FingerzAndKeyz

I've been interested in recording for many years. My first recorder was a Montgomery Ward Airline 3" reel to reel. One Halloween we made freaky sounds on it, hooked up an speaker in the bushes of my folk's house and scared the you know what out of kids. I was even an electronics experimenter back then. I ended up turning that recorder into an intercom system from my bedroom up on the third floor with connections down in the family dining room and the finished basement family room. I scared the crap out of family members, by talking to them, without letting them know I had hooked it up. I was the black sheep of the family.

I high school, three friends and out band director went around town playing gigs for various groups. We played jazz standards, mostly, because he was one great clarinet and sax player. The other guys were guitar and drums, so we had a nice little group. The fun part was we high school kids got to see the adults of the town really drunk. We even saw the high school principle soused and trying to look up ladies dresses. Talk about great fun for a high school kid!

I then took a side step and went to college to be a music teacher. By that point in time, I'd considered myself a serious musician for 5 years. But, college didn't work out. I really wanted to get a performance degree, but they weren't available back in the dark ages. I did learn how to play all of the orchestral instruments. Woodwinds, Brass, Strings, percussion...I did OK on all, except the reed instruments. That damn reed tickled my lip and my professor was not only the head of the music department, but he also played a mean clarinet. The fact that I giggled when trying to play a clarinet didn't set well with him.

I'd played trumpet and french horn in high school, but, because I'd been a keyboard player for so long, my major instruments were keyboard percussion, such as marimba and vibes. I played bass drum in concert band and even had a solo on an album we made. Sadly, I didn't receive any solo credit on the jacket. See, the concert band director was that same head of the music department.

I played tenor drum in marching band. Yep, got to wear white gloves, twirl my sticks and really look fancy. We got to play half times in Bush Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium among playing other colleges. I don't remember much about either, except for some reason I remember seeing someone had spit out their gum on the field at Arrowhead. It was that green carpet stuff that was there before they put in real grass.

I started recording by bouncing cassette tapes back and fourth, to simulate multi-tracks. The quality really suffered, but it was all I had for a while. Then, I got a couple of two track reel to reel recorders and did the same thing. It was better, but still lost quality too fast.

I eventually got a TEAC 4 track tape deck and it was light years ahead of what I'd been doing. I got a mixer, and the band I played music with started recording originals. But, my lack of knowledge of the recording process was still against me. When I bounced tacks, I still lost too much quality. I think my biggest enemy was wanting too many tracks. Being a keyboard player, I always could hear one more instrument. I still need to remind myself...less is more.

I now have a two computer digital setup, 16 channel mixer with 8 direct outs and a breakout box that I can record 10 individual tracks at the same time. I record through the eight direct outs into 8 of the inputs and I can also add a stereo input via the SP/DIF connections from the box to the recording computer. I have hundreds of midi sounds on one computer that is my sounds computer and the second computer is my recording computer. That way, I don't have to worry at all about any lag time or slow response from anything.

I've also got a four input video switch box for cameras and I have each placed around the studio for when the guys get together. On the recording computer, I also have video capture software and the switch box can be set to switch through all four cams in a sequence. I can then go into an editing software, patch in the audio track from the recording DAW, and edit out any flutter from the switcher changing from one cam to another with screen wipes and such.

I have more than one video editing software, one being Adobe, and both are very versatile. I can import my own video clips and place them where ever I want and the same with audio, if I want. Especially with the Adobe software, I can have multiple video and audio tracks to mix in and out of. The cameras are color cameras and they are stationary, so players sit in specific spots so their camera shows them, when the switcher connects their camera.

It's not an exact science or anything really fancy, but it works. And with the editing software and Photoshop, I can add photos and even create or alter things to taste.

Being creative is a lot of fun, but I think my next purchase is going to be a faster computer for the recording computer. It's getting old and it still has an IDE drive in it. I never have had good luck with old computers surviving very long...and I may have just jinxed it even more, by saying that.

Well, music of course. I do also dabble in Photoshop. I'd play more golf but it's a rich man's game.