NJAS Wall Posting

NJAS Member Wall Postings and Comments

As covered by the New York Times
Rough Trade Records Opens in Williamsburg
Thanks to Brian Kheel for bringing this to our attention.

Sent to me by David Nemzer of the NYAS
The Soundkeeper
The latest entries in The Soundkeeper blog recount the impact hearing real stereo (as opposed to "something in that speaker and something else in the other speaker") had on the direction I was to take as an audio engineer. The direction was also influenced by what has come to be called "the Loudness Wars".

Real stereo, the loudness wars and a fork in the road recalls how hearing stereo images freed from the confines of the loudspeakers made me consider just what stereo really means and exactly what types of cues our brains use to localize sounds. I became interested in applying all of these cues in my recordings. This entry outlines some early experiments in how to deploy microphones to capture real stereo.

While I was seeking ways to make my recordings more convincing, more and more mastering clients among the major labels were enlisting in the loudness wars, seeking to overpower the listener with increased recorded level on the finished product. I had to stop and ask myself if weaponizing music and sound were among my goals as an engineer. Since I had other things in mind, it was time to start thinking of a new direction.

That new direction involved three major decisions. They are summed up in Three Decisions (Part 1) starting with the election to refuse to participate in the loudness wars. A crystalizing moment, when it became clear to me that the quality ceiling of any recording has already been established by the time the signals are leaving the microphones, led to the second decision, which was that creating the original recording was where my greatest interest lay. This decision led to the third, which was to outfit myself with my own gear and my own work space. This entry covers these beginnings.

Three Decisions (Part 2) describes designing and building my own work space, while at the same time, designing a client's studio from the ground up. There was more learning along the way as we built the acoustic treatments for both rooms and, very much to my surprise, I found that what a component sits on can affect how well it performs. This led to more experimentation, more learning and ultimately to two designs of my own, which I implemented in my studio.

Having freed myself from loudness oriented clients and with the design and setup of my studio complete, it was time to put my third decision into effect. Three Decisions (Part 3) tells the story of "Music from Large Green", a first effort at doing this, some of the challenges that arose and to my good fortune, the learning opportunities that presented themselves.

Coming up in The Soundkeeper, I’ll talk about the projects that have resulted in the releases that comprise the current catalog. Each represented its own challenges, each offered more opportunities to learn and grow, and each resulted in its own rewards, both musical and sonic.

When visiting the blog, please note the “Follow” button on the sidebar on the right side of The Soundkeeper blog home page. If you enter your email address and click the “Follow” button (or for those logged onto Wordpress, simply click the button), you’ll receive an email notification whenever a new post is added to the blog.

Also, please tell any friends (real friends and cyber friends on audio fora) who might be interested about the blog. Thank you to all who are helping to spread the word.

On behalf of Soundkeeper Recordings and all of our artists, we thank you for your continued support and interest.

Until next time,
Happy Listening!
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com

From the NY Audio Society
I received the following email from David Nemzer of the NY Audio Society:

Audio Syndrome!

Sunday, January 12th,2014

Heads up on this event

On 11/20/13, RUSSELL LACHOW<rlachow@optonline.net> wrote:

Well we did it. We have a location; we have a date. Sunday, January 12th at Elks Lodge No. 2162 in Massapequa. The Lodge adjoins the American Legion Hall in the LIRR parking lot.

The American Legion Hall turned out to be too expensive, $1,000 for the day. The Elks Lodge is much less expensive, $550 for the day, and a better fit. The Lodge can accommodate up to 30 vendors with each vendor having two tables. A good seller count will yield tables in the $20 to $22 range. See the attached layout of the Lodge ..

We tried to get the Lodge for the 19th but it was already taken for a stamp show. The 19th would have put us right next door to the vinyl / CD sales group, a win win for both parties. However, we are going to ask them if they would like to take a table or two or three at our event on the 12th. We'll plan ahead with them in the future.

More details (electrical outlets, refreshments, etc) to follow once I get a chance to get over to the lodge.

We're posting the event on Audio Nervosa and the Audio Circle. We're also asking the Audiophile Society and the NY Rave to participate in the swap meet. Charles is going to ask several manufacturers to participate too. Any other ideas to publisize the swap meet would be appreciated. Should be a great day.

From Amazon Local
Discount Tickets for NJSO
For those interested.

A basic intro to growing a boutique business
Turning Your Crafts into a Mass Market Success

Nothing but the best for us

His system Great SOUND PIANO AND ORGAN

NJ Audio Rave Info on Audio Nervosa
For those of you looking for information on upcoming NJ audio raves, the link provided here is a good place to start.

Notice from the Mountainside Public Library
Dear Friends,

As announced in the Friends of the Library newsletter which was mailed out in September, the Mountainside Public Library is pleased to welcome Tom Doyle and Sandy Cory in “A Musical Tribute to the Great Les Paul & Mary Ford” tomorrow, Thursday October 10th, 2013, from 7 PM to 8 PM. Tom is the man who worked with Les Paul for over 40 years, and Tom and Sandy continue the Les Paul legacy with every show. Their performances have been described as magical and highly entertaining.

Please join us tomorrow evening, for this special event, sponsored by the Friends of the Library. This is one you won’t want to miss!

See you at the library,
Lynn

Lynn Favreau
Director, Mountainside Public Library
Constitution Plaza
Mountainside, NJ, 07092
Tel: 908-233-0115
Fax: 908-233-7311
CD&L Delivery# 2337
Email: favreau@mountainsidelibrary.org
Web: www.mountainsidelibrary.org
Text the MPL: 908-913-0156

Comments:
§ I was impressed with the AR Turntable's platform construction
⤷ posted Oct 6, 2013

www.essenceelectrostatic.com
Really interesting in concept. Not enough of a techie to understand all the details.

John

http://www.essenceelectrostatic.com/hear-uncompressed-lpcm-2-0-audio-blu-ray-analog-stereo/?goback=.gde_78816_member_274056135#!
Comments:
§ While this might be helpful if your BD player has only HDMI or digital outputs, many BD players will do everything this gizmo does. My Oppo BDP-93 will output 2-channel stereo full resolution audio from the RCA outputs, both MCH and stereo mixes, or MCH downmixed to 2-channel. So check your player's capabilities before you go out and buy this gadget.
⤷ posted Sep 18, 2013

Two Versions of Latest Album Available
Article on The Verge
For audiophiles tired of their heavy metal pop music always being compressed and mixed for MP3 quality, Nine Inch Nails has a second mix of their latest album that comes without excessive compression.

See the article above for details. Clearly the industry is aware of the issue, but whether there is a trend in this is doubtful.