02009-04-05 | Internet, Studio
Pop Music Is Like The Daily Paper
“When I finish something I want it out that day,” says Eno later, in a phone conversation. “Pop music is like the daily paper. Its got to be there then, not six months later. So we decided to release on our websites first, then put it on the commercial websites, then as a CD, then with different packaging. It’s just trying to see what works. The business is an exciting mess at the moment.”
From this article in the Guardian.
As usual it’s in the air and many musicians are picking up on it.
That’s why I started our subscription service. To share music from the archives as well as live-recordings, but also to introduce new stuff I am working on – immediately. (((like the Tears in the Rain recordings in 2006))). If I am excited about a new solo or band recording I want to share that at once, even though lots might change between that and the official release. It also allows you to witness the process of recording and then honing a piece of music, and note what changes and what does not.
02009-03-25 | Jon Gagan, Recording, Studio
Rehearsal 10:00-13:30 and then packing up and transporting gear. Band sounded good, but what’s really exciting is the potential of this group. These two drummers work very well together. It’s always a gamble, putting two drummers together – some make a great team, some don’t. (((not unlike setting up somebody for a blind date)))
Jon recorded every piece we have worked up for this tour, so we can each listen to the arrangements and memorize them on the two-day bus ride to California. Stevo and Jon kept commenting that much of it sounded like an album and I have to agree. Maybe we should record the band for our subscribers after the Summer tour – live in his studio.
In the meantime we should have a few pieces we can release as free Ottmar-Friends downloads… probably with a few warts (mistakes), but with a pretty nice feel.
Overall a great second day. The second day of rehearsals is often a let-down from the first, but not so this time. Now I have to pack…
02009-03-24 | Photos, Santa Fe, Studio
02009-02-17 | Photos, Studio
Top: 1.4 aperture, shallow DOF.
Middle: used a small strobe (((resting on a roll of gaffer tape, of course))) – each of the little blue points reflected on the second and third fret is a flash from the strobe
Bottom: used the strobe here as well, but the left hand moved less. I like what the bass strings look like in this one
02008-12-11 | Computer, Music, Recording, Studio
Movage
…here’s New York Time’s tech guru David Pogue lamenting the unadvertised short lifespans of homemade DVDs:
I’ve got all of the original iMovie projects backed up on DVD, in clear cases, neatly arrayed in a drawer next to my desk.
Guess what? On the Mac I use for video editing, most of the DVD’s were unreadable. They’re less than four years old!
I know, of course, that home-burned DVD’s, which rely on organic dye that deteriorates with time, are nowhere near as long-lived as commercially pressed discs. But man. Four years? Scared the bejeezus out of me.
OK, listen up people!
The only way to archive digital information is to keep it moving. I call this movage instead of storage. Proper movage means transferring the material to current platforms on a regular basis — that is, before the old platform completely dies, and it becomes hard to do. This movic rythym of refreshing content should be as smooth as a respiratory cycle — in, out, in, out. Copy, move, copy, move.
In other words, anything you want moved to the future has to be given attention to keep it moving forward.
We don’t know what the natural movage respiration cycle is for digital media yet since it is still very new, but I suspect the cycle is much shorter than we think. I would guess it is 5 years. No matter what digital format you have your precious stored on, you should expect to move it onto new media in five years — and five years after that forever!
(Via Long Views)
That is good advice. I haven’t trusted DVD for long-term (long meaning more than 2 years) storage and prefer to burn multiple CDs.
02008-07-22 | Binaural, Recording, Studio
If you are new to this Diary I would like to point out the Binaural video we recorded last Summer. You can find the quicktime version here and a flash version here. In both cases it is very important that you listen with headphones. Old fashioned ones that cover your ears will sound better (more realistic) than little ear-buds, but if you only have little ear-buds, you can cover them in your ears with your hands – to isolate left from right side.
A binaural album called “Up Close” is available in CD-form from us and all CD stores and you can download the album from our ListeningLounge and many other download sites (iTunes, Amazon et.)
