New Headphones

Switching headphones. Not a big deal, right? I mean, it’s more a thing of comfort and style, right?

False. In this day and age, yes, comfort and style tend to take precedence over functionality, but what a shame it is that the main focus has fallen from the music. What a wonderful society we live in…

In reality, for those who care about music, the audiophiles to whatever degree you can afford, it’s about the sound quality. Always. Comfort is a thing of functionality, not to be wrapped up in the guise of style.

So you have headphones covering a vast gamut of the function/comfort/style continuum. I’d take studio monitors any day of the week, in an isolated room, but that’s not practical in all cases, unfortunately. So I’ve been stuck with a pair of original Apple earbuds for quite some time. You know, the ones that came out with ipods back in the day.

I’ve wanted a nice pair, maybe Sennheiser HD600s or 700s, for a while now. I heard some rave reviews from some audiophile icons, but I shouldn’t afford stuff like that. $400-$1000 for headphones? One of those things that you could do, but really, really shouldn’t. So I’ve resisted. But if you’re not going for gold, then what’s the point? I don’t like to upgrade in multiple iterations; I prefer to go for the best and then wait a long time until whatever gadget is more or less obsolete. I was the one who waited until a few months ago to hop on the smartphone bus, remember? I’m slow to change, but go all in when I do. So, while I’ve thought about an incremental step, something like Beats (of which I've heard mixed reviews for the price point), it just doesn’t make sense. And in that time, I’ve been stuck with earbuds.

When Apple came out with the ipod/earbud package, it was all about delivery. The sound quality wasn’t quite there and the earbud quality wasn’t quite there, but the package deal offered accessibility that was contagious. I waited a bit on the ipod, until I could buy a used 5th gen (better sound than those that followed) for $50 from a friend. And I got the earbuds to match. And, while I’ve upgraded the ipod to a bigger one (60GB up from 30GB, which still isn’t enough!), the earbuds have remained. Seriously, these things are like 8 years old!

But I recently got a smartphone. The HTC One, to be exact. And they came with headphones/earbuds; the nice kind with the silicone pieces that conform to your ears and act as passive noise-cancellers. Allegedly, these are, more or less, Beats, resembling them in nearly every way. However, they stayed in their package until last week …because I had my earbuds.

Then last week I opened them up to give them a try. I listened for an album or two and was impressed, but they didn’t fit right, so I left them sit. Well, today I just got out the other silicone ear pieces and found some that fit.

And the sound?! Oh my! I knew the earbuds were bad. I knew that I had been doing a disservice to good music. Maybe I was in denial? Maybe I was numb after seeing the $1000 price tag of the HD700s? Actually, that’s probably pretty close to it.

The difference is similar to the background noise I spoke of only days ago. I didn’t realize the richness I was missing. I mean, I knew, but I didn’t understand. It’s like a veil has been lifted.

The bass response is so much more defined. The thump of the bass drum and the low roar of the bass are resonant as never before. The highs are crisp without being tinny. They didn’t even sound tinny before, actually; now, in comparison, they do. And the mids are balanced. You can hear everything nearly as intended.

Which got me thinking… I mean, I did just release a new album. And, to be honest, I reviewed most everything on either my old earbuds or in my car. Rookie mistake, but, again, I didn’t want to pitch for the $1000 headphones to do the job “right.” But now I’m listening to the album. And …dang. The intricacies coming out are unbelievable. The fact that it’s a live recording is so much more apparent with the little artifacts founds throughout the background. This is nuts!

So I've followed with some of my other favorite albums/bands: Portishead's self titled, Between the Buried and Me's latest, This Will Destory You, Trevor Gordon Hall, and the list will go on. It's almost like rediscovering this music.

Yes, I could still pick these apart. They're still not quite the same as live, but that's not the point. The point is that these were so accessible and right under my nose! And these came with my phone, at no additional cost!

Which is making me think… how much better is the real deal? Yes, I’ll probably stick with these for the foreseeable future. And it will be without looking back. Seriously, it’s only been a few albums worth of listening so far, but I can’t see myself going back. And I’m more anxious than ever to move forward.

Background Noise

We are bombarded by sound. Whether it’s blatantly in the foreground, or passively in the background, there is almost always something, however passive it may be, that is interrupting the intended signal that is reaching our ears.

In most cases, these go unquestioned and we continue on our lives. We become immune to things like the hum of the air conditioner or the rushing of the wind as we drive with our windows down. We’re aware that these sources of noise are present, but we just compensate for them and assume all is well. After all, if you can increase your signal to noise ratio, you should be able to understand more of the signal.

But what I’ve been noticing, and note that this is something I’ve known all along, is that, with music, the noise still has a significant impact on our perception. Depending on what the source of the noise is, it can represent very complex aural interference. All of the sudden, you have areas of frequency response that are muddied and cluttered to the point that everything within those specific ranges seems like it is part of the noise. Accordingly, we filter them out.

That’s the idea behind noise-cancelling headphones; we want to get rid of those sources of audible sludge. We want to cancel out the AC or the roar of a plane on a long flight. In general, headphones help with these sorts of noise sources, but sometimes they’re not an option and sometimes they still don’t do the music justice.

At that point, all the more you can do is try to eliminate the sources of noise. The difference will be surprising.

I’ve had the latest August Burns Red album playing in my car lately. I wanted a place to listen to it the whole way through and unfortunately I can’t just sit down at home with that sort of time; driving is often times the best opportunity. So I’m listening to it in my car. It’s got a good sound system, but nothing too great. I can deal with that. The big thing, though, was that I started to listen to it on a nice day, with my windows down.

Wind blowing in your ear, cascading between panes of glass, especially when coupled with the purr of the engine, destroys your mid range frequencies. I could crank the volume up as loud as possible, but vocals, chuggier guitar riffs, and a lot of tom work was just non-existent. Eventually, I rolled up the windows. Granted, there was still some car and road noise, but it cleaned things up that it was like listening to a whole new album; the difference was staggering. There was newfound clarity that so many others would have probably never even thought about.

And we don’t think about stuff like that. Music is considered background so often and is treated as such. Just this morning (Tuesday, i.e., country day at work) I was trying to block out the music in the office. It was working pretty well, sinking softly behind the hum of the AC. Then, for the first time in months, the fans shut off. The deafening silence pushed the music to foreground to an inescapable level; I had to reach out to my ipod.

But again, this idea that noise is dictating how we perceive music was thrown in my face. You probably have no idea how much richness is being choked out by a low signal to noise ratio. Not everyone has the resources to make an acoustically sound listening room to listen to music in perfect isolation. Not everyone can afford a $600 pair of really good headphones. But there are little things that make a huge difference, if you're willing to seek out change.

But if it’s an anomaly that even the bad music is void of such frequency convolution, how do we get good music to cut through?

Guest Album Review: Alex Brubaker: Live at Muddy River Jam Fest VI (review by David Ryan)

I meant to post this review for the CD release. Considering that that was over a month ago, I guess I dropped the ball. In any event, here is the first review that I got from my second album, Alex Brubaker Live at Muddy River Jam Fest VI. It's from a good friend, Pastor David Ryan of Hopeland United Methodist Church. As a sidenote, if you've seen me play recently, I have added a song, Psalms, to my set, which was a song written for a performance at that church.

If you haven't picked up a copy yet, you can get yours at:
cdbaby
itunes
amazon

If you'd like a physical copy and don't feel like ordering online (and I have no idea why amazon has them for $15?!), let me know!



To the review:

"

I became a fan of Alex Brubaker a few years ago when I heard him play at Ten Thousand Villages Cafe. What a delight his music was then...and now! After having almost worn out his previous CD, it was with great anticipation that I slipped his new release, "Live at Muddy River Jam Fest VI" into my player. Once again, Alex does not disappoint! His music is thought provoking and easy to get lost in! While the Album may appear at first glance to be short at 6 songs, each song plays for a significant period. Don't worry - you get more than your money's worth!

The song Muddy jam has a great tempo beat to it - a constant underlying rhythm. I find this tune particularly great to have playing in my headphones for a long walk.

Ice Mountain, a repeat from his first CD receives a fresh treatment here. It's haunting melody takes you for a great hike in the mountains.

One of my personal favorites is track 3 - Revival. I'm not sure just what Alex had in mind here, but as a pastor, this tune puts me in mind of a spiritual revival. Its bright, happy and sassy.

Doppelganger is the next tune. When I listen to this i think about the times I have heard Alex play it live - and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Knowing Alex's love for *skiing and being in the snow, track 5, Snow Angel conjures up images of looking out the window as the first snow flakes start to fall in a night sky, getting into your winter wear and dashing out into the drifts to create your own snow angels just like when you were a kid. It's playful, romantic and fun.

I confess that I am not so much a fan of the harsher electric guitar sounds found in the last track, Phoenix, but if piercing electric guitar rifts are your thing - you will love this last song. Over all, "live at Muddy river" is a great addition to your listening library. It's great for making the miles go by on a long drive. It leaves you free to think or, at other times, takes your mind away from thinking and into a great guitar zone. Of course, seeing him perform live is even better! Alex is amazing to watch as he makes the music magic happen before your eyes! Listening to his CDs after you have seen him helps you appreciate the tunes even more!....David Ryan, pastor, Hopeland UMC.

"

*snowboarding

Studio Session 12/9-12/11

So I was just in the studio this past weekend and thought it’d be good to share some insight for those of you who may want to someday record some music and also for those who just want to know what it’s like. I’ll summarize my time this past weekend and throw in some tips as well.

Over three days (Friday-Sunday), I was at MR. STUDIO (Jeremy Bentley) in Lancaster for about 21 hours. In that time, I laid down guitar for 7 songs, totaling close to half an hour of material. These ranged in complexity from one or two track songs to some that had 6 or so. I’ll need to go in for one more day/weekend to finish up the project, but it is coming along well.

Overview:

Friday:

I tend to try to get the hard stuff out of the way first. It makes sense to me.  So a song that uses two stages of looping, distortion, delay, and some crazy polyrhythmic stuff made sense. Between setup and this song, I ended up going over by an hour.

Saturday:

I started with some easier stuff on Saturday. Starting off with something straight forward made sense after Friday night’s work. After one easy one, I did one that had a bit more percussion involved, so it was a little more difficult to lay down and get dynamically correct.

Then I started on another complex one. Looping, reversed loops, distortion, delay, and surprises were all involved… And by surprises, I mean, you’ll have to wait and the wait will suck. In any event, this one took the cake for hardest. Some 6 hours later, both Jeremy and I were frustrated and didn’t have a complete recording.

Sunday:

Sunday started with an easier song that ended up with some extra goodies. I’m excited for this one. It didn’t take too long until I decided to start playing around with it. Then ideas just started popping up.

After that, I did an old one that really didn’t take much time at all. It was easy and straightforward. Then, one with some looping and some percussion that wasn’t too hard either. This one brought out some new ideas that drastically change how awesome the song will be, so playing around there took some time.

Finally, the song from Saturday was revisited. It took us up until the very end of the session, totaling somewhere between 7-8 hours on that one song… Frustrating, but a great final product.

Tips:

Guitars:

Get them professionally set up. This was the first time that my Taylor was set up (big thanks to Penn Avenue Music in Reading). I keep it in a pretty well controlled environment, so it wasn’t out too bad, but with the neck true, it plays noticeably smoother.

Restring your guitar. This will be done with the setup, unless you’re going to skip that step. Don’t experiment with a new type of string – use a gauge and brand that you are comfortable and familiar with. And break them in! No one wants a tinny sounding recording, so make sure you’ve got 20 hours or so on them.

Also, go into the studio with options. I never go in with just one guitar. This weekend, I only used one guitar, but I had another, as well as a bass, just in case I felt inspired. You don’t want to think up some great idea and not have the means to execute it. Sure, it sucks lugging tons of gear into the studio, but it sucks more when you want something that’s not there.

Electronics:

With acoustic, you generally just mic the guitar. You don’t use an amp, and, even with electrics, you want to avoid effects. The idea is that it is easier to add stuff later than it is to take it away. Ever try to take out reverb after it’s been recorded? Ha!

What you’re looking for with the electronics is that everything is working properly. This may mean a new set of tubes in your amp (or preamp, as was my case), isolating and eliminating any noise from your pedals, changing the battery in your guitar (for active p’ups), or servicing your vintage echoplex (mine needs to be cleaned). This will ensure that you’re not messing around trying to fix stuff during your studio time. When you do it there, it costs you money.

Practice:

You’re going to be playing your instrument for extended periods of time. And you’re going to be trying to get everything right the first time. So figure out what you want to play and then you’ve got two focal points: accuracy and endurance.

Accuracy is hitting every note correctly. In your practice time, focus not only on the right notes, but also on tone. At least with guitar, there are a number of different sounds you can get from the same note. You want the best one. So practice that way.

The endurance required may vary. For a solo instrumentalist such as myself, 20 hours in a studio means upwards of 20 hours playing guitar – in two or three days. If you’re in a band or also sing, you’ll have some relief. If not, you’ve gotta be prepared.

The first time I recorded with Jeremy, my fingers were raw after day one and I was in excruciating pain at the end of the weekend. I actually had to take time off of playing to let my hands recover. This time? My hands felt great at the end of every day and Sunday night, when I got home, I got out my guitar and started playing some more. The key was that leading up to the weekend, I put in quite a few 4-5 hour practice sessions, some on back to back days. Earlier I mentioned putting 20 hours on a new set of strings. I did that in a week. Including the time recording, I played for nearly 40 hours in a 7 day period. That’s a full week’s work.

Rest:

Don’t go in tired. Recording is mentally draining. Even if you are physically prepared, your mind needs to be in the game or you’ll get nothing done.

For vocalists, I hear you’re supposed to rest your voice. I don’t know, I’m not a vocalist.

Documentation:

This is a big engineering thing that has carried over to my music. I’ll never be one to write out my songs, but make sure you include any relevant details, so that you know them when you’re recording. This includes song names, tunings, effects used, effect settings, etc. I went a step beyond and made a chart that listed these things. Ultimately, it helped me to visually see which songs made sense in progression, giving me my album order. Sending this to Jeremy gave him a good idea of what was coming where as well. Be sure to keep track of anything that changes in the studio as well.

Be Open Minded:

Sure, I mentioned above that you want to have things figured out beforehand. The point there is that you shouldn’t be writing the songs on studio time. That doesn’t mean that they can’t change. Be open to changing things last minute. You may accidentally hit an extra note somewhere, but if it sounds better that way, then change it. When you’re sitting in a studio listening to the same section of a song a million times in a row, you’re bound to come up with some new ideas.

Let the Engineer Do His Thing:

These people record for a living. They probably know more about recording than you do. Accept that. Once I was in position with the mics, I was told not to move. Sure, I moved in between playing, but while playing I was in the exact same position EVERY TIME. Don’t screw that up.

Finally, here’s the gear setup that I used:

• ·      Guitar: Taylor 410ce (c. 2007)
• ·      Pickups: K&K Onboard Trinity
• ·      Effects: (in order) Presonus TubePRE (w/JJ 12ax7), Ernie Ball Volume Jr., Ibanez TS7, Line 6 DL4, Danelectro Tape Reel Echo Simulator, BBE Sonic Stomp, Fishman AFX Reverb, Boss RC20XL
• ·      Amp: Roland AC-60
• ·      Mics: (2) SM57 – 1 off of soundhole, 1 for amp. GT55 – off of 12^th fret.

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Listen To What You Listen To

I was recently at a recital of a friend of mine, Mark Hunsburger. Though the kid has made tons of little tiny changes in his major, I think it's in Music Composition with a Percussion Concentration. During his recital he played a number of different pieces, including very straight-forward classical pieces, a variety of jazz pieces and a very interesting atonal piece that seemed to contain both classical and jazz elements.

Hearing these pieces got me thinking about what goes in to "good" music. I'm not talking about how to write music that will top the charts. What I'm talking about is music that is engaging, intriguing, and, in a sense, musically intellectual. For the most part, this excludes what is on the radio. As many of you know, I have little-to-no interest in pop hits and rock ballads (Obviously, this is an over-generalization of the radio, but a necessary one, as this typifies the radio as it is known today.).

What, then, has Mark's recital caused so much thought on? As with almost anything in life, you get out something similar to what you've put in. The fact that most people feel giddy when the fourth chord of a pop progression resolves and is followed by the first chord says a lot about what they've subjected themselves to - the safe, pleasing sounds of the over-generalized radio hits.

As I listened to Mark's recital, I was overcome with this seemingly elementary realization. Though I've known this seemingly forever, Mark's selections brought this to light. What I feel my writing is missing is the influence from these largely defining periods in musical history. By no means do I plan to learn classical guitar (though it'd be useful ...just not my thing), nor do I plan on becoming any world-renowned jazz guitarist.

What is there to gain, then?

• Classical music is centered around rules and, occasionally, rule breaking. While I may find such rules to be restraining and annoying, some semblance of a rule set is important to hold with you. These may not be as musically defined as avoiding parallel fifths or tritones, but to have your own guidelines to keep you from straying from your goal is important. When you're just playing in your room, it's easy to get distracted from your goals, but if you fall into a writing style so disjunct and unintuitive as to be following every distraction, you will run into serious problems. An unconscious set of rules will help you to be able to write with purpose and direction.
• Additionally, classical music has a strong emphasis on fluid motion. This is not to say that everything ought to flow into the most obvious and direct manner. Instead, this is to say that a composition should not be limited by a verse/chorus format. Classically based music is where you see the idea of a "movement" as a larger entity that flows without the monotony of much repetition. I believe that musically, this is much more interesting than even most things that I find myself writing.
• A lot of what we get from jazz is the connection between the performer and the music. The idea of improvisation is so heavily jazz influenced in this way. Basically, improv is the musicians response to what he is hearing - helping to bring unparalleled unity between music and musician. By this point I am not saying that all music ought to be improvisational. Rather, it is so much better to play and become one with the music than merely playing pitch-for-pitch a piece with no emotion. Music is art and art is, very much, emotion.
• From jazz we also see a lot of deviations from the original key of the piece. This adds so much depth and character to music if done right. Sure, the masses want to hear pure resolution and tonal monotony, but that's not really what music should be about. As an art form, it should be about the art.

Beyond just classical and jazz there are tons of other genres that have a lot to offer - moreso than radio stereotypes. For my personal music endeavors, I'm thinking stuff like gypsy jazz, traditional world-folk music, flamenco, and a host of others. These may not necessarily benefit whatever you're writing, but studying these less culturally-corrupt genres will inspire less watered down, musically droning music. And really, if you're any kind of musician, you don't want to be writing music that sucks...

With that, I give you all a homework assignment. Look up Charles Ives' music, specifically Varied Air. I've been listening to that album while writing it and it is genius.

-Alex