Update on BSL services

Posted October 26, 2009 @ 10:47 am — Filed under: General,Recording

[Edit: Shortly after writing this post, I removed the "services" page altogether, as well as the "contact" page. I've now shifted my direction completely away from commercial recording, and back towards music. This doesn't mean I'm done recording or I'll sell off my gear, though -- it just means that the Sound Lab is officially a "community project studio". I'm no longer seeking any sort of commercial gain from the place. Though if you've previously booked time to record here, those arrangements are still on.]

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I’ve updated our “services” page with some new info. I’ll copy it here though, so you don’t have to go there, and expound on it a bit:

I have noted on occasion that we humans typically have enough time in life to concentrate on a total of three vocations, before something gets neglected — and two of those are typically gainful employment and sleep. With that in mind, I regret to say that Blacktown Sound Labs will have to scale back our services somewhat, and focus our offerings on what are often-termed “Saturday Sessions” — i.e., you would set up your gear some Saturday, track everything (minus vocals) live, do any necessary overdubs (e.g. vocals), and leave that night with mix in-hand. The resulting recording will not have the same qualities as an individually-tracked session, but often works well for certiain styles of music… and more importantly, it’s all we’ve got time for right now (and for the foreseeable future). Suffice it to say: if you’re looking for an “everything perfect” album-cut, you might want to seek a more established, full-time studio.

This is essentially the direction I’d like to go with the studio… less production, more engineering (and making fun sounds)… more focusing on creating a “community project studio”. I may even at some point shift my emphasis back toward live sound and/or live recordings, as there is less production involved there. It’s a step away from being a commercial studio: turns out I’m not a businessman, despite my apparent endless perseverance and financial savvy (sarcasm).

–s

Canadian Electro-Acoustics Journal focuses on Linux Audio.

Posted October 14, 2009 @ 7:49 pm — Filed under: Software

Check out these cool Linux audio articles. I especially enjoyed the in-depth look at Ambisonics in Ardour. Maybe we should start mixing all our recordings in 16-channel surround?

-s

Recent Recording Shenanigans

Posted October 12, 2009 @ 10:06 am — Filed under: Recording

It’s been a while since I updated the blog with news of what’s been actually going on here. So here goes:

We recently finished up a 6-song EP with some friends in a group called Edhoculi… It came out very well, and I did a rough “mastering” job which may have left the final version a bit bright (such is the risk of mastering at a studio not qualified to do so). They’ve spoken of possibly putting the recording out on vinyl however (which would rock), in which case it would need to be remastered anyway… I’m hoping they pursue that. Check them out: myspace.com/edhoculi

On somewhat short notice, we did a song for Kellie Lynne’s recently-released album. She’s a country/rock/pop artist from the area, and her bassist Bryan is a good friend of mine. Rumor has it that her parents like the recording quality… so have a listen here (the song’s called “Real Men Gone”): myspace.com/kellielynne (EDIT: I was recently reminded how bad the quality is on MySpace’s player… check out the unmastered version on our “clients” page instead.)

Another project that will hopefully recur, is recording short-film music tracks for Brendan Perry, a local musician and filmmaker. We’ve done two sessions so far and it’s been a blast each time… basically he shows up with a premise/outline for the film, calls up a bunch of random musicians, and we all jam until we’ve hit all the points on his outline. Some very strange and/or very cool sounds have resulted. This process forms the premise for a possible series of ongoing projects… “Sound Jams”. I’d like to try to organize a Sound Jam once a month or so. If I can afford to heat the place this winter, that is.

There has also been work done on some more long-term projects with A Voice Like Rhetoric and Hand Drawn Mountains, which I’ll divulge details about later (once the recordings are finished up), as well as some one-day sessions with other local musicians and friends. Judging by the length of time it’s been since I was able to do laundry, I’d say we’ve been busy.

Plans for this week: A furnace, and maybe finally retrieval of the Hammond B2.