@Lonnie - blog

The London Project - 2019 ISSA Finalist "Band of the Year" - @lonnielj

Sun, 12 May 2019 17:03:38 -0400

Thank you everyone for voting! We are very pleased to announce that The London Project is through to the finals. We cannot thank you enough for taking the time to vote! Lonnie and Don

New Song - I Wasn't There for You - @lonnielj

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 21:59:41 -0500

There is so much killing and violence in the world that we are numb to it now. The lives of many are forgotten much too soon. I hope the victims of the Las Vegas shootings will be remembered every time this song is played.
I Wasn't There For You - The London Project

New album coming soon! - @lonnielj

Mon, 05 Jun 2017 15:29:28 -0400

Everyday we are inching closer to having a complete album done. We are currently working on album art! Very excited to see things coming together.

Mr. Jones you will be missed - @lonnielj

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 12:57:34 -0500

Very sad day for the London Project. We lost another great one.
From the wire...
David Bowie, the other-worldly musician who broke pop and rock boundaries with his creative musicianship, nonconformity, striking visuals and a genre-spanning persona he christened Ziggy Stardust, died of cancer Sunday. He was 69 and had just released a new album.
Bowie, whose hits included "Fame," ''Heroes" and "Let's Dance," died "peacefully" and was surrounded by family, representative Steve Martin said early Monday. The singer had fought cancer for 18 months.
Long before alter egos and wild outfits became commonplace in pop, Bowie turned the music world upside down with the release of the 1972 album, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" which introduced one of music's most famous personas. Ziggy Stardust was a concept album that imagined a rock star from outer space trying to make his way in the music world. The persona — the red-headed, eyeliner wearing Stardust — would become an enduring part of his legacy, and a touchstone for the way entertainers packaged themselves for years to come.
Bowie turned 69 on Friday, the same day as he released a new album called "Blackstar."
"While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family's privacy during their time of grief," said a statement issued via his social media accounts. No more details were provided.
The singer, who was born David Jones in London, came of age in the glam rock era of the early 1970s. He had a striking androgynous look in his early days and was known for changing his appearance and sounds. After Ziggy Stardust, the stuttering rock sound of "Changes" gave way to the disco soul of "Fame," co-written with John Lennon, to a droning collaboration with Brian Eno in Berlin that produced "Heroes."
He had some of his biggest successes in the early 1980s with the bombastic "Let's Dance," and a massive American tour. Another one of his definitive songs was "Under Pressure," which he recorded with Queen; Vanilla Ice would years later infamously use the song's hook for his smash hit "Ice Ice Baby."
"My entire career, I've only really worked with the same subject matter," Bowie told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "The trousers may change, but the actual words and subjects I've always chosen to write with are things to do with isolation, abandonment, fear and anxiety — all of the high points of one's life."
Bowie lived in West Berlin in the late 1970s and Mayor Michael Mueller said Monday that "Heroes" became "the hymn of our then-divided city and its longing for freedom."
Germany's Foreign Ministry added Bowie was "now among heroes" and thanked him for "helping to bring down the wall."
Bowie's performance of "Heroes" was also a highlight at a concert for rescue workers after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks.
"What I'm most proud of is that I can't help but notice that I've affected the vocabulary of pop music. For me, frankly, as an artist, that's the most satisfying thing for the ego," Bowie said.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, but he didn't attend the ceremony. Madonna, another artist who knew something about changing styles to stay ahead of the curve, accepted for him and recounted how a Bowie concert changed her life when she attended it as a teenager. David Byrne, of the art rockers Talking Heads, inducted Bowie and said he gave rock music a necessary shot in the arm.
"Like all rock 'n' roll, it was visionary, it was tasteless, it was glamorous, it was perverse, it was fun, it was crass, it was sexy and it was confusing," Byrne said.
Bowie kept a low profile in recent years after reportedly suffering a heart attack in the 2000s. He made a moody album three years ago called "The Next Day" — his first recording in a decade which was made in secret in New York City. "Blackstar," which earned positive reviews from critics, represented yet another stylistic shift, as he gathered jazz players to join him.
He released a music video on Friday for the new song "Lazarus," which shows a frail Bowie lying in bed and singing the track's lyrics. The song begins with the line: "Look up here, I'm in heaven."
Tributes poured in for the singer after the announcement of his death. British astronaut Tim Peake tweeted about his sadness from outer space aboard the International Space Station, saying "his music was an inspiration to many."
British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that Bowie's death is "a huge loss." He wrote he had grown up listening to and watching Bowie and called the singer a "master of reinvention" and a pop genius who kept on getting it right.
The Rolling Stones wrote they were "shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the death of our dear friend David Bowie. As well as being a wonderful and kind man, he was an extraordinary artist, and a true original."
Bowie felt uneasy about some of his greatest material, once embarking on a "greatest hits" tour saying it would be the last time performing much of his old material. He later relented, however.
"I'm not a natural performer," he said in the 2002 interview. "I don't enjoy performing terribly much. Never have. I can do it and, if my mind's on the situation, do it quite well. But five or six shows in, I'm dying to get off the road and go back into the studio."
Bowie was married twice, to the actress and model Mary Angela "Angie" Barnett from 1970-80, and to international supermodel Iman since 1992. He had two children — Duncan Jones and Alexandria Zahra Jones — one with each wife.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9fQTQ6z324

Circling the Drain - @lonnielj

Fri, 05 Dec 2014 16:56:33 -0500

Hello everyone! We are happy to announce a new track from The London Project. This new song is called Circling the Drain and it is a bit of a preview on what to expect on our new concept album.
If you have a moment we would love for you to have a listen.
http://www.mixposure.com/the-london-project/audio/18844/circling-the-drain
Many thanks, Lonnie and Don

Please vote for our song in a song contest - @lonnielj

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 22:35:35 -0400

Hello everyone!We have submitted a song for consideration on a CBC radio contest and are hoping you could take a quick second and vote for us. No registration necessary. The URL is http://r3.ca/1fpZThank you!!!Lonnie and Don

Lover's Moon (Featuring Farrell Jackson) - @lonnielj

Sun, 23 Feb 2014 18:14:50 -0500

The London Project is very pleased to present our very first collaboration! Farrell Jackson delivers an outstanding performance on our new song, Lover's Moon. Thank you for your efforts Farrell!http://www.mixposure.com/the-london-project/audio/17181/lovers-moon-featuring-farrell-jackson

Kissed By Angels - The London Project - @lonnielj

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:04:35 -0500

Greetings all! We are happy to announce that we have a new song out called Kissed By Angels. This song is inspired by an event that I experienced in the summer of 2013.A young lady was struck by a car while crossing the highway. It happened only a few meters away from me and I was the first responder. I applied my "rusty" first aid knowledge, held her and comfort her until help arrived 10 minutes later. The fact that she survived that day could only mean that she was Kissed By Angels.http://www.mixposure.com/the-london-project/audio/17118/kissed-by-angels

Hockey Night in Canada Theme Song Contest - Our Entry - @lonnielj

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:04:40 -0400

Hi everyone,

Hockey Night in Canada is looking to replace their current nostalgic theme song. They have asked for song submissions from basically everyone in Canada (or so it seems). Anyhow, Here is a link to our submission.

Check it out! :) ... oh, and vote, we need lots of clicks!!
Hockey Night Tonight - The London Project

http://anthemchallenge.cbc.ca/mediadetail/283494

Mushroom Studio's - Vancouver, Canada - @lonnielj

Mon, 19 May 2008 18:09:55 -0400

I can remember many years ago, driving down W. 6th Street in Vancouver and seeing the big backlit Mushroom Studio's sign (wonder what happened to the sign anyways... isn't there anymore). Just the sight of the studio sign triggered memories of one of my favorite bands, Heart. Heart and the Mushroom label were synonimus at the time. The music during this era was very electifying to me. In some ways Mushroom Studios was very much a part of my childhood as I grew up living with the music that came out of this studio. As a producer/Engineer, this was truly something that I have wanted to experience my entire life.

Upon entering Mushroom Stuidio's I could quickly confirm that all my favorites had been there. Chilliwack and their "Dreams, Dreams, Dreams" gold record was displayed as expected. Tom Cochran and Red Rider, Marcy Playground, Loverboy, Prism and many other great records that I had forgotten about were recorded here as well. With all this history painted on the walls how can you not hear the music?

In 1946, one of Canada's first studios named Aragon Recording Studios was opened in Vancouver, aided by Al Reusch. Reusch was a musician, big band leader, and one of Vancouver's first DJ's. By 1954, Reusch acquired sole ownership of Aragon Studios which would lead to the construction of Mushroom Studios.

The current home of Mushroom Studios was built in 1966 at 1234 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver. Built by Aragon from the ground up as a first class audio recording studio, it was an orchestral recording room for special sessions by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC). Howard Tremaine consulted on the original acoustic design and equipment installation. One of the first clients was Diana Ross and The Supremes, and later Led Zeppelin would also record there.

This is the first of several blogs that will be writing as a result to my weekend full of rubbing elbows with some of the great producers and engineers that have worked in Vancouver.

During the next few days I will be writing about my experiences with Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Led Zepellin, Metallica, Aerosmith) Jeff Dawson (State of Shock, Daniel Powter, Holly McNarland) Roger Swan (K-OS, Swollen Members) Devin Townsend (Lamb of God, Bleeding Through, Darkest Hour) Ben Kaplan (Chevelle, Trapt, Shakira) GGGarth Richardson (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine) Howard Redekopp (Tegan & Sara, New Pornographers)

How to make a record (1937) - @lonnielj

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:38:56 -0400

The next time you complain about your computer crashing, popping, clicking or just generally not behaving, refer to this video. It will help keep things in perspective.

Audio Engineering Session 13 - @lonnielj

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:08:05 -0400

The first thing we did this class was a de-brief of our previous tracking session with Greg's band. We reviewed the workflow and came up with a basic strategy that should be used to maintain order and to stay calm. We were told that when recording a rock band, the most important thing is to get a great drum take. All the other instruments/vocals can be re-done easily as everyone was in separate isolation rooms.

An important aspect of tracking is communication. It is important for the engineer to make the musicians feel comfortable. This will bring out their best performance. It is best to keep everyone well informed about the tasks at hand and what will be happening next. If a lot of focus is on the drums for example, you can let the other musicians know that they can kick back and get a coffee. Tell the bass player to relax for 15 mins while the headphone mix is being dialed in. Without a doubt a good Audio Engineer will be able to bring out the best in them and not make them feel like they are under a microscope in a fish bowl.

Tracking can get quite stressful. There are a lot of things going on at once. A clearly defined plan is very important. Most of your energy needs to be directed at making a great mix. This is the ultimate goal in any tracking session. Of course there are several other aspects of major importance (mic placement, tuning etc), in the end a great mix will be inspiring to the musicians. Everything else will fall into place rather naturally if your energy is focused on the mix.

After the debrief we moved onto layering some additional tracks for one of Greg's songs from last session. We did some backing vox first. Greg sang into an Audio Technical AT4033.

After a couple of takes we moved on to recording the piano. We used a stereo pair of AT4033's. These were placed about 10 inches away from the strings. One on the low end and one on the treble end. Now then, Greg has been playing piano forever and this is a very nice piano in a very good room so as one would expect, the piano sounded great!

Audio Engineering Session 11 - @lonnielj

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:38:09 -0400

Theory for this week filled in a couple of blanks that we have had left over from previous sessions. First thing we did was finish ofF the acronym for the seven characteristics of sound (WAVEPHF). We now know these characteristics as Wavelength, Amplitude, Velosity, Envelope, Phase, Harmonics and Frequency.

One of the blanks we filled in was "Harmonic Content". In this example we will use "whole number multiples" of the A note. The first harmonic is the fundamental note. The remaining harmonics follow this example;

A = 110 Hz = 1st harmonic/fundamental, A = 220 Hz = 2nd harmonic, E = 330 Hz = 3rd harmonic, A = 440 Hz = 4th harmonic, C# = 55o Hz = 5th harmonic, E = 660 Hz = 6th harmonic,

G = 770 Hz = 7th harmonic, A = 880 Hz = 8th harmonic.

One example that was used to illustrate harmonic content was by using a piano. Upon striking the A note, you could hear the various harmonics as the note rang out.

The next item to discuss was "envelope". Envelope is also known as "loudness contour". There are three properties on an envelope. These are "attack, decay and release". A piano can be used to illustrate these envelope properties. When the keys are first struck, until the time the note reaches maximum amplitude, this could be considered the attack. The decay is the time this note will ring out and the time it takes to fade away. If the noted is "choked" then the time it takes for the note to finish ringing out is called the release.

An "envelope generator" introduces "sustain". In the case of keyboards for example, the envelope would be "attack, decay, sustain and release".

Now that we have moved on from the theory aspect of the session, it was time finalize our mixes. We began opened up our mixes where we left off last session. I found this illustration that provides a visual representation of mixing.

With many thanks to Greg, I have included a version of my mix which can be heard using the player below.

I have also posted a seperate track of the drums only. You can find the "drums only" version in the previous Audio Engineering Session 9 below. Next week we will be recording Greg's band doing a live set.

***In case you missed them on the first go around, previous sessions blogs can always be found here [url]http://www.imusicscene.com/the_london_project/blog.php[/url]***

Audio Engineering Session 10 - @lonnielj

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:27:44 -0400

Hooray!! The blog is now up to date over here at IMS. Future postings of this blog will now be once a week. If you wish to see my ohter blog entries please check out [url]http://beerhunter341.blogspot.com[/url] I will only be posting my Audio Engineering course over here but you can read about my other ramblings at my other site. Now back to our regularily scheduled program....

Mixing! W00t! My favorite part! I've always liked mixing. Back a few years ago, well ok. more like a lot of years ago, I used to mix my own party music on cassettes. I had a couple of turntables and an old Radio Shack mixer. I used to love doing my own crossfades. Some of the crossfades even started to have a life of its own. Anyways.. I guess what I'm try to say here is that it has captured my interest for over 30 years. Ha, even did some DJ'ing back in the day. Before I get to wrapped up in the past, let me get back to the session...

Now that we have all the pieces to make a song it was time to put it all together. The instructor gave us individual wav files from the previous sessions. We then imported the wavs into Sonar version 2.0. Yup, Sonar 2. Ok well now, gut reaction is, I'm on version 6 now, how can I benefit from using version 2. What is this antique piece of software? When I compare version 6 to version 2, there is not a lot different. In the end, you can acheive the same results. The biggest difference is that you can run earlier versions of software on REALLY cheap (old) machines. In our class we used a P3 with 256 Mb RAM. Keep the chuckles to yourself, in the end we were able to create a great mix. This reinforces the fact that it is the person behind the console, not the equipment that make a great mix.

In the end it is about having a great mix. Don't fool yourself into thinking that mean mixing with the latest, greatest software.

My Audio Engineering Journal - @lonnielj

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:20:02 -0400

Hi everyone,

I have been maintaining a blog for a few months now that documents the Audio Engineering class that I'm attending at a college here in Vancouver.

Dazed has thought it would be good to post in a blog in here as well. In order to get the two blogs in sync, I had to upload a bunch at once.

If you missed the first few blog entries, you can always see the complete blog history here; [url]http://www.imusicscene.com/the_london_project/blog.php[/url]

Cheers,

Lonnie

Audio Engineering Session 8 - @lonnielj

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:32:33 -0400

This sessing we track drums using the Roland VS-2480. We used the 8 builtin pre-amps. I didn't catch the name of tom or room mics but we used a SM57 on the snare and an AKG D112 on the kick. The tom mics were Audio-Technica ATM250's (I think, gotta confirm that. They were definately ATM's though) and the spaced pair room mics were AKG C451. We left 1 channel available to use if needed on either the hi-hat or the snare. We decided after hearing our setup that we didn't need it (this time).

The AKG D112 was placed in the kick drum about 4" to the left of the beater and about 6" away from the drum head, angled towards the beater.

The spaced pair of condenser mics (AKG 451) were placed 8 feet from the centre of the kit pointing at the space between the snare and the kick drum. They were 60" from the floor.

***In case you missed them on the first go around, previous sessions blogs can always be found here http://www.imusicscene.com/the_london_project/blog.php***

Audio Engineering Session 7 - @lonnielj

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:02:41 -0400

It took me awhile to get to this entry but here we go. Phase. What is it and why should we care about it? Well, phase issues appear from time to time and will (most often) have a negative impact on your recordings. Recordings that are out of phase will sound thin, muddy and just generally not too good. Phase issues can be difficult to track down. Microphones should be positioned in such a way as to reduce the possibility of phase issues.

An interesting psychoacoustic phenomenom occurs regarding phase. If you flip phase on one of two identical tracks they will cancel each other out.

Audio Engineering Session 5 - @lonnielj

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:49:19 -0400

Our session this week opened up with a discussion about file compression. This conversation was sparked by a recently created audio file compression discovered in Reaper called OGG. OGG files appear to be a very efficient means of file compression. Note: we were wondering about the OGG files being possibly the only option that Reaper would use, however I have looked into this and in fact Reaper supports many file formats. From the Reaper Help File

REAPER allows you to use different recording formats for different tracks in the same file. The default format for each new track that you create will be determined by your Project Settings. To change these or any track, simply right click over the track’s VU meter, then from the menu choose rack Recording Settings. You can choose any of the formats WAV, AIFF, Monkey’s Audio, FLAC,MP3, OGG Vorbis, or WavPack lossledd compressor. Depending on which format you choose, you will be presented with a range of options appropriate to that format.

WAV files that have an original file size of 40 MB can be compressed to about 400 k throught the use of OGG files. This is approximately 1/100 of the original WAV file size. By comparison, a typical MP3 file will be 4 MB or 1/10 of the file size. Please note: the above ratios are yet to be confirmed but I will be searching the web for the exact ratios. The MTP compression that the Roland V-Studio uses compresses by approximately 40%.

Next we learnt about velocity (speed of sound) and effects. Sound travels at a speed of 1130 feet per second. For ease of calculation we are rounding down to 1100 feet per second. References of thunder clap we discussed as a way of determining distance. Temperature also enters this equation. For every drop of 1 degree, sound will slow down by 1 foot per second. Here are some notes about effects. Reverb can be referred to as the overall ambient characteristic of the sound. Decay time refers to how long the note/sound sustains. Typical examples are a 2.5 second decay at a rock concert, .4 second decay in our classes live room, and 6 seconds in a cathedral. Diffusion refers to how smooth the reverb is. Early reflections are discernable echo/series of repeats. Repeats must be more than 35 milleseconds before a destict repeat can be detected. Chorus modulation is at a fixed rate and decay.

Now for the fun stuff. We began recording one of the instructors original tunes. In this session we first recorded a scratch track. This was done by recording a rough version of the song using one microphone and was set to a click track at 99 bpm. In this case we used an AKG 414 set to a circle pattern. The placement of the mic allowed for both the vocals and guitar to be well balanced. The location was approximately half way between the sound hole of the guitar and the mouth of the performer and about 12" in front. We then began replacing the scratch guitar parts with overdubs. One guitar overdub was panned hard left while a additional guitar overdub was panned hard right. Once we were happy with the guitar parts, we moved on to recording the vocals. We only had enough time to lay down one vocal track but the quality and performance were good enough to print and move forward. We saved the project and will be adding more instruments in the next lesson.

Audio Engineering Session 6 - @lonnielj

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:00:36 -0400

This weeks theory focused on acoustics and it is going to be a bit more difficult to condense down into bite size chunks like I have in past blogs. It is also testing my understanding of the topic at hand to the maximum. So with that being said, let me go make a sandwhich cause I think we are in for a long read.

There was mention of a computer application that will calculate the ideal speaker locations for any given room. You simply input the room data, such as dimensions and furniture etc and let the program calculate the optimum speaker placement. However, due to the complexity and countless permutations it can take a week or two to generate the information. Yes, a week or two (you read that right). A specific application was not mentioned as we were talking about the application functionality in general. I did some hunting on the web and found this one. TOA Speaker System Design Software. I am downloading it for free from their website as I write this blog. I'll be checking it out and I'll post my review in a separate blog entry. http://www.toaelectronics.com/speaker_software.asp UPDATE: I only had a chance to briefly check out this software package and I'm not sure that it will do what I described earlier. I will dig into this a little further at a different time.

We moved on to discussing "Room Modes" and why they are important to an Audio Engineer. A Room Mode Calculator can be found here http://www.mcsquared.com/metricmodes.htm Now then, I will try and explain room modes. A "Room Mode" is a set of frequencies that resonate between parallel surfaces. Room modes are calculated using the simple formula; frequency equals velocity divided by wavelength. For every 1000 hertz there are 9 modes. If you are like me you are asking yourself, why do I need to know about room modes? It is important to understand room modes as it will affect the quality of sound as the frequencies build up. Certain frequencies will get louder. The best example is to use the worst type of room, and that would be a cube. In this example we will say that this cube room is 10' x 10' x 10' to make the math simple. Using the formula frequency=velocity divided by wavelength we can calculate the frequencies. We know that the wavelength is 10 feet and the velocity is 1100 so we can then tell that the frequency equals 110 hz. This figure increases by 110 hz so then you would have 110, 220, 330, 440, 550, 660 etc. However, in this example we can cut the 110 hz in half to 55 hz. 55 hz is equal to the A string on a bass guitar. So in that example room the A string would sound louder because the room will resonate the frequencies more and they pile up to make it louder. Now that the problem frequencies can be identified, we can move on to treating the room. More on treating rooms in a future blog.

Audio Engineering Session 4 - @lonnielj

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:30:28 -0400

In this blog I would like to welcome my fellow AE students! Hopefully these blogs will help you as much as they help me. I should point out however that this blog is primarily written to re-enforce my understanding of the AE sessions. Certain information may be missing as I may have already gained this knowledge. Therefore it is important to say that this blog should not be a substitute for your own notes but rather a supplement to them.

This weeks session began with a discussion on WAV files. We took a look at a variable waveform in ProTools. Zooming in on the wav file we were able to see the peaks and valleys. It was pointed out to us that the waveform includes both amplitude and frequency information. The image to the right displays a typical waveform as viewed in many audio software applications. The image to the left displays a zoomed in image of the waveform. The jagged edge displays the frequency while the overall shape of the wave represents the amplitude.

Next up in our session was to learn about microphones and how a microphone operates. The example we looked at was a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone which is a staple in most every studio. The SM58 is known for it's ruggedness and it's ability to perform well on stage.

Microphones are a type of transducer which is a device that converts energy from one form or another. Microphones convert acoustical energy (sound waves) into electrical energy (the audio signal).

Different types of microphone have different ways of converting energy but they all share one thing in common: The diaphragm. This is a thin piece of material (such as paper, plastic or aluminium) which vibrates when it is struck by sound waves. In a typical hand-held mic like the one below, the diaphragm is located in the head of the microphone. When a magnet is moved near a coil of wire, an electrical current is generated in the wire. Using this electromagnetic principle, the dynamic microphone uses a wire coil and magnet to create an audio signal. The diaphragm is attached to the coil. When the diaphragm vibrates in response to incoming sound waves, the coil moves backwards and forwards past the magnet. This creates a current in the coil which is channeled from the microphone along wires.

Loudspeakers perform the opposite function of microphones by converting electrical energy into sound waves. This is demonstrated perfectly in the dynamic microphone which is basically a loudspeaker in reverse. When you see a cross-section of a speaker you'll see the similarity with the diagram above. In fact, some intercom systems use the speaker as a microphone. You can also demonstrate this effect by plugging a microphone into the headphone output of your stereo, although we don't recommend it! I have an old speaker that I have wired up to be used as a kick drum microphone and it works quite well in that application.

Well folks, that is about it for now. I will update this post at a later time. Discussion on the DI Box, gain staging and a look at the Shure KSM32 will be added at a later time.

*REMINDER: There will not be a session next week.

Audio Engineering Session 3 - @lonnielj

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:29:35 -0400

Heyyy!! I didn't get lost. Not only didn't I get lost but I confidently walked straight to the class. This was really good news for me as I was running late and was quite worried that I would be late for class. We started this session out by burning up some song tracks to CD so that everyone had some material to work with. They were burnt at 4x so that it would be a nice deep burn.

While the CD's were burning we entered a discussion about analog versus digital. Upon discussion we quickly realised that even though we all had a basic idea of what the two technologies were, we were not able to quickly describe them. In analog recording systems, the continuously varying amplitude of the sound waveform is translated to a continuously varying level of magnetism, LP groove amplitude, etc. In contrast, with digital audio encoding, discrete (noncontinuous) time sampling and amplitude quantization is required, a process that breaks the originally continuous and smooth waveform into a staircase or other pattern of pulses. The instructor went on to mention that "The Principles of Digital Audio by Ken Pohlmann" was a really good read for anyone that wants to get in depth information about digital audio and it's origins. I found a summary of this book here http://mcgoodwin.net/digitalaudio/digitalaudio.html.

After a short break we began discussing a bit about frequencies of instruments and why it is important to know them. Basically it is important to know the frequencies so that through the use of EQ you can increase (amplify) or decrease (attenuate) the corresponding frequency allowing for the instruments to sound better in the mix. We briefly talked about impedance which is basically resistance. High impedance cables are intended for short distance of under 15 feet. By contrast low impedance cables allow for an audio signal to travel a lot further without introducing signal loss. It is important to select the appropriate cable for the task at hand.

"Enough of the theory stuff" says the instructor and off to the control room we go. We begin with a quick review of the Roland DAW. When quickly moved on to the steps required to route a signal to the Roland DAW and onwards to the Peavey console. We setup the a computer to loop a song for continuous playback which would be used as a quick and easy sound source. We grabbed a SM57 from the mic closed and set it up about 12" directly in front of the computer. We then plugged it into the closest wall plate. Once this was done we returned to the control room to route the signal into the DAW and console. Once all the routing was physically connected we began working with the Roland DAW routing so that we could forward the signal to the console. I will stop writing here as there would be too many steps to list.

Audio Engineering Session 2 - @lonnielj

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:28:31 -0400

I got lost again! Well, not really but still don't know my way around the school. I ended up being one of the first to arrive. I got there in time to see some band members loading up our isolation booth with instruments!! Band dudes! Get out of our room. I didn't say it but I sure was thinking it.

The instructor arrived right on time and after a bit of chit chat he talked about one of his students that brought in his SAW system. Built with a Asus MB, SATA drives, Lightpipe and a Frontier interface. We didn't get a chance to see it or discuss it much more. Sounded interesting and I'd like to learn more about it.

We checked out a ProTools system. It was an older 001 running with PT 5.01. Quickly went over the interface. 2 mic pres, and 6 analogue ins. We opened up a project and did a basic mixing

overview.

Into the control room we go. We spend a bit more time on the board this time. First off we learnt a bit about the board itself. This is a 32x16x32 board meaning, 32 input channels, 16 sub channels and 32 monitor channels.

We then went on to reading the meters. The meters read voltage with 1.23 volts = 0 on the meters. This is considered pro standard. 0 being optimum. In comparison, VU meters on a consumer cassette deck only require 0.316 volts to be at optimum. Because of this variation, it is important to watch that you don't overdrive consumer level products with the board. He went on to say that broadcast standard requires 1.96 volts = 0.

We also found out that 0 on the board is equal to -20 on the Tascams. Another way to look at it is, 0 = full scale on a digital syatem which equals +20 on the board.

Next up... the Roland V-Studio 2480. This is a DAW unit with 8 preamps and 16 inputs. It will record up to 96k - 24 bit. It can be connected to a pc through the use of Roland R-bus PCI cards (up to 2). It has a built in CD burner and a 80 gig drive partitioned into 6 drives. It uses native compression (MTP) to save space on the drive.

AT this point there would be way too much to describe in this blog as we dove into the DAW quite a bit. If you want to learn more about the Roland you are going to have to RTFM. Basically it was pointed out that we are going to be using this piece of equipment at lot in this semester.

I guess that is about it for this week. Bye for now.

Audio Engineering Session 1 - @lonnielj

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:48:17 -0400

I left home early so that I would have plenty of time to check things out at the college (never been there before). Parking wasn't a problem at all. (due to the fact that this is an evening course I'm sure). So off I go into the school. Wow, its big. I see that there is a large lobby with 3 wings. Cool cause I know that it is in the 3rd wing. Signs are everywhere to guide me. Room 3825 is just over there through the doors on the right, I say to myself. Found the room pretty quickly but it started to feel kinda strange. There is no studio here and why are there a bunch of people talking about physics. Hmmm... Back to the front lobby I go. Quickly spotted the general information area and found out the guy gave me the WRONG ROOM NUMBER! It was actually 3285. Now it is getting close to the time the class starts and I still don't know where the room is. Well, eventually I found the room with about 5 minutes to spare. Two students were already there. Four more arrived to make a total of 7 in our class.

We grab some chairs and start our session in the live room.

The teacher introduced himself and asked a couple of basic questions like, how did you hear about us etc. He moved onto the session pretty much right away. He showed us some cable types and began talking about what it takes to make a good recording. "Good musician+good room+good instrument+good engineer=proffessional product". "But how do you define a good instrument", he says. He then used drums as an example. How do you know a good drum kit? By the way it sounds, and general reputation. He went on to say that a good drummer can make a crappy kit sound good.

On to learning about SPL and decibels. Here is the basic breakdown;

-To increase the volume units (VU) by 3 dB, 10x the energy is required. To increase by another 3 dB, 20x required. To increase yet another 3 dB to make a total of a 9 dB increase requires 40x the energy etc. It is an exponential scale.

Here are some quick info bits on dB.

74 dB is conversation level. This is based on the phone system. It was a comfortable volume to speak to someone on the other end of a phone.

118 dB is the threshold of feeling.

130-140 dB is the threshold of pain

Ambient noise is around 25-35 dB.

After a quick break we went into the control room. He introduced us to the equipment which included a Peavey 1600 32 channel console, Avalon pres, Focusrite, Tascam and some really nice vintage Tannoy monitors and a set of Genelecs. A Roland DAW was hooked up to a set or Roland monitors as well. Too much stuff to list so I will try and get some pictures next week.

EDIT: These pictures were taken during the second session but I thought it would be appropriate to update this post rather than start a new one.

My new Audio Engineering blog - @lonnielj

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:44:11 -0400

I have been a recording and creating music for the past 6 years. I am mostly self taught with the help of many great sites on the internet. I am in a band called The London Project and I record all of our stuff in my home studio. You can listen to our latest music at http://www.thelondonproject.ca/

I have been interested in music all my life. I guess what started it all was a Christmas present when I was 9 (35 years ago). A cassette recorder and 3 tapes; Nazereth Rampant, Gordon Lightfoots Greatest Hits and The Stampeders. It came with a couple of blank tapes as well as a microphone. Didn't take long before I was recording my voice doing hockey broadcast impersonations.

A few years later I began collecting LP's. I still have most of them (about 500 in total). I eventually used my knowledge of music to get me some DJ work. Spun the platters just for fun at company parties etc. while going to college to learn Graphic Design. My graphic knowledge launched a career in the Trade Show and Signage industry. Working daily on computers lead me down the Information Technology path which is what I currently do for a living.

I selected this particular course as it was in the evenings and would allow me to keep working.

The course is broken down into six levels. The first three levels are grouped together and teach you recording fundamentals. Rather than listing what the literature says about what we will be doing, I will write separate blogs on what we were actually taught.

I hope you find these blogs helpfull. I'm not the greatest writer but I will try to keep you entertained.

Audio Engineering Session 14 - @lonnielj

Mon, 05 May 2008 20:35:27 -0400

In this session we all shuffled around which audio application we were to use. Emile and Cash on Sonar, Greg and Jessie on the V-Studio, and Sophie and I were are on Pro Tools.

For us to be able to mix last weeks tracks we first had to use a ripper tool which converts Roland's proprietary file format to WAV files. The ripping process only took about 2 minutes.

Once we imported all the tracks into ProTools we gave it a quick listen. It sounded really good without any tweaks. This was because we spent some time last week capturing great sound right at the source.

I hadn't had a chance to hear the piano tracks up until now. As mentioned earlier, we used a pair of AT 4033's (see session 13 for more on mic'ing the piano). Click on the player to listen to the raw piano tracks. No effects have been added. The tracks have only been panned hard left and right. It should be noted that this is not a stand alone piano piece. I simply solo'd the piano from the multitrack session.