Shameless Self Promotion Time

So I'm not sure what posting links to my own interview, says about me. Self indulgent? Egotistical? Conceited?
Well this is my blog, and the interview is content relevant to a blog about me. So here goes.

After a summer full of movie making magic, I was approached to provide an interview for the Blank Stage website regarding how my involvement with Blank Stage has impacted me and my career.

If you'd like to read my responses to a few questions about me and sound for independent movies then you can find the interview here: Audio Engineer in Georgia | Pole Position, Dana Simmons, In a Perfect Spot[Blank Stage Productions]

Adventures in DVD archiving

As the amount of data I have to keep up with grows (personal data, business documents, and client's work), my need to keep track of a large body of data over long periods of time has grown. While my backup server I constructed back in 2008 has worked wonderfully for making sure all my current work is protected from drive failure. The mirrored raid has quickly filled with old copies of projects that I don't need to access on a regular basis. The thought of permanently deleting those projects just sends shivers up my spine. What happens when someone comes to me and says "remember when we did that project three years ago, well I want to do something like that again." I don't remember what details where in that project, and I'll need to have a copy that I can go back to and get inspiration and references from.

The obvious solution I've heard many recommend is, "get an online storage solution." After some research however, many of these plans have limited storage or limited access on a monthly basis. I can't be tied down by those limitations, and storing close to a terabyte of data in the cloud using a monthly subscription is still extremely costly.

So how does one create an offline collection of old work that is still secure over the course of many years? At first I though that just throwing a hard drive in the closet would work. Nope. Hard drives are notorious for not spinning up after about three years. And at the rate at which tech changes, who knows if I'll even have a computer that can access the data on them.

My solution? The DVD. DVDs can store an adequate amount of data for archiving key components of a project. And the best part is, they can last upwards of twenty years!

But, as it turns out, not all DVD media is created equal. The life of a burned DVD is dependent on the quality of optical dye that is used to manufacture the disk. Many commonly available brands of DVD media are manufactured using cheap dyes that severely reduce the reliability of these discs as long term storage options.

So which is the best brand to put your junk on? Turns out that there is a company in Japan that is wholly dedicated to producing the end-all be-all top of the line DVD media. That brand is Tiayo Yuden. Untill the past three years this brand has been relatively difficult to come by, only being available through select online retailers. However, after being acquired by JVC the Japanese made discs have become more available. To my good fortune one of my local pro audio/video outlets has even started stocking authentic Tiayo Yuden discs!

After burning close to 100 discs, without a single un-readable disc, I am sold. Although the real test will be when I pop a disc in after five or so years, but for now, I feel confident that my archives are safe.

Much of my information for this post was gathered through this page: How to Choose CD/DVD Archival Media, a must read for anyone interested in storing offline data for long periods of time.

Memories of the summer

So now that the weather has officially changed, I find myself reminiscing of the warmer days on set. I've had the pleasure of working on some very fun projects this past summer, with a great group of people. Here is a video mash-up of a few of them.

Google Sketchup and your next project

So I keep seeing google sketchup pop up in conversations all over. There was allot of talk about Sektchup's 3D Warehouse at Maker Faire Detroit; I've seen several projects use Sketchup to help work out design problems, and even google maps' 3d view is using contributed 3d models from sketchup. So what the heck is sketchup?

Well, turns out sketchup is pretty freakin' amazing. I've used CAD programs in the past, and lets just say there is a reason I don't still use them. The software I remember was clunky, loaded with complex options for texture, lighting on top of the exhaustive list of construction, shaping, and placement tools. Now sure, if I were making a living designing 3d models I would find this type of software feature full and efficient. But if I am just trying to bang out a quick model of my spare bedroom and figure out what sort of furniture will fit in it, a hobbyist like myself would quickly get lost in all the options and forget about the original intent.

Sketchup simplifies the design process to such an extent, that I almost forgot I was using CAD software. In a few hours I was able to finish the design for a set of closet shelves, that will actually fit perfectly the closet that I have! I was then able to add annotations for measurements in just a few clicks. I printed out a wire frame model and BAM! I'm ready to go buy lumber.

So needless to say, sketchup will become a key part of my prototyping process in the future.

Maker Faire Detroit 2010

Turns out Make Magazine's Maker fair is growing, so much so that this year the Henry Ford Museum hosted the first annual Maker Faire Detroit. and sure enough, I was able to get tickets.

What an experience, The conference-bikes were there, along with lots of maker bots cnc machines. After touring the grounds and seeing the sights I was able to sit in some very inspiring presentations. Presentations by forward thinking inventors and designers from all over the country, speaking on topics such as sustainable energy, urban gardening, and even garage manufacturing. These presentations makeup the best highlights of the trip.

But enough of all that, now for some photos.

Custom Recording Mixer: Part 2

I place my order to BatchPCB.com for channel strip boards about a month ago. They finally arrived last week and I can finally get to make some real progress on this project. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a double order of my pc boards at no extra cost (which is good because I ordered exactly half of what I needed). I was able to spend a fair amount of time putting things together and testing them out this week. I managed to get all the holes drilled in the case and began populating the boards (which look and sound great).

Desktop Summing Mixer & Recording Mixer

For years I've used a Behringer 1204 small format mixer on my desktop for simple monitoring and routing while mixing and recording. For years I have been frustrated with the lack of features and I/O options. After a recent episode of frustration involving the dual function of the mute switches and Post-Fader axillary sends, it occurred to me, why not just build my own mixer? How hard can it be?

Well to those of you still reading and not rolling on the floor laughing at this previous statement, it requires a bit of thought and is by no means a simple, weekend project. There are many design topologies to consider and many variables to account for. One of my greatest resources (aside from the endlessly helpful book The Art of Electronics) was a project published by Rod Elliott (http://sound.westhost.com/project30.htm). His designs provided answers to many of my questions, such as how to implement a panning adjustment and peak level indicators. Of course his designs are very similar in functionality to the mixer I already have (though he does include insert sends and returns). What I want in my mixer are tape returns. I want an entirely separate signal path for the monitor return of each channel. Typically this feature is only available in high-end studio consoles. Well, I don't have that sort of money, so I want tape returns in a 10 channel format, plus direct outs.

I've included my first revision schematic bellow, after the board layout is complete I plan on getting a handful of boards printed commercially and doing a test run with the component values I've specified thus far.

DIY Audio Compressor: Part 2

After several revisions to the schematic and many iterations of the board layout, its all finally done. The whole package looks and sound great. I had the pleasure of using it to track some vocals some weeks ago and the compressor really imparted a warmer sound. I think I may have to work out a way to incorporate some sort of decibel or clipping meter to prevent over driving the 5532. That said, the overdrive isn't really distasteful. Check out the pics bellow, I've included the final schematic and pc layout.

DIY Audio Compressor: Part 1, the plan

After finding myself often wanting of an analog compressor in my rack of gear, I ran across the simple compressor design from the old Electronics Projects for Musicians(EPFM) book. It uses a couple op amps and a Vactrol (or LDR Optocoupler) to compress the audio signal. I was able to find a source for the vactrols through Allied Electronics.However, one of the op amps (RC4739) had fallen into obsolescence since the publication of these plans. After poking around the web a bit I found that the NE5532 seemed to work well as a general purpose audio op-amp, and had been used successfully in many of the EPFM plans. The caveat? The 5532 is an 8 pin DIP package, whereas the old 4739 was a 16 pin DIP, this single detail renders the PC board layouts provided in the book useless, and therefore in order to finish my project on a PC board, I would have to re-work the schematic and pcb layout to fit the new parts, I've since completed the schematic and hope to have the layout done and ready for etching (using a cupric chloride bath [Instructable]) soon. I've included the reworked schematic bellow for anyone else who may be interested to enjoy. Schematic and board done in KiCad

Things I Do: Calling all Voices, a Pack the Park initiative

It was my pleasure to be on set helping with the production of Calling all Voices and the "Mother Earth" music video. This production was a great experience and a great opportunity to meet and work with some amazing people.