Rating Songs in iTunes

Our best efforts to judge objectively are often ruined by our subjectivity when rating works of art. iTunes gives us the ability to assign stars to every song in our libraries, but, man, is it hard to know how to use them well. There is great irony in the fact that recorded audio files are simply zeroes and ones, yet it is very difficult to rate those songs on a simple scale of zero to five stars.

Below is a breakdown of how I rate the songs in my iTunes Library. I’m approaching this from the viewpoint of a songwriter and producer, so I’m interested to hear how you rate your library.

☆☆☆☆☆

Songs in my iTunes Library that have zero stars are tunes I have yet to rate. Unless I’m focusing on the task, I find it easy to get lost in the music and forget to click on those little stars. Sadly, a large percentage of my library is still unrated. I’ll get to it… someday.

★☆☆☆☆

A one star song merely proves that it is possible to record audio, but beyond that I find almost no redeeming quality. If I rate a song with one star, it has very little value to me. I hate these songs. Why do I keep them in my library? Different reasons, I guess. If a song is part of album, I don’t get rid of it because I hate incomplete sets. Sometimes I keep terrible songs around as a reminder of what not to do.

★★☆☆☆

Songs I don’t like but that still have some redeeming value to them get two stars. It might be the crappiest song ever, but was recorded well. Or it might be a great song that was recorded terribly. Maybe it is an entirely mediocre song, but I can’t honestly say that I hate it. Whatever reason, I rarely listen to 2-star songs.

★★★☆☆

Three-stars are good songs that meet all my requirements for acceptable music. These are listenable and usually enjoyable, but they are not the first songs I run to when I need to listen to music. These are songs by artists I appreciate, but don’t consider my favorites. They might also be the rare less-likable songs of my favorite artists.

★★★★☆

Four-star songs are great. They are above average and I consider them more enjoyable than most songs. However, I wouldn’t die for them. If the house is burning and I can take only the best with me, these songs would sadly be left behind. I’d miss them too. If you are an artist that makes a lot of 4-star songs and the occasional 5-star keeper, then you’re probably one of my favorite artists.

★★★★★

These five-star beauties make up my “deserted island” playlist. These are the rare audio gems that I could listen to over and over and never get tired of them. They are songs that define me. To get five stars a song has to score well in nearly all of these areas: songwriting, musicianship, philosophy, story, timelessness, inspiration, intellectualism, and enjoyability.

Some Examples of 5-star Songs in My iTunes Library

• “Oh King” – Mark Mathis
• “When It Don’t Come Easy” – Patty Griffin
• “Since I’ve Been Loving You (Live)” – Led Zeppelin
• “Hurt” – Johnny Cash
• “God Willin’ And The Creek Don’t Rise” – Ray LaMontagne
• “None Of Us Are Free” – Solomon Burke
• “Nude” – Radiohead
• “Only A Man” – Jonny Lang
• “Come All You Weary” – Thrice
• “Been Here Before” – Jeremy Enigk
• “The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us” – Sufjan Stevens

Future Music Debate: Beyond Analog vs. Digital

As part of their “#DJChat,” German audio equipment manufacturer Behringer asked this question on Twitter:

…Analog vs. Digital is a debate that will always continue. But in the future, what technology will we move on to AFTER digital? #DJChat

It’s an interesting concept. The wars between analog and digital rage on because they are systems separated by technologies that both have pros and cons. As technology progresses, what new pros and cons will we have to debate against older systems? Initially I answered with the following:

@BEHRINGER future: Cerebral vs. Digital. Was it made entirely “in the box (aka your head)” or did you collab with other humans and devices?

Realizing there’s much more to this debate than just a tweet, I thought I’d talk more about it here.

We Need Better Words to Describe How We’ll Make Music in the Future

In my original tweet, I used the phrase “Cerebral vs. Digital” to describe the future debate I imagine will happen. Maybe my choice of opposites wasn’t perfect. Better words can probably be found. This concept of diametrics I have in mind could be expressed in a variety of ways.

1. Cerebral vs. Physical
2. Solitary vs. Collaborative
3. Internal vs. External

Each of those word combinations is describing the same contrast of ideas. But how to best describe it?

Composite image © Scott Troyer. Royalty-free image sources from stock.xchg.

The New System of Mind Music

In the (maybe not so distant) future, musicians will have the ability to directly output music from their heads. Technology will be developed that will allow artists to simply think/imagine/hear the music in his/her head and output this as audio and/or notation. This cerebrally generated “audio feed” could be routed (maybe even wirelessly) to a recording device to be documented, distributed, and sold. Theoretically, this process could happen as a live performance. The signal could be routed to a sound system for a concert, to an internet connection for worldwide streaming, or even directly injected (almost telepathically) into the head of a “listener” outfitted with the proper “receiver” device.

The possibilities are fantastic. Composers could direct an entire imaginary orchestra as they hear it in their minds. Dancers could dance to their own music in real time. Musicians could play exactly what they intend to play. Singers could sing in whatever voices they can imagine. Handicapped artists suddenly would be unrestricted by their handicaps.

This is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. If we already can control toy helicopters with our thoughts, then it’s only a matter of time before we can output music directly from our minds. UPDATE (2011-09-23): This just in… UC Berkeley neuroscientist Professor Jack Gallant announced today that it’s possible to recreate the video from brain activity.

This technological breakthrough in music will follow a path familiar to video games. With the Wii, Nintendo brought wireless motion-sensing accelerometer action to everyday people. The developers of Guitar Hero and Rock Band banked a lot of cash by making it really easy to “play” popular music without having to learn an instrument. Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox removed the need for a controller, allowing the person to become the controller. I don’t know who will create the first mind-controlled music technology, but somebody’s going to do it.

Brace Yourselves

Cool meant something totally different back then. Don’t judge.

As with any change, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Unfortunately, music will experience yet another Regrettable Period in which we have to learn how to use this new technology properly. I predict some gross and unsavory abuse of the technology, much like the ubiquity of terrible synthesizers in the 1980s or prevalence of auto-tuned vocals since Cher started believing in life after love. But some lucky artist is going to enjoy the honor of being known as the one that mastered this wonderful new system, thus becoming the “Grand Master Flash of whatever-this-thing-may-become-known-as.” Someone will figure out how to use it right, but it might take some time. In the meantime, wear earplugs.

Why We’ll Argue About This

At first, this newfangled gadgetry will be heralded as the end of “real” music and musicianship. The critics will say it’s too easy and not authentic music. Traditional composers and invested players will complain that no one has to learn how to write or play anymore. And much in the same way that digital was derided as a poor substitute for analog, purists will say that this cerebral form loses something in the process. Those arguments all might be right, but there may be a bigger issue lurking.

Trapped “In The Box”

This is not Schrödinger‘s cat, which is probably dead by now.

When the process of making music becomes entirely internalized it will be really great because of it’s purity and singularity of thought, but will it simultaneously suffer from lack of external influences? When digital recording became popular, the question was often asked by one artist or engineer to another: “Was this all done ‘in the box?’” – meaning: was the audio signal created, mixed, and mastered on the same computer? Early on, music created entirely in this fashion lacked the beneficial effects that analog systems inherently imparted upon the audio signal. Today, the line has been blurred by better technology, so it’s harder to tell if something was recorded analog or digital. Only engineers with “golden ears” can hear the difference (even then I suspect shenanigans). At any rate, the question still remains: What benefits will be lost due to the signal remaining “in the box” of your head?

Potential Musical Influences

1. People – The comradery, inspiration, ideas, criticism, differing views, and friction found when people work together often makes for better music. Being alone can lead to dead ends and boring or bad music. Collaboration can make beautiful things.
2. Hardware – Though they are inanimate objects, the instruments and devices used to make music come with their own inspirations, challenges, rewards, frustrations to overcome, and occasional good glitches. Sometimes a piece of gear has to be conquered and relinquishes its magic upon defeat.
3. Criticism – The critic is the archenemy of the artist, but every good story needs a villain. Without judgement, no work is ever as best as it can be. Words are often revealed for their folly only after they’ve left the head.
4. Movement – Music and movement are very strongly related. When making music, movement is both part of the instigation of sound, but also a reaction to the sound being created. Performance and dance are like cousins. So if movement is not necessary for the creation of music, what effect will that have on the final product?

Good Things Will Happen

A lot of things can go wrong in this new system, but a lot of things can go right too. Eventually we’ll work out the kinks. We’ll figure out the typical pitfalls. We’ll master this medium like we have with all the others. One day amazing music will be generated using nothing but musicians’ brains. I’m hedging a bet it will be the direct output of some ridiculously young Mozart’s mind that will blow us all away. Perhaps this new interface will teach us something about how our brains work. Maybe it will allow us to communicate more precisely on ever deeper levels. What if it develops into a new universal language? Hmm.

FIX: Pro Tools Audio Device Buffer Underflowed

The Error Message

The audio device buffer underflowed. If this occurs frequently, try decreasing the “H/W Buffer Size” in the Playback Engine panel or remove other devices from the audio firewire bus. (-6085)

Occasionally this error pops up in Pro Tools, usually after I return from a meal in the middle of a long recording or mixing session. The session file will only playback audio for 1 second or less and then the error message pops up. Apparently, Pro Tools 9 is a workaholic and doesn’t like taking lunch breaks, at least when running on the particular combination of MacBook Pro, Mbox 2 Pro, and Western Digital hard drive that I’m using.

Following the directions to decrease the “H/W Buffer Size” in the Playback Engine panel doesn’t seem to help. In fact, not only does decreasing the buffer size seems contrary to the suggested way to solve a buffer underrun, but it then sometimes throws this error message:

A CPU overload occured. If this happens often, try increasing the “H/W Buffer Size” in the Playback Engine Dialog, or removing some plug-ins. (-6101)

The Fix

I’ve tried a lot of things and the problem seems to be related to the hard drive and firewire ports. Here’s how I fix it.

1. Save and Close the session.
2. Quit Pro Tools.
3. Eject the hard drive used for recording audio.
4. Unplug the audio hard drive and Mbox 2 Pro (or the audio interface you’re using).
5. Wait 10 seconds.
6. Reconnect the audio hard drive and audio interface.
7. Restart Pro Tools.
8. Reopen the session and press Play.

If the session plays back without stopping, then it worked. If not, then I don’t know what to tell you, which reminds me of a “Deep Thought” by Jack Handey.

If you ever crawl inside an old hollow log and go to sleep, and while you’re in there some guys come and seal up both ends and then put it on a truck and take it to another city, boy, I don’t know what to tell you.

Hopefully this solution worked for you. Let me know if you’ve had the same problem, what hardware you are running and if this solved the problem.

Available on iTunes: Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York EP

Download the Album Now

My EP Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York is now available on iTunes. Sweet. Click this little button.

Rate the Album and Write a Review

Below this list of tracks is a convenient little spot where you can give my album some stars and write a little bit about the songs. If you have a little time, please give the album 5 stars and leave your kindest words. Thanks!

Alert Me

Down of the left hand side of the page, there’s a little link that says “Alert Me.” Click that and iTunes will notify you of any new tracks I upload as soon as they become available on iTunes.

Download & Donate: Free Music, Help Japan

To keep people thinking and doing something about the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I’ve setup something I’m calling Download & Donate. The idea is this: download a free song of mine and then donate to a relief charity that’s working to put Japan back together. No catch. One act of good will to help inspire another act of good will.

1. Download

   Download “A Tragic Story” for FREE
   
   To get started, simply download the FREE MP3 of my song “A Tragic Story” by clicking the album cover. The ZIP file should begin downloading immediately. If not, right-click and save the file. Let me know if you have trouble downloading.

2. Donate

   Donate to Tsunami Relief

   Help our fellow humans in Japan by donating to one of the reliable charity/relief organizations listed on this page Google has compiled. The link will take you to http://www.google.com/tsunami_relief.html.

   Thank you for your donation!

The Tragic Story Behind “A Tragic Story”

In the days and weeks after Hurricane Katrina ripped up the southern states on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, many people were talking about what to do, what should’ve been done, and how they would have handled things differently. I overheard conversations and debates, in which both the victims and repairers of this tragic story were criticized for every decision, word, thought, and effort. From the safety of comfortable living rooms, self-righteous judgements were freely doled out by “armchair experts” watching the action unfold on the evening news via large screen televisions. Condescending words were spoken about the “foolish” residents that made their home below sea level in New Orleans, the “short-sighted” poor that didn’t prepare for such obvious disaster, the “disobedient” stranded that did not, could not, or would not evacuate, the “welfare hand out” dependent that had no family to turn to, and the “whiny” beggars that had lost everything. Harsh judgements were also placed upon the leaders at all levels of governance that suddenly found themselves at the helm of a rescue operation for one of the largest natural disasters the United States has ever faced. A hurricane had pummeled millions of our fellow citizens and we were kicking them while they were down. I felt ashamed to be an American.

Though the hurricane had died in August of 2005, just days after its own birth, the storm continued to rage on around me and within me. Out of this terrible noise of argument, bigotry, hatred, and judgment came the song, “A Tragic Story,” as featured on my debut EP Somewhere Between Nicaragua & New York.

At first, I resisted writing about these events. I’m terribly afraid of how others perceive me (a paralyzing character flaw that often impedes my forward progress). I feared I might write horrible lyrics that sounded sappy, opportunistic, topically trendy, or tragically ironic. (Maybe I did?) Multiple times I caught myself toying with a lyric or composing a melody in my head that somehow dealt with Hurricane Katrina, but every time I intentionally cast them back. It seemed that no matter how hard I fought the urge, the song kept fighting back.

On July 15^th of 2006, nearly a year after the hurricane, I could keep the song contained no longer and found myself writing the music and lyrics for “Katrina” (as the song was originally titled). Once I finally gave in to the process, the songwriting happened quickly. Below are the lyrics of that final struggle. You can listen to the track via this SoundCloud player as you read along.

“A Tragic Story”

by Scott Troyer, Copyright © 2006

Old faces, restless broken souls
All these old faces and young ones without homes

Though the waters rise and our spirits fall,
the Lord our God, He is watching over it all
and He’s watching us now.

We say,
“Oh, what a tragic story!
But only they can be blamed.
But oh, what a different song we should have sang
when the floodwaters came.”

Don’t wait to give them higher ground.
No, don’t you wait to feed their hungry mouths.

Though the waters rise and our spirits fall
the Lord our God, He is watching over it all
and He’s watching us now.

We say,
“Oh, what a tragic story!
But here’s what we would have done.
But oh, what a different song we will sing
when the floodwaters come.”

Rescue the tired, the sick and depressed.
Give them, give them your very best.

Though the waters rise and our spirits fall
the Lord our God, He is watching over it all
Though the waters rise and our spirits fail
the Lord our God, He is with us all the while
and He shall prevail.

I don’t know what you believe about God, whether you believe that He exists or not, gets involved in our lives or doesn’t. But I do know that we are all related (that’s Biblical and scientific), so it does us no good to stand by while our brothers and sisters struggle. My hope is that we move forward with humility, recognizing all human beings as people, that handed a different set of circumstances, could very well be us. Or as it has been said, so very poetically, many times before:

“There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

One day the waters will rise. One day the floods will come to us. Our troubles may not come in the form of a hurricane, but we are certain to face trials some day. I hope that when that day comes, someone will come and rescue me.

Thank you,

Scott

FIX: Pro Tools hardware is either not installed or used by another program.

Pro Tools hardware is either not installed or used by another program.

If you thought that having Pro Tools 9 installed meant no more “Hey, Mr. Engineer Genius, where’s your fancy hardware?” errors, then this nagging error probably came as a surprise. It did for me. Since installing Pro Tools 9, my workflow has allowed me to jump around from my Mbox 2 Pro, Mbox 2 Micro, and MacBook Pro’s built-in sound card. This has been really handy while trying to finish up my album on the road. But, apparently, all that hardware hopping can cause the playback engine to get stuck in some funky states that don’t so work –if at all. See my previous post “FIX: Pro Tools could not set sample rate to specified value” for a similar issue.

Obviously, the problem has something to do with the playback engine. Since the error dialog only offers an ‘OK’ button, which closes Pro Tools, there doesn’t seem to be a way to work around the problem. There is not even a way to know what hardware Pro Tools is expecting.

Until now.

The Fix

I found a simple solution via this Sweetwater forum. The answer given there details how to get Pro Tools running on a PC, but I found that it worked for Macs too and without having to install any drivers. The fix is kind of like booting Pro Tools in safe mode. Simply hold the ‘N’ key while starting up Pro Tools. This will bypass the normal start up sequence and open up the Playback Engine window. Now you can select the correct playback engine and continue using Pro Tools.

In my situation, Pro Tools was looking for the last connected device (my Mbox 2 Pro), but since it wasn’t available it opted for the next available option: my MacBook Pro’s line input, which doesn’t make a very good playback engine.

Let me know if this fix worked for you.

Note

This problem may have been fixed in the Pro Tools 9.0.2 update that came out yesterday, though I’ve not been able look through the 9.0.2 Readme file in detail or to test this out on the updated software. I’ll update this page when I find out more. Since I still receive regular hits on this post, I’m assuming this problem is not solved yet. Maybe in a future update…

How To Get Perfect Guitar Tone

Can I get it in tobacco sunburst?

Bad News First

Perfect guitar tone does not exist.

…at least not in a permanently defined state. It is always changing depending on context. There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution for guitar tone and the guy who is showing you exactly how to get “perfect” tone is either demonstrating his idea of a good sound for a very particular context or selling you something. Let the buyer beware!

I’ve seen a zildjillion YouTube videos and magazine articles in which an “expert” outlines in very fine detail the “preferred” gear or “professional” way to play/mic/mix. They have shown me how to dial in that Clapton tone, place ribbon mics like Eno, mix a hit song like the Lord-Alge brothers, mod my guitar and amp like SRV, and even dress like a rockstar. In each circumstance I think, “Yes, that might just work. I could sound like that, if I do everything else exactly the same way as Mr. Famous Rockstarpants.”

They have it right. It truly is the small stuff that matters. In fact, all these tiny details matter so much and there is such a vast quantity of them, that replicating such performances is nearly inconceivable. Every part of the signal chain plays a role – from player to instrument to amp to room to microphone to preamp and all the cables, power supplies, recording/storage media, surfaces, and recording/mixing/mastering engineers in between. Even weather, location, and moods can make a difference.

Needless to say, it’s nearly impossible to replicate that one sound by that one artist on that one record. So many factors are involved in the making of a sound, that in many cases the original artist that recorded it might not be able to make that precise sound again, even when given identical circumstances. (I’d like to point out that perhaps the very reason we enjoy certain sounds is because a beautiful moment was captured – something unique that will never happen again – and trying to recreate it verbatim would somehow make it less amazing. Frankenstein’s monster wasn’t very pretty, was he? I digress.)

“We all have idols. Play like anyone you care about, but try to be yourself while you’re doing so.” – quote attributed to B. B. King^{[citation needed]}

And The Good News

Proper tone (the right tone at the right time) can be bought. You can pay for it with practice and critical listening. Good equipment is nice, but not necessary, as Jack White demonstrates so well in It Might Get Loud.

Merry Christmas!

Like the video? When I first saw this dishwashing machine flashing “HO” I figured a Santa joke was better than the obvious alternative. I hope it made you laugh.

As the video says, I’m getting really close to finishing my next album All Is Sideways. A lot of friends, family, and talented people have helped me get it to where it is today. I could not have done it without their help! (Thank you!) We have a few more little bits here and there to touch on and then I can finally give birth to this beast! It’s been ages in the making, but I think it will have been worth the wait. I can’t wait to tell you more about it. I’ve learned so many things in the time it has taken to get to here and I think it shows in the record. I know that if I had hurried and recorded this material sooner that neither the songs nor I would have been ready.

Have a merry Christmas and look for the album in early 2011.

FIX: Pro Tools could not set sample rate to specified value

After upgrading to the newly released Pro Tools 9, I couldn’t open sessions or create new ones. I got this error: “Could not complete the Open Session… command because Pro Tools could not set sample rate to specified value..” I hunted around on the web and various forums, but couldn’t find a solution that fit. I found several items relating to Windows and Pro Tools 8, but nothing for a Mac running Pro Tools 9. After messing around a bit I figured out the problem was with my playback engine. Here’s how I solved it. Let me know if it works for you too.

Open the Playback Engine dialog under the Setup menu item.

From the menu bar select Setup > Playback Engine… to open the Playback Engine dialog window.

The problem is with the Pro Tools Aggregate I/O.

By default, my current engine was set to “Pro Tools Aggregate I/O.” It’s odd that this Pro Tools would leave it that way after an installation since AVID states that it is not supported in OS X.

Select your current playback engine.

The fix is easy. Simply select the right playback engine. Your options may differ based on your setup.

In my case, I usually would edit with my Mbox 2 Micro, but since Pro Tools 9 gives us so many more options for hardware compatibility, I selected Built-in Output. I was able to edit some vocal takes using my Macbook Pro’s speakers instead of pulling out my headphones. Nice!

Songs for Christmas

Here are few notable Christmas songs I enjoy in no particular order. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

“Go Tell It On The Mountain” by NeedToBreathe

If you don’t already know about this band, you should. They are like a mash up of Kings Of Leon and Mumford & Sons. So yeah…

“All The King’s Horns” by Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan’s already a classic. Here’s a really sweet tune.

“A Cradle In Bethlehem” by Sleeping At Last

Sleeping At Last have usually put out a new Christmas song every year. They are in the midst of a year long project called YEARBOOK in which they are creating an EP every month. This is a rarely covered song that they released in 2008 and it’s a free download.

“Carol Of The Bells” by The Bird And The Bee

If you hate this song, you might change your mind after hearing this version. I bet the chord sheet for this song is a small book.

“Silver Bells” by Meaghan Smith

Here’s a Canadian that looks like Winona Ryder and croons like a song bird over a sampled track that kind of makes me think of that ridiculously catchy viral video We No Speak Americano. That’s a recipe for success.

“O Come O Come Emmanuel” by Rosie Thomas

Rosie has created a lush variation on this old classic. I like this one very much.

“O Come All Ye Faithful” by Pomplamoose

Pomplamoose are Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. They’ve been kicking around on YouTube for a while now, but recently have gained more attention after being featured in a Hyundai commercial. They’ve now released an entire Christmas album.

“Stille Nacht” by Alfred Schnittke

Schnittke was a Russian composer that created this slightly darkened version of “Silent Night.”

“The Legend of Noël” by Doctor Octoroc

This is what you get when you combine the theme song from The Legend of Zelda with “The First Noël.” Doctor Octoroc released this song as part of the album 8-bit Jesus, a collection of video game Christmas mashups.
website

“Jingle Bells” by The Barenaked Ladies

Don’t let this track fool you. They start off smooth and beautiful, but end up taking the crazy train to the end of the song. I’d hate it if it weren’t so well done.

“Auld Lang Syne” by The Smithereens

Another soft, then loud holiday tune. The vocals are really nice and the guitars are really fuzzy.
Listen on iLike

“Must Be Santa” by Bob Dylan

A video of Bob and friends having fun.

“Another Christmas Song” by Steven Colbert

Colbert’s take on Christmas music. Lots of zingers, but my favorite line: “Beat it into ‘em, boys!” I also like the ending; he makes sure we know who owns the rights to the song.

“We Wish You A Merry Christmas” by Weezer

Classic crunchy Weezer. It should have been titled “We Wish You A Merry Christmas… In The Garage.”

Do You Hear What I Hear?

I found some MP3s of sine waves at various frequencies at www.freemosquitoringtone.org. As we age, we lose our ability to hear higher frequencies and so these MP3s are offered as discreet ringtones for teens. Try out these tones and let me know how high you can hear.

Audio Frequency Test Tones

Wireless Gear – Will yours survive the digital TV switch?

When the TV stations officially switch over to digital later this month, all the old channels they’ve been broadcasting on will open up for other uses. It’s possible that your wireless audio gear will begin picking up interference and other signals as more mobile devices begin operating in that range of frequencies. The nice people at Sweetwater Sound have put together some resources to help explain the potential problems. For more information, go here: http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/wireless/

Remote Control Guitar Rig

A few months ago, I downloaded Sofa Control (available from Gravity Apps), a nice little app that allows me to use my Apple remote with any application. It works by mapping the buttons on the remote to the hot keys applications recognize. I haven’t really used this app very much, but a few days ago I decided to try connecting Sofa Control to Guitar Rig 3 (available from Native Instruments).

After some trial and error, I managed to finally get it working really well. Now I can use my remote live to change presets, change tempo, turn effects on/off, and mute the tuner. This is really useful. I’ve found that I can place the remote in my pocket and still activate through my clothing, so I no longer have to reach down to my MacBook or stomp those loud foot switches on the Rig Kontrol (also available from Native Instruments).

1. Foot Controller Setup

Guitar Rig works with several different foot controllers and is fully customizable. You may have your foot controller set up differently, but for the sake of this blog, I’ll show you how I have my Rig Kontrol 2 set up.

• RK Pedal: Usually volume, expression, or blend pedal (Sound)
• RK KickDown: Effect parameter 3 (Sound)
• RK Switch 1: Effect parameter 1 (Sound)
• RK Switch 2: Effect parameter 2 (Sound)
• RK Switch 3: Metronome Tap (Global)
• RK Switch 4: Not Assigned (RK3 only)
• RK Switch 5: Prev Sound (Global)
• RK Switch 6: Next Sound (Global)
• RK Switch 7: Tuner Silent Mode (Global)
• RK Switch 8: Not Assigned (RK3 only)

2. Guitar Rig Hot Keys

Sofa Control needs hot keys to function with Guitar Rig, so first I had to assign hot keys to my Guitar Rig setup.

To assign a hot key, go to ‘Controller’ under ‘Options.’ Find the switch you want to co-assign a hot key to and click the Learn button. Press the key you want to make the hot key. Repeat this process for any additional hot keys. Hot keys don’t necessarily need to be connected to foot switches. Additional assignments can be made that are not linked to switches and are hot keys only.

This is how I assigned my hot keys:

• RK Switch 1: , (comma)
• RK Switch 2: . (period/fullstop)
• RK Switch 3: t
• RK Switch 5: [ (left square bracket)
• RK Switch 6: ] (right square bracket)
• RK Switch 7: m

3. The Sofa Control Script

I’m no programmer, but I was able to figure this out. I kept things simple by only mapping the pressed buttons. I may add functions to the held buttons in the future, but for now, this works great.

This gives my Apple remote the following functions:

• Menu: Tuner Silent Mode Toggle
• Play: Metronome Tap Tempo
• Plus: Previous Sound
• Minus: Next Sound
• Left: Effect 1 Toggle
• Right: Effect 2 Toggle

Note: Feel free to take this script and modify it as you need.

Open Sofa Control. Under ‘File,’ select ‘New Script.’ A new window will pop up. Select all the code and delete it. Copy the code below and paste it into that window.

(*
Description: Guitar Rig 3 Script for Sofa Control
Author: Scott Troyer
URL: http://www.scotttroyer.com

Mapping:
* Menu: Tuner Silent Mode Toggle (RF Switch 7 - Global - m )
* Play/Pause: Metronome Tap (RK Switch 3 - Global - t )
* Plus: Prev Sound (RK Switch 5 - Global - , )
* Minus: Next Sound (RK Switch 6 - Global - . )
* Left: Effect 1 Toggle (RK Switch 1 - Sound - [ )
* Right: Effect 2 Toggle (RK Switch 2 - Sound - ] )
*)

on rcActivate()
 ignoring application responses
 tell the application "Guitar Rig 3" to activate
 end ignoring
end rcActivate

on rcPlay()
 simulate keystroke "t"
end rcPlay

on rcMenu()
 simulate keystroke "m"
end rcMenu

on rcPlus()
 simulate keystroke "["
end rcPlus

on rcMinus()
 simulate keystroke "]"
end rcMinus

on rcLeft()
 simulate keystroke ","
end rcLeft

on rcRight()
 simulate keystroke "."
end rcRight

Once you’ve pasted that code in, click ‘Verify.’ The code should reformat the text size and color.

Make sure both of these options are checked. Now select ‘Guitar Rig 3’ from the pop-up menu. The application icon will automatically be added to the box on the right and Guitar Rig 3 will be added to the Sofa Control menu.

Save the file and close the window. You are now ready to use Sofa Control with Guitar Rig 3.

Let me know if this post was useful to you! Merry music making!

FIX: Mac DVD Player Volume Problems

The Problem

When I watch DVDs on my MacBook, I have noticed that the volume increases and decreases based on the loudness of the movie’s audio. This automatic feature is called “dynamic range compression” and is provided by our dear friends at Dolby Laboratories. Sometimes having this compression applied is nice; it can help to even out loud and soft sections. When working ideally, you shouldn’t hear the effect at all, the volume will just be more even.

Unfortunately, I’ve found that the built-in one-size-fits-all setting doesn’t always work the greatest for the many different audio tracks found in modern movies. Often, you can hear the audio “pumping” as the compression kicks in and out. Sometimes the volume will be nicely audible for onscreen dialogue, but suddenly gets squashed by a loud noise like a gunshot or explosion. If you’re like me, you want to shut this off. Why even watch an action flick if all the combustion is suppressed?

The Fix

Disable automatic audio compression on the Mac DVD Player application.

Open the DVD Player (Applications > DVD Player) and open up the ‘Preferences’ panel (DVD Player > Preferences). If you have a DVD playing, you’ll have to stop playback (not just pause) before you can change output settings. In the ‘Preferences’ panel, click the ‘Disc Setup’ tab. Under ‘Audio’ make sure the ‘Disable Dolby dynamic range compression’ is checked. This will shut off the automatic volume changes and pass your audio program on through unaffected. Now you can enjoy those explosions in their full dynamic glory!

Innovative Reggae & Enunciated Radiohead Lyrics

Bet you didn’t think those two things existed, did you? Well, they do and, better yet, they are on the same disc. Give Radiodread by the Easy Star All-Stars a listen. It showcases the enduring quality of songwriting on Radiohead’s OK Computer – even after 10 years. Also, the project proves the possibility for innovation in a genre [which I formerly believed to be] based solely on the upbeat and overly-simplified Rastafarian/Jamaican stereotypes. If you like this, check out their first excursion into the world of reggae mashups: Dub Side of the Moon, their take on Pink Floyd’s timeless classic, Dark Side Of The Moon
.

Wright State Radio WWSU 106.9FM – Dayton, OH

As of today, “Gotta Get Outta This Town” will be playing on Wright State University’s radio station. If you’re in the Dayton, Ohio area make sure to tune into WWSU 106.9FM or if you’d like to listen online: click here.

Wright State University Radio Station

WWSU 106.9FM Website

Request Line: 937-775-5555
Email Requests: wwsurequest@yahoo.com

Many thanks to my friend, Juliet! Tune into her show on Wednesday nights 9pm–11pm.