Do you like feeling bad about yourself?

Take this color hue test from colormunki.com.

This chart shows where my color has issues.
Now go color-correct that movie!

Purglaaaah!

Antibiotics make me... spacey. And I take 'em twice a day and for at least an hour, maybe two, after taking them I am very spaced out. I try to not schedule any meetings during that time.
But they eradicated me being sick. Man, I so shoulda demanded antibiotics when I first saw a doctor about this "cold". I could tell I was well again within 6 hours of taking my first dose. And except for the spaced-out-ness I'm finally over that thing. I mean, as long as I keep taking them for another, what, six days?

Self-portrait.

Back in the olden days -- I musta been 18 -- I got mono. And whatever the doctor prescribed put me out, man. A friend called me on the phone. "Is Drew there?"
Me: "Uh... wait. Uh..."
Friend: Is this Drew?
Me: "I... Wait. There was... uh... something... I don't remember. Wait... uh... wait."
This exchange, as you can imagine, kinda freaked her out. But now I'm able to recognize it as the effect of trying to talk to me when I am sound asleep.

How do I record things?

You're saying to yourself "How do I record stuff using the Tardis voiceover booth in The Forbidden Palace?"*

Well, how do I?
You start inside the booth. There are two blue cables which come in through the top port. They're each labeled: "Mic 1" and "Mic 2". Just plug a microphone into one of those two cables.

The cables in the booth are labeled. They come in from up top.

OK, so I've plugged in a microphone. Now what do I do?
The signal from those mics appears at our patchbay.
What does that look like?
It looks like this:

Closeup of the patchbay.

See where it says "Mic 1" and "Mic 2"?
Yeah.
That's where you plug an XLR into and record straight to the Sound Devices 702 or what-have-you.
What mics do we have?
We have different microphones. Do make sure you ask me about them as they might not all be around.
Where are they?
In a case marked "Input Transducers" on top of the booth.
You have to be kidding me.
I wasn't going to label the case "Microphones".
Oh. I see your point.

Left to right: SM 57, Black Oktava MC-012a, Silver Oktava MC-012a, Black Oktava MC-012, diagonally on top: AKG 460 (with CK-61 capsule.)

Of all our microphones, only the Shure SM 57 does not need phantom power.**
All the other mics do need phantom?
Yes. That's frequently just called "+48V".
What mics are used for what?
The SM 57 is very hearty. It's mostly used for big violent things like guitar amps and snare drums.
The Oktavas are what we use for recording dialog in the field.
The AKG 460's are nice for music-related stuff. I record the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York (sometimes) with them.
Which mics would I use for ADR?
Well, I've been using the Oktava's for ADR. I put it up high and pointing down at the actor. Because that's how we would have recorded on set.
How about voiceovers?
Try the Rode NT-1's. They'll be the best - sounding mic for most voices. Remember to use a pop/spit filter. And never blow into any microphone.

Rode NT-1 mics.

Really? Don't blow into a microphone? But I see people do that all the time. 

It destroys them. Don't do it. The more expensive the microphone, the faster it'll destroy the mic.

What's the deal with the other mic in the booth?

That's an AKG C12A. 

It's funny 'cause it looks like a little bitty AKG 414.

Don't say that. You'll hurt its feelings.

AKG C12A

What's it for?
Mostly my own vocals. I got it because it doesn't have the hyped high-end of an AKG C12.
And it's eight thousand dollars cheaper.
And that.
What if I want to use it?
You don't want to use that microphone.
That isn't the microphone I'm looking for.
Exactly.

*I call our new studio "The Forbidden Palace". You know, because I can.
**The C12A does not need phantom either, but that's because it has an external tube power supply.

Funny things about our new office

There are two shoe-repair shops within a stone's throw.
You know we're in the same neighborhood as the World Trade Center? And near the infamous "Ground Zero Mosque" (which is neither at Ground Zero, nor is a Mosque, and I walked by it yesterday -- I should take a picture of how amusingly benign it is.)
The zombie apocalypse building across the street actually has a plaza built into it. With the weather this cold it's completely uninhabitable but come springtime...

Now I'm starting to think I should go with a speedy i7 rather than a dual-hexa-core Xeon. I used to bullseye womprats in my T16.

Videoguys has their Nvidia page here.

I Need a Theater

New York City simply doesn't have any jewelbox theaters. I guess I'm basically looking for the theater in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

You'll never find a theater with a stage that small but with fly space above.
I think I'm basically looking for a puppet theater. Which would be perfect for Tyrannosaurus Mouse and for the upcoming Blade Runner the Musical.
Plus, of course, we need puppets.

Now, of course, I am talking about an indoors-version of the Doctor Parnassus theater.
When we made Manhattan Theatre Source I needed a place for Prague Spring. That show was basically a scrim with front and rear projections. But now we need something else.

Filth and the Future

I love how casually Steeleye Span rocks this version of The Bonnie Black Hare.

It's a nice hard-rocker with filthy lyrics. Me powder is wet and me bullets is spent.
In T-Mouse news, we're trying to finish our first album. We need to record other "bits" that go in-between songs as well as an "Underture" (a reprise of the Mouseverture but with acoustic instruments). Then we need to master the record. And take a picture for the cover.

In the meantime I'm jonesing to make another record. Maybe it can be the music to the Blade Runner Musical?

Hey Ethan -- can we come rehearse new songs at your house?

Computer convincerations

VideoGuys publish a DIY computer guide and they're up to their 9th machine which is based on the i7 chip.
I'm persuaded to go with a dual xenon hexa - core machine. And 24GB of RAM.

And even though the videoguys specifically advise against it, I figure a GTX570/580 card is right what I want.
And I want the computer to be in a rack-mount case. See that rack behind me? The one with the headphones and Purell? I want to put the computer in the bottom of that rack. That means wireless mouse/keyboard in likelihood I should think. And a 10-foot DVI cable.

Girl with the Dragon

I'm thinking that our Dragon Girl might have ended up painting her face like a fierce little dragon-fighting warrior girl. Then when she meets the witch the witch can try to wipe it off, which would amuse me greatly.

You got me

I... I have no idea.

In the meantime I'm going to dedicate my life to learning this dance:

That is, when I'm not staring mindlessly at the animal with the long nose above.  This is what I look like when I'm looking at him:

Scary, ain't it?
As always, to see any of these links you may have to click through (if you're reading via email or an RSS feed.)

Vampire Buffalo

I watched two episodes of The Vampire Diaries because of this blog post. Maybe I watched the two worst episodes of the show ever but it's just terrible. Every scene is just "data data data". There's no ticking clock, no problem which needs to be solved by the end of the episode, nothing. In fact there's no way to know how far along you are in the episode by anything that's happening on-screen.
The worst thing is that there are way too many dark-haired white boys in it. Practically every male character is indistinguishable from all the rest.
+++++
My friend Xavier Rodriguez made this movie, Dead Buffalo, a while back. I mixed it. Yes. The noise behind the dialog is my fault. And yes, the gun is not anachronistic, it's actually contemporary to the time the movie is set.

You Know, for "Dating"

So I put a profile on OKCupid. I use this picture.

I'm looking for women 16-23. Not for anything long-term. I have no job.
Plus, I point out they have to come to New Jersey and be out of the house by 9:30 because my mom comes home from work by 10.

More Alabama Artists

What I kind of like about this song "There's a Hole" by Ex Cantador is that it starts with these very straight plainsong-indy vocals and guitar but then goes in a direction one doesn't expect. The player is embedded above, if you're reading on email or an RSS reader you may not see the link.

Cutter Theater Clone

My buddy Chance's band, The Delicate Cutter's, won a 2011 "Moddy" award. I'm totally envious of the Alabama music scene. They have an awesome scene down there for the arts, music, and film. The politics, of course, are another matter. ;-)
+++++
Tyrannosaurus Mouse needs a jewel-box theater to play in. Like a little puppet theater. And we need puppets.
++++

The Metropoulos amps are absurdly inexpensive. I mean, for what you get from them. They're cheap, but made with the best parts and put together by experts. Further evidence that we're living in a golden age of guitars and amplifiers.
+++

New Year's Eve

My parents -- out gallivanting in the night while I'm at home watching TV.