All of the mixes I've done over the past couple of days came with me to the gym tonight. I have a few more notes that I took that I need to implement, but overall, I think things are really coming together. I think for my next test, I'll put together a playlist that shuffles between BNB songs and songs from legit albums. Mainly just to check overall volume. I want to see how close to the mark we are.
There's a couple more tiny technical nits to clean up, but it's getting cleaner and cleaner. Very exciting times.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Starting Another Mix Down Cycle
Today, I finished making the changes to the mixes that I wanted to make after the first listening. I then took them to the pool in my iPhone and ran through them all. Two had export errors, so that wasn't much help.
As for the other songs, it's really just an iterative process. The things I fixed now sound really good, but new things have been revealed that I want to fix. Overall, the volume needs to come down on most of the songs. Easy fix. There's a couple songs that have some vocal stuff that needs tightening up, and my biggest pain are the drum fills that are a little sloppy.
But overall, good progress so far. I've taken tons of notes, loaded them into the spreadsheet, and I will begin work on them soon. I'm thinking I might take a break for the rest of the day, and come at it with fresh ears tomorrow.
As for the other songs, it's really just an iterative process. The things I fixed now sound really good, but new things have been revealed that I want to fix. Overall, the volume needs to come down on most of the songs. Easy fix. There's a couple songs that have some vocal stuff that needs tightening up, and my biggest pain are the drum fills that are a little sloppy.
But overall, good progress so far. I've taken tons of notes, loaded them into the spreadsheet, and I will begin work on them soon. I'm thinking I might take a break for the rest of the day, and come at it with fresh ears tomorrow.
Come My Way Change Log
Knowing what a detail hound Bill Fischer is, I thought he would get a kick out of the meticulous change log notes I took today while tweaking Come My Way. I fully realize that at this point, I'm delving into the realm of absurdity with all of the minor tweaks I am doing, but I figure since I have the opportunity, I may as well make it as good as it can be. Which of course, is THE trap we fall into that ends up making our albums take four years to produce. Sigh. The good news is, all of this work only took about an hour, and I did it on my lunch break from work, so it's not a big deal. In my mind, the song sounds 100% better with all of the bass notes ironed out and playing more smoothly. I also fixed a drum fill glitch which had always bugged me. It's probably one of those things where 99% of the listening audience would never even notice, but oh well.
Come my Way - grafted drumfill at 1:32:210 from 1:38:930, correcting a minor timing glitch
Come My Way - 1:33:514 - did some moving of two bass hits that were slightly out of timing with the drum fill
1:45:579 - grafted in a bass hit and time stretched it. Initially, this was a bad note in the performance. Actualy, it was the right note, just barely played. I found the same note, plugged it in, and time stretched it to the proper duration.
1:56:100 - time compression on one bass note. Start of note hit now lines up with drum strike. Duration shrunk so as not to cause ripple effect
2:08:206 - moved bass hit to the right a tiny smidge to line up with drum hit
2:08:939 - moved bass hit to the right for timing fix
2:10:234 - used time stretch to move beginning of bass hit to align with drum strike. Time stretch used because the note was held a long time, and moving it would have made it collide with next bass note
2:21:145 - Bass hit moved to align with drum strike
2:20:255 - bass hit moved to the right for timing
2:24:771 - Time stretch done on bass hit to compress it in order to line it up with a drum strike
2:54:484 - grafted on a bass strike to cover up what was a flubbed note. Same error made in original recording at 1:45:578. Even grafted in the same bass note as before.
3:04:294 moved bass hit to the left slightly to fix timing error
3:22:051 - TINY move of bass hit to fix timing.
3:07:301 - move of bass hit for timing
4:12:357 - grafted in first two bass notes from another part of the song (2:35:396) to fix timing issues.
4:13:940 - time stretch done to bass hit to make it align with drum strike
4:19:221 - reposition of bass part (two notes) move to the left a tad to align with first drum hit. Time stretch applied to make both hits line up with two drum strikes.
4:26:975 - time compression applied to single bass note for timing purposes
4:31:372 - Time stretch applied to note to make the beginning of it line up with drum srike
Saved new file as Come_My_Way May 6 2011
0:14:490 - time compression on first bass note to align with drum strike
Deleted silence/line hiss at the beginning of the song prior to first bass hit. (on bass track only)
0:24:256 - time stretch on bass line. VERY tiny one, to bring it into sync
00:25:328 - moved bass hits over to align with drum strikes. To the right.
0:39:787 - bad bass line. Took a a few bars from :21:712 and grafted them in at target location
Copied a bass fill from 0:57:861, and grafted it over a sloppy bass fill at
Copied bass fill from 1:12:275 and pasted over 1:15:869
Project saved, and output Wav file for review.
Come my Way - grafted drumfill at 1:32:210 from 1:38:930, correcting a minor timing glitch
Come My Way - 1:33:514 - did some moving of two bass hits that were slightly out of timing with the drum fill
1:45:579 - grafted in a bass hit and time stretched it. Initially, this was a bad note in the performance. Actualy, it was the right note, just barely played. I found the same note, plugged it in, and time stretched it to the proper duration.
1:56:100 - time compression on one bass note. Start of note hit now lines up with drum strike. Duration shrunk so as not to cause ripple effect
2:08:206 - moved bass hit to the right a tiny smidge to line up with drum hit
2:08:939 - moved bass hit to the right for timing fix
2:10:234 - used time stretch to move beginning of bass hit to align with drum strike. Time stretch used because the note was held a long time, and moving it would have made it collide with next bass note
2:21:145 - Bass hit moved to align with drum strike
2:20:255 - bass hit moved to the right for timing
2:24:771 - Time stretch done on bass hit to compress it in order to line it up with a drum strike
2:54:484 - grafted on a bass strike to cover up what was a flubbed note. Same error made in original recording at 1:45:578. Even grafted in the same bass note as before.
3:04:294 moved bass hit to the left slightly to fix timing error
3:22:051 - TINY move of bass hit to fix timing.
3:07:301 - move of bass hit for timing
4:12:357 - grafted in first two bass notes from another part of the song (2:35:396) to fix timing issues.
4:13:940 - time stretch done to bass hit to make it align with drum strike
4:19:221 - reposition of bass part (two notes) move to the left a tad to align with first drum hit. Time stretch applied to make both hits line up with two drum strikes.
4:26:975 - time compression applied to single bass note for timing purposes
4:31:372 - Time stretch applied to note to make the beginning of it line up with drum srike
Saved new file as Come_My_Way May 6 2011
0:14:490 - time compression on first bass note to align with drum strike
Deleted silence/line hiss at the beginning of the song prior to first bass hit. (on bass track only)
0:24:256 - time stretch on bass line. VERY tiny one, to bring it into sync
00:25:328 - moved bass hits over to align with drum strikes. To the right.
0:39:787 - bad bass line. Took a a few bars from :21:712 and grafted them in at target location
Copied a bass fill from 0:57:861, and grafted it over a sloppy bass fill at
Copied bass fill from 1:12:275 and pasted over 1:15:869
Project saved, and output Wav file for review.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Song Work For Today
I have knocked a few songs off the ToDo list this afternoon. I made some changes to April, Armageddon, and Big Tin Truck. Basically, whatever it was that I noticed in my recent listening, I fixed. I'll post a laundry list of the exact changes made later. But yeah, work continues.
First Listen Through of Most Recent Mixes
Today at the pool, while working on my tan, I listened to the mix downs I made last night of what I chose as the most "current" mixes of the album. Overall, VERY good, and I'm quite proud of where we stand right now. It really has come down to the nitty gritty. Here are the notes I took as I listened:
April - Very last beat is sloppy.
Armageddon - Intro is messed up. Could be an export problem. Overall, too loud. Vocal clipping in many parts. Bass drum too heavy. Bass guitar too quiet. Very end of song is sloppy. "nobody left" vocal part has some problems.
Big Tin Truck - Timing problems on "Drop a few shacks" Vocal dissonance on "think about"
Bordered In Black - no issues
Come my Way - Bass could use some timing tweaks, throughout. "No one knows" vocal volue spike/clipping
Drinks - Intro high hat, not sure if it should be there. If so, it needs some timing fixes.
Overall, vocals are low in the mix. Keyboard is too high in mix. Overall, more vocals compared to all other instruments. "Shine your shoes" verse has some sloppy vocal stuff.
Friend - Some sloppy drum fills. Guitar solo too low in mix
Girl 134 - More bass. Tad more piano. Drum error at the very end of the song needs to be corrected
On The Road - Deedles at the end louder
Second Time Around - Intro guitar needs more volume. Louder overall. "You were just beggin" line needs some clean up. Overall, more volume.
I'm still totally in the dark about Guitar Player, but I'll get to that eventually. Overall though, there really isn't that much work to do. Some technical clean up, and some minor adjustments.
April - Very last beat is sloppy.
Armageddon - Intro is messed up. Could be an export problem. Overall, too loud. Vocal clipping in many parts. Bass drum too heavy. Bass guitar too quiet. Very end of song is sloppy. "nobody left" vocal part has some problems.
Big Tin Truck - Timing problems on "Drop a few shacks" Vocal dissonance on "think about"
Bordered In Black - no issues
Come my Way - Bass could use some timing tweaks, throughout. "No one knows" vocal volue spike/clipping
Drinks - Intro high hat, not sure if it should be there. If so, it needs some timing fixes.
Overall, vocals are low in the mix. Keyboard is too high in mix. Overall, more vocals compared to all other instruments. "Shine your shoes" verse has some sloppy vocal stuff.
Friend - Some sloppy drum fills. Guitar solo too low in mix
Girl 134 - More bass. Tad more piano. Drum error at the very end of the song needs to be corrected
On The Road - Deedles at the end louder
Second Time Around - Intro guitar needs more volume. Louder overall. "You were just beggin" line needs some clean up. Overall, more volume.
I'm still totally in the dark about Guitar Player, but I'll get to that eventually. Overall though, there really isn't that much work to do. Some technical clean up, and some minor adjustments.
iPhone Is Loaded
I output almost every song, and have transferred it to my iPhone. This will allow me to listen to the entire album in a reproduceable environment.
The only song I did not transfer over is Guitar Player, as I suspect that the most recent version of the CuBase file is not the version Bill wants included on the album. It seems more like a work in progress. Same is true for Armageddon, which had the drum tracks muted. I unmuted them and output, but that is not very reassuring. I will definitely need to confirm with Bill which versions of the files he wants used for final mixes.
Next steps: listen to all of the mixes, take notes, and go from there.
The only song I did not transfer over is Guitar Player, as I suspect that the most recent version of the CuBase file is not the version Bill wants included on the album. It seems more like a work in progress. Same is true for Armageddon, which had the drum tracks muted. I unmuted them and output, but that is not very reassuring. I will definitely need to confirm with Bill which versions of the files he wants used for final mixes.
Next steps: listen to all of the mixes, take notes, and go from there.
Sorted Out
I made some good progress on the logistics of the album tonight. I have installed Cubase, and went through all of the song folders to find the most recent version of each song. I've also updated my spreadsheet so I can keep track of which file is the version I'm doing to be using for the final knob-turning.
The question that remains in my mind, which I feel I should get a solid answer for before proceeding is this: are Bill's most current versions the ones he wants used on the album? Or could it be the case that for some of the songs, the most recent version is just a tangent he was pursuing? A less traveled path that ultimately did not work out??
The question that remains in my mind, which I feel I should get a solid answer for before proceeding is this: are Bill's most current versions the ones he wants used on the album? Or could it be the case that for some of the songs, the most recent version is just a tangent he was pursuing? A less traveled path that ultimately did not work out??
Music Video Proof Of Concept Under Way
Another thing I'm sort of dorking around with in the background is preparation for the first official music video to go with the release of the album. Though I am unsure which song will be the opener, I'm doing some technical tests to see if I can accomplish certain effects using Adobe Premiere Elements 9. The reason I'm using Elements instead of CS3 is because Elements 9 supports the HD files that come straight off my camera. CS3 does not. And while I'm more familiar with CS3, and it's feature set is richer than Elements, I have yet to find something in CS3 that cannot be accomplished in Elements. I think this is a fine application of the 80/20 rule. For all of the functionality that is required by a novice editor like myself, it is easily covered with the functionality of a "light weight" program like Elements 9.
I'm sure there are a number of advanced things that cannot be done in Elements, but for my purposes, it works just fine.
I recently made a video for a convention I attended the other week named "Wizard World," which was my first successful test of true HD video for YouTube. It took a lot of work, patience and trial and error to get to this point, but I'm really excited to finally be able to edit HD video without having to down convert it to SD. And the video quality is just stunning, so I'm very happy.
The effect I'm trying to duplicate right now is something that is very common to music videos. Basically, the trick is that they speed up the music, and then play it back during filming. Lip sync is done to the sped up music. Then, in post production, you slow the music AND the video down to normal speed. The end result is a sort of ethereal looking video that seems sort of out of phase with reality. If you're unfamiliar with the effect I'm describing, I'm confident that you will recognize it when you see it. It's totally over used. Which is why we simply MUST have it in our first video!
I'm also testing the effect in the opposite direction. What happens when you slow the music down for the play back and lip sync?
So far, I've prepared a number of sound clips that are either slowed down or sped up to a number of different speeds. Now I just need to film some footage and see how it all works out. I will of course post a link to the final results once I have some test footage filmed.
I'm sure there are a number of advanced things that cannot be done in Elements, but for my purposes, it works just fine.
I recently made a video for a convention I attended the other week named "Wizard World," which was my first successful test of true HD video for YouTube. It took a lot of work, patience and trial and error to get to this point, but I'm really excited to finally be able to edit HD video without having to down convert it to SD. And the video quality is just stunning, so I'm very happy.
The effect I'm trying to duplicate right now is something that is very common to music videos. Basically, the trick is that they speed up the music, and then play it back during filming. Lip sync is done to the sped up music. Then, in post production, you slow the music AND the video down to normal speed. The end result is a sort of ethereal looking video that seems sort of out of phase with reality. If you're unfamiliar with the effect I'm describing, I'm confident that you will recognize it when you see it. It's totally over used. Which is why we simply MUST have it in our first video!
I'm also testing the effect in the opposite direction. What happens when you slow the music down for the play back and lip sync?
So far, I've prepared a number of sound clips that are either slowed down or sped up to a number of different speeds. Now I just need to film some footage and see how it all works out. I will of course post a link to the final results once I have some test footage filmed.
Organizational Announcements
With a lot of logistical details behind me, I'm finally settling in for the final stretch on the production and eventual release of the Black and Blue album.
It has definitely been a long road, one much longer than I originally anticipated. I'm sure Bill feels the same way. As has been mentioned before, both on this blog and off, I think the real lesson learned here is that the old saying about "out of sight, out of mind" applies to BNB. My departure to Ohio definitely put a kink in the plans. I truly believe that had I remained in Orange County, things would have materialized much faster.
Spilled Milk.
With that mea culpa behind me, work begins.
Last weekend, I swiped/swooped all of the cubase files from Bill that he has worked on. I recently transferred them all to my PC. I also started a spreadsheet to track progress on each song. I call it a "Change Control Log." This will help me keep track of the things I do to each song, and also which file is the most current version. Right now, we have multiple copies of songs floating around on my hard drive, and I want to make sure I'm using the most current version.
For this I will be making some assumptions. I'm basically going to be using all of Bill's files as the benchmark. If there were songs he did not make any changes to, this simply means that the mixes we have to date are the ones we are going with, minus any adjustments to the master volume. I will also assume that the most recent version of Bill's files that he DID make changes to is the one that he wants included in the album. If this assumption is incorrect, it will need to be corrected quickly.
My sincerest hope is that the primary effort here will simply be one of adjusting master volume. I may need to do some retro corrections to things where perhaps Bill did not understand what I was hoping to accomplish, and accidentally undid. Of course, these will require a BNB T-Conf to remediate.
My last deliverable for tonight is to install CuBase on my PC. I recently did a full Hard Drive wipe after I started experiencing problems. Maybe it was just getting old, I don't know, but it's back up to speed now.
It has definitely been a long road, one much longer than I originally anticipated. I'm sure Bill feels the same way. As has been mentioned before, both on this blog and off, I think the real lesson learned here is that the old saying about "out of sight, out of mind" applies to BNB. My departure to Ohio definitely put a kink in the plans. I truly believe that had I remained in Orange County, things would have materialized much faster.
Spilled Milk.
With that mea culpa behind me, work begins.
Last weekend, I swiped/swooped all of the cubase files from Bill that he has worked on. I recently transferred them all to my PC. I also started a spreadsheet to track progress on each song. I call it a "Change Control Log." This will help me keep track of the things I do to each song, and also which file is the most current version. Right now, we have multiple copies of songs floating around on my hard drive, and I want to make sure I'm using the most current version.
For this I will be making some assumptions. I'm basically going to be using all of Bill's files as the benchmark. If there were songs he did not make any changes to, this simply means that the mixes we have to date are the ones we are going with, minus any adjustments to the master volume. I will also assume that the most recent version of Bill's files that he DID make changes to is the one that he wants included in the album. If this assumption is incorrect, it will need to be corrected quickly.
My sincerest hope is that the primary effort here will simply be one of adjusting master volume. I may need to do some retro corrections to things where perhaps Bill did not understand what I was hoping to accomplish, and accidentally undid. Of course, these will require a BNB T-Conf to remediate.
My last deliverable for tonight is to install CuBase on my PC. I recently did a full Hard Drive wipe after I started experiencing problems. Maybe it was just getting old, I don't know, but it's back up to speed now.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Speaking of Video, Watch This!
Here's some video I shot when we were picking up the Caprice. This is the closest thing to a band reunion in years.
Cross posted from the Project Workbench.
Cross posted from the Project Workbench.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Operation: ViddyCap is Complete!
A project that has been on the Book of Work for MNI Heavy Industries (LLC) for MANY years has finally been complete.
The goal was to transfer the entire Stickmen/MNI video archive from tape to PC. When I moved to Ohio two years ago, I took the entire archive with me, along with my trusty Digital8 camera and a firewire cable with the dream of doing this in my free time. After all, surely, within two years, I would find the time to do a simple task like transfer a few dozen tapes to the computer.
Wrong.
So when I returned to SoCal, I was hit by a new wave of enthusiasm. I dedicated myself to finishing the project, and sure enough, within a couple short weeks, it was all done.
Yes, the ENTIRE video archive is now digital. It all fits on a 1.5 tb hard drive. I really think a lot of it was just the timing. Had I started this two years ago, I probably would have needed to spend an additional 500 dollars on storage. But today, for 80 bucks at Costco, you can get that huge drive that houses the entire thing.
This means that the first barrier to the production of "Stickmen The Movie" has been relieved. Where we go from here, time will only tell.
The goal was to transfer the entire Stickmen/MNI video archive from tape to PC. When I moved to Ohio two years ago, I took the entire archive with me, along with my trusty Digital8 camera and a firewire cable with the dream of doing this in my free time. After all, surely, within two years, I would find the time to do a simple task like transfer a few dozen tapes to the computer.
Wrong.
So when I returned to SoCal, I was hit by a new wave of enthusiasm. I dedicated myself to finishing the project, and sure enough, within a couple short weeks, it was all done.
Yes, the ENTIRE video archive is now digital. It all fits on a 1.5 tb hard drive. I really think a lot of it was just the timing. Had I started this two years ago, I probably would have needed to spend an additional 500 dollars on storage. But today, for 80 bucks at Costco, you can get that huge drive that houses the entire thing.
This means that the first barrier to the production of "Stickmen The Movie" has been relieved. Where we go from here, time will only tell.
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