tourtelot

My pet-peeve was always dialog in those loud ambient scenes; loud bars, intense sporting events and rock shows come to mind. "Extras, don't make a peep. Just look like you're yelling, talking loud, laughing 'til the cows come home." You know, pretend to be loud. Now principals, have your dialog. No, you can't talk in normal on-set levels. It'll never mix with the SFX and sound right. Oh, you just can't talk like you are in a loud bar? That's "acting" numbnuts. Please try again and do it better! D.

Haha. I guess I'm not anyone's guy at this point. I just said no to a favorite producer on a great show for a long second unit. I texted back "Thanks for you kind offer. No thanks. I'm an old fart." Doug T, Retired.

Oh, Larry. I don't think I ever saw that one. D.

I have those cables. 'Cept I used Switchcraft RCAs. They cost me about $12 a pair all-in. D.

7 years later! And no doubt that Mathew Price is one of a few top-shelf PSM working today. He works on challenging shows and the results are sublime. D.

0.5%? Try 0.0005%. D.

I used to do a lot of "Made For TV Movies" (for you youngsters, that was back in the days before "Reality TV") and the producer that I did the most of that work for always had me in town, in my hotel, the day before tech scouts were to begin. They were usually 2 to 3 days and he paid the hourly door-to-door. Paid me for the Production meetings as well. I always felt like the department was a member of the team and I worked hard for that guy. He got good sound on those movies. I was motivated by the companies attitude (not always ALL the company but those are a different set of stories) and inclusion. I think fondly of that man years later. D.

Tell 'em having you on the scout will save them more money than it costs. That should get their attention. D.

There are lots of "boxes" that will convert AES to Dante. Those won't integrate you 833 into the network but it will allow you to use it as a Dante bit bucket. Without going to the manual, how does the 833 do AES inputs? On the 788T, there is a DSub15 that allows 8 channels of AES input. I never use my 788T on my Dante network (no real need). But if you wanted to get Dante to AES, the Focusrite RedNet D16R MkII, or something like it might work. 16-channels of AES I/O to/from Dante. https://pro.focusrite.com/category/audiooverip/item/rednet-d16r-mkii D.

I have considered that, at least in my case, the overwhelming M&E is due to the fact that I listen to my TV through two speakers. I know, old skool but if the dialog is, at least, mixed LCR, am I losing the dialog because I have no "C"? I'd o LCR if I had somewhere not so completely ugly as the only place to put a center speaker. I just live with it, but it's a "thing" for certain. D.

Some console with a Dante card, a laptop with Dante Virtual Sound Card and Reaper. For multi-track music recording, I have been using this as a virtual clone backup to my dedicated JoeCo recorder and it has been bomb-proof. Up to 64 channels at 24/48. D.

Have props or transpo carefully slit the visor and slide a thin piece of sheet steel inside. Glue it closed. Done. On a picture that has a "hero" car? Brilliant. D.

I remember that it was a common (?) mod to change the mic input on a Nagra III to make it female. I believe mine was that way and whether I did the mod myself or had the techs at Record Plant do it is, well let's say, foggy. D.

Yes! Ampex 456. Thanks. D.

I remember using Scotch 808 (Was that the thicker tape? Less print through.) and some Ampex but that number escapes me. I didn't do too much research. Just used what my fellows were using, sent the Nagra to Dan Dugan, he sent it back ready to rock. D.

Just this from an old skool PSM. They need to know that they can not learn the craft in a classroom, no matter the experience of the teacher, the books, the YouTubes. They need to know that it is important that they learn how to search out a qualified mentor and spend as much time on an actual set as they can. There are things from the work environment that just can not be taught but need to be experienced and muscle memorized. There is NO shortcut to this and neglected, means the student will need to "reinvent the wheel" every time they go out. This vital part of the learning just doesn't happen these days and it sends hundreds (thousands?) of unprepared students into the world with the belief that they can "do the job." Just my $.02. That and $4.98 might buy you a gallon of gas if you are lucky. D.

Way OT but what is your (and anyone else's) experience with B7000 glue. I am always looking for the better of two things; solvents and glue. Thanks. D.

I think the gear that I have that is most likely to go off meekly into the dark would be my Allen & Heath SQ6 panel. You know? I love that panel, really love it. It does everything that I need it to do with grace and ease. There are occasional firmware updates that keep it on the path. I bought it three years ago and use it from time to time. So now we are creeping up on that 5-year window and it is still in the current A&H catalog. But for how long? And what time frame would satisfy my wish for something to serve out its value? And how long will A&H support it, in some meaningful way, once it isn't a current product any longer? So, who knows? We pays our money and we takes our choice. Did I buy this expecting great resale? Of course not. Will I be satisfied that I got a value for my money? Time will tell. D.

Gearslutz tax? No! I am guessing at that price, it has been completely restored and works perfectly. Even old Maseraties need maintenance to run in top form. But a restored old Maserati is still a top tier car and deserves to be priced as such. If you have any M50s that you'd like to let go for $5000, I'll take all you have. BTW, anyone want to buy my restored 1976 MGB? D.

You should have told him that your backup recorder was a wire recorder. A-hole! And no, classic mics from top tier dealers do not "degrade over time". Neumann M50s are still selling for just shy of $30k each IF you can find them for sale. D.

If you are looking for an "investment" is sound recording gear, I think only top-tier microphones fit that bill now days. Anything else I might buy into would be for my personal convenience and I have no expectations of that gear's lifespan. I do tend to move on fairly quickly which has saved me from taking big resale hits as a rule, but I have moved on from some companies that had quick EOL even as the gear was still working fine. So I look for manufacturers that show good support and then buy their innovations. Seems to have mostly worked with a few ugly exceptions. But I have a 788T that still gets used more than any other piece of equipment I own; I have vowed to never sell it. Even in deep retirement, the 788T and a couple of mics will allow me to do 90% of the recording I currently do. Maybe get greedy and keep four mics. Hard to say that about anything else in my kit. I don't usually use the preamps now; the 788T is a bit-bucket for a Grace m108 preamp. But would the built in preamps in the 788T serve me well? Of course. All the digital stuff? Buy it, use it for as long as you can, upgrade to some other digital stuff. It is just the way of the world in 2022. (typing this on one of three 2012 MacBook Pros) D.

Wow! No solutions but that really does suck. (sad face) D.

We used to have a sacrificial foam screen that we cut a slot in with a razor blade so that the lyre clip could slip inside and grab the mic. It would mean buying said sacrifice but it totally works. D.

This! D.

I lost rack of Frank many years ago but you might reach out to IA Local 52 in New York City. He is probably retired now but they might well still have contact information. 718-906-9440 D.