Monthly Archives: March 2006

Advice for buying gear on eBay

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I was just reading a forum post about a guy who bought a 16-channel mixer off of eBay for a hundred bucks and then got zinged for an additional two hundred for the shipping. Now I know ground shipping can be expensive, especially for heavy gear (though I can’t imagine how heavy a 16-channel mixer could be, nowadays). The lesson to be learned, I guess, is to really check out eBay listings before you bid. Here’s some advice from somebody who has bought and sold quite a bit on eBay:

1. If there’s time, email the seller and ask for additional, high-res photos. These may reveal imperfections that aren’t visible on the eBay site, and you might get to see other angles of the gear.

2. Don’t buy from people who have anything less than a 98% positive feedback rating. Just trust me on this one.

3. Find out whether or not the gear comes in its original packaging or casing. This may seem inconsequential, but if the seller still has original packaging material, that’s a fair indicator of how well taken care of the gear is.

4. If buying something that can be obtained new or through another channel than eBay, check the pricing of the gear elsewhere. Just because it’s on eBay doesn’t mean it’s a good deal.

5.  Check the shipping policy three or four times before you bid. The number one way to screw buyers on eBay is through shipping fees.

What would you add to this list?

The Drummer’s Job???

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Came across this post on a Yahoo group about drumming. Being first and foremost a drummer, it reminded me of a few bands I’ve been in:

The job of the drummer is:
To show up before anyone else, since it will take longer to load in the drums.
To stay later than anyone else, since it will take longer to load out the drums.
To be the only one in the band who has any idea what bar of the song the band is in at any given time.
To hit the crash in the right spot so the singer knows when to come in.
To play the right fill to remind the guitar player it’s time to go to the chorus.
To play the right fill to remind bass player where the bridge is.
To play the right fill so the entire band knows the bridge is over.
To play an obvious “end the song here” fill so the guitar player doesn’t turn your 3 minute song into an extended 10 minute guitar solo showcase.
To remind the band it’s your band too.

Recording vocals with an SM57 mic

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For more of my articles about recording and mics, check out my new site, StudioRoll.

The old standy mic–the Shure SM57–is used in the studio and on stage. It’s quite a flexible mic that’s good in almost any live situation, except perhaps cymbals and kick drum. And it can be handy in the studio. It can even be enrolled, in a pinch, to record vocals. Here are some tips from a thread at the Home Recording BBS, where folks familiar with the 57 offer advice for getting a good vocal take:

The frequency response for the SM57 has a huge boost from 2k to about 10k so you will get close to a 10db boost in that range. Not that that is a bad thing, just keep it in mind, and use it to your advantage.

The person, the room, the speakers, even the preamp you use all depends on what kind of coloration happens to your original signal and whether you would benefit from EQ or not. Your best bet….get an SM57, plug it in and record. Then listen to find out what you like and don’t like.

Yes, depending on the voice and your recording chain, you can get a workable decent vocal sound with a 57.

So, the conclusion is that a 57 will work–if you want to make it work.

Behringer’s USB Strat knock-off

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From Behringer’s official product description for the new USBB guitar:

You have a great song in mind and want to record it straight to your PC. You want all your amps and stomp boxes in your workstation so you can jam like you’re in the studio or on stage. With the BEHRINGER iAXE USB-Guitar you’re just a cable away.

The iAXE comes with loads of great-sounding virtual amps and stomp boxes powered by state-of-the-art modeling software. Jam along with your MP3, WAV and AIFF songs or backing tracks on your Mac® or PC. We even included multi-track recording and editing software so you can record your music on the spot.

The high-quality electric guitar comes with a fantastic maple neck and its screaming tone sings through 3 single-coil pickups with 5-way switching. A built-in connector allows you to connect your headphones straight to your guitar so you can jam with your favorite band.
Cool, isn’t it?

I’ll say it’s cool. For the record, it’s Windows and Mac compatible. I wonder how the guitar feels. Check it out here.

Audio Hijack Pro Updated

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Podcasters, perk up and listen. If you aren’t already using Audio Hijack Pro, you should be. This tool lets you record audio from any input on your Mac, and even from any application that produces sound. What’s better, the sound that is captured by Audio Hijack Pro is captured digitally and without loss (so it’s also a great way to remove digital rights management/DRM restrictions from those iTunes tracks you’ve been wanting to copy).

Audio Hijack Pro is truly a useful app–compared to Soundflower, it’s a lot easier to deal with, and, despite its $32 shareware price tag, is really worth every buck and then some. You can even use effects plug-ins to add realtime effects to your captured recordings, perfect for quick’n'dirty podcast audio processing. Here’s a rundown of the new features, in version 2.6:

  • Schedule Helper for more reliable timed recordings
  • Bookmarkable MP3s
  • Adjustable MP3 Sample Rate
  • Updated Voiceover Plugin
  • Now supports Unsanity’s Smart Crash Reporting

And if all you really need is a simple audio capture tool for copying from iTunes or saving recordings of Internet radio stations, then check out the simpler, cheaper, and slightly more stripped-down Audio Hijack.

Oh, one more more thing. Both of these packages are Mac-only.

Fretted, electric violins. Why?

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Maybe it’s because they sound cool. Maybe it’s because they look cool. Maybe it’s because we’re all Kansas fans at heart (or not). But electric violins, and fretted violins, have begun to gain traction. Companies like Wood Violins have brought to market some instruments that have shaken the silly old reputation of the traditional “new wave” violin. (Though that may not stop people from making fun of electric violins, at least not yet.)

Wood even makes violins with six strings and a lacquer finish just like an electric guitar. In fact, if you don’t look closely, you’d swear you were looking at a flying V guitar by the look of these things. Wood has cellos, too. Now, what could would whine about violin lessons on one of these puppies? Check them out.

Before Mellotron, there was Chamberlin

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Check out this eBay auction for a vintage Chamberlin analog tape sample keyboard, manufactured in the early 1960s. These antiques pre-date the most famous of analog tape-looper sample-players, the magnanimous Mellotron.  As of this moment, this Chamberlin model 300 is close to two grand–that’s five hundred bucks per octave. Some of the sounds included are marimba, violin, and guitar. This particular one even appears to have a yellowing set list (or may it’s a sheet of song lyrics) taped onto the console. Cool stuff. Something tells me these Chamberlins don’t have a MIDI interface, though. Check it out here.