Buy a multimeter!!!!!

[mshilarious]

Attention all newbs: your first questions are probably what interface you should buy, what mic, what software, etc. But there is something you need first: a multimeter!

Doesn't have to be expensive, this one works just fine:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=390-730

You can buy similar units at Home Depot or Radio Shack.

Why? Well, here's the deal. You are entered the new and exciting world of audio "engineering". That means you are dealing with electricity. If you want to remove the quotes from "engineering", you have to be able to troubleshoot problems.

Basic functions:

VDC (volts direct current): Is this battery dead? Is the phantom power on my interface working? Is this AC adaptor positive center tip or negative center tip?

VAC (volts alternating current): What is the output of this piece of gear at 0VU/0dBFS? What input drives this bit to 0VU/0dBFS?

Resistance (ohms): Did I break a wire inside my guitar/microphone?

Continuity (beeps with very low resistance): Is this cable good or bad?


I see people asking troubleshooting questions all the time, and if everyone possessed this basic $10 piece of gear, you could either find the problem yourself very quickly, or be able to provide much more accurate information so other people can help you.

 

[cantthinkofname]

maltometers?

 

[wheelema]

Attention all newbs: your first questions are probably what interface you should buy, what mic, what software, etc. But there is something you need first: a multimeter!

Doesn't have to be expensive, this one works just fine:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=390-730

You can buy similar units at Home Depot or Radio Shack.

Why? Well, here's the deal. You are entered the new and exciting world of audio "engineering". That means you are dealing with electricity. If you want to remove the quotes from "engineering", you have to be able to troubleshoot problems.

Basic functions:

VDC (volts direct current): Is this battery dead? Is the phantom power on my interface working? Is this AC adaptor positive center tip or negative center tip?

VAC (volts alternating current): What is the output of this piece of gear at 0VU/0dBFS? What input drives this bit to 0VU/0dBFS?

Resistance (ohms): Did I break a wire inside my guitar/microphone?

Continuity (beeps with very low resistance): Is this cable good or bad?


I see people asking troubleshooting questions all the time, and if everyone possessed this basic $10 piece of gear, you could either find the problem yourself very quickly, or be able to provide much more accurate information so other people can help you.

On that note here is a link to a tutorial on how to use a multimeter, part of a series of tutorials to get any n00b started.

 

[misterbill]

I just did a charter with three music teachers and some band kids on the bus. I checked the bus with a flashlight and found a cell phone. I said to the teachers that I was a musician and I know all about AIRHEADS. I don't think they liked the reference. LOL

I am such an airhead that when I changed batteries on my portable CD player, I got the batteries mixed up, it played for about a day and went dead. I got out my multimeter and did a voltage test on the batteries to figure out which ones were at full voltage and which were dead(fortunatly I had the old ones in my bag). NOW THAT'S AN AIRHEAD!!!!!

I was at a friends house(yes a musician)who lives in spaceland. I was admiring a picture on his wall-it looked like a black and white photograph. He said he pencil drew it from a picture on a postage stamp. I don't think you can have that kind of talent and not be an airhead.

 

[TAE]

You're a good man Charlie Brown

Nice of you to hep the newbs

 

[Minion]

I believe that every Musician should have at least a Basic understanding of electronics just so they can first save Money (why buy a new Patch cord when you can fix a Broken one?) and secondly just to have a Better understanding of what is going in in there equipment and a Multimeter is a simple tool that can open up a whole new world of understanding ........


Cheers

 

[c7sus]

Meh...... that thing is a toy.

http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-117-Electricians-True-Multimeter/dp/B000O3LUEI

 

[wheelema]

Meh...... that thing is a toy.

http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-117-Electricians-True-Multimeter/dp/B000O3LUEI

I sure miss my Fluke. We moved and it disappeared.

 

[cantthinkofname]

I believe that every Musician should have at least a Basic understanding of electronics just so they can first save Money (why buy a new Patch cord when you can fix a Broken one?) and secondly just to have a Better understanding of what is going in in there equipment and a Multimeter is a simple tool that can open up a whole new world of understanding ........


Cheers

i agree with you but i'm one that never will. (i have a certain occasional brief fascination and very slight understanding of electricity tho) but i want to focus more on the music and i generally like to stay light

i have no problem appreciating and paying others who are more technically minded for what they do. i respect them more than i could ever express. and they deserve it. i appreciated this thread too, it gave me just enough basic understanding to be able to communicate better with the experts i go to for help

 

[dintymoore]

cantthinkofname that's fine but I will say that if I didn't do my own repairs I wouldn't have been able to afford Neumann mics and a bunch of Summit gear. I can only afford those things because I do my own fixing!

I couldn't have made my studio without a multimeter. The first one I bought was while I was on the road in Newfoundland. We looked up Radio Shack in the phonebook and went to this guy's house. He had a beaten up garage out back of his house and had a small wooded sign he and his buddies had made, probably fueled by beer, that had "Radio Shack" scribbled on it.

Inside the literal "shack", he had a bunch of broken tv's and there, in the middle of the room was a glass case with an assortment of Tandy/Optimus/Radio Shack stuff in it. He was Radio Shack, Newfoundland circa 1976. He had got the francaise and obviously no one from Texas had ever gone up to check him out. I don't blame them in a way - it was a bit nippy there!

The meters from Sears are fine, (as are the Funky Meters from New Orleans ) I got a red Craftsman meter for $10 and it's great. The only thing to look for is it's nice to have audible continuity, and not all have that.

In addition, it's a good thing to get some alligator jumper cables, Radio Shack sells a bag of them, they come in real handy when using multimeters, they look like this:http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0031/5472/products/08927-02-L_large.jpg

 

[Chili]

I don't think I have ever had the need to use a multimeter in my studio.

 

[cantthinkofname]

cantthinkofname that's fine but I will say that if I didn't do my own repairs I wouldn't have been able to afford Neumann mics and a bunch of Summit gear. I can only afford those things because I do my own fixing!

I couldn't have made my studio without a multimeter. The first one I bought was while I was on the road in Newfoundland. We looked up Radio Shack in the phonebook and went to this guy's house. He had a beaten up garage out back of his house and had a small wooded sign he and his buddies had made, probably fueled by beer, that had "Radio Shack" scribbled on it.

Inside the literal "shack", he had a bunch of broken tv's and there, in the middle of the room was a glass case with an assortment of Tandy/Optimus/Radio Shack stuff in it. He was Radio Shack, Newfoundland circa 1976. He had got the francaise and obviously no one from Texas had ever gone up to check him out. I don't blame them in a way - it was a bit nippy there!

The meters from Sears are fine, (as are the Funky Meters from New Orleans ) I got a red Craftsman meter for $10 and it's great. The only thing to look for is it's nice to have audible continuity, and not all have that.

In addition, it's a good thing to get some alligator jumper cables, Radio Shack sells a bag of them, they come in real handy when using multimeters, they look like this:http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0031/5472/products/08927-02-L_large.jpg

i understand what your saying, i think that's great. i think that people should do as much on their own as possible. i don't know if its because i am a woman or who i am in general or both but i just cannot be how you are. i could if i wanted to but that would just kill me. (this is just in relation to the things were talking about here and stuff related to that)(in other ways, its another story i will do what i have to do, whether i like it or not

have you ever heard the song 'all she wants to do is dance' i am kind of like that (but not totally of course

thank you for the information, it was nice talking to you again.

 

[ez_willis]

I don't think I have ever had the need to use a multimeter in my studio.

me neither.

 

[cantthinkofname]

and dinty i am more like the woman in this video (but not all the time of course)
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i think if i threw myself into electronics and things, it would be a bad decision for myself/mylife and would actually ruin my music, that is just me

 

[dintymoore]

cantthinkofname I know what you mean and I'm not knocking you for it! The reason the world works is because we're all different. If we weren't it would be like sitting down at a drum set that consists of all snare drums - it wouldn't work!

I'm a DIY person - roofed my house, put a windshield in my car etc... and will hop in on pretty much anything. It has made it so I can have stuff most people will never be able to.

ez_willis and Chili, I hear what you're saying too. but I'll bet if I had been with you this last 20 years in your studio that there would have been numerous times when something was screwed up and I would get out my meter and solve it and you would have said "geez, I didn't know you could do that!". Almost all of my friends are like that. Again, there's a reason that we are all different - the same reason that my workshop has a variety of tools and not just duplicates of the same one.

I do know that the second I walk into a room with women and yank out out my multimeter - watch out! 911! Grab the fire extinguisher!

 

[ez_willis]

ez_willis and Chili, I hear what you're saying too. but I'll bet if I had been with you this last 20 years in your studio that there would have been numerous times when something was screwed up and I would get out my meter and solve it and you would have said "geez, I didn't know you could do that!".

my initial reaction was "nope", but then i remembered i have an issue with the pups in my tbird that i can't figure out and i know it's a wiring thing.

 

[cantthinkofname]

cantthinkofname I know what you mean and I'm not knocking you for it! The reason the world works is because we're all different. If we weren't it would be like sitting down at a drum set that consists of all snare drums - it wouldn't work!

I'm a DIY person - roofed my house, put a windshield in my car etc... and will hop in on pretty much anything. It has made it so I can have stuff most people will never be able to.

ez_willis and Chili, I hear what you're saying too. but I'll bet if I had been with you this last 20 years in your studio that there would have been numerous times when something was screwed up and I would get out my meter and solve it and you would have said "geez, I didn't know you could do that!". Almost all of my friends are like that. Again, there's a reason that we are all different - the same reason that my workshop has a variety of tools and not just duplicates of the same one.

I do know that the second I walk into a room with women and yank out out my multimeter - watch out! 911! Grab the fire extinguisher!

i didn't think you were knocking me for it i agree with what you say about how were all different. i'm pretty omnidirectional, its very hard for people to understand me, very, very hard.

but i disagree about the multimeter, a man with a multimeter has never rocked my boat. (i wish one did or i'd be in a much better situation right now i'm sure) my exboyfriend always had a multimeter around and was using it for something, everything!!!

but the multimeter had nothing to do with us getting together or breaking up.

 

[cantthinkofname]

my initial reaction was "nope", but then i remembered i have an issue with the pups in my tbird that i can't figure out and i know it's a wiring thing.

my dad bought me a white t-bird a couple of years ago but i ran it into a pole and totalled it on a dark rainy night. no lie. i'm so ashamed of myself. now i am driving a saturn from a bad credit place that i paid way too much for

 

[dintymoore]

my initial reaction was "nope", but then i remembered i have an issue with the pups in my tbird that i can't figure out and i know it's a wiring thing.

EZ I wish I was there and I'd help you with your T-Bird, they're cool cars.

cantthinkofname - I used to play on a tour boat and we played The Safety Dance when they gave the lifevest demonstration to the tourists. I love that song!

 

[cantthinkofname]

EZ I wish I was there and I'd help you with your T-Bird, they're cool cars.

cantthinkofname - I used to play on a tour boat and we played The Safety Dance when they gave the lifevest demonstration to the tourists. I love that song!

my thunderbird looked like this (the pic at bottom of post) but it was 'hotrodded out' with better rims, sunroof, stereo system etc. until the dark rainy night.

safety dance is a cool song, i've always loved it. right now i'm listening to the land down under

p.s. i think that is what somepeople call the 'grandma version' of the car, mine was the other one, the ls i think it was, but couldn't find a pic