Ezomz Productions

Digidesign’s Pro Tools music production software has to be one of the most innovative and at the same time frustrating programs ever created. Pro Tools has the most efficient and easy to navigate interface I’ve encountered out of all the music software I’ve used. It is the only computer program I have ever seen that has the mysterious ability to find new ways to malfunction and crash despite all other factors (installed and running programs, track edit density, etc.) remaining constant. Currently in Ezomz Productions I’m dealing with the dreaded “Kernel Panic” error, which causes random crashes of the operating system (yes, the whole system crashes, not just Pro Tools…you get Mac OSX’s equivalent of the “blue screen of death”, which I’m happy to say I’ve never encountered outside of Pro Tools). This problem started occuring about a week ago for no apparent reason. After reviewing the initial crash report log and doing some quick Google searches, I found that I am not the only person experiencing this error, and most others have had similar experiences: no changes to software or hardware configuration, no unusually large or complex sessions running…it’s almost as if Pro Tools got bored and decided to mix things up by malfunctioning.

Currently I’m corresponding via e-mail with Digidesign’s tech support team and they’re working on figuring out the problem. I have a sneaking suspicion, though, that the solution I get back from them will be the same answer I got the last time my system had a problem like this: “Pay us $150 for an upgrade to the latest version of Pro Tools and we guarantee it will be fixed!” Yes, I’m not using the latest version…I’m using version 7.4 and version 8 is now out. I had put off upgrading though, as there were other areas of my studio that I felt had a more pressing need for upgrades. But, depending on what Digidesign’s tech support team says, I may not be able to put this annoyingly expensive upgrade off any longer. We’ll see.

Luckily, the problem has only affected certain aspects of my Pro Tools system, and I’ve at least been able to isolate most the things I can do that will trigger a system crash. So I’ve been able to work around the problem for most of this past week, and I’m still making steady progress on finishing my biggest project: a vibrant new song called “Whisper Wind” featuring Miranda Hempel (who also sang on Resurrection). Hopefully this annoying problem will be fixed soon, one way or another, so I can finish up Whisper Wind and post it here for your listening enjoyment! Stay tuned, and wish me some digital luck!

-DS

When I started working for the Clubhouse, I prepared myself to handle a variety of tasks that I assumed would be thrown at me…setting up and striking session gear, running Pro Tools, Melodyne, and other programs, getting drinks for clients, food runs, cleaning, and so on. One thing I did not expect myself to be doing was running a photo shoot…for a guitar!

A certain rather well-known friend of the Clubhouse had taken a classic guitar, ripped off the strings, and repainted the whole thing in a very unique color scheme. Unfortunately I can’t post any pics on here, but I can provide some verbal imagery…the main colors are semi-dull shades of red and green, dividing the guitar body into roughly two solid color sections with a gradually curving border between them. The color scheme reminds me of one of those racecar beds that kids have (I never had one, I swear!). The whole thing looks very rough and uneven; this is done intentionally to give the instrument a very rebellious look and to farther separate it from the very polished-looking models that dominate music store shelves currently.

Anyway, the recording session that was supposed to take place today was cancelled, so the remaining Clubhouse staff spent the day doing various small projects and maintenance tasks. Paul, the studio owner, asked me if I was any good with a camera. Wondering where this was going, I told him that I was decent thanks to my experience working for Albany Alive. He asked me if I could photograph the aforementioned guitar in a variety of settings and angles, as the person who designed it was trying to sell his design to a guitar company for mass production. So, I proceeded to set up my first ever guitar photo shoot: shooting the guitar all over the studio, from the library, to the live room, to the control room, and even outside on the porch. This was definitely not the kind of thing I would have ever expected to be doing when I came to work at the Clubhouse, but I have to admit it was enjoyable.

Some of the pictures are quite good, but sadly since the guitar’s styling isn’t copy-protected in any way as of yet, I can’t post any of them here. Of course, if the guitar manufacturers are as impressed by the pictures I took as Paul and the guitar’s designer were, you can expect to see a very unique guitar for sale in your local music store sometime soon; a guitar that will conjure images of racecar beds in your mind as you stare at it, though you can’t quite figure out why.

-DS

That’s right, AlbanyOpenArts has given me the honor of listing me as one of their featured artists for the launch of their new site. The concept of AlbanyOpenArts is to promote local talent in all areas of entertainment by publicizing information about these skilled individuals and groups in a centralized hub. AlbanyOpenArts is also working in conjunction with organizations such as The Muddy Cup to further promote their featured artists. I fully support AlbanyOpenArts’ ideals and the promotion of talent in the Capital Region as a whole; here’s hoping that their new site continues to grow and flourish!

-DS

Today at the Clubhouse continued without any changes in the rainy weather; the giant puddle on the lawn which Paul had affectionately named “Lake Antonell” had continued to grow since Friday. In terms of recording, today shouldn’t have been too complicated, albeit slightly more difficult than Friday’s solo vocal. We had an unnamed band coming in to record one song. Almost all of the setup was done yesterday, so there were only a few finishing touches that needed to be done this morning before we were ready to hit record. There was only one problem; the band’s bass guitarist wasn’t there! Apparently he had played another gig the night before and had a seven hour drive to get here; no one had heard from him yet. Luckily, my fellow engineer Eli (who just so happened to also be a bassist) stepped up to the plate and pulled out the studio’s bass to record a scratch track before the band’s bassist eventually showed up later in the afternoon.

While the band was on break, Shawn (another engineer) and I had an interesting discussion about changes in recording technology. The Clubhouse uses an interesting mix of modern digital technology and vintage analog technology; the main mixing console is a classic Neve 24-input console which is completely analog and is known for the unique coloration that its circuitry gives to sound. This is complemented by an ultra-modern, fully digital Pro Tools HD Accel 3 system. Studio owner Paul Antonell created this setup so that he and the other engineers could work on digital “in the box” projects fully within Pro Tools, as well as have the utility and unique sound of an analog console to work with. Now, Shawn and myself, both being children of the digital age, favor efficiency over the preservation of analog technology, and we both agreed that a far more efficient solution (monetary costs aside) would be to instead use a digital console, such as Digidesign’s C|24. The C|24 has many advantages over the Neve console in terms of efficiency and ease of use which would help to save valuable studio time. For example, every time we set up a new session with the Neve console, we have to label each fader by hand with what instrument it’s wired to as well as naming each track in Pro Tools. The C|24 does this automatically, pulling the track names straight out of Pro Tools and displaying them on a screen above each fader. This is one of many efficiency advantages the C|24 has.

Now, at this point I’d like to point out that Digidesign is (unfortunately) not paying me to say any of this; it’s all just personal opinion. And while the C|24 may be more efficient, it can’t duplicate that famous “Neve sound” that our current console is so well known for. So really it comes back to the seemingly never-ending debate of analog vs. digital. Will digital every completely replace analog? It doesn’t seem like it will happen any time soon. Digital equipment manufacturers are doing their best to make their products sound like analog gear, but most of the analog crowd are quite set in their ways. At the very least, it’s going to take more than a Waves plugin with the name of their favorite analog equipment company tacked on to change their purchasing preferences. Time will tell.

So, currently we’re finishing up recording the vocals, and I’m sure that I’m going to be called up any second to do some Melodyne magic. With that in mind, I’m signing off to go tune vocals with digital software and an analog console. Keep rocking out everyone!

-DS

I’ve decided to attempt to start making more regular posts about what’s happening at both Ezomz Productions and The Clubhouse. For those of you who haven’t seen the updates on the Bio page, The Clubhouse is a pro studio in Rhinebeck, NY, at which I work when I’m not at my own studio.

Today is a dreary Friday at the Clubhouse; the last couple days have seen torrential rain plague the region, to the point where the driveway to the studio is partially flooded. Luckily the work schedule for the day is pretty light; we have a vocalist coming in to record vocals for one track. The interesting thing is, he wants to use speakers to monitor his recording with the rest of the tracks instead of the usual headphones. This presents a fundamental recording problem in that the microphone he’s singing into will pick up the audio from the speakers as well as his voice, which kind of makes it impossible to record a clean vocal track…

…or does it? Studio owner Paul Antonell and our tech guy Chip devised a great solution to this problem. We took the Yamaha NS-10 monitor speakers from the control room and set them up for the vocalist to monitor on, but we purposely wired the speakers 180 degrees out of phase. What this accomplishes is that the sound from the speakers will theoretically cancel out with the phase-opposite signal at the point where the microphone lies, and thus although our vocalist will hear the speakers, the microphone won’t.

Did it work? Well, as I type this, our vocalist is in the live room above me recording his umpteenth take, and no problems have been reported thus far. Fellow assistant Patrick is running the Pro Tools session from the control room, and I’m currently hanging out in the lounge below. My services will be called upon shortly though; as the resident master of Melodyne, a computer program that is used to change the pitch of audio to make it more in tune, I’ll be heading up to the control room to tune the comped vocal recording once our vocalist is done for the day. To his credit, the vocalist seems to be pretty well in tune when he’s good from what I’ve heard, so my job for today shouldn’t be too difficult. After that, we’ll just have to break down our crazy reverse-phase speaker setup and return everything to the control room for the next session.

So that’s it for this first studio update. If you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to post a reply! Thanks a bunch, and keep rocking out everybody!

-DS

That’s right, the latest Ezomz Production, Gangulus, is now available for free download! This piece is a must-listen for anyone who likes video games or electronic music. Check it out now!

Daniel Swartz’s newest song, Resurrection, is now available for download! This dramatic piece features Miranda Hempel on vocals backed by a cacophony of musical brilliance. Check it out here!

Daniel Swartz was featured on the keyboard this past week at the Times Union website, as part of a report on the Muddy Cup. Check it out here! And for those of you very observant people out there, yes…my hands don’t line up with the music when they show my performance (which is at the very end of the video, even though the image is on the cover). The Times Union people must have chopped up some of the audio; as per why, I have no idea. I assure all of you that I never have and never will hand-sync any of my performances.

Ezomz Productions is proud to announce that the newest webcast, entitled Summer Rockout, is now online! Check it out here on the site, or through Ezomz Productions’ pages on YouTube, Facebook, or MySpace!

You’ve probably been wondering for a while why the Webcasts/Movies section of the site currently only contains webcasts. Well, here’s your answer! The Fridge, a short animated film featuring original music by yours truly, is now online and available for free viewing! Check it out in the Webcasts/Movies section!