A blog article on the ideal levels to set for recording into digital recording systems.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
dBzee: Transferring MIDI and Audio sessions from Logic to Pro Tools in about 5 minutes.
Quickest and easiest way of getting audio files out of Logic and into Pro Tools.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
dBzee: Logic 9 - using Pedalboard in parallel mode for fat Bass and Guitar sounds
My blog post about getting some fat distorted bass sounds through Logic 9's new Pedalboard plug-in by using it's built-in parallel effects chains.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Computers save time
They stash it somewhere at the end of the universe. With the missing socks etc.
I know this cos I've seen them - millions of socks orbiting around a gigantic black hole. Made of lint.
This week I have a strong suspicion I've offended the god of computers. Every computer I touch seems to have errors and issues, which stresses me out so much I actually hyperventilate. I deal with all computer problems like it's a battle of wills, and I hate losing. A lot. It doesn't happen very often, as I will spend as long as it takes hunting the problem down, tracking it as it tries to escape, then BAM! I nail that sucker.
But this past week has seen the computers taking the upper hand. I blame it partly on my use of Macs. My MacBook Pro has only had a couple of minor issues, and I've only had to turn it off or on a dozen times since I got it, so I've become weak in the battle against computers.
And in all the "ra-ra-ra!" of how Windows XP is so much better than Vista, I've forgotten how much of a dog XP still is. Have you ever tried repairing Windows XP with a hacked bios that allows your computer to boot off your SATA drive? Fiddly is not the word. I started the installation over 30 times in the weekend, with NTFS errors that wouldn't even allow me to access, never mind reformat the drive. (Translation for non-tech heads: blah blah blah computer shit blah won't work gargh I want to smash you!)
Now fair enough that it's not quite your nicey-nice hardware setup that would make it extremely easy, but how stupid is an operating system that crashes completely when it accesses a corrupted hard drive, rather than give a polite error, like say MacOS or Linux? Yes, thanks Microsoft for such a shitty installer.
Okay - so I was beaten by this, despite reformatting the drive on a Mac at work. In FAT32 format instead of NTFS - thanks again MS for not letting other people use your precious file system.
As if this was not bad enough, my sons' PC was infested with five different trojans/worms. These had infected very single executable in the system. Nice. Trying to repair this was like trying to plug a collander with your finger. Luckily Microsoft had some easily-understandable instructions for stopping the spread of worms in the operating system. Not.
A whole day of researching MS info sheets/battling worms left me depressed and tired. Eventually I gave up and made one of my boys reformat the entire computer and reinstall Windows. So it was a good learning experience at least.
Now i'm just waiting for the chipset fan to expire on my own computer - it's chuckling away like a midget clown as I write, eventually to go the way of the last three fans on my graphics cards - dangling melted from their power leads.
I know this cos I've seen them - millions of socks orbiting around a gigantic black hole. Made of lint.
This week I have a strong suspicion I've offended the god of computers. Every computer I touch seems to have errors and issues, which stresses me out so much I actually hyperventilate. I deal with all computer problems like it's a battle of wills, and I hate losing. A lot. It doesn't happen very often, as I will spend as long as it takes hunting the problem down, tracking it as it tries to escape, then BAM! I nail that sucker.
But this past week has seen the computers taking the upper hand. I blame it partly on my use of Macs. My MacBook Pro has only had a couple of minor issues, and I've only had to turn it off or on a dozen times since I got it, so I've become weak in the battle against computers.
And in all the "ra-ra-ra!" of how Windows XP is so much better than Vista, I've forgotten how much of a dog XP still is. Have you ever tried repairing Windows XP with a hacked bios that allows your computer to boot off your SATA drive? Fiddly is not the word. I started the installation over 30 times in the weekend, with NTFS errors that wouldn't even allow me to access, never mind reformat the drive. (Translation for non-tech heads: blah blah blah computer shit blah won't work gargh I want to smash you!)
Now fair enough that it's not quite your nicey-nice hardware setup that would make it extremely easy, but how stupid is an operating system that crashes completely when it accesses a corrupted hard drive, rather than give a polite error, like say MacOS or Linux? Yes, thanks Microsoft for such a shitty installer.
Okay - so I was beaten by this, despite reformatting the drive on a Mac at work. In FAT32 format instead of NTFS - thanks again MS for not letting other people use your precious file system.
As if this was not bad enough, my sons' PC was infested with five different trojans/worms. These had infected very single executable in the system. Nice. Trying to repair this was like trying to plug a collander with your finger. Luckily Microsoft had some easily-understandable instructions for stopping the spread of worms in the operating system. Not.
A whole day of researching MS info sheets/battling worms left me depressed and tired. Eventually I gave up and made one of my boys reformat the entire computer and reinstall Windows. So it was a good learning experience at least.
Now i'm just waiting for the chipset fan to expire on my own computer - it's chuckling away like a midget clown as I write, eventually to go the way of the last three fans on my graphics cards - dangling melted from their power leads.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Nothing to see here
Ah yeah, the trouble with these darn blogs is that unless you have a real focus, they rely on outrage.
The trouble is, most of my outrage is directed at work - with workmates and students and all that. Stuff I can't really talk about, although I would love to. Insane students - check. Crazy staff - check.
Oh well, you'll have to settle for second-best. My non-work life, which unfortunately is a lot happier. And a bit more boring.
I have a fantastic wife that makes me happy. Extremely happy.
She's younger than me - by quite a bit. One of my students interrupted in the middle of a class and said "There's a rumour that you have a girlfriend half your age". I said "she's my wife". He said "Awesome!". See?
And a cat. And kids who are, so far, relatively normal. An ex-wife. Oh better not go there - too many things could go wrong if she read this as she's only just talking to me again. It all went a bit odd after I got married to my new wife in Las Vegas by Elvis.
I have a 900cc motorbike to get around on, I write songs to vent my frustrations and any remaining angst. I play tambourine on Thursday nights (and sometimes Friday and Saturday nights too), so that gets any remaining anger out of my system.
This is not to say my life is without it's share of problems. There's drama every week.
But to be honest, there's so much good stuff that it makes it hard to get a decent "whine" on.
Still - I promise I'll make a better effort next week ;o)
The trouble is, most of my outrage is directed at work - with workmates and students and all that. Stuff I can't really talk about, although I would love to. Insane students - check. Crazy staff - check.
Oh well, you'll have to settle for second-best. My non-work life, which unfortunately is a lot happier. And a bit more boring.
I have a fantastic wife that makes me happy. Extremely happy.
She's younger than me - by quite a bit. One of my students interrupted in the middle of a class and said "There's a rumour that you have a girlfriend half your age". I said "she's my wife". He said "Awesome!". See?
And a cat. And kids who are, so far, relatively normal. An ex-wife. Oh better not go there - too many things could go wrong if she read this as she's only just talking to me again. It all went a bit odd after I got married to my new wife in Las Vegas by Elvis.
I have a 900cc motorbike to get around on, I write songs to vent my frustrations and any remaining angst. I play tambourine on Thursday nights (and sometimes Friday and Saturday nights too), so that gets any remaining anger out of my system.
This is not to say my life is without it's share of problems. There's drama every week.
But to be honest, there's so much good stuff that it makes it hard to get a decent "whine" on.
Still - I promise I'll make a better effort next week ;o)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sick again!
I've noticed that I get a nasty cold this time every year - I think it's probably down to two things;
The first month of school term - very stressful and tiring getting everything and everyone up to speed. Early starts and late finishes and not a lot of sleep over this month - and everything is urgent. Gargh!
Close contact with hundreds of students - fresh germs everywhere! I guess we'll all eventually get used to each other.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
I has a new Pack-Rack
I finally went out and bought a pack-rack and bag for my bike - thank goodness no more hauling 10kgs of laptop and various other junk to work on my back. I have to admit it wasn't cheap for the the rack and the bag - NZ$380 for both - but I've been wanting them for a couple of years now.
The quality of the Ventura rack itself looks quite good - although the little foam pads to fill the gaps around the mounting bolts were pretty cheap and nasty (and not sticky on one side like the manual claimed). A bit of silicon seal did the job of stopping water getting under the rear panel - at the expense of not looking quite so tidy.
The Sanremo rack bag is huge - it has more zippers than I've ever seen on any bag ever.
Some of the zips go round and round in spirals! That's so you can expand the bag out to an enormous size. I can fit my entire existing backpack with laptop inside the new rack bag!
It has some other cool features - zip-off day bag (kinda like a huge bum-bag - eeeew won't be using that) and a permanently-connected rain cover that pulls out of a special pocket and goes over the whole thing. The bag is shower-proof anyway, but I guess for torrential downpours this would be a good option.
Looking forward to trying it out for real on Monday!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Ah whiskies, my good friends
I must admit to a penchant for fine Scottish single malts. At the moment I prefer the Laphroaig when I'm in a peat-y mood, and the Double Wood is rich and sweet, nice for those midnight snacks - er nightcaps.Insomnia - I fight you with the power of the mighty double wood!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
LAN Game Face
Every fortnight or so, I get together with my buddies for a LAN-game session. We're all on Macs, so the choice is a little more limited than PCs, but after trying various different games over the last few years, we've settled on UT2004 with some tasty mods - it's fast and there's lots of choices over the evening for various gameplay types.
It seems like gaming is a bit like the modern equivalent of the ol' poker game for our generation of geeks - the gaming is just a set-up for various "burns" and set-up jokes, and after most sessions our ribs are just as sore from laughing as the trigger fingers on our mousing hands. It's also about just catching up and spinning yarns, comparing audio recording software, listening to the latest tracks, and griping about our respective jobs.
So it's chips and dip rather than cigars. There's beer and wine and then eventually a nice cup of tea and a choccy bikky to finish up with, before everyone heads off home sometime after midnight. It's a good night in.
Monday, February 09, 2009
TV ads suck
I understand that TV broadcasters have to make money from ads to survive - I totally get it!
But, as a viewer, I've reached my breaking point - I can't bear to watch TV because the ad breaks are so disruptive. Movies are the worst.
Don't get me going on how much gets edited out of a typical TV program to make space for ads - which you don't always notice until you see the series on DVD and there's a bit that was obviously missing - sometimes even affecting the plot!
And while I'm at it - turn down volume on the flippin' ads! People shouldn't HAVE to ride the volume on the remote during ad breaks.
I'd rather watch DVDs or browse the interweb now anyway, so it's your loss, TV companies.
But, as a viewer, I've reached my breaking point - I can't bear to watch TV because the ad breaks are so disruptive. Movies are the worst.
Don't get me going on how much gets edited out of a typical TV program to make space for ads - which you don't always notice until you see the series on DVD and there's a bit that was obviously missing - sometimes even affecting the plot!
And while I'm at it - turn down volume on the flippin' ads! People shouldn't HAVE to ride the volume on the remote during ad breaks.
I'd rather watch DVDs or browse the interweb now anyway, so it's your loss, TV companies.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Man-Friend
It's odd being a man-friend.
I went and helped my friend pick up a set of drawers today that she'd bought online - she wasn't sure they'd fit in her car. I don't mind doing that sort of thing - it forces me away from the computer for a change.
I packed tools just in case we had to take the legs off or something.
Apparently that's a typical guy thing.
It's funny how guys have their own special role with female friends.
We're not usually the one that's there to be the shoulder to cry on when things go wrong.
It tends to be the more supportive and practical roles - like helping move furniture, fixing things when they break, and being the moral support person when purchasing items or going anywhere remotely scary.
Although I have to say that I draw the line at holding handbags when they go to the toilet, though.
I went and helped my friend pick up a set of drawers today that she'd bought online - she wasn't sure they'd fit in her car. I don't mind doing that sort of thing - it forces me away from the computer for a change.
I packed tools just in case we had to take the legs off or something.
Apparently that's a typical guy thing.
It's funny how guys have their own special role with female friends.
We're not usually the one that's there to be the shoulder to cry on when things go wrong.
It tends to be the more supportive and practical roles - like helping move furniture, fixing things when they break, and being the moral support person when purchasing items or going anywhere remotely scary.
Although I have to say that I draw the line at holding handbags when they go to the toilet, though.
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