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April 25, 2012

Well, all of the equipment is in now, and flyers have been posted in some places around Iowa City and Coralville. So at this point, I am available to come out and record local groups, bands, students, musicians, etc. at their rehearsal spaces, home studios, and whatnot.

Note: I will be out of town from May 16th to the 20th for a relative's graduation over in Philly.

Also, I have started a facebook page for more exposure, and you can visit it at www.facebook.com/ByteMixSoundDesign If you like the idea, feel free to click that "like" button. :)

April 18, 2012

Quick clarification, and a correction on my part.  I mentioned I was getting the sE Electronics 2200A MKII mic.  Well, that's still technically true, but it's actually the 2C version. The difference is that this mic doesn't have the multiple pattern selects like the regular MKII, but it does include a high-pass filter, and a 10dB pad. So it's still a good all around utility mic.

Perhaps I'll get the other version at a later date, providing everything goes well. I'd also like to get a pair of X1's.  All in good time! :)

April 9, 2012

Quick update on the gear: So, I've pretty much got everything in, and I'm just waiting on the SE Electronics mics. Which, I will not be getting the 2200A model as it is being phased out. I'll actually be getting the 2200A II model, which is almost exactly like the original, except it has the added utility of having multiple pattern selection. The mic can be set to cardioid, figure 8, or omni type patterns. Of course, this makes it a little more expensive than its predecessor. I'll be happy to have it in my arsenal nonetheless.  :)

March 19, 2012

After some careful thought and planning, I will soon be offering on-site (or "mobile") recording services to local bands/groups/students, etc. around the Iowa City area. Ideally, I would like to keep things on a fun, educational (for both sides) and low pressure kind of situation.

I have updated the studio profile with a "pending" section for the equipment I will have available shortly. I am not guaranteeing a studio or album quality sound, since I'll be traveling to the person wanting to record. I.E. I'll be recording in their basements, rehearsal spaces, home studios, and whatnot. But, the sound should be useable, and I can also offer to do the mix and create an Audio CD for use as a portfolio.

I will also (by default and part of the service) create a Data CD with all the individual raw tracks, as well as the mixed-down tracks that the band could take and get mixed elsewhere if they choose, or they could take the mixed down tracks (assuming they're happy with the mix) and get them mastered professionally. 

Optionally, I can mix the tracks, and do a "quick and dirty" master to create mp3's for posting on their websites, or possibly even digital distribution if the client deems the recording and the mix being good enough.

This is a new venture for me, and I don't want to charge an arm and a leg for a recording service. Though I would like to make it into the black and recoup the costs of the equipment. So I'm thinking base fees for the recording session being at about $50 standard fee for equipment usage/maintenance, and $100 for the session + cost of gas for me to get out there.

Prices will be negotiable of course. So, if you happen to live near Iowa City, and you like the idea of having a recording done out at your location, give me a hollar. I anticipate being ready to go by end of April, or early May.

December 17, 2011

Happy holidays to everyone from yours truly :)

I recently purchased an Akai MPK-Mini keyboard for traveling around with my laptop. Anyone familiar with the LPK25 and LPD8 mini-midi controllers will recognize the convenience of the MPK-Mini, as it is literally a merging of the two LP's into a single unit. The unit is fairly solid feeling as well.

The MPK-Mini has 8 Knobs, 8 Pads, and 25 mini-keys. In my honest opinion, the keybed is a little shallow when pressing down, but I have been getting used to them, and I do feel they are slightly better than the LPK25 keys. I think they are a little longer as well.

The knobs are also a little shallow, but they aren't too bad, and still have a decent enough feel to them. The 8 pads feel okay to me. They aren't as sensitive as say my padKontrol or some of the mpc/mpd units, but they do the job. There are also 2 Pad banks to switch between, so effectively you have 16 pads between the banks.

Honestly the big selling point for me on this little guy are the small form factor, and the midi arpeggiator. You can set the arpeggiator to fairly standard timings (1/4 up to 1/32T) From 0 to 3 octaves, and you have your typical Up, Down, and Random Arpeggiations along with Inclusive and Exclusive. This can be pretty handy when using synths/soft-synths that do not have an onboard arpeggiator.

The buttons are pretty standard stuff. You have buttons to switch between the two pad banks, octave up/down, tap tempo, sustain (basically a latch), CC, and program change. Now, to change which CCs the knobs/pads correspond to, you have to use the included software editor. You can save your preferences as programs (like a template) and change between them on the fly via the program change button. You can store up to 4 presets/templates. Another handy feature is you can set the keyboard/knobs and pads to two different midi channels. (handy if you want to put a soft-synth on channel 1, and say, electronic drums on channel 2.

All in all, there are some nice features packed into a keyboard of this very compact size. It is certainly handy for tossing in the bag with the laptop for taking to the cafe/coffee shop or even on longer trips (like I'm doing now as I've just flown down to NC) Very portable, nice features, and my only real niggle is the shallow keybed (which I'll get over). So, yeah, nice package with some nice features! :) 

October 17, 2011

Well, the HRC blues collab, "Is It Possible" is done, and it was fun working with the guys. In fact, it looks like I'll be working on another collab for Hue's "Brown Walrus Blues." Again, I'll be laying down keys comping. I've got a nice Hammond-like VSTi that I can dirty up a bit for this one. :)

August 2, 2011

Some of you may notice the new "Commission Info" label on the menu bar. Feel free to check it out, and if you have any questions, Contact Me. The page is subject to change as I update and clean up the pricing info, and come to a more complete system. Of course, all fees (except the base fee/artistic license) are negotiable, and I'll be willing to work to meet the budget of the client.

I will not ask payment from Indie game developers working on freeware titles, open source developers, or anyone needing a music asset for non-commercial work. This includes students needing music work done for college projects, indie-game developers who are not selling the game, etc.

Of course they may feel free to pay me what they think the work is worth, but I won't require payment. :)

I am also willing to listen to others' mixes and provide feedback as I have time.

June 19, 2011

I'm starting to get into messing with sound design/subtractive synthesis for designing arcade-like sounds for the Gradius fan-remake I'm helping out with. Finished a quick "standard" bullet sound for the Vic Viper so far. :-) It should be good practice for me for learning the synths I use on a deeper level.

Also, made some subtle changes to the Intro-Flight music, and uploaded it to my spot on Sound-Cloud along with a tentative theme for the title screen. So things are rolling along on that front. :-)

May 13, 2011

Just finished a tentative Station Identification sound clip for www.oldradioprograms.us If you like old radio shows from the early 20th century. (30's 40's 50's etc.) then go check the site out. All radio shows are in mp3 format and downloadable. They are all in the public domain as well.

April 30, 2011

Just a quick update. I touched up an older track of mine, "Spring Wind Quartet" And uploaded it onto my soundcloud spot. (which you can find under the music tab/page here on the site) This is a trupet quartet I wrote while attending classes at University of North Florida back in 2002. Essentially, I swapped out/upgraded the old sounds to my current sound sets, and adjusted the mix/positionings/etc.  Enjoy!

April 20, 2011

So, I went and created an account for myself over on http://www.soundcloud.com as I don't really care for how The SixtyOne is handling the upload and recompression of mp3 files. I will start storing some of my music over on soundcloud unless I can find something else that piques my interest.

You can find my account at http://www.soundcloud.com/j-bot-1

Also, I'll (finally) be getting a logo done for the site. Exciting!

Quick Update: The logo is up and in place. Looks pretty doesn't it? ;-)  So, big props to the drummer, "Hippie" of the band Cynonyte, who are based out of Winston Salem, NC. Check 'em out if you get a chance. Their myspace page is linked in the credits at the bottom of the website.

March 03, 2011

The HRC Collab project is rolling along, as is the music for the Gradius fan-game I mentioned earlier. Currently, I'm working on the Stage-1 theme, "Challenger 1986" It's coming along slowly, but surely.

Also, I have a couple other projects on the backburner. I have two new guides planned to add to the site. The first is a basic guide for mixing. It will contain some general info on certain concepts and the way I think about those concepts, some common uses of certain effects, and I will elaborate on some of the techniques I use to achieve certain sounds or effects. There is a lot of information to cover, and it will be a fairly long guide (heck they have entire books dedicated to the subject), but there should be plenty of info there for folks who need some ideas or who are new to mixing music.

The other guide will basically be a beginner's guide to MIDI, which will contain information such as connectivity, uses for midi (automation, controlling VST/i, etc.), and troubleshooting tips. I'm hoping to get them both done by the end of summer.

January 28, 2011

Just a quick update here. The first track for the Gradius Revised project is finished. Actually it's been done a couple weeks now. It can still be found over on my HRC profile, and it will remain there until I start posting WIP versions of the next track. I'll be aiming to get the Stage 1 music done by end of February, so expect to see some stuff in the next couple weeks. Also, it's looking like I'm getting involved in a collab project with some other musicians over on HRC. Nothing serious, just good times jamming and making music.

January 9, 2011

Just got back from visitng my folks in sunny Florida over the holidays. I've got some new projects going to kick off the new year. One project is remixing some music for a fan-based remake of a well-known old SH'MUP game called Gradius. No, it's not pay work, but hey, it's Gradius! You can find the project details over on the Gradius Homeworld. It is a fairly ambitious project and I'll do my best to support the developer and keep the morale strong, not to mention providing some nice music to fill out the remake.

My goal is to take those old Arcade and MSX melodies and bring them up to a more current standard. I aim to flesh out the original tunes with a lush sounscape, and to extend and develop the original tunes a little more, but keep close to the source material and retain that classic Graidus feel. I'm going for an electronic soundscape with some orchestral and/or rock elements. This is a long-term project with no real deadline, but I'm hoping to crank out a track every month. It may be a bit late to toast the new year, but here's to what I hope will be a fun ride!

November 30, 2010

So, I Recently picked up some cheap-ish headphones at bestbuy to use as a quick/spare set. Was getting tired of the clip-ons that I have.  Got some Sennheiser HD201S headphones on impulse. Now, these are not the regular HD201 designation, and that little S on the end tells me these are geared more towards "studio" sound. (Kinda like the AKG K240S cans, but nowhere near that kind of quality) Not that I expect $30 headphones to be very accurate or flat.

Now, my main headphones are the ATH M40fs. I've found them to be very balanced and very accurate, and perfect for my ears for a myriad of applications. Recording, listening, yes I've even used em for rough mixes. (No I still wouldn't use them ta mix with on a regular basis) So I did some A/B'ing for comparison, and these are my initial impressions: (Note the new cans haven't had time to "burn in" yet, so keep that in mind)

On A/B'ing the cans, The Sennheisers sound pretty good (as I would expect them to be) outta the box. The bass isn't quite as tight as my M40fs, but it is present, and punchy. The high-end is a bit more crisp/emphasized on the HD201S cans, probably a little too much. I'm thinking there's a small boost somewhere between 8-10Khz. Sibilance and cymbal hiss are very present but not overbearing. But I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing for checking stuff. Also, another nice thing is that the mids aren't totally sucked out (EQ smile) like a lot of consumer headphones around that pricepoint. Vocals, guitars, etc. come through nice and clear and are easy to understand. Overall, I think these headphones hold their own very well considering they are only $30.  They are VERY comfy and lightweight as well.

Nutshell: Bass is very present, mids are there and fairly detailed, highs are -very- crisp (maybe a little overbearing).  Bear in mind that I just got these, and they have yet to go through a good "burn-in" period. I'm sure the accuracy will balance out a bit more after listening to them for a couple weeks. So I'll probably post again in a couple weeks. 

Still, I consider these to be a very good qualtiy:price ratio. So, if you're looking for a decent quality cheap-ish set of cans, give em a try.