Bob Marts

I've enjoyed the following the unfolding progress of Jan's project. Now to interject a little detail about my set-up - while I don't a doily under my recorder, I do have a blue Tiki for my headphone volume knob and a brown one for the boom headphones. It's great to personalize an otherwise technical tool kit.

Jan, Is that a little wide angle rear-view mirror I see on your cart? I have one on mine, too ;-) Bob

This made me smile: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504784_162-20039852-10391705.html

Thanks for pointing this out - it's a good option.

I got my sizes backwards - For a female XLR jack, you need a 15/16" punch. Here Bob

Good looking box. I made a few duplex boxes over the years and used Lectro clips just like you suggested. I also made one with a walkie-talkie clip which also worked nicely.

I must have made my box 15 years ago. What really comes in handy for making perfect holes for these kinds of things is a Greenlee metal punch. http://www.toolup.com/greenlee_730bb-34_34-hole-size-standard-round-knockout-punch-unit.aspx I have two sizes - 3/4" for XLR F jacks and 15/16" for the XLR M jacks. It's a fast and simple process to make the holes - a little hard to explain in a few words though.

I put mine in a Bud Box and just used a tie wrap to hold it onto my cart frame.

Good luck with this Jeff, and thanks so much again for providing this great Discussion Group! Bob Marts

Same problems for me using Firefox 3.6.13 on a PC.

A tech question to those who know: Would sandwiching a sharkfin between two pieces of plexi (for protection and strength) affect the performance of it?

PSC has an induction earpiece like the Phonac and uses a common #10 zinc air battery. http://www.professionalsound.com/specs/inductive.htm

Interesting article - thanks! Bob

I'm curious about the steps in post-production and re-recording regarding cleaning up of production tracks. I'm talking about a lot of little problems that infect our original recordings such as aircraft noise, rumble, RFI, overload distortion, camera noise, reverb, sibilance, ventilation, lighting and ballast noise, etc. With all the digital tools now available, are these problems currently fixed in dialog editing, the premix, or saved for the final mix? What is the usual order of processing (EQ, noise reduction, gating, compression, etc)? I'm sure there's no fast rule, but in general where do you start?

Wyatt, Thanks for posting this. Always interesting to see the guts of stuff like this. I still remember when, at a young age, I tore apart a 9-volt battery and was surprised to find 6 AAA batteries inside. I've been told that the inside of a Phase-Right antenna is a wire surrounded by good luck charms and 4-leaf clovers but I haven't looked inside mine yet. Anyway, next dissection of gear I do, I think I'll photo-document it too. Could be a handy resource.

Jan, It's still possible that your tape is two track mono (aka half track mono), but those recorders are pretty rare these days. The more common stereo quarter track recorders would still play a half track mono recording using the left track only assuming no crosstalk issues. Using track one on a two track stereo recorder would also accomplish this. Quarter track recorders are two channel machines with virtual four track heads, the track layout would be from top to bottom, 1 &3 which would play in one direction, and 2 &4 in the reverse direction or flipped over. Bob

The above Danny MacAskill video doesn't pertain so much to "Recording sounds of cycling", but the bike skills are amazing. The real stuff starts at around 1:05 in. Bob

More cycling:

I've been seeing a lot of used Lectro block 21 for sale around lately. How is the block 21 space (in practical use) in major cities these days?

Hi Jan, I've put together a lot of CD's for friends and family with recordings from all kinds of sources (including phone answering machines). I enjoy being able to do it with a simple laptop and my various recording machines. Anyway, your 2-track tapes you mention might be recorded in Quarter-Track format, in which case a 2-track playback head such as a Nagra IVS will still hear the backwards track of a channel in the other direction. Quarter track was the common consumer format in the 60's onward. Illustration link www.videointerchange.com h

Jeff, I think you answered your own question ;-)

I use about a half inch of heat shrink. I've also dipped them in Plasti Dip http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip which I find useful for many other projects as well. Bob M

Thanks for the responses - it's given me some new ideas. Bob M

Paul, Thanks for your honest opinion. I now remember your thread. Is there any better approach to putting SKB cases on wheels? I want to try a case-based cart for a number of reasons but I'm hoping I don't have to make a frame from scratch (looks like that may be the only way). I'm pretty familiar with all the examples in Jeff's gallery. I've been using modified upright PSC cart for years and I like the bicycle tires on it for their easy rolling. I guess I'll go in that direction for wheels on a case cart. -- You did put together a very handsome cart, though! Bob. PS - I'd be cool to come up with a Cart Calendar - a different cart for every month.

I should restate my question. Assuming that the case is well attached to the FilmTools cart, I'm wondering if the wheelbase is wide enough so that it doesn't feel top heavy and if it generally balances back on the rear wheels to let you easily roll it around on rougher location surfaces rather than a stage floor.