The booking is definite

Your check's in the mail

We can fix it in the mix

The show starts at 8

My secretary will take care of it

I'm sure it will work

Your tickets are at the door

It sounds in tune to me

Sure, it sounds fine at the back of the hall

I know your mic is on   I checked it myself

She'll be backstage after the show

Yes, the spotlight was on you during your solo

The stage mix sounds just like the program mix

The club will provide the PA and lights

I really love the band

We'll have it ready by tonight

We'll have lunch sometime

If it breaks, we'll fix it for free

We'll let you know

I had nothing to do with your marriage breaking up.
It was already on the rocks long before I ever met you

The place was packed

We'll have you back next week

It's on the truck

My last band had a record deal, but we broke up before recording the album

Someone will be there early to let you in

I've only been playing for a year

I've been playing for 20 years

We'll have flyers printed tomorrow

I'm with the band

The band drinks free

You'll get your cut tonight

We'll supply someone for the door

There'll be lots of maintenance guys when you get there to help you

You'll have plenty of time for a sound check

My other horn is a Mark VI

We'll definitely come to the gig

You can depend on me showing up on time

There was traffic, that's why I'm late

I left my instrument home, so I had to go back and pick it up.  That's why I'm late

Stage hand talking to band:  The monitors are on!

Music Editing for TV Animation
"SpongeBob SquarePants"
Erik Hawkins
Electronic Musician, June 1, 2000
The wacky undersea world of SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon's first original Saturday-morning cartoon, is officially a hit. Recently touted by TV Guide as the most watched Saturday-morning kids' show, this highly original series springs from the mind of marine biologist Steve Hillenburg-which explains the show's oceanic slant. It features a host of kooky saltwater characters: the protagonist, SpongeBob, a pants-wearing, rectangular, bucktoothed sea sponge with goo-goo eyes; his pet snail, Gary; his best friend, Patrick the starfish; an egotistical clainet-playing neighbor, Squidward; and SpongeBob's love interest, the beautiful Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel who lives in an underwater biodome. The show's theme is simple: SpongeBob's simpleminded antics, although well intentioned, continually wreak havoc. More...





Comping a Vocal Track
Scott R. Garrigus
Electronic Musician, Nov 1, 1999
No matter what kind of songwriting you do, the vocal tracks are typically the most important element for connecting with the listener and conveying emotional content. It's therefore crucial that you produce the best possible vocal tracks, even when the singer doesn't deliver that elusive "perfect" take. More...

Hot Topic of the Week - Picking the "Best" Stereo Preamp!
Microphone and line preamps are worth their weight in gold if they're
delivering the "sound" you desire. One Sweetwater Forum user writes,
"I'm in conquest of an incredibly versatile stereo preamp. I don't
have huge bucks to spend, but I am willing to buy something that is
some of the best quality available." While many would agree that sound
quality is very subjective, and "best" largely depends on the style of
music you're producing, which stereo preamp would you suggest? What
are you using, and what have you heard that you wish you could own?
Chime in and lend a hand!
http://www.sweetwater.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=6286









Technical Tip Of The Day:
Alert: this is NOT nostalgia Tech Tip, no matter how often we say,
"Remember when...!" This is a reminder that keyboard players, past and
present, can enhance the sonic variety of their boards, vintage or
modern, through the use of the myriad of stomp boxes. originally
designed for guitars. You can make yourself instantly more valuable to
your band or to any recording session by offering more sounds to
contribute to the mix.

Guitar effects have been keyboard players' "secret weapon" for years.
A few examples:

In the 1970s the "Big 3" effects heard on most classic Fender Rhodes
pianos were the MXR Phase 90 phase shifter , a tape echo unit like the
Roland Space Echo and the Crybaby Wah. For phase shifting, think of
Billy Joel's "I Love You Just The Way You Are" (sorry, lounge
veterans). Herbie Hancock's groundbreaking track "Chameleon" moved
from Clavinet to heavily echoed Rhodes in its middle section. And
perhaps the ultimate Clavinet/wah pedal combination was heard on
Stevie Wonder's mega-hit "Higher Ground." Tube preamps were also used
to warm up the Rhodes, giving it that 70's Steely Dan clean-tone
(Tine) sound.

Led Zeppelin used the Rhodes more than many listeners realize. John
Paul Jones created the swirling "underwater" sound of "No Quarter" in
concert, by feed ing the Rhodes through a Maestro PS-1A phase shifter.
Incidentally, this phaser was developed by Tom Oberheim, who later
produced the famous Oberheim synthesizers.

Wurlitzer electric pianos also ruled in the late 1960s and through the
1970s. How many of us (at the time) recognized the haunting opening
chords of the Beatles' "I Am The Walrus" as a heavily processed
Wurlitzer? On Supertramp's "The Logical Song" Roger Hodgson took the
Wurly output into a DI and then split it through a Boss chorus pedal
to give it a half-straight and half- modulated chorus sound.

Keep in mind that Rhodes' and Wurlitzer's passive electronics are not
much different from an electric guitar. Almost any guitar effects can
also be used on a these pianos, so long as the piano's signal goes
through a preamp at the beginning of the effects chain.

As synthesizers took over the keyboard world, stomp boxes remained
essential tools for fattening signals and providing interest. Although
groups like Yes and EL&P tended to focus on the power of the synths
themselves, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream made heavy use of (often
custom-designed) guitar-oriented signal processors. And in the funk
world, George Clinton of P-Funk ran a variety of synths through his
Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron envelope filter for constantly swirling
modulation.

Synths evolved through the 1980s and 1990s, and many manufacturers
developed sophisticated internal effects units that complemented their
sound programming powers. Some impressive workstations from Korg,
Kurzweil, Roland and Yamaha featured digital effects processing that
rivaled what was found in dedicated studio boxes.

But still, guitar boxes rocked the keyboard world! Look under the
Chemical Brothers' heap of live-show synths and controllers and you'll
find loads of vintage guitar processors, including Electro Harmonix'
Bass Microsynth, Guitar Micro-Synthesizer, Electric Mistress, Tone
Bender and Space Drum; an Ibanez analog delay, Schaller tremolo, a
Morley wah and more.

There are some technological hurdles when connecting modern keyboards
to vintage guitar effects boxes. Most synthesizers have Line-Level
audio outputs that can overload a typical effects box, designed for
the lower level signals and the higher output impedances of guitar,
which usually needs to receive a Hi-Z guitar input. One hardware
solution is to use a re-amplifier , which converts line-level input to
Hi-Z instrument output without adding noise. Unfortunately, these
boxes cost from $250 - $500, making them as expensive as the effects
box you want to connect! Sweetwater Tech Support recommends a more
affordable workaround: use mic attenuators between your keyboard out
and the stomp box in. For example, the ProCo MAX20 provides 20 dB of
attenuation , which should eliminate any overload. You need a couple
of adapters to convert its XLR connectors into 1/4" for the effects
box.

So whether your keyboard rig is onstage or in the studio, you can
realize a world of sonic possibilities you may never had thought about
by simply plugging in to a piece of guitar technology, old or new.
Give it a try!

______________
- phaseshifter -
http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wphaseshifter
- DI - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wDI
- chorus - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wchorus
- modulation - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wmodulation
- passive - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wpassive
- synthesizer - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wsynthesizer

- envelope - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wenvelope
- filter - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wfilter
- wah - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wwah
- LineLevel - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wLineLevel
- impedance - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wimpedance
- Hi-Z - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wHi-Z
- re-amp - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wre-amp
- dB - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wdB
- attenuation - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wattenuation

- XLR - http://www.sweetwater.com/click/is_042304/wXLR
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