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All information in these pages is copyright (c) 1989-2003 by Roger Nichols. All rights reserved. Permission for personal reference only, and may not be reproduced by any method without written permission.

"X" Marks The Spot

 

by Roger Nichols


Here it is Christmas again. Equipment has come and gone at my little studio, and I have some favorites that have endured my rages and boot heel marks. I just hope that laws don't widen to include equipment abuse, or a lot of us will be in real trouble. Is there a Web page for "Equipmophiles" or "Basstiality"?

I don't know, maybe there is some correlation between pounding on your mixing console and kicking your dog. I have yet to see a crime scene on TV that showed a chalk outline where a Tascam 24 track or a smashed guitar used to be. Maybe it is just to kinky for prime time.

Nice EQ, Roll Over


Steve St Croix would get that. What a sick puppy. I hope next time I run into him that my cell phone is smaller than his cell phone. I am having a metal plate put in my head to give me a better ground plane and a shield me against the 900mHz brain cooking cell phone transmitter. I bet he wouldn't go that far!

I lost my train of thought here. Oh, yes, EQ. I received a couple of the new Rane Mojo series EQs to check out. I used them last month on and album that I recorded in a real studio. The EQ did exactly what I thought it should do, without adding artifacts of its own. It is nice to turn up the midrange and not have your head torn off by phase shift or nasty harmonic distortion. If you want a good EQ that is under priced, check out the Rane gear.

It's an EQ, it's a limiter, it's a compressor, no, it's the Finalizer from T.C. Electronics. I have talked about this piece before, but it is really nice. Digital domain mastering for the masses. Speaking of masses, I have used it on a few gospel albums over the last few months. If you want to spiff up your demos, just connect the Finalizer in the digital stream between two DAT machines, tweak until you've got what you want, and everybody will be happier, especially the guys at T.C. when they cash your check.

For A Limited Time


Since you changed the subject to limiters, I want to mention the Valley Audio Dynamap 730 digital domain limiter. It has become the mainstay in my mastering situation. You can turn up the level of your mix from three to six dB without audible artifacts. This works great for rap records that have to be louder than any other record in the stores or on the radio. I could swear that walking through Tower records the other day I heard sound coming from some rap CDs that were just sitting on the shelf. Are these guys liable for abusing my D/A converters with those levels?

The 730 is available as digital only, or with A/D and D/A converters. The converters are excellent. They are good enough that you could use the 730 as the front end for a DAT machine during mixdown. In live recording situations, the 730 will prevent overs without distorting the sound as would be the case if you let the signal clip.

For A Good Time, Call 1-900-MORE-GEAR.


I can't wait for the EQ Web page to get finished. Maybe it will be running by the time you read this. www.eqmag.com. I have been surfing the Net for about 10 years. I think in the beginning there was just me and Steve St Croix. There was no such thing as World Wide Web and unless you had access through a university, it cost $100 to $300 per month to be "connected".

I noticed that AOL has lowered its prices to a flat rate of $19.95 per month if you access through AOL's network, or $9.95 per month if you enter AOL through another ISP (Internet Service Provider). This is for unlimited use.

I just signed up for WorldNet, the AT&T internet service. It is about half of what I was paying for access, and because of their high bandwidth access to the Net, my 28.8 modem looked much faster because I wasn't waiting as long for routing and connections at the other end.

The Internet has spread so rapidly that anyone can find anything any time. Last weekend I downloaded some samples, listened to some low res sound bytes of a new band, my daughter sent her homework to her teacher, and we ordered a pizza. Pretty good, huh? The only bad part was that the pizza place was in Palo Alto. By the time it arrived the next morning by Fed Ex in Nashville, it was cold. I canceled my credit card payment, though, the pizza place guaranteed delivery within 30 minutes or you don't have to pay. It wasn't that bad reheated anyway.

Wish List II.


OK, here we go. This year it is going to be slightly different. I am going to include things that I want, and things that I think you should have. If you get all of this stuff too, then it will make my life easier. "I have to get this stuff 'cause everybody else has it" will be my argument from now on.
That's It For Now.

This year when I sit on Santa's knee I am going to be more subtle in my threats. I will just show him my piece of chalk.


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