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The musician who feels that they have to listen to music at ungodly levels to "feel it" is like the painter who stares into the sun to "see the brilliance ".&nbsp;

Turn Down For What

Multi Colored Headphones on White Background

It's a headphone listening world that we live in these days,mainly Ear Buds and their knock off cousins,exhibiting wild swings in both quality and price. And these days, audio mixing on headphones is taken for granted by many audio professionals. After all, what's the point in spending thousands of dollars on speakers that may not even work in your untreated room at hours when your neighbor (or partner) may not want to listen to your lastest project ad infinitum? Most of the studios that I have worked in have relied on sturdy workhorses such as the AKG 141s, the Sony 7506s or the AT 50s. But are they good enough for mixing a finished project? In other words..do they translate to other listening devices (speakers/ear buds/other headphones)? Most engineers that I know are happy enough with a pair that they know very well and they simply work around the anomolies of a "less than perfect" frequency response. But I'm always searching for "no surprises" monitoring, be it speakers or headphones. So I was intrigued by a recent podcast that extolled the virtues of Audeze high end headphone models ($ 5,000 and up) and then discovered that they had a "budget" set ($ 400) that purported to share a lot of the positive attributes of the more expensive ones. I pulled the trigger and was amazed to find out that...I hated them. This may be partially because I am used to the somewhat hyped sound of the Bose Quiet Comfort Noise Canceling headphones as well as the Sony 7506s. But I knew within a few days that I was never going to enjoy listening to ANYTHING on these phones so I exchanged them for a pair of the new Focal Lensys headphones*. They are also "non hyped" (like the Audeze) but they engender confidence across the frequency spectrum and seem to (so far) translate very well. And isn't that the Holy Grail? * Yes, I know that they're closed back and open back are (supposedly) better for mixing/mastering. And it's possible that I got a defective pair of the Audeze headphones. The ones that I got sounded like Auartones.

Hold The Phone(s)

<figure id="figure-ds2yc7eedsm0a2q24l"><img id="ds2yc7eedsm0a2q24l" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/1e5VczK1KE2HcU0psWk14NLRX3TDYhmm1NA1KeqEdU661M9o3w9zjKMPTedYtDMd.jpg" alt="black flat screen computer monitor and black computer keyboard on brown wooden desk" title="black flat screen computer monitor and black computer keyboard on brown wooden desk" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="undefined" data-positionY="undefined" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure> What's it all about, A.I.? Despite the obvious future problems that may crop up (deeps fakes, killer dog robots,etc), most people who I know are concerned with how it will affect their jobs and their path of artistic creation. I believe it WILL take away "creator" jobs but it won't stop anyone from BEING creative. No one says that you have to use A.I. to help you (or even do the whole thing) to make your song/production/screenplay/etc.It's made me think about the PROCESS versus the RESULT. If all you're looking for is the END RESULT, then A.I. is your ticket. But the actual PROCESS of creation..the inspiration, the twists and turns, the joy and the agony, the dead ends and the discovery..is something that I find to be the most thrilling. Any one can now use A.I. prompts and Drag and Drop technology to create something that may be indistinguishable from a "created from scratch" work. And yes, I do consider it cheating (on some level). But as we seem to be headed down a path of Generic Sameness, I'm most often searching out the "different" and the "made by human"works...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ........perfectly imperfect.As the saying goes, "be yourself...everyone is already taken".**(often attributed to Oscar Wilde but since disproven)

A.I.2024

<figure></figure><figure id="figure-qhb536297oqlrb5coet"><img id="qhb536297oqlrb5coet" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/3hUfvgEexy303ywZJzTkhrHCsuWw20xVZa3Z6SUbAawsoIRRQcMx7FF9RG0g8rAY.jpg" alt="person watching on monitor" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="null" data-positiony="null" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/3hUfvgEexy303ywZJzTkhrHCsuWw20xVZa3Z6SUbAawsoIRRQcMx7FF9RG0g8rAY.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>Is iPad mixing finally ready for it's close up? I got a chance to take both the Logic Remote and Avid Control apps for a spin on a friend's iPad and I was duly impressed. Both apps are free and require minimal fuss to setup in tandem with a Mac. Avid Control works with several DAWS (including Logic) so I think I'll spend my time learning how to get around on that one first. The obvious benefits include being able to solo and mute and scroll through tracks without having to grab the mouse. Automation enable and write are a breeze as well and it's easy to get levels quickly by simply touching the faders. The promise of a DAW controller that lets you open ALL of your plug ins and adjust the parameters on screen has still not been attained but this is a giant leap forward.

The Remotest Idea.

It turns out that this new synth from Klevgrand wasn't giving me the full "user experience"...due to my "user error". My Studiologic SL73 Keyboard was not communicating the expression controllers from the keyboard (modulation and expression) as they had been mapped to other parameters (cut off and resonance). Once I got the SL Software to talk to my Mac (it needs a direct connection,a USB hub connection doesn't let you do any editing) and remap the controllers, the Tomofon sprang to life. The original Preset Patch designers have programmed the synth to react to controllers in a very expressive way and their work has inspired me to create sounds once again. <figure id="figure-bnvy6n3gklkr5aqvz"><img id="bnvy6n3gklkr5aqvz" src="https://durable.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/blocks/39TqS2qweMwnRZmxhfmDaRk54JeUNPy4tKIC0djC1q83ezXuQVMuqVjWQi0sq5ph.jpg" alt="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 " style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="no-rounded" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="null" data-positiony="null" data-mce-src="https://durable.sfo3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/blocks/39TqS2qweMwnRZmxhfmDaRk54JeUNPy4tKIC0djC1q83ezXuQVMuqVjWQi0sq5ph.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>

Tomofon 2

<h2> </h2>This is a small company that offers some very quirky (yet deceptively deep) audio plug ins and instruments. I first read about their noise reduction plug in "Busfri" and gave it a shot. In most cases, it reduces&nbsp; noise with very few artifacts. The competition has heated up since it was introduced (probably due to the pandemic "home podcast" revolution) with AI leading the charge but it remains as one of my "go to" solutions. My next purchase was "Knorr", a plug in that adds harmonics to bass instruments in the (mainly) mid bass area. This has been a god send for sessions where there is PLENTY of boom and sub bass but there is nothing to represent any low end on a consumer product (ie. a laptop or smart phone). They recently had a sale on "Tomofon", a sample based wavetable synth that features a simple "drag and drop" interface for creating your own sounds. The presets are a mixed bag but over all, "warm and fuzzy" it's not. Regardless, I'm looking forward to creating my own sounds and learning a new synth architecture.