wbrisett

Hey Jason,  I use the ER4P  - I think you need a power amp to drive the "s"

I use the 4S model quite successfully with the Deva. I think pretty much any of the recording devices/mixers we have, have a powerful enough built-in amp to drive them. I have used them on a plane with my ipod and while it does work, you really have to crank up the iPod to drive the ER-4S.

Wayne

I looked at it very carefully too -- those names of the winning teams are all there going back to 1892. Here is what Wikipedia says: "The current Stanley Cup, topped with a copy of the original bowl." -- That's what you maybe confused about. (link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Cup)

When you go to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Yonge St in Toronto, they always have the Stanley Cup on display. But what they won't tell you is if it's the real thing, or the stand-in double. So you can take a picture with it there, but not really know if it's the real thing or not. If it's not out with a player, then it's the real thing, but since they won't say which is which, you never know.

Wayne

Richard:

It's the same. The Windows version too! I have a few problems with the windows version when I go to a site that wants explorer. Seems that web people feel that if you have Windows, you have to use IE.

Wayne

Because the resulting reply's are pretty good too.

One of the reasons I hate indies... I am still owed money by some, and like a lot of the attitudes of people replying, they just don't get sound and won't pay anything for sound. But then, the music scene isn't a whole lot better.

Wayne

When it's NHL playoff time -- I'm hooked.

Nice Richard! The only question is, is that the real Stanley Cup? When I lived in Toronto, my wife and I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame a couple of times. They won't tell you if the Stanley Cup they have out there is the 'real' Stanley Cup, or the stand-in double.

Crew, you're probably right. I played hockey and so it's in my blood. I think bit like soccer (the only sport I lettered in while in HS), I follow the sports I played.  But then I think a lot of people get excited about some sports they have never played (football, baseball, basketball), so I don't know.

Wayne

Hate us all you want. We are the champs.

CrewC

Unless you live in Pittsburgh, where they can also claim themselves champions this year. ;-)

(I did notice you left both the Ducks and Kings out of your list).

Wayne

When I was still in the reserves (early 90's), I took part in an exercise at Fort Leavenworth. They flew us up on a military plane, but for some reason, flew us back on a commercial plane. As I boarded the plane back to Austin, I noticed this guy in first class with ratty jeans and a shirt. His ball cap pulled down over his face. When we got off the plane, the group of us waited outside for our transportation to the other side of the tarmac (where my unit was -- ironic, even then we couldn't just stroll across the tarmac, they had us use public roads. ;-) )... anyhow, it was as we were standing outside that I realized that ratty clothed guy was Willie Nelson. I said Hi to him, and then left him alone. However, soon others realized who he was and the airport police had to keep people away from him. Although, I think the coolest thing I've ever seen was this elderly black woman in a wheelchair. She wanted to see Willie and the airport police who were keeping folks back, came to her, pushed her wheelchair  to see Willie and he walked over and said hi and gave her an autograph. My now wife (who was in my unit at the time), and I talk about that even to this day.

Wayne

I have a set, but only use them for music, when I'm mixing in a noisy venue, or even when I'm recording orchestras, I use the ER4S monitors over my Senn HD-25 headphones. I find I can pick out thing much better with the earphones over the headphones in these environments. However, I don't like using them on-location. I have custom molds for mine, and even with them, it takes longer than I want to (or can) spend getting them seated properly.

However, as previously mentioned these sound gorgeous. These are not some cheap $30 earbuds. They actually have a great audio range and represent it very well.

Wayne

Nobody cares about audio.... till they're in post....  We're only a pain in the ass till then....

Oh quit your complaining, we all know you can fix anything in post. I've heard tons of video people tell me that, so it must be true!

Wayne

When I remodel my studio I'm determined to have a little pedestal for it....

It is interesting how of all the sound equipment we have, recorders are the one thing that have changed over the years. Nagra open reels, DATs, digital hard drives/CF cards/DVD-RAM discs, and so forth. Rarely does a microphone ever go out of style. In fact, as some age they become more valuable.

Wayne

Sean:

Let's shoot for Wednesday. I'll give you a call and we can set it up.

Regards,

Wayne

577-5570

Hey Sean:

We should get together and chat sometime. You're name pops up from time to time, but I've not met you and we live in the same town. ;-)

Wayne

I was hired to record the McCallum High School Choir and Orchestra perform Schubert's Mass no. 2 in G Major. They also had the choir and orchestra performing some other things prior to the mass. Before you go, "oh, no, a HS orchestra", This is our arts high school, they basically get to select the students in the program and Schubert's Mass no. 2 is what they will be performing this summer at Carnegie Hall.

I used an 8 microphone mix for the second half of this recording (when solo vocalist would also be performing), and a 6 microphone mix for the first half. I used two Earthwork QTC-1 omnis in the back for the choir. Two Earthwork SR-77 cards in the front for the vocal soloists, Two Earthwork QTC-40 as the main orchestra mics behind the conductor, and two Earthwork SR-30 mics along the sides of the orchestra. All these went directly into the Zaxcom Deva 5.8.

I can't say enough good things about the staff at the Long Center. They were very helpful and a great group of people to work with and the sound at the Long Center is just incredible.

So, here is a tease... Vivaldi's Spring Movement No. 1 by the McCallum Orchestra.

http://homepage.mac.com/wayneb/FileSharing18.html

You want Spring_mov_1.mp3 or Spring_mov_1.wav  (pick your poison).

Wayne

As some of you may remember, I contemplated purchasing a CD replication company here in Austin this year. As I started to figure out how to grow the company, I realized that the more involved I got into the film/video projects, the more I ignored the music side of things that I really enjoyed. I decided that I needed to get back to the basics (for me at least) and get more involved in the music scene again. I made a few calls and let people know I was still around and introduced myself to a few people who I didn't know. Turns out that was a great decision. This week I'm recording an orchestra at our fine arts house, and in a couple of weeks, I have a full day of recording with nearly 100 classical guitarists who are attending and performing at a festival here in town. Next month, I'm suppose to do another 5 dates with the classical guitar society here in town. Film/video? I turned down a one indie project this past month and I'm being very selective. I've sort of lost the passion, and I simply want to enjoy things again. For me, it's all about going back to the basics. It also gives me time to focus on the business side of things (and work on some writing projects that I have ignored for all too long).

Wayne

I wonder if he still has to bake the tape to avoid shedding. ;-)

Wayne

I also contacted a peer - Robin Probyn - a camera guy in Tokyo to see if he could help with this.

Who, by the way, did a great job on the documentary shoot you recommended him for. I've seen and heard some of the material from that shoot (they are currently in Australia still working on it) and it looks and sounds gorgeous.

Wayne

Since a lot of this is centered on union shows (where I almost never work), I usually don't have the option of being a third, working with a three person crew, or even having a two person crew at times. I'm not union myself, but that has a lot to do with the working situation here in Texas. Few union only productions take place. Most of the work here centers on commercials and industrials that are strictly non-union. The reality and documentaries while they could at times stand a second, tend not to have one, so it's usually myself and a video operator. This is one of the reasons, I have once again started moving out of the film and video world and back into music. The good news is I've changed my strategy and decided to concentrate on classical only (and believe it or not that's working!).

As Ron Scelza will tell you, we gave a good two person performance on a show in Louisiana last year??, but it sucked. We had more talent to wire and less time to do it than we should have. A third was really required. In the end, the job was done, but it's certainly not the working conditions I want on a regular basis. And let's face it, we do this job in whatever capacity because we enjoy it, or did at one time.

All that being said, outside of NY and LA, I think having a third isn't much of a reality.

And hopefully without hijacking this thread, I will say that I'm VERY disappointed with the stage union here in Austin. Next week, I am working on a musical production at a local theatre. Basically the band (a Beatles cover band) is doing all their own live sound. The local High School arts academy is providing the orchestra for the event, and it's a benefit for the school to help them get to NYC this summer. Everybody is volunteering their time so the school maximizes what they get. Basically the theatre is being rented with few union members providing services. However, because of the existing performance contracts, they are making it extremely hard for us (the cover band, orchestra and I) to record the event for members of the band ONLY. We have asked for some concessions and been turned down, which seems totally insane to me we're paying for the venue and not using 90% of their crews. I really can't understand how one union can have such a grip over things, yet others (like IATSE) seems to have little influence over productions.

Wayne

Thanks to everybody here. I took a long motorcycle ride on Saturday with a group of folks (sorry Ron I just happened to be at a gas station so I couldn't talk when you called me), and did a lot of thinking about this deal because I have to give him an answer this week.

John, you have some great questions and some I really want to answer. In particular, the first one. No, this not something I 'want' to do. I received the call out of the blue and felt that I really should consider it. Ironically, when I really examined what I wanted to do with the company, where I wanted to move it, it was out of the replication business because that business is dying. A few more years of life and then it's mostly gone. But the places I could move it to, or really move it immediately, are simply into areas I'm already involved in, such as audio recording. Then the question became, why get involved in the replication business anyhow. The business name use to mean something to people, but the reality is, that was 15 years ago. Today it simply is ignored by most.

When I was midway home Saturday, I made the decision not to buy the company. For me, the negatives simply outweighed the positives and by a lot. It simply made no sense to me to get into replication. So, I'm not going to do it. However, it did stir some creative juices and now I'm going to explore some new ideas that I hadn't thought about before.

Wayne

Running a company like that, esp one that needs both transitioning and growing is a full time job--are you ready to hang up your boompole to do this, at least for awhile?

I've pretty much already done that... that's one of the reasons I have been selling (or trying to sell) various parts of my kit recently.

Wayne

Well, I do have ideas for growing the business. I would simply use the CD replication as a vehicle for moving things more in that direction. Part of it would be online distribution (something the local folks aren't currently doing), also moving into areas like audio/video conference/lecture recording and distribution. And I have some other ideas on how to expand the business using the established name and services and growing it into areas that the previous owner hadn't considered. But that's something that might take a little time to expand into... And yes, part of me wants to do it because I feel like a part of the company has always belonged to me, but I can't let that be the only reason I get involved in this venture.

Thanks for all the comments so far. It's really nice having a sounding board.

Wayne

This past week I was contacted by somebody who I use to work for back in the early 80's. He hired me to help him in his cassette duplication plant. My job was to do pretty much everything. When I could, I would go down to the studio and help out there too. It pretty much put me on my audio path. Later he sold the studio, but he kept doing the cassette duplication and pretty much owned the market for a long time in central Texas. He started a printing business to print the labels, and after a few years, I left to do other things. As cassettes faded, he moved into CD replication, but I don't think he really took things as seriously as he should have. In fact, he admitted that to me recently. The company that use to gross over a million a year, is now a mere shadow of itself with a handful of steady clients. He has asked me if I would be interested in buying the company. I've looked at the books (they aren't pretty... every year has been a little less), and now have to make a decision on what to do. I know I have to grow the company. I have lots of ideas, and at least there are some steady clients. I guess for me, I know CDs have maybe 10 years of life left, so the company has to do other things. It's also an emotional decision, for me, it would be like keeping the company in the family since I helped build the company. But, I'm so torn by how badly it has been ignored that I wonder if I really can compete with the other companies that have come in and dominated the market. I also wonder if I'm being realistic about being able to revive the company by expanding it into location recording.

Am I being unrealistic about buying a dying company and technology thinking I can expand it? (Especially in light of the current economic quagmire?)

Wayne

I just can't imagine working in West Hollywood and having to drive in and out at rush hour every day.  What a nightmare!

I was in the bay area a couple of months ago. I was in Milpitas and was meeting an old friend and their spouse in San Jose for dinner. Fortunately I was on my motorcycle and able to split lanes. Took me 20 minutes in what I was told was typically a 60 minute commute at rush hour. However, here in Texas we can't split lanes, and I can't figure out how to get all my gear on my bike, so I never get to take it out on jobs. :-(

But... if you can figure out how to get your equipment back and forth, splitting lanes is the way to go in CA.

Wayne

This is an interesting thread. Of course it leaves out what have you been prior to working in sound... I know for a lot sound people that would be something in electronics, radio, etc. All of which lead into sound. That is where I started, but maybe that's a different thread...

I have a degree in writing, and I would love to mix that with my passion for motorcycles. I would love to spend all my time riding my motorcycle, writing about cool trips and roads taken to get there. In fact, I've started something similar to that on my blog http://wbrisett.blogspot.com ... but to get paid to do that, AH, now there's the real pie in the sky!

Wayne

I have the Ambient version on my booms and really like them. The only time I've seen an issue with the quick release was when I boomed for Ron Scelza last year. The mechanism was 'wonky'. My guess is that one of the prior boom ops had hosed it. It was replaced and as far as I know he hasn't had any issues with it. I haven't ever had any issues with mine on my boom poles.

I like being able to quickly change from one mic to another without having to dedicate a pole or spend time threading and unthreading a mount.

Wayne

ah.... Found the thread Larry. It's not mentioned when it was implemented, but apparently there was some 'safety feature' that was a bit too strict according to Zaxcom that was causing the no record problem. Also not mentioned was when that was going to be relaxed.

Wayne