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Jim Gilchrist

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Posts posted by Jim Gilchrist

  1. On 2/3/2017 at 1:41 AM, Scott Selman said:

    I did this with a OWC and it was very simple - just make yourself a boot USB stick to reload the OS.  Just be careful because there is a sensor that attaches to the HDD.  If it breaks then it can't tell temperature properly and the fan will run at full blast no matter what.

    You can use an app like SSD Fan Control to get around this. It's necessary on some iMacs if you replace the drive with an aftermarket unit because the drive heat sensor is built into Apple's OEM drives.

  2. The Conway campaign Skype event scenes were done in real time. Two adjacent stages connected by cables feeding earwig systems at both ends. Both ends were covered for the call video via a tv truck and by production cameras on the Conway end. The whole thing was tightened up only slightly in post because we had to move some things around on the caller end. The director wanted to shoot in real time to rachet up the tension a little and add to the live event feel. 

    It was a great couple of days. It's so much fun to work with Lorenzo, Steve Saada and Chris Jones, the HOC sound department as well as the entire HOC crew. As a group they're the nicest folks in the business and the care they take making the show makes it a really fabulous place to visit. 

    Congratulations, Lorenzo and crew, for your 4th Emmy nomination!

  3. The White House is a noisy old building.  And there's not much that can be done about it. And in that room, the Roosevelt Room as Chris said, a guy from the Park Service has to turn off the air handlers and if he's not around they stay on.

    The crew was cameramen Ken Woo, Bill Donald and Julio Luzquinos, sound mixer T. Michael Coleman, gaffer Donny Aros and grip Will Iverson. All seasoned craftsmen and nice guys.

    Best regards,

    Jim

  4. I've used the next size up Matthews kit stand from the one Jim F. is using. They are reasonably light weight and fit in a stand bag along with gobo heads and hooks attached, poles and cables. Pack the proper sized allen key with them and give the set screws a touch of locktite or silicone adhesive. This will save trouble down the road since they'll loosen during travel and the tubes will get deformed if you over tighten them. My first pair of stands lasted about 15 years and the second pair are in about year 10.

    Best regards,

    Jim

     

  5. I used them tons when I worked in a scenery shop years ago. There were no battery powered screwguns or drills then and they were faster and simpler than wrangling stingers around in the shop.

    Stanley discontinued them but there are versions by other tool makers still available though the one I tried recently at a fancy woodworking supply place didn't feel the same in my hand. But it did have a modern 1/4" hex chuck so conventional screwgun bits fit and there are tons of specialty bits available.

    JG

     

  6. My hand-rolled headphone switchbox, which velcroed to the side of a drawer on the cart. The angled stock of the cart frame served as a switch protector, the headphone connectors pointed down to keep them from collecting dirt and pigtails ran from the box to the board and recorder. A third source could be added via the return buss on the board, a Cooper 106+1. I ended up rebuilding the original, powdercoating it for durability's sake and replacing the original 3.5 mm input connectors with TA3's so they would stay connected.

    JG

     

    IMG_6342.jpg

  7. On 7/30/2016 at 6:21 PM, saadasound said:

    Looking to set up a new PL system on my new show. Prepared to wear a wire, but want to have the ability to mute on the boom op side. Tried out the Lectro REF Mute switch, but didn't seem to work for me. Thinking of G3's, but every channel I tried seemed to interfere with our Lectro IFB feed. 

    Anyone have a setup of their own that they would recommend?

    Hey, Steve,

    If a regular ref mute switch isn't working for you, Evan and Bruce at Vark Audio can build one that will. (301) 229-0288. Or maybe just don't talk so much.

    There's also this from Professional Sound Services.

    Untitled.png

    JG

  8. 3 hours ago, RPSharman said:

    It is funny that wave agent uses 23.97, when 23.98 is the more common (and mathematically correct) rounding of 23.976.

    Yep, especially considering the place is full of engineers. 

    Rounding is funny and it's possible that when rounded, 2 + 2 = 5.  2.4 rounds to 2 but if you add 2.4 + 2.4 you get 4.8 which rounds to 5.

    Best regards,

    Jim

  9. On September 16, 2016 at 1:45 PM, Philip Perkins said:

    Did that work?  I have an old mini with the same problem....

    Philip, what vintage mini? It's really straightforward to add an external power switch to 2009 and earlier pre-unibody minis.I did that on the mini I kept on the cart, extending it to the front of the machine to keep from reaching around. I've attached a photo. It's a momentary switch and I'm pretty sure that even the 2010 and later unibody minis also have the momentary power switch.

    Best regards,

    Jim

     

    IMG_6222.JPG

  10. I've had great luck with:

    SolidTek's ASK-3100U mini wired keyboard https://www.amazon.com/Solid-KB-P3100BU-ASK-3100U-SuperMini-Keyboard/dp/B000G7PN7M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473788256&sr=8-1&keywords=ASK-3100U

    The Rii pre-paired 2.4 GHz. wireless keyboard many are using https://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wireless-Keyboard-Multimedia-Handheld/dp/B004716NFE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379079286&sr=8-1&keywords=rii+mini

    Micro center's store brand 88 key PC keyboard http://www.microcenter.com/product/340579/Mini_USB_Keyboard_-_Black Anything like this one should work fine.

    USB, no built-in hub, no bluetooth keyboards. 

    Best regards,

    Jim

     

  11. 1 hour ago, daniel said:

    ipod touch is pretty cheap and you can still mail reports (from a wifi zone).

    Same goes for a wifi iPad, either refurbished or used, and both can be tethered to any mobile phone to connect to the web.

    Best regards,

    Jim

  12.  

     

     

    Today would have been fellow Washington DC native Danny Gatton's 71st birthday. He grew up in the same part of town I did and really just wanted to play music with and for his friends, be at home with his wife and daughter and work on his cars. He had many invitations that would have led to fame and probably fortune but none of them ever worked out. He was the inspiration for John Sebastian's song Nashville Catsevidently Sebastian saw the then-teenaged Danny playing in the lounge of a Nashville Holiday Inn.  

    Sadly, Danny died by his own hand on October 4, 1994 at the tender age of 49, just a month after his birthday.

    A film about Danny and his music, The Humbler: Danny Gatton, has been in production since before Danny's death and should be released this fall. I have been fortunate to record several interviews for the film and look forward to its' release.

    The second clip is just an excerpt of a concert with Danny and Bill Kirchen of Commander Cody and  the Lost Planet Airmen and Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun on guitars, Dave Elliott on drums, John Previti on bass and Bruce Swaim on tenor sax. Dave and John played with Danny regularly for nearly 20 years.

  13. I was fortunate to be invited to Ty's to take a listen to and screw around with the Cedar DNS 2.

    My impression of the device is that there's a place for it on location in certain very limited circumstances. There's a fair amount of high dollar really short turn-around work in the Midatlantic region, mostly corporate work having to do with big events, political campaigns and the like. I've a bunch of "picture under" recording for tv and radio spots in the President's holding room at appearances and the portable switchboard is loud and usually close by. It also can't be buried under blankets for long because it runs hot. The Cedar would have helped a bunch since the turnaround on some of these pieces is short and I would have had no problem charging a good rate for it. While I don't do news pieces, I know there are also a lot of live shot spots in DC that might benefit from the Cedar, like the room with the open window in the Hay Adams across the park from the White House that's directly above  the end of a bus line or the rotunda in the Canon Senate Office Building.

    For jobs with a normal postproduction schedule with complete post mixing resources there are probably some circumstances where the Cedar might prove useful, perhaps a location that's so loud that it's hard to make a useful guide track. But generally I think decisions like how hard to twist the knobs on the DNS 2 are best made while sitting in a comfortable chair in an air conditioned room listening to an excellent set of monitors.

    The main impression I came away with is that the DNS 2 requires an incredibly light touch by somebody who's very familiar with the box because it's easy to overdo it and the point where that happens is hard to discern when monitoring via headset in the midst of what you're trying to compensate for. When overused, there's artifact that isn't pleasant and even in the artifact-free zone it's possible to take too much away, creating an unnatural soundscape.

    I hope one will be available for hire in my market but I won't be running out to get one myself anytime soon.

    Best regards,

    Jim

     

    PS - It was pretty swell to assess to DNS 2 at Ty's place because we could do a recording outside or in Ty's high ceilinged living room and then play back the recordings down in his studio over his nice sounding speakers in his nice sounding editing room mere minutes later.

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