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Logic Pro transport trick: Insertion follows playback workaround.

2010-11-29T14:16:00.000-04:00

If you're a long time Pro Tools user learning how to use Logic Pro, you have to make some changes in your workflow. The transport systems are quite different.

In Pro Tools, you have the option called, "insertion follows playback" which moves the playhead along as you play and stop. By default this option is turned off, so that the playhead always returns to the spot where it started. This way you can record or play from the same spot with minimum effort.

In Logic the default is for playhead insertion to always follow playback. On the surface it would seem that you need to click with the mouse and move the playhead every time you want to play back from the same spot. Fortunately there are some shortcuts and key command options to allow you to keep the playhead right where you want it.

1) My personal favourite. Use the marquee tool (it looks like a little cross) and click once in the arrange window where you want to start playback. You'll see a little vertical white line. Then use the spacebar to toggle playback from that spot! Click anywhere with the pointer tool to clear the marquee playback position. I like to assign the marquee tool to my secondary click for easy access.

2) Press Return to go back to the last played position. Furthermore press shift-return to play from the last played position.

3) Custom key commands. Press command-k to bring up the key command window. You can assign any keys or combinations (or even the space bar) to commands like "stop or play from last position." Choose your own adventure here.

Hope this helps to make it work for you!
Adam

Review - Apogee GIO guitar interface

2010-08-27T12:41:00.004-03:00

Getting a great guitar sound in the studio can be challenging. It can be expensive, and time consuming. Where do you start? At a minimum you'll want to have a decent guitar and amplifier, a good microphone and pre-amp, a nice analog-to-digital converter, a computer and finally some powered speakers or headphones. Oh yeah, and guitar chops. The list goes on. Certainly the recording medium in the digital ages is more portable and more accessible to non-pro users, but it can still mean a pile of gear and a snake-pit of cables in your studio/bedroom. If you're clever, you'll connect them all properly, be able to sculpt the sound to your liking, and when something goes wrong you have the smarts to find the broken thing.

Enter the Apogee GIO, a guitar interface for computer-based recording and performing.
How does yet another shiny stainless steel box make your life easier? Well it doesn't. You still have to clean the bathroom and do the dishes later. But this thing might actually save you a bit of time and space if you need to get workable guitar sounds on your recordings.

In a nutshell, it's a 4-in-1 box.

Input. You connect your guitar directly to it, and it converts your signal from analog to digital, which flows nicely into your computer.
It's a customizable stomp box controller, so all the stompbox effects you traditionally have on the floor connected to your amp (distortion, delay, chorus etc.) can be simulated by software and controlled by the front row of buttons on this box. Connect an expression pedal for volume/filter controls.
The top row of buttons are for transport functions. Stop, play, rewind for your DAW, and other playback devices.
Output: Your digitally simulated guitar sounds can be sent to an amplifier OR you can use the output for headphones/speakers. If you want to play live, maybe just leave the heavy amp at home and connect directly to the PA system.

Software sold seperately! And you'll need some. The GIO is designed to work out of the box with Apple's flagship line of recording software; Garageband, Logic Express, Logic Studio and Mainstage. Plug it in via USB and it will automatically be detected. Ok, maybe you have to run the installer CD first. Once you're running the DAW (I used Logic Studio and Mainstage), it's beautifully integrated. The transport buttons are assigned and you can instantly start moving around in your song with your feet. Two hands on the guitar.

Now for the good stuff. Boot up the Amp Designer plug-in on a track in Logic. Choose amp and speaker cab. Tweak to taste. Insert a pedalboard plugin . Drag and drop some virtual pedals like "Octafuzz" or the "Auto-funk" filter into your pedalboard. The switches are assigned automatically to the front row of buttons on the GIO. The coloured LED's are bright and pretty. Stomp the record button. Play. Stomp the fuzz in the chorus. Stomp the funk in the bridge. Do whatever you like. Pretty cool, eh?

The sounds in Amp Designer are incredibly good. I've spent many years playing with guitar simulator plug-ins (they can be a lifesaver on a production deadline) and this is top of the line. I don't know how they do it, but as the years go by it gets harder and harder to pick out the fakes from a guitar-police-lineup. I'm not saying to throw out your amps, but this is pretty damn good. Sadly, I think pretty damn good might be as good as guitar simulation will get. It won't ever be the best. When I need to get a real keeper track, something that really punches you in the face, I always go back to a real amplifier. My computer just can't fake the infinite subtleties of real speakers pushing real air, pushing a microphone diaphragm, driving an analog mic pre, etc.
That said, the GIO is a good box. It's not hall of fame material, but it does do a few things really well. It gives you a nice input for your guitar, with the road-tested quality of Apogee converters, and it gives you elaborate foot control for your session, with minimum hassle.

I actually brought home the GIO in the hopes of making a killer looping device with Mainstage. I wanted to be able to do what the Boss RC-50 Loop Station does with my computer; record multiple phrases, play them back on command, in different orders and combinations; Verse, chorus, bridge. I was surprised to find that Mainstage fell short. It was great for layering parts. But if you have sections of different lengths (god forbid different time signatures), good luck. You'll have a hell of a time switching patches and arming auto-record on the different loopback devices. And if you're computer isn't fast enough, you'll get latency problems; nightmarish when live looping relies on the speed of your foot to get good timing. I also found the little rubber patch-switching buttons on the corners of the GIO to be underwhelming. Why not make them real beefy buttons like the rest, so that you know when you've pressed them? After many hours of trying different combinations of loopers at the concert level, set level and patch level, I couldn't get Mainstage to do what I wanted. Oh well. That's not the GIO's fault. Had I just recorded some loops ahead of time there would have been no problems at all. I just couldn't do it on the fly seamlessly.

You can assign the buttons on GIO to do pretty much anything on Logic or Mainstage. You can even layer the assignments, so one press of a button could change patches, turn on several stomp boxes and trigger song playback. Endless possibilities. I think you could do this with any foot controller though (Behringer FCB1o10?). You just wouldn't have the nice guitar input and the pretty coloured lights. You would need a second box as an interface and midi I/O.

I conclude that this is a good, solidly built device. They didn't cut corners on the design and it's responsive and customizable. It would be really awesome for a super-compact live performance rig, with complex playback requirements, or even simple ones. Flipping through patches for different parts of your song would be brilliant. It's more and more common to see computers on stage these days, and this is a good piece of hardware for that. Are computer-guitar-rigs cool on stage? Not really, but that's a different discussion. The GIO is also great in studio. It's fast and furious for tracking guitar, whether you're using the plugins or not. Plug in and go.

In the end, I returned my GIO. There wasn't much that the GIO did that I couldn't already do in my personal studio. I already have nice A/D converter, and it's pretty expensive to just use as a glorified midi controller ($450 CAD). It wasn't working out for a live loop rig. I just didn't need it. However, I can imagine lots of scenarios where it would fit in perfectly: Wife mad at you for storing your Marshall stack in the walk-in closet?

www.studiocat.ca update

2010-01-27T16:44:00.001-04:00

We have recently refurbished the company website over at Studiocat.ca, complete with a funky newsletter. Head on over and subscribe!

Cheers,
Adam

A new CBC Radio 3 website

2009-10-07T14:29:00.000-03:00

http://radio3.cbc.ca

Loving it. Awesome streaming web radio. Homegrown Canadian music. Furthermore:

* Personalized member pages. Add a bio, images, links & web preferences, plus display your favourite music & playlists!

* Create, edit, share & manage unlimited on-demand playlists.

* Select & listen to genre-based streaming radio stations. If you want all hip hop, all the time -- no problem. Same goes for rock, pop & electronic.

OSX maintenance

2009-09-11T11:30:00.001-03:00

Check out this great, free, program for macs called ONYX. It takes care of many of the regular (and lesser known) housekeeping tasks which should be performed on your Mac. Repair permissions, clear caches, verify disks and preference files, etc. etc.

This one gets an A+ from me. Oh, and of course, don't forget to back up!

Protect your ears. Wear earplugs and turn down your ipod.

2009-06-19T18:26:00.008-03:00

For the love of Pete, wear earplugs in loud situations. I can't stress this enough. Musicians put their ears in danger almost every day, often for prolonged periods. Sooner or later, this exposure will cause hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in your ears). Hearing damage is permanent.

Sometimes I hear people say, "I hate earplugs! I can't hear the music while I'm playing."

Well, if you hate the sound of foam earplugs when you're playing, invest in some custom molded plugs. They sound better and are more comfortable. They cost between $150-$200. Too expensive for you? Please. Ten years from now, when you can't hear the person sitting across the dinner table, you'll be pretty upset that you cheaped out on your OWN EARS and bought some shoes and a stomp box instead.

Here are some pointers:

Get off your high horse.
Get a supply of foam earplugs, and keep a pair in your bag or pocket when you leave the house. Spread them around in your jacket pockets. You'll never know when you need them; I often end up in loud situations by accident. If it feels too loud, it IS too loud. Don't be ashamed to wear them. Think of the alternative: embarrassment and depression because you can't hear your friends and family when they speak to you.
Buy custom earplugs, whether you think you can afford them or not. If you're a professional musician, you can't afford NOT to have them. Use a credit card. Ask mom and dad. Your concert experiences will be SO much more pleasurable and your ears won't be ringing when you go to sleep.
Turn down your headphones when you're in the subway or on the bus. Better yet, wear earplugs. Drowning out the loud trains with loud music compounds the problem. If you really enjoy listening while you commute, a pair of noise-reducing headphones is a must, otherwise your volume is too high. The ambient noise is canceled out, allowing you to listen at lower, more reasonable levels. Shop around for different manufacturers. There are good models that cost under $150.
Don't set your cell phone volume to 10. Set it to 5 and find a quieter place to talk. Use the speakerphone when you can. Switch ears!
Read this. Then book an appointment with audiologist to have your hearing tested, and earplugs fitted.
Pat yourself on the back, eh?

Check out 4:07 in this video. For the love of Pete!

Brush up on your theory

2009-06-02T14:33:00.003-03:00

Scales, scales, scales. Does it bring back old memories? Remember when your Royal Conservatory slave driver made you practice up and down the keyboard, until you were blue in the face? What about your theory rudiments? Key signatures. Scales. Chords. Transposing. Remember doing your theory homework, wishing you were playing road hockey instead? I do. But now I'm glad I stayed in. I'm glad my parents made me sit there and do it. I remember a lot of things from those days. But many years of not practicing have made me rusty. I can't read or write like I used to. Sight reading is lost on me.

It's not too late for people like us. We can brush up. We can go through our old workbooks and scales.

I recently picked up a copy of the same text I used as a kid. The big difference is that now it matters. It's going to help me read, understand, compose, and most importantly, communicate. It's a daunting 300 pages of written exercises. My goal is to finish it by year end. Wish me luck!

A cheap remote control for your DAW

2009-05-05T18:05:00.006-03:00

Have you ever wanted to record music in your living room, without having to run back and forth to the computer every time you want to press play, rewind, record, undo etc?

Well if you have an iPod touch or an iPhone and 8 dollars, today is your day.

http://www.folabs.com/protransport.html

Convert your Apple loops for Pro Tools

2009-05-03T13:33:00.001-03:00

If you're a Pro Tools user, you'll find this one handy. I picked it up from the AIR users blog, a great instructional website dedicated to the digidesign AIR series of plugins. Lots of great instructional videos, including this one, which demonstrates how to use a program called Max to convert all of your apple loops (*.caf) to .aiff or .wav, so that you can use them in Pro Tools or any other DAW. Almost all Mac users have a big library of Apple loops available to them, but if you haven't tried Garageband or Logic, you haven't heard them... Until now!

And don't worry, what you're doing is legal. These loops are royalty free. You can use them freely in your commercial work. Just don't use them by themselves as underscore.

Cheers!
Adam

Discover Reason

2009-02-12T15:03:00.005-04:00

If you haven't already discovered it, I would be surprised. Propellerhead Reason is a powerful computer program designed to give you an entire virtual studio, infinitely expandable, complete with mixers, synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, effects and a live MIDI sequencer. I should first point out that Reason is not an audio recording program, but it can operate it tandem with your favourite recording platform (Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton Live etc.) via Rewire, a plugin device that synchronizes the transports of both programs and streams the audio between them. This means you can simultaneously enjoy the power of Reason synthesis and drum programming with the audio editing and processing of your main recording software.

Reason is a big can of worms, and you have to open it to know what I mean. At first it may seem daunting, but at its most basic level, Reason is very simple to operate. You assemble your sessions one device at a time, using as few or as many devices as you need. The number of devices is only limited by your computer, and you will find that Reason is very processor efficient. If you have a machine from the last year or two, you'll run out of coffee long before you run out of processor power.

You might just need a drum loop and a synth bass line. Throw some reverb on those drums. Add compression. Play some strings. Add a tambourine. Then, take the blue pill. Go down the rabbit hole. Press [TAB].

Seriously. That's the key command to toggle the rear view of your rack devices. Now you're looking behind your Reason virtual studio, where all the cables are connected. This is when you realize power of the dark side. I mean, the modular design. You can connect the devices in your rack in an infinite number of ways, routing sounds and control voltages between devices, creating new possibilities with every patch and turn of a knob. Take a sound, then distort it, use another oscillator to modulate it, compress it, arpeggiate it, chop, slice and dice it. Only now have you begun to explore the full potential of this software.

Fortunately there are lots of instructional materials to help you delve deep into this world of virtual analog. Youtube is loaded with instructional vids, but if you're looking for more official coaches, the lovely Swedish developers at Propellerhead have an ongoing series of tutorials just for you, called Discovering Reason. And if you're really looking to geek out, check out Kurt Kurasaki (aka Peff), an officially endorsed super-Reason-geek who produces music, software patches, and publishes instructional books on the subject. I have a copy of his book Power Tools for Reason.

I can't say enough positive things about this program. I have used it on a daily basis for 4 years now on all of my personal recording projects and TV gigs. Don't let anyone convince you it's just for electronic music. They are so wrong. Lots of great rock artists use it, e.g. The Flaming Lips. It's an inexpensive way to increase your sonic palette and to make your audio toolbox a whole lot bigger.

Happy patching!

Learn the lyrics, and take them with you.

2009-02-08T16:59:00.006-04:00

I forget lyrics. I'm hopelessly forgetful.

Step 1: Study harder, dude.
Step 2: Carry the lyrics to your entire repetoire in your pocket!

Here is an awesome program that integrates seamlessly with iTunes on your mac. It's called GimmeSomeTune, from Eternal Storms Software. When you play a song from your library, it fetches the lyrics and artwork for that song from an online database (LyricWiki), and embeds the information in your mp3 files. That means the next time you upload the song to your iphone or ipod, the lyrics are right there on the screen. How awesome is that? How many times have you been at a jam, wishing you could remember that tricky third verse? Sometimes you just want to sing along.

It doesn't look like you can do a bulk import for your entire library, so if you have a big collection, it will be a while before all the lyrics are downloaded. Better this way, I think; you don't have to be concerned about all of your id3 tags being altered at once. You can monitor and edit the data as it is collected, one song at a time. Careful though, I tried flipping through songs quickly, and the "fetching" couldn't keep up, and made the occasional clerical error.

I have experimented with a couple of other, lighter, desktop widgets that fetch lyrics (Harmonic, Fire), but I ran into some audio skipping problems, and I don't think the lyrical data was being saved. GimmeSomeTunes is slick and has a number of preferences so you can customize the functions and features.

Happy Karaoke practice!

Shure SM7, the desert island microphone.

2009-01-24T17:01:00.016-04:00

You see a lot of people asking, "If I were to buy one nice microphone for my studio, what should it be?" The Shure SM7 is my stock answer. Simply put, this microphone does it all. Like its smaller cousin the SM58, it is an industry standard. But if the SM58 were the foxtrot of microphones, the SM7 would be the Moonwalk. It's a complete mystery how amazing this mic sounds, considering a retail price under $400 USD. Part of its charm is that this is a dynamic microphone, not a condenser. The same amount spent on a bottom of the line condenser (not much choice in that price range) would probably yield less than stellar results.

If my endorsement doesn't do it for you, you can ask Michael Jackson himself, or perhaps Bruce Swedien, MJ's long-time recording engineer. He has more Grammy awards than I have spices in my pantry, and it's no secret that he used the SM7 to record the vocals on Off The Wall and Thriller, among others. Yes, Thriller, the biggest selling album of all time. I mean, he had a huge budget, and the choice of virtually any vintage condenser microphone in the world. He chose the SM7. 'Nuff said. If for some ridiculous reason you don't like the sound of "Billie Jean," you might like "Give it away" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers or one of many screaming Metallica tracks. The SM7 is featured prominently in both documentaries Funky Monks and Some Kind of Monster.

It is a very natural sounding microphone; not dull, not bright, but just right. If you need to add just a bit of midrange presence, there is a switch on the back that will give you just that. Some engineers leave that on all the time. Others never use it. There is a suspension system inside the casing and a bass rolloff switch to keep out the streetcar rumble, AND it comes with your choice of two soft pop filters so you can let fly your best beat-boxing or Bobby McFerrin cover. Don't ask me why CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi (below) is using another pop filter; he doesn't need it. The capsule is well protected by the built-in foam, a metal cage, and two or three inches of space.

This mic requires a bit more pre-amp gain than you might be used to, but that means you can also put it on very loud sources without distortion. It gives the RE20 a run for its money inside a kick drum, or on a guitar/bass cabinet. It's also excellent at rejecting off-axis sounds in a live setting, so you can easily record your vocals live off the floor, or in the control room with the big speakers blaring.

You might notice that the current model of SM7 is called SM7b. Don't sweat it; it's a just a revision that improves the RF interference protection and boosts the gain a little bit. Your time is better spent recording than hunting down an old original version. They sound the same to most ears.

Chances are, you hear this thing every day on the radio, either on the voice of your favorite radio host (I still love you, Jian), or your favorite singer (we still love you, Michael). It won't break the bank, and it's tried and true by many a great recording engineer. The SM7b is the ideal choice for your home recording studio or your desert island podcast. No matter the application, I'm quite sure you will love it.

Happy tracking.

Oh, and if you happen to be reading my blog, I'd love to hear your feedback. My email address is in the sidebar, or you use comments or the little feedback widget below every post.

[Edit Dec 14, 2009.

I have had a few people ask me about the best pre-amp for this microphone. You should know that the SM7b is designed to have a low output, and thus requires a strong, clean preamplifier to get a good signal. The general recommendation is a minimum of 60dB of gain. Entry level audio interfaces are going to come up a bit short; your signal will be noisy and distorted when you turn it up to. Check the specs of your pre-amp, and if you're shopping, try before you buy. There are lots of opinions and recommendations at www.gearslutz.com. Do a thorough search before you post; it's a commonly asked question.]

Massey: great plugins for your dollar.

2009-01-15T17:51:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to show my support for Massey plugins. They are awesome tools for recording and mixing in Protools, and they are dead cheap. I bought the full versions for the ability to recall settings, but you can use the demos indefinitely.

I own the TD5 tape delay, the L2007 Mastering Limiter, and the tape emulator, Tape Head. Mr. Massey was also kind enough to offer his new plugin, DTM, to all registered users. It's akin to the old protools plugin sound replacer, but better suited to current sampling methods. It generates midi data from audio drum tracks, so that you can trigger your favourite samples in sync with the song; to augment or replace kicks and snares, etc.

Give these plugins a try. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Cable gauge: don't get gouged on HDMI

2009-01-07T17:38:00.006-04:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that learning to solder is an invaluable tool. It still holds true, but when it comes to digital cables, like HDMI, I wouldn't even know where to begin.

A trip to best buy or futureshop for such a cable will set you back $50 or more for 4 feet. They market the cables so that consumers will believe there are many different tiers of quality, thickness, or durability, and that you should buy the best cable you can afford to go with your new HDTV (see: Monster cable). They claim that the heavier, higher quality cables can carry more data than the lesser ones, and you need the good ones for your blu-ray player.

I say, BULL!

A digital signal is a digital signal. It transmits 1's and 0's, and the volume of the data transmitted is finite. It either gets there or it doesn't. Over short distances, it's not going to make a lick of difference if your cable is gold-plated, diamond-encrusted or multi-coloured. Over very long distances (50 feet or more), you might need a heavier cable or a booster, but if you did, you would see the digital losses in the picture. Distortions, sparkly pixels, or no picture at all.

With analog signals, say from your stereo to your speakers, it's a different story. The voltage is connected directly to the magnets that are generating the sound. Slight distortion and signal interference is audible. Overly thin speaker wire can suck the life from your sound.

I conducted a casual experiment on my HDTV. I played a blu-ray DVD first with a $55 dollar cable from futureshop, and then with a $16 cable from active surplus. Back, forth, back, forth. No difference that I could see.

Isn't this ground for a class action suit? Consumers are being manipulated and gouged. Think of all the poor nerds playing Rock Band with their plastic guitars and overpriced cables! If they all threw in a fiver, we could get our millions back.

My advice, check www.monoprice.com. They've got the best price on cables of all shapes and sizes, and they ship to Canada with no hassle.

Adam

Try fewer microphones

2008-11-11T01:13:00.006-04:00

Something really basic that I remembered today:

When you're recording a drum kit, you DO NOT NEED to put a microphone on every drum and cymbal. Many of rock's classic rhythm tracks ever recorded were done with 4 microphones, or less. I like to start with a stereo pair, or just a single mic if I'm strapped for time or tracks.

The key is to experiment a little. Spend some time tuning the heads. Make the drums sound nice in the space before you put up your mics. Start with one or two mics, and move them wherever they sound best. If they don't sound good anywhere in the room, adding close-up microphones probably isn't going to help you. You will always get a more realistic recording 6 feet from the drums than 1 inch from the skin. Think about it. Do you listen to your friend play guitar with your head right in front of the sound hole? No, you're on the couch a few feet away. Same goes for drums. Get the bigger, wider, picture before you get in there with the SM57's on the snare, etc. I promise your recordings will feel more alive, and you won't need to perform plugin surgery later on. Limit your track count and get creative.

Oh yeah, and it's cheaper. Fewer microphones, fewer mic preamps, fewer cables, less hard drive space, less time = mo' money in yo' pocket!

Rock on.
Adam

Always ask for permission, Heart vs. McCain.

2008-10-02T14:36:00.008-03:00

A recently issued statement from Anna and Nancy Wilson regarding the Republican campaign usage of their hit song, Barracuda. The article speaks for itself.

UPS sucks. Pack your shipments properly.

2008-09-27T12:45:00.009-03:00

Just had a shipping disaster with an amplifier. UPS delivered it with a destroyed speaker and all the tubes shattered. They either threw it around in the truck or dropped it from a great height. The speaker magnet sheared right off the cone, something generally unheard of unless great force is used. Those things are stuck together with massive magnetic force, plus a whole bunch of adhesive.

Anyway, from now on, I'm going to try to stay away from UPS. They treated my package like crap. If you're cross border shopping, they'll take you to the cleaners with brokerage fees and customs charges. I've had better luck using the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Edit, a few hours later:

I guess this can happen with any shipper, so maybe instead of avoiding one company in particular, I would make sure that your item is packed properly. With large heavy objects like amps, you need to make sure that the corners of the box are well packed with shock absorbers. As my gear-savvy friend Craig told me the other day, the corners of an amp are where the chassis is strongest, so you want to transmit the shock there first. Use a couple of inches of dense foam, at least. Make sure the fit is very tight. You don't want the object to move at all inside that box. Otherwise the foam can't do it's job properly. Fill the rest of space with absorbant materials if you have them. And if it's an amp, stuff some bubble wrap inside the cavity if you can!

Preserve your itunes library

2008-09-03T13:52:00.004-03:00

If you're an iTunes user, chances are you've lost your library to the digital ether once or twice. You know it sucks.

Back it up. Regularly.

On that note, I just went through the process of transferring my itunes library from a PC to a Mac. I had to edit some of the code in the library file, but it was easier than I thought. Thanks to Gina Trapani for this helpful how-to guide. Search and replace; the best word precessing feature of all! My playlists and date-added information was preserved. Most excellent!

A

Fight your parking tickets!

2008-08-15T14:18:00.008-03:00

On an inside tip from a friend, I applied for a court date for my last $30 parking ticket. He told me that it would be years before I heard back, and even if did, the case would never see the pale light of a courtroom. That was a year ago. I haven't received an official notice, and I don't expect to. After a bit of searching (one Google query to be exact) I've found that the courts are so backlogged with parking cases that $30 dollar tickets have virtually fallen off the courts' priority list.

"Since the start of 2006, figures provided by Toronto's court services show it accepted about 250,000 requests from drivers to contest a $30 parking ticket, but trial dates were issued for only about 4,300. In 2008, drivers have so far requested more than 37,000 trials for $30 parking tickets, but no court dates have been issued." (Jack Lakey, Toronto Star)

Sounds like a pretty big loophole. So big that it may never close. The courts just can't afford the time or staffing.

So don't be a chump, and take an hour to go the city office and fight your tickets. Then, if you need to go the extra mile, exercise your right to a speedy trial.

I'll let you know when my court date comes in. I submitted my application in August 07. Thanks for the tip, Jimbo.

You can find the rest of the Star article here.

Backline it

2008-06-24T11:52:00.004-03:00

Save your back and have a qualified professional deliver rental equipment (aka "backline") to your next gig. And I don't mean Long & McQuade! As far as I know, they don't deliver, or supply technicians.
This is my plug for Coll Audio. They are indeed Canada's leading supplier for professional musical equipment. If you're looking for vintage AC30's or the handwired reissues, this is your place. A short walk through the warehouse will have most gear enthusiasts drooling with envy. Don't be deterred by the cleanliness of his office; owner/operator Craig Collett has been in the business for many years and will be able to accommodate your band's needs.

I've also been known to work for them occasionally, so throw us a bone!

Save your bookmarks

2008-06-18T18:31:00.003-03:00

Hopelessly behind the technology, I recently joined de.licio.us, a bookmarking-networking site. It's pretty handy for safely stashing your bookmarks online and connecting to other users who have similar interests...

Bikers: Watch for Five-O

2008-06-18T16:52:00.003-03:00

I just read about this week's "safe cycling" program in Toronto, designed to reduce cycling accidents in the city and channel some extra money from the pockets of our good two-wheeling citizens. I haven't managed to get a cycling ticket yet, knock on wood, but I'm going to keep an eye out this week, and try to follow all the rules. In case you didn't know, it's illegal to ride with less than two hands on the handlebars, or to drag yourself behind a car with a rope.

But seriously, don't ride on the sidewalk. And don't ring your bell at me when you're coming towards me on a giant Frankenstein clunker with eight bags of garbage on the handlebars. Sorry, no exemptions for old ladies or drunks. It's just not cool.

I've been brainstorming a way to safely carry a guitar on a bicycle, but haven't come up with one yet. Suggestions welcome. I'm not really interested in a large trailer, and my gig bag seems to prevent my head from moving freely during the ride.

A

Cut the fat - Try RSS

2008-06-16T14:12:00.005-03:00

As my friend Mat says, "IT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU SURF!"

He was right. RSS feeds and Google Reader have changed the way I surf, arguably for the better. You can get the news you want faster. Instead of navigating to your 10 favorite sites, they come to you on a single page. You can keep track of what you've read and what you like. Share pages easily with friends. Cut the fat away from your websurfing. Oh yeah, and then subscribe to my blog :)

How to wrap a cable

2008-06-02T14:45:00.006-03:00

Your cables (even your home-made ones) will last you longer if you wrap them properly. Here is my home demonstration on microphone or instrument cable wrapping. I know, it's dorky, but someone needs to show you.

Here's a great method for wrapping your iPod headphones. For the longest time, I didn't know what that little white thing between the headphones was for; It's to keep them from getting tangled!! Thanks to Lifehacker for this link.

Keep that computer running smoothly

2008-05-15T01:28:00.003-03:00

If you do any composing/recording for television, or run a commercial studio of any kind, try to keep on top of your computer problems. If you're machine is crashing, figure out why. Don't let the problems grow out of hand. Spend the occasional day running diagnostics and defragmenting your disks. Nothing worse than sitting down to work on something, under a deadline, and having your computer crash 5 times in 5 different ways. It's a waste of time and extremely frustrating.

Oh, and BACKUP YOUR HARD DRIVE! It's not a question if your disks will fail, it's a question of when. External drives get cheaper every day, and you'll regret not having spent that $50 when you lose your entire itunes library and your latest home recording project.

A

Get groceries, or build a strong tolerance for Tim Hortons food

2008-05-13T16:03:00.006-03:00

I learned this weekend that you have no choice but to eat Tim Hortons when you're travelling with a band in Canada, unless you are fortunate enough to find a Subway, or happen to like McDonalds or Wendy's. In such dire Timmy's-only circumstances, I would suggest fully exploring (and exploiting) the menu. Find out which meal options give you the least amount of gut rot and migraine.

Print out this nutrition guide for your bandmates, and compare the menu items. You might be surprised to know that a Boston Cream donut has less saturated fat AND fewer calories than an old fashioned plain. Don't be fooled by the carrot wheat muffin. That's 400 calories and 19 grams of fat. Jesus. The turkey bacon club might be a good choice if it didn't have 1730 grams of sodium. Can I get a 1 inch salt lick with my sandwich? And if you're eating a breakfast sandwich, you might as well just walk past the restrooms and grab a big mac instead.

On the other hand, a large burnt decaf and a half a kilo of carbs might help you to fall asleep in the van for the next 4 hours.

Is Tim Hortons actually perceived as a healthier alternative?

Show your (digital) face

2008-04-17T02:33:00.003-03:00

And I'm not talking about Facebook. I'm talking about discussion groups. Join as many as you can, and participate. This activity can provide you with the support you need to fix your biggest problems and achieve your goals.

Not every question can be answered with a Google search. Sometimes you need to ask very specific questions that require specific answers. Sometimes you need to be walked through every single step of the solution, troubleshooting all along the way. If you've gone out of your way to share your knowledge on discussion groups, other members will go out of their way to help you. I know, it's obvious; give and you shall receive.

Those who choose to neglect this all-powerful resource are missing out. My most-visited groups would likely be gearslutz.com and guitarscanada.com. I have solved hundreds of technical problems on these websites, and learned more about technology and business than from any other online resource.

I would recommend reading up on a little newsgroup etiquette (netiquette!) before you accidentally start a fire...

A

Don't polish a turd

2008-04-10T17:40:00.002-03:00

I think it was Jamie Shields that taught me the expression, "polishing a turd." I use it frequently. It's like a personal safeguard against mediocrity. Every time I write a piece of music or play a part, I think to myself, how good is it? Should I try to improve it, or would it be best to start over?

Don't polish a turd.

So if you're not sure if your tune or instrumental part is good, ask someone you trust. They'll tell you if it's a turd or not. If it's a turd, start again from scratch. If it's not a turd, tweak it until it's golden. Don't be afraid of change.

Note: This turd prevention method works in non-musical situations. Try it at home and see how it improves your life.

Thanks Jimbo. Wise words.

Steel Lion Burning Train

2008-04-08T11:58:00.002-03:00

Things to do in the spring: Crawl out of that cold hard shell you've been hiding in, and hit the road!

That's what I'm doing with Deromantic and Megan Hamilton in the upcoming months. We played our first show of the Steel Lion Burning Train tour last friday, and kicked some ass. Check out the first review.

Try FX

2008-03-15T11:01:00.002-03:00

Stompboxes are a great way to achieve interesting effects in the
studio. With the help of a re-amp device, you can use your guitar rig
as a substitute for plugins in your digital sequencer. A potential
big money saver. Plus, if you're like me, you'll find hardware
distortion boxes much more pleasing than any run-of-the-mill software
emulator. Real analog circuits are har to replicate with 1's and 0's.
Not to mention, you get to tweak real knobs! Plugin FX do have their
place (for convenience and recallable settings) but I try outboard
equipment before reaching for that same old plugin preset. Your sounds
will stay fresh, and you won't bog down your computer processor either!

Some of Studiocat's commonly used outboard FX:
Phasers - mutron, mxr, sovtek, moog etc.
Flangers - mxr
Distortion/fuzz - big muff, z-vex, diamond
Overdrive - sansamp, ibanez
Tape delay - fulltone
Analog/digital delay - electroharmonics, moog
Reamp devices - "re-amp" and the little labs red eye recording tool.

Enjoy!

Solder on!

2008-02-21T10:50:00.003-04:00

I'm really just talking about basic soldering. If you know how to solder, you can save yourself hundreds of dollars over the years. Learning is as easy as a google search and a trip to the hardware store. The tools should cost less than a night of beer drinking.

OK, done that? Now you're ready to repair broken guitar cables, torn battery connectors, AC cables, headphones, pots and jacks in your guitars and stompboxes, etc. And when you're done that, buy a roll of bulk microphone cable, a few connectors, and build yourself some custom length cables or snakes to suit your needs. Customize your pedalboard connections. Building your own cables will cut your cable costs in half.

Oh, and have some cold water handy while you're learning; you might burn yourself a couple of times!

Enjoy
Adam,

Join Socan

2008-02-06T02:14:00.002-04:00

If there's one thing that might actually put money in your pocket one day, it's SOCAN. Don't mess around with this one. These people represent your intellectual property, and collect millions in license fees every year, to be paid out to the composers and publishers. (That's you.) When your jingle get played on TV, you should** get paid.
When I talk about "surviving" the Canadian music industry, this is what I'm talking about. Food on the table. Many times over the past few years have I grumbled about my bank balance, only to find a "cheque in the mail" from the TV work we did 9 months earlier. I'm small potatoes, and I can only imagine what it would be like to collect on a top 10 radio hit, or a worldwide syndicated TV theme song.

Their website is abhorrent, but I can't hold it against them. "Good folk," as Jamie says.

**Many companies have been known to circumvent the system, bending the rules or just ignoring them altogether. Our problem arose with a large American corporation, where the legal hands of SOCAN could not reach. Don't sign away your performance rights (like we did) and remember that it's not legal to sign away any portion of your "composer's share."
Spend the extra money to speak with a lawyer, and once the deal is done, make sure the cue sheets are being filled out and submitted properly every time your music is placed. No cue sheets, no cheque.

"Duh." Use a metronome.

2008-02-05T13:38:00.002-04:00

I know that it's easy to get lazy during practice. You just noodle away, and convince yourself that you're actually practicing. Wrong. It's noodling, remember?
Unless you're using a metronome! When you use a metronome, you're always activating those important areas in your brain that control timing. Noodling with a metronome is much less noodley, and much more proactive.

It doesn't matter what instrument you play; If you groove with a click, you mostly likely can't groove with a band, and you definitely won't groove in the studio.

Click on!

A

Re: cds on the fly

2008-02-04T04:15:00.001-04:00

These cd hubs look pretty cool for presentation purposes. Maybe stick your custom printed cd right on to your demo folder?

Print your own cds on the fly

2008-02-04T03:54:00.001-04:00

Printer technology gets cheaper and better every day. We recently picked up a Canon iP4300, an inkjet printer that prints directly to white blank cd's. A trip to business depot, a few minutes designing a cd graphic, and a couple hundred bucks allows you to forget about the ole' "scribble with a sharpie" technique, and move up to a colour graphic of your choosing.

This is what we ended up with. Customizable, has the company logo, and looks good without a special cd jacket. Go for it. If you're not doing thousands of copies, it definitly beats stickers or paying someone else to do it.

Listen to Bobby

2008-01-27T20:18:00.000-04:00

I think we all take Bobby McFerrin for granted.

Practice 3 instruments.

2008-01-03T22:50:00.001-04:00

Still alive! Welcoming 2008.
Playing lots of music. Working on my keyboard, drum and guitar chops.

Check out my friend Steve Puchalski and his band, Deromantic. He's a great guy, and has some great songs.

Also, check out a new project I'm working on with Jamie, and our friends at 9trackmind.com. We're helping to build musical content for the "do-it-yourself" ringtone interface. Very sweet.

Back soon.
A

The Moses Overdubs

2006-05-14T14:04:00.001-03:00

Hi all!

I'm home from another week in fabulous downtown Winnipeg. In this session, we recorded guitars, keyboards, horns, vocals, turntables, and percussion. The songs have come together beautifully, and everyone is very excited about the project. And when I say excited, I mean PUMPED. Mark Penner, who usually says two or three words in the course of a day, was talking up a storm, and couldn't wipe the grin from his face all week long. He even gave me a big bear hug when we all said goodbye. Such an outburst of emotion from the world's quietest dude leads me to believe that Jamie and I have made somewhat of an impact on the group. A renewed faith in the recording process, perhaps. There were hard times, but overall it was a really uplifting experience for everybody. We have all created something to be proud of.

On an individual level, I think all the players had moments of virtuosity. We were totally blown away (oops) by the performances of the horn players Miron Rafajlovic and Paul Metcalfe. They played as tight as a duck's ass. REALLY tight. There were numerous moments of fist pumping and hysterical laughter in the control room as the horns recorded a staggering 14th overdub or wrote a perfect Earth, Wind and Fire harmony part. Not to mention, they both played a couple of mind boggling solos. The horns were icing on the cake.

Mark had some great guitar solos, and likewise for Nathan on keyboards. There are more seventies stoner moments on this album than I care to count. Grant's turntable work was totally effing awesome. If I owned a track suit and some Converse (Grant does of course) I would have been wearing them that day. Sherry and Ariane graced us with some beautiful vocals and Jamie did a fantastic job at capturing all the right performances.

I have a ton of pictures, so here are some of the highlights. Excuse the fuzzy ones - the lighting wasn't always perfect in the studio! [to Santa Clause: Digital SLR]

Miron (trumpet, horse sounds), myself, Jamie, Paul (Tenor and soprano sax, flute, bird sounds)

Partying, after our last night of recording. Miron knows the Matrix-Kung Fu-levitation thing.

Scott the percussionist.

Miron, looking extremely cool.

Julian and G-G-Grant, looking not-so-sober.

Ariane, siren.

At Signpost studios, in our last session.

The future of jazz...

When will the voices stop?

Sherry is FIESTY!

Earth to Charlie!

Grant, aka DJ RPG, and myself, giggling ourselves silly. We do that a lot now.

He licks his fingers to, umm, get a good grip on the records?

He also moves his hands and fingers very quickly, back and forth...

The Moses Sessions

2006-04-22T16:56:00.002-03:00

YO!

I just got back from Winnipeg. It has been a long week of recording in the studio, but our hard work has paid off - the music sounds great! I had a great time with the band, the studio owners, and the weather was beautiful all week. Everyone got along like old chums!

Jamie are going to do some Studiocat recording for Opening Soon this week, make some edits on the album, and then head back to Winnipeg to finish the overdubs.

Here are some pics from Private Ear Studios and the streets of Winnipeg :)

Great shot! I always think Jamie feels "one" with the studio. It's his perfect habitat.

And we make a pretty good team.

Here is Lloyd, the co-owner of the Studio. What a great guy!! He didn't yell at me when I accidentally wrote on his console with a sharpie.

This is Eddie, the cutest studio dog ever.

Can't deny it. I'm a nerd.

Here's Jim with "the Axe", otherwise known as a ruler.

This is for you, Mark.

This is you, Mark.
I think he's reading out the Vietnamese restaurant menu to the rest of the band over the talkback microphone.

We must have just recorded a good take, or just eaten a meal.

Antin (drums), Julian (bass). Wait until you hear these guys! Awesome.

My first time with Jimbo on the airplane.

The band (Nathan, Antin, Julian, Mark) in an early axing session.

Eddie, again, just in case you didn't love him the first time.

Rockin' the church parking lot!

Yet another great tool.

2006-04-13T12:57:00.001-03:00

Google is on fire, and I'm they're biggest fan.

Check this one out!
calendar.google.com

Dragonette

2005-11-08T22:34:00.000-04:00

Check out www.dragonette.ca

This is a band I've been doing some work with over the past year, recording and editing. It's the brainchild of my good friends Dan and Martina. They recently finished the five song EP and are working on a bunch more songs to shop an album to major labels in North America and Europe. Things are lookin' up!

Ciao