New Music Gear Monday: The New Sony Walkman

The original Sony Walkman is one of the most successful products in consumer electronics history, opening up the door for the personal electronics trend that we've all participated in since. Of course, the Walkman was subsequently trumped by the iPod, that that hasn't kept Sony from wanting to repeat the success, hence the introduction of the new ZX1.

The Sony NWZ-ZX1 is a high-resolution audio player with 128 GB of onboard memory that can store as many as 800 songs in a variety of hi-res formats like AAC, ATRAC, FLAC, WAV and AIFF. One of the surprises is that it doesn't have DSD playback ability, which many other hi-res players are currently providing. It does accommodate files of 192kHz, which many audiophiles are hoping will become a new standard someday (it's nice to dream, I guess).

It's similar to an Android phone in that it has a 4 inch screen and uses the Android operating system, and is molded out of a single piece of aluminum to provide a luxurious feel. The unit also features a loop for a lanyard (which seems to be a big deal in Asia), and a proprietary charge/data/USB port, and of course, the standard 3.5mm mini-headphone jack.

You don't have to power up the screen to change or adjust tracks as there are a number of controls on the side of the unit, including power, volume, and play, next and back controls. The ZX1 also has Near Field Communication (NFC) built in for quick Bluetooth pairing, but you can only get hi-res operation with a wired connection. The battery life is reported to be more than 32 hours, which is excellent.

The ZX1 isn't available in the US yet, but it is in Japan and the UK. You can still purchase the unit on Amazon for a whopping $779, but it seems like the retail will be around $549 when released in the States.

Sony is betting big on high-resolution audio, recently rolling out 25 new hi-res products. All of us in audio love to see the support for higher quality audio, but unfortunately history tells us that convenience always trumps high quality in the consumers eyes. Unless the price of the unit comes down when its released in the US, the Sony NWZ-ZX1 will probably lose out to other capable, yet less expensive units like the FiiO X5.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Blue Oyster Cult Engineer Steve La Cerra On The Latest Inner Circle Podcast

My latest Inner Circle Podcast features Blue Oyster Cult's longtime front of house engineer Steve La Cerra, who'll describe the trials and tribulations of playing venues and festivals of different sizes.

I also discuss the latest battle between YouTube and the Worldwide Indie Network, and take a look at how to find the groove in a song.

Check it out at BobbyOInnerCircle.com.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Wings "Band On The Run" Isolated Bass and Drums

There's nothing like listening to the isolated bass and drums of a track to really feel its essence. The essence of Wings' "Band On The Run" (from the album of the same name) is totally Paul McCartney, as he played both bass and drums on the track.

Most of the album was recorded at the EMI studios in Lagos, Nigeria after Sir Paul decided he wanted to try recording in a more exotic place than England. Just prior to departing for Nigeria, both lead guitarist Henry McCollough and drummer Denny Seiwell left the band. Paul and band members Linda McCartney and Denny Laine decided to carry on anyway, with Paul now taking on drum and lead guitar duties as well as bass. Here are some things to listen for.

1. The drums are amazingly solid for someone who doesn't spend most of his time playing drums. Listen especially to the ride cymbal work in the first part of the song, which is like a metronome.

2. While Paul can lay down a drum beat, he has a little trouble with fills. Listen to the one at 3:08 and at 4:50, both of which are a bit lazy and late.

3. Paul's bass playing is mostly behind the beat and sometimes even flams with the drums. This happens throughout the song, but especially in the first section of the song. Today this all would have been fixed if not during the recording, then in editing afterward.

4. He is one of the most innovative bass players ever though. McCartney is noted for coming up with melodic parts that most other bass players or arrangers would never think of. Listen to the bass part of the last section (the "Band on the run" part). Few players would come up with something similar.

5. The recording is great, even though it was done on an 8 track machine in less than ideal conditions. Geoff Emerick provides one of his best engineering jobs.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Beats Headphones Deals With Counterfeiting

In recent years we've seen a lot of counterfeit audio gear, mostly microphones and headphones and most of it coming out of China. Usually when the price is too good to be true, it's either a close-out of a model that will no longer be manufactured, or it's a counterfeit. One of the more egregious examples in recent years is with one of the best headphones on the market, the Audio Technica ATM-50, but there are other companies that are affected as well.

Although not a favorite of audio pros, Beats by Dre headphones are one of the best sellers (much to the chagrin of the older pro headphone manufacturers), but the company has a real problem with counterfeit manufacturing. Last month it filed it's 5th court injunction of the year against either a rip-off manufacturer, an online seller or a retailer. What's worse, its phony headphone sales have run rampant throughout Asia, where it's much more difficult to control.

Each industry has its counterfeit goods rated on an A to C scale, with an A rating meaning that the product looks legitimate and is sold for roughly the same price as the authentic product. A C rating means that the product bears the brand's logo, but doesn't resemble the original other than that. Beats is fighting counterfeit goods that range from A to C, with the C level products selling for as little as $10 to $15.

One of the more interesting pieces of this story is the fact that much of the sales come from fake online sales sites like ilovebeatsbydre.com, which shows product pictures lifted from the real Beats website, but delivering something much different. Beats have been vigorous in routing those out, however, and has had over 3,000 similar domain names transferred to its ownership since 2013.

It will be interesting to see how Apple, the new owner of Beats, deals with this issue. Obviously, its pockets are a lot deeper, and the company has been fairly successful in combating counterfeits in the past, but this is an new game entirely.

So remember, the next time you see a deal on a piece of new gear that seems too good to be true. Just think about the Beats counterfeits before you shell out your money.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

8 Questions To Ask To Determine A Production Budget

It used to be that when you were working your way up the food chain as a music producer, you'd hone your chops with indie artists, at first not signed to a label, then signed to smaller labels. Today this is a fact of life for all production pros whether you're just starting or are a seasoned veteran producer.

One of the major questions that producers new to the game often ask is, "How do I determine a budget?" Here's an excerpt from my Music Producer's Handbook that will provide 8 questions that you can ask your client (even if it's a label), in order to better understand what your client's needs are, and how you can best fulfill them.

"If your artist is signed to a label, most likely that they’ll say, “We need you to bring this project in for xxx dollars.” That makes your life a bit easier since you already have a major parameter to work with, so you’ll just try to fit everything into the financial box that you’ve been given. But most likely, your project will start with the words, “What do you think it will cost……?” That makes your job a lot more difficult since you’ll need to gather up a lot more info before the question can be answered. Assuming that you’re already familiar with the artist and her material, here’s what you’ll need to find out: 

1. How many songs? The more songs, the more time you’ll need to complete the project. The more time, the more money it will cost. 

2. How will this be released? If the final release will be in a CD or vinyl format, you’ll have to figure additional mastering costs as well as a sequencing session to test the song order. If the release is only intended for online distribution, that will also impact your budget since there won’t be any income from the product to recoup the costs.

3. Will the costs of manufacturing be included in the budget? A neophyte artist, band or record label sometimes includes the entire costs of manufacturing the final product (CD or vinyl) in the recording budget. This is not the case with a more established or experienced entity, who recognizes that manufacturing is a burden not charged to artist. Regardless, including the manufacturing costs in the budget can put a serious ding in the amount of money you have for recording, so it’s best to get the answer to this up front.

4. Are mastering costs part of the budget? Sometimes mastering is seen as the first part of manufacturing and is not charged to the production budget. If that’s the case, find out if you’re responsible for mastering even though it isn’t part of your budget.

5. What kind of sound or direction are you looking for? This will determine whether the band plays together in the studio or layers the parts, or whether studio musicians or a large tracking room are required, or if exotic musical instruments or recording gear must be rented, all of which will impact the budget.

6. What kind of facilities are you comfortable recording in? This determines the environment and the type of studio that the project requires. Some artists don’t care how low-brow the studio is as long as the final product is what they’re looking for. Other artists have to be in a top notch facility that caters to their every whim in order to perform well. And yet other artists have a certain facility that they’re particularly comfortable in. This question may impact your final budget more than anything.

7. Does the budget include my fee? This is somewhat of a moot point if you’re going to be working on spec anyway, but if not, the question can have a large impact on your budget. Regardless of who’s paying the bill, this can go either way, but you’ve got to know how much you ultimately have to work with in order to produce the product.

8. Are you sure you don’t have a budget in mind? Most artists, bands, neophyte labels or financiers have a figure in mind before they even speak with you, but are afraid to tell you so they won’t look as inexperienced as they are. It’s best you get that figure out of the way so you don’t do a lot of budget development work only to find out that they only had a fraction of the amount to spend in the first place, or worse, you left money on the table that could’ve been used for production."

If you can get clear answers to these questions, you have a lot of the information needed to determining a budget that will fit the needs of the artist (although usually it's a lot smaller than we would all like).

To read additional excerpts from the Music Producer's Handbook and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

More Mono Vinyl For The Beatles

Most Beatles albums were mixed primarily in mono until The White Album, according to engineer Ken Scott in his Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust book (which I was most honored to co-write), with the stereo mixes done as an afterthought, since stereo was such a new technology at the time. This practice continues until the band discovered that some fans were actually buying both mono and stereo copies of their albums because of the slight mix differences between them. At that point, the Boys determined that it would be a good idea to spend more time mixing the stereo versions, which they did from that point on.

That said, most people heard only the mono mixes of those records originally when they were released, but over the years those mixes have been replaced with the stereo mixes. Now those original mono mixes of the 9 UK albums are being released on vinyl in a 14 album box set mono masters collection which will be released in early September.

The albums are being pressed on the best 180 gram vinyl available, and were transferred from a Studer A80 machine to a 1980s era Nuemann VMS80 lathe using the original transfer notes made by the original mastering engineers. The album also comes with an exclusive hardbound book using rare studio photos of the band, archive documents, and articles and advertisements from 1960s publications.

This is not inexpensive at $375, but it is a definitive look at a piece of history that almost everyone in music still reveres. Check out this video for a bit more about it.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

New Music Gear Monday: CEntrance MixerFace

High quality field recorders are fairly inexpensive these days but sometimes you just don't want to carry around another piece of gear. On the other hand, it's not easy to get the best audio audio quality with your iPhone. That's where the CEntrance MixerFace mobile recording interface comes in.

The MixerFace is an outboard stereo preamp that provides 192kHz/24 bit recording directly into your iPhone or iPad, and also provides a USB connector for your laptop or Android device as well. The unit has a form factor that allows it to sit right under an iPhone, making it an easy to strap it to the device so there's only a single package.

The inputs use Neutrik combo jacks that can accept either XLR or 1/4" phone jacks, and each channel has a defeatable limiter and can supply 48V phantom power as well. There's also a headphone output with monitor mix controls and pan controls.

The unit has a battery life of about 7 to 8 hours, which is plenty for most applications. Another version aimed at DLSR recording is also available.

CEntance ran a successfully funded Indie-Go-Go campaign to fund the MixerFace, and the price there was $199, but it has since returned to a retail of $599-699 (it seems to vary on different press releases). Regardless, this is something that many recordists have been interested in for a long time. It's finally come to pass.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Van Halen "Beautiful Girls" Isolated Bass And Drums

There's noting like listening to a great rhythm section and the original Van Halen duo of drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Michael Anthony has proven to be one of the best in rock. Listen to them do their thing in isolation on "Beautiful Girls" from 1979's Van Halen II.

The song, which was originally titled "Bring On The Girls" on the band's 25 song demo, was produced by the great Ted Templeman, engineered by Don Landee, and recorded at the famous Sunset Sound in Hollywood. Like most albums from that era, it was completed in only 3 weeks. Here are some things to listen for.

1. Listen to how forward the snare drum is compared to the rest of the kit. Pretty beefy sound too, as well as a touch of some very smooth reverb.

2. The cymbals are very prominent in the mix to mostly fill in those upper frequencies since the band was a power trio. Their early albums were mostly guitar, bass and drums plus a guitar solo overdub with not much sweetening.

3. Michael Anthony's playing is a little behind the drums, rather than the other way around. This gives the band a sense of urgency.

4. Anthony's playing is far from perfect, not that you ever heard any of the very slight mistakes in the track. There is a pretty big one at 1:47 that wouldn't be left in today.

5. Alex VH has a couple of slow fills as well, like the ones at 3:28 and 3:40. In those days of analog tape and relatively quick recording, perfection was something that was rarely attained (except perhaps for Steely Dan albums, but they also cost a lot more to make and took much more time).

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

The 27 Foot Long Speaker

Audiophiles can be quite obsessive, and when you're an engineer it can make that obsession even worse. In the 1930s engineer Roderick Denman built a huge loudspeaker into the roof of his house that faced straight downward into an octagonal listening area that he used for the flare of his giant horn, which extended some 20 feet. There he placed a few reclining chairs. Basically, you were sitting entirely inside the speaker when you listened!

In order to get the best frequency response from the horn, it had to be large and straight. Many horns of the day were curved, which provided great low end response, but limited the highs, which why the only way Denman could could achieve such a large horn was to build it as part of his house.

The Western Electric 555W

The compression driver used to drive the horn was the then new Western Electric 555W, designed by the famous Bell Labs and said to be one of the greatest speakers ever made. They have run in theaters for more than 60 years and today are bought and sold for thousands of dollars.



The horn was used for demonstrations until a wall fell on it during WWII and it was almost destroyed. Since then it's been part of the Scientific Museum at Blythe House in the UK, but it wasn't until recently that sound artist in residence Alex Kolkowski decided to build a modern version of it according to the original specification.

After 8 months the speaker is finally operational and on display at the museum. It's also working again with the help of the original driver, and has a frequency response of 32Hz to 6kHz.

It's 27 feet long!

Those of us who grew up with horn-loaded speakers know how good they can sound under the right circumstances. They're very efficient and directional, which is great for live sound, but also pretty bulky, which is why line-arrays are used in virtually every sound reinforcement situation today. Too bad, because they sounded great.

That said, it's very cool that Denman's horn has been recreated and available for all to see and hear again.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Mastering Compression Tips And Tricks

Many engineers overlook the attack and release controls on a compressor but they can affect the sound more than you think, especially during mastering. In the latest edition of The Mastering Engineer's Handbook, I outline what these controls can do when used across a full mix either during mixing or mastering.

"The key to getting the most out of a compressor is the Attack and Release (sometimes called Recovery) parameter controls, which have a tremendous overall effect on a mix and therefore are important to understand. Generally speaking, transient response and percussive sounds are affected by the Attack control setting. Release is the time it takes for the gain to return to normal or zero gain reduction.  

In a typical pop style mix, a fast attack setting will react to the drums and reduce the overall gain. If the release is set very fast, then the gain will return to normal quickly but can have an audible side effect of reducing some of the overall program level and attack of the drums in the mix. As the Release is set slower, the gain changes so that the drums might cause an effect called “pumping,” which means that the level of the mix will increase then decrease noticeably. Each time the dominant instrument starts or stops, it "pumps" the level of the mix up and down. Compressors that work best on full program material generally have very smooth release curves and slow release times to minimize this pumping effect.

Compression Tips And Tricks

Adjusting the Attack and Release controls on the compressor and/or limiter can have a surprising effect on the program sound.

• Slower Release settings will usually make the gain changes less audible but will also lower the perceived volume.  

• A slow Attack setting will tend to ignore drums and other fast signals but will still react to the vocals and bass.  

• A slow Attack setting might also allow a transient to overload the next piece of equipment in the chain.

• Gain changes on the compressor caused by the drum hits can pull down the level of the vocals and bass and cause overall volume changes in the program.  

• Usually only the fastest Attack and Release settings can make the sound “pump.”  

• The more bouncy the level meter, the more likely that the compression will be audible.

• Quiet passages that are too loud and noisy are usually a giveaway that you are seriously over-compressing.

Don’t just set those attack and release controls to the middle range and forget about them. They can make a big difference on your final mastered sound."

You can read more excerpts from The Mastering Engineer's Handbook 3rd edition and my other books on the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

How The Ancients Used Sound

There's a little-known scientific field known as archaeoacoustics that studies the sound of historical environments and its effects on the human body. These environments can vary from ancient temples to caves, but it's been discovered that they all have a similar quality - a resonant frequency between 70 and 130Hz.

Most of the cavities that archaeoacoustics study are spiritual in nature, and the theory is that the exposure to the resonant frequency of the chamber has a physical effect on human brain activity, even to the point of triggering a different state of consciousness without the use of chemical substances.

One of these chambers currently under study is a 5,000 year old Hypogeum, an underground mortuary temple on the Mediterranean island of Malta with a space known as "The Oracle Room" that yields strong double resonant frequencies at 70Hz and 114 Hz. A deep male voice tuned to these frequencies can stimulate the resonances and create a bone-chilling 8 second reverberation that reportedly provides the illusion of sound reflecting from the body to the ancient wall paintings, but leaves the listener with a great sensation of relaxation.

What's especially interesting is that the acoustics of this chamber didn't come naturally. Man-made carving on the ceiling revealed what amounted to a wave guide, suggesting that the designers of the room knew much more about acoustics and their effects on the human body than we know or care about today.

W e often think that because we have such sophisticated gear that it automatically makes us superior to those that have gone before us. In reality it seem that there's been a vast treasure trove of knowledge that's been lost through the ages that we're lucky to discover enough bits and pieces of every so often.

There's a really great website at archaeoacoustics.org that has a lot of information and audio samples regarding this discipline and its work. Not only that, it's a lot more modern and accessible than most sites about scientific research. Check out the video below as well.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

New Music Gear Monday: UAD Valley People Dyna-mite Plugin

There are already so many cool compressors and limiter plugins available that you'd think there was none left to either invent or emulate. You might change your mind after hearing the new Universal Audio/Softube emulation of the Valley People Dyna-mite limiter/gate though.

The Dyna-mite was an interesting hardware device released by the short lived Valley People Inc in the 80s, which was the brainchild of the great audio designer Paul Buff. It was perhaps the least expensive pro unit available at the time, mostly because it was supplied in a plastic box instead of a 19 inch rack mount. It did have a couple of very unique functions and sounds though, and Softube and Universal Audio have managed to emulate them all.

First of all, the limiter is about as kick-ass on percussion as you can get. If you want an aggressive sound that really smacks, this plugin can really give it to you. Most unusual is the fact that the plug (like the hardware device) also has a de-ess and gate/expander function, and like the limiter, they react differently than most of the other plugs that you're probably using.

If you want a plugin with some real character and you already have the UAD hardware to support it, make sure you try the Dyna-mite. It's $199, but I think it's worth every penny. Find out more on the UAD Dyna-mite site.

----------------------------------

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.