 |
| Erich, Second; Ruthie, Engineer |
Ruthie did an admirable job handling our most complicated
session so far this semester. The Break Evens were the perfect band to record at this stage,
because of their fundamental lineup, a trio, they deliver clarity of execution.
Fun to capture.
And I think we all agree, besides being a great band, they
are great people, very kind and patient. Thank you guys!
Now for the bad news: There were 2 significant issues that were very troubling.
Firstly, phantom power was sent to the Royer R121. It was probably in this condition
for 1-2 hours. Very unfortunate. The reason why I always indicate RIBBON in
bold or red, is to remind you that they require special treatment. I now recall
that the walkthrough of the Studio by the Engineer was done, but not the
walkthrough of the Iso. Not good. There are reasons we have all the procedures.
I can’t remember the other issue. Remind me and I’ll edit it
in. EDIT: See comments.
Please remember that the Main Mon is cut out of the system
now because the C24 is failing. I have re routed the Alt Mon out to the main
monitors (Pi speakers.) Make sure Alt is selected and the Alt pot is up when
working. The small monitors are not currently available.
Another note: As we discovered last night, people are
banging chairs into equipment in the producer’s rack. That has damaged a switch
on one of the Daking units. Don’t do that!
General notes: Your cable wrapping is shit. If you don’t
improve I will devote an entire session to wrapping cables. Additionally, your
setups are untidy and it is just a matter of time before someone hooks a cable
and we lose an irreplaceable microphone. Don’t leave floor-box equipment in
vulnerable areas. When doing cart inventory, roll the cart right up to the
gear, pick up the mic box, present it to me, then stack it neatly. It’s NG to
have the cart on the other side of the room while doing this.
Photos for your scrapbook:
Thanks, I prepared as much as I could for this session. I realize how important setup time is not just for the Engineer but for the whole crew. It gets really frantic once session starts and if not everyone is on the same page, we're all screwed.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I didn't prepare for the other major issue last night: I accidentally hit the power off with the TT cable while patching Cue Send. It was pure carelessness on my part.
Hindsight is 20/20.
Oh yea, thanks for reminding me.
DeleteYea, that was bad; but an accident, of course. Like I say, a control room is not a normal space. You can't lean on walls, roll chairs haphazardly, or just "be" like you would in any other place. There's a lot of expensive equipment around, and settings, painstakingly adjusted, right out there in the open. In the old days people respected equipment a bit more. Quite a bit more. Take my word for it.
You know, Ruthie, most of what I said doesn't apply to you. So I hope everyone reads this.
On a lighter note... Emerson shows it best - how I felt during the session: http://youtu.be/N9oxmRT2YWw
ReplyDeleteHahaha :P
DeleteGreat job Ruthie for being the only one there early..and stepping up to engineer late into the night. Great job Erich for volunteering again. Thk u. The Break Evens were awesome all around. Let's all get some rest and finish strong.
ReplyDeleteThanks Will! And yeah, thanks Erick for volunteering to be my second!
DeleteI wish I had some pics of the guitar setup in the ISO. I thought the Radial Reamp worked like a charm. It really kept the guitar sound relatively noise-free and saved us from having to make another headphone CUE for the ISO. It also saves the guitarists ears, if you care about that sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteI was also happy with the Shure 55 on the amp, which I normally do not use in that application, blended with the other 2 mics, works nicely. Should mix well.
I wish we had recorded more vocals in this session, to have a more complete mix then, and all the music job by the band and engineers was great, I think this class is getting definitely more serious every time.
ReplyDelete