How Bad Electricity Can Affect Your Recordings and Monitoring

One of the perils of living in the greatest city in the world to be an engineer in (oh yes, I went there), is that you’re very likely dealing with electricity that was installed when the technology itself was invented; which was a long time ago. And if you’ve ever tried to record or produce any type of sound with gear requiring a power source (ie: all gear), you’ve likely encountered something undesirable. Feedback? Yep. Buzzing in your monitors? That too. Seeing weird spikes when no audio is playing on an oscilloscope at 125Hz? That’s where I draw the line! (this actually happened!)

Building a project mixing/mastering studio in my Brookyln apartment has been a process I have embarked on with great care. After all, it is my livelihood. I want to do everything right, as I have what is an ideal room for this type of thing. However, I have a problem I can’t build/design my way out of: the two-prong/non grounded outlet.

The hardest part about this was the feedback created in my monitors (Yamaha HSM50s). At first I thought my cables were bad, or worse, that my monitors or interface were malfunctioning. After some troubleshooting, I found it wasn’t any of these things: it was my power that was creating these problems. I was having a grounding problem, but not a ground-loop problem that plagues some studios.

THE SOLUTION (and please note, this was my solution- TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK!)

If you have 2-prong outlets and want to use your grounded, 3-prong gear with it, DO NOT simply use a converter plug. Instead, you will need to physically remove the “third prong” (aka the earth pin or grounding), of the standard 3-prong plug. I only had to remove this pin on the power strip that I plug my monitors into individually. I did NOT remove the grounding pin on the individual monitors power cords.

NOTE: Now, this practice is extremely unsafe and not recommended when your studio or home already has THREE PRONG OUTLETS. If you have a three prong, grounded outlet and have the problems with feedback and buzzing like I’ve experienced, you will need to purchase a Ground Loop Isolator (Google this for more info). This solution is by far less invasive and much more convenient than the one I described. Consider yourself lucky if you’re having this issue with a 3-prong outlet. (Well, maybe not lucky). See the picture below to determine what type of outlet you’re dealing with:

Some people have reported similar problems and have solved said problems by removing the same grounding pin on the XLR cable that they use to connect their monitors to their interface. I can’t speak to the safety of that, but the possibility is there.

Why was this happening?

Well, if you want to play electrician, which I’m rather poor at:

Give yourself some background on the term “Ground” as it relates to electricity.

Check out Ground Loop while you’re at it.

Cliff Notes (That I Hopefully I have not butchered): The grounding pin helps regulate the electrical current that passes through your gear. The ground current can sometimes create a ground loop that often brings with it unwanted noise, which is why you experience these types of problems. Ground Currents (or Earth Currents), travel at very low frequencies (which explains why I had the 125Hz-ish spikes!).

I will close by saying again that this is what worked for me. I realize this solution may not work for everyone. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll share additional suggestions!

Inigo Montoya – Places We Imagined EP (Mastered by yours truly)

Somehow I neglected to post this, but here is an EP I mastered for a friend and a very dope band out in Philly, Inigo Montoya.

Check it out below and support them on Bandcamp!

“Shook One Pt II” Sample Found

Ever wondered if there was a sample people STILL couldn’t figure out? I have to be honest, this was one that I didn’t even realize was undiscovered. Maybe it’s because I like the song so much as is I just never really thought past how great this beat was.

Oliver Wang’s latest blog in the LA Times chronicles the “unearthing” of one of the last unknown sources of a hip-hop classic. Check it out here.

If you want to hear it for yourself, see the video below:

‘Dark Knight Rises’ To Be Filmed in Pittsburgh

Well, I like this story quite a bit.

I’m all for victories for my hometown, even though I live in the “actual” Gotham City now.

This is definitely a bragging point.

“Ayo, Zach and Miri Make a Porno AND The Dark Knight II were filmed in the ‘Burgh, bro.”

X-Clusive’s ‘Coming Attractions’

A friend of mine and frequent collaborator, X-Clusive, just dropped this mixtape yesterday. I think you’ll enjoy this one; the kid goes hard. I know he’s been working on this one for a while and I’m proud of him to finally see it out. Head on over to datpiff.com to stream it and download it.

It’s been a while

It’s been a decent little amount of time since you last heard from me here, but that’ll soon change.

What have I been doing? Well, it’s a long story, but I’ve been in NYC diving head first into the audio engineering biz, among other things. I’m available for hire if you need me ;).

For now, stick to Twitter (or @BlackHoodieRap), and Black Hoodie Rap if you want to stay current with me.

Black Hoodie Rap- Machine Head (VIDEO)

Here’s Brandon and I’s latest Black Hoodie Rap music video. We’re very proud of this, as this is what we think a music video should look like. If you want to read more about the concept, go check out the entry on the BHR site.

(Side note: Just graduated from Northeastern a few weeks ago and am slowly getting settled into Brooklyn. As anyone who frequents this site knows, the best way to stay in touch is through the BHR blog, or here. I’ll be back here in full effect soon.)

Jay Smooth on T-Pain’s “Endorsement” of Sean Hannity

*Insert everything Jay Smooth says here*

I don’t like being a straight co-signer, but I’m not sure I could have said it any better than Jay Smooth did. There really is nothing worse than the arrogantly uninformed person. It’s unfortunately one of the biggest flaws in the wider hip-hop community/consciousness (or lack thereof), and it will continue to be exploited until there is a big change.

I would have defended T-Pain because Sean Hannity is the type of bully that would treat an “endorsement” from an otherwise uninformed rapper as a game. It’s something you know he went home to tell his buddies about, in that “oh those rappers” tone.

“Hey Bill, guess who I got on camera today saying ‘Conservative Victory 2010?'”

Hip-Hop [Journalism] is Dead -or- Did it Ever Exist?

Who Killed It?

While journalists in all facets of the industry argue about the future of their craft, hip-hop media has been one area of journalism that has almost entirely jumped shipped for anything online and digital.

In a lot of ways, the digital shift has reinvigorated the genre through the access it has granted. But for Chris Faraone, it didn’t really address a fundamental problem.

“Unfortunately, there’s never been a lot of good hip-hop journalism,” he said, “because the hip-hop community doesn’t understand what good journalism is.”

Chris Faraone

Faraone, a writer at the Boston Phoenix, is proudly a self declared old school journalist. Often seen carrying around a reporter’s notebook, with a pen in his ear, you know what you’re getting with him. He’s made his name by covering hip-hop for Spin, YRB, The Source, and the now defunct Elemental.

His characterization of hip-hop journalism isn’t without merit. From Benzino promoting his career as an artist through The Source while he still owned the magazine, to alleged affairs between artists and female writers on staff, the horror stories are well known. Let’s just say its been less than harmonious and respectable.

“A lot of groupie bitches got into it. Male and female,” Faraone said.

The problem with hip-hop journalism as Faraone and many others see it, is simple really. The bread and butter of the craft is the album review, or anything that discusses an artist’s music. The phenomenon became that some people had trouble seperating their fandom from being objective or offering any criticism. They were fanbois, as Faraone puts it. In other genres, it’s sometimes a badge of honor to have never given a good review.

“Some of the early stuff was written by straight white-voyeurs, the Rolling Stone magazines of the world, who went into the South Bronx and wrote about what they saw,” Faraone said.

The trend of hip-hop media migrating to blogs that provide more MP3’s than reviews would seem like the nail in the coffin to journalists of Faraone’s mold. In some instances, this view has been vindicated. The most relevant rap outlets to many are Nah Right, 2 Dope Boyz, and Rap Radar, and most do not resemble Faraone’s brand of journalism at all.

This new reality of content providing left many wondering where journalists fit into the equation. Faraone has hardly let this stop him.

A few years ago, he co-founded the popular Boston hip-hop blog Jump The Turnstyle, his stories are among the most read on the Boston Phoenix’s website, and he maintains a strong presence on Twitter and Facebook. Not bad for an “old school journalist.”

Perhaps we’re all a bit too unfair to “old school journalists” when discussing their ability to cope with new media and finding their place in it. Faraone could easily make you look silly if you dismiss him like that, as he talks about the internet as something exciting and full of new opportunities for journalists.

“Instead of feeling paralyzed, like I know a lot people do, you should feel completely liberated,” Faraone said, “the quality is up to you, especially if you don’t have an editorial process… The potential is fuckin’ limitless.”

Faraone’s optimism is not completely lost on the younger generation either.

Zach Cole, of Potholes in My Blog

Zach Cole is a 20 year old college student and co-founder of Potholes in My Blog, a popular hip-hop site that’s centered around its album reviews and written content.

When you speak to Cole about his approach to hip-hop journalism, it is not that different from Faraone’s. Like Faraone, Cole gets hundreds of emails per week from artists who are looking to get their music reviewed, and much like Faraone, Cole goes through every one of the requests.

“A lot of bloggers complain about that aspect of it, they don’t like getting hit up to listen to stuff. It’s understandable, but at the same time though, when you sign on to be a blogger, you accept a new responsibility that you are a tastemaker and you have a responsibility to take these requests and give it some kind of feedback. Otherwise, there’s not going to be any music progression. Somebody has to listen to that album,” Cole said.

Cole’s enterprising ways have earned him jobs reviewing music at Rhapsody and Urb Magazine.

Whether or not Cole’s personality and approach have been influenced by new media is hard to say. Talking to him however, you certainly get the feeling that he could be a rarity among the new generation (ie: my generation). A hopeless romantic maybe?

“Hip-hop journalism doesn’t really exist,” Faraone said shaking his head as we sat in the Quiznos next to Fenway Park.

I’m not sure I’m ready to give up quite yet though.

——-

Click Here for the feature photo set (Flickr)

To my non-NU Journalism Department readers (ie: most of you): this is an updated version of a similar story I posted a few weeks ago. The story you just read is a modified version for Dan Kennedy’s class. Feel free to comment or dispute either!

Why do Tea Party people insist on calling themselves “Tea Baggers?”

Don’t they know a certain activity owns the market on that word?