| Hey Jasper, Thanks again for the opportunity to participate in this exercise. I really enjoyed it, and would love to take part in any such future endeavors. I thought I'd take a minute to provide you with a little insight into how I went about this exercise and to ask a few questions that arose for me. So, for your consideration, here is a stream of consciousness rambling that just about covers it: First of all, let me say that I think you picked a great bit of music to use for the 15 second samples. Each sample gave the listener an idea of how the mic performs on both "pick style" and non-strum parts, as well as strummy acoustic guitar parts. Brilliant. This helped me to make decisions much faster than I would have otherwise. If the mic didn't perform well (in my opinion) on both jobs, it got canned. For the ultimate flexibility, I took the 61 files and imported them into Pro Tools. Unfortunately, I had to jump through a few hoops to set the test up the way I wanted it. First, I had to rename ALL of the files from written numbers (ie.ten) to numerical names (ie. 10). I made sure to give the single digit numbers a zero in front (ie 09) so that the files would show up in order when I displayed a directory by name. This made it much easier to keep the files in numerical order, which I felt was important to ensure that the process stayed organized and that decisions, when made, were clear. Next, I created a Pro Tools Session and imported the first 16 files in. This is the maximum number of tracks that I can import per session, given my meager Pro Tools setup (Digi 003 rack w/ 32 tracks count [16 stereo]). Which brought up a question: why stereo files? Couldn't each file have been mono? The file sizes would have been less (obviously) and since these recordings are really mono (for all intents and purposes) -- why the stereo files? Also, I would have loved higher resolution samples too... mono, 24 bit/48 KHz files would have been ideal for me [see editor's note #2]. I dunno. So forget the resolution thing. The main reason that mono appeals to me (given that I can't think of a benefit to these files being stereo) is that I could have imported 32 of the candidates into the LE rig instead of just the 16. This would have improved the accuracy of my findings I think, since I had to create four PT Sessions and pick my favorite five-to-seven specimens from each session instead of creating two sessions and picking my favorite dozen or so per session. Now, I know I could have imported ALL of the files into a session and just allowed the program to "de-activate" the tracks that took the session beyond the track count. But again -- for the sake of organization and not muddying the waters -- I thought individual sessions so that all voices were active at all times was less confusing and left less room for error. Anyway, when all was said and done, this initial listening test left me with roughly 25 "favorites" (your idea, and a good one). Next, I created a "final shoot out" session and imported all 25 samples into one session. Yes, voices had to be activated and de-activated due to the track count issue and I dealt with it. So most of the ramblings above can be taken with a grain (or more) of salt. I listened to the contents of the final session on headphones (Sony 7506), on my main control room monitors (Mackie HR824) and in the studio game-room (Boston consumer speakers). During the entirety of the listening process, I went with my instincts.. making decisions fairly quickly, but allowing myself to go back and re-listen as often and to as many samples as necessary to be sure about what I "liked" and "didn't like." And for me, that was the primary question I asked myself each time -- "do I like this sound?" The one main issue that I had during this super fun exercise was that I couldn't help but notice a serious ringing resonance in the 1200 Hz range that was present (to some degree) in every single sample [see editor's note #3]. I first noticed it in sample #5. Once I noticed it, and until I trained myself to ignore it, it became all I could hear for bit. I am not sure if it was the room (or the spot in the room rather) or the guitar being recorded -- or? Do you know what I am talking about? If not, take one of the samples into your DAW (I recommend #5) and listen to it once through. See if you notice the 1200(ish) Hz tone ringing. If not, put an EQ on it and boost 1200 Hz until you hear the frequency being accentuated, then remove the EQ and listen specifically to that range in the sound. Once my ears latched onto that resonance, it was all I could do to make myself ignore it and continue forward. Anyway, that was the main hurdle I had to overcome. That's about it. Shoot me an e-mail or give a call when you have a moment, I'd love to get your thoughts on the stereo vs mono thing as well as the 1200 Hz resonance thing. Thanks again. Talk soon, Britton Beisenherz Ramble Creek http://www.ramblecreek.com/ |