A year before they fired up the ARPANET, J.C.R. Licklider wrote in Science & Technology, “What will on-line interactive communities be like? In most fields they will consist of geographically separated members, sometimes grouped in small clusters and sometimes working individually. They will be communities not of common location, but of common interest. In each field, the overall community of interest will be large enough to support a comprehensive system of field-oriented programs and data.”
While setting up a client's home recording kit, I got to play around with an SM Pro Audio Mic Thing. Similar in design to the sE Electronics Reflexion Filter, basically it's a foam covered screen that wraps around the back of the mic to help reduce room reflection and echoes.
I've always been a little wary of these types of products. When talking about "sound proofing", I often see people get caught up in the differences between treating a room for reflections and insulating a room. These types of screens are good at helping you shape a room (when used with additional room treatments), but are completely useless for insulating a room from outside noise.
My client had a small office (in a pretty quiet corner of the house) with hardwood floors for his recording space, so we decided to attack the space from multiple areas. We built PVC/Packing blanket baffles to "shape" the corners of the room, we found a nasty shag style rug to throw on the floor, and employed the Mic Thing to finish the space off.
We decided on the MicThing over the Reflexion mostly because of price, being about $70 cheaper than the Reflexion. I don't think the build quality is quite as solid, but I do like that the Mic Thing is adjustable. You can take the screen's sides from perfectly flat to ninety degree angles forming a pretty tight box around the mic. One advantage of the adjustable sides is it makes it easier to use a music stand. We formed an "L" shape with the Mic Thing, the mic in the corner of the screen, and a concert music stand continuing on the flat end, so he could still read copy. I don't think this arrangement would be as easy with the Reflexion.
The SM Pro mic stand we ordered with the Mic Thing is formidable, and is easily one of the most rugged stands I've ever used. You can often find the two bundled for the same price as just the screen.
I like the Reflexion's Mic mount better. On the Reflexion the mic clip attaches from under the screen, and the depth (how far the mic is from the screen) is adjustable. With the SM Pro, the mic attaches to a boom that has to swing over the top of the screen. The closer the mic is to the screen, the higher the remainder of the boom swings up. It looks sloppy and is hard to adjust without swinging the mic around dangerously for minor adjustments. I think I'll recommend a two mic stand approach, one for the Mic Thing and a round base stand for the mic. I think this will make height and depth adjustments much easier and safer.
In all, I'm very pleased. We picked it to save a little cash, but it's doing the job well.
I had a chance to play with the Mic Thing in my living room, and decided to test it out with my M-Audio Solaris and a packing blanket baffle. I recorded first in Omni to get a sound for how "live" the room was, then added the Mic Thing, then switched over to Cardioid.
Take a listen with headphones to really hear the difference.
Sonicstate.com takes a look at the audio production of Doctor Who and Torchwood at Bang! Studios in Cardiff.
I'm a sucker for BBC in general and have been a HUGE fan of Doctor Who since my Dad started showing me the old Tom Baker episodes.
This is pretty cool stuff if you're into sound design and foley, and they will be following it up with a look at the studio's new Digidesign console and a closer look at some of the foley tricks for the shows.
And while you're waiting for that second episode you could take a listen to a sound design project I did about a year ago. Whilst playing around with ring modulation I kinda figured out how to do Dalek and Cyberman voice effects. See if you can guess whose voiceing which character! Doctor Who Dies First!
BBC News is reporting on the passing of Neal Hefti who also worked on The Odd Couple and Barefoot In The Park.
The iconic music, which Hefti described as the "hardest piece I ever wrote", was a Top 40 hit and won a Grammy Award in 1966 for best instrumental theme.
Easily still one of the most iconic themes ever written. Thoughts and prayers (and a SOCK!POW!ZOK!) to his family and friends.
Yup, Radiohead has finally released the statistics behind the pay-what-you-like 'In Rainbows' album download experiment. Apparently it was a success, even with many people deciding to download off of torrents.
James Earl Jones has been tapped to receive this year’s life achievement kudo from the Screen Actors Guild.Jones has long been a staple of the stage and screen, making his Broadway bow in 1957 in “The Egghead” as an understudy. In 1969, the thesp won his first Tony for his role as Jack Johnson in “The Great White Hope.” In 1970, he nabbed Oscar and Golden Globe noms for “The Boxer,” the screen adaptation of the Rialto production.
“James Earl Jones’ distinguished career on stage, in film, on television, in commercials and as a vocal presence without peer commands our admiration and respect. His long and quiet devotion to advancing literacy, the arts and humanities on a national and local scale deserves our appreciation,” said SAG prexy Alan Rosenberg.
The kudo will be presented Jan. 25 at the 15th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be simulcast on TNT and TBS.
Just sent in from a reader of We Love DC, apparently 39 years ago today ARPANET was fired up for the first time.
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