music

What’s the Deal with Summed-Input Stereo Effects? – Quilter Laboratories

What’s the Deal with Summed-Input Stereo Effects? – Quilter Laboratories:

Recently, there’s been a lot of controversy about effects that use summed stereo inputs vs. independent inputs. Obviously, nobody wants their stereo signal unintentionally collapsed to mono. So, effects with independent stereo inputs are clearly better, right? How has this gone unnoticed for decades and is only now exposed as a cost-cutting measure to cheat unsuspecting consumers?

Except, that’s not what’s happening here — not even close.

In this blog post, I will explain how stereo effects are designed, why they are designed this way, and the source of confusion around channel summing. I will also explain where channel summing might actually be desirable and where it’s not.

[Great article…]

Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Gives Country a Black Eye

Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Gives Country a Black Eye:

“Try That in a Small Town” was risible enough as a single, but in case anything about its lunkheaded songwriting felt like it was left as subtext and not made explicit, Aldean has released a music video for the rising hit. It, too, is in the business of handing out black eyes… to country music, that is, much more than any imagined invaders.

The setting, outside the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, has proven upsetting for some who know or learn the history of the building. It’s where, in 1927, a white lynch mob dragged a young man named Henry Choate through the streets behind a car before finally hanging him from a second-story courthouse window. Let’s give Aldean and video director Shaun Silva the benefit of the doubt and assume they had not indulged in a history lesson when they decided the same frontage where a Black man was murdered in front of a crowd would be a good place to alternate projected footage of protesters being put down with a draped American flag. (Hard to blame anyone for thinking that this history did show up in Aldean’s or the filmmakers’ web search on the location, but imagining that they knew that and proceeded anyway, as a known dog whistle, is… just tough to contemplate.)

[I think Dave said it better here…

They want to go back to when they could kill anyone with impunity. And btw, it doesn’t matter if he “really” believes it or if it’s a business model. It makes absolutely no difference. Someone should teach these pitiful spineless so-called reporters how and why to be angry. BTW, I live in a small town so fuck you Jason Aldean.

]

The GigRig | G3 Software Updates v.512

The GigRig G3 Software Updates:

Link to Software version 512 (iOS). Also, the focus I set on my iPhone while updating.
Featuring:

  • FLIP/FLOP STOMP:  Group several StompBox mode presets together and flip/flop between them
  • SUBTRACTIVE STOMP:  StompBox mode presets now subtract as well as add
  • UP TO 20 MIDI MESSAGES:  We’ve increased the amount of MIDI messages available pre preset from 15 to 20
  • MIDI SEND ON PRESET OFF: When you turn a preset off in StompBox mode you can send a separate MIDI message
  • MIDI SEQUENCER:  Send a string of MIDI commands in sequence
  • BANK DOWN BUTTON:  Assign a button to act as ‘Bank Down’
  • G3 REMOTE/STAGE MIDI CODE:  Link 2 units together and remote access presets between them
  • NAME SONG TITLES WITHIN G3:  You can now name songs within G3 without need for the app

[I don’t know why I don’t find these easy to find, but it won’t hurt to spread them around. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Some of the features in this update are quite helpful. I dig stombox mode, and like the notion of “subtractive”, but I don’t like the notion of it being “different” from regular stomp. It should “toggle” the loop.]

CnC Episode 3: Being perfect is unobtainium

3: Being perfect is unobtainium

There’s a difference between the useless “be perfect” and the journey to always improve. Reaching for perfection contains greatness. Being perfect is, atmo, unobtanium. Clips from Michael Brauer, Grammy award winning mix engineer and Julian Lage, a brilliant guitar player. We start to discuss how change can be hard.

Flooding the Zone – by Damon Krukowski

Flooding the Zone – by Damon Krukowski:

Summing the number of artists listed in these seven categories, we get a total of 156,700. Not exactly the same as the 165,000 “artists who have released at least ten songs all-time and average at least 10,000 monthly listeners,” but close. (Asking Spotify to be precise with numbers seems to be unrealistic.) Close enough that perhaps it’s a fair assumption these two figures are related – and the seven categories are subdivisions of the 165,000 total “professional” accounts.

[Oy.]

Source: Mark Hurst

Dolby Atmos’ role in better digital experiences – Scobleizer

Dolby Atmos’ role in better digital experiences – Scobleizer:

What about the future?

The holy grail is to “fool” the listener into thinking she/he is at a concert, where sound is coming from all around you, particularly when you are at something like Coachella. There they have dozens of speakers in front, above, and behind you, and that sound is bouncing off of everything else.

We aren’t there yet.

[Inside out for me. I’m trying to understand how placement can enhance the value as a musician. Can I get more valuable separation to make a part standout without turning it into a parlor trick?]

DAW Power: Plugging into guitarist Mike Haldeman’s unique digital rig – Fretboard Journal

Plugging into guitarist Mike Haldeman’s unique digital rig:

I didn’t want these still, magical, mystifying moments of my interaction with music to become demystified by suddenly understanding complex jazz harmony. It’s like there’s a sound there that I love, and I want to keep its magical essence. I don’t want to understand it. I want it to be something that still remains kind of confusing and elusive and something that I have to search for.

[I want it both ways. All the understanding and all the magic. I may never get to both places, but that’s the dream.]

Gig Performer | Optimize your Mac for a Gig

Gig Performer | Optimize your Mac for a Gig:

Apple computers running macOS have great support for real-time audio and MIDI and typically do not require much optimization – however you may still want to make sure that your performance is neither impacted nor interrupted by other running processes. We have compiled a list of tips to help you get the best experience out of your Mac for your live performance.

All tips and screenshots were made using macOS Monterey 12.1, the latest version of macOS available at the time of writing

[It might be easier to have a operate account for live gigs… unless the computer is dedicated to live performance. That’s a lot of stuff to switch on and off.]

Updating the GigRig G3

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This page from Apple covers what you need to know… but the idea is this: Daniel Steinhardt posted a video with steps to update the firmware in a G3, and suggested turning on Airplane mode, and restoring bluetooth connectivity in order to prevent calls or such from interrupting the updating process.

Of course, that means that you have to remember to turn that off when you’re done, and I suspect in practice that could be easily forgotten.

The page above tells you how to create a focus (or modify one of the presets). If you don’t allow anyone to call, and not allow apps to post notifications etc. I believe you’ll get the same effect, but it will turn on when you run the G3 app, and turn off when you close the G3 app. Nice! The screen shot below shows you the focus I created for this which called (duh) “G3”. You can see that no people are allowed and that the G3 app is selected so that it will automatically turn on when you run the app. Other details are available on Apple’s page above, but it’s all pretty straight forward. Enjoy!

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