Big desks I work on

1. SSL Duality

2.SSL C200

3.SSL Gseries

audio language lesson 4

That's the obligatory "self portrait of me twiddling knobs on the biggest desk I could find" photo.

Today we are going to leave microphones alone for a while a talk about some audio terms which can get a little confusing.

The mixing desk is central to many audio set ups.  It's that thing with all the knobs on it.  And yes I do know what all those knobs do.  The mixing desk, also known as mixer, console, sound board, can also simply be called the desk.  Now we all know a desk as something that you sit at to do such studious things as reading and writing, so it can be a little confusing when the mixer is also called the desk, especially if there is a desk nearby.  So when someone says they left the tape on the desk, you might find yourself looking in the wrong place.

 Incidentally, the term "desk tape" refers to a recording made directly from the live mixing console.  eg. When a band performs a gig, the engineer can make a recording of the live mix, and that's called a desk tape.  Even if you burn a CD, it's called a desk tape.

Many recording studios are hard disk based these days, but it is still very common to hear people talking in terms of tape.  Even if there is no tape machine to be seen, you will hear phrases such as "let's put it to tape", and "rolling tape".

Another confusing, but important term in audio is "monitor".  Monitor can refer to computer screens.  It can also be the term given to studio speakers.  This can be confusing when you have computer screens right next to speakers, like in the photo.  And in live sound, monitors refer to the foldback speakers.  Foldback speakers are the speakers on stage pointing at the performers so they can hear themselves.  In larger PA setups it's common to have one person mixing the foldback and and a different person mixing the main sound for the audience.  If someone is "on monitors", it means they are mixing the foldback.

"Front of house" is the term given to the space in front of the stage ie where the audience is.  The front of house sound system is that which is pointing out to the audience.  So the person mixing this is the "front of house engineer".

The adventures of Basil the basil - 3 weeks on.

Basil was partying it up for my Birthday the other day and got attacked by some hot wax.  We'll have to wait and see if this wild lifestyle has any adverse effects.

Followcost

Before deciding to follow someone on Twitter, you should visit www.followcost.com first.  It will work out how annoying it will be for you.

Anzac Bridge

Finalist

A program I mixed, "Holding our Tongues" has been named a finalist in the 2009 United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Prize Awards, in the Best Radio chategory.

The program deals with the attempt to revive Aboriginal languages which are in danger of extinction.

Check out the Holding our Tongues website.  It's got an interactive map with stories in indigenous languages, and other interesting info.

Ladybug

Well the behind of it anyway. I just couldn't get it to turn around and face me.

Top 5 movies I watch over and over

1. Donnie Darko
2. Billy Elliot
3. Singin in the Rain
4. Napoleon Dynamite
5. Harold and Maude

Top 5 concerts I've been to

1. Dave Matthews Band 2007
2. Herbie Hancock 2007
3. Hothouse Flowers 2006
4. Sting 1993
5. Stevie Wonder 2008

Top 5 reasons I should stay in Sydney

1. Job
2. There are people here that I like
3. Better music scene
4.
5.

Sorry I can only think of 3.

Check everything before going live

Whether you are mixing a live show, church service, broadcast, doesn't matter what, check all your audio sources beforehand.

And this does not mean a few days before.  Check it immediately before.  Just because it worked on Tuesday doesn't mean it's working on Sunday.

How many times have you been somewhere and a video comes up on the screen and no audio?  This happens far more often than I am comfortable with.

Check it beforehand.  Are all the connections right?  Has someone unplugged something without you knowing?  Is the audio output on the computer set up properly?

Do you use radio mics?  Check them.  Are the batteries dead?  Is the receiver picking up the signal properly?

Do you need to play a CD in the show?  Have you checked the CD player actually reads the CD and audio is coming out?  Does it cue up properly so that when you push play there is not 5 seconds of silence first?

Check all mics to make sure they work and are coming in on the mixer where you are expecting them to.

Please people, no more gaps.

Top 5 most famous music artists I have mixed - bragging rights

1. Bo Diddly
2. Jack Johnson
3. Luka Bloom
4. The Church
5. Tommy Emmanuel

Musical Chair

Top 5 week is going splendidly. Ali found this and I'm sharing because it's so cool.
Find it at www.mathewaudio.com 

Top 5 reasons I should leave Sydney and move back to Brisbane

1. Family
2. Several friends are leaving Sydney soon
3. Old friends in/near Brisbane
4. Better weather + less pollution = better health + more happiness
5. More relaxed lifestyle in Brisbane

Pocket Violin

I'd love to get one of these.

Click here.

Top 5 most memorable movies I saw as a kid

1. Bambi
2. The Sound of Music
3. The Karate Kid
4. Close Encounters of the Third kind
5. ET

Top 5 British Comedies

1. Dad's Army

2. The Good Life

3. To the Manor Born

4. Black Books

5. Black Adder

Top 5 American TV shows I loved as a kid in the 80s

1. Emergency!
2. The Brady Bunch
3. CHiPS
4. Diffrent Strokes
5. Happy Days

Top 5 albums

According to Ben it's Top 5 week.  Even though it's Thursday already.  Aren't you supposed to start a theme week on Monday?

Anyway I thought I'd join in the fun.

Here are my Top 5 music albums

1. "Songs From the Rain" - Hothouse Flowers
2. "Bring on the Night" - Sting
3. "Crime of the Century" - Supertramp
4. "Kind of Blue" - Miles Davis
5. "Busted Stuff" - Dave Matthews Band

Anniversary

Today is my 1 year anniversary of being a blogger.  I wanted to thank the 3 of you for reading.  I have improved as a blogger I think.  I'm much more regular now thanks to the extra fibre intake, and I have more pictures.  And shorter posts.  So hopefully this time next year I will have 6 readers.

kora 2

I found some proper photos of a kora from a different gig I did. This was the Blue Mountains Music Festival in 2008. I took these photos with a Canon 400d with 50mm 1.8 lens.

Here's a close up shot. See the nice detail on the back of the gourd and the many strings.


A shot of the guy performing. Sorry I really can't remember his name, but he comes from Mali in west Africa. Don't you love the silver curtain?


And here he is pre-performance, tuning up. Those viney looking rings on the pole looking thing get pushed up and down to tune the strings. Very difficult process.

And here you can see his thumb work. That's how they play, plucking with both extremly strong thumbnails. They are probably reinforced, like flamenco guitarists nails.

The adventures of Basil the basil - one week on.

You'll all be very happy to hear that Basil survived the trauma of last week, and has a couple of little shoots coming through in the middle.

A test

Who watched Australian Idol tonight?   Who can name the 2 microphones the contestants were using during their individual masterclasses with Suzi Quatro?

These 2 mics I have taught you about in my previous audio language classes.  There was a squarish looking mic on a stand, and there was one they were holding in their hand, not plugged in.

A prize may or may not be coming your way if you answer correctly.

This is sure to bring all the lurkers out of the woodwork.

Donkey 2

And this is what the donkey looks like close up.

Snowcake

For some really great acting check out this film.  Sigourney Weaver plays an autistic woman, unable to show any emotion about the death of her daughter. Professor Snape agrees to stay with her a few days to put the rubbish out.  I think his relationship with the woman next door kind of cheapens the film a bit, and there is a bit of a cheesy aspect with his previous experiences being replayed through these present circumstances. But his relationship with the autistic woman is humorous and has an interesting tension to it.  It's a well made film worth watching. 

Donkey

Have you ever heard a donkey bleating? Is that the proper word? Whatever it is, a donkey noise. I took this video on my point and shoot camera when I was in Switzerland in 2005. Immediately after this he charged down the hill towards me and I thought I was going to get taken out by a donkey, but he stopped at the fence.

Always check the connectors

That's today's tip of the day.  Here you can see one headless engineer plus one engineer with a head in the orchestral studio trying to work out why we couldn't get level to tape on four channels.  That's the SSL C200 digital console, looking out through the glass to the large room where orchestras and people go.  Out of the picture were me, with a head, obviously trying really hard to help because I was taking photos, plus another engineer who also has a head, also helping out with the situation.  That's four extremely skilled sound engineers trying to work out the solution to the problem.  Naturally we were trying all the difficult things, like going deep into the depths of the software configaration for the digital connections.  But the answer was simply that the cable wasn't in properly.  Lots of time could have been saved if we'd thought of this first.  But on the positive side it was a good exercise in dealing with the highly complicated software which goes with this desk.

The adventures of Basil the basil

Introducing my new little friend.  He is a baby basil plant.  I have decided to call him Basil.  My friend EF gave him to me today in that nice big pot.  Unfortunately, by the time we got home, Basil wasn't really in the pot anymore.  He was wandering around the car and making a big mess, leaving big piles of dirt everywhere.  Naughty Basil.  Anyway I have replanted him and hopefully he will recover from the trauma he caused himself and grow nice and big.

Dessert

TR and I had this for dessert.  

Double choc ice cream in the glass with biscotti. 

1 shot of espresso

1 shot of Kahlua

1 shot of Baileys

Pour over ice cream.

Enjoy sensibly.

Bell

Hot Tips for Church Sound Operators

Back in 2002 I wrote an article about doing live sound in church for a really cool online magazine of Christian articles . The website was gracenotworks.com, which you can still find, but hasn't been updated for many years. It had some great design features, like the little pixelated sheep up the top which wiggles when you move your mouse over it. Plenty of things to click on. Anyway, I came up with some simple tips for chuch sound operators which I still advocate...

.: Be one step ahead of everything at all times. The sound operator must be continually on the ball. Always watch what’s going on up front and be ready for it. Having someone talk into a microphone which isn’t on should NEVER happen.

.: Be listening at all times. This sounds obvious, but needs to be said. Is the speaker clearly audible? Can all of the instruments be heard in a pleasing balance? (It is hard to hear what is going on if you sing while mixing.)

.: Practice mixing. Take some time to experiment outside the service. Get your church band to come and jam so that you can practice. Try things that you are too scared to try in a service.

.: Familiarise yourself with equalisation (tone controls). Play a CD or sermon tape over the system and hear what boosting or cutting different frequencies sounds like.

.: Familiarise yourself with the sound of the room. Play a CD and walk around. Is what you hear at the mix position similar to what the congregation hear? Do you need to compensate for this in your mixing?

.: If your system sounds like it has gremlins in it, get your church to spend some money getting it fixed up. It is important to have a system which works properly.

.: Having said this, you need to know how to use your system. Know how it is set up so that if anything goes wrong you can get around it.

.: Communicate well with the musicians and speakers about their sound requirements. Aim to make everyone comfortable, and this will result in a much smoother service.

kora

I was looking through some old pics I took on my dodgy phone camera and found this photo of a kora player Ba Cissiko, from Guinea in west Africa. I recorded his band at the Opera House a few years ago.  The kora is that thing the guy is holding in front of him.  It's made from a gourd and plucked really quickly with both thumb nails.

I wish I still had the rider for that gig as it was something else. In Guinea they speak French, and whoever had translated the rider into English must have just used an online translater, because there was some really weird stuff going on.   The technical requirements included requests for the facade and ring roads.   Not normally the language of tech specs.  One assumes the facade was meant to refer to front of house and ring roads was referring to auxiliaries.

But the best bit was the request for 8 foot baths on stage.  Martin audio foot baths even.  Fold back, foot baths, they're all the same!

films

This is my pick this week. Au Revoir Les Infants, a French film, based on the real experiences of the director. Set in German occupied France during WW2 in a boarding school run by priests. A Jewish boy with a fake name is hidden there by the headmaster and takes part in the normal school life, but has several nervous times when German soldiers show up. It's an interesting film based around his friendship with another boy, who discovers he is a Jew, but is unsure of why the Jews should be hated. No sentimentality and worth watching.

vine

This is the wall in my back courtyard.