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ARRIVALS & REPAIRS:

Tuesday, I received both my recent Sweetwater orders. I think one of the orders may have actually arrived at Shipping & Receiving, on campus, later in the day Monday, but it got to my hands the next day.

I got the new Earnie Ball capo to replace my previous capo that went missing in the spring. I'm convinced that now that I have the new one, the old will magically reappear; and it'll be somewhere that I was just sure I'd looked for it. So far it hasn't showed up, but I'm still expecting it to do so.

I also got my new Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X Studio Headphones, with only a price tag of $229.99. The DT 990 Pro X is touted as being excellent for mixing and mastering, and I gave them that testdrive Tuesday evening with the mixing and mastering discussed in the The Hisey/Storer EP Project entry just below. I also listened to a few albums with them. The sound quality is indeed very vibrant and my perception is that I'm getting a virtually perfect, flat-EQ representation of the mix; plus, the quality and dynamics of the sound is rich.

Plus, I got my new music stand. The platform, or "desk," isn't a smoothly solid, once-piece surface as I'd assumed; it is a solid surface, but it folds out into one from four equal fold-out sections. I still get that solid surface to lay my material, and the folding platform makes it easy to fit into the provided carrying bag, so I have no complaints. I've needed a music stand for a long time. Even for use with my Legato piano, which has a music sheet platform that attaches to the piano, but it's unstable and inevitably comes loose and falls to the floor, with even a minimal amount of vibration from playing. Setting my new music stand behind the piano will work much better.

My new Boss BF-3 Flanger Pedal came, too. A flanger pedal was a major staple of my bass work in the late 70s and the 80s. I used it a lot. In fact, I used one for the ending section of the first song we've recorded for the new The Hisey/Storer EP Project, but this time I used my Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus Pedal, which is a similar effect. I'm not going to worry about going back in with the flanger.

Lastly, I got my 50-pack of Hosa WTI-508 Hook and Loop Cable Ties and I've already put a few of them to work, strapping guitar cords, other sound cords, and even the too-long cord for my computer mouse at A HREF="https://www.libraries.wright.edu/">the rent-payer.

In the continuing saga of my probable blown fuse in my Ampeg BA-210 bass amp, I attempted to get inside the amp to change the fuse my self, Monday. I first went into the electrical components compartment, where it seemed more than logical the fuse would be housed, but it wasn't. My next step was on-line research where I learned that the fuse is inside the main amp housing. I unscrewed the panel to get in there, but here's the thing: the seams on that panel are so thin, first of all it's difficult to even distinguish that they're there, and second, removing the panel door is seriously difficult. I could not do it, not without risking damage to the panel door or to the body of the amp; you need something about as thin as a razor blade to pry that thing open.

So I asked around for who might be a reliable amp repair place and got several recommendations for the same place. We connected Friday and I'm dropping the amp off there tomorrow afternoon after work. The thing I did not like hearing is the tech saying that usually with an Ampeg if the fuse is blown it's a symptom of another problem. I guess I'll find out.

My new Ernie Ball capo, just after I unboxed it Tuesday.	Wearing my new Beyerdynamic Studio Headphones while woodshedding a Hisey/Storer EP Project song on bass.	My new music stand, set up in my apartment living room, well, in my occasional office & sometime rehearsal/recording studio space.
My new BF-3 Flanger Pedal, out of the box.	My attempt at working on my bass amp, first, opening the electrical components compartment, then my vain attempt to open the amp body panel.

BACKWARD BUT FORWARD:

As mentioned above, last Tuesday, using my brand-spankin' new Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro X Studio Headphones, I finally mixed and mastered the next generation of demo for our first song. Though with these preliminary mixes I'm working out the eventual final mix, this demo mix is still a rough mix, beyond the fact that the guitarist isn't there yet. There's still some hiss here and there that I haven't isolated and killed. The balance of volume between everything isn't perfected, either. There's some other cleanup to do, too.

On this mix there's still the drum-kit-balance issue: the cymbals are too loud as is the kick drum, though the kick isn't as bad; all the toms and the snare are too low. Because of these problems, the kit as a whole had to be down too low in this mix; if I brought the kit up, the cymbals would overpower everything on the whole recording, as would the kick. Of course, the kick needs to be prominent, for sure, but a little less so.

Yesterday, at my apartment, woodshedding my bass line for Song #2

I've been rehearsing my bass part for our second song and working out some little fills. I've still been on my Embassy Pro bass for this, and have still utilized my Bass Ten Graphic EQ; plus I've been trying my new flanger pedal. At the moment my use of the flanger is sparse. I'm only using it for brief place at the start of the chorus section. This new BF-3 model has a great feature that allows you to only activate the flanger effect if you push the pedal down; when you release it, the effect ceases. Right now, that's how I'm using the flanger in the song.

Our next session is this coming Saturday. The plan is to take out a bit of work. Beyond the unknown date of adding that unknown guest guitarist for the first song ‐‐ and maybe the second song ‐‐ we have that drum kit issue to deal with. And we plan to get kicking on the second song.

Adjusting the drum-kit volume balance and re-recording the drum part for Song #1 will be our first priority on Saturday. We'll start the session an hour earlier to allow time to make those adjustments. Then, the hope is that we can re-record the drum part in as few takes as possible. The first time it was only three takes.

After re-recording Rich's drums for Song #1, we'll move on to Song #2. It'll be Rich on his Special SG guitar and me, obviously, on my Embassy Pro bass.

It's plausible that we can take this out, along with the drum part for Song #1 in Saturday's session. We just have to be focused. I really don't want my next post about the EP project to be an admission that we didn't make the day we wanted to make.

‐‐ NEIL deGRASSE TYSON:

Tonight I'm headed to the Schuster Center in Downtown Dayton to see astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Got a decent seat. too: Orchestra Center, Row B, Seat 115, just eight rows from the stage. I'll report on the event, soon.....probably.

Click here for the music video for "White Landscapes ‐ long version"
For more information on all my music releases, please visit my music page: K.L.Storer's Music

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