we're still making music, not quite sure why

[Thermofusion]

After spending Friday night drinking rum and playing dulcimers and banjos by candlelight in a dilapidated old mansion by a swamp, I think I've decided to start some kind of dark Southern Gothic music thing.

[kyle]

Hammer Dulcimers are incredible.

[heather]

After spending Friday night drinking rum and playing dulcimers and banjos by candlelight in a dilapidated old mansion by a swamp, I think I've decided to start some kind of dark Southern Gothic music thing.

This kinda sounds like an episode of True Blood.

[Thermofusion]

Just another day for me

kyle, this was a four-string fretted dulcimer but man, I have a serious hard-on for hammered dulcimers. I only wish the good ones (those hand-made by a quality luthier) weren't so insanely expensive.

[milly balgeary]

Man, talk about the Beverly Hills Kops

[milly balgeary]

icp!

[kyle]

Just another day for me

kyle, this was a four-string fretted dulcimer but man, I have a serious hard-on for hammered dulcimers. I only wish the good ones (those hand-made by a quality luthier) weren't so insanely expensive.

Seriously. My dad bought a hammered for about $400 and that was a beginner's model. They have such a distinct and creepy/enchanting sound.

I have a the four string fretted dulcimer. It's cool to play occasionally, but has sort of resorted to a guitar tuned to an open chord and missing a few strings. Most fun I have with that is handing it to someone who knows nothing of playing music and giving them the full confidence that they can nearly do no wrong.

[davy]

Sometimes, when E is busy and I want to make music, Finn gets to tag along.

[Maaik]

Neate!  Having my dad take me to his band practice is another memory I'd like to ahve implanted in hy head by the gub'mint.

[peacocks]

another?  I want to read a thread about that

[Maaik]

Playing a show tonight, but at work right now impatient impatient IMPATIENT.

[Maaik]

A few from our show at the Masquerade, Purgatory stage.

[alistarr*]

i think my best microphone (best out of two) is broken. it's an se2200a condenser mic, and whenever i record then there's this weird ringing sound in the background whenever something loud-ish happens. i didn't think i'd been careless with it but do you guys think i might have destroyed its insides somehow? does that happen?

i'm pretty gutted.

[donblood]

Have you dropped it or hit it really hard against anything, especially sans shockmount?  Or subjected it to extremely high SPL (like right next to a really loud guitar cab)? 

It sounds more like you have some other problem...  when you record, are you using headphones or speakers to monitor?

[alistarr*]

i've tried monitoring with two sets of headphones (both plugged into the soundcard and into the stereo i'm using for monitor speakers) and with the speakers directly.

i haven't dropped it or bashed it against anything - in the few days since i used it and can guarantee it was fine (because i have a recording which is fine) it's been sitting in its shockmount attached to a mic stand with a bag wrapped round it. i'm a little concerned i might have subjected it to too loud a noise but it's never less than 2 metres away from whatever we're recording (with guitar amps i close mic with an SM57 and use this one sitting back and a little up off the ground so that the guitars don't sound like they were recorded in a totally different room to the acoustic instruments). the only other thing i can think of is if i've been doing drum practice when the mic's not been switched on and - because i wasn't using it - i haven't thought to make sure it was standing far enough away. can loud noises damage it when it's not turned on?

[alistarr*]

i should point out also that the weird ringing noise is also present in the background of the recorded track on playback, not just while recording, and that it also happens if i tap the front of the mic with my finger while not recording.

[Maaik]

Yeah, hitting a mic with high SPLs even when not in use can do damage to it since the soundwaves are still moving the diaphragm.

Do you know any decent engineers you might be able to take the mic to?  I know some of the sound guys around here keep workrooms in the back of the venues where they work where they can repair microphones.

'Course, if the capsule is the problem, you should probably call the manufacturer.  I'm sure they could repair it for you if you mail it to them.

[alistarr*]

i guess this is why it came with a nice padded case to keep it in when it's not in use. four years of nothing breaking has clearly turned me into a lazy owner.

i don't know any engineers so will probably give the manufacturers a call and see what they say. i think all the manufacturing happens in china and they just have local distributors, so it might not be productive, but worth a try, so thanks for the suggestion.

tonight i'll do a bunch of testing with various things plugged in and what-have-you and make sure it's definitely the mic that's damaged. then i'll cry and attempt to reorganise my recording plans around getting it fixed/getting a replacement.

also sorry for bringing homerecording drama to detract attention from maaik and davy's excellent musical pictures.

[alistarr*]

i don't think it's broken - i think maybe my soundcard is being lame. i can record one input to two tracks (the idea is that the first is processed through any on-board EQ or compression you want the soundcard to do for you and the second is "unprocessed") and it's only the first track that's getting this weird distortion. but it's happening with both microphones and on both the inputs of the soundcard.

...and now it seems to have just fixed itself. huh.

[donblood]

Glad it's fixed.  I'm going to go ahead and guess that you're recording to Windows?  Not a value judgment - home recording on the Windows platform can be a monstrous pain in the ass.

What kind of sound card do you have?  Most onboard effects in the consumer range are fairly crappy, especially compared to software plugins, and maybe you could turn that two-tracking thing off?

[alistarr*]

I'm using a focusrite saffire (what their website now calls an "old" saffire because they apparently have continued to make new products in the five years since i bought it), with two mic/line inputs on the front and two spdif inputs on the back. before i thought i needed to replace my mic i was actually thinking about getting a separate mixer thing and using that with a couple more cheap mics to close-mic my kick and snare and run it in through the spdif inputs. but if you're not using the spdif ins for anything you can just "mirror" the mic ins to those tracks. so i can definitely turn the two-tracking off, yeah, but it's cool to be able to just click it onto "guitar" or "percussion" or whatever when we've got a bunch of demo recordings to get through in a day, and sometimes i think they leave stuff sounding pretty excellent.

if i was going to use different software plugins would i apply those after recording, or during? or doesn't it matter?

anyway, after my post it stopped distorting even on the processed tracks so i'm thinking it's probably a software glitch. and yeah, i'm using windows. i never had any trouble with my trusty xp laptop but this is my first time recording on a windows 7 machine, so who knows. i installed all the relevant drivers, etc.

[donblood]

Ah, Focusrite makes some good stuff.  I just read a quick review and their DSP stuff gets high marks.  The compressor in particular models their outboard unit, which is generally well-regarded.

if i was going to use different software plugins would i apply those after recording, or during? or doesn't it matter?

Depends on your goals and desires.  Some people like hearing effects on the monitors, some people don't care.  (I personally don't care.)  Either way, you'd want to record dry, and have the DAW apply the effects non-destructively.

[Maaik]

Either way, you'd want to record dry, and have the DAW apply the effects non-destructively.

This.

[alistarr*]

given that i think i can access the focusrite compression and EQ through cubase, i guess i may as well just record without any of it on (quick demos excluded) and play with the pretty noises after recording. thanks 

now of course i still want a new microphone.

[jebreject]

Just had my first practice with my new metal band. It went really, really well.