Pleasure for the Empire: 2026

Tuesday, May 05, 2026

Recording Congressman Davy

Setting up the recording for the dialog of Congressman Davy.

The image depicts a sound recording studio with various electronic equipment set up on a table and stands. On the left, a table holds a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone, and some papers. The laptop and tablet screens display audio mixing settings. To the right, a large digital audio mixing console features multiple sliders, knobs, and a digital display, surrounded by additional control tablets. In the background, several microphone stands with attached music stands hold sheets of paper labeled with numbers. The walls are black brick, giving the room a sleek, professional look. Storage containers are visible beneath and to the side of the equipment.

The setup.

The image shows a recording or rehearsal session in a small theater or studio space. A group of seven people stands in a semicircle around a set of microphones on a dark wooden floor in front of a black brick wall. They appear to be engaged in a dialogue or recording session, holding scripts. Adjacent to them, on the left, a man sits at a table with audio equipment and a laptop, possibly managing the sound recording. There are several chairs and tables with bags and equipment scattered around. Behind the recording area are rows of empty theater seats, and two people are sitting in the seats closest to the camera, looking on.

The actual recording.

Saturday, May 02, 2026

Out of order events of last few weeks

Went to a protest.

Pope Marc delivering a beatitude.

So first up we had a reading for Richard Byrne's Beauty Doesn't Reach Me. Yeah, some real long-hair stuff about Ernst Toller. That was two weeks ago on the Lower East Side.

Richard Byrne layin' out the good word.

It was good and educational. Buy the book! And check out this podcast that Richard is on.

Then we had a screening of The Red Flag of the Future at the 14th Street Y.

The house at the 14th Street Y. Small number of seats but huge ceiling and enormous tech row at top.

We want to do another slightly different mix and a couple very minor tweaks to picture on the opera.

Clear signage.

I was amused by this subway sign.

Realizations, decisions, and actions.

Saw the Yale Symphony. They have two orchestras at Yale, the Symphony and the Philharmonic. The symphony, although it is the "lower" orchestra, is really quite good. The wind section really played like a section. That's not what you get for most student orchestras. I was impressed.

The hall the Yale Symphony plays in is very reverberant and live. I like it.

Then I saw a rehearsal of the Berkshire Symphony. They're basically the Williams College orchestra.

Berkshire Symphony.

Then it was time for some rock and roll. I mixed The Beaks as they were doing an all-day 100-song marathon of The Beatles. I'm using Multiplay to do playback of sound cues. The program is basically a Q-lab but for PC and it's free. So far it works extraordinarily well. Does it do everything Q-Lab can? No. But for most shows it's more than perfect.

I need more computers. That's Marc Schmied on the Hofner bass.

I had a router so my iPad could talk to the mixer. The leftmost computer is running Reaper just so I can experiment with playback.

My very hostile Allen&Heath SQ5 amuses me immensely.

Now we're going to DC to record the actors for the Congressman Davy podcast.

Top down, U47 clones and power supplies.

So I'm trying to figure out how we're recording.

There's a bunch of large-diaphragm mics. Actually the middle one is a Blue ribbon microphone.

At first I thought we'd do LDC's. But four outboard power supplies? Also, I don't really know it'll sound like dialog on a stage. We're going for a theater-like sound. So small-diaphragm is the way we're going.

Instead of large-diaphragm mics, a bunch of small-diaphragm mics.

Anyway, that's what's going on.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Unload of images

Monday, April 13, 2026

Just pictures of mixers

The image shows a digital audio mixing console interface with multiple channels in a grid layout. At the top of the interface, there are several AUX send sections with dials and labels indicating different levels. Below the AUX section, there are plugin slots with labels naming various audio effects such as "KONSOL," "CLA-2A," and "Gullfoss." Each channel features multiple dials representing EQ settings, displayed in a vertical arrangement. These dials adjust parameters such as 10.0k, 4.0k, 1.0k, M.Hi, M.Lo, and Low. Below the EQ section, there are pan dials and buttons labeled "S," "Rd," and "M," which stand for solo, read, and mute functions respectively. At the bottom, faders are shown with numerical levels indicated to the side, designed for adjusting audio volume. Labels at the bottom of each channel identify the audio source, with names like "Shari Six," "Meredith C," "Man," "Piano," "High Synth," and "Master." The interface has a predominantly dark color scheme with blue and grey accents. Alt-text: A digital audio mixing console interface with multiple channels, AUX sections, EQ dials, plugin slots, and faders. Transcribed Text: AUX 2, AUX 3, AUX 6, CLA-2A, Gullfoss, Vocal Bus, KONSOL, MD3, Dynamic EQ, Solid Bus Comp, Neutron 2, xMax1, CLA-2A S., Pian, Man, Piano, High Synth, Low Synth, Drum machin, Marc, Saleem AEA, Saleem U47, AUX 1, Saleem, S, Rd, M

A mix for fix.

Some big dum-dum (me) decided to remix the Red Flag of the Future opera before our big screening at the 14th Street Y this coming Tuesday.

Closeup of the screen of my SQ5.

Input strip which is fairly standard in the project. These are the instrument channels.

Wednesday, April 08, 2026

One of these pictures is me

Saturday, April 04, 2026

Chat CPT Opera.

I asked Chat GPT to write a comic opera about robots--"write a comic opera about 12 angry robots passing judgement on all of humanity. At the end they find humanity guilty and subject to immediate elimination."

Chat GPT doesn't really know how jokes work. But when deliberately dadaist, it can be funny. This amused me.