EQ Magazine - July 2008 - (Page 6)

SOUNDING BOARD DO THE RIGHT THING Having worked in the big, bad music business for over ten years, I don’t always agree with Moses Avalon’s conclusions. Nevertheless, I find his musings interesting. That said, his article in the May issue [“Legal Affairs”] is one of the worst pieces of career advice I have ever read. While Mr. Avalon ably points out the advantages and pitfalls of the socalled “360 deal,” the idea that one should enter into such a deal on the premise that it can be voided at will is terrible advice. One should understand what one is entering into, and then act in good faith. The idea that one would sign a contract so that it can be broken if things don’t fall your way is both dishonorable and bad business. Firstly, who wants to see artists expending all of their time and creative energies on litigation? Secondly, the notion that a musician can take on a large corporation’s legal team without facing enormous legal fees is disingenuous. These days, believe it or not, most of the so-called “suits” of the music business are hardworking, honorable people who genuinely love music. Many even take pride in the fact that, while their labors will never make them rich, they play a role in ensuring that musicians can continue focusing on making music that enriches everyone without resorting to a day job. If you decide to enter into a 360 deal, do so with your eyes open and in good faith. If the record company violates the deal, then by all means fight it. But the notion that the artist can grab the advance and then weasel out of the deal on a technicality makes the artist no better than the “suits” of yesteryear. Glenn Goldstein (via email) IS CHEATING WRONG? I enjoyed the Cheat Sheet installment in your May issue [“Computer Audio Interfaces”]. One tip left me puzzled, though: On the very last sentence of the very last term, “+48V Phantom Power,” it says “. . . check the phantom power voltage at the mic’s XLR connector with a voltmeter.” Okay, assuming I have my probes in each hand, how exactly do I then access the pins of a plugged-in condenser mic? Jon (via email) Craig Anderton responds: You have to do it with the mic unplugged. The mic represents a small enough load that the difference in voltage with a mic connected or disconnected is negligible. Hook up the voltmeter with the negative probe to pin #1 and the positive probe to pin #2, and it should read 48V. Then measure the voltage between pin #1 (again, with the negative probe) and pin #3, which should also read +48V. Measuring the voltage between pins #2 and #3 should show zero volts. If the probes are too big to fit comfortably into the connector holes, you can straighten out a metal paper clip and use that as an extension. VOICING CHANGE I’m a musician and a computer artist working with flash animation. Recently, I’ve been looking around for a processor or some software that can do a real good job at changing a person’s voice. I was thinking that it would be great, if instead of looking around and hiring people to do voiceover for me, I could use a software or processor to create various voices including a variety of “women’s voices.” Do you know of any processors or software available that can help me achieve this? Brian (via email) Craig Anderton responds: On one level, no voice processor will be able to transform your voice into a completely convincing alternate sex when isolated for narration. However, these emulations can be extremely convincing when used in applications such as background vocals, where, for example, changing the “gender” to female does give the vocals female qualities. You’ll have better luck changing a male voice into a different type of male voice; for example, I’ve used Antares’ AVOX to sound like a crusty old blues veteran and have actually fooled a few people in the process. I suggest checking out the Roland VT-1 for yourself, as well as vocal-oriented products from DigiTech like the VL4 and, for a software solution, Antares’ AVOX. They’re all about as good as what current technology can offer. A FEW DAYS LATE, A FEW DOLLARS OFF I think the online master classes are great ideas. One question: I’m a fulltime engineer and producer and it seems I’m always working a session when one of these master classes is being aired. Is there any way to listen to or watch these sessions after they have aired? Will they be in some kind of archived library? That would work much better for me, given my schedule. Peter Green (via email) Matt Harper responds: We indeed archive our Artist Master Class webinars (and offer them at a discounted rate because there’s no live Q&A). Granted, a lot of the fun comes from signing in during the webcast and engaging the AMC’s presenter in a realtime Q&A exchange, but the content covered in each of these webinars is so valuable that we urge those who couldn’t attend the party the first time around to download our archives. To do so, head on over to www.visualwebcaster.com/ musicplayernetwork/storefront. We just added Executive Editor Craig Anderton’s brand-new “Secrets of Signal Processing” webinar; and fortunately, his highly-acclaimed “Mastering in the Home Studio” webinar is still available. Additionally, our sister publications—Guitar Player, Bass Player, and Keyboard—have some truly killer webinars for all you players out there, including lessons with Larry Carlton, Victor Wooten, Jeff Lorber, Michael Manring, and Jordan Rudess. Check ’em out. You’ll be glad you did. Got something to say? Questions, comments, concerns? Head on over to www.eqmag.com and drop us a line in our Letters to the Editor forum, send us an email at eqeditor@musicplayer.com or snail mail c/o EQ Magazine, 1111 Bayhill Dr., Suite 125, San Bruno, CA 94066 for possible inclusion in the Sounding Board. Note: Letters may be edited for length and/or clarity. Direct correspondence by EQ editorial is not guaranteed. All submissions become the property of EQ magazine and can be published in any medium. 6 EQ JULY 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.visualwebcaster.com/musicplayernetwork/storefront http://www.visualwebcaster.com/musicplayernetwork/storefront http://www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - July 2008

EQ Magazine - July 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Louis XIV, Four TET and Steve Reid, Can Your Record Go Gold in the Digital Age Tool Box Death Cab For Cutie Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Propellerhead Reason 4 Sony Acid Pro 6 EDAX Audio Labs VTP-100 M-Audio Profire 2626 Tape Simulator Shootout Tape Simulators Sounds Room With a VU: Infrasonic Sound Recording Company, Los Angeles, CA.

EQ Magazine - July 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.