Jim Alfredson

Yeah, maybe I can make myself look cooler in After Effects or something... Actually, in the cable access footage, I'm wearing some bad shades! B-)

That's a very interesting concept. And not hard to do with today's technology. In fact, that's one of the things that's gotten us in this mess to begin with... cheap technology. The great thing is that anybody nowadays can release a CD. The bad thing is that anyone nowadays can release a CD! I happen to work for a video production company in a freelance role, so I have access to all that stuff. I will definately give the DVD idea some serious thought. We have footage of us performing on a local cable access show that is actually really good footage and the idea of putting in some studio footage is a good idea as well. Hmmm..... this could be cool....

Wow. I knew Tom Arnold was an idiot, but not to that degree. Amazing. However, it does not suprise me that the crowd reacted to his comments as they did.

We have an appointment this afternoon with the neurologist again and one more MRI tonight of the neck. Alison has been feeling better. It seems like each day a different symptom takes the forefront. Everything is still pretty much there, but for instance yesterday the feeling of constriction in her throat took center stage, today the numbness in her left face is up front, on Sunday it was a headache, etc. But she has more energy and is in better spirits. I guess this whole thing could be viral afterall. She had a Evoke Visual Response test yesterday which is a test for MS. We'll be asking the doctor how that came out today, for sure. Thanks to all for the well wishes!

Yes, that would solve everybody's problem. Violence is the answer. Hey, it has been deemed the answer in Iraq per Bush & The Gang. Perhaps Artest was simply following in the footsteps of our authority figures. Well, Larry Brown did say, in the post-game press conference last night, that he thinks the situation is indicative of our modern society. I agree.

With all due respect, if someone has never been to a Wal-Mart.... And Wal-Mart is one of the biggest retailers in the USA. That might be like someone who doesn't have a computer talking about Microsoft. So since you don't own a recording studio you can't talk about the sound quality of CDs, right?

Yes, that would solve everybody's problem. Violence is the answer.

Well, it depends on how good of a recording you want and how much you want to be able to manipulate it later. Two mics set-up in an X-Y pattern or even an ORTF out in the audience going to a DAT machine might be fine but probably not hi-fi. Taking a feed off the sound board might be fine, but you can't do anything about the balance of the instruments after the fact. This summer, when touring with Arno, I bought a 16 track digital harddisk recorder off eBay specifically to record the shows with (a Fostex D160... can be had for around $500.) You can use up to a 20 gig harddrive in the machine and the harddrives are held in caddies, so you can swap them once you fill one up. It's a great unit for the road because it uses standard IDE harddrives and you and just keep swapping them out to get more and more recording time. I found that a 20 gig drive would hold about 6 hours of 12-track audio at CD quality (uncompressed 16bit 44.1kHz). Fostex also makes units that record at higher sampling rates. Anyway, my plan was to use the same mixer that was doing live sound to amplify the microphone, since the recorder does not have microphone inputs. Each microphone input on the mixer had a "direct out" that could be fed to the recorder. So for us, we used 12 channels and I could route those 12 channels from the direct outs of the Mackie mixer into the recorder. That means I could go back later and mix the tracks together and have control over the level of instruments. The tracks broke down like this: Track 1 - drums left overhead mic Track 2 - drums right overhead mic Track 3 - snare drum Track 4 - bass drum Track 5 - saxophone Track 6 - guitar Track 7 - guitar direct Track 8 - organ direct Track 9 - organ bass Track 10 - organ top Track 11 - vocal 1 Track 12 - vocal 2 The idea was good. A problem reared it's head, though. Even though I was getting direct outs from the mixer, any time the sound man brought the level of a certain track up or down (say the saxophone wasn't loud enough, so he'd bring it up in the mix for the club) it would mess with my levels on the recorder, too. This is because the direct outs are controlled by the fader for each track. Bummer. So if I do this again, I'm going to isolate all the microphones using a multichannel splitter. In other words, each microphone will be split and go both to the soundman (front of house mixer) and to me at the same time and each send is completely independent from the other. So if the soundman turns something up or down, it doesn't affect the recording at all. The only other option is to use your own mics on everything, which means double-mic'ing the whole stage. That seems silly to me. Splitting is a much better option. I'm in the process of building a multi-channel splitter right now, actually. Confused?

MD use compression. I would use DAT before I'd use an MD. That said, taking a board feed can sometimes be good and sometimes be very bad. Keep in mind the sound guy is mixing the band to sound good in the hall, not on a recording. So that might mean balance issues. For instance, a lot of times the drums are not put into the mix very much because they are so loud on stage by themselves; you don't need as much in the sound system. Many times horns are very loud in the mix because they are so soft on stage, etc. I'll keep going if you want. I learned a lot about this by trying to record our tour with Arno Marsh this summer.

I went to Wal-Mart twice. First time I had to get a DV tape within a short period of time and they were closest. Second my wife and I went there looking for something (I can't remember what) and left within a few minutes without buying anything. We also vowed never again. Sears is actually a good store. I own a lot of Craftsman tools and Sears is the first place I go if I need a tool. They have good clothes, too. Both my wife and I buy clothes there. K-Mart. I think I've been there once with my grandparents when I was really little. That's about it. I hope it helps Sears out because I do like that store a lot.

Artest's foul was flagrant. How can pushing someone in the neck not be flagrant?

There you go, making friends again! That's funny, Chuck.

Did you say "morning" just to mess with him?

I think a 6 game suspension for Ben is fair. His reaction was over the top, but Artest's foul was really hard. Pushing someone in the neck is not cool. Fans from all teams can be stupid. I've had my share of abuse as an MSU fan at Michigan football games and such. Alcohol + competitive sport = people acting like idiots. On a side note, what's up with Rip lately? He's missing shots like crazy in tonight's game against Charlotte. His missed a whole bunch the other night against the Pacers, too.

Wow.

That seems fair.

Not necessarily. Perhaps it was really Muhammed. He probably looks a bit like Jesus.

Because you're Jesus?

The Groper is back.

I've related this story on this board before, but once on a gig I let the saxophonist's friend sit in on my keyboard rig. The guy was a pianist, but I'm an organist and my rig is set up as such. I do have a piano sound, but it's on an unweighted synth, a little out of reach, etc. Anyway, the guy sits in and is playing the organ simulator. He's doing all right. I go and sit down at the bar, get a beer. This drunk guy sitting next to me, who I've never met, turns and says, "That guy can't play organ. He's a piano player. You can tell." I thought, how observant of him. All of a sudden he says, right to my face, "He's not like you, though. You play real nice. But you look like a fucking dork."

Chuck and Hans, making friends all over.

Why is Wallace suspended indefinately? Have they just not decided how many games to suspend him? He didn't enter the stands, nor did he punch anyone, so he shouldn't be suspended as long as O'Neil or Artest.

I agree with Jim. Artest only escalated what should've been a light scuffle between the players. The fan that threw the beer was a stupid s.o.b., and a million cameras were on him when he did it, so you better believe he'll be charged. But to then head into the stands and start swinging away? Moronic and childish and the only effect was to pour gasoline on the fire. Why was he lying down on the scoring table? Stupid. The ESPN guys who are standing behind Artest are reprehensable. He nearly caused a riot to break out. He's lucky he didn't get really hurt. How smart is it to jump into a situation where at least hundreds of people want to kick your ass? Pretty dumb. Ben should be suspended for 5 or more games. Artest should be suspended for 15 or more. O'Neil should be suspended at least 10 and fined. And ditto for Jackson. The next three Pistons/Pacers games should be played in an empty arena. And for God's sake, get some experienced refs in there. I don't want to excuse what Ben did, because it was stupid, but at the same time, he just lost his brother and he had been getting pummeled under the net all night and was not getting any calls. He was clearly extremely frustrated. Again, it doesn't justify what he did, but it might explain why he flew off the handle.

It was stupid of Ben Wallace to react like that. Artest's foul wasn't that bad, although pushing someone's neck isn't cool. It was really stupid for Artest to lay down on the scorer's table. That's bullshit. It was really really stupid for the fan to grow throw a beer in his face. It was really really really stupid for Artest to go into the stands. His ass is going to get sued. The whole thing was stupid and embarassing. The Pacers beat the Pistons fair and square. No reason for it to end like that.

Damn. That was fucking ridiculous. I am ashamed at the Pistons fans at the Palace.