Wednesday, November 17, 2010

work with what you've got

when it rains, it pours. i am definitely blessed with work to do. i'd rather be too busy than have nothing to do.

first off, i got back yesterday from a two week run with Stellar Kart and got back the first mix from Tricia's worship record. it's a song called "Lean" that was loosely inspired by the old hymn "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms." "wow" you might say. "why is one song done so early?" well i'll tell you. that song is going to appear in an upcoming Now Hear This compilation. we're very excited. we had it mixed by Ainslie Grosser (@ainslieg). i'll have plenty more to show and tell very soon about the rest of the record.

secondly, let's talk about something else exciting. as i said earlier, i just got off the road with stellar kart for a two week run. while i was out, i brough some gear with me and we recorded an EP - the contents which are very very secret. "how secret" you ask? well let's just say that if said secrets were to leak on the internets, many clandestine agents around the world would be outed, nuclear war would ensue and would probably bring about the end of the human race.

i've never done a record while on tour. this was definitely a lesson in less-is-more. what's surprising is how well things can turn out when you don't have your best tools. it just reinforces the fact that what makes a good recording are the ideas, not the gear.

here's a shot of the rig.


a single shock mounted road case, digi 002 rack, motu 8 channel mic pre and avalon 737. that drawer contains a bunch of mics, cables, dongles, headphones and random stuff. everything was run off of a macbook.

the day we recorded drums, we were incredibly fortunate to be playing a show at a church that had halfway decent acoustics. it wasn't as good as a professionally designed studio, but it was good enough. here's a shot:


notice the panels on the wall. they're absorption panels to deaden the room. also notice the angled walls. without getting into a long drawn out discussion on acoustics, just accept this fact when i tell you that you don't want any parallel surfaces in a room where you're recording.

here's jordan's setup

we didn't have the best mics available. here's the quick rundown - audix d6 and shure beta 52 on kick. audix i5 and 57 on snare(s) two unidentified mics on toms that came from manic drive. akg c1000's on overheads, audio technica 4050's for room mics and 57's for hat and ride. what's interesting about using a dynamic mic on hat and ride is that the pattern wasn't as wide as a condenser which is what i typically use. which means better isolation. i don't know why i haven't tried this before.

also, i tried something new with the room mics. i brought a long headphone extender cable with me. i grabbed one of the room mics and record enabled it and put the headphones on. i had jordan start playing and i just walked around the room listening to the mic. the trouble with room mics is usually with the cymbals. it's hard to find a good spot that's not so harsh on the high end. we ended up finding a sweet spot with some good low end about 15 feet in front and to the left of the kit. not exactly where i guessed it would be. if i'm ever trying to record drums in a room that i'm not familiar with, i think i've found a new trick.

here's another interesting thing i tried:


ok, things are about to get nerdy. be warned. if you don't like technical talk, you might want to skip the next few paragraphs.

noticed how one mic is about two feet behind the other mic. 22 inches to be exact. the night before i was thinking about an article i read where chris lord alge was talking about making sure if he was mixing two channels of bass how important it is that they're in phase with each other. forgive me if those of you reading already know this, but when you encounter phase problems, certain frequencies will cancel out depending on the phase. anyway, i was thinking that there could be a way to use phase cancellation to create a desired effect. i didn't have all my normal equipment to record drums like i usually do at darkhorse. with a kick drum i find myself almost always scooping out 300 Hz (or somewhere around there.) different frequencies have different wavelengths - actual physical wavelengths. i figured if i could find the exact wavelength of 300 Hz and place the second mic so that frequency would be exactly 180 degrees out of phase, then that frequency (and that frequency alone) would cancel out. the formula to use is:

c/f = w

where c = the constant (in this case being the speed of sound in meters per second [343 m/per sec])
f = frequency
w = wavelength

so when i plug my numbers in i get this:

343 / 300 = f

f = 1.14 meters

that's science!! well...math, really. mrs. labbe, if you're reading this (and she might actually be), you are probably so proud right now.

yes kids. i just did some algebra. i hate to break it to you, but you actually do need to use some of that stuff they teach you in school.

anyway, 1.14 meters is roughly 44 inches. if i want the mic to be 180 degrees out of phase, i need to place it at half that distance which is 22 inches.

did it work?? BEAUTIFULLY. i couldn't believe it. i didn't use any EQ and the kick sounded great. granted, i did have to move the fader up and down a bit to find the sweet spot where it was canceling out just right, but nevertheless, it worked. also, i should give some credit to @jordanmesser for having a good sounding kick and knowing how to tune it and play it well.

so lesson be learned. to everybody complaining about not having great gear:

a shoddy craftsman blames his tools.


Friday, November 12, 2010

my mom, a.k.a. life hacker

one of the benefits of playing in a christian rock band is that every now and then i can get tickets to other shows for my family. my mom called me yesterday excited because tobymac and skillet were coming through my hometown of springfield, IL. so of course, i called a friend who got her on the list. i texted her back the good news that she was on the list. later that night she texted me that she had a great time at the show and said thanks.

now this would be a boring story if it ended there. but thankfully, it doesn't.

i got a message from my friend today saying "hey nick! i'm so terribly sorry i was thinking ur mom needed comps for the Springfield, MO show the first week of december and just now realized it was last night's show. did she end up going? pls pass along my apologies if she did try :("

that is the exact text. if you don't believe me, notice the emoticon and shortened spelling of "your" into "ur."

now here's where it gets good. this is one of the reasons my mom is awesome. she managed to get in. long time readers of my blog may remember me occasionally talking about how sometimes just acting like you know what you're doing and acting like you're supposed to be there will get you far. my mom understands this concept COMPLETELY. there is no security guard alive who can keep my mom from getting backstage. anyway, apparently when the people at the ticket desk couldn't find the tickets that were never left, my mom just told them that her son is in stellar kart and he called his buddies and her tickets should be there. i'm not sure exactly what she said, but they ended up giving her tickets.

my mom beats the system like it's her job.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

day off

so here we are. oklahoma city. the stellar kart 3D tour has been going great so far. but today we are just chilling in the bus. if you check google you would think that the shopping mall that we are parked at would keep us occupied. but closer inspection reveals that this is a dying mall. there's nothing more depressing than a dying mall. the empty parking lot. the removed store signs. movie theater shut down. the only signs of life are more depressing than the decay of the deserted and barred up spaces. i mean, who goes to a decrepit mall for a hair weave anyway?

i was in the mood for some adventure so i just started walking. lo and behold i found a pawn shop. I LOVE PAWN SHOPS. seriously. some people love malls, some people love thrift stores. i love pawn shops. i'm always on the hunt for music gear or electronics for super cheap. one of the best things about pawn shops are the DVDs. they have tons of classic movies and the DVDs usually run about $2 or $3 a piece. but nothing would prepare me for what i saw today in the pawn shop.

CHECK. THIS. OUT.


do you know what that is?? some of you probably do. if you don't, i'll tell you.

that is a FREAKING BARRETT .50 CALIBRE SNIPER and ANTI-MATERIAL RIFLE
i don't know if you can tell from the picture, but right in front of the gun is .50 calibre shell. that shell is about 5 inches long. these puppies aren't just meant to take out a bad guy from over a mile away. a well placed shot from this guy into the engine block of a car will stop a hummer or jeep dead in its tracks. remember the movie Shooter? remember at the beginning when mark wahlberg shot a helicopter down with a well placed shot to the rotors? well he was using this puppy, and that is a totally feasible shot. ya know how when you watch Walker Texas Ranger and there's always crazy inaccurate situations like when he shoots one bullet from his handgun and the car blows up? well, this gun is the closest thing we have to Walker Texas Ranger.


God help us all if chuck norris were to get his hands on one of these babies.


anyway, i didn't have $6,000 to buy this guy even though that's a great deal. they usually go for $10,000...oh ya, and the bullets cost $5 a piece. seriously. not a cheap hobby. but i've gotta do something or else the terrorists win.

but i did end up buying all three lord of the rings movies for a grand total of $6. so you know what? our crappy day at a dying mall is turning out to be an awesome movie day. so take that Osama. 'Muricah!! Freedom isn't free! These colors don't run!

and that brings us to the moral of the story. happy veterans day.

by the way, if you wanna hear more about the gun that i just casually found on sale in a pawn shop in oklahoma city, check out this video:


Monday, November 1, 2010

happy halloween!

here's a little independent film me and the SK guys have been working on. probably gonna enter it into some film festivals...you know, see what happens. no big deal

About Me

"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos; that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?" --Hi Fidelity


Hey guys, my name is Nick Baumhardt. I help write and record music. I also play guitar for Thousand Foot Krutch and FM Static.

These are my thoughts on music, art, politics, food, recording and whatever else I feel like writing about.

For more info about my producing, go to www.NickBaumhardt.com or myspace.com/nickbaumhardt
Check out my new site dedicated to fly fishing - Rhythm Fly Fishing
Follow me on Twitter!!! My twitter name is @nickbaumhardt