From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V9 #35 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Thursday, February 6 2003 Volume 09 : Number 035 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: minidisc (very off-topic) [Nadyne Mielke ] Spider Robinson & Columbia ["John Zimmer" ] Where's Nick? [Runly ] RE: minidisc recording (even more off-topic) [Phillip Hudson ] Re: Re: It's the OT season - hardly anything is released [birdies@ix.netc] Family Bands/MossEisley ["Lyle Howard" ] Music content - who woulda thunk?! ["Bill" ] Terami and stuff [karen hester ] Sorta on, sorta off topic ["Bill" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 22:59:14 -0800 From: Nadyne Mielke Subject: Re: minidisc (very off-topic) On Tuesday, Feb 4, 2003, at 16:09 US/Pacific, meredith wrote: > Well, I for one (and woj for two :) hope minidisc sticks around for a > little while. That's what woj uses to record live shows, and portable > DAT decks are stubbornly refusing to become affordable. And DAT is dying out. In the studio, it's being replaced by all-digital recording to a computer. Why bother with a finicky DAT if you don't have to? > In fact, the only people I know who use MD are tapers. I can't > imagine it being all that useful for anything else, particularly since > the advent of the iPod and its ilk. I have an iPod and I utterly adore it. It's small, it's light, it gets fantastic battery life, and it currently has 2500 songs in it. (I have the 20-GB model, and haven't finished ripping stuff for it yet. :) I think that if the folks at Creative Labs ever fix the issues with using that as a field-recording device, and/or Apple updates the iPod to allow for input, MD in the US will essentially completely die out. Until then, I'm stuck with my (increasingly pissy) DAT recorder. :/ /nm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 00:31:46 -0800 From: "John Zimmer" Subject: Spider Robinson & Columbia I figured there might be enough folks here interested in Spider and/or space exploration to be worth passing along his recent Globe and Mail column: "Saturday's terrible news reminded me and my wife of her near- rendezvous with the Challenger -- and why we believe that space voyaging must go on." http://smlnk.com/?VMZNHBY4 John ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 05:26:01 -0500 From: Runly Subject: Where's Nick? Did Nocturama get pushed back? It's not in my local record shop yet. Sharon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 02:39:24 -0800 From: Phillip Hudson Subject: RE: minidisc recording (even more off-topic) This is totally off-topic and completely boring to anyone not interested in recording loud music, so please ignore with my apologies if so. It may be OT but at least it's not Spam. alberto carrasco said: "Even when I drastically reduce the recording levels, an arena volume show still overloads it so all I get is distortion..." This is called 'brickwalling' and happens when a mic gets fed a signal so loud it just can't handle it and breaks up into distortion. I presume you're using a set of those miniature MD Mics? These are little condensor mics and draw their power from the MD unit, which is apparently rather stingy with it, generally sending out out 4-5 volts, sometimes less on certain models. As a result, the mics, which work much better at 9 volts, are underpowered, and start introducing distortion into the signal, or worse, they brickwall, which is what you're getting. You can raise the maximum Sound Pressure Level (SPL; the amount of noise they can handle before distortion) of these mics by giving them their own 9v power supply; in most of the specs for the less-than $100 mics, the max SPL goes from around 108 to over 125 db, which, as anyone who ever saw AC/DC live knows, is 5db over the threshold of pain. Using the battery unit improves the overall sound quality regardless of noise levels; it lets you plug into the line inputs instead of the mic inputs, (only when recording loud stuff)which gets rid of the brickwalling completely in addition to letting you use the less noisy line inputs. You can get options like volume controls and also bass roll-off switches, which are very handy for those gigs where the sound guy tries to use the kick drum's volume to kill all the rats in his dressing room.. The base unit I saw at the site below offered one with both options for under $100.00, and the barebones pack for $59.00. There's a very informative article on recording loud music here. http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?category=battery faq Good luck, let me know how things go. Phil ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 09:52:00 -0800 From: Birdie Subject: It's the OT season - hardly anything is released February is the off-topic season, as the most important things are released before and during the holidays and people spend this time recovering from holiday spending.....movie studios typically unload films they may have no where else to put, around this time, as well. Anyway, it is the off-topic season. Not much else going on, unless you are into pre-award chatter or discussing last years releases. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 15:27:20 -0500 From: "Michael P. Schneider" Subject: Happy's site has been updated :) Happy News ( pun intended *mischievous grin* ) Michael ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Feb 2003 17:57:50 -0500 From: Jason Gordon Subject: iva bittova versus veda hille (not a celebrity deathmatch...) There has been a lack of music chatter recently...so I will pitch in with some random thoughts :) I was listenting to Iva Bittova's album the other day and noticed that a lot of the tracks remind me of Veda's field study...Does anyone else hear the similarity? Speaking of Iva, I found a place in montreal (http://www.cheapthrills.ca/index.html for anyone who is interested) that has a bunch of her discs available - and it was much easier to order through them than through the sites in czech - I tried the czech site but couldnt get very far I admit...although I can order from akersmic in norway rather successfully... Other things worth hunting down or giving a listen to: Stephanie Dosen - ghosts mice and vagabonds (cdbaby) - something about this album really strikes me - fits nicely between susan court and stina nordenstam :) bridget storm - here's whats left - http://www.bridgetstorm.com/ the combo of haunting cello violin moog and "noises" with wonderfully restrained vocals and beautifully crafted songs (roughly similar to ida) ledisi - feeling orange but sometimes blue - she borders neo-soul, jazz, a bit of funk, and a dose of wonderful scat (and a dash of ectoish wonderfulness) - not what I typically listen to but I am falling in love with this disc quickly :) - also a nice mix between classics and her own material :) - -Jason np Ledisi ps who would win the celebrity deathmatch between iva and veda? hmmmmmm....that would be an interesting duet, I mean duel :) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 18:46:33 -0500 From: meredith Subject: Re: It's the OT season - hardly anything is released Hi, Birdie mused: >February is the off-topic season, as the most important things are >released before and during the holidays and people spend this time >recovering from holiday spending.....movie studios typically unload films >they may have no where else to put, around this time, as well. Well, for those who care about such things, Dar Williams' new one is due out on February 18. :) And as for the movie studios ... I guess that explains _Kangaroo Jack_. =================================================== Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth =================================================== Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://muzak.smoe.org NEXT UP: Cadence Carroll & Kellie Lin Knott, 2/9/03 =================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 15:54:51 -0800 From: Steve VanDevender Subject: Re: It's the OT season - hardly anything is released meredith writes: > Hi, > > Birdie mused: > > >February is the off-topic season, as the most important things are > >released before and during the holidays and people spend this time > >recovering from holiday spending.....movie studios typically unload films > >they may have no where else to put, around this time, as well. > > Well, for those who care about such things, Dar Williams' new one is due > out on February 18. :) This just reminded me to check throwingmusic.com, since a while back I saw an announcement that there would be another Throwing Muses record, and indeed there is, now supposed to be out March 4. Woo hoo! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 16:53:36 -0800 From: Neile Graham Subject: Re: iva bittova versus veda hille Jason Gordon wrote: > - I tried the czech site but couldnt >get very far I admit...although I can order from akersmic in norway rather >successfully... Try http://www.tamizdat.org/ --the discs come quickly from The Czech Republic and the site is completely in English. >bridget storm - here's whats left - http://www.bridgetstorm.com/ the combo >of haunting cello violin moog and "noises" with wonderfully restrained >vocals and beautifully crafted songs (roughly similar to ida) >ledisi - feeling orange but sometimes blue - she borders neo-soul, jazz, a >bit of funk, and a dose of wonderful scat (and a dash of ectoish >wonderfulness) - not what I typically listen to but I am falling in love >with this disc quickly :) - also a nice mix between classics and her own >material :) I really like this one, too. One of these days I really need to send in some reviews. And I never did do my 2002 favourites. Sigh. - --Neile - -- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neile Graham .... neile@sff.net/@drizzle.com ... www.sff.net/people/neile Les Semaines: A Weekly Journal ........ www.sff.net/people/neile/semaines The Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music ....................www.ectoguide.org Co-Administrator, Clarion West ...................... www.clarionwest.org ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 17:11:09 -0800 (PST) From: birdies@ix.netcom.com Subject: Re: Re: It's the OT season - hardly anything is released Meredith was spot-on when she wrote: "Well, for those who care about such things, Dar Williams' new one is due out on February 18. :)" Artists who have release dates in this time frame (post xmas umm pre-spring break) need all the PR help they can get - now - and, again, a bit later on. "And as for the movie studios ... I guess that explains _Kangaroo Jack_. " Yes, and watch out as sometimes there is a flood of them...best rule of thumb is to catch up on good ones you missed (from last year), and be verrrry cautious about anything new...go ahead - let someone else jump first! Birdie ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 06 Feb 2003 03:33:26 +0000 From: "Lyle Howard" Subject: Family Bands/MossEisley Hola, We were talking about family bands, weren't we? I don't know anything about this band, but they sound interesting. They certainly seem to have some buzz in the DFW area. MossEisley is made up of a family, the participants range from 16 to 20-something, and they are mostly female. The major labels are drooling over them. They may be a flash in the pan or they may be the next big thing. Who knows? Go here for their story: http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2003-01-30/feature.html/1/index.html Bye, Lyle _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 23:28:24 -0700 From: "Bill" Subject: Music content - who woulda thunk?! Okay, here's some music content for you. Two of my very favorite artists, Bic Runga, and David Gray, had new releases last year. But, after having become infatuated with their respective prior work, their latest release left me hanging, wanting for more, short of the big O. Bic's _Drive_ blows away the much mellower _Beatiful Collision_, and David's _White Ladder_, and most of his works before that, put _A new day at midnight_ to shame, in my humble and proletarian opinion. I have seen other comments to the contrary here. But, if you want a little music content-full thread for a change, what do you all think of those two artist's latest releases compared to their prior work? Philosophising in Phoenix, - - Bill G. np: Rick Wakeman - Aspirant Sunset nr: AOPA Pilot magazine (it had been a long time...) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2003 22:31:20 -0800 (PST) From: karen hester Subject: Terami and stuff I like the way Terami sounds like she's smiling when she's singing. I haven't seen her perform, but her voice seems turned up at the corners with warmth. I'm enjoying '3 of x' and was surprised that the songs are demos, she and Kevin are becoming so good with their noises. It took me a while to accept the programming (particularly the percussion) on 'to the bone', since that direction was unexpected to me. Quite often Terami's vocal line follows the piano line, and I wonder if this is a beginner songwriter thing. She also creates wonderful instrumental music like the plucking at the beginning of 'raising the dead', almost Cocteau Twin-ish, but in several songs, like this one, I think the song itself is a bit disconnected from that part of the music, it could belong to another piece, and then the song turns another way with the spoken part. At first it seems a patchwork with visible seams, and then it becomes so fascinating and special to Terami. Other songs like 'paperweight' and 'stained' and 'boxes' are completely integrated in music and vocals and all. 'the river' and 'raising the dead' and 'boxes' are my favs from this album at the moment, and it is so great that Terami is putting out another lp, if she continues this once a year I'll be so happy! I am so grumpy at the aphids on my Gardenia. First perfumed flower to survive on my windowsill, and the little buggers get chomping. Very much enjoyed the newish Buddy Miller and Steve Earle records. The former is like all his other records, some rocking songs (my favs), some ballads; Earle is louder and less bluegrassy than his recent albums. Both have gorgeous Emmylou Harris duets, but maybe that's to be expected. Karen Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 23:48:09 -0700 From: "Bill" Subject: Sorta on, sorta off topic I finally bit the bullet, jumped on the bandwagon, joined the crowd and bought me a TV (Mitsubishi WS-55311) and DVD player (Denon DVD-1600) to go with it. Hey, it had been two and a half years of video celibacy, by golly! So, my question for you, dear ectophiles, is, what ectophilic music videos on VCD and DVD do you recommend? I have always enjoyed watching music videos, and would be open to purchasing some of those on VCD or DVD for my music library. One word of caution though, I have rented a few "band documentary" discs, and although interesting, I would not be inclined to purchase those, as they have left me hanging a little in that they don't quite show full songs, but rather excerpts of live shows as bridges between interviews. I want the full published video for the songs, or at least full live performances. Gimme some suggestions, and I'll go do the ol' EWS for the sake of video. Vying for video in the Valley, - - Bill G. nw: Widespread Panic - The Earth Will Swallow You (on DVD) ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V9 #35 *************************