To the absolute non-readers who read this blog, I'm going to move the blog over to be hosted on my own server and modify the hell out of the code to really customize it. I need the challenge and to see if it can be done (which it can and will).
So, this blog may look weird for a bit. Just putting it out there.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Cajon Micing Tips
This past weekend, I did a recording session and we had to mic a Cajon. For those who don't know what a cajon is, it's basically a wooden box with a port hole about 5" in diameter in the back center. The player sits on the box and hits the front and sides. The front panel has snares attached. (I think they are sandwiched between the front/sound board and another piece on the inside.
First, the cajon is rad. It basically sounds like a snare drum when played on the front and a kick when played else where.
OK...on to micing it.
I did a search on the internet prior to the session and people basically said toss a SM57 in the hole and then place a large diaphragm condenser about 2-3 feet away from the front at cajon level (so about 1 foot off the floor).
This micing technique is pretty spot on. What we did differently is used a Heil PR20 for the port and a U47 Fet for the front. PR20ss are awesome (so is the FET 47 but were talking budget here). For $150 MSRP they are full and nice sounding. We used it on vocals once for a scratch track, and decided to keep the mic for the overdubs because it sounded great (male voice, not too deep). I'm thinking I'm going to pick one of these things up.
For placement, when the cajon was sitting flat, we placed the PR20 so the grill was just outside of the hole. That way when the player sat on it and leans back, the mic actually goes into the hole about 2-3 inches. We then placed the U47 FET about 3 feet in front and hand slap level.
This combination gave the cajon a rich sound quality with out distortion. Mind you, we were using NEVE outboard pres. Just blend the two signals to taste. If anyone wants to hear the recording, let me know and I'll post it. The rough sounds incredible.
First, the cajon is rad. It basically sounds like a snare drum when played on the front and a kick when played else where.
OK...on to micing it.
I did a search on the internet prior to the session and people basically said toss a SM57 in the hole and then place a large diaphragm condenser about 2-3 feet away from the front at cajon level (so about 1 foot off the floor).
This micing technique is pretty spot on. What we did differently is used a Heil PR20 for the port and a U47 Fet for the front. PR20ss are awesome (so is the FET 47 but were talking budget here). For $150 MSRP they are full and nice sounding. We used it on vocals once for a scratch track, and decided to keep the mic for the overdubs because it sounded great (male voice, not too deep). I'm thinking I'm going to pick one of these things up.
For placement, when the cajon was sitting flat, we placed the PR20 so the grill was just outside of the hole. That way when the player sat on it and leans back, the mic actually goes into the hole about 2-3 inches. We then placed the U47 FET about 3 feet in front and hand slap level.
This combination gave the cajon a rich sound quality with out distortion. Mind you, we were using NEVE outboard pres. Just blend the two signals to taste. If anyone wants to hear the recording, let me know and I'll post it. The rough sounds incredible.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
FOCUS
So I've decided on a focus for this blog. It's a tiered focus, but focus nonetheless.
In a nutshell: I'm going to cover recording techniques (mic placement on instruments, patching techniques) that I've used and found to be successful and I'm probably going to talk about design related stuff (CSS/XHTML/Photoshop/etc.)
So in honor of this newly-found focus I'm going create another post!
In a nutshell: I'm going to cover recording techniques (mic placement on instruments, patching techniques) that I've used and found to be successful and I'm probably going to talk about design related stuff (CSS/XHTML/Photoshop/etc.)
So in honor of this newly-found focus I'm going create another post!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Awesome Design Blog
An ex coworker of mine (and friend and fellow Packer fan) started up a design blog aimed at young designers (but with tips for seasoned pros as well). She offers great hints, resources and ideas to get you ready for the "real world".
You can check it out here: http://www.creativeopera.com/
You can check it out here: http://www.creativeopera.com/
Thursday, February 19, 2009
CSS Image Replacement
After search in the blog posts far and wide for a solution to replace text with an image, yet still remain functional with images and css turned off for accessibility reasons, this is the best:
Shea Image Replacement
I know there are tons of blogs on this, but I enjoy it so much I feel to need to spread the love.
Shea Image Replacement
I know there are tons of blogs on this, but I enjoy it so much I feel to need to spread the love.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Bullets in Photoshop
So, I'm doing comps for an eblast template and, of course, I'm mocking it up in Photoshop. I never thought of how to make a bullet list in photoshop so I would just use tabs. This is tedious. Google to the rescue. I found this great blog post. However, the tutorial stops short of something important. If you have a text box with normal paragraphs and a bullet list, you actually need to do one more step.
After you do the first line indent with a negative value, select the bulleted text and indent the whole text the same value or greater than the negative value. For instance, if you use -15pt for the first line, indent the whole paragraph 15pt or greater if you want the bullet list to be indented more than the paragraph.
I've attached 2 photos (one of the palette and one of the text itself). Hopefully this helps someone.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
New Widget
I've added a new widget to my page. You can see it to the right over there --->
It's a tool to compare foods and to give you a better idea of what you are putting in your body with the foods you eat. A friend of mine was involved in the creation of this tool. Check it out.
http://blog.foodessentials.com/
It's a tool to compare foods and to give you a better idea of what you are putting in your body with the foods you eat. A friend of mine was involved in the creation of this tool. Check it out.
http://blog.foodessentials.com/
Friday, January 02, 2009
Friday, December 19, 2008
Auto Bailout #2
I have a great plan. I think with the $13.4 billion bail out, each tax paying american should get stock in both GM and Chrystler. Here's how I would propose it work:
When you file your taxes this year (the IRS will have this record), each tax paying citizen will get a share in GM and Chrystler. I figure and use the logic, if our tax money is keeping them afloat, then we should gain from their future returns (which I doubt will happen).
Then after a period of time, they can opt to purchase the stock from you at no less than what it was worth when you received it (to prevent the dropping of stock price to have a buyout of less than what the value will be in the future).
I'm sure I could come up with a more thorough explanation, but I'm tired and lazy.
OH AND HUM IS PLAYING AT THE DOUBLE DOOR ON New Year's Eve and Day!!! Tickets are sold out for NYE and scalpers are being assholes ($200 a ticket...please)...however, you can find tickets on StubHub.com for $60 for the day show. Plus, The Life and Times are opening!!!
When you file your taxes this year (the IRS will have this record), each tax paying citizen will get a share in GM and Chrystler. I figure and use the logic, if our tax money is keeping them afloat, then we should gain from their future returns (which I doubt will happen).
Then after a period of time, they can opt to purchase the stock from you at no less than what it was worth when you received it (to prevent the dropping of stock price to have a buyout of less than what the value will be in the future).
I'm sure I could come up with a more thorough explanation, but I'm tired and lazy.
OH AND HUM IS PLAYING AT THE DOUBLE DOOR ON New Year's Eve and Day!!! Tickets are sold out for NYE and scalpers are being assholes ($200 a ticket...please)...however, you can find tickets on StubHub.com for $60 for the day show. Plus, The Life and Times are opening!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Done!
So I'm done with a few things:
School for the semester
Xmas shopping
that's about it really. nothing profound. I have to find a purpose for this blog. A focus if you will. I've been tossing random thoughts up here all willy-nilly and it's not necessarily good for readership. I've been thinking music, maybe recording techniques...who knows...maybe more Web design stuff (standards and what nots). Or, I'll just keep this random, sometimes political, sometimes sporadic (see: all the time).
Let me know...if anyone reads this.
School for the semester
Xmas shopping
that's about it really. nothing profound. I have to find a purpose for this blog. A focus if you will. I've been tossing random thoughts up here all willy-nilly and it's not necessarily good for readership. I've been thinking music, maybe recording techniques...who knows...maybe more Web design stuff (standards and what nots). Or, I'll just keep this random, sometimes political, sometimes sporadic (see: all the time).
Let me know...if anyone reads this.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Microsoft Office 2007 HTML Email and Dreamweaver
This post goes out to all HTML e-mail designers and coders.
As most of you know (I didn't until just recently), Office 2007 removed much of the CSS rendering capabilities of 2003 and earlier. The most important styles removed are: background-image, position, float.
OK, that's my opinion, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. So now, instead of using divs to design, we now have to go back to tables to do it. Well, that sucks. You can do a search for "Office 2007 and CSS" in google and the top result will be Microsoft's page on what is supported and what isn't supported or just click here.
Microsoft did one nice thing and created a "CSS validator for Office 2007" for Dreamweaver. If you have a PC and Dreamweave MX/MX2004/8/CS3 you can download it here.
However, if you are on a Mac you have no such luck. Until now. Basically, the installer installs a XML document and a text file with the CSS definitions that are supported. So I installed it on a PC, took the files and put them on my Mac and viola! the definitions work in Dreamweaver CS3 on a Mac. You can download the files here.
Download the zip file, open up Applications > Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 (or Macromedia > Dreamweaver MX/MX2004) > configuration > BrowserProfiles.
You can then open up the zip file and place the two files in the BrowserProfiles folder.
To use it, restart Dreamweaver, click the Check Page button (I don't know if it's that in MX versions), click Settings..., make sure Word 2007 is check, and hit OK. You are done! Now you will know what CSS you put in that isn't supported and will have to change.
Hopefully this will help one person. Oh, and no I don't use the WYSIWYG portion of Dreamweaver. Code view only.
As most of you know (I didn't until just recently), Office 2007 removed much of the CSS rendering capabilities of 2003 and earlier. The most important styles removed are: background-image, position, float.
OK, that's my opinion, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. So now, instead of using divs to design, we now have to go back to tables to do it. Well, that sucks. You can do a search for "Office 2007 and CSS" in google and the top result will be Microsoft's page on what is supported and what isn't supported or just click here.
Microsoft did one nice thing and created a "CSS validator for Office 2007" for Dreamweaver. If you have a PC and Dreamweave MX/MX2004/8/CS3 you can download it here.
However, if you are on a Mac you have no such luck. Until now. Basically, the installer installs a XML document and a text file with the CSS definitions that are supported. So I installed it on a PC, took the files and put them on my Mac and viola! the definitions work in Dreamweaver CS3 on a Mac. You can download the files here.
Download the zip file, open up Applications > Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 (or Macromedia > Dreamweaver MX/MX2004) > configuration > BrowserProfiles.
You can then open up the zip file and place the two files in the BrowserProfiles folder.
To use it, restart Dreamweaver, click the Check Page button (I don't know if it's that in MX versions), click Settings..., make sure Word 2007 is check, and hit OK. You are done! Now you will know what CSS you put in that isn't supported and will have to change.
Hopefully this will help one person. Oh, and no I don't use the WYSIWYG portion of Dreamweaver. Code view only.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Auto Bailout
First: Happy Late Eat Lots of Turkey Day.
Second:
I'm disappointed by the automaker bailout for the big three. I understand, they are trying to save jobs for the people that will lose them if the plants close. But as an industry, to say the automakers didn't see this coming is ridiculous. The technology to build greener, and more fuel-efficient cars isn't new technology. This is stuff that has been worked on for the last (at least) 20 years.
As Americans, we've been so consumed by the oil industry (thanks to politicians who are funded or own stakes in oil companies) that maybe they honestly didn't see this coming but I find that incredibly hard to believe.
I think some of the workers who possibly may lose their jobs should look into applying at Toyota. While the big three companies have been expanding overseas, Toyota did the opposite and opened plants here. And if someone wants to get into that "Buy American" argument, look no further than Chevy, Ford or GM. American made? Nope. Toyota is just as much American as those companies. I'm all for creating more jobs here in the states.
Hopefully the Obama administration keeps good on promises to create green-energy fueled jobs.
Second:
I'm disappointed by the automaker bailout for the big three. I understand, they are trying to save jobs for the people that will lose them if the plants close. But as an industry, to say the automakers didn't see this coming is ridiculous. The technology to build greener, and more fuel-efficient cars isn't new technology. This is stuff that has been worked on for the last (at least) 20 years.
As Americans, we've been so consumed by the oil industry (thanks to politicians who are funded or own stakes in oil companies) that maybe they honestly didn't see this coming but I find that incredibly hard to believe.
I think some of the workers who possibly may lose their jobs should look into applying at Toyota. While the big three companies have been expanding overseas, Toyota did the opposite and opened plants here. And if someone wants to get into that "Buy American" argument, look no further than Chevy, Ford or GM. American made? Nope. Toyota is just as much American as those companies. I'm all for creating more jobs here in the states.
Hopefully the Obama administration keeps good on promises to create green-energy fueled jobs.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Hope and Disappointment
So Barack Obama will be our 44th president. This could be the most defining moment of our time (well, next to a black, woman president...or hispanic or asian...you get the point).
I'm really proud that America (52% of you) realized that we are not in a bubble and it matters how we interact with the world. President-elect Obama is proof of that. He has a hard road ahead (either candidate would have).
John McCain left the race with dignity and respect. This is the John McCain that should have ran the race. He might have done much better. After all the mudslinging (on both sides), hopefully we can get this country back on track with the rest of the planet.
Now for the Disappointment:
Proposition 8 passed creating a ban on same-sex "marriage" in California. This is very disheartening as the very people who want to "protect" traditional marriage have a 50% divorce rate. Also saying that kids need a mother and father is bullshit. Children need a loving home where they can prosper and grow up to be strong intelligent human beings. That can be fostered in both heterosexual and homosexual households. I hope in my lifetime I see the dissolve of the antiquated view of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
What do I know though (probably nothing)?
I'm really proud that America (52% of you) realized that we are not in a bubble and it matters how we interact with the world. President-elect Obama is proof of that. He has a hard road ahead (either candidate would have).
John McCain left the race with dignity and respect. This is the John McCain that should have ran the race. He might have done much better. After all the mudslinging (on both sides), hopefully we can get this country back on track with the rest of the planet.
Now for the Disappointment:
Proposition 8 passed creating a ban on same-sex "marriage" in California. This is very disheartening as the very people who want to "protect" traditional marriage have a 50% divorce rate. Also saying that kids need a mother and father is bullshit. Children need a loving home where they can prosper and grow up to be strong intelligent human beings. That can be fostered in both heterosexual and homosexual households. I hope in my lifetime I see the dissolve of the antiquated view of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
What do I know though (probably nothing)?
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!
This could be the best day ever.
America made our voices heard and here we are now with the first African-American president of the United States of America!!
Thank you for not disappointing me, U.S.A!
America made our voices heard and here we are now with the first African-American president of the United States of America!!
Thank you for not disappointing me, U.S.A!
Vote Today!
The title says it all. Please vote. I don't care who you vote for (well...I do have a preference), but the point is to actually vote. So do it! Now. Stop reading this.
I said stop.
Go! NOW!
I said stop.
Go! NOW!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Debate #3 and more
So I watched the debate last night (well...the last hour of it) after I got back from class and London (yeah, I was in London).
I think McCain is seeming a bit tired with the Ayers and ACORN thing. It's not news. It's not a swing issue. As much as the GOP wants it to be, it's not.
The other thing is the "Joe the Plumber" shit. I wish Obama would have addressed the tax issue on air last night as Joe the Plumber is having a hard time separating Annual Business Gross Receipts vs Annual Personal Income. Under Obama's plan, Joe would actually get a tax break if he bought the "plumbing" business he works for.
Oh yeah, he also isn't licensed (not a big deal), but he did lie and say he was part of the Union (local 149 I believe) which he is not, nor ever applied for.
I think Sam Donaldson said it best this morning on GMA, McCain could have run the best campaign, it just happens to be a Democrat year.
London is bad ass. Go there.
I think McCain is seeming a bit tired with the Ayers and ACORN thing. It's not news. It's not a swing issue. As much as the GOP wants it to be, it's not.
The other thing is the "Joe the Plumber" shit. I wish Obama would have addressed the tax issue on air last night as Joe the Plumber is having a hard time separating Annual Business Gross Receipts vs Annual Personal Income. Under Obama's plan, Joe would actually get a tax break if he bought the "plumbing" business he works for.
Oh yeah, he also isn't licensed (not a big deal), but he did lie and say he was part of the Union (local 149 I believe) which he is not, nor ever applied for.
I think Sam Donaldson said it best this morning on GMA,
London is bad ass. Go there.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
wowza!
Today's Megan's B-Day...HOORAY!
We're going out to dinner and then wrapping up the evening with VP Debates!
I'll have more tomorrow on the debates.
We're going out to dinner and then wrapping up the evening with VP Debates!
I'll have more tomorrow on the debates.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Office Live and Javascript
Today I came across an interesting little tidbit while here at work. I just finished a client's Web site and had posted it onto their server (they are using Windows Office Live...which is important to this story). I also installed swfobject 2.0 and lightbox 2.0 to switch out the navigation menu and create a photo gallery, respectively.
Everything worked great on my test server (which I believe is an apache server). So, I proceeded to upload the files to the Microsoft server (Office Live). I then received and email this morning from the client asking why the photo gallery wasn't working.
I was like, hrhhhh?
So, I checked it out. And sure enough, it didn't work. I tested it on a PC with IE 7/Firefox/Safari(PC) and then on my Mac with Safari. So then I did what I normally do, googled "Lightbox and Office Live". I came across one post that sort of pointed me in the right direction. The moderator basically gave an answer to the effect of, "change the extension names from .js to .jsx, that way the server won't cache the .js files".
So I did that, yet the gallery wasn't working quite correctly. I'd click on an image and it would remove my menu. It turns out there's another step you need to do to get it to work correctly.
Open the scriptaculous.jsx file (you renamed it, remember..if not it'll be scriptaculous.js, but it should be changed) and find the three (3) .js in this section:
and change them to jsx (like they are in above) or just copy that and replace it in your file.
And there you have it! Working Lightbox on your Office Live server.
On a related side note: I was also having issues with the menu not loading using the swfobject.js, but it didn't concern me as I had a css menu in place if it didn't load correctly. But I changed that to jsx and viola! it works.
Hopefully this helps somebody out there searching for the same thing.
Everything worked great on my test server (which I believe is an apache server). So, I proceeded to upload the files to the Microsoft server (Office Live). I then received and email this morning from the client asking why the photo gallery wasn't working.
I was like, hrhhhh?
So, I checked it out. And sure enough, it didn't work. I tested it on a PC with IE 7/Firefox/Safari(PC) and then on my Mac with Safari. So then I did what I normally do, googled "Lightbox and Office Live". I came across one post that sort of pointed me in the right direction. The moderator basically gave an answer to the effect of, "change the extension names from .js to .jsx, that way the server won't cache the .js files".
So I did that, yet the gallery wasn't working quite correctly. I'd click on an image and it would remove my menu. It turns out there's another step you need to do to get it to work correctly.
Open the scriptaculous.jsx file (you renamed it, remember..if not it'll be scriptaculous.js, but it should be changed) and find the three (3) .js in this section:
$A(document.getElementsByTagName("script")).findAll( function(s) {
return (s.src && s.src.match(/scriptaculous\.jsx(\?.*)?$/))
}).each( function(s) {
var path = s.src.replace(/scriptaculous\.jsx(\?.*)?$/,'');
var includes = s.src.match(/\?.*load=([a-z,]*)/);
(includes ? includes[1] : 'builder,effects,dragdrop,controls,slider,sound').split(',').each(
function(include) { Scriptaculous.require(path+include+'.jsx') });
});
}
}
and change them to jsx (like they are in above) or just copy that and replace it in your file.
And there you have it! Working Lightbox on your Office Live server.
On a related side note: I was also having issues with the menu not loading using the swfobject.js, but it didn't concern me as I had a css menu in place if it didn't load correctly. But I changed that to jsx and viola! it works.
Hopefully this helps somebody out there searching for the same thing.
Friday, September 12, 2008
lying liars and the lies that the tell.
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