Podholes #09: Cat’s Out of the Board
February 2nd, 2007 by 
Steve Eley
Why is this our second attempt at recording this show? Ask the cat.
- Mike thinks we should do an “Everything about mixers” show soon. (And begins to deliver one here.)
- (Steve wanted to link an article about effects chains that Paul Figgiani once wrote at Podcast Rigs, but that whole site appears to have been replaced by the Podcast Academy and the article’s no longer where Steve thought it was. If we can find it somehow, we’ll bring it up again, or just do our own.)
- Steve’s Rant: “Recompression sickness.” If you’re giving someone a file to go into another podcast, use uncompressed audio, or a higher-than-usual bitrate MP3 at least. Compression problems multiply.
- Question from Simeon Weinraub: Sources of free (or at least cheap) music and effects? (Suggestions: Digital Juice, The Freesound Project, The Podsafe Music Network, IODA Promonet, Magnatune, GarageBand)
- Question from Tim Sullivan (of Solution Selling Today): What’s a de-esser? What’s an exciter? (Note: Steve got the frequency range on de-essers completely wrong. It’s really more like 6500 Hz for men and around 8500 for women.)
- Question from Stephen Atkins: Why do decibels in software go from negative numbers to zero? (…Can you tell we’re sort of bullshitting the answer to this?)
P.A.P. Smear #4: We’ll be critiquing Episode 16 of Directors Notes.
First check out the short film, then listen first, then hear us talk about it next week…
Have any questions or want to provide feedback? Just let us know!
Posted in Shows |
February 4th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Steve and Mike — thanks for answering my question about de-essers and exciters on episode #9 — very helpful info! I’ve got another basic question for you — perhaps you could answer on a future show. What kind of podcasting rigs do you both have? I know that Mike has a lot of ultra high-end stuff that mere mortals can only aspire to, but I’ve a feeling that Steve might have a rig that the podcasting masses may actually buy. (No offense intended, Steve, and I may be way off with this assumption.) Can you share the details on your rigs? And more importantly, how have you got your rigs constructed and connected?
Keep up the great work on this show — I’ve learned a lot!
February 5th, 2007 at 8:25 am
I would have to disagree with Steve’s statement that manuals that come with mixers are good and readable (although I’ve not seen a mackie manual, so I may be talking apples and oranges here). The manual that came with my Behringer Xenyx mixer is definitely meant for a sound engineer and not someone working with audio hardware for the first time. (In fact, the USB interface that came with the mixer had instructions that didn’t even state where it needed to be plugged into the mixer (luckily only the tape/cd input/output jacks fit the wiring that came with the USB interface).
That being said, Steve’s next statement was completely true. Playing around is the best way to discover how things work. I still have major issues with the FX features (sometimes what I hear in the headphones plugged into the mixer has nothing to do with the sound being recorded on my laptop), and still have no idea if the fiddling I’m doing with the gain, EQ, etc. is reeealllly making the audio sound better, or just different.
February 6th, 2007 at 7:38 am
After reflecting a bit (and digging out a few of my manuals) I would have to agree that most bundled reference materials are written for folks with a bit more than a rudimentary knowledge of sound equipment.
If you are needing a step-by-step how-to, then the supporting manual is probably not the text you should be referring to.
I would suggest you find a “Dummies” book. I know of two that are very good at the first steps. Home Recording - dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-1123.html (This is a free article, the book is linked there)
and Computer Recording - dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0764577077.html
Check them out.
February 7th, 2007 at 8:19 am
Guys, thanks for the sites for music, I’ve been looking for good music for ages and when I went to Digital Juice I took advantage of one of their sales, now I don’t think I’ll ever be without music again! So, thanks a bunch!
February 7th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
On the issue of manuals for mixers (or any major audio purchase): In the past, the purchase of a mixer or other high(er) end audio gear was generally limited to those with a bit of knowledge. Those were the only ones with a real need for these items. With the advent of podcasting and other forms of self publishing, the people who are making these purchases are not necessarily as experienced as they used to be. I don’t really think the manuals have changed much, but the audience who is reading them has.
Great show guys! Thanks so much for putting this out.