If you don’t have his book, it’s a pretty tough read for the uninitiated. Best thing is this chart:

Assistant Professor of Music/Audio Engineer

Assistant Professor of Music – Audio Engineer Troy University invites applications for a full time, tenure-track Assistant Professor of Music Audio Engineer in the Music Department on the Troy Campus. Responsibilities include teaching audio production and studio management/maintenance courses to undergraduate and graduate students; managing and developing audio production facilities within a growing music industry program working in collaboration with faculty colleagues in the School of Music; managing the School of Music concert/recital recording services; teaching additional courses as appropriate meeting the needs of the School of Music; engaging in scholarly/creative activities leading to regional/national visibility and contributing to a university vision of internationalization and interdisciplinary collaboration. Advising students and appropriate university services are expected. Qualifications: Energetic, dynamic, outstanding musician/audio engineer with production skills in a variety of genres and settings including American popular music; terminal degree or equivalent professional experience preferred; demonstrated excellence in teaching at the university of industry level is preferred; excellent communication and interpersonal skills; professional audio production experience required. Salary is commensurate with experience. Send letter of application, current curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation and media documenting audio production work in a variety of genres and settings to Human Resources, 107 Wright Hall, Troy, AL 36082. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. The start date will be August 2009. Troy University is an AA/EEO employer and encourages applications from individuals with disabilities, women, African Americans, and other minorities.

Given the chance, Mr. Wexler would have produced to the end and beyond.

“I asked him once,” said Mr. Thurman, the filmmaker, “ ‘What do you want written on your tombstone, Jerry?’ He said, ‘Two words: More bass.’ ”

From Wikipedia.com:

During his time as an editor, reporter, and writer for Billboard Magazine, Wexler coined the term “rhythm and blues.” He became a partner in Atlantic Records in 1953. There followed classic recordings with Ray Charles, the Drifters and Ruth Brown. With Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün, he built up Atlantic Records into a major force. In 1967 he was named Record Executive of the Year for turning Aretha Franklin’s career around.^[1]

In the 1960s, he notably recorded Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin, and oversaw production of Dusty Springfield’s highly acclaimed Dusty in Memphis album. He also cultivated a tight relationship with Stax Records, was an enormous proponent of the then-developing Muscle Shoals Sound and founded the fortunes of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. His work in this decade put Atlantic at the forefront of soul music.^[2]

In 1968, he and Ahmet Ertegun signed Led Zeppelin to Atlantic Records on the strength of a demo tape played by the band’s manager Peter Grant and from what they knew of the band’s guitarist, Jimmy Page from his performances with The Yardbirds.

In 1975 Wexler left Atlantic Records for Warner Bros. Records. In 1979, Wexler produced Bob Dylan’s controversial first “born again” album, Slow Train Coming, at Muscle Shoals; a single from that album, “Gotta Serve Somebody”, would win a Grammy in 1980. In the early 1980s, Wexler would record with UK popstar George Michael. The most famous outtake of these sessions would prove to be a rare early version of “Careless Whisper” (also recorded in Muscle Shoals). The version was originally released as “Special Mix” on an early pressing of the single’s 12″.

In 1987 Wexler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Wexler retired from the music business in the late 1990s.

From the NYTimes obit:

Mr. Wexler was something of a paradox. A businessman with tireless energy, a ruthless streak and a volatile temper, he was also a hopeless music fan. A New York Jew and a vehement atheist, he found his musical home in the Deep South, in studios in Memphis and Muscle Shoals, Ala., among Baptists and Methodists, blacks and good old boys.

“He was a bundle of contradictions,” said Tom Thurman, who produced and directed a documentary about Mr. Wexler in 2000. “He was incredibly abrasive and incredibly generous, very abrupt and very, very patient, seemingly a pure, sharklike businessman and also a cerebral and creative genius.”

From the MuscleShoals Times/Daily:

Songwriter Donnie Fritts knew his friend was sick but had simply hoped the inevitable wouldn’t come.

Fritts learned of his good friend’s death at 8 a.m. Friday after a phone call from another close friend, actor/musician Kris Kristofferson, who co-produced Fritts’ album, “Prone to Lean,” with Wexler in 1974.

Still struggling with his emotions later in the morning Friday, Fritts relayed what he called, “one of the most beautiful displays of friendship I’ve ever heard of.”

Fritts said Kristofferson, who’d been in Europe on business, flew to Wexler’s Florida home on Monday.

“(Kristofferson) went in and played (guitar) and sang to Jerry for two hours, just the two of them,” Fritts said. “Jerry had a way of loving his friends that can never be forgotten, and we adored him. He gave to each of us intellectually, inspiring us to be better people. I know I’m a million times better man for having known him.”

(This post was originally titled “Fixing a Small Organ Problem” but I thought better of it!)

Well, the digital organ at the Catholic Church is on the fritz again which prompted another visit from Keith, the formerly wild-n-crazy Santana FOH sound engineer now turned organ repairman.  Keith drove about 3 hours to get here and, as Murphy’s Law would have it, the organ worked perfectly while he was here.  He did some “soul-searching” and took apart the power supply and checked capacitors, but we still don’t know if it’s fixed or not.  We agreed that beginning to change out parts at this stage of the game was a waste of time, but if he had just a bit more information, he would know what to do on the next trip.

Basically, he gave me “THE LESSON” on how to troubleshoot a digital organ when your repair shop is 3 hours away.  Since I know so many of my readers would find this information useful, I decided to share it with you.  The trouble I’m having with this instrument is that it randomly sounds like fireworks going off at close range;  –not all the time, but just during times when people would be frightened to hear such loud low-frequency noise.

THE LESSON

Number One.  If the organ is acting up (i.e. making explosion sounds) during a service,  give up and turn it off.  People will likely leave to join another church if you leave it on.

Number Two.  If it acts up and no one would be alarmed by the noise, then leave it on and quickly perform the following steps:  (you’ll need a screwdriver).

1.  
   1. Make sure you have full access to the rear panel (the side the organist can’t see if he’s playing).
   2. Using your phillips screwdriver, remove the two screws at the top of the back panel to expose the inner “guts”.  The first step is to Identify the two power amps at the bottom left of the organ; –they both look like they have 2 silver beer cans mounted on the metal boxes’ left side.  You’ll also see a heatsink-looking thing to the right of the transformer.  The amp on the left (assuming no one has screwed with the wiring) is for flute stops.  The amp on the right is the main amp. 
   3. Identify the silver shaft on the lower l.h. side of each of the amps.  This is volume but they don’t put a knob on it.   While the organ is acting up, turn one amp’s volume counterclockwise to see if the problem goes away.  This way you’ll know which amp/circuit boards may be involved.  When you’re finished, turn the shafts back to their original position.  DON’T TOUCH OTHER WIRES/PARTS WITH YOUR HANDS!   If you feel the need to bump things around a bit, use something with an insulated handle.
   4. Did I mention to remember the way the volume shaft was set before you turned it?  If you don’t really know, you’ll have to go back later and balance the flute stop volume against the other stops.  Not to much of a problem.
   5. Now look for the big honking circuitboard that is directly facing you.  This is mounted on a panel that you’ll need to swing open; –the screw that holds it in is to your left on the side.  Remove this knob/screw and put this somewhere safe;  you don’t want to lose it (or leave it off when you’re through).  
   6. Swing open the panel to expose all the circuitboards attached to its rear.  The one you’re looking for is the A/D converter board;  it has 2 RCA cables that plug into jacks soldered onto the board.  (Remember, the organ needs to still be powered on and acting up at this point, otherwise you’re wasting your time). 
   7. One at a time,  remove these cables from the board (noticing which one goes where!).  If the problem goes away at this point,  make a note of which cable has to be removed for the problem to cease.  Call your trusty repairman and he’ll know which circuitboards to bring based on which wire it is (top or bottom).
   8. If the problem is still happening, then fear not!  It is in the amp section.  Repeat step 3 to confirm if one or both is bad.
   9. Return everything back to its original position and close/secure the panel.  Replace the back and wait for the calvary to arrive.

See, that wasn’t so bad!  Anyone could do it!  It’s not very dangerous due to the low voltages inside MOST sections (and the nasty ones are supposed to be covered by grills!).  And it beats $300 pointless service call anyday!  (Actually, Keith isn’t charging for this past trip, except for the lightbulb for the pedalboard that I didn’t really need but took anyway).  

Now what have we learned, children?

–Basically we have to isolate the problem from the stuff that doesn’t matter.  Divide and Conquer.  Veni, vidi, vici.  Throw out the bathwater and keep an eye out for the baby.

We probably didn’t fix the organ today, but I learned an important lesson;  “THE LESSON” about fixing digital organs.  And hopefully, you learned something too.

Peace,

J

They tracked the drums for 9 songs, then almost completed 2 songs!

Doing a little bass punch-in…

 
This song is NOT appearing on the forthcoming album.

From www.potluckcon.com:

The Pot Luck Audio Conference is a yearly gathering of people who are passionate about signals, sounds, music, and recordings.

Formerly TapeOpCon, we are now moving into our seventh year. There will be three days of fun and informative workshops and panels. We will be featuring three different working studios, four main panels, and over thirty-two workshops.

 Our panelists are chosen for their insight and accessibility and always include today’s top minds and ears in the recording scene. This year, the entire conference will be centrally located at the Sheraton Hotel, New Orleans on Canal Street. We have negotiated an amazing rate of $109.00 a night for this beautiful four star location.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?  Learn tape machine alignment, try a DIY kit project, find out about studio insurance and electrical grounding…  These guys have a good slate of workshops and the price is $150 for students, $295 for NARAS members.  It’s too bad that I’ll be on vacation that weekend, but I’ll have to put this on the calendar for next year!  Sweetwater is setting up a studio inside the hotel and they plan to do some real recording and mastering onsite.  Did I mention they’ll have some music showcases and exhibits?  Compared to other ways of networking and learning new tips, this event is really worth the money!

Pat McMakin has 30 successful years of experience as a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and studio manager.  He’s worked with great artists such as Dolly Parton, NSync,  Brenda Lee, Brooks & Dunn, George Jones and Ray Charles.  Ever wonder who inspired and influenced him?  Well, I asked him, so you can take a moment and find out!  Recorded 4/12/2008  at the Southeastern U.S. Music Industry Showcase.

Are you wasting money on high-end audio equipment?

In the April edition of MIX magazine, Paul Lehrman reported on a double-blind study published in the AES journal which compared the sonic resolution of high-end SACDs, DVD-As, and the lowly CD.  The 60 subjects were recording professionals, audiophiles, and college students in an audio recording program.  In 554 trials, there was no statistical difference between “high-resolution” audio and the standard CD 44.1kHz/16 bit format.

So why should I spend more money for equipment w/ astronomically high sample rates/depth capacity?  The answer seems to be that I shouldn’t.   Read another way, it seems that spending lots of money for the high end stuff doesn’t equal a relative increase in the quality of your recordings (or Live sound system, for that matter).

Lehrman says …”something is causing people to say they are hearing differences” and offers a theory by Ethan Winer (RealTraps manufacturer) that could be one answer.  Ethan says “I am convinced that comb filtering is at the root of people reporting a change in the sound of cables and electronics, even when no significant change is likely.  If someone listens to their system using one pair of cables and gets up and switches cables and sits down again, the frequency response heard is sure to be very different because it’s impossible to sit down again in exactly the same place.  So the sound really did change, but probably not because the cables sound different.” 

I’m digging this Gospel, so I went on Winer’s site and started reading.  From an article in a 2005 edition of Skeptic magazine, I found this gem:

Among devoted audiophiles, one of the most hotly debated topics is the notion that ultrasonic frequencies are necessary for high fidelity reproduction. Put aside for a moment that no human can hear much past 20 KHz. Few microphones respond to frequencies beyond that, and even fewer loudspeakers can reproduce that high. If maintaining an extended frequency response were free, I’d have little objection. But in this digital age, storing frequencies higher than necessary wastes memory, media space, and bandwidth. Even sillier is the way audio is handled on DVD soundtracks. DVDs accommodate frequencies up to 96 KHz, but then lossy* data compression, which is audible is often needed to make it fit! Record companies and equipment manufacturers just love that millions of people replaced all their old LPs and cassettes with CDs. They’re trying very hard to get us to buy all the same titles, and new gear to play them, yet again with the false promise of fidelity that exceeds CDs. 

 So if much of what we perceive as improvements in quality are due to our listening environment (changes in head position), are there any things that seem to make a difference?

Years ago I bought a BBE Sonic Maximizer because I heard a big difference in my PA system when I added it in the loop.  Now I don’t have any inside knowledge about what these guys are actually doing to the signal, but it sounds like it’s doing something!  I can peel away mud and adjust bass with a simple twist of the knob,  but it’s still “magic” to me;  – it’s some sort of smart eq/phase cancellation black box.  Why can’t I do the same thing with an EQ and maybe a spatial enhancing plugin within Protools?  Hopefully if I can get a free moment this week, I’ll try to create an audio shootout between the BBE box and my plugins.  It should be interesting…