Topic: Basic questions

[viega]

Hey there.  Some background on me, first... For years I had a D8 that I ran out of boards and other peoples' decks.  Then I left college and on very rare occasion recorded a few shows with some Core Sounds mics.  My D8 eventually stopped recording reliably (probably a head alignment issue).  And, to make matters worse, most of my DATs from a decade ago now have lots of drop-outs, event though I stored them properly (I talked to Doug Oade, and he said it was because I recorded on DDS tapes).

I recently got a Microtrack, and just recorded a couple of shows on it, one patching out of someone else's rig, and two with core sounds mics.  One turned out great, but in the other, I just wasn't able to avoid the massive amount of crowd noise, even though I used the cards (I've got both sets), and ran them up a few feet above people's heads on a pole.

So, now that I'm no longer a starving college student, I decided to invest in a non-stealthy rig.  I bought a TASCAM HD-P2 with a 8Gb CF card (mainly because I used to envy the DA-P1 ;-), the Peluso CEMC6 stereo kit w/ card and hypercard caps, a shure microphone stand, a t-bar and Mogami mic cables.  Doug Oade suggested that a dedicated pre-amp wouldn't be necessary, that the HD-P2 itself was more than good enough.

Anyway, on to my questions.  First, I have seen on this forum that I should always run the mics w/ the 10db pad.  But, I'm not sure how to decide when to use the rolloff filtering on the Pelusos.  With the core mics, any time I'm indoors I run the roll-off filter, but that seems not the right thing to do, plus there are two settings.  Any practical guidance would be much appreciated.

Second, I set up the rig w/ cardiod caps in my apartment, and pointed it at my computer stereo 10 feet away for a few hours, in order to test battery life and burn in the cables.  I was able to get a decent signal, but the recording sounded distant, at any mic config (played around w/ several... that is hard to get right... is anyone selling those templates yet?).  The core sounds recording from the same place sounded a lot more true to the sound.  Am I doing something wrong, or is it because I don't have the music super-cranked, and it will sound better live?

Third, the flight case that came w/ the mics is OK, but I'd like to cram more in it.  Would a regular old music store sell new foam for it?  And how do you carve out of it if you're really not artistic, like me?

Finally, what's the history / mechanism for the whole +t thing?

Thanks,

John

[chucky]

Hey John,
 
      I've never ran the Pelusos or the P2, but I'd assume that  you shouldn't run with the pad on unless the show is super loud, and the P2 can't handle it. Of all the mics I've owned I've never had to run with the pad on.
I've heard a few tapes with the Pelusos and they smoke, especially for the cost, good choice.

As far as the practice run you did, you def. wouldn't need to run the pad on while doing that, Maybe the CS's are more sensative and therefore sounded more upfront/true, I don't know. It will sound much better when you record your first show with them. I always do trial runs with my playback cranked and run the mics only a foot or two away. If your using cheaper computer speakers it will never sound "right". I recently borrowed some gear and was testing it out by recording a 5min. snippet of a show with my small  B&Ws cranked, and I couldn't believe how good it sounded. So if you don't have a nice playback maybe you could go to a friends house who does and run your rig a few min. pretty close to the speakers and I'm sure you'll be surprised. Or better yet go see a local band to do trial runs. While there you could also take notes and change the config. every 10 min. to see how the sound changes with the configeration, but ofcourse every room is gonna sound different and you'll have to learn what config. you like in what situations. I have usually always ran actives with a kwon bar so I never really had a choice of configs., but I used to run 184s and I almost always ran DIN (90 degrees 20cm.) I don't know about the template you speak of, but you could surely make one. or bring a protractor and small ruler if you want it to be perfect. I've always just eye balled it, and it seems like that's what most people do, but nothing wrong with gettin it right.
    About the flight case, I'm not really sure cause I live in Japan, but they sell  "pluck and pull" foam which doesn't really have to be cut, the foam is cut all into little squares before you buy it , and then you just pull out the ones you don't want to fit the gear you want to fit inside. As you may have noticed in the rig pics, alot of people use soft padded camera cases. The advantage with them is that you can run your gear inside them so if an accident occurs such as someone spills a beer, or someone/something falls on the gear everything is pretty much protected. Also They're easier to carry because their soft and have a nice shoulder strap, and there's always extra room to fit other supplies/party favors. Anyways, I'm sure they sell that foam I spoke of at most camera supply shops.

  And the T thing, I think theres something in the TS archive about them. I don't know, but they're kinda  karma points if someones helping out they get- a plus, bein a dick- a minus. After you get 50 posts you can give them to other people, some people really take them seriously, and wanna know why they got a minus( some have even quit TS because of them) , but there's no way to find out who gave what. I think they're pretty funny, keep things interesting.

Edit: Heres the thread on the Ts   http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=2298.0