[Will Salley]

The only suggestion I would have is to roll-off the low end using a low-cut filter or EQ at about 250 Hz (-6db/octave roll-off). Unless you actually have a reason to make your audience aware of something at that frequency range. Many theatres are set-up for THX or some other sub-harmonic processing and it can get really annoying if it’s used incorrectly. I assume your program is not 5.1 surround so you may not even be sending anything to that channel anyhow.

[Will Salley]

I think most sound guys are faced with the same dilemma, I know I am constantly buying and upgrading equipment to suit different needs. Judging from your current list you have a fairly good ENG package. What I did was to make an primary ENG package and a Cinema-style package. Both of them share several wireless mics and some batteries. Other than that, I try and keep them separate because the ENG work is very hard on equipment and I prefer not to subject most of the new stuff to such abuse.

If I were in your shoes, I would hold on to the gear you have now and use it to build an ENG kit. You can use the wireless you have and share it for use with a more cinema-based package. The next thing would be to add a few channels of wireless (and I agree that Lectro is the way to go – but that can be something you purchase over time). The Sound Devices 442 is a good choice, especially if you have, or intend to purchase, other Sound Devices gear (i.e.: 442 + 302 + 744 = 9 channels). If you find that you don’t need all four channels of the 442, then check into the 302. I have both and I find myself using the 302 more than the 442 just because of size- and I like the pots on the 302 better. The difference in cost could save you enough to buy a better mic!

You also probably need a long-reach shotgun (Senn. MKH70 or equal) for exteriors, and then a good, high-end cardioid for interiors (Schoeps CMC641 is a good choice but, again, expensive).

You will need a time-code slate if you plan on doing film, or film-style HD work. Ditto on a sound cart.

In my opinion, the Tram is great for ENG, where it’s exposed and can be screened for wind, but they aren’t as good as say, a Countryman B6, or Sennheiser MKE-2, or Sanken Co-11 for concealing and planting. Also, even though the Tram is an omni, it’s a side-address omni, and it needs to positioned with some orientation favoring the source so it’s not as easy as just putting the capsule of a B6 on a prop or in hair.

By the way, how do like the Oktavia mic?

[Will Salley]

…and DVCAM provides full SMPTE Timceode implementation.

[Will Salley]

I never considered Bobby Brown or Milli Vanili rap acts – they actually sing…well Bobby Brown does. Somebody sang the Milli stuff. I’ve never heard of Snap.

Here’s where you might want to stop reading if your are into rap, hip-hop, etc.

I’ve been in the music business for all of my adult life and in the pro audio business for about 18 years. This includes being a club DJ, radio announcer, record store manager, guitar player, studio engineer, and location sound recordist as well as some other jobs related to the music biz. I can tell you most of the Top 40 songs, artists, and label of every song from 1960 to 1985 – after that I lost interest. Why? Because somewhere about 1980, “pop” music gradually became more about image (blame MTV) and technology (blame MIDI and synths), and less about harmony, melody and feel. About 1978, In the discos of New York City, the DJ’s took the intrumental sides of 12″ singles and began rapping over the music. The song “Rapper’s Delight” was released by The Sugarhill Gang and actually was classified in many reviews as a “novelty” record. The song was a fairly big hit and featured the music track from “Good Times” by Chic.

Rap acts have been ripping-off, or stealing, creative works ever since. Notice I did not say borrowing ideas or emulating syles – they steal other peoples music. Now, I know there are a few rap/hip-hop artists who create their own works and who actually have some talent and have made some pretty good recordings of their own. Arrested Development, OutKast, and The Black Eyd Peas, among others, have recorded some excellent tracks, but those recordings were outside of the genre and used real instruments and singers.

In the early days, singers and performers often would regard rap as a fad and not as a “legitimate” musical form. While that is still debateable, it’s certainly been around long enough to be considered a “form of art”. I could use up a great portion of this forum discussing rap’s validity, or lack thereof, as a legitimate musical form, but I think the topic here is more psychological in scope and less about musical taste, so I’ll only say that, in most definitions of music, harmony, melody, and beat are all essential. Which leads me to try and answer part of your original inquiry.

Rap – and most hip-hop, certainly has a beat, and it’s almost always created by a sequencer or drum machine with a very machine-like pattern. It’s this beat that has become so prominent in most modern R&B, fusion jazz, and even some modern country. It’s also, the thing that so many people find incredibly irritating about the genre. When you add the sub-harmonic bass drone, and the vulgar, beligerent attitude of the rap on top, it’s no wonder so many people find it offensive. Just go back to some of the electronic pop of the eighties and listen to say, A Flock Of Seagulls. The music is very melodic and “hooky”, but the synthesized drum tracks have induced headaches in this 40 year old. It sounds dated. As hard as Black Sabbath and Led Zepplen sounded in the seventies, they are still less abrasive than anything with sequenced tracks. As we age, we become more agitated by such machine-like recordings and most people find it dificult to tolerate even though they may not know exactly what it is that they find irritating.

The good news is that there are still real musicians out there making excellent rock, blues, soul, and jazz with real players – and recording great material. John Mayer, Al Green, Jason Mraz, Natalie Cole, Jackie Greene, Murali Coryell are but a few of the artists with new releases out now that will be as fresh twenty years from now – to people of all ages – as it is today, try making that claim with Eminem or Public Enemy, or (giggle) K-Fed.

This analysis also hold true for drum machines used by real musicians for performance and/or recording. Computers are good at many things, but they will suck the soul out your music if you let them.

[Will Salley]

To add to what Stephen said: The audio sweeting process is usually started AFTER “picture lock”, when all visual editing is complete. You can color correct but you can’t do anything that would put the rest of the timeline out-of-sync.

[Stephen Muir] “Meanwhile, if you feel the need to further refine your picture edit, remember to provide the audio post team with a detailed change list along with new picture and OMF versions.”

I would recommend against this, having been on both sides of many sessions. A new OMF import usually means you have to start over, except for saved effects.

[Will Salley]

Frequency scanners – such as thoses found on higher-end receivers – will scan for any signal on the bandwidth, not just commercial stations. It could be any number of users, but you can count on the “holes” (areas of available bandwidth) changing on an hourly basis in most major metros. I don’t think one bank is favored over another in general. However, if your primary market has less wireless activity in a certain block, or bank, then it would likely have more available holes.

[Will Salley]

I have had this same thing happen to several i/o cards over the last few years. I have an almost identical setup with one of my systems (G5 > Decklink SP > powered monitors). In my situation I discovered that it it was oxidation on the pins of the connector going into the card – not at the PCI slot but at the cable port.

My solution is a product called Caig De-Oxit. It’s very good a removing oxidation from connectors and also protecting them from further problems. I have the spray can – but would recommend the tube – because you don’t want to saturate the entire connector with the product, just the pins. I spray a bit on the end of a Q-tip and gently apply it to the pins only, which are on the cable, and then connect the cable. This would also work on the tabs of the PCI connector as well, but you don’t want to get too much De-Oxit on them because it would cause resistance between the tabs, which would not be good.

I also have a Pro Tools system which sometimes produces silmilar distortion in the audio – it sounds a bit like digital clipping because it occurs mostly at signal peaks, but it also has some low level “”pink noise”. It may be something about the voltage levels of a balanced audio signal that cause this to happen or it could be the crazy humid weather here in the Southeastern US.

If your problem occurs equally across both channels, it’s probably on the PCI side of the card, or it may not even be an oxidation problem at all.

One more thing – This seems to occur only on the systems that are cycled on and off, I’ve never had it happen to my primary system which stays on all the time.

[Will Salley]

These charts will tell you where the commercially-licensed users are, but after that you’ll have to scan or manually search channels while on location.

https://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/mat_dev/frequencyfinder/Freqfinder-ew.asp

[Will Salley]

Luke, I did the un-install before updating to 5.7 as well as retrograding back to 5.4.2.

[Will Salley]

1) What is a “GV”

2) Why can’t you go to the countryside and roll a few minutes of tape – without crew or talent? Just a pair of mics.

3) “general ambient sound” doesn’t really exist. It’s either a bird, or water. or wind, or an air conditioner, or a lawn mower, or siren, or crickets, or hip hop, well, you get the point.