soundtrane

Malcolm, my dear friend, many thanks for your offer. I will email you. Be well! -vin

Jeff, another great man gone. Truly sad, my deepest condolences. -vin

I dont mind if they ship to one of my many friends in the US... I'll try writing directly... thanks my friends...

Need a source for spare parts, I believe under lifetime warranty... -vin

I am willing to explore the possibilities of doing this in India. However, I will need to know what is the quantum... Yes, and for such usage I don't think they bother with either the weight or size of the connector.

google image searches help a lot.

I am not looking for a bag cart but a proper cart, albeit small and lightweight. my equipment sizes are small and my DC powering has shrunken in both weight and size (LiFe). Hence the need to rethink a cart for normal feature film usage.

Ah, an ABS case, Matt, I did not think of it really. I am thinking more in terms of very small and very light footprint carts. This design in terms of the folding up is VERY good for transit, and will be good while working as well. I guess the folding brackets can be with locks and of course, with gear on the shelf it is bound to stay in place.

Excellent idea for a very small footprint during transit. i am guessing you will be able to add more levels (trays) to this basic config. -vin

http://www.soundgirls.org/home

i guess some photos of the old knobs will help, and any inscription on them will lead the way. which mixer is it?

Thanks Pete, never realised that 'dot' was going to lead anywhere until now...

what i liked about the earlier setup was that i could go straight to the last post (on the last page) of any thread. now i have to click on the thread and then click >> and scroll down to read the last post.

could not find it. only new ones at 2300$...

When i am told that "indian documentary people have told me that the rate is such and such" i am reacting to two things: 1. the indian documentary people of course. these are the devils who need to be exorcised. 2. the american woman who is making this documentary - and she's not a first timer, for sure, so she should know if rates are at 600$ for a GOOD sound person in the US, it should be at least 75% or maybe even 60% of this? I also got an email from an Indian- American film maker coming down here to shoot a short film. I was offered 220$ a day for sound person AND equipment. AND - i DON'T think i am being impolite. Impolite according to me is saying 'buzz off'. Not if i am saying 'look, you got it all wrong, here's how it is. if you want it good, you gotta pay for it good".

My reply which i sent this morning before i posted here: Cheryl, Apologies, but I just had to call a spade a spade. I am not an aggressive person, but what riles me is how people in the business shaft sound people in general. I have equipment worth about 200k USD. Anything that costs a 100 bucks in the US or Europe costs 150 by the time it lands here. While my rates are not the same as US or Europe, they have to be consummate to what I bring to the table. My documentary film package: Multitrack digital audio recorder (Aaton Cantar X3) Sanken CS3e and MKH50 microphones (boom) Ktek boom pole Rycote windshields (x 2) Audio Ltd wireless systems (x 3) IFB (foldback for director plus another person to listen to audio during shoot) Powering and batteries (I am fully Green power, no usage of disposable batteries, and therefore no additional cost) Tentacle sync box for camera (or Betso) Accessories (professional equipment bag, harness, Pelican hard cases, cables, headphones, etc) The rental for this equipment package is 15000/- a day. The sound mixer I will recommend to you will charge 10,000/- a day. Total cost of location sound – 25,000/- a day which comes to about 385$ a day... We are talking about TOP END quality work, world class. Compare this with American or European rates and you will see this is about 40% lesser, if not even more. I totally agree with you that it is hard to judge tone over email. I will be glad to have a skype conversation or even on the phone if you would like it and you will see that I am not an aggressive or hard person at all! Once again, no offence meant in my last email, even if it was direct and to the point. Warmest regards -vin ------ Oh, i'm not worried at all, and i very much know people like this person here in question - they get their work done at peanut costs and then go sell their documentaries in Europe and other places to TV channels to fund their entire lives for a chunk of time. Ah, -Obscure Objet de desire- that is something. I have seen it so many times and yet want to see it again. This woman "proposed" rates that she got from her noble friends in India who make documentaries and then when she is confronted she says i was just researching and i am innocent. Very typical of this kind, of which i know a lot. No, i am not the one to be seduced, and neither am i going to 'recommend' anyone to this woman. The boys who have trained under me deserve MUCH more than sub-100$ a day rates. As i said in the email to her - the worst kind of exploitation is actually in the documentary and short film work, much more than in the feature film world. And I think this stands for almost everywhere else in the world - not just India. -vin Ah, this one also - i have tried. Hah! Imagine the reaction when you see the current reaction to my email that simply said - you are low balling - whether it is based on recommendations from here or there. Secondly - as if this woman does not know what are the rates in the US? Can't she make the math - that she is offering 75$ a day out here, whereas she has to pay a lot more out there? All this is a charade, and these people know VERY WELL what they are offering and i can tell you - they will eventually get someone to do it for 75 bucks and be happy with the results. So- that's that. -vin

<I just asked people I know what the rates are in India because that's what one does when one is doing research. I have no idea what rates are in your country having never hired crew there. > She mentioned the rates in an earlier email, so i had to tell her that the people she knows know nothing and are completely out of line. better call a spade a spade early on rather than embark on some long winding discussion. she's getting the best advice from me. if she chooses to go with 75 buck sound, it's her call. but i wont be party to this. in similar situations in the past, people have come back to me saying my rate is too high and if i would know someone who will do the job at their low rates. I am not willing to be party to such a process, recommending somebody else, etc. -vin

Here's a conversation on email between me and a documentary film maker who wants to shoot for a month in India and looking for a sound person. She wrote: You don't have to sell me on getting a good sound person! I agree 100%-- Audience will tolerate sloppy camera work but not bad sound. Trust me we are not going into this with a "we'll just fix it in the mix" mentality. I know that there is no magic button that fixes over-modulation. At the same time we are indie documentarians and you know how that goes. From what I've been told by several friends in the doc industry in India the going daily rate for sound person is 3000-5000 rupees with a weekly rate being negotiable. That is without gear of course. ------ I wrote: Let’s get to the chase: >from what I've been told by several friends in the doc industry in India the going daily rate for sound person is 3000-5000 rupees with a weekly rate being negotiable. You’d be better advised by people who have a sensible idea as to what to pay a professional a consummate fee for a job. I am sorry but your friends in the doc industry are the very reason why a person like me does not do documentaries out here in India. They have NO idea what it really takes. What they are talking about is an ABERRATION of what really it takes to get GOOD sound. You can quote me to your friends, if they are in the circuit out here, they will surely recognize who I am. Sometimes, it is important to figure who to listen to and not. If you are looking at sub-100 dollar sound people, I cannot help you. Rather, I WON’T help you. And you don’t need my help anyways... Warmest regards ------ She responds: Whoa! Hold up. I just asked people I know what the rates are in India because that's what one does when one is doing research. I have no idea what rates are in your country having never hired crew there. Obviously rates vary from place to place, city to city, country to country. It is not fair of you to answer so aggressively when I was just communicating information that I received. I understand your frustration but you could have just said "There are a lot of sound people who will work for such a low rate but those aren't the best-trained people. What I offer is XYZ and that is why my rates are much higher..." I am a reasonable person and I say this with sincerity and kindness and realize that it is hard to judge tone over email. Your answer was unfair. ------

I got one of these, it DOES save time and takes very little effort to cut a 1" circle from a 1" toupee tape roll.

Leslie! Good to see you here my friend... -vin PS: Folks, Leslie is Wisycom...

teflon tube, it does not shrink, but also does not get affected by heat.

That's the time for teflon...

At the class with Senator and sound mixer Pawel Wdowczak (and some of the students) this April...

yikes... i'm not qualified enough to step into His shoes...

superb...