Topic: Basic checklist for my first recording?

[RemotelyLocated]

Yeah I don't understand the soundzabound piece of this. I suspect they weren't sought out to give expert opinion but likely pitched the school district for the opportunity to do so. After all, they advertise these expensive presentations prominently on their site. I don't see a school district approaching a company who's against Fair Use and asking, "Hey, can people record what we do?"

And it's a local company, so there's possibly something to that.

I've since asked one of the directors if during the "clinic" if they were provided any documentation or compelled to sign anything acknowledging understanding/compliance ... he said no, they were not. Just scared silly by a company with an agenda. Awfully important "policy" that doesn't require anything written to that effect? Huh?

Having said that, it's also likely someone above the directors, possibly someone who works as an administrator in the District (who hired soundzabound to show up?) could have also been in attendance and helped give everyone the stink eye to toe whatever line was there.

Still waiting to hear back for authorization ... show is next week.

[2manyrocks]

Think about it this way as a hypothetical example.    School vendors can make a lot of money.  Textbooks, food supply, building maintenance, insurance, diesel fuel for the buses, school yearbooks, class rings.  Take whatever product it is and multiply it times the number of students over X years x the price of the product.  It could be a lot of money. 

People want to sell their products and services to school districts for $.  School districts don't just buy stuff without a reason.  If I am trying to sell my services to the school district, the first order of business for me is to convince the school district that they really, really need to sign a contract with me because I can help them avoid getting into any hassles over copyright infringement.   As part of that, I need to educate them how they can get in trouble and how my services can keep that from happening if I am the one trying to sell my services to the school.  If the school doesn't think they can get in trouble, they aren't likely to buy my services. 

One way to try figure out what this might mean in actual practice in your own school district is to contact someone in another school district that has actually been using these services and ask what policies the other school district has put in place about recording.   



 

[capnhook]

By the time the school board makes a policy, it's tough as nails to get it changed. That's why the OP needs to stay in contact with the music director, find out what the expert is advising the school district to do, and then try to make sure that the policy allows for archival recordings just the way it's been for years before the policy is put in place by the school board.  Once the school board makes it policy, they will consider it settled business whether it's a good policy or not.

.....and hopefully very soon, as my esteemed friend cybergaloot strongly suggests, the school board gets its asses handed to them in court, eh?

[RemotelyLocated]

I'M IN! Got the confirmation today, after touching base once more last night.

I don't know why I'm so excited. Oh yeah I do; it's because I know I've potentially helped the entire fracking school district's music department.

Now all I gotta do is show up and not screw it up.

[Gutbucket]

Strong work!

[capnhook]

I'M IN! Got the confirmation today, after touching base once more last night.

I don't know why I'm so excited. Oh yeah I do; it's because I know I've potentially helped the entire fracking school district's music department.

Now all I gotta do is show up and not screw it up.

Make great tapes..!

[RemotelyLocated]

Make great tapes..!

All set.

[2manyrocks]

But you have to have two of them for stereo.

[RemotelyLocated]

True. Maybe I'll haul out the Otari 5050 4-ch instead.

Not.

[capnhook]

Make great tapes..!

All set.

Wrong deck --- that's the tape deck to my Timex/Sinclair 1000 computer..

You need a pro model....with "vari-speed" to do the job....

[cybergaloot]

I'M IN! Got the confirmation today, after touching base once more last night.

I don't know why I'm so excited. Oh yeah I do; it's because I know I've potentially helped the entire fracking school district's music department.

Now all I gotta do is show up and not screw it up.

Good work! Congratulations!

[cybergaloot]

Make great tapes..!

All set.

Wrong deck --- that's the tape deck to my Timex/Sinclair 1000 computer..

You need a pro model....with "vari-speed" to do the job....

Hey now, my first computer was a Timex/Sinclair. I had the expanded memory module, I was rolling in high cotton.

[capnhook]

Hey now, my first computer was a Timex/Sinclair. I had the expanded memory module, I was rolling in high cotton.

Yeah, who would ever need more than 16K RAM, and 45 minutes of cassette storage?

[cybergaloot]

Hey now, my first computer was a Timex/Sinclair. I had the expanded memory module, I was rolling in high cotton.

Yeah, who would ever need more than 16K RAM, and 45 minutes of cassette storage?

I've still got a couple of books with programs in basic that you could type in. No typos allowed!

[RemotelyLocated]

In an old thread introducing the Samson CL2s here, I linked to a few samples of the resulting recording from all this copyright-stuff two nights ago (my second recording!) I was soldering new cables that afternoon as the eBay Samson's arrived ...

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=75618.msg2064531#msg2064531

Special thanks to Gutbucket for mic placement advice. Really happy with how it turned out. I made a wide stereo bar out of a 4' flat, "punched" zinc bar cut in half and sandwiched together with black electrical tape, http://www.homedepot.com/p/Crown-Bolt-1-3-8-in-x-48-in-Zinc-Plated-Punched-Steel-Flat-Bar-with-1-16-in-Thick-18050/202183472#.UnJwr5E_4ds

There were a few soloists who wandered as they sang and so that's a little weird to have them moving between the speakers but I'm nitpicking here.

I also learned that the drinking fountain backstage, when used (as some waiting performers did), introduces a nasty spike in the AC line I shared. Apparently, the solenoid that activates when the bar is pushed in to get water does this, not the refrigeration compressor! I watched helplessly as sharp 0-db spikes got recorded, but was able to later get rid of them in isotope RX2, a miracle worker.

Both the Mac's and the audio interface's AC power go through their normal power adapter transformers first, but if you've got a suggestion that might isolate that, lemme know --- I can run the audio interface without AC (it's FireWire) but my Mac's battery won't last for a whole show. Cheaper plug/ground lift adapter?

What's funny is, that happened on a song performed especially for the recording. It wasn't on the program and the director made an announcement he wanted a good recording of the song to take to State competition! Holy Shit! At that point I was checking everything to make sure it was all still going and working ...