Category: Uncategorized

After talking to John Willett (Sound-Link Pro Audio) and Elisabeth Kuenhast (Microtech Gefell) at BVE a few weeks ago, after just spotting this mic and saying ‘what’s this?’ I’ve hired one out this week for a couple of days recording a play.

It’s a really interesting design, it effectively works like a line array – essentially meaning it will pick up sound with only a 3dB loss from a doubling of distance, rather than 6dB from an omnidirectional mic.  The pickup pattern’s also interesting- it works like a cardioid in the horizontal plane, but lobar in the vertical.

I decided to give it the cruellest test possible in my flat by recording my voice from the other end of the bathroom, our bathroom’s quite long- it’s about 4m away.

 

It wasn’t all good though, the internal noise was considerably higher than the Sennheiser MKH and AKG ULS mics I’m used to, 15dB(A) (DIN EN 60 651 scale)- however not surprising, considering there’s 8 capsules in there.  Another thing which is frankly scary is the price to buy it- however, this will probably do the job of 5-6 mics for me this week.

Another thing is it requires mains power for the matrix/powering box, so wouldn’t be suitable most situations I find myself in

 

I’ve been having a bit of a look round at cases- Most of my jobs are with a reasonably light kit and I’ll get there on public transport.  I’ve been looking at Peli cases, which are made to withstand environmental extremes, but I could probably do with something a bit lighter.  For the last couple of years I’ve made do with a backpack, along with having my sound bag on but there’s the odd time where ‘I could have really done with that’.  Also something where I can use dividers should also help finding things quickly, instead of having to root around at the bottom of the bag for that obscure adapter.

Stuff I’m having a look at:

Lowepro Pro Roller X300  – A self-shooting director I work with bought one of these for his C300.  Being able to use the inside as a backpack’s nice.  It’s got 35L capacity, which is only a bit more than I’ve got now.  Weight 6.1kg

Petrol PA1003 – Really like the 2 layer design, *looks* quite big although the interior specs seem to say otherwise (30L, maybe only counts 1 layer as main compartment?).  It’s also quite heavy (8.1kg) There’s a video up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI-HvH2eO8s&noredirect=1

Kata FlyBy-77   – Lightest of the lot (4.1kg) and pushes 40L capacity, although some of that is from being a bit deeper.  Is also good as airline carry-on.  Wonder if reduced weight= less protection, though?

Lighting bags? Petrol PL2003 etc
They’d need extra dividers to cushion stuff, but they’ve certainly got enough space in.  You can also put a whole boompole and/or mic stand in lengthways on the longer ones.

Also as an alternative to Peli cases, I’ve been pointed at B&W cases, they’re made in smaller sizes and are considerably cheaper with dividers.

Anyone used any of these, or have any other ideas?

Here’s a comparison table

	int	L(cm)	W(cm)	D(cm)	vol (L)	Weight (kg)		££ (inc VAT)
Peli 1560		51.6	39	17.8	35.82	9.07		252.91
Peli 1610		56.2	43.1	21.6	52.32	10.2		328.62
Peli 1650		74	46	22	74.89	16.1		373.94
B&W Type 66		53.5	36	19.5	37.56	6.6*		180
B&W Type   70		67.5	42.5	22	63.11	9*		252
Lowepro x300		37	17.5	55.5	35.94	6.6		338
Petrol   PA1003		58	27	20	31.32	8.1		186
Kata FB77		53	33	22	38.48	4.175		215
Petrol   PL2003 (+trolley)		73	35	21	53.66	7.77		238.77
Petrol   PL2004 (+trolley)		88	35	21	64.68	8.6		262.21

*no weight with internal dividers given (expect to be similar to Peli cases)

I’ve just gone and purchased a recorder- a Sonosax SX-R4.  A rare second hand example came up and I thought I couldn’t really miss the chance to get it.

It may be small but can record up to 8 channels on HDD, plus a 2 track mix on CF card.  It’s also got 4 excellent Sonosax preamps (the same as in my 3 channel mixer), although less precise control over LF cutoff points.

I’ll be looking to make some additions to it in time, I still need to make up cables for timecode and the accessory port, so I can use the digital in. And I’d like to use a passive mixer to allow greater control of my mix, feeding that back into the M32 mix bus. I think I’ll look into putting one together myself.  There’s also a serial bus in the accessory port – I’ve sent Sonosax an email to see what that can do (possible remote commands?).

Clearout time…  Here’s some stuff I find I just don’t really use, if you don’t think the price is right, feel free to send me an offer:

RME Quadmic, older design front panel, same specs £175

Neurosky Mindset EEG headset- can be used to send brainwave signals to MIDI etc £100

Sony MDR-CD1700 headphones £100 SOLD

Philip Rees MM5 Midi foot controller £75 SOLD

AKG SE300B/CK93 hypercardioid mic  £130 SOLD
CK98 short shotgun capsule (broken)- offers

Yoga EM-268 Stereo mic.  Cheap electret mic for field recorders £5, or a beer

Peavey PC1600 Midi fader controller.  Couple of faders a bit dodgy, no PSU included- offers

Sony BC-1WA NP1  battery charger (NIMH).  Broken.  Take it.

Glyph FW400 Hard Drive (320GB), fan’s a bit noisy. £20

Tascam HD-P2 £300 SOLD

Marian ADCON £100 SOLD

Edirol / Roland R-44 £500

Rycote G3 short boompole £100

and.. although I love it, it doesn’t get used enough so:
Dave Smith Poly Evolver Rack £650 SOLD

Moog MF107 Freqbox £220

Following on from my computer recording post, from a few months back- I’ve started to put a system together.

I’ve managed to sell all my other computers etc and bought a shiny new Sony Vaio Z (other shortlisted models were the Macbook Air 11″ and the Lenovo Thinkpad x230, based on connectivity, weight, battery power and ability to fit in the bottom of a Petrol PS602 sound bag).

For the interface (based on power, size and connectivity options), the computer was limited to USB.  I’m also a bit wary of firewire interfaces as I’ve managed to blow the controller chip in one, possibly by moving the cable moving a small amount while it was plugged in (or looking at it the wrong way?).  This left me with only 2 options, the RME Fireface UC/UCX and the MOTU Ultralite Mk3 Hybrid (I’d actually discounted this before due to lack of word clock for Timecode sync).

Despite being a long term user of RME interfaces, I couldn’t really justify the price difference for a bit of extra niceness and a word clock input.  MOTU interfaces will (according to their documentation) slave their clocks to incoming timecode on an audio input, so I’m hoping that works.

It actually involved quite a bit of pain getting the MOTU to work with the computer.  I found it’s not currently USB3.0 compatible (all the ports on the computer are USB3.0).  I had to switch them to USB2.0 in the BIOS to get it working.

I also got a control surface, after stumbling across the dodgily named iCON i-controls pro.  It’s probably the most compact control surface with 100mm faders I’ve come across and it runs from DC (and even seems to work without the motorised faders from USB power). It weighs just under 2kg. From having a play, the build seems better than the Euphonix/Avid Artist surfaces.  Was dead easy to set up, seems to talk pretty flawlessly to Samplitude and MOTU Cuemix, although I could do with modifying the setup so that the knobs control trim rather than pan.  Motorised faders are endlessly entertaining (although not to be used during takes).  For some reason Cuemix seems to eat about 10% CPU, which seems a tad excessive.

I’m still short of a few cables to truly make it work as a bag setup (right angled everything for the back of the ultralite, but it fits (with Sonosax mixer providing cabled mic ins and RME Quadmic as pre for radios (may not be necessary). I also need to get a VGA cable to output to the small monitor (may get an HDMI one instead, that one really is bad- ok for checking the frame though), seems a bit of a shame considering the laptop’s screen is 1080p.

Here’s a picture (spot the computer):

and here’s with the control surface, I’ll need some way of securing it, it just balances on top:

 

In almost all production recording systems some kind of field recorder is used.  In most of these cases they’re actually a very specialised computer running a cut down operating system (usually a Linux kernel or Windows Embedded variant) with custom software.

For example, I’ve found my Tascam HD-P2 runs Windows CE (it’s mentioned in the version 1.05 release notes).  As a you start to think *OMFG my recorder will BSOD on me*, a lot of the problems with Windows (and other OS) is when things get changed, and systems have to deal with this.  Usually with embedded systems this isn’t the case, they’re ‘sealed units’ and run all sorts of systems which cannot tolerate failure like aircraft autopilot systems and industrial automation systems.

Why not run a specialised computer for recording purposes? It’ll be much cheaper, right?

One of the main issues is software.  Although there are quite a few programs for multichannel audio recording and mixing, most do a lot of things you don’t need for production recording (which means more to go wrong) and some don’t do some things you do need (metadata editing and Time Code input).

The best course of action would be to use a piece of software designed for this purpose, AFAIK there are three (prices include VAT):

Boom Recorder (Mac OSX only) £175
Metacorder (Mac OSX only) £1314
SADiE MTR (Windows only, with SADiE Hardware) £4100 with LRX2

You also need an interface to get the audio into the computer.  Here’s a list of those which I’ve found which have at least 8 inputs and a DSP routing system, can be powered by DC in the field

Interface	Price	Weight (kg)	Dimensions (mm)	Power Consumption (W)
RME FF UC (USB)	722.73	1.5	218x44x155	13
RME FF UCX (USB/FW)	958.26	1.5	218x44x155	13
MOTU Traveler mk3 (FW)	589	1.73	375x44x229	?
Metric Halo 2882 (FW)	1215	2	343x44x279	8
Sadie LRX2 (USB)	4100	6	330x65x423	50

Now you’ll need a computer to run it.  I initially had ideas of very small industrial machines with no moving parts and Atom/AMD Fusion CPUs.  These would work fine with the SADiE system (in face any machine with a hard drive fast enough should, as the LRX does the heavy lifting), but I’m not too sure about running OSX on them.  In addition to this the RME USB interfaces don’t work too well with Atom machines (and haven’t been tested with the AMD chips).

Having a look round for a small computer which will run off DC power, not have an atom processor and run OSX it looks like you’re looking at a Mac or a going for a ‘hackintosh’ job (installing OSX on an non-apple x86 machine) on a similarly sized ‘ultrabook’ (which would cost around the same for the base machine).  Prices are given with 15% discount (either as a refurb or through a number of discount schemes, education etc). I’ve discounted the low end Macbook air as I don’t think 2GB memory will cut it:

Computer	Price (£)	Battery life (Whr)	Power consumption (W)		Weight (kg)
			Display off	Display on
Macbook Air 11” i5 4GB 128GB	850	35	4.2	9	1.06
Macbook Air 11” i7 4GB 128GB	970	35	4.2	9	1.06
Macbook Pro 13” i7 128GB SSD	1172	63.5	7.2	12.7	2

Another thing which will need to be added to the system is a TCXO clock, if time code sync is required (clock on LRX2 will probably suffice).  Here are some options:

Denecke SB3		£384
Timecode Buddy Master		£810.00
Ambient ACL203		£690

In order to use firewire interfaces with the Macbook air, you need some kind of thunderbolt adapter.  The cheapest current method is (this means it’s actually cheaper to use an RME FF UC with Macbook Air):

Sonnet thunderbolt to expresscard	123.60
Thunderbolt cable	39
Expresscard to FW	16.78

 

In order to create mixes you’ll also need some kind of mixer or control surface.  If you’re already running a mixer in front of your recorder you can probably make do.  For drama/ cart based setups the only option I can see which runs from DC power is the Avid Artist Mix (formerly Euphonix MC mix) at £1000.  On the other end of the scale there are a few USB powered things with knobs/faders on from Korg and Akai, which may break from just looking at them

Control Surface	Cost (£)	Weight (kg)	Dimensions (mm)
Avid / Euphonix Artist Mix	1000	2.2	238x30x420
Mackie MCU Pro	1000	7.6	419x119x423

Bag setups *may* be feasible by putting the laptop at the bottom of the bag, the interface where the recorder would normally be and using a small touchscreen monitor for control: eg Lilliput 669GL

Finally here’s a few example packages you could put together here  The LRX2 price is taking into account using an existing laptop, adding the 16mic pre card and 25% discount for part ex with old SADiE kit (can be found on ebay for buttons):

	Price	Weight (kg)	Power Consumption (W)
Cheap (MBA+FFUC+Monitor+Denecke+BR)	2287.73	2.56	17.2
Drama (MBAi7+FFUCX+Avid+Denecke+BR)	3487.26	4.76	17.2
Lo Power (MBAi7+MH2882+Denecke+BR)	2941.03	3.06	12.2
SADiE LRX2 (USB)	4500	8	50
Sound Devices 788T + CL9	6953	3.8	16

 

Here’s a comparison of different systems taking into account cost, weight and power consumption.  I haven’t added the monitor power consumption- it’s around 8W, assuming you may also use one with a  788T system. I believe the LRX2 can actually display sync video on screen.  I also don’t know the power consumption of the Avid Artist mix

I’ve had a rummage through the cupboards and I’m looking to get rid of a few bits I rarely use, or have meant to get fixed and haven’t.  Open to offers on all

Doepfer Regelwerk Discontinued MIDI/CV sequencer/fader controller SOLD

 

Yamaha DX7S 80’s classic with a few tweaks.  New internal battery fitted £200

Panasonic NV-MX300 small 3CCD DV camcorder- doesn’t play nicely over FW with MS Windows (firmware bug) £200 SOLD

Commodore MK10 mini-key MIDI keyboard £15
Really light midi controller keyboard, great with small synths/samplers without keyboards.  And gets bonus retro points for saying Commodore on

Sennheiser ME3-ew Headset mic £50
Part of the Sennheiser ew135 system, as recommended by Alan Partridge.  Needs 5V plug in power.

Behringer Ultra DI800 8 way DI box £50 SOLD

Roland D-110 multitimbral sound module £40
Volume knob missing

Roland SP-404 (broken, won’t boot up) sampler good condition £50

AKG C535EB Condenser mic (broken, no signal + paint come off) Nice when working… £30

 

Mackie 1604 rackmount rails, unused £15 SOLD

Here’s a video of me performing an adapted version of Alvin Lucier’s Clocker at Bang the Bore X: Zone of Alienation

Instead of using a clock, we substituted it for a Geiger-Muller counter and radioactive source: Thorium 232.

Equipment used:

DIY Galvanic skin response sensor
Tapco Blend 6 Mixer
Roland SDE-3000 Digital delay (has control voltage input)
Coutryman B3 Microphone (to pick up the counter’s speaker output)

 

 

From last time I’ve now managed to get some new IDC headers to replace the broken ones, so went about reconstructing the ribbon cable.

I also gave up on the idea of getting an A-gauge patchbay and soldered in the aux sends to the back of a 96way bantam patchbay as shown here:

as there was only one 0V reference I had to get a wire and bridge it across all the other connections.

I also wired in 8 jacks to feed back the signal into the mixers inputs.  I decided to leave the connections open too, although I considered having them normalled (see this article for patchbay configurations) which would be mental (all signals would be feeding back all the time).

Now to fire it up again and see if there is audio…

Unfortunately I’ve only got 2 bantam patch leads (this might get expensive to remedy). But running 2 channels and 2 auxes it sounds like this (go to the end for animal sounds):

 

Large Feedback Instrument: Test 1 by richard-thomas

In February I recorded a fantastic concert (review from The Watchful Ear) put on by Bang the Bore in Southampton.  It was located in the Castle Vaults, under the town centre and consisted of a performance of Alvin Lucier’s classic, I am sitting in a room and a top form set from John Butcher who does things with a saxophone which must be heard to be believed.

As a large part of what was going on in this gig was reacting to the space (John Butcher has an ongoing ‘Resonant Spaces‘ project), I thought I’d try and record as much of the room without it getting too muddy.

Omnidirectional microphones, pickup the most room sound but need to be placed within the critical distance (closer than the with directional microphones) to receive more of the direct sound from the performer rather than reflected sound from the walls of the room.  I was looking at recording outside the critical distance, in the diffuse field (where there is more sound reflected from the room) so needed to improve the directivity of my microphones but retain the flat frequency response down to low frequencies that the omni’s have.

You can do some of this using EQ on a mixer.  Alternatively you can affect what happens to the sound before it gets to the microphone by creating a reflective baffle around the microphone, which I intended on doing.  DPA already make these for their microphones, but they’re £75 each (ow!) and don’t fit my AKG’s.  So went out to the local shops in search of foam balls…

I came back with a pair of ‘Dog Balls’ from “Magic Prices at Just Jeff’s” (yes, it’s really called that) and an apple corer.  Total cost was under £3. And lighter than a mixer 🙂

Unfortunately the apple corer wasn’t the best tool for the job:

however (with some pain and awkwardness) did get through the balls *ahem*.

and managed to squeeze a microphone through:

although they did look a bit silly they did do the job, however the room wasn’t as reverberant as I expected.

I’ll see what’s happening with the recording- if it gets put up somewhere I’ll add a link