EQ Magazine - January 2009 - (Page 6)

6 STEP S .co m TO YOUR BEST VO CAL TM SOUND qm ag EVER! SOUNDING BOARD A QUICK CORRECTION In your article on Brian Wilson [“Another Day”—11/08] I’m introduced as having worked on all of Brian’s albums, starting with 1998’s Imagination. However, that is one of Brian’s solo albums that I did almost no work on. I actually began working with Brian 11 years earlier on his first solo album Brian Wilson and have continued to work both with him on his solo albums and on various Beach Boys historical projects, like the Grammy-nominated Pet Sounds Sessions box set. Mark Linett (via email) FIRE(WIRE) THAT AUTHOR! In “New Gear for Production and Performance” [10/08] Craig Anderton states: “Dedicate a FireWire or USB port to your mixer—don’t daisy-chain hard drives and other devices on a port.” First off, you cannot daisy-chain USB, only FireWire. Second, unless your computer has multiple FW buses, which very few do, using separate ports is the same as daisy-chaining. FireWire is designed to be daisychained, up to 128 devices on a bus. USB, being a serial connection, cannot be, and requires a hub. The author’s recommendation is fundamentally wrong, and is telling the reader to spend money foolishly, something none of us have extra to spare these days. Audiorules (via email) Executive Editor Craig Anderton responds: I believe most readers understood that the reference to daisy-chaining pertained to the FireWire part of that sentence; however, thanks for clarifying that for those unaware of FireWire and USB basics. Using separate ports on, for example, a motherboard can indeed be the same as daisy-chaining because the ports connect to the same controller—which is why I specifically recommended adding a FireWire or USB card for “better performance than using the motherboard’s built-in ports.” As to FireWire being designed to be daisy-chained, in practice most manufacturers recommend not daisy-chaining FireWire devices (e.g., hard drives) on the same port as audio gear due to bandwidth issues. In fact, several companies make the same recommendations I do. TC Electronic support says, “You may need to consider adding another FireWire bus to your system. There are several affordable PCMCIA/PCI/PCI Express FireWire adapter cards that will do this, and allow you to use multiple bandwidth-intensive FireWire devices simultaneously.” And MOTU’s support section says: “When powering the Traveler or UltraLite via the FireWire bus, we do not recommend daisy-chaining other FireWire devices on the same bus. In general, daisy-chaining FireWire bus-powered devices is not recommended.” Furthermore, some companies also recommend separate USB cards for bandwidth reasons; having solved a nasty USB problem that way, I agree. BANG YOUR HEAD While your publication seems to be reasonably unbiased, I’ve noticed that the Power App Alley column seems to avoid Steinberg’s Nuendo/Cubase. Is this on purpose and, if so, why? I realize that you featured Dimmu Borgir and Cryptopsy but please do a feature on Meshuggah too. Their production distinguishes them in its überclarity and musicality. Having met them, I can say that they are articulate and affable guys. They’re also responsible, in part, for Toontrack’s Drumkit from Hell software. Brock Purviance Editor Matt Harper responds: There was a Cubase Power App Alley in the 4/08 issue on using the Arrangement track (it’s online at www.eqmag.com > techniques > Power App Alley) and another in 10/08 on creating guitar processing racks in Cubase. The 5/08 Vocal Cords column described vocoder applications, including the one in Cubase, and Cubase 4 was also the subject of the 12/08 Cheat Sheet. And there have been plenty of other mentions of Steinberg products, because both Craig Anderton and myself (as well as many of EQ’s contributors) are avid users of their programs. As far as Meshuggah goes, as EQ’s resident extreme music fanatic I agree they deserve coverage. Unfortunately, when we reached out to them not EXCLUS LOOKS IVE! FIRST V-STUD AT SONAR IO & UA D-2 W RECORD ILCO'S DRUM ING SECR ETS SLAY SO FT SYNT LATENC H Y THE ST WORKS UDIO BRIA WILSN N O HOW GENIUA MUSICAL S 2008 ww w.e NOVEMBER $5.99 A MUSIC PLAYER PUBLICATIO N DUMP YO UR KNOW ABOUT MOUSE! ALL HARDW YO ARE CO U NEED TO TRICKY NTROLL ON TRAC ERS KING EV ERYWHE 7 HOT MI RE X TIPS WITH NI C HARD RASCAL BIG BO FLAT OMING BASS TR TS' ICKS long ago, we were told that guitarist/producer Frederik Thordendal was not interested in speaking about the band’s recording techniques. C’est la vie. WOEFULLY GREEN Going green is making me blue, my eyes red, and my neck sore! It must be a sign of the times: saving paper, downsizing, smaller packages, faster delivery, the “I want it now” generation. When we upgraded to Cubase 3.0 last century, it came with a beautifully boxed set of manuals. One could peruse the manual at bedtime, on vacation, or while sitting on the throne. Recently, I sat in front of the computer researching an upgrade for DAW-based recording, made the plunge, and now I am sitting in front of the computer reading the .PDF file. When problems came up, I joined a forum to ask questions. And I’ll be sitting in front of the monitor once more, trying to get my client to sound like a rock star using a pitch correction program I’m still learning. Now the light comes on: Here I sit in front of yet another monitor ranting and raving about all this! I’m done. Anonymous (via email) 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 JANUARY 2009 www.eqmag.com http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/eq_200811/index.php?startid=16 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/eq_200810/index.php?startid=52 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/eq_200810/index.php?startid=52 http://ww.eqmag.com http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/eq_200810/index.php?startid=50 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/eq_200810/index.php?startid=50 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/eq_200805/index.php?startid=40 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/eq_200805/index.php?startid=40 http://www.eqmag.com http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/eq_200812/index.php?startid=48 http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - January 2009

EQ Magazine - January 2009 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In Bob Dylan The Killers Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Microsoft Windows Vista Apple Mac OS X "Lite" Software Roundup "Lite" Software Gadgets & Goodies Sounds Room With a Vu

EQ Magazine - January 2009

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