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15 seconds of time-lapse nonsense

Posted in Video | Tagged Drums, Nikon D5100, time-lapse | Leave a comment

Mandala/Hardware trigger experiment

The Mandala drum trigger is the most advanced on the market. The current lineup is a USB/software based sample brain combination. As a standalone tool it’s great, but from day one I’ve wanted it to interact with the hardware world. Up-until recently it was a game of software/midi routing hell. Dealing with the laptop/software layer between the Mandala & external synth/samplers was a show stopper. Do to the popularity of the iPad & in-turn the release of the iConnetMIDI, we are now able to bridge the gap between USB compliant midi controllers & hardware instruments without the need of a computer host. This is my 1st trail experiment with this computer-less solution.

Setup Description

Mandala – configured in three zones/midi notes
iConnectMIDI
MIDI triggered Octatrack bitcrushed sample goodness.

Posted in Hardware, Video | Tagged Drum, iConnectMIDI, Mandala, octatrack, Trigger | Leave a comment

DIY – RM-5 Ribbon Mic Build

So a few weeks back I snagged this ribbon mic kit over at www.diyrecordingequipment.com

Really simple nice sounding mic. Highly recommend Artur’s “official” retail RM-5 for anyone looking to get their hands on one of these.

After it was wired up, I pulled a few coworkers into a booth to make sure it passed signal. I setup a VERY informal comparison. I recorded it side by side with a 416 via a Hardy M1 pre. No processing, EQ or compression. For vocal tasks I recommend having 80dB of gain or so. I’m very pleased with the mic, I’ll be putting it up on Rhodes & Drum duty shortly.

For more in-depth reviews checkout these examples

Posted in Hardware | Tagged DIY, John Hardy M1, RM-5 Ribbon Mic | 2 Comments

DIY TB550A

Finished this guy up tonight (TB550A). Not the easiest of builds, as mentioned patience is key. I made a couple careless mistakes along the way, but all are resolved. TIP – Triple check alignment/orientations at all stages. For the time being I’ve loaded it up with a pair of 990′s & a CMOQ-2S. I might swap out the 990′s at some point, but I have to say it’s performing very well as is. Great EQ kit.

This is a quick test with the EQ on a solo kick batter mic. With & without the EQ active. Pretty amazing difference, the EQ is last in the chain with no other influence.

Posted in Daily Noize, Hardware | Tagged 500 Series, Analog, API, DIY, EQ, TB550A | Leave a comment

Time-lapse video / optical synth control experiment.

While getting familiar with the d5100′s time-lapse & video capabilities, the idea of video controlled synthesis came to mind. I unsuccessfully scanned the net looking for a something to generate midi from video. While staring off into space a psychical solution was staring back at me. My Thingamagoop 2. I ended up using it’s photocell eye to pick up the changes of light from my video experiments.
Laid down some drum noodling & patched the CV output from the Thingamagoop into the pitch input of a Moog Voyager. I recorded one Bass & one Lead pass & called it a day. “Controlled Chaos”

Posted in Video | Tagged chaos, D5100, Drums, Experimental, Moog, thingamagoop, Voyager | Leave a comment

Evil toy piano shootout

As posted via recordinghacks.com

I recently scored this wonderful, but horribly pink toy piano. I found this to be a perfect opportunity to experiment with a few mic techniques. That, and I can never turn down the opportunity for over-the-top ridiculousness.

I decided to try out a pair of 414s, a large diaphragm Red, & a self-made piezo contact mic. I setup the 414s in a 90° stereo configuration over the hammers, but quickly found some severe phase issues. I then tried a simple left & right spaced configuration that had similar results. I opted to use a M/S configuration for a more “phase friendly placement,” and the ability to control the width as needed. For the Red I placed it behind the open lid to capture the overall tone of the piano. For fun, I taped a rat-shack sourced piezo element directly to the tone-board.

The Gear

2x AKG C 414 B-ULS via ADL-600
Red Type B with R8 Capsule via API-312
DIY Piezo contact mic via API-312

The Verdict

The M/S pair sounds great. Nice stereo image, accurately captures the direct sound. Even picks up the key press noise position. The Red sounds nice as well, more ambient room tone. I really enjoyed the piezo, & love the LoFi character.

For the current track I’m using this with, I’m thinking I will use a mix of the bunch. I’ll most likely make a very wide image from the M/S pair, then use the Red/Piezo to pull in the center image.

Audio Clips

Eric Beam is a musician, composer, and professional audio engineer based in Santa Monica, CA. Find him at rhythminmind.net or on Twitter: @rhythminmind.

matthew mcglynn

When Eric posted these photos to Twitter, I couldn’t resist asking him to write about the session. There’s just something awesome about miking a toy piano with $5000 worth of gear. Well, $5003.95 if you include the piezo.

What’s great about it is not just that all three tracks sound different, but that each mic captures a wholly different vibe. Each is usable in its way, but each brings something different to the production. Having all these choices will make the mix that much more interesting.

Posted in Daily Noize, Hardware | 4 Comments