AudioMinds Newsletter:
Issue #6 - November 12th, 2004
Contents:
- Interview with Johnny Friedman
- When computer tuning goes wrong
- Time to record
- Humour
Dear Audiominds member,
Welcome to another exciting issue of our monthly newsletter. Again a Demo Song Recording Contest was held and we're proud to tell you that Scott-Le-Rock made it very close with only three points more than his close competitors. Congratulations Scott!
Besides an Interview with Johnny Friedman (who won the Contest the month before,) this issue features Pete's as well as Cyprian's thoughts about digital recording as always written in a very entertaining way. We hope you'll enjoy reading as much as we did.
So the last thing which remains to say is thank you for being a member of our community and best wishes from
Johnny Friedman won the September AudioMinds Demo Contest with his entry, “Games.” The song was written and sung by Farrah Easter.
Johnny is 25, married with two children and works as a computer operator. He is finishing his degree in Communications and Networking. He hopes to study Recording Technology and eventually establish a career in sound engineering. Johnny is known to the AudioMinds community as Roman615.
Farrah Easter, 17, was born in the Philippines. She arrived in United States at the age of three, which was about when she began singing. She is actively involved in church choirs, vocal ensembles, her high school's Advanced Choir, Jazz Ensemble and Chamber Choir. Farrah has been the featured artist in several concerts, civic events and church conferences, and is currently working on her second CD. She is due to graduate high school in May of 2005.
Both live in the Memphis Tennessee area and attend The Pentecostal Church pastored by Terry Black, where they met. Farrah and Johnny talked to us on Saturday afternoon, October 30, 2004.
AM: Congratulations on winning the September contest!
Johnny: Thanks!
AM: Why did you select this particular song to submit?
Johnny: It was the first song we completed and just wanted to see how it would do.
AM: You had never recorded a song before?
Farrah: Nothing of my own. I've done several, but never really completed anything.
AM: So you are really quite new to recording? How long ago did you get started in it? What sparked your interest?
Farrah: I recorded my first album in a studio at 15 – three years ago. I've been interested in music since I was 9. I started writing when I was 12.
Johnny: I started about 6 years ago, toying with a 4 channel analog multi-track. I've been using n-Tracks for about 5 years now. I guess I got started when I started writing music with this guy in college. I just started working with Farrah. I helped her do her first song.
AM: Farrah, was that studio recording your own project?
Farrah: None of it was my material. It was a studio project, a compilation of other people's music that had been recorded before. I paid for the time at Daywind Studio in Nashville TN. It was my first and only CD so far. I've written many songs and I'm just starting on my own material, so there have been no labels involved. They have requested to hear my material, but that's about it.
AM: How did that project turn out? were you happy with the results? Did it sell?
Farrah: It turned out good. I would have been more pleased if I had more time to go back and correct some things in my vocals, but overall it was good. I actually made some money off of it.
AM: Tell us about the song, “Games”. What was the inspiration for it, and how was it written?
Farrah: Well - I was going to enter a competition. If I won, there would be people to sign you if they liked you. So I went and talked with my pastor and he gave me a different perspective. So many people go into the "Christian Music" scene and loose sight of what their original goals were in the first place. He didn't want me to compromise my standards and beliefs, since getting a "recording deal" was my temptation. I didn't really have my priorities straight either. So I wrote the song as an argument against Satan and his "tempting" schemes - inspired by my pastor.
AM: How do you go about writing your songs?
Farrah: I sometimes get the words first, then the melody, or vice versa. I sometimes get songs from ideas that I hear or see, write a poem, and then turn it into a song.
AM: You have a really powerful singing style. Is voice your primary instrument? Have you had any vocal training?
Farrah: I've had a few voice lessons. I don't really play any instruments. My style comes from my church and a lot of the gospel soul stuff that I listen to.
AM: Johnny, what is your primary instrument? What all do you play? When did you start playing?
Johnny: My dad showed me my first 3 guitar chords when I was 12, so I guess guitar would be my primary instrument. I write all my music and songs on the guitar, but I play drums at church and pick on the bass a bit as well. I'm starting to learn some piano.
AM: How did you and Farrah start working together?
Johnny: She came to me at church one day and asked me if I'd be interested in helping her with a song she had done. I said - "SURE!" - and here we are. I'm not sure how she knew to come ask me, and she's not sure how that happened either.
AM: Who did the arrangement of this piece?
Farrah: I came up with the melody and gave a tape to Johnny with me singing on it. He pretty much took it from there.
Johnny: I was kind of going out on a limb because I didn't know exactly what she wanted. When I let her hear the drum track, she freaked out. That's when I knew I was on the right track.
AM: Freaking out is good, positive feedback then, as opposed to horror. Tell us about your recording methodology.
Johnny: With me, it starts with the drum track. the drums kind of define what the song is doing and where its going. And of course I just build on it. The bass normally fits right in there with the drums. Everything else - I just try to be creative and different with every instrument.
AM: You played all the instruments?
Johnny: Yes.
AM: Did you have any particular band's sound in mind?
Johnny: Actually, this style was a first for me. I was going on nothing when I did this arrangement. There was nothing that I was using to compare it to or get ideas from or anything.
AM: That's really amazing to hear. This is an awesome arrangement, Johnny; the overall sound density, the dynamics, the key change, the "woven" vocals at the end there... wow.
Johnny: Thanks a lot! Thats actually my wife (Nicole) backing her up.
AM: All of the recorded sounds are just great. Let's start with Farrah's vocal work. How was she recorded?
Johnny: It was a brand new mic - MXL 990 with an "ARTcessories" tube amp, going straight into the computer's mic input. Nothing too crazy. I like to keep everything simple. I was very pleased with the mic. I didn't really know what to expect, but I'd heard a lot about them. Until this project I was using a couple of Radio Shack $20 dynamic mics. This was a HUGE step. There was no sound treatment in the room. Just a plain old upstairs bedroom, probably 14X9. Nothing special.
AM: How were the drums recorded?
Johnny: Believe it or not, there were no actual drums used on this at all. I programed all the drums.
AM: What did you do the sequencing in?
Johnny: Reason.
AM: What else is sequenced?
Johnny: Bass and synth. Basically, I had to map out every single note that was used - tell it when to start and when to stop. It took me quite a while. I had to adjust the dynamics of each note and so forth.
AM: How was the guitar work recorded?
I recorded the acoustic guitar using the MXL 990 about 8 inches away directly in front of the sound hole. I had some help with with the electric guitar from another guy who goes to our church. He used a Sure mic. I can't remember which one. And his amp.
AM: The Reason tracks were exported and the mixing done in n-Tracks, right?
Johnny: Right on.
AM: Tell us about the mixdown process.
Johnny: Well, for me it was more like the mixdown and mastering process all in one. I basically added a small bit of ambient reverb to the drum track and some compression, because I really like that compressed sound. I used the same reverb on the acoustic guitar. All the reverb and effects were n-Tracks' very own. On Farrah's vocals I used an echo; just a small bit so you can faintly hear it when she pauses in a line. And then, at the end of the song, I used Audacity to give it that extra bit of echo. The backup vocals basically got the same treatment as the drums and acoustic guitar. On top of all that, I used another compressor over all the tracks.
AM: Tell us about the computer setup.
Johnny: Dude - I got a DELL! If I recall correctly, its a 1.75 GHz P4 256MB running XP Home, using the on board sound. For monitors, I have my old Radio Shack PA with two 15" PA speakers coming right off the audio out.
AM: Do either of you have any words of wisdom to somebody just wanting to get started in home recording?
Farrah: Get Jesus and you can do whatever you want!
Johnny: My advice, I've heard it time and time again - TRUST YOUR EARS. I've come across a lot of people who give up on the whole sound/recording bit because they can't get the sound they want or sounds that they hear. Just stay close to people who have been around this stuff for a long time and you will learn soooo much. And as time goes by, your ears will "fine tune" themselves. But the key is to give it time. “Games” was the first song I can say that I was ever totally happy with, and its been seven years in the making for me. It would not have happened without sticking around and getting support and constructive criticism from the guys at AudioMinds and the n-Track forums. So here is a special thanks to all those who helped me grow. Glory to God!
AM: Thank you both so much for taking the time with us here today. Johnny and Farrah - I wish you both all the best, and God bless you and yours.
Johnny: Thanks a bunch to you for your time. The Lord Bless you as well. Its been a pleasure.
Johnny and Farrah's winning entry can be found on the AudioMinds.com forum.
Their web site is www.HeavenSong.741.com
Behold for your pleasure, an allegory regarding the fruits of the obsessive mind (aka when computer tuning goes horribly awry). - By Cyprian
“So is that really smoke coming out of his ears?” Digby asked.
“Yes.” I answered back, watching Digby's big thin finger poke at Carp.
“Like, all his circuits are blown. Do you think he can hear us? Carp, Carp! -- You in there?” Digby was a flake of an inch in front of Carp's face, shouting.
I don't know why he bothered. Carp was just sitting there with that little look of content you would imagine a guy would have on his face if he figured out how he could make pizza materialize out of thin air.
“Don't bother. The aliens rescanned him yesterday. But it wasn't like his brain wasn't going anyway. He had a pretty good whine going near the end.”
The aliens had left Carp sitting on the stairs in front of my house. Maybe it was a warning, or they just couldn't bear the weight of his presence. I needed to find somewhere to dump him off. I had my own business and having your own living dummy around wasn't what I needed right now. That's why I brought him to Digby.
Digby was called Digby because he would dig. Dig around a bowl of cornflakes, dig at a sore on his arm, dig a big hole in his back yard. He was especially good at digging into data. He should have worn a little steel safety hat because he was just as good at data mining as a coal miner was at mining coal. Maybe Digby could dig into Carp and see if we couldn't do a hard reset or something.
“Will you look after him. Don't have to feed him anything fancy. Just some protein juice. Leave a diaper on him and hose him off once a day in your backyard?” Come on Digby, you need a Carp dummy.
“I don't know. Wonder how they got into his head and did that?”
“You could find out. Come on, Digby take him."
“How long are you going to leave him here?”
“A month, no more.” I was lying. I wasn't coming back. Carp needed to be stored somewhere, it wouldn't be right having the children of the neighborhood tagging him.
“Hmm. Yeah, be fun to see what they did to his brain.” I had Digby hooked.
“Back in a month.” I am a liar.
“You better be. I don't think the neighbors really want to see me in my backyard everyday hosing the shit off this big grinner. If you don't come back, I might just have him harvested for organs, and I ain't gonna split the cash.”
“I'll be back. He's my friend. Plus I think Carp's organ would be negatively charged anyway.” I wasn't coming back, you fool.
I made my egress, past the hole in the floor that looked down into the hole in the basement floor that looked into the cave that connected to the tunnels that connected to wherever Digby had vanished. I was gone. Put Carp in a big tank and let him float around like a content fish for all I care.
Out the door and I was gone.
Time has not been on my side lately, it seems. Time for music has fallen aside, yielding to more pressing needs like supporting and spending time with my family, health issues with elderly parents and developing business opportunities. I've been playing a little each day, but it hasn't been much. I miss it.
I walked out the back door of my shop Saturday afternoon into a cold, drizzly October wind. A cloud of dozens of sparrows swooped down low over my head, momentarily surrounding me, then straight into a small tree the other side of the alley and they were gone. I stood there agape, wondering whether it even really happened. The little tree stared back at me, unflustered, moving only with the wind and offering no hint of what it might or might not be hiding from my bewildered eyes. It was a moment. Like all moments – like all time – it was there and then gone. This one was gone without any trace other than my astonishment. The time it was there and real was less than a second.
Art requires time; time to learn, practice and refine just to get started. Time is required in the execution of art, and time is an element of art. Photography, painting and sculpture capture moments of time. Music and theater are different; they are guidelines to bring something into being in a certain way for a time. Like that flock of illusionist sparrows, it can only be there in that precious, tenuous NOW. We call it into being, and it remains only so long as our effort, attention, ability and tenacity allow. Then it is gone. This is the truth and fleeting beauty of performance.
And so we record. Theater becomes film and recital becomes CD, snapshots of spans of time that once were and will never be again. Even if I had a camera, I could not bring back the sudden appearance and vanishing act of the sparrows – but I COULD show you that it happened, and maybe even offer the opportunity to understand what the experience may have been like. Being able to do that well is an art in itself. It is the art of recording.
Like all art, learning to record requires time; time to learn, practice, refine and then execute. It is time well spent, because those magical moments we attempt to preserve are traces and remnants of the most valuable gift we have in this physical realm; the time of our lives. Our recordings are evidence of our very beings, available to those who cannot or will not experience us directly.
While recording can be performance in itself, it can never be the performance of what is being recorded. We can approach it, enhance it, even improve on it in some regards, but the result will never be more than a record of a real moment that is gone. Having a record, though, is more than most moments enjoy.
The art of the recording will endure and be enjoyed until the last of us slip the bonds of time and explode into eternity. Until then, it deserves to be done well. The art of recording is well worth the time.
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