Editors:
Mary (ISDN queen) Mazurek
and
Kathy (Splice Girl) Dunaj

Volume 17 Number 3
March, 2002

EARS Meets at Sam Ash

1305 West Dundee Road, Buffalo Grove, IL
847-253-3151
Tuesday March 26, 7:00 pm

Come join us at Sam Ash, "The Musical Instrument Megastore" to see how mega it really is! Located on Dundee Road in beautiful suburban Buffalo Grove, near Arlington Heights Road and Dundee, on the south side of the street. Call 847-253-3151 (press "0" for operator to save your sanity) to get exact directions/info. Special guest John Larrabee of Heartland Marketing will demo the Tascam DM-24: 32 channel 8 bus digital mixing console and also the MX-2424: 24 bit hard disk recorder/editing system. So come on out and see it for yourself! Big Note: Meeting starts at 7:00 pm (1/2 hour earlier than usual) and no refreshements will be served. Make plans to chow before or after the meeting.
-Kathy Dunaj-

"A Slight Note From Underground"

I'm happy to observe that in the first three meetings of the year we've seen a renaissance of EARS veteran studs like Timothy Powell, Danny Leake & Fran Allen- Leake, (not a stud) Greg Groeper, Marty Feldman - hell . . . even Harry's been showing up! Plus we've had consistent attendance from a cadre of new avante members like Charlie Kim, Vlada (VP) Prljic, Theo Thompson, Moe & Kevin from "Spoiled By Technology", Ted Cappellan from T.C. Furlong, Eli Kelly of Gary Gand Music, Gordon Rinda of A.T.C, and Soren Wittrup...etc. to name only a few - and everyone is paying dues too!!! A slick Christmas party, a sexy Gr**my party, not to mention the overwhelmingly seductive get together at Paragon in February. So far, so good.

Remember, "Without music, life is a mistake." -Friederich Nietsche

Strength & Honor
-David Moss-

EARS Recaps/ Appreciation File


The Larry Williams Memorial Gr**my Party was held at The Hard Rock Cafe, and EARS members came out in droves to witness the spectacle. Our emcees for the night were party planner and Entertainment Czar Harry B. and his trusty side kick (or is it the other way around?) Hudson Fair. They kept us thoroughly entertained with the raffle and their crazy antics during all of those boring commercials. And speaking of the raffle, congrats to our winners, especially Ken Paul who walked away with a pair of Sony headphones and Hudson Fair who's singing the praises of our raffle donors in his new Sennheiser microphone. See, I let other people win.

Thanks to all our raffle donors: Berler Communications Company, Sweetwater Sound, The Tape Company, and Spoiled by Technology. EARS raised nearly $500 that evening [on $2 raffles alone]! Hey Harry, good party.
-Mary Mazurek-


January's meeting was held at Paragon Recording in Chicago. Hosts Marty Feldman and Jack LeTourneau supplied plenty of dogs and chips for our hungry crowd. Our newly elected President, David Moss kicked off the evening by laying out his EARS agenda/ideas for the year. The highlights are: Raise dues to $25/year, but keep in mind not to exclude members who can not afford to pay. An increase in dues, may help finance the website. Have a sign in sheet at each meeting. This can keep track of who is a member or a guest. Guests may feel inclined to join after seeing the list repeatedly. Make an annual date for members to pay dues. Possible dates January 1st or the BBQ in August. Advertise in Pro trade magazines such as Mix or Billboard to attract artists to our Chicago recording scene. Advertise for a PR person who can help build the EARS image and recruit sponsorship for the website. Work on what past President Gary Khan had started, an EARS jam session. Create an EARS sponsored Battle of the Bands. Get involved more with what's going on in the community and bring that info to members, such as vendors giving technical demos. Finally start up an EARS award ceremony for excellent achievement in our craft.

The floor was then opened for discussion and suggestions. Some of the topics of the night that EARS members wish to see happen this year are to have seminars which are clear and consise and given by the tech person. If the actual engineer for the company comes to demo the gear, it will be less salesy and more to the grit of the gear. Start forums for compatibility and swapping sessions. How can we all share sessions easily, now and in the future. Print up laminated member cards. Work on collaborating with vendors to provide EARS members discounts on gear. To the above mentioned, most members agreed that EARS needs a PR person, but also know that it is not an easy task. This is an ongoing program which will require meetings and committees to run successfully. This is just the start of a new year, discussions will continue throughout the year about these ideas.

Mike Tanko deserves a cheer for his stellar note taking, fulfilling his new role as Secretary. Thanks again to Marty and Jack for hosting the meeting. Look for the famous Trident TSM 48x24x32x4x2 console, very soon at Paragon. Built in 1979, Pink Floyd, Barbara Striesand, Queen, Kiss and hundreds of other famous musicians have created award winning hits on this legend. For more information on Paragon call 312-942-0075.
-KD-

Dues, Dues and More Dues


A big thanks goes out to the Spoiled by Technology folks Barb Paulsen, Moe Paulsen, and Kevin Shaw for their very generous donation to support EARS, we really appreciate it. An EARS cheer also goes to Mike Tanko for his nice big check. Thanks also to the following members who have paid their dues recently, and even donated a bit more: Vlada Prljic, Robert Toliatti, Bill Zouganelis, Mike Castronovo, Kevin Robbins, Mike Szromba, Theo Thompson, Eric Perina, Sunshine Voelker, and Jon Schnickedanz.

To make a dues payment for 1 year's membership send a check for $15, or more if you can swing it, (payable to EARS) with your name, contact info, desired destination for EARDRUM newsletter/meeting notice (preferably e-mail), phone number, and career status/ specialty/occupation/goals to: Pegasus Recording P.O.Box 578903, Chicago, Il.60657.

If you move or change your email address, you must contact Mary or Kathy or you will not receive the EARDRUM. Thanks!

EARS WEBSITE UPDATE


Pegasus Recording's Gary and Mary Khan have taken over the task of updating the website. For now, they have agreed to cover the costs as well. Timothy Powell has been hard at work restoring all the Eardrums from 1990 on. And Gary's got some Eardrums from before that. All issues will be posted to the website in the near future, so keep your eyes open for some priceless engineering info. Thanks Gary, Mary, and Timothy for your dedication. You Rock!!!
-KD-

Working In Post by Kathy Dunaj


Last year I wrote an article about laying up audio to Pro Tools 5.1 Mix Plus System. The article may be accessed at www.ears-chicago.com August 2001 archive. Going on now beyond the layup is the acutal session which will entail laying in music, sfx, and possibly narration. Since we already have recorded the audio from the betacam master we can build our session around that. The audio is there for that purpose only and is usually far from being complete.

Most of the time there will be a producer on the session who has an idea of the sound mapped out in their head or on paper. Yes, as an engineer you will have to put your creative hat on too. So we'll start off discussing these ideas, and it's off to the sound effects/music library to pull some options.

The sfx/music is now selected, but will probably change as everything is laid in. By this point the original audio should be laid into PT and locking with the betacam master or video file if you have that option. Since I have the machine control option, I can control the betacam master (which is on the other side of the building) right on the transport panel of PT. Pre-Roll on the transport panel is set, usually I set it around 5-10 seconds, that seems to be plenty of time...but an eternity! Under pull down menu, Operations, make sure Pre-Roll is selected, or highlight it on transport. Record enable and name the first open track with the correct soundfile name. Always take the time to name the files so you can easily find them later. Now we can lay in the first soundfile.

To lay in the first file, normally the program will start at 01:00:00:00. If this is the case, after it's recorded in, trim the front and tail (tightly) using the trimmer tool and name the region. Then in Spot mode, use the Grabber tool to select the region. A Spot Dialog box will appear allowing you to type in exact time code numbers, or place in the original time stamp. To lay in a file when you're not sure of the tc number you can either guess and scooch until it locks to picture or get it exact. For exact timing: play the betacam master and stop the beta as close to the beginning of the frame as possible. Then, use the jog wheel to scrub ( in very slow motion) as close to it as you can physically move it. Look at the transport panel, and that is the tc number you need to place the file at. Then repeat the above spot mode move and type in the tc start time. Spot mode works very accurately for laying in files, as well as Slip mode for scooching. Obviously if you can import video into your workstation, it will go a lot quicker, because you won't have to deal with cueing slow tape decks.

Suppose narration is also to be recorded and in sync, you will need at least two video monitors. One for the talent to read to and one in the control room for you and the clients. Create a cue mix for the talent, and let them act away. When all sfx/music and vo is recorded and placed, it's time for the mix. The really cool function of PT is that the mix follows the soundfile. Any level change or Audio Suite effect that is mixed into the file will move with it. I always mix to a time code DAT as a safety master. There are a lot more options for formats these days, especially if this session is not the final edit...ie.sharing sessions with Avid editors. Sometimes the video editor may have more work or graphics to add. Usually I mix to a tc DAT and then lay back (the mix in real time) to the betacam master or dub, and then it's off to the dub house. Meanwhile I'm running a final backup of everything using Mezzo.

Who have you been working with lately? We want to know! If you have any ideas for stories, wish to contribute an article, want to include any upcoming events, or have a tech tip, please contact:

Mary at pegasusrecording@ameritech.net. Or write to:
Peagasus Recording P.O Box 578903, Chicago, IL 60657.

Kathy can be reached at SVI, or
kathy@soundvideoimpressions.com.