LETTER OF THE MONTH
Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM
THE CORD OF DESTINY
I recently played a party that a local promoter invited me to headline. I hadn't touched my gear in about a year for various reasons. I moved from Toronto, Canada to a small college town in southwest Virginia, where house and drum 'n' bass is known and appreciated only in small circles.
I have been a strong proponent of Stanton Final Scratch for the past three years, but the machine I run it on is past its prime. I also have only version 1, which can be troublesome. Worried that it might not make it through the night, I spent two weeks spinning for hours to see if it would crash. It hiccupped once, but I think it was because my gear was kept in the basement and the scratch amp just needed time to warm up. Fearing problems might ensue at the party, I got there early to test out the gear. Unfortunately, the promoters weren't able to get everything in place right away, so I couldn't run any tests.
My turn to spin came up, so I started Final Scratch, and it was purring. By the end of the first mix, the floor was jammed. The subtle mixing techniques I had forgotten came back to me, and I got lost in the groove. Then, about 45 minutes into the set, my computer completely shut down. Frozen in a state of anger and disbelief, the crowd erupted with an exaggerated sigh of frustration. But instead of booing (which they should have), the crowd began chanting my name. I quickly diagnosed the problem: One of the other DJs had accidentally unplugged my power cord when uninstalling his CDJs. My machine had been running on batteries during my entire set. (Not to dis Final Scratch, but I've come to learn that version 2 has a battery-level indicator.) I got to play only two more tracks before we had to shut down. Handshakes and a ton of praise followed when the lights came on. It was then I remembered why I used to be absolutely mad about this hobby.
Greg Fitch
Christiansburg, Va.
For sending in this month's winning letter, Greg Fitch wins his own M-Audio MidAir 25 (MSRP $249.95) wireless MIDI controller. If you send in the most inspired correspondence next month — or simply the letter we like best — you will win the M-Audio MidAir 25. All you have to do is send an e-mail to remixeditorial@remixmag.com. Please include your full mailing address.
RIGHT ON, DUDE
The Tech Sector review of the M-Audio BX10s subwoofer in the December issue of Remix is right on! I just set mine up a couple weeks ago. I am loving it. It sounds excellent with the BX5s. Doug's review describes the BX10s perfectly. He did a great job.
Jim Carson
Los Angeles, Calif.
THANKS, BUT…WTF?
First I want to say thank you for producing such an informative publication month after month. The interviews are great. I am a Propellerhead Reason user, and when I saw the article “Reason 3 Jacked Up” in the December issue, I was ecstatic. I immediately turned to page 59 and started reading, but I ran into a problem. The article says “To send LFO 1 to two destinations, simply select a destination on the front panel and then patch LFO 1's rear-panel output to the Modulation Input of your choice.” How is that sending it to two inputs at once? Also, in the section titled “Follow the Bouncing Envelope,” you must have skipped a step between 4 and 5 because all of a sudden, it's asking you to connect the vocoder; none of the steps mentioned that you should have created a vocoder in the first place. I tried to let this go and figured the example files online would clear things up. Yet as of this time, the Webpage has not been updated to reflect this issue of your publication.
John Dominique
Norcross, Ga.
Hi John — We've since posted the Reason 3 RNS file that has all the examples in the “Reason 3 Jacked Up” article in four separate Combinator patches. It makes following along with the feature a lot easier.
Regarding the LFO 1 routing tip, the Subtractor synth's rear-panel jack sets up a second routing in addition to the routing chosen on the front-panel LFO 1 section. The additional routings come when you use the Spider CV Splitter device as detailed in the article. So you can have LFO 1 modulating several destinations at once, and what's more, you can use the Amount knobs next to each destination jack or the front-panel Amount knob to independently adjust the LFO amount for every destination. It's pretty cool, and it opens up a whole new world of creative routing beyond just this one example. — Markkus Rovito
DOES NOT COMPUTE
Surely there are some fundamental errors and omissions in the “Phantom Power: Mixed Signals” column in the December 2006 issue. For example, Doug Eisengrein states “Line-level signals are also Hi-Z, typically the highest of the three.” Line-level signals (for example, synth outputs, CD-player outputs, signal-processor output) are generally low-ish impedance, typically defined by a resistor (<1 kilohm) in series with an op amp output or similar.
Line-level signals are often unbalanced, but they are low impedance nevertheless and can run into line-level inputs with an input impedance of typically 10 kilohms without problem.
Possibly not as low-Z as a standard low-Z mic output, but they are lower than passive guitar/bass pickups, etc., which, to make matters worse, often run into inputs with input Z >1 mega ohm.
It is also worth mentioning that “proper” guitar cables have a semiconducting layer between the screen and core to reduce electrical noise due to mechanical movement, which can be an issue with Hi-Z systems.
Robert Morris
East Grinstead, West Sussex, UK
Thanks, Robert and others for your response to “Mixed Signals.” There was in fact an error on my part in that article. Line levels are indeed lower impedance than instrument, not “Hi-Z, typically the highest of the three,” as originally stated. As for omissions, I can only cover so much in the amount of space provided. In retrospect, however, I probably should have covered input impedance and output impedance in order to draw a clearer picture of how these work as a system. Also, additions about the actual dangers of interconnecting gear improperly (say, a guitar to a mic input) would have been worthwhile. A good overall in-depth source regarding this and many other audio issues that I'll point readers to is the Sound Reinforcement Handbook (Yamaha, 1988) by Gary Davis and Ralph Jones. — Doug Eisengrein
AH, CRAP
Okay, so we effed up and have a correction to the article “Speed Freaks: Klaxons” in the January issue of Remix. We incorrectly stated that Klaxons' band member Simon Taylor plays drums; he in fact does vocals and guitars for the band. Sorry about the mix-up, Simon. We hope you still love us.
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