumping up the volume.
BuzzMaxi 3 Brickwall Limiter/Maximizer | Windows
For controlling those transient peaks that clip an otherwise consistent mix, I'll place BuzzMaxi last in the chain on the master channel, with its output ceiling set to a safe -0.3 dBs on "aggressive" mode. For a quick overall raise in loudness for scratch mixdowns (for preview purposes), I'll switch the mode to its softer setting, lower the ceiling to maybe -0.5 and crank up the "makeup" volume a couple of dBs for fairly transparent results. You don't really want to use just a limiter to raise the loudness of your material (that's a job better suited for a multiband compressor) but when in a pinch or a hurry, this plugin can help acheive greater stature in the loudness war. Apologies to Bob Katz.
And a final note on dynamics processing, a video examining the plight of the loudness war and why you should use care when messing with compressors:
Compressors/Limiters/Gates:
GComp Compressor | Windows VST
Probably the best sounding and prettiest free compressor I've used so far. Controls are extensive for a simple compressor: input/output gain, RMS/Peak, Attack/Release, threshold for the compressor and a limiter with softener. Best of all, it provides a waveform view to preview how your audio is getting chopped when you set the controls. But don't forget to use your ears. The GMulti is basically the same as the GComp, but with multiband capabilities and stereo enhancers. Both plugins would be the go-to compressors in most cases if they included a gate/expander, but to compensate they can be used in conjunction with GGate or substituted with GComp2.
BuzzComp Free Series | Windows VST
Less refined than the GComp plugins, the BuzzComp series still finds its uses in many mixes. The GeneComp plugins in the Buzz pack don't seem in my opinion to be very useful due to a lack of any metering capabilities which allow you to see what the compressor is doing. The GranComp hard compressors however include both a single band and multiband compressor with meters which are far more mix-friendly. I've used the multiband compressor for general mix "fattening" and it includes several presets to get you started.
Fish Filets Channel Insert Package: | Windows, Mac 9 and OSX VSTs
Includes a compressor, de-esser, and a gate/expander. While the processors are not always as transparent as they could be, there are times when it's good to have a little "bite." When bite isn't what you're looking for, it's got a soft-knee switch to smooth things out. The gate/expander I've found to be especially useful on kick, snare and toms for getting rid of leaks from other instruments and pumping up the volume.
BuzzMaxi 3 Brickwall Limiter/Maximizer | Windows
For controlling those transient peaks that clip an otherwise consistent mix, I'll place BuzzMaxi last in the chain on the master channel, with its output ceiling set to a safe -0.3 dBs on "aggressive" mode. For a quick overall raise in loudness for scratch mixdowns (for preview purposes), I'll switch the mode to its softer setting, lower the ceiling to maybe -0.5 and crank up the "makeup" volume a couple of dBs for fairly transparent results. You don't really want to use just a limiter to raise the loudness of your material (that's a job better suited for a multiband compressor) but when in a pinch or a hurry, this plugin can help acheive greater stature in the loudness war. Apologies to Bob Katz.
And a final note on dynamics processing, a video examining the plight of the loudness war and why you should use care when messing with compressors:
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Eye of the Controller
CHiTT Productions samples politics, fashion, and bad taste--Recently we have been developing interesting concepts for DIY style t-shirts. We went for a "bringing back corruption to the White House" theme. Obviously, with the election race underway, why not have a shirt featuring a scandalous, dead, ex-president? The first prototype was created and we feel strong about our results.
If you have any comments about our shirt or are interested in buying one or MAKING ONE YOURSELF, please feel free to contact us.
Till then, remember NIXON '08.
Top 10 Free Video Rippers, Encoders, and Converters
From Lifehacker, a useful list of video software:
Top 10 Free Video Rippers, Encoders, and Converters
When Pigs Fly... A Brief History of Record Industry Suicide and Other POVs
For those who haven't seen it, this article is probably the most astute rendering of why the music business of late is completely fucked. It's time for an overhaul in the way we produce and distribute art, music and culture from the ground up.
FTA:
This is set to be the biggest issue facing the new millennium, an epic struggle of freedom and human culture versus the interests of capitalism. Unfortunately, those who stand to lose the most have the least ability to shape the public discourse surrounding the real issues at stake: power, control, and access to culture outside of a capitalistic economy.
For those green artists new to the beast of the culture industries, I always direct them to the sobering article written by legendary producer Steve Albini, The Problem With Music. This should be Rock n' Roll/Music Business 101 introductory text. Enough with the dreams of fame and stardom; the road to success is about as dirty as it gets. Albini's not exaggerating the least bit when he says that "Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit."
And if Albini's insights aren't enough to convince the budding rock star that there's a filthy future in the biz, the biggest losers being the artists themselves, Courtney Love weighs in on the subject with similar conclusions. To her, the real criminals are not the pirates, but instead the greedy record companies who fuck the artists and have the gall to turn around and call music lovers "thieves."
So kudos to bands like Radiohead, Trent Reznor and Saul Williams for having the courage to try something that flies in the face of the biz's conventional wisdom. They are the true entrepreneurs. With a little bit of innovation and creativity, we all might just be able to come up with new ways of promoting the arts without screwing the artists, all while bringing the palaces of elite media corporations crashing to the ground.
FTA:
At the top of all this is the rigged, outdated, and unfair structure of current intellectual property laws, all of them in need of massive reform in the wake of the digital era. These laws allow the labels to maintain their stranglehold on music copyrights, and they allow the RIAA to sue the pants off of any file-sharing grandmother they please. Since the labels are owned by giant corporations with a great deal of money, power, and political influence, the RIAA is able to lobby politicians and government agencies to manipulate copyright laws for their benefit. The result is absurdly disproportionate fines, and laws that in some cases make file sharing a heftier charge than armed robbery. This is yet another case of private, corporate interests using political influence to turn laws in the opposite direction of the changing values of the people.
This is set to be the biggest issue facing the new millennium, an epic struggle of freedom and human culture versus the interests of capitalism. Unfortunately, those who stand to lose the most have the least ability to shape the public discourse surrounding the real issues at stake: power, control, and access to culture outside of a capitalistic economy.
For those green artists new to the beast of the culture industries, I always direct them to the sobering article written by legendary producer Steve Albini, The Problem With Music. This should be Rock n' Roll/Music Business 101 introductory text. Enough with the dreams of fame and stardom; the road to success is about as dirty as it gets. Albini's not exaggerating the least bit when he says that "Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit."
And if Albini's insights aren't enough to convince the budding rock star that there's a filthy future in the biz, the biggest losers being the artists themselves, Courtney Love weighs in on the subject with similar conclusions. To her, the real criminals are not the pirates, but instead the greedy record companies who fuck the artists and have the gall to turn around and call music lovers "thieves."
So kudos to bands like Radiohead, Trent Reznor and Saul Williams for having the courage to try something that flies in the face of the biz's conventional wisdom. They are the true entrepreneurs. With a little bit of innovation and creativity, we all might just be able to come up with new ways of promoting the arts without screwing the artists, all while bringing the palaces of elite media corporations crashing to the ground.
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