XPRTNovice

Q: How do you tune two oboes? A: Shoot one of them.

Hi everyone. I've been getting lots of requests lately for wind instrument collaboration, and it kind of hit me yesterday that very few people are familiar with dealing with live wind instruments in their mixes. So, while I'm far from an expert, I thought I might offer up a couple of tips. Others that have experience, pile on. I'll just touch on two of the biggest things I hear: dryness and variable volume. - Dryness. The major problem I hear is that the recording is too dry in the final mix. I know for me I try to record in as dead a configuration as possible, so if you were to just drop the wav into the mix it's going to sound really out of place, like someone with an actual sax is standing in front of your speakers playing along with the track. Made sure to add verb; I prefer to keep the reverb relatively dry, but it has to be there, and it should probably match whatever other reverb you're using for your other samples. If your other samples have baked in reverb and you can't just copy/paste the send effect, some light room verb is usually good enough. Adding a touch of delay is nice too, in the right circumstances. - Variable volume. A live instrument produces sound from a lot of different places at the same time. On clarinet, for example, it depends on how high or low the instrument is playing; sometimes the sound comes out at the bell, and sometimes it comes more from the fingerholes at the top near the mouthpiece. While 12 inches may not seem like a lot, it means a lot when you don't have the ability to really mic the instrument perfectly. Your samples/VSTs are ALREADY adjusted for this, but the live instrument isn't! If you were to just drop it into the mix as is, some notes would get buried and some would be screaming. I use a mix of compression and volume automation to get the even sound. It's not all about the mic placement, either. The dynamic range of a wind instrument is huuuuuge compared to most other instruments, so a player putting in some expression will often have a wide range of dynamics that you'll have to adjust for. Even a perfectly miced part (particularly if it's just a solo and the player is doing whatever he/she wants) will have more variation than you're probably used to. Just some thoughts from a wind player. Would love to see other people's comments/discussion.

It's too bad I'm unREASONable.

It used to be that I worked out 5-6 times a week, but the key is to keep it varied. You don't want to lift heavy every day. Mark Sisson of the Primal Blueprint says that every week should be: 3x Move Slowly, Rest or Play 2x Lift Heavy Things (weights) 1x Sprint 1x High Intensity Interval Training I've found that to be a really nice schedule, because it changes things so they don't get boring and makes you work different places on different day.

Soreness is also about variation as well as weight. Doing different KINDS Of pushups, etc, will also help you keep working different parts of muscles. I've heard it said that soreness really just indicates doing something you're not used to.

Oh damn I just noticed I got ChimpPimped.

Man, this made me laugh so hard. Laugh Like AAAAAAAAAAH HAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAA HAAAA HAAAA

happy mirbday!

Confirmed. And annoying. But I like FF8 in spite of that.

FFIV cuz that's what I started on. And I also think that the SNES games are the ones that really brought Final Fantasy out. Mystic Quest was literally designed to introduce people into the genre, so maybe that one.

Baaaahh I CAN'T! It's not on any of my TV services right now - it was taken off Netflix and it's not on Crunchroll either. I ended up starting Gardenia on the Verdurant, or whatever that title is. I enjoyed the first 4 episodes and I think I'll continue. I'll definitely check out Log Horizon. I liked Sword Art Online, but I thought it was a great example of how to complete a wonderful story arc in a really satisfying way...but then continue anyway for 8 episodes with 70% less tension.

I really liked Eva except the last episode. I even enjoyed the movies, but I recommend not being near any sharp objects while you do so. I just finished the available Attack on Titan episodes an Sword Art Online and I'm looking for a new series. I might try Darker than Black - anyone seen that? I follow Yoko Kanno around because I'm a groupie. Any other recommendations welcome. Some of my favorites have been Trigun, Death Note, Code Geass. Stuff I couldn't get into were Guren Lagann, Last Exile, Mushishi. EDIT: One stipulation is that it has to be complete. Attack on Titan is killing me inside.

I feel like any weight change under 5-7 pounds is negligible; it's almost impossible to replicate the same circumstances under which you weighed yourself. You might have just had to poop or something. As a wrestler, I used to weigh myself every day around the same time, so you can trust me when I say that weight fluctuations happen daily and somewhat randomly within a given range. So I wouldn't worry too much.

Just nobody buy me any more saxophones, please...

Hey, you do what you want! I may not even get to this Thanks for considering me though.

yeah man, I get pre-workout soreness

OK - once I start on a WIP I'll post

A saying about saddles outspending their horses come to mind...

I'm not familiar. Can you vouch that this is as amazing a deal as it looks?

Happah baddah!