Ask a music scene micro celebrity

[ICallHimGamblor]

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Cds have a per-unit lifespan of 20 years or so, if you're lucky. Many fail in as little as 5 years. Other than physically breaking or gouging it, there's no reason a vinyl record won't last several hundred years. Purely-digital data (downloads and other sound files) are infinitely more fragile, since they exist only resident on a drive (which is itself vulnerable to failure) and dependent on soft aware to make any sound at all, and that software is beholden to the software maker for all its functionality, and that software is beholden to the computer industry as a whole. This is more of a problem with proprietary file formats for professional use, but it is true nonetheless.

I have been through this particular debate almost as often as the major label vs independent label debate, and I don't have the energy to recite all the point-by-point discussions, but if you do archive searches at prosoundweb and rec.audio.pro and the Ampexlist at recordist.com you'll find several thousand words from me on the topic.

Once you're up at the front of the boat, we can discuss what's ahead.

Regarding sales, CD's only real advantage (not perceived, but real) over vinyl is convenience, and that is how they won their market share. Ipods et al trump that step in convenience by a mile, and so I expect that CDs will lose the convenience-first battle to downloads. That will be the end of them.

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You are right... I know you have had this argument a zillion times before, and will go through prosoundweb and recordist sites to see what you have written before. I just wondered if there was any new perspective from what I have seen you write in the past few years.

I refuse to tread in rec.audio.pro anymore because of the jawdropping arrogance (gawddamn, I hate fletcher), or the electrical forums (because of the nine million irrelevant posts by TooManyHelicopters and his ilk or the bizarre tangents about Karl Rove).

Have a nice evening, and thanks for humoring me. Baseball is still boring.

[village]

Oh, Stevie-baby. I still love you no matter what.
So, did you buy the This Heat boxed set or did you already own everything in it?
And here's another joke:
Q: How many Steve Albini's does it take to change a light bulb?
A: "The light bulb wanted me to change it but I just left it like it was originally."

[king of the deck]

steve,
what do you think of the mellotron?

yes thats a serious question

as an aside this thread has motivated me to check out a lot of good music i wouldnt otherwise... i really enjoy rocking the jesus lizard albums while playing HU sngs...

[electrical]

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steve,
what do you think of the mellotron?

[/ QUOTE ]
The mellotron, for those unfamiliar, was a keyboard instrument that played magnetic tape recordings of notes played by real instruments or voices. It made its most famous appearances on the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields," where it played the staccato recorder part, and several Led Zeppelin songs, where it generally played as a string section.

They're kind of a pain to keep working properly (they never really work 100 percent), and the keyboardist has to be able to adjust to the unusual feel of the keyboard, but they have a charming sound and are a neat little character element when they're used appropriately. Ours has two sets of tapes, for a total of 6 voices, and gets used pretty often.

[galmost]

Whats your stars sn?

Favourite pornstar?

[electrical]

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Whats your stars sn?

[/ QUOTE ]
Don't have an active account. Used to play on a shared account, so I shouldn't give the SN.

[ QUOTE ]
Favourite pornstar?

[/ QUOTE ]
No real favorites. I kinda admire truly hideous people who have made a career out of being naked and getting laid on camera, the clear champion being Ron Jeremy. I guess "admire" is too strong a word.

[pointfive]

First to the 2+2 folks upon whose turf I reluctantly tread: thanks for tolerating us slobbering fanboys/girls as we clamber to pick Mr. Albini's cortex. You've been most gracious.

A quick question or two for you, Steve: during your many years in the music business, I'm sure you've been made countless offers that would require you to compromise your values in order to accept. Have there been any you were particularly tempted by? Were there any you seriously considered accepting? (Or did accept?) Share as many details as you like.

And thanks for your well-crafted and clearly expressed sentiments about the music industry, both within this thread and outside of it. You're an inspiration, and it's great to not have to learn a lot of what you talk about the hard way. Not to mention, as a musician you've helped me to remain focused on what's important rather than the nonsense I "should" be trying to "accomplish".

[pointfive]

Also, any tips for recording violin? Any special considerations to take into account when recording electric violin vs. acoustic?

I tend to equate violin to a vocal performance, somewhat. Am I way off base? When I started to think this way, my results improved, but they're still nowhere near what I'd consider good.

[king of the deck]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
steve,
what do you think of the mellotron?

[/ QUOTE ]
The mellotron, for those unfamiliar, was a keyboard instrument that played magnetic tape recordings of notes played by real instruments or voices. It made its most famous appearances on the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields," where it played the staccato recorder part, and several Led Zeppelin songs, where it generally played as a string section.

They're kind of a pain to keep working properly (they never really work 100 percent), and the keyboardist has to be able to adjust to the unusual feel of the keyboard, but they have a charming sound and are a neat little character element when they're used appropriately. Ours has two sets of tapes, for a total of 6 voices, and gets used pretty often.

[/ QUOTE ]

6 voices? i only know of the recorder/flute, string section, and choir voices. what others are there?

yeah "when used appropriately" i guess that is the key with mellotron. i have some pretty good tron samples and i put them on pretty much every song i record lol (also vibraphone samples)
and yes i use digital because it is essentially free.
i just think the mellotron flute is about the greatest sounding thing ever, up there with a real violin. also when i think of famous records/bands who used mellotron i usually think of the first king crimson album because it is very prominent on multiple songs... but yeah strawberry fields, everyone knows the intro.

anyway jesus lizard.. other than liar and goat which have been mentioned in this thread, what other albums of theirs should i check out?
ty steve

[buhce]

Hello again and thanks for you previous reply,

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The conventional or hack approach to a problem of wide dynamic range is to use compressors to restrict the top-end of the dynamic range, but I have never liked the artificial sound quality imparted by this method.


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But you must use compressors for some things, though surely. As I've read a many articles which claim that you don't and wouldn't touch them 10ft pole, which doesn't seem like your approach to things, from what I've gathered from your forum responses.My presumption is that you do use them and writers of these 'articles' colour your opinions by means of their understanding of language rather than a neutral position and as result try and caracature you.Which is extremely frustrating from my stand point, when you're trying to teach yourself.So just to set the 'record' ( no pun intended) straight perhaps.If you do use them on a typical Steve Albini recording ( if there is such a thing) what do you find yourself using them on and for what gain.(again no pun intended)

And yet another side question that you've probably been asked loads of times, but who pushes the record button and mans the desk when you've been recording shellac material?

Thanks again.