Fri, 12 Jun 2009

How to explain podsafe in 140 characters

http://www.twibes.com/group/jazz

I"m working on a Jazz Twibe show. The idea is to put together a bunch of songs from members of the Jazz Twibe for my Something Blue radio show and podcast. Leigh asked me what podsafe meant. So I took it as a challenge and I tweeted.

@leighmichele Podcasts are downloads. Podsafe means cleared for internet download. I can include it in my show and my listeners download it.

To the listener a podcast is just like a radio show. It's like radio on demand on the internet. Or you can use feed software to load up your iPod or other personal listening device and enjoy the podcast away from your computer.

To the producer or host there are two sets of rules.

The broadcast radio world is settled but nonsensical. The songwriters get royalties through station payments. The musicians don't. It's regulated by the Federal government because radio goes over public airwaves. And there are restrictions about how many songs by the same artist or from the same album per hour. You're not really allowed to just play the whole CD start to finish.

Internet radio is similar to broadcast. Royalties are paid. Restrictions are in place. Live 365 is a recommended provider of streaming radio services. Since royalties are paid you can play any song. The agreements are all in place.

http://live365.com

Podcasters who offer their shows for download are under a different set of restrictions. Since offering songs for download without permission is clearly a copyright violation podcasters must get permission. Most podcasts are royalty free. Since the permission is directly from the songwriter the royalty payment is waived. For many songwriters this is a no brainer. Do you want someone to hear your songs or do you want .07 cents. (not 7 cents, 7/100 of a cent)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalties

The podcaster can get this permission directly from the songwriter. Verbal or written permission is fine. And the songwriter can withdraw permission at any time. Of course withdrawing permission does not undownload all the songs already downloaded.

Many songwriters offer blanket permissions allowing anyone to host their songs for download. The most common way of doing this is with a Creative Commons license but you can write your own license or just state on your website which songs can be freely copied and shared. Another way of making your music podsafe is to host it at a podsafe service like the Podsafe Music Network. Here's a few links with much more info about this and many podsafe songs.

http://creativecommons.org

http://podsafemusicnetwork.com

http://archive.org

Now for the hard part. Explaining to songwriters why they should make at least some of their songs podsafe.

The internet is the new AM radio. AM radio pushed singles. The internet is once again a singles market.

Listeners want to download the songs. Streaming radio is great for variety but not so great if you want to hear a particular tune or play it for your friends. And if you have a song on the internet don't you want your fans playing it for their friends? This is the new distribution vector. Word of mouth.

Some bands allow their songs to be streamed but not downloaded. I will tell you right now this makes no sense. Anyone can install software that allows them to capture streams. A captured stream ends up on the listeners hard drive just like a download. So you are making your listeners jump through hoops without preventing downloads in any meaningful way.

If your song gets some recognition it will be ripped from the CD and shared on the internet. Music fans don't care about copyright law. It really doesn't apply to them. Podcasters hosting their shows have to be careful. They are a distribution channel. Fans are just fans. They see no difference between making a copy of a file, a copy of a CD, or loaning out a CD. In many countries personal use copies do not violate copyright law. In the US they do. But the fans don't care. Just as they always have they copy everything freely without a thought for the law.

So, say you choose some of your songs for download. You make them available on your website or your ReverbNation page and your fans can log onto your site and download them to their iPod, share them and play them whenever they want. You've already opened the gate. The horse is out of the barn. The genie is out of the bottle.

Why wouldn't you make the songs podsafe? Do you really care which website your fans download your music from? Is your website there to promote your music or do you write music to promote your website? If you have to think about the answer to this question you are not serious about music promotion.

In a nutshell here's the logic of the situation.

If you don't want your songs on the internet then you don't want your fans to hear them.

Choose the songs you want to be on the internet. You might as well make them available for download because there is no way to stop your fans from downloading them anyway.

Once you have music available for download on the internet you might as well make it podsafe. If it's already available for download why not allow others to host it an promote it too?

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Wed, 10 Jun 2009

Test clip with an EV Cobalt Co4 microphone.

This is a mono recording of my Sigma acoustic guitar. I am using an EV Cobalt Co4 microphone about 6-8 inches from where the neck joins the body as recommended on their spec sheet. I recorded it to my Zoom H4 in mono mode using the built in preamps. The only post production I did was practically no compression and normalization to 96%. I used SAW Classic for post.

I was very impressed with the sound quality. As far as the detail and high end the mic sounds more like a condenser than a dynamic. It also had very good rejection of background noise behind the microphone. While recording I heard my grandson call my daughter in the next room but I don't hear it on the recording.

You can find the clip here. The .flac file is the best quality.

http://www.archive.org/details/rhode_island_rag-ev_co4

Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Tue, 02 Jun 2009

Mics for recording outside.

There was a question on the homerecording.com bbs about recording outside. Here's a link to the thread and my contribution.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=284094

I do a lot of recording outside as well as work in my home studio. They are two different worlds.

Condensers pick up wind noise worse than cardiod dynamics. Cardiod dynamics pick up wind noise worse than omni dynamics. My best option on windy days is omnis with a wind screen. I use EV 635, Shure SM61, and my secret weapon mic, Realistic 1070b (or c or d). These are all great mics and they are also inexpensive.

Wind noise is less of a problem with kick drum if you can put the mic into the drum. So you need a good short stand with a boom. I love my ATM 25 for indoor and outdoor work. Not only is it great on kick but it's a good general purpose mic for low frequency instruments.

If you can take your bass direct you won't get any wind noise. An inexpensive mic that's good for bass is the Peavey 520i or 520tn.

Everyone uses Shure SM57 for guitar cabinets and snare. In the studio or live. Another option for cabinets is the EV 635 mentioned above. Again these are very good inexpensive options.

For drum overheads small diaphragm condenser mics are usually used in the studio. This is not so good outside because of the wind noise. I'm going to make a few suggestions and leave this question open to someone with more experience than me. I would try a dynamic omni with an extended frequency response. Feedback shouldn't be a problem because you're not going to run your overheads in the monitors. You can also try just one overhead since most PAs are mono anyway. I'll suggest the EV RE55 (which I don't own), the EV PL9 (which is less expensive than the RE55 but just as hard to find), or the Realistic 1070 b, c, or d (which are dirt cheap and ubiquitous).

I am calling for suggestions on the overheads. I am sure someone used to working with bigger PA setups than me has to use them. I rarely do.

On drums outside sometimes I put my ATM 25 in front of the kick and it picks up the whole kit. I learned this trick miking kick drums with two drum heads and no hole. I could set levels and then adjust the drum sound with EQ.

In summary, for outside recording I avoid condenser mics and I'm much more likely to grab an omni than I would in a wind free environment.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Wed, 06 May 2009

Pimp Your Song! - What is free music?

Amazon has a promotion on. X5 Jazz sampler. Five free recordings of Jazz Classics. I have an Amazon account already. I did my download. Everything was cool. So I passed the link on to a friend.

http://www.amazon.com/X5-Free-Sampler-Jazz/dp/B0028F0U3W

He thought they wanted his credit card info and declined the downloads. I'm sure it left a sour taste in his mouth. I tested the Amazon "free" giveaway as a new customer and I did have to create an account and I did have to fill out billing information on a screen that looks exactly like a credit card collection screen but I did not have to actually enter a credit card number. But still is this download Free? Is my time worth nothing? Why do I need to give out my billing address and phone number to receive a free download?

Here's my apology to my friend.

-----

Sorry. I didn't know. We have an Amazon account and nothing came up.

I guess it's a sales ploy after all. I mean promotional downloads are always a sales ploy but they shouldn't collect information like that. Let the songs be the promotion.

Now I don't mind bands giving away free mp3s when you sign up for their mail list. But that's an upfront transaction and you can always opt out easily if you don't like the newsletter.

I don't do that though. My free mp3s are free. As a bird. They might as well be. People will share music whether you want them to or not.

And, of course, I want them to. Sharing is the new music distribution system. Word of mouth is everything.

I started rambling but this shit is good. I'm going to turn this into a post.

-----

Like I said I set up a new account and got the download without entering any credit card info. They did send me to a billing address page and I did have to enter a mailing address and phone number which I feel is excessive for getting a free download. But they did not collect credit card info like they would have to if the download wasn't free.

I feel that this is far in excess of the standard practice of getting a free mp3 or pdf for putting an email address into an opt out mail list.

There is no hard rule but there is a question of motivation. Is the promotion about the music or about getting new customers? Amazon made it clear that the reason they are running this promotion is to collect new customers.

Still the mantra in internet sales is WWAD? (What Would Amazon Do?) In this case I disagree. They clearly lost one download customer with their excessive data collection. I mean life is too short.

So I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and define just what "free music on the internet" means to me.

First thing, permanent links to the mp3 file. (or flac or ogg or mov) Plain links that you can read in your status bar. Click on the link or right click and Save Target As or Save Link As. Easy to download.

If I want to play a podcast or provide a streaming experience I use plaintext .m3u or .xspf playlists. Preferably both. These playlist formats provide the listener with a link to the file so they can easily download it if they choose.

Second song files are stored on more than one site. One site can go down. I use archive.org and many other music hosting services besides my web site for my downloads.

http://archive.org

Third, I license the recordings for sharing so anyone who downloads them can feel free to share them if they want to. I use Creative Commons licenses but a simple statement from the songwriter is sufficient. I call this Copy Freely and the Creative Commons licenses spell it out in detail.

http://creativecommons.org

So for me free music on the internet means.

1. Download links available
2. Posted at many sites
3. Licensed for sharing

Please comment on this and tell me what free music means to you.

Also I have a question to throw out for comments. If your music is available for free on the internet should you also post it to iTunes and Amazon for resale? Will a customer who purchases a download be upset if he later finds it for free. Or are these channels just too big to ignore and should you have your music on them period? (note - that sentence ends, "period question mark")

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

@hairylarryland
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

This article is available for reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Copy Freely!

Wed, 01 Apr 2009

The Google App Engine, Database Scaling, and Denormalization

notes for a talk by Larry Heyl

This talk will be held on Wednesday, April 8 at 3:30 pm at the Math and Computer Science building on the campus of Arkansas State University. The talk is free and open to the public. Contact Larry Heyl - hairylarry@deltaboogie.com.

The need for a scalable database

Internet traffic is bursty.
If your app takes off it can quickly bring your database server to its knees.
A scalable database can be deployed on more servers when needed.
Denormalization will also increase database performance on a single server.

-

The problem for developers

Test data sets are unrealistically small.
Test scenarios do not simulate real world traffic patterns.
Testing scalable apps is a research project.

-

Why Google?

WWGD?
The google search engine is the top practical example of database scaling. They know what they're doing.
The google app engine allows you to learn what google has already learned.
LAMP, Python, and Django. Denormalization can also help with your LAMP performance.

-

Database types and advantages

Flat File - simplicity and speed
Hierarchical - inheritance, file systems, object oriented programming
Relational - flexibility, tables, indexes, joins, queries

-

SQL and GQL

SQL is the leading implementation of a relational database.
GQL, the Google Query Language, is a heavily restricted subset of SQL.
Things that don't scale are not allowed.
SQL and normalized data is better for MIS and ad hoc queries.
GQL and denormalized data is better for scalable web applications where queries are constrained.

-

Normalization

Breaking out repeating fields.
Each data item stored only once.
Using arbitrary key fields.

-

Calculated indexes

Example - case insensitive sort
GQL automatically provides some indexes. Probably best to use these for best scaling.

-

Denormalization

Keeping redundant data to avoid joins.
Calculate for calculated indexes when appending and updating and store calculated fields in the database.
Coding practices to maintain consistency over denormalized databases. Transactions. Rippling changes. Maintenance procedures.

-

Alternatives to denormalization

Static renders
Database Caching

-

Automatic demormalization

Good research project.
Denormalized data defined in the database schema and automatically updated when primary data fields are changed.
This would free the programmers from the extra burden that comes with denormalized data.

-

References

Google App Engine - http://code.google.com/appengine/
Relational database on wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_database
php - http://php.net/
MySQL - http://www.mysql.com/
Python - http://www.python.org/
Django - http://www.djangoproject.com/
Django Reinhardt on wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt
KGPL - my app engine application - http://www.kgpl.org
This document - http://mixremix.com/index.htm/2009/04/01#acm

Sat, 10 Jan 2009

AKG D120E vs. Beyer M400

I recently purchased an inexpensive AKG D120E microphone. Although this is a vintage mic from an excellent company I don't think it was an expensive mic even when it was new. When I got the mic I noticed that it was very light. The grill is metal but the shaft is a silvered plastic. It is also small for a ball type dynamic. It does have an XLR connector but it felt a little bit like a tape recorder microphone.

Although the mic is built light and feels nothing like the made of metal D310 and D320 series mics it is, in fact, pretty sturdy. I started by comparing it to a PA mic, the EV 664 that I had set up for voice over work. I decided that the AKG was enough better than the EV that I would really put it to the test.

The Beyer M400 Mark II is an excellent European microphone with a very solid midrange and good high end detail. I felt that the AKG D120E was the same type of mic as the Beyer and the Beyer was the best mic in my collection to compare it to. So I set up a couple of a/b tests, one with acoustic guitar and vocals and one doing voice over radio announcing.

I was very pleased with the sound of the AKG mic on these tests and although I do hear some differences between it and the Beyer I think the most remarkable thing is how similar the mics sound. Because of this after I did a couple of a/b tests with both mics pointing straight at me I set up another test with the mics in a stereo x/y configuration just to see how well the AKG would work with the Beyer. Again I was pleased.

I will discuss what my ears hear on my speakers later but for now I do not want to prejudice the discussion. I know what I think. I want to know what you think.

"Ride Me To Heaven" is the song on the a/b test. The voice over test is my standard opening for my radio show, Something Blue. "Hard Times" is the song on the stereo x/y test. The AKG is on the left. The Beyer on the right.

No eq was added to the samples. I tried to equalize the volume and then I did a very slight compression and normalization.

Here's a link to the sound files.

http://www.archive.org/details/akg_d120e_vs_beyer_m400

For critical listening download the .flac files. flac is a lossless compression unlike mp3s which are a lossy compression. The mp3 files will not sound as good as the production .wav files. The .flac files will sound identical to the .wav files they were generated from.

Please let me know your opinion of the AKG D120E. How well do you think it stands up to the Beyer microphone?

I will weigh in with my opinions later.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Fri, 26 Dec 2008

Christmas Post

They have a Merry Christmas thread going on over at the mic forum on the homerecording.com bbs so I posted this.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=275671

-----

Hi,

I'm up before everybody else so I'm gonna ramble a little in this Christmas thread.

Chessparov, I've been doing some research on studios and engineers that used the EV 635a back in the day. The names Bob Ohlsson and Scott Dorsey keep coming up. Bob Ohlsson was at Motown where evidently the 635a and the RE15 were used for vocals quite a bit. RCA also used the RE15 for Elvis and Dolly Parton. I read that there was an AE guy at RCA who really liked Elvis' voice through a 635a and some of his early hits at RCA were recorded with this ever popular mic.

I still haven't pinned it down to Elvis had this hit singing through a 635a or this Motown hit was sung through a 635a but after just a couple of hours I am convinced that this is the case and I might be able to get this specific.

Also if you like Lawrence Welk you can see that almost everyone sings through a 635a as was not uncommon at many video studios.

Any help on this research will be greatly appreciated.

I've recorded two Christmas albums now, "The Gift" and "Anniversary Recital".

"The Gift" is me playing my own arrangements of popular Christmas Carols on acoustic guitar. It's been out for several years and can be heard here.

http://www.archive.org/details/Hairy_Larry.The_Gift

"Anniversary Recital" features Suzanne Michell on her Steinway baby grand. It's not all Christmas music with a mix of Jazz standards, traditional, and original songs but the last cut called "Christmas Pastiche" is a 17 minute long improvisation including many Christmas Carols mashed together like Charles Ives. I don't have this album posted yet but I will be able to post the trad. and original songs.

Both of these albums were recorded with a stereo pair of Naiant MSH-1 omni condensers mounted on my Jecklin Disc, an outstanding arrangement for recording acoustic instruments in stereo. The mics went into my M-Audio DMP2. "The Gift" was recorded on my Iriver H320 hard drive recorder. "Anniversay Recital" was recorded on my new toy, the Zoom H4 flash recorder.

I am very happy with the little flash recorder. I've used it four times already, each time with satisfactory results. I recorded Jazz Alliance live, a quartet with drums, bass, vibes, and trumpet. They were playing a coffeehouse in a rather small room with a lot of doors. I used the stereo pair condenser mics that are built into the unit running it off of batteries for the whole show. The recordings sound fantastic. Everything came out balanced and clean. The vibes sound great and the cymbals just sparkle.

I've just made six copies of "Anniversary Recital" for stocking stuffers so now I'm going to do Quality Control and print on the CDs. I hope you and all your families have a wonderful Christmas as we plan to and I hope your lives remain filled with music.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Sun, 14 Dec 2008

Hairy Larry and internet radio

I sent an email to Babs Bearden, president of the Arkansas River Blues Society and she sent it out to her mailing list so I thought I might as well post it here.

-----

Babs,

I have two internet radio stations. I was an early adopter on Live365
but since then I have writeen my own KGPL software and I use it. I
have two versions now.

Delta Boogie Radio - All Originals
http://deltaboogie.com/hifi

We host the songs in dialup and hifi formats so I must have the
songwriter's permission to post. This is the only station I know of
that actually streams over the internet on dialup.

KGPL - All styles, all genres
http://www.kgpl.org

KGPL runs on the Google Appengine so it should scale for any amount of
traffic. It works by linking to songs already on the internet. It's
still in beta testing but it's been running pretty solid for months. I
have many improvements I want to make.

On KGPL artists can actually submit their own songs, make their own
playlists with these and other songs, and then embed these playlists
on their website or myspace.

Both stations support on demand play and download. Give them a listen
and let me know what you think.

I also did "Something Blue" on KASU for ten years starting in 1991.
Now that I'm retired I am producing "Something Blue" shows again but
we don't have any scheduled for broadcast yet so I'm not publicizing.
When we do go on the air you will definitely get a press release.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Fri, 12 Dec 2008

My thoughts on piano FWIW

Hi,

I just finished my first piano project so that makes me an expert.

If the piano sounds good in the room mic the room not the piano.

I recorded a Steinway Baby Grand in Suzanne Michell's teaching studio that is the living room of her house.

Suzanne was playing with the lid closed when I first started listening and I walked around the room listening. I was amazed at how much the sound changed from different places and I was surprised when I walked into a corner beside the piano and all of a sudden I had a rich stereo sound.

When I opened the lid the first impression was that the piano sounded a lot better. Fuller and more robust. But careful listening showed that with the lid open in this small hard room I lost bass definition and the upper mids became very stringy leaning towards a harpsichord sound. Short stop on the lid improved this and there was one place where the magic happened if you wanted a little bit of that stringy sound. I didn't so I closed the lid.

I used a pair of MSH-1 omnis on my Jecklin disc in the corner beside the hinge side of the lid. All my thinking would tell me this place was wrong but my ears told me different. I added a couple of gobos between the mics and the walls.

And that's it. KISS.

MSH-1 omnis > DMP2 > Zoom H4

I am very pleased with the full and rich piano sound on the recordings.

Different pianos, different rooms, different pianists will call for different solutions but I do think close micing the strings can lead to anomolies as noted above. Especially if you're recording solo piano don't record the piano. Record the sound of the piano in the room.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Originally posted in this thread on homerecording.com bbs.

Sun, 16 Nov 2008

Fifty Dollar Mics

Hi,

This is a thread I started at the homerecording.com bbs. To participate in the discussion go here.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=273636

-----

I started my mic buying career in the late sixties when I bought a Shure 545 used for fifty bucks. In the early seventies I bought a new EV 635a. I think it was fifty bucks too but it might have been a little bit more. But since they are still making them today and they sell for about $120 now fifty seems right.

Anyway as I haunted music stores and pawn shops and added to my collection I basically worked on that $50 or less theory. Of course, now I sometimes buy expensive mics, meaning a hundred bucks or a few dollars more. But I still feel best when I get a really good mic for $50. Or less.

Of course sometimes these are exceptional bargains. I've even got some mics for free. But that's not the point of this thread.

Here I'm focusing on mics you can buy for $50 or less pretty much all the time. Not that exceptional yard sale or junk store find where you get an expensive mic cheap.

So tell me about your favorite fifty dollar mics that you use a lot and feed my addiction.

I'll start the ball rolling.

Realistic 1070b dynamic omni - Everyone here knows I love these mics. Like EV 635a or RE50 mics but with an extended frequency range. My secret weapon for field recording they also find use in my studio. My pair of 1070b mics cost me $30 and they get used more than any other mics in my collection.

Naiant omni condensers - A favorite on this board and for a reason. I use mine on a Jecklin Disc for recording acoustic guitar. They sound great.

EV PL80 dynamic cardiod vocal mic - A true classic. Fantastic vocal mic. Recently reissued but I don't have the skinny on the new ones. All I know is that the vintage versions are cheap and great. Larry Donn was singing through one and I told him I have one and it used to be my main vocal mic. He told me he bought his from Merle Travis' wife after Merle passed. This mic was one of Frank Sinatra's favorite stage mics. Dooby dooby doo.

AKG D770 dynamic cardiod vocal mic - A more recent inexpensive vocal mic that's better than it ought to be. Everybody who sings through this mic loves it.

AKG D690 dynamic hypercardiod instrument mic - I used it on banjo and stand up bass. Worked well for both. At one festival it ended up on a mic stand and everybody sang through it for the rest of the day. A little harder to find than the D770 but well worth it.

Ok, now it's your turn. What mics can you recommend for home recordists that they can actually buy for fifty bucks or less?

If you want to answer that question or read what others have suggested go here.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=273636

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Thu, 30 Oct 2008

Delta Boogie News - November 2008

Hi,

I've got the pics up for the first two weeks of Blues Fest this year. I haven't linked them all up yet so you'll be the first to see. Here's the links.

http://deltaboogie.com/bluesfest090708

http://deltaboogie.com/bluesfest091408

Don't forget to click through to the Photo Gallery on each page. Megan took these pics.

And don't miss linking over to the CD I made on Ronnie Presley's show September 14. It came out great. In fact here's the link if you want to listen right now.

http://archive.org/details/rp2008-09-14

When I get the other weeks done and all linked up you can find them here.

http://deltaboogie.com/bluesfest

And yes there will be more audio.

A big shout out to all my extended family from Helena. Everyone from Bunky's, Tent City, Dave Riley, everyone. As always it was a blast. Dave started hosting electric jams at Bunky's in the evening hours to compliment our acoustic jams for breakfast. I'm already getting some pics in my email and myspace. Keep them coming and I'll put up a page on Delta Boogie.

I have three new HairyLarryLand CDs up on the net now. You can download or listen here.

Blues For Peace
Hairy Larry and The Flying Hungarians
http://www.archive.org/details/blues_for_peace_cd

Hip Sexagenarians
Hairy Larry and George
http://www.archive.org/details/hip_sexagenarians

The Mudcats
Blues Fest House Band
http://www.archive.org/details/blues_fest_house_band

I'm writing a column about protest music and other topical songs including humorous material. There are three types of articles; music that changed the world, change the world with music, and Pimp Your Song! You can read them on Delta Boogie.

http://www.deltaboogie.com/forum/

Or take part in the discussion on DailyKos.

http://hairylarry.dailykos.com

All you musicians promoting yourselves on the internet I've got a resource for you. The band is called Beatnik Turtle and they are songwriters from Chicago. They've got a ton of info and internet resources. Here's a link to the Pimp Your Song! article I wrote about them.

http://deltaboogie.com/forum/index.htm/2008/10/27#2008-10-24-beatnik_turtle

If you want me to help you Pimp Your Song! send me an email.

Finally here's two of the ways I can help you promote your music. And they're both internet radio stations.

Delta Boogie Radio - All Originals! (or public domain covers)

http://deltaboogie.com/hifi - HiFi
http://deltaboogie.com/radio - Dialup

And KGPL - All genres, all styles

http://www.kgpl.org

Even if you're not a songwriter these stations are great just to listen to. Enjoy!

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com
http://deltaboogie.com

Please forward and publicize freely. If you would like to be added or removed send me an email. The Delta Boogie monthly newsletter keeps you informed of what's new on Delta Boogie. It also promotes Hairy Larry and George, The Mudcats, The Flying Hungarians, Bunky's Breakfast Emporium Orkestra, and other Delta Boogie artists including our Sunday In The Park and Blues Fest festivals at the Craighead Forest Bandshell in Jonesboro.

Thu, 23 Oct 2008

Something Blue Production History

RadioGirl and I were talking on my Freedom Highway diary on DailyKos and I got to going on about Something Blue. I thought what I wrote was interesting in the context of the history of radio production as well as specifically to my show. Here's my text.

RadioGirl,

At KASU everything except the telethons is pre-recorded. At first Rich Moeller and I would produce Something Blue in the station, old school, he would engineer and cue the tracks (often LP records on a turntable) and I would read my script into the microphone. Then I learned how to do the engineering and I recorded my shows direct to tape, just like a live DJ, except I could splice the tape before it went to air.

When the station was making space for their CD library they gave me the tapes!

Then I got a gigabyte hard drive for $500 and I started producing my shows at home. I would carry my computer into the station to dub to DAT. June Taylor is helping me get these shows from DAT to CD.

Then another $500 bought me a CD recorder bringing me into the modern age. To put these prices in perspective now a 500 gig hard drive is less than $100 and a CD recorder is about $20.

Thanks for bringing this up. I'm going to cross post this at my MixRemix blog.

Send me an email and I'll see about getting you a couple of shows. I have some really great ones.

I think I will check through my archive and find some live music shows that can be put up on the Live Music Archive. I'm still in touch with most of the musicians I recorded and working with them I can make this happen. This music isn't available anywhere else and it needs to be archived.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

Tue, 30 Sep 2008

Three Condenser Mics - MCA SP-1, Superlux CM-H8c, Audio Technica AT 4054

Sisko41,

I have a pair of cardiod condenser MCA SP-1 mics I bought for $40 each from PSSL. They were recommended in TapeOp magazine so I thought I'd give them a try. I've used them recording the room live for a fairly quiet acoustic duo placing them about 6 feet in front of the stage. I was not disappointed. Clean and detailed would be my description. These were originally sold in blister packs at music stores but now they are discontinued. They are made by MXL.

I can also recommend the Superlux CM-H8c mics. These are multi pattern with omni, cardiod, and figure eight patterns. More than once they have saved my butt recording live music. When the other mics gave me crap the Superlux track sounded great. They can be had new for around $200 but I bought mine for under $100 on eBay.

My top recommendation is the Audio Technica AT 4054. This is a stage condenser in the 4050 series. They can be found on eBay for $150 frequently and sometimes can be purchased between $110 and $150 used. This is an absolutely fantastic mic, great on vocals and acoustic guitar.

All of these mics will hold their value. The SP-1s because they start dirt cheap and are quickly becoming legendary. The Superlux because it's multi pattern. And the Audio Technica because it's a 4050 series mic and the 4050 series is not cheap and it's well thought of.

The SP-1s are also candidates for modding. According to the TapeOp article another $250 a pair in mods will turn them into really exceptional microphones.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Originally posted on the home recording bbs.

posted at: 06:38 | path: | permanent link to this entry

Sun, 01 Jun 2008

How to record acoustic guitar

There's a nice thread on recording acoustic guitar at the homerecording bbs.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=264488

Here's my two bits.

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I like my MXL 603 on acoustic guitar. I like my AT Pro 37 better. Just a little crisper or more detailed in the upper registers. Still both good.

I like my Naiants fine and choose them often especially when recording audio for video. I like them on a Jecklin Disc.

One mic that hasn't been mentioned is the AT 4054. This is a stage vocals condenser mic that has also found a home in many studios. It's great on vocals and also happens to be very good on acoustic guitar. I have gotten very good tracks pointing it straight up at the guitar while I stand and play above it.

Another good mic placement in over the shoulder near your ear pointing down at the guitar. I like this with my 603 or Pro37.

Dynamic omnis are great for recording acoustic guitar because they can be placed really close without getting a proximity effect. Sometimes I work with a pair of omnis less than six inches from the guitar, one on the twelfth fret and one on the wood behind the soundhole. Stereo and everything.

Ok, now to the important stuff.

Even if I'm recording to my iRiver internal mic I always use a gobo when recording acoustic guitar. I made my own out of rigid fiberglass and burlap. It is just amazing what a gobo will do for your sound. Two's not too many. I use mics right in front of the gobo or peeking over the top. Or I just play into the gobo and mic one of the ways described above.

None of the mics I ever bought made as much difference as a good preamp. I use an M-Audio DMP2 which is about the least expensive quality preamp. It makes all my mics sound better. I have two and never record without them.

And most important is your playing. Practice. Make sure you're in tune. record yourself. Listen. If it sounds boomy maybe you should hit the bass strings a little softer. When recording I often play very soft. Much quieter than I could ever play live. If a string has a twang or a buzz control it with your fingers. To get good acoustic guitar recordings you have to control your guitar and make it do what you want it to do. Iteration is the key. Record, listen, practice, record, etc.

And I don't mean generally. I mean on that part that you're working on recording right now. If it's not good enough it may be the mic or the mic placement and if while you are listening you get some ideas try them. But in the end you are going to have to play the part and make it sound the way you want it.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Wed, 28 May 2008

Calvin "Fuzz" Jones and "Papa" Joe Lee reunited after 70 years

Six of us took the Blues Van down to Senatobia, Mississippi to meet Joe Lee's childhood friend, Calvin Jones. When we got home I had an email from Pete Mitchell, the Stratmaster. Here's my short description of our trip that I sent him.

-----

Pete,

You'll dig this. My friend Joe Lee grew up with Calvin "Fuzz" Jones in
Inverness, Mississippi in the thirties. We went to Senatobia,
Mississippi today to visit, take pictures, and conduct a very informal
interview.

Joe was a top session man in Memphis during the late fifties and
sixties and he worked with Scotty Moore at Fernwood, played with the
Bill Black Combo, recorded many hits in Memphis at Fernwood and other
studios and in Jonesboro at his own studio and label, Alley Records.

Meanwhile Calvin moved north to Chicago. Started playing guitar and
hanging with Freddy King. Played in and fronted several bands
including the Chicago Flames playing rock n roll and blues. Took up
bass when a guy gave him a pawn ticket for a bass. He'd been knowing
Muddy Waters for a while but now he started playing bass in Muddy's
band. Worked with Muddy through most of the seventies. Still plays
with Bob Margolin in Muddy Waters reunion band plus he recorded with
my friend Sam Carr in just the last few years.

Joe and Calvin hadn't seen each other for nearly seventy years. Joe
has pictures of the farm in Mississippi where they were raised that he
took to Calvin's apartment. They had a great time reminiscing. Myself
and several other blues fans would occasionally interject a question.

Joe became aware of Calvin and his life in music when Calvin was
interviewed by Living Blues and he mentioned Joe Lee (Joe's father)
and his childhood friend Sonny (Joe Lee). We connected with Bob
Margolin and Living Blues, I got Calvin's phone number, and it turns
out we're just a few hours apart.

What a long strange trip it's been.

I have over an hour of audio tape with Joe and Calvin reminiscing and
catching up. Plus still pictures taken today and not yet out of the
camera.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Mon, 26 May 2008

A lifetime of self publishing

There's a topic about self publishing going on over at DailyKos.

Click on over for the whole thing. Here's my post.

Great topic choice.

Before there was mimeograph there were spirit duplicators.

For me anyway. Spirit duplicators disadvantage was they would only do short runs. Their advantage was that they would do short runs. Also they were cheap used.

In 1960 I was a member of the Elmhurst Astronomical Society and I published "The Observer's BiMonthly" on my spirit duplicator.

I was also editor of the High School literary magazine, "Collage", in 1964 and 1965. A friend and I published the "In And Out Digest", a comedy of manners. Doing this taught me the power of snark and just how much trouble a printing press can lead to.

Another friend and I had bought guitars. We were listening to Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and recording onto audio cassettes that were bigger than VHS tapes (but thinner). The only distribution we had was playing the tapes for friends when they came by to visit.

In the early seventies at the Northwestern University Library we had an opportunity to do some video production on a Sony open reel video recorder. Until Beta and VHS tapes there was no video distribution format.

Then, before cheap copy machines, came the cassette revolution. Although they were sometimes used to record demos their real power was as a distribution channel. Eventually cassette became a car and home standard and bands and other self publishers could buy a duplicating deck and make copies of their music to sell/giveaway at shows. By then copy shops allowed you to affordably reproduce black and white liner art.

An important aspect of copy machine publishing was bulk mail. We published the "JUG News" for the Jonesboro User Group for years using copy machines and then offset printing. We had a mailing list over 500 and it was bulk mail that made that possible.

A friend of ours from the Jonesboro User Group started a dialup ISP business and we were early adopters. We were publishing on the web in 1995. Delta Boogie came soon after.

At this same time I moved to computer for music production. Each cassette machine runs at it's own speed. They will not sync with video. Hard drive recording made it possible to sync quality audio with VHS camcorder footage. The capture cards were a real problem as well as inherent graininess of VHS. MiniDV and firewire solved those problems. It is now possible to do very high quality video production using computers and inexpensive consumer equipment.

And, of course, we all know that the internet is the distribution channel for these videos. Even though I can make DVDs and they are better quality than my downloads almost all of my video distribution is over the internet.

I also record audio of my live shows on my iRiver running RockBox and post the shows at the Live Music Archive at archive.org.

I'm still running Delta Boogie.

And I blog internet video and audio at MixRemix.

Sorry for the long comment but it's been a long and interesting life in the self publishing business.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Thu, 08 May 2008

How to play Delta Boogie Radio (or any playlist at a URL) from an icon on the windows desktop using Winamp (or any media player that plays .m3u files).

Thanks to Sandi Sallings who gave me the idea for this project.

Winamp does do an excellent job playing Delta Boogie Radio over dialup. I recommend it.

If you did a standard install of winamp you will find in C:\Program Files\Winamp a file called winamp.m3u. Double clicking on that file should start Winamp with your most recently played playlist.

If it opens another media player you need to make Winamp the default player for .m3u files. To do this instead of clicking on the winamp.m3u file right click on it and then choose Open With. From the list of programs you see choose Winamp and click the box so it always opens .m3u files with Winamp. Save. Then try it again. Double click on winamp.m3u and see if it starts Winamp.

Good.

Now download this file and save it in C:\Program Files|Winamp.

To download right click the link and then choose Save Target As or Save Link As.

You should be able to see it in the same listing as the winamp.m3u file. Right there under D. Ok, double click that. It should start Delta Boogie Radio in Winamp.

Now download this file to your desktop.

Btw this file was made in XP. Other OS users should probably make their own shortcut.

You should now see an icon on your desktop with a big green arrow and it says DBRadio. Double click the icon to start Delta Boogie Radio.

Now how does that work. There's a tricky bit of redirection there in the dbradio.m3u file. If you look at it in a text editor you'll find one link like this.

http://deltaboogie.com/radio/delta_boogie_radio.m3u

See. If I find an m3u file on my hard drive and double click it it will load and play. But how can I do that when the playlist is out on the internet? I can't. So I put a playlist on my hard drive and all it does is load the playlist that's out on the internet. Clever Eh? These innertubes. What will they think of next?

And then the icon is just a desktop shortcut to dbradio.m3u. With the image changed to a big green arrow provided by microsoft.

Of course this works with other players and other playlists (including our hifi playlist).

And there is a limitation. It does not auto shuffle the playlist. It just plays the last shuffle. If you want another show go out on the net and give it a shuffle.

http://deltaboogie.com/radio

Click the radio to play.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Sun, 23 Mar 2008

Hidden Treasure Mics

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=41674 - Hidden Treasure Mics

I read this thread on the Tape Op Message Board and enjoyed it quite a bit. Since I'm always broke my mics are all budget mics. Here's some of my favorites. I used these recording the new Flying Hungarians CD.

Realistic 1070b (1070c 1070d) Omni Dynamic

My secret weapon for field recording. Manufactured for Radio Shack by Shure. It looks exactly like an EV RE50. It has an extended frequency range which makes it better for recording some things than the 635 and RE50 interview mics. More like a PL9 or an RE55.

These are extremely versatile mics. Great for recording the whole band in stereo. Great on acoustic guitar. I even sang a vocal through mine on the new CD.

The c and d versions are the same mic painted black. The d version has the magic word Shure printed on it so it goes the highest. The 1070b mics are on ebay all the time for $20-$30. You can sometimes get a pair for $30-$40.

Audio Technica ATM25 Cardiod Dynamic

This is a pro kick mic for under $100 used. Very versatile. Good for anything bassy and loud.

Audio Technica Pro 37 (37r) Cardiod Condenser

Cardiod SDC. Famous for drum overheads. Good for acoustic guitar. Kind of like an MXL 603 with more detail in the high end. The 37r is the same mic as the 37, just older.

Peavey 520i Cardiod Dynamic

Called a poor mans SM7. Good for horns, bass instruments, loud vocals. It stayed on the bass cab during recording and I also sang several vocals through it.

Beyer M400 Soundstar II Cardiod Dynamic

Harvey Gerst recommends this mic if you can't afford an SM7. So I got one. They usually run $150 but I lucked out and paid under $100. Sounds great on vocals. I haven't done any recording with mine yet.

Audio Technica AT4054 Cardiod Condenser

This is a fantastic high end vocal mic. Designed for stage use but perfectly at home in a studio. The 4054 has bass rolloff. The 4055 no bass rolloff. The AE5400 replaces these mics with switched bass rolloff. The AE5400 is high. You can't find the 4055. The 4054 is the bargain.

Usually runs around $150 but I worked ebay hard for about 6 months and got one from the Grammy Awards for $110.

EV RE10, RE11 Cardiod Dynamic

These are the least expensive in the RE10-18 family. The RE10 is for instruments. The RE11 is for vocals. Either is good on guitar cabs. More treble and cut than an SM57. The RE10 kills on blues harp. Versatile, general purpose, indestructible.

M-Audio DMP2 DMP3 Preamp/Direct Box

This preamp will make all your mics sound better. This is the best bargain in quality preamps. Compared to low end mix boards we are talking about a big noticeable difference especially in high end detail so important to acoustic instruments. Two channels for about $150. DMP2s are rare but much cheaper.

Thanks,

Hairy Larry

Fri, 15 Feb 2008

CD Session Log - December 29, 2007 HairyLarryLand

Randy, Carl, Larry

-0079 - Blue Nines
-0080 - Surprise Blues - Lead tails and song drags at end
-0081 - Surprise Blues - Outside lead
-0082 - Fish Story - Good
-0083 - The Way - Ok
-0084 - With All The Love - Ok
-0085 - Won't Be Down Always - Good
-0086 - Blues For Peace - Good
-0087 - blues nines

On this session

I played my Fender Lead guitar through my Silvertone twin miked with an SM56 and an EV RE11.
Carl played bass on his Peavey bass through a Peavey bass head and a Kustom column with 2 15s miked with the Peavey 520i.
Randy played my orange drums (Kent with Ludwig snare) with an ATM25 on kick and 2 AT Pro37s on overheads.

82, 85, and 86 are used on the CD. I overdubbed vocals and harp in January. Here's some overdub details on those songs.

-0082 - Fish Story
Vocals Peavey 520i
Harp EV RE11

-0085 - Won't Be Down Always
Vocals Peavey 520i
Harp SM56

-0086 - Blues For Peace
Larry vocals and harp Shure 545D
Randy vocals AKGD690
Megan vocals EV 357B

CD Session Log - Nov. 25, 2007 Home

Backed Up 60-71