XPRTNovice

I use a Focusrite Saffire Pro 14, and I've had it for years. It fits snugly in your price range, I believe, unless something has changed, and the preamps are generally rated to be some of the best (I was told by someone helping me pick it out that the preamps are considered better than the M Box).

Meh, I totally hear you. This is pretty much the internal argument I've been having since my VO career took off; it was a bit unexpected. I built the studio site before that all happened, and now when I compare it to what the industry leaders are doing, it leaves me in a nebulous position, I think. I'm also going off some advice I've gotten from the folks whose links I posted, too. As I learn a bit more about the industry, I'm finding that the term "studio" implies something that, yes, I am, and can do, but not my focus. Most VO artists that are successful are tied to their names, not an LLC, which I think I've also done wrong. So there were lots of factors going into this. Ultimately, I stand to lose the cost of the website with a chance of solidifying my brand as a VO artist, so it's a calculated risk on my part. At the minimum, I gain a little bit of fall-in-line-ism that helps me resonate with established professionals in the industry.

Hi guys, If you don't know, I'm a voiceover artist (apparently) and while I like my current webpage I think I made a bit of a misstep in branding. That page deals with a sort of amalgamation of what I do for side jobs; what I need, I think, is a dedicated voiceover page. I know there are huge amounts of savvy folk here, and your networks of savvy people are equally as huge - so I'm open to referrals as well. Here are some examples of some of the top guys in the industry right now: These first four were shown to me by a voiceover marketing consultant http://fulginitivo.com/ http://www.jordanwiberg.com/ http://www.vayronmusic.com/ http://www.rockbarnvoices.com/ These four are people I know in the industry that are doing really well www.jmcvoiceover.com www.bradziffer.com www.bradyhales.com I'm really not looking for something complicated or something that mimics that exactly, but I'd like it to showcase my demos as well as my credits. I'm very open to ideas because I'm quite a bad designer - this will definitely be a dialogue process as well as a designing process. And I am definitely not looking for anything for free. This is my primary source of income now, and I am willing to pay accordingly. If you have marketing experience as well and can help me re-brand, that's a bonus and you can include it in your quote (or you can tell your referral to include it in their quote). A final warning - I am in the decision stage in this, not waving money around, but I promise you I won't be wasting anyone's time; I'll know pretty quickly whether or not I'll be purchasing the services offered and I am not above paying a design fee that can be reimbursed if I choose that designer for the full project (i.e. I pay someone $50, or whatever, to sketch out a design, then that $50 comes out of the total price I pay them if I hire them) Thanks in advance!

What's another word for a young horse? :D

So I was listening to the guy I'm going to post at the end of this, here, and thinking - there's just so much amazing stuff out there, but it's hard to sift through the white noise. Sometimes the most obscure bands or artists are the ones that I find the most compelling to listen to, because real musical genius often does not equal popularity (and nobody knows MY music, so I must be a genius ). So I thought I'd open up a thread here for everyone to share a track from their favorite "Who the hell is that guy?" artist. I'm sharing Avishai Cohen, an Israeli jazz bass player who puts Middle Eastern influences into his music in ways that are just absolutely fantastic. I saw him live when I was in Tel Aviv a few years ago, and the concert blew me away; I keep waiting for him to come to the US so I can see him again. Here is one track by him. Name: Avishai Cohen (don't confuse him with the trumpet player) Style: Contemporary Jazz, but not so contemporary as to be formless and silly. Heavy syncopation with ethnic instruments like oud and saz. Sometimes includes bitchin' Hebrew vocals. Sample Track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8un8nEkQJG0

Oh, man, I was totally just being a goof! There's lots of great stuff here, but you can't deny it's a music nerdfest. It's awesome. Sorry if it came off like I was being negative; I was more cheering on the geekiness in my own way.

I feel like this thread is like one long dirty phone call for musicians

Who will be our William Hung!?

Hey, doesn't this also have sounds by XPRTNovice?!

This may be my favorite thing you've ever written.

I use the 2i/2 for my mobile studio and I like it. It's sturdy, light, and simple. The price is certainly right. I have had some issues with the driver, though, if the computer goes to sleep. It has some trouble booting back up again and sometimes requires a restart.

Well, normally you don't have the leisure of setting stuff up in a gym, since you're doing it outside and people take umbridge when you move buildings around so that you can kong-vault them better. You know I have no idea what the term for it is. In rock climbing you'd call it a "problem." I might just call it a sequence. The sequence in this case was a dive vault (a kong) into a series of tic-tacs (bouncing off objects that are at an angle) ending in a cat hang. I've been doing this for maybe a 8 months? But it's hard to tell how long it would take to learn, because I feel like I've been doing parkour-like stuff all my life playing around as a kid and stuff.

....Parkour!

dude, all of this is so much awesome. I can't imagine how much better you're feeling right now and I bet it's only going to get better from here. Congrats.

Unfortunately I can only bitch. I've been working too many hours to bother working out most days, and I've actually ended up getting sick on average once every two weeks since November. I'm attributing it mostly to stress. But hopefully soon I'll be makign a transition that will cut my work time and I can get back into the swing of it. I still parkour every Sunday though!

Guys, I've started trying to transition out of my day job and into a fully independent entrepreneur career. I've mostly been working from 7AM until 9PM every single day and haven't had the time I need to work on this. I'm going to try and free up some time to update, but I wanted to let you know where I stand.

I give you the emu.

Let me get you a real birthday cake, Ecto.

[M-M-M-M-M-M-M-OOOOD REVVIIIEEEWWW] Okay, so, if you know me at all, you know that this totally reaches me from a musical perspective. I'm a jazzer, and having more jazz on this site really excites me. It also means I'm listening really hard I think the bass might be a bit too out in front (I know you made changes to it earlier, though the problem is inconsistent. I'll talk a bit later about the stereo-wideness of the rest of it. Part of the problem COULD be that the bass is the only thing in the mix that's close to dead center. Perhaps a TOUCH of compression to even it out might be nice; it seems when the bass gets enthusiastic, it squashes the piano, but otherwise it fits decently. The guitar that comes in at 1:20ish is good, though I'm not sure if I agree stylistically with the double hard panning of the track. I can't say I'd ding you for it, but I'm not sure it fits the club/combo setting you're going for here. Take a listen to some similar tracks of live groups and really listen to the stereo field. You don't HAVE to mimic what's already been done, obviously, but it's a suggestion If I were doing it, I'd put it in its own very distinct space, and I might even move the piano around a bit so it wasn't so much in both ears. As it is, the piano and guitar feel like they're either competing, or combining in a way that makes them sound like a totally different instrument. That works in some settings - here I think it's a bit confusing. I want to hear both keys and guitar distinctly. The vibe solo is quite nicely done. On listening to it a second time I picked up what I think might be some clipping starting at 2:29 when you get those really big piano hits. I'm not 100% sure it's in there, but go back and look at your levels during that build. I feel like I might hear some more around 3:56. It's VERY slight, but therefore easily corrected. Musically, this piece is on point and I love it. My biggest complaint is definitely the position the piano and guitar have in the mix in relation to each other. It makes the bass feel like it's right in the middle of my forehead among other effects. Aside from that, I might actually consider putting in some drums, but that's a style choice that is entirely up to you. Nice ending! [/MOD REVIEW]

Hey there. First, sorry it took me so long to get to this. I'd make excuses, but I'd rather just get to my thoughts. I actually kind of enjoyed the synth pad at the beginning, and how it built up over time. I was ready for everything to come in right when it did. The boom-a-chuck-a with the piano solo in the beginning is nice. I might automate the volume on the countermelody synth that starts at 1:29, as when it reaches certain parts of its cycle it gets a bit overbearing, and then it sort of fades away. I like the effect, but maybe it could be less dramatic. When it reaches the loudest part of its cycle, it's REALLY loud. The drums that come in at 1:56 are really cool, but the volume of that synth gets wonky again around the same time. Like I said, I like the effect of it going in and out, but it's a bit intense as it is right now, in my opinion. You should absolutely finish this. And I'm not sure you should call it techno But that's subjective. Other than what I've said above, I don't hear any big problems in the arrangement or in the mixing. I'm curious see where you're going with it. I know where I would take it, but I'm not telling

I GIVE YOU ALL the HAPPIES

happies!!!!

I, on the other hand, have entered a new era of working 16 hours a day. I put in a request from my day job to go part time, but that may not occur for a while...right now, I'm getting sick just about every other week because my body can't handle the stress. Hopefully this will get resolved soon I had hoped to really hit the ground running but life has proven determined to interfere.

Celebrations and congratulations and yaay!

I've used Lenntek earbuds for years and I love them. They're awesome for working out, great sound, and they stay in my ears. They're also really tough to tangle, and when one of the ears went out 3 years after I bought them, Lenntek sent me a brand new pair for free. It's been long enough, though, that I don't remember the model exactly. sorry! EDIT: This was assuming a non-studio application. For studio application, specifically mixing, I recommend Beyerdynamic DT880s.