Izen Ears

That's a BADASS tone there, jeez! Hits my ears like a sonic tidal wave. Duane Eddy is brilliant! I recently read an interview with Poison Ivy of the Cramps and she said her two greatest influences were Dwayne Eddy and Link Ray. Dwayne Eddy loved the single notes and link loved the chords. Also Dick Dale admitted that he watched Dwayne Eddy as a kid and was super into him, the influence of which is obvious in DD's style. I am still working on my surf demos. I got the drums and bass done, but gosh darn it I am struggling to get my guitar chops good enough to record!

What temp? I bet I made the mistake of thinking one temp is the best for everything. I made up a bunch of XLRs and TRSs today and at 750 it was so slow! So I went back to 840 and it was much better. But that may be way too hot for those tiny TA5 cups and those hairs they call wires inside a COS?!

A video would be very helpful. Or if you could elaborate on the eraser part. I get using a razor instead of a stripper, I do that all the time. But getting those tiny hairs of copper separated from the tiny fibers so a solder connection is possible, I am lost. I've tried a lighter to burn off those fibers, but that didn't really work. How does an eraser get rid of those fibers?

You know, I like to use 840F so perhaps I just used too much heat! I too have decent soldering skills and this is the method I used. The solder stuck, but no sound came out so I gave up. Yes please post a video!

The hardware store has air conditioning filter material that works almost as well as real hog's hair, and with a few layers of that around the mic you'll stop hearing drips. I have also left mic in pouring rain in a zeppelin + windjammer and the mic and connector were dry as a bone. I guess Amazon has it also, about 1/10 the price of hog's hair. Aqua-Flo roll You'll only need a few feet. This is also useful for loud drops in puddles that become distracting. That's pretty cool - recording sounds for sleeping! I've often thought about a recording project that would be for changing your awake world - 16+ hour recordings from different interior environments that people live. For example, a Brooklyn apartment near the window, or an ocean house, or a house in the desert. If those existed I'd play them at home and see what it felt like. Dan Izen

Man I would love to see a well documented video of somebody wiring this crap. Those damn fibers and the fact that there are so few wires has made it utterly impossible for me to have any success. What is the purpose of those fibers anyway?

Welp, in my world that would lead to many broken lavs. Most people just don't understand how to be gentle. Just get a mixer who is trustworthy. This reminds of all those warning labels that didn't exist for decades and now are seen everywhere. Why? Because people have gotten a lot dumber.

All the places around me to stop taking batteries, so the only thing I can do is throw them in the trash. Kind of makes me sick. Two nine year old NPs just decided to completely die. Left on the chargers for hours and still zero lights. What a bummer.

Once you're done wearing the mask, you can harvest some wonderful twist ties! Dan Izen

FUCK THAT TOXIC SHIT. If customers can't contact a company directly, they are a bad company. Period.

Great article and amazing story about the cement mixer! Thanks for posting.

That reminds me of that hilarious job where I forgot a boom pole and had to boom with C stand arms. It was a big commercial in New York and I had to boom a dude singing around a fire and playing guitar. That thing was heavy! I was just starting out. When the crew looked at me sideways I simply told them that this was the executive model!

My best investments are the fancy boom mics, because I can use them for music! Dude, just coming here to ask shows your head is screwed on perfectly. Well done. I would add that working as a third, A3, A2 or whatever will be a great learning experience. You may have to go to Portland for that. Bend is a super cool town! I would love to move there.

Contact your local sound utilities and boom ops. Union folk wanting to step up. Those are the types who'll take everything. Some kids in film schools who really have the bug would also take the full package.

Thank you for taking the time to repost! Such a joy to read, like reading a real essay! Man this is a lot worse than I thought. I had assumed it was mumbling actors + over zealous sfx / ambience / music + ears that know the dialog, but all that compression and double mixing is horrifying. Where is the FCC?! I personally only use subtitles with foreign stuff (I hate dubbed anything), and for the occasional indecipherable phrase. Something else that may be a factor is that there is widespread hearing loss happening in the world. Loud machines and music are everywhere. Machines built with zero consideration for damaging sound levels abound, and it makes me so sad. Too much noise. A boom eight feet overhead?!!! It's almost inconceivable except I've seen it.