Messages

181

STUDIO + RECORDING TECHNIQUES / My tape delays died :-(

« on: March 30, 2011, 03:24:19 pm »

since years i've got these two dynacord echocord super s75 tape delays, both only half functioning, but that was okay for me. i got them cheap and loved their shortcomings.

however, the better-functioning (this could be wired as send) died somehow. it fall back to the functionality level of the worse-functioning (insert only) + some pretty ugly humming-noise.

the insert-only way of wiring (use one of the 4 mic preamps on the front for input, do the level adjust etc... and then get the output on the back) always annoyed me. the more-functioning could be wired with one cable from the back. i'm done. i barely used them because i was to lazy to set them up. 

now i'm thinking of selling those.
but not without replacement. it may not be a tape delay - a used tape-delay is out of my money-range these days. a good emulation would be just fine for me. but the sound-on-sound has to be fine, it has to do nice pitching when changing the delay time, and charming wobble. let's do some namedropping!

182

STUDIO + RECORDING TECHNIQUES / Re: Ground loop!...

« on: March 24, 2011, 01:56:21 am »

( time to back up some files! )

a wise man once said: "if you've only one copy, you don't really want to keep it."
let me add that this is true even if you've two copies but both in the same place ;-)

183

STUDIO + RECORDING TECHNIQUES / Re: Ground loop!...

« on: March 23, 2011, 03:26:23 am »

my macbook pro came with two plugs for the power supply: one not-grounded (with a "euro-connector" as the non-grounded connectors are called here) and one grounded (for grounded central europe power plugs). i usually use the non-grounded for reasons of simplicity, but this can cause grounding problems when using USB powered devices. the external powerplugs of usb soundcards are usually not grounded here, just the "euro connector", and if the laptop itself isn't grounded either, grounding issues might happen (also when the soundcard uses usb bus power).
is your laptop operated with a grounded power supply - or do you have the choice? (i've the choice on my macbook, but my previous sony had only not-grounded powersupply while the dell latitude i use at work only has grounded connection)

184

OTHER MUSIC / Re: What are you listening to?

« on: March 21, 2011, 02:25:19 am »

megafaun - heretofore
i'm trying to track all justin vernon related bands, but it's just way too hard.

185

SELF PROMOTION / Re: Low Point: Seconds and back catalogue releases on sale!

« on: March 18, 2011, 07:32:05 am »

they arrived! thank you :-)

186

SELF PROMOTION / Re: Low Point: Seconds and back catalogue releases on sale!

« on: March 14, 2011, 10:34:00 am »

waiting for them... sometimes i wish i'd live in uk. in this case i'd have them already! 

187

OTHER MUSIC / Re: What are you listening to?

« on: March 07, 2011, 09:21:30 am »

not exactly listening, but waiting for an order; the complete package:
stephan mathieu - remain
stephan mathieu - a static place
janek schafer - extended play

they arrived. listening now.

188

OTHER MUSIC / Re: So, what do you think of "The Wire" ?

« on: March 06, 2011, 01:01:33 pm »

the german magazine "auf abwegen" might be similar, but i never had the opportunity to read an issue, so i don't know about it's quality.

189

OTHER MUSIC / Re: So, what do you think of "The Wire" ?

« on: March 04, 2011, 10:28:52 am »

ambivalent.
i'm a subscriber since this year, never read an issue before, i just had a look at their website. basically i wanted to try something new. my resumee after three issues:
on the not-so-good side is the fact that i'm not interested in so many of the articles.
on the very good side is, that many other articles are really great.
conclusion: not unlike  other magazines. but it's a good thing to have a magazine which covers many artists that are not covered by other mags.
i did not have the opportunity to listen into their compilations, though. 

190

FIELD RECORDING / Re: What's your favourite location / source for field recordings?

« on: March 03, 2011, 10:51:23 am »

Haesslich - I live quite close to a reasonable sized city, but sometimes get there very early (6am or so). Your concept is a fascinating one. Hearing a city when it sleeps. Completely different from during the day, isn't it? I love to hear a city as it gradually wakes up. Going from relative quiet to becoming lively and rowdy.

the difference of sound of a city at day and at night can be huge! but in the end it stays a city, with urban noises.

r. murray schafer had some diagrams in his "soundscape" book, where they measured sound pressure level at different day- and nighttimes. somehow this is like a temperature diagramm, where the temperature falls at night.
but it's more than the volume or loudness, it's also the mixture of sounds. it's simply less crowded so you can here more discrete sounds.

191

OTHER MUSIC / Re: What are you listening to?

« on: March 03, 2011, 09:51:56 am »

192

SYNTHESIZERS + SOUND-MAKING HARDWARE / Re: elektron octatrack

« on: March 01, 2011, 09:27:01 am »

so ;-) we have a consensus here - i'd formulate it this way:

tools are secondary for the music but influence the musician in the music-making process.

as far as the octatrack is concerned, i didn't see any video i liked that much actually. but i blame the input material for that, not the machine (in the end it's still a sampler).

193

SYNTHESIZERS + SOUND-MAKING HARDWARE / Re: elektron octatrack

« on: March 01, 2011, 06:09:48 am »

exactly!!! in my opinion the tools don't matter at all (one of the main reasons why i almost never buy any tools for music making). of course there are influences and tools that help to shape things to a certain degree, but i think it's possible to create your own musical language with any device or tool available.

194

SYNTHESIZERS + SOUND-MAKING HARDWARE / Re: elektron octatrack

« on: March 01, 2011, 05:12:29 am »

has someone bought this thing already?
i need a decent looper and the 12k-club-entrance-card ehx 2880 is already 1/3 of an octatrack, which seems to be a valuable live-looper itself (without foot control though), so it might be worth having a look at.

me and elektron is a hate-vs-love relationship. on the love side, their instruments are well designed and built, and you can feel the hours of thinking they spent during development. on the hate side, elektron is like a hardware equivalent of ableton. it's like 90% of people producing 90% electronic music use the machinedrum (or ableton live), and 90% of these people produce absolutely replecable music (just like ableton users).
i want to avoid falling into the same scheme just because the possibilities of the machine leads me to there.

195

OTHER MUSIC / Re: What are you listening to?

« on: February 28, 2011, 02:36:22 pm »

william fitzsimmons - goodnight