Ron’s Blog

This question comes from a Sound Affair client prior to mastering his CD…..

“When I use a pan knob on a audio console Studio or a software program and I pan it to the left, sitting facing my speakers, should the music then come out of my left or right side speaker?”

This might seem like an obvious question, but I’m a firm believer in having the obvious well under control before progressing to more advanced issues. So if you pan to the left, the sound should come out of your left speaker. Pan to the right and it comes out of the right speaker. If it doesn’t, swap your speaker cables round. If that doesn’t fix it keep checking your cables intill you discover where they may have crossed.

OK that’s basic. But there are other basics too. One common error in recording is swapping the channels unintentionally.The effects of this could be…

• In an orchestral recording, the violins are on the right rather than the left. (If the conductor has chosen to put the second violin section on the right, then the first violin section, which generally plays all the tunes, should be on the left.)
• In a film or TV soundtrack, the character on the left of the screen speaks and their voice comes out of the speaker on the right.

Clearly either of these would be major errors, It’s an easy mistake to make though, so you have to be sure and check everything. Also sometimes where you pan is open to interpretation.Take the example of a recording of a grand piano…You might say that the low notes should come mostly from the left speaker, and the high notes mostly from the right. That’s how the piano keyboard is laid out.But that’s not the way the audience hears it…The grand piano is always positioned on stage with the keyboard on the left. So the low-pitched strings, which are longer, extend further to the right than the high pitched strings. So by this example, the high notes should mostly come from the left speaker and the low notes mostly from the right. It’s up to you! There’s no right or wrong. It’s either the pianist’s perspective or the audience’s perspective. Either is equally valid.

If anyone has any other interesting examples of right/wrong/up-to-you panning, I would love to hear about them.

Ron

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Computers can be great tools for recording. But they can sometimes give you headaches, and even nightmares…Here’s an interesting question from a Sound Affair Mastering visitor… I have played guitar for almost 30 years, and have been recording on tape for years, and on a Zoom MRS 1266 CD for about 4 years. I have recently been looking to get into computer based recording via Pro tools Mbox (not sure which model yet). My problem is that I want to buy a separate computer to record audio only, as recommended by just about everyone in the know. I have no idea what the system requirements specs actually mean. Is a 2.4 GHz way better than a 2.3? Do I need a separate hard drive to record on and not the one in the computer itself, and what the hell is DDRAM and SDRAM anyway? I keep seeing words(?) like Fat32 and IDE/ATA, SATA, ATTO, HBA and Firmware etc. I can surf the net and get around Windows pretty well, but I cannot speak Computerese, please, can you help translate? Thanks. I got a headache,
Mike O. We all like computers because they give us great recording and audio mastering facilities at an incredibly low price, compared to the way things used to be years ago. Accordingly we often talk about computers and software. But we don’t like the way computers often get in the way of making great recordings. Perhaps you shouldn’t have to be any kind of computer genius to be able to use one to make great music and recordings.So, back to the question…You are exactly right that you should devote a computer to audio. It will simplify things no end. And if you only connect it to the Internet specifically to register software and then disconnect it immediately, you will be fairly safe from being preyed upon by those who would do your computer harm from a distance. Now, talking about speed. Buy the fastest computer you can afford. But also bear in mind that there might be a significant price-hike to gain just a couple of extra points of gigahertz. More speed equals more tracks and more plug-in instances, but 2.4 GHz is only fractionally better than 2.3. You probably won’t notice the difference. Also, bear in mind that your hard disk affects the number of tracks you can achieve. A faster rotation speed is better. 10,000 rpm is better than 7200. 7200 is better than 5400, which really is the lowest practical limit. ATA is the same as IDE and is an internal hard disk connectivity technology that is just on the way out now. SATA is the newer standard and will lead to further progress. However, many great recordings have been made on ATA drives. It is usually recommended not to record onto the system disk. This is busy doing system stuff, so your audio will have to take its turn. A second internal disk is a good option. An external FireWire disk is a good option too. Many people find that external USB disks work fine, but since the whole point of FireWire is that it is intended for audio and video signals, it is a safer bet. Regarding the rest of the ‘computerese’ you mention, this is really the province of your dealer. If you are not confident with computers, then you should buy a complete system from a single pro audio dealer, and get them to guarantee that it will work. If it doesn’t, then it’s up to them to solve any problems for you.By the way, if you want to have nightmares as well as headaches, just look at Digidesign’s compatibility info.

This will show very clearly what we don’t like about computer recording…

I hope this helps.

Ron.

You now can have worldwide distribution of your music into iTunes and more and keep 100% of your royalties. Anyone who makes music can have a career without a record label, you can just “sign” yourself through TuneCore.
Digital stores like iTunes allow all music to be in stock, and have sold over 2 billion songs with more than 1/2 the sales coming from non-major label artists with over 400,000 songs delivered. Over $5 million dollars has been earned by TuneCore customers. Go to: www.tunecore.com for more information.

The indie label has called New York City its home for the past 14 years. Now, Gotham has moved its main office to L.A.  Label president Patrick Arn is seeking acts that have a full-length CD. The lable is distributed by Sony/Red. Gotham records hit it big with music placements of there acts in major motion pictures such as, American Pie, and a variety of Extreme events, including NASCAR. For inquiries, go to gothamrecords.com; or send e-mail to patrick@gotham records.com, and include a brief description of your act and a link to your website. You may also contact Ron Leeper at Sound Affair Mastering at 800-570-6656 or e-mail ron@soundaffairltd.com

Airplay Direct is currently assisting a very influential international internet radio station in their search for Jazz, Soul, Blues, Funk, R&B and Ethnic music. Diffrent artists from over 100 countries make up the musical output of this pioneering station, catering to the discerning tastes of their listeners. This is a great radio program with mass exposure for you. Check it out on:   office@airplaydirect.com

DIY ‘ audio mastering at home’ is a tricky and complex process that takes years of experience to do it right. We all know your recordings can (and should) be mastered, and you have a home. But you can’t master your recordings at home. You can try, but you won’t end up with master quality results. First, briefly let me explain what CD mastering is. It is optimizing an already mixed stereo recording, so that it sounds as good or better in comparison with other CD’s or music of the same genre. It also means matching your songs on the disk so they all sound compatible with each other using very expensive and precise mastering equipment worth thousands of dollars. Software plug ins or a generic mastering preset are just not satisfactory to get the professional results for an artist that commands the attention of a music publisher, major label or retail record distributor in today’s competitive music market. Now the first step for mastering a song is to be equalized, then compressed. The compression stage brings up the average level so the song sounds louder, and then perhaps a final EQ stage to optimize the frequency contours. Is this easy to do? No way! The technical processes are easy enough, but to get it right is very difficult indeed. The chances are that you will end up with something worse than you started out with. In professional practice, music mastering is done by specialist mastering engineers. They spend their time doing nothing else and at times will master typically two projects in a day. Over the years, they gain a fantastic wealth of essential experience that you simply can’t gain at your home or from a home recording or mastering studio offering these type of audio services. And believe me there are a lot of them out there on the web promising professional results, but most projects end up with amateur sound or sub standard quality. I know, I often have to fix these problems. If you are really serious about getting the best from your recordings before you release them on CD, then you should pay for the services of a “pro” mastering engineer. That will be money well spent and less of a headache.

Kicking off today, on Jan. 24, Gather.com, the well-known progressive social networking website, in conjunction with Universal Music Group’s Decca Label Group, will join forces to create a nationwide music contest, First Tracks: The Search for America’s Best Musical Talent. The winner of this competition will be awarded a subcontract for a Decca Label Group-produced record. Musicians of all genres are invited to upload their single on Gather.com, which will automatically enter them into the contest for a chance to win. Go too gather.com. for more info. �

With 139 Gold and Platinum albums to his credit, a master of recreating music record labels, Ernie Singleton has recently launched the Singleton Entertainment Consulting Firm. The company will advise artists on the techniques that get their product the exposure it deserves. One of Singleton’s most exciting ventures is “The Business of the Music Business” series, which features a panel of music and entertainment industry heavy-hitters and celebrities sharing coveted insider knowledge and networking opportunities.  Singleton is also consulting Major’s and Indie’s that want to maximize their revenue potential.  For more information, visit www.myspace.com/bizofmusicbiz.

Almighty offers a variety of retail marketing services, including the most comprehensive web-based music retail directory ever assembled, a digital jukebox, retail buyer email blasts and more. Contact Vince Hans (vince@almightyretail.com) or Joel Oberstein (joel@almightyretail.com) for more info.

Throughout the months of January and February, AirPlay Direct will be running our FREE to enter…….

“All Things Digital Rock” artist contest. The Grand Prize package will include: A recording studio package for a master quality EP (5 songs) from Offensive Tie Music Group ($10,260 value). An 8 week national College radio promotion campaign from the Planetary Group ($3,000 value). An 12 week national PR / Media campaign from BigFatCat PR ($2,100 value). An “featured” live performance slot at PLAY:STL Music Festival & Conference (value… priceless). Also 3 month “box ad

 on www.playbackstl.com  ($500 value). And a “Featured Artist” advertising / promotion package from AirPlay Direct (a $1,500 value).

The Grand Prize Package is valued at $17,360.00…!

This contest is FREE TO ENTER and very simple.  The only three requirements to enter are that you must be an AirPlay Direct artist / label member (free to join), your music must fall into the AAA / Alt. Rock genre and you must submit your AirPlay Direct DPK to office@airplaydirect.com prior to the official entry deadlineof February 22nd.  Whether you are an indie artist or a well established record label with a roster, pick your best songs, you can submit from 1 to 3 tracks per artist.  Please make sure to note that you are submitting for the AAA / Alt. Rock artist contest.  Deadline for submissions is February 22nd.  The winner will beannounced and “Featured” in the March Radio Programmers Newsletter, as well as in a company press release to all media outlets.