Details Details Details...

So the room sounds great. It really does. People walk in, we shut the door and there's a "Wow" factor. It's that cool.

But.

You knew there was going to be a but, right?

The audio I was capturing, didn't sound 100%.  It was time to fine tune, get into the details of it.

The More You Listen

It's true, the more you listen, the more you hear. It was time to bring in a second set of ears and start tweaking some details. This is the hard stuff, you're ears much like your eyes will start to glaze over after a while due to fatigue. I brought in my brother-in-law Fred.

We could insert the usual "Brother-in-Law" jokes here, but I trust Fred and I trust his ears.  He's the Front Of House engineer (FOH) for Infinity Hall in Norfolk CT. (voted one of the best music venues) he takes care of his ears and if something sounds strange, he'll say so.

So I played what I was recording. It didn't sound bad, it just wasn't up to my standards. (me being all snobby...)

Start Testing Gear

The first thing to test, was the microphone.  I used my road kit as a test bed. PreSonus USB into a MacBook Pro laptop using a Mike Joly modded Rode NT1a. Good clean sound. I then swapped out the Rode for my Neumann u87ai.

Different levels, the Rode had a much hotter signal, but overall, once you normalize both of them, they sounded the same. So the microphone was ok. We tested the cable, it checked out too.

Onto the preamp. My suspicion was that the vintage Mullard tube had given up the ghost. But we started with various settings and found in the headphones, that things sounded ok as well. We bypassed the preamp (ART MPA Gold with vintage tubes) and went straight into the Mackie mixer. That sounded fine too.

So what the heck was going on?

A little more tuning on the preamp found the HPF, high pass filter, was turned up more than it should. We basically turned that off and the Neumann sounded brighter. The next thing we noticed is that the Mackie's preamps were up a little, so we turned those off. Clearer.

Still More

But when listening through the Yamaha NS10s monitor speakers, it sounded like a phase issue. I double checked the wiring, ground to ground, hot to hot, no mistakes there. The cables all checked out. I use Hafler amps to power the Yamahas, and I pushed it from stereo to mono on the back of the amp and the sound changed.

It shouldn't have.  We were listening to a mono file, on one channel panned center. Telling the amp to be stereo or mono should have made no difference. A couple more pushes on that button and it cleaned up and sounded right.

DUST! Seriously. The dirty connection was causing a weird phase issue and canceling out some of the audio.

NO WONDER!

And we also retired my 30 year old AKG K240 headphones. When we compared them to a set of Sony MDR7505's... the AKG sounded like mud.  They had served me well, but time marches on.

At this point, it was wine-O-clock. The recordings sound better. I'm happier. Thanks Fred!

Don't Buy Cheap Tools!

Simon, dial the way back machine to 1982....

Back in High School I worked with a genius, he taught French during the day and ran a company called Sound Dynamics at night. He was a true teacher. Pierre Paquin. He taught me volumes about sound and sound re-enforcement.

One night we took a trip to visit a friend of his in Cambridge MA, because he was selling a Reel to Reel recorder. A Technics. I had no idea how good a deal I was getting and bought it right there with the recommendation from Pierre.

This machine has been following me around the country for over thirty years now. I take good care of it, and it takes good care of me. The best part is how well it takes care of tape!

When I worked for Berkshire Broadcasting, we had some Revox decks that were brutal to tape. If you hit that stop button, it would STOP cold. You could almost hear the tape stretch. Bah.

But back on topic.

I have a method to my madness. I don't buy cheap tools. Cheap tools don't last and they break when you need them most. Can you imagine buying the cheapest saw blade you can find? There it is, whirling along at several thousand RPM and it decides to disintegrate... good plan.

Same goes with my audio gear. Solid gear. Mackie mixers, Pro-Tools, Neumann, MOTU. With good cables and proper connections. When I go into my studio to record, everything should work. No "fiddle with this till it comes on..." type of idea.

Invest in Yourself

This life is too short for half-hearted attempts at things. Go big, or go home. Seriously. If your goal is to be a voice actor, don't get the cheapest tools you can find and expect to have a positive experience. Now don't go out and buy a Neumann U87 and put in your closet recording space without really treating that room properly, you need to invest wisely. But don't buy junk. And when you need a piece of gear 30 years later. That freaking thing fires up and works and gets the job done. Period. Thank you Pierre!

The Magic of Marketing

Ok. I have an agent. James Pentaudi of Albany talent is one of the people that represents me and gets me work. Great guy, been with him for years and love working with him.

He books me for an on-camera shoot at an Albany studio doing pharmaceutical training material. I'm to play a patient with an unknown stomach ailment. I get the script a week early, it's a couple of paragraphs so I memorize it before the shoot, bring in a couple of oversized shirts as requested, show up ten minutes early, get my make-up done and I'm ready to rock.

Here's the fun part, the actors roster of who is going to be in for these several days of shooting is a long list of names. First and last. Except me.

I'm Monk. That's all it said. 2:30PM, playing the part of Frank Heller, Monk.  When I walked onto the set, the director yells "MONK!" The producer greets me as well. I handed off to the associate producer one of my Monk mugs, and she makes sure everyone knows that she has her own personnel Monk mug.

I am by no means a big fish in this sea, but name recognition, and friendly greetings and working with the same company a couple times on bigger and bigger jobs.... Nice.

Studio Build 28

I can not believe the last time I updated this project was in October 2012!

I have been able to sneak some work in here and there between theater productions. (ah the limelight!) So I figured I would give an update.

Saturday after Valentines Day, we got some LIGHTING DONE! No kidding, I have been using all sorts of standby lights, work lights and such to light up the space. A friend of mine donated some nice lights and I had a Saturday off with no rehearsals on the schedule, so I got busy!



These are the lights above the mix/edit desk. A nice warm glow, that's easy on the eyes.

Here is the other large image/sound absorption panel to the left of the desk.




Here is the door, when closed. The latch fits in the "Hatch" of the rocket ship. (sorry for the blur, must be too much coffee..)





Behind the mix desk are a couple of "Producer" chairs, nice comfortable chairs to listen to a mix or playback. The Rocket Lamp is created from an old theater light, now rewired as a glowing mood light.



And of course the microphone that started this all, my u87ai sitting next to a flatscreen monitor for script use.



Overall I would have to say the room is done, the lighting was the last major thing to tackle. I have a small display case to build for various props and such, (Rocketeer Helmet, lightsaber, raygun...) plus other cool things to art up the joint.

It's a great sounding space, dead quiet and comfortable to work in. Time slips by. I have to give a universe shout out to Mike Sommer who helped with some of the design, his drawings and guidance were what I needed to jump in and tackle this project. There will be a plaque on the wall thanking him!

All that's left to do is wire in a "Recording In Session" light that Scott Nilson gave me. The switch for that is in, I just have to finish the install outside the door.

 soon...

Studio Build 27

The Door.

Work on the door had stagnated as other projects took priority, but I caught a sale on cooler door latches and ordered my Kason 58 latch and assembly!

picture of latch, but mine doesn't have the tall catch, mine is "flush"

Now to finish skinning the interior of the door! The plan was to keep with the theme of retropolis and incorporate the latch with the motif. So I drew out a rocket. (sorry, more spacejunk)

Off to the Hardware Store!

I picked up one sheet of maple luan. I cut it down to 34x86 first.

Then I drew out what would be the hull of the ship on the leftover material and layered over the first sheet.

It's kind of tough to see but it's there. From there I cut out a "Hatch" and a porthole. Typical 40's drawing of a rocket ship. I then drew and cut the fin from the first layer of luan. Here it is roughed onto the door with some screws holding it in place. The panels are bonded with adhesive caulk to the door as well.

Once all screwed in, it will be stained dark to match the door. The pattern will be there, but it won't be so bold. Just a subtle (or not so subtle) hint of a rocket. 

Still more to do

Once the latch is installed, I can finish the door seals, there's one seal installed, two more to go to really tighten up the big hole in the wall called a door.

More on Friday, as this week is packed with rehearsals, performances and helping out other VO talent! WOO!

Tackling the Woodpile

When I worked with musicians on a daily basis, they would often use a phrase, "I'm going to have to woodshed this." Basically meaning they head out to the woodshed and practice a piece till they got it right. They wouldn't come out till they nailed it.

But when I talk about tackling the woodpile, I'm thinking of how we handle 6 cords of wood dumped in the driveway. Three large dumptruck full piles of split wood for the winter.

This is just four cords... 

If you look at this huge pile of wood, it's enough to make your back hurt. It is enough wood for an entire winter, plus some extra.

Every day, progress.

Each morning, for 15 minutes to half an hour we bite into this chaos and create order as we stack the wood into the woodshed. It may only be six or seven wheelbarrow loads a morning, but it is progress. Babysteps toward the end goal. The woodshed is getting full and the piles are getting smaller with the goal of getting everything stacked before snow flies.

Digging frozen wood out of the ice and snow is a real drag.

Ok, you have a fireplace and wood.  So what?

Well obviously this isn't a blog about long cold Upstate New York winters, but it is a blog about voice work and my home studio.

It's the same mentality though. Don't look at the whole pile of work to be done or you'll never start. You'll grab some hot cocoa or a glass of malbec and call it a day. Just do one thing to move you forward each day.

It's the same old story you've heard before, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." But for me, if I think about the whole journey, there's no way I have the energy to take that step. The thought of tackling the Appalachian Trail seems overwhelming to me, however taking a few steps down to the path, well, that doesn't seem too hard.

Nibble Nibble like a Mouse

Each day I move my business forward, it can be the simplest thing; write a blog post, email a past client, create a list of people to send marketing material too, do an audition or two.  Simple small things that move me forward. At the end of the month or the end of the year, I can see how far I've traveled!

One of the great things like an Un-Conference like FaffCon is that it gives you goals and also gives you the chance to look back at what you've accomplished since the last FaffCon. For me it's been the creation of this great studio space as well as doing more and more work and keeping busy. Tiny nibbles each and every day.

I hope that isn't too cheesy.  (Mouse pun intended...)

Distilling FaffCon5!

There's a phrase that I've used in the past, "Education with a firehose!" so much comes at you, so fast that it takes a moment or two to recover.

FaffCon5 did not disappoint!  The Omni Hotel in Charlotte did not disappoint either!  I'm a new big fan of the Omni Experience.

The Connections

Right from arrival and the shouts of "MONK!" and the hugs and the handshakes it was off and running.  Amy Snively (rhymes with LIVELY!) is the ringmaster that knows how to run the show.  Registration was flawless, organization was flawless, everything was perfect.  Really.  If there were any hiccups, none of us civilians knew about it!

The networking starts right out of the gate and the work starts that evening.

Details

Ok, I can't give all the details away here, "What happens at FaffCon, stays at FaffCon." but let me say this, there was no such thing as a dumb question or a secret.  If you needed to know something, you asked and people told you their techniques and tricks.  Ego's are left at the door.

I offered a session on home studio construction, why?  Um... read my blog, you'll see why.  And I'll share any advice or bump I've discovered along the way.  Anything I can do to help out someone in need.  I can't help it.

From there I took in sessions taught by people that are actively working and surviving in the wild waters of Voice Acting.  I met with producers, agents and other talent that have streamlined their business to the point of über efficiency!  If you haven't met Tom Dheere, then you don't know efficient you can truly be.

Just meeting and talking with Jeffery Kafer changed my life and workflow.  My conversation with him about outsourcing my QA and editing was blew my mind.  I walked away going, "Duh, that makes perfect sense!  Why doesn't everyone listen to Jeff?"

More!

Are you getting the idea?  Everyone I bumped into, old friends, new friends was a learning experience.  One person asked me, "Why do you market to other VO talent?" since I gave away mugs with my "mug" and contact information on it.  My response was simple, I see everyone as a potential contact.  You never know who may need a hand or something.  It may not be to hire me, but it may be to ask a question or advice.  And hopefully they won't forget my "mug!"

Doug Turkel, Debbie Irwin, Cliff Zellman, Ok, I have to stop, EVERYONE I spoke to, for even a brief moment was gold.  Seriously.  People share amazing information.

Summary

The next FaffCon will be next fall in San Antonio Texas, I'm hoping at an Omni hotel!  I haven't seen San Antonio since I left basic training at Lackland AFB, so I'm looking forward to visiting again. 

I'm still filtering all the information from FaffCon5 and I have some goals to reach before FaffCon6, so I'm going to GET BUSY!