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How to bring backing tracks to be played through a PA

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:18:00 -0400

If you’re a performer bringing along backing tracks for a sound guy, here’s how to get the best sound:

If you need tracks paused from time to time, or need to cue the tech who’s running the CD player, the best thing you can do is to write down what you need on a single piece of paper, along with a track list. Like this:

Track 1 - “Song about Stuff” - we’ll tell you when to play this.
Pause the CD when this is over, for troupe intro, then play tracks 2-4 without stopping
Track 2 - “Song about other stuff”
Track 3 - “Another song about other stuff”
Track 4 - “Even more stuff”

Make sure that all the tracks are more or less the same volume. If there are any that are very quiet, or very loud, then make a note on tracklist.

Whatever method you use - audio files or CDs - we’re sound guys. We know how to make music sound good, but we probably don’t know your music all that well. Those of you with a track list like this are awesome!

CDs

A single CD, with all the tracks you need in the order you need them, is best.

Burn the CD as an audio CD on your computer, at a slow setting (1x or 2x if you can). If you’re using MP3s to make the CD, make sure they’re a reasonably high bitrate.

You may want to test that CD in a CD player before bringing it along. And having a backup/spare CD never hurts.

If you’ll need us to CD from a pile of CDs in order, with crossfades and so on, we should talk and work out a plan.

MP3 player:

We all know how to use an iPod. Set up a playlist with what you want, with a list (like in the CD section above). That should take care of it!

But, for heaven’s sake, turn the click off. That’s the setting on your iPod that makes a clicking noise while you navigate the menus. If you don’t do this, it’ll sound like this on the PA as the tech navigates the menus:

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK

… only slightly more so.

Laptop or a smartphone with MP3s on it

We’d rather you didn’t do this, since we don’t want to be responsible for your expensive gadgets. But stuff happens, and sometimes you have no choice. If you have to: Bring whatever cables you need to plug into the board, and turn off any other applications running. Open your MP3 player of choice and make a playlist for us to follow.

Thanks! Sorry this post is so long, I was pretty rushed when I wrote it.

Podcast: What do you get by letting go of your stuff?

Sat, 26 May 2012 12:19:32 -0400

Podcast: What do you get by letting go of your stuff?:

It can be hard to part with our favourite things… but sometimes, you get a lot back by letting go.

What did you get when you let go of a prized possession?

My street. Using the new tilt-shift abilities in the Instagram...

Sat, 12 May 2012 16:15:19 -0400

My street. Using the new tilt-shift abilities in the Instagram Android app.

"And this is the true measure of how far we’ve come as a nation: in like five years, the prime..."

Sat, 12 May 2012 15:37:25 -0400

“And this is the true measure of how far we’ve come as a nation: in like five years, the prime talking point from Republicans about people who support gay marriage has gone from ‘It will destroy society via turtle-fucking’ to ‘Oh, of COURSE you’re for it! You’ll say anything popular to get re-elected!’”

- JON STEWART, on criticism by Republicans that President Obama announced his support for marriage equality simply because he wants another term in office, on The Daily Show (via inothernews)

The afterlife singularity, as run by copyright lawyers.

Sat, 12 May 2012 15:34:29 -0400

The afterlife singularity, as run by copyright lawyers.

'Through a Mirror, Darkly: A Steam-Funk Studios & Titilus Crew Interview

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:26:41 -0400

'Through a Mirror, Darkly: A Steam-Funk Studios & Titilus Crew Interview:

monsoonrush:

steamfunkstudios:

Guess who’s featured in ‘Dark Gothic Resurrected’ this month? That’s right, it’s our own Savan Gupta along with FOURTEEN of his fellow department heads, officers and founders from Steam-Funk Studios

Steampunk and Gothic universes collide as they interview them about their alter-egos, A Count Named Slick-Brass and the Crew of the A.S.S. Titilus!!! In addition, what’s our definition of Steampunk? How did we get into all this? What are we up to in the future? Featuring Tim & Tamara Lavery, Dean, Lehel, Clausel Berrouet, Jr., Sebastian Barros, Dez Noa Volnixshin, Frank Sapia, Christophe Schneider, Marina Gurland, The Nerdy Duo and the Amazing Mr. Tony Noto! And last but SURELY not-least, Thom Truelove. Featuring Photography from Babette Daniels of Babette Daniels Photography and Hugh Casey of Hugh Casey Photography … and a deep personal thanks to Mistress Rae for the wondrous opportunity!

Here is the LuLu print-copy link for purchase:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7wufez6

And HERE is the Amazon Kindle Download:

http://tinyurl.com/74dyhnp

Edited by our very own Neil Fein!

Is there anyone who -hasn’t- seen this, at this point?

choochoobear: tastefullyoffensive: Reblog if you…[via] This....

Tue, 08 May 2012 22:13:50 -0400

choochoobear:

tastefullyoffensive:

Reblog if you…

[via]

This. A thousand goddamn times, this.

Table, with pictures and lamp.

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:47:27 -0400

Table, with pictures and lamp.

Photo

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:11:38 -0400

neil-gaiman: Dalek Relaxation tape.

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:39:49 -0400

neil-gaiman:

Dalek Relaxation tape.

Neil Gaiman: Reposted as something that can be reblogged. ON WRITER'S BLOCK.

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 02:16:49 -0500

Neil Gaiman: Reposted as something that can be reblogged. ON WRITER'S BLOCK.:

neil-gaiman:

I’ve seem to be hitting writer’s block far too often now. My grade in my creative writing class is suffering because i don’t turn in anything because i’m never really satisfied with anything i do. all my good ideas seem to turn into bad ones once i write it down. How do you get pass writers…

Review: MOTU AudioExpress dual Firewire/USB audio interface

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:53:00 -0500

I’ve been using the MOTU Audio Express for several months, mostly on small projects, including some paid tracking work. The short version is that it’s a great piece of equipment: sturdy, very good preamps, and it works nearly out of the box. I recommend it.

If you need to track with more than a couple of mics at a time, look elsewhere, but that’s not its intended use. If the hardware interface is important to you, take a hard look at how the knobs and switches on the front panel are laid out before buying.

The MOTU Audio Express is a 4-in, 4-out dual Firewire400/USB2 interface. It works fine on my mac with CoreAudio, and Logic recognizes it on sight. The unit is rack-mountable, as a half-rack, single-space unit. It’s not built as solidly as, say, a Mackie board, but it’s sturdy and would probably take a fall.

Why I bought it:

I was under the gun: My G5 iMac-based system and Firewire interface had both died, causing me to postpone a session with a paying client. I assembled the new system - the new Mac, the new interface - in a week or two.

When I got the Audio Express, the drivers were brand new. And I found a bug in the hardware: The level knob for the monitors didn’t actually work. After poring over the manual (which is pretty well-written), I finally called MOTU. Not only did they know about the bug, they told me they’d have an updated driver soon. They came through, and send me the driver within a day or two, in plenty of time for my client’s tracking session.

Performance:

The unit performed beautifully. The preamps sound great, with very little noise.

While I’m finding the two-preamp limitation to be a problem, that’s because my needs have changed. I’ve ordered a larger interface for live work, but I intend to keep using the MOTU for overdubs and small sessions.

Latency over Firewire is nonexistent, as one would expect; this is not the case so much with USB2 (again, as expected).

Front Panel:

The hardware interface isn’t great. All the knobs do double, sometimes triple-duty, and it’s hard to tell at a glance what does what. But that’s not as big of a deal as one might think, since you can control all functions with MOTU’s CueMix software, which is easy to use.

There’s a single headphone jack, so if you have multiple musicians you’ll need n external headphone amplifier.

Dual Firewire/USB Interface:

I was worried that the dual interface would complicate the device and cause other problems, but that turned out to be groundless. MOTU came out with the first dual-interface units years ago, and they’ve obviously had time to perfect this technology.

The standard for IEEE 1394 (Firewire) states that the interface is hot-pluggable, which means that you should be able to plug in or unplug Firewire devices from a computer at any time. However, most audio interfaces require that you shut the computer off. I learned my lesson with the M-Audio firewire unit after frying the motherboard: DO NOT HOT-PLUG FIREWIRE INTERFACES. This problem in obviously not unique to MOTU, and perhaps it’s not fair to hold this against them, but it irks me that something so fundamental to the standard is not implementes by manufacturers.

Fortunately, the shorter boot time of the newer Macs makes this less of a big deal than one might think.

I thought I’d use the USB interface more than I do, assuming I’d just plug it into USB when I wanted to do a mixing or editing session. However, this Macbook boots up so much faster than rebooting isn’t much of an issue. (Also, the USB interface requires you use a power brick, which is usually buried in a drawer.)

Audio Connections:

I’ve used all four audio ins at once, and it works well. The MIDI interface is good, although there is a more noticeable delay than there was in my FW410. If I recorded more MIDI stuff than I do, this would be a problem. (I generally compensate by recording the MIDI data and an audio track simultaneously, for monitoring purposes, then trashing the audio data.)

S/PDIF - I haven’t used it, so can’t comment.

Phantom Power:

It works fine. The rear XLRs have locking clips that hold the connectors in, a very nice feature I wish more boards had. The front panel, a little small, makes it not as easy to see at a glance if phantom is on or not as I’d like.

Conclusion:

If I were doing this all over, would I go for a larger unit? Maybe. I move my rig a lot, and this one fits in a backpack. The MOTU Audio Express is a nice portable interface with pro-quality preamps.

SOPA lives—and MPAA calls protests an "abuse of power"

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:01:00 -0500

SOPA lives—and MPAA calls protests an "abuse of power":

wilwheaton:

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has looked at tomorrow’s “Internet blackout” in opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)—and it sees only a “gimmick,” a “stunt,” “hyperbole,” “a dangerous and troubling development,” an “irresponsible response,” and an “abuse of power.”

“Wikipedia, reddit, and others are going dark to protest the legislation, while sites like Scribd and Google will also protest. In response, MPAA chief Chris Dodd wheeled out the big guns and started firing the rhetoric machine-gun style.

“Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.”

Can I interrupt for a moment? Thanks. When you complain that opponents didn’t “come to the table to find solutions”, do you mean that we didn’t give NINETY-FOUR MILLION DOLLARS to congress like the MPAA? Or do you mean that we didn’t come to the one hearing that Lamar Smith held, where opponents of SOPA were refused an opportunity to comment? Help me out, here, Chris Dodd, because I’m really trying hard to understand you.

“It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.”

Oh ha ha. Ho. Ho. The MPAA talking about “skewing the facts to incite” anyone is just too much.

“A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals.”

Except for the part where this is completely false, it’s a valid point.

“It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.”

Riiiiiiight. Protesting to raise awareness of terrible legislation that will destroy the free and open Internet is an abuse of power, but buying NINETY-FOUR MILLION DOLLARS worth of congressional votes is just fine.

I’m so disappointed in Chris Dodd. He was a pretty good senator, wrote some bills (like Dodd/Frank) that are genuinely helping people, and is going to be on the wrong side of every argument as head of the MPAA. What a wasted legacy.

I Don’t Have Time to Believe in Writer’s Block

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:39:00 -0500

I Don’t Have Time to Believe in Writer’s Block:

Last night, I finished writing a draft of a chapter that had tormented me for weeks. It’s one of only a handful of chapters I have left to write (in what I like to call the Adequate American Novel, which I’ve been writing on and off for almost 20 years) for which I had no rough drafts, or even scribbled notes. I needed certain things to happen in the plot, in the development of one character, and in the relationship between the two main characters, so I sent them on a hike to a waterfall. They fought me every step of the way, up the trail and back down again. By the end, though, sorry to have put me through so much trouble, they presented me with three peace offerings: a baptism, a sandwich, and a lie, all of which I can certainly use.

I complained about this recalcitrant chapter to my friends and my husband, and if they weren’t bored and annoyed, then they are much nobler people than I am. My Facebook writing group (consisting of several Nosy Authors and a few others) offered great suggestions, including having the characters jump on a trampoline while I moved on to work on other chapters.

Demarest Hall paint room.

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:14:00 -0500

Demarest Hall paint room.

rosie and the dreadful things: To all of my US followers who are also college students...

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 06:09:07 -0500

rosie and the dreadful things: To all of my US followers who are also college students...:

babyrocket:

Or pretty much anyone I follow who plans to vote in 2012 (which BETTER be all of you)…

The GOP has passed a multitude of laws in many states which make it more and more difficult for young people to register to vote. This is because young people overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. Many states…

From The Oatmeal: How well you know someone VS how difficult...

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:40:00 -0500

From The Oatmeal:

How well you know someone VS how difficult they are to shop for

Last-minute gift ideas for the cyclist in your life

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:47:00 -0500

Last-minute gift ideas for the cyclist in your life:

Looking for a gift for a cyclist? Been putting off your shopping? Here are some stocking-stuffers ideas for the cyclist on your list. Price ranges are estimates; you can almost certainly find these items for more than this, faux-carbon pattern included. Most of these should be available at your local bike shop…

areasofmyexpertise: As per the page-a-day calendar in my book,...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:13:43 -0500

areasofmyexpertise:

As per the page-a-day calendar in my book, THAT IS ALL, today is the first day of RAGNAROK, a term borrowed from Norse legend and Marvel Comics encompassing:

-The collapse of the US dollar and the rise of THE BEEF JERKY DOLLAR.

-The failure of all world governments, including the Secret World Government known as YALE UNIVERSITY

-The wedding of robots and humans—officiated by a thumb drive containing the disembodied brain of Ray Kurzweil—known as THE SINGULARITY.

-THE BLOOD WAVE

-The return of the 700 ANCIENT AND UNSPEAKABLE ONES

-the efforts by Stephen King to publish a new, EXTRA-LONG edition of “The Stand”

-and the end of human time, as predicted by the Mayans, precisely on December 21, 2012

DO NOT BE ALARMED. I will be with you here until the VERY END, updating this tumblr with what will happen TODAY IN RAGNAROK, beginning TODAY.

Click above to hear THE BEGINNING OF THE END, and if you wish to skip ahead, you may always purchase THAT IS ALL, currently on sale for $12.50 at Amazon and Barnes and Noble NOW.

That is all.

eventographer: If you have a moment, please vote for me by...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:50:57 -0500

eventographer:

If you have a moment, please vote for me by clicking “vote” on the page, and then “like” on the in-browser pop-up window!

Extra love if you share/reblog/shout from the rooftops this link with friends/family/enemies/robot overlords and convince them to click as well. ♥