AppleTV, Tivo, InfiniTV4. What is the best TV solution?

24 October 2011

I was first in line to buy the original AppleTV. I thought it was going to solve all my TV woes. I thought I’d be able to cancel cable. Of course, that didn’t happen. After selling my AppleTV, I bought my first Tivo. I figured it would be the end all solution. I love the interface. It is 2nd to none. But I don’t have access to XFinity. So I feel like I’m throwing money away.

I’d love to have 1 device hooked up to my TV that can:

  • Watch and record live TV
  • Access on-demand content like XFinity
  • Play Bluray
  • Stream from Netflix, Amazon and my computer
  • Play my music collection

All AppleTV can do is stream content and rent movies. I’ve already given up on AppleTV.

Tivo is so close to being perfect! If only it came with an XFinity App. It could access Xfinity just like I do on my laptop. Then I could watch all the content that I’m paying for.

The only solution I can find right now is the InfiniTV4. Install this on your HTPC and you can do everything I listed above.

Keep in mind that you really need your InfiniTV system to be a dedicated machine.

Another great solution would be for Tivo to license it’s interface to someone like Sony. Then Sony could add a cablecard slot to it’s next Playstation to allow you to watch and record live TV. They could up-charge for that feature on PSN. It would also motivate people to use the social features of PSN more often.

New Blog!

24 September 2010

As many of you know, I created kNERD.COM. It is a music website that saves time for bands by having one place to update all their other social websites. It also recommends music to fans via album credits.

I have recently created a blog for kNERD at http://blog.knerd.com. I will be focusing most of my efforts on to that blog. It will cover many of the same aspects of this blog, but it will focus more on the band and less on the engineer. This blog will still be updated from time to time!

I hope to see you there!

-Rob

Why Do Studios Cost So Much?

19 July 2010

Why do studios cost from $45 an hour to $200 an hour? What gives them the right? Why would anyone pay that? Why not just record at home?


$45/hour studios are usually project studios. They are simply home studio setups within a sound proof building. Rent or mortgage on a building could be $1000/month. Already, the studio needs to be booked about 23 hours in that month just to pay the rent.


$120 or $200/hour studios usually have everything you will ever need. Their microphone collect is probably worth between $20,000 and $30,000. Here is an example of a mixing console they may have: click here. That’s right, that mixing console is $180,000…

Pro Tools HD costs about $10,000 for a decent setup. That does not include plug ins.

To have 16 channels recording at once, which is common when recording drums or strings, you need 16 XLR cables, 16 mic stands, headphones, and probably a patchbay with TT cables to patch everything together. At the cheapest, you are looking at $1800 in cables!

In a studio, Things break ALL THE TIME. You would be amazed. XLR cables go bad, speakers blow, air conditioning goes bad, microphones need to be fixed, mixing consoles need to be maintained, even mic stands fall apart… A studio probably averages $200-$400 per month in maintenance.

What about an audio engineer that knows how to use everything and knows how to mix your album properly? Real engineers make at least $20/hour. Most deserve more. An engineer that makes $10-$18/hour probably are new and are gaining experience by experimenting on you.

It costs a lot to run a studio. Most studios barely break even. Treat their facilities and their engineers with respect. As I said in previous posts, your best bang for the buck is finding a $65/hour studio. I have found the studios that charge more than $80/hour, that aren’t run by major labels, are usually a rip off and all smoke and mirrors.

Ad Supported Bands

18 June 2010

At SXSXm 2010, it seemed like the buzz word of the year was “sell in”. It’s a play on bands selling out and becoming mainstream. Now, the goal of many indie bands to get their song in the next iPod commercial. Instead of being annoyed that you mom knows the names of your favorite bands, it’s just impressive! Why not take it a step further than having ad supported songs and playlists?


Why not have a band that’s completely ad supported?


How would it work?
Let’s start with listing the components of an indie band.

  • Albums
  • Songs/Singles
  • Videos
  • Interviews/new stories
  • blogs/tour diaries
  • MySpace/Twitter/kNERD/YouTube
  • Shows

Each of these things has potential ad space.


How is each band component sponsored?

All the social sites. There are simple ways to put your own ads on all these sites. Obvious ways to monetize would be Adwords. But you could also find your own sponsors.

Blogs/Tour Diaries: Same as the social sites, however you have a bit more control. If a local business gambles on sponsoring a band and that band is successful, there could be big pay off. I’m also grouping in interviews and news stories here because you can link them or repost them with ads.

Shows: If a band has a local sponsor, there are many ways to have ads at a show. There could be a rep that talks to the crowd before the show. There could be a banner behind the band or a video ad that plays before an after each band. All of your fliers, posters and local weekly show posts could have the sponsor’s logo in it.

What about a tour? It seems like the greatest results would be to have multiple sponsors that are not simply local businesses… How about clothing companies? Guitar companies? online stores? All of these would benefit by having a band ambassador.

Albums: DVDs start out with ads. why can’t albums? If not an audio ad, then an ad in the artwork. It costs money to record a proper album. How about finding a sponsor to pay for studio time, in return, the band records video of the whole album recording process and display the sponsor’s ad during the video?


Is all this possible?

In order to make an ad supported band work, it would take a lot of dedication. It would be a full time job. Each band member would have to contribute in finding sponsors, updating blogs and other sites, or possibly editing and posting video content. Results need to be measurable and deliverable to the sponsors. They would like to know how many people attended the show they sponsored. Were there more or less people at this show than the previous show? How many people viewed the video blog they sponsored? Where do these people live? etc.

The most common theme to my blog is that the number one thing that artists should worry about is creating the best music possible. If you are content having a day job, and song writing/touring/etc on the side, that is perfectly respectable. In fact, that’s what type of person I am. I have a studio and a band. But I don’t count on either of these to pay my bills. I’m afraid it would affect the why I create music.

An untapped market is an ad network that lists bands that are looking for sponsorship! A company that would do the ad space selling for you, and leave all the content creation up to you. I wish I had time to create that!


Conclusion

So what does this mean for the fan? Would you feel dirty listening to an indie band that is completely sponsored? Would you think of them like you think about all those disney artists? Or would you like it that your favorite band’s albums were “free” and that their shows are cheaper than most shows? Many tours are already sponsored. Ads are displayed before the bands play, banners are draped. Would fans even notice a difference?


Another possible consequence would be that artists would start maximizing their live shows. They would come up with creative ways to entertain the fan even more, so the sponsor would have more and more eyes on their ad and would want to keep sponsoring that band. It could also be bad. If artists are too worried about what fans or sponsors will “buy”, then they may not take enough risks in the song writing process.

update: here is an article actually written around the time of SXSW 2010 on CNET.

No need for vintage.

5 June 2010

If you are starting a new studio, many audio professionals will tell you that you need to buy vintage pre amps, EQs or compressors because they sound much better. Vintage gear does sound really nice. But we are getting to a point where it’s not really necessary.

Vintage gear gained monetary value as more and more wealthy people were willing to spend a premium on it, because they had it. Just like any thing else, people will sell it for what people will pay for it. Don’t get me wrong, 1073s, type 69, Quad 8 sound absolutely amazing.

But caps eventually need to be replaced. Many times, when something is recapped, new models of the caps are used. FET technology advanced even in the last 10 years. Faster, more open sounding chips are available to upgrade 80′s and 90′s equipment. So you are paying a premium for a piece of equipment that doesn’t sound exactly like the originally. I fully admit, I’m not an electrician. Certain companies may seek out original caps and other electronic components from the 60s and 70s.

So what is the point of this post? To save you money. TapeOp has a very detailed article in it’s most recent issue, comparing many Neve clones. What I got out of it? They all sound great! To the trained ear, some sound a bit better than others, but all sound great. They are also the fraction of the cost of the original.


Don’t let someone tell you that you need vintage. There are many clones of many different pre amps and compressors. Start out with these clones. If you still feel like you need to purchase some vintage equipment, rent it first. Record something with it. A/B it against the clone or newer piece of equipment. Does it sound different enough to spend thousands of dollars?


One could argue that having vintage equipment in your studio will bring more business. That could be true, if you have a lot of independent engineers hiring your studio. But does a band care if you have a 1073? Do most musicians even know what a 1073 is? Musicians care about how recordings sound when they leave your studio. They also may want a selection of music instruments and amps to use.


If you are recording in an untreated basement, your recordings will always sound like a basement. Instead of purchasing vintage equipment, purchase a newer clone and put some money into your walls, or something else that your studio will see immediate gain from.


***This post is for the people recording at their house or starting a small studio. Not for someone that already owns a professional studio with a large console and a lot of outboard equipment***

The Future of Pro Tools From Historic Perspective.

1 May 2010

This week, AVID (designers of Pro Tools) announced that they purchased Euphonix. Euphonix designs human interface devices (mixers) for DAWs (digial audio workstations). A few months ago, AVID sent out a press release to remind Pro Tools users that Digidesign, the original developer of Pro Tools, was owned by AVID and that it will now lose the Digidesign name in place of AVID’s. AVID also owns M-Audio, whom creates low cost audio cards, of which I’m a huge fan of.


What does The acquisition of Euphonix mean for you? Probably not much. Do you need to purchase another control surface? Do control surfaces really allow you to mix or track faster or more efficiently? Personally, I’m efficient enough with a mouse and my audio rack. But that’s just me.


Digidesign / AVID tend to focus on one thing at a time. Let’s go back in time and see their trends:


1997, Pro Tools 4: More tracks at once, more plugins at once with the |24 Mix|24 and d24, stability in Mac OS.


1999 late/2000, Pro Tools 5:  Home recording with the Digi001. It came with the Ignition plugin pack.


2002, Pro Tools 6: Compatibility with OSX 10.2, new user interface with updated send controls, Digibase, Beat Detector. Pro Tools 6′s interface seemed much more responsive that Pro Tools 5. Pro tools didn’t have much competition during this era. Cubase and Digital performer were used by some, but not many. It’s only real competitors were Cool Edit and Deck because they were so cheap. For professionals, Pro Tools HD hardware was available.


2005, Pro Tools 7: M-Audio card support, more sends per track, REX and ACID files, and plugins are used less resources. During this era, AVID was focusing on virtual instruments. Apple’s Logic was making a big splash in the music industry because of all of it’s virtual instruments and track numbers. Logic’s bouncing algorithm and latency are proven to be far better than Pro Tools.  Composers are still complaining about Pro Tools’ midi editor. AIR plugins are introduced.


2008, Pro Tools 8: Customizable user interface, a score editor is added, you no longer need to pay an outrageous price for 48 tracks (in LE), Session Templates, more AIR plugins. Elastic audio makes fixing tracks easier with the efforts of our CPU.


2010: Euphonix is purchased, corporate rebranding seems a priority. I’m not sure how well that’s going. If you go to www.digidesign.com or www.avid.com, there are many 404 errors, the site doesn’t have a clear mission, there isn’t one single place that you can see all new products.


Yes, I know I left out Sound tools, Venues and Pro Tools III.


So what are these trends? More Tracks/Plugins at once, more plugins to choose from, a focus on prosumers for 2 eras, a focus on stability and interface design, and finally a focus on virtual instruments and ease of editing. That leaves us with 2010 and beyond. What’s next? Details about the future of Pro Tools always seem tightly guarded. But there are some huge things that they have missed over the years that drive their patrons crazy.


Why do I still need to buy an upgrade to export to mp3?! Why is Pro Tools LE limited in tracks? Why is there no delay compensation in Pro Tools LE? Pro Tools HD hardware is almost a decade old! Why does it still cost so much?

AVID should reboot Pro Tools HD and LE with version 9, combining them. Pro Tools 9 should utilize any audio hardware. If that hardware happens to be TDM based, it should harness that power. If it’s not, it should utilize should use the CPU. Speaking of the CPU, AVID should also include Apple’s OpenCL and Grand Central Dispatch calls in Pro Tools 9. This would allow Pro Tools to use every single processing core in your Intel CPU, as well as the very powerful processor in your graphics card. AVID could then charge a premium on it’s software. Probably between $499 and $699. Pro Tools TDM hardware will soon be obsolete. TDM Technology was invented in the 1870s! Yes, 1870s. Not 1970s. Yes, large productions like Hollywood movies and concert halls will still need large interfaces. But many professional studios and prosumer studios will not need to purchase $3000 audio cards to achieve professional sounding recordings. In fact, if you can’t make a great recording with a Digidesign Digi003 or an M-Audio Delta1010, then you are probably doing something wrong.


Pro Tools 9 should also focus on the new music middle class. We are producing our own albums, selling songs online, streaming our audio for free. Not only should there be a free mp3 export, but ogg, aac and flac. Metadata should be able to be saved in bounced or exported files. Each Session should have it’s own metadata that’s included in each bounce or export So musician names, producer/engineer names, studio names etc are always included when someone purchases the song or CD-TEXT is written. It should be free to export session data to universal formats. Why does DigiTranslator still exist? Multiple plugins should be able to be opened at once. Simply put the track name that the plugin is associated to on the top of the window.


If AVID doesn’t fix certain things, free programs like Ardour will over take them in the consumer market. Ardour uses a XML session format, it supports VST plugins, it automatically compensations for plugin delay, and it’s tracks are limited by your computer.

Regardless, I still use Pro Tools over every other audio suite and will probably keep using it for the foreseeable future. It’s interface makes sense. It rarely crashes.  It’s plugins sound great. If you register your Digidesign products, their tech support is outstanding.

Fixing Dull Sessions

5 April 2010

Many times I will receive a Pro Tools session that is under produced or just sounds a bit deflated. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a song is perfect with just a guitar and vocal. But if you receive a session that has a simple drum beat, 1 guitar, 1 bass, and 1 vocal, it probably will not catch the attention of any listener. EQing the snare to be snappy and the guitar to be bright and full can only bring you so far. This doesn’t only apply to engineers that receive sessions. This also applies to people that record themselves and are going back to remix a session.

Believe it or not, you can double a vocal with out having the singer double sing the double and with out using any plugins. Most doubles happen in the chorus of  a song. Choruses are usually sung twice. Simply copy the 2nd chorus into a new track at the same time of the first chorus. Then copy the first chorus on to that same new track in the same time of the 2nd chorus. You may need to adjust the time of certain words, but with a little bit of care, you can have a new vocal that really fills out the song!

When mixing, I usually duplicate the bass track. I will then put a low pass filter on the original bass track and a plugin like sansamp on the duplicate track. Sansamp will give some punch and brightness to the new bass track. Mix both those tracks together and you have a deep and punchy bass track!

To add some body to those drums, create a new aux. on your kick and snare track, create a send to that aux that is pre-fader to the new aux. Now add a limiter on that aux with a fast attack and fast release. Now limit the hell out of this aux. Bring it up slowly until it sounds right. You should feel the kit come together. Remember that every session is different. Sometimes this trick can do more harm than good. Sometimes it’s better to do this with the room mics instead of the kick and snare. Quite often I will add an EQ after the limiter and remove everything that is below 200 and above 6000. It will sound horrible by itself, but it really works in the mix.

When using a reverb to add body or space to a mix, use caution. When done poorly, all the listener ends up hearing is the reverb. It will feel out of place. When possible I use at least 2 reverbs and a delay. I use a plate reverb mostly for vocals. I use a room/hall reverb for guitar, drums, background vocals and synth. Then I will add a delay that is set to 1/2 the bpm of the track and add a little bit of it to the vocals. On lead vocals, using a bit of all of these FX works a lot better than just one plate reverb.

Hopefully some of these mixing tips help you liven up dull sessions.

Why are you touring?

31 March 2010

Over the past decade, I have known so many bands that toured. It has benefited almost none of them. Quite often, bands tour way to early, or to the wrong cities.

Touring is like being in being a delivery person for your music equipment and your band mates. Gas money is expensive. Your band mates start to smell after a few shows. All of your worst personal traits will be magnified. Here are some pointers to help you decide when and where you should tour:

  1. If you can’t get a buzz going about your band in your home town, then it may not be time to tour yet. A buzz does not include anyone you know personally. If you live in a city that doesn’t really cater to music, then by all means, play elsewhere.
  2. Once you are drawing a good and constant crowd in your hometown, then choose another market or two to focus on. For example, fly for cheap to Chicago. Play 3 nights in a row at 3 different venues. Promote yourself the entire time you are there. You will be home by Monday morning. If you only have 1 destination, airfare can be much cheaper than driving.
  3. To get better shows in the market you are targeting, invite bands that you like from that market to play with your band in your hometown.
  4. Do you have an album to sell? Can you tell your audience to go to iTunes to download your music? Do you have any merch to sell? If not, you might want to tackle that first.
  5. If you do tour, sit at your merch desk before an after your show. Be approachable. Your band is just a band. You aren’t special. So be nice to people. They might even buy a t-shirt from you and come see you next time you are in town.
  6. Even if you party all night, you should probably still get up at a decent hour and do an in-store, do an interview, promote your next show, go to music stores (if they still exist) and thank them for selling your album. Get lunch with local label managers or promoters.

Just be sure that touring is going to actually help you. It’s not worth driving 600 miles to gain 5 MySpace friends. Once you get there, this is your first impression, make it a good one.

Burnlounge’s Scam’s Final Chapter Is Being Written

29 March 2010

Back in the mid 2000s, when mp3 music delivery platforms were popping up all over the place, BurnLounge did not get much press. BurnLounge promoted itself via meetings that its members would set up with potential members.

BurnLounge was a subscription service that allowed it’s members to create their own music stores with Burn Lounge’s catalog. You would then convince others to create stores and use you as a reference. Those people would then have more and more people to use them as a reference to create ‘iTunes like’ stores. Each mp3 that is sold earns a percentage of sales to the store owner. Any mp3 sold on a store that used you as a reference, also earns you a percentage of sales. Those percentages are smaller than the percentage if the mp3 was sold from your store. Sounds familiar right? Yeah, it’s a pyramid scheme! It’s a scam!

In 2006 I actually created my own store. One of the BurnLounge execs came to the studio I worked at and I asked him how this wasn’t a pyramid scheme. He has a fast answer that didn’t make any sense. So I decided to get an account for research purposes.

I thought about this the other day, and after doing some googling, I found that The State reports that federal regulators are ordering Burn Lounge to pay $22,000,000.  Joseph Brunson, Timothy McQueen, Tony Pough and Rob Deboer (BurnLounge’s pyramid top) will be sentenced soon. Most of these people are repeat offenders.

I have to admit, there are a lot of people that I would like to call and say “I told you so”. I knew this was a scam from the beginning. I’m glad my gut was right.

Being able to start your own music store and profit share is a great idea. But ripping these people ripped off over 7000 members. They spent their money on jets and other luxury items. That’s absolutely disgusting.

If you do not care about musicians, fans, or even music in general, please stay out of the music business. Artists are already starving enough.

Ubuntu Music Store

23 March 2010

Arstechnica reports that the creators of the Linux distribution, Ubuntu, have launched a music store called Ubuntu One Music Store. It is a mashup between Ubuntu One and Digital7. To make sense of this, you must understand these 3 products:

Ubuntu- a linux operating system distribution that focuses on the desktop user experience. It is a replacement for Windows or OSX.

Ubuntu One- a “cloud’ service by the makers of Ubuntu. In short, it’s free drive space on the internet that can be mounted to your desktop as if it were part of all of your computers. Kind of like Apple’s MobileMe.

Digital7- an online music store and digital delivery company. Their music catalog is a bit more mainstream than Amazon and eMusic, but it’s a decent selection. They’re blackberry app links to your LAST.FM account to recommend you new music.

Add all of those things together, and you have Ubuntu One Music Store. When you purchase a song, it saves to your Ubuntu One drive. This way you can seamlessly access it from all of your computers. You will soon see iTunes offering a service like this for music and movies.

Ars is reporting that they are only selling music in the form of mp3. Many Linux users and music fans prefer Ogg Vorbis over MP3 because it’s completely open.

If you have Rhythmbox installed, which a ‘iTunes like’ music player, your purchased music will show up in it.

As a fan of Linux and a fan of music stores, I think this is great!!!