Peep This... Black & Decker Lights Out

I definitely have to grab one of these for my bathrooms and kitchen. Peep...

"Let your presence control the lighting, not a light switch. When you enter a room, the lights can turn on for you– as well as turning off when they leave. The Lights Out AutoSwitch covers any standard light switch-no wiring required-and integrates a simple motion sensor that turns lights on when needed. Imagine if everyone decided to use one of these on every light switch at home. What a difference it would make. Not only would you be going green, but you would be saving some green as well. [$TBA at blackanddecker]'

For The Beat Heads... Vintage EQs mixing tips

From the mouth of Mau...

"I'll try to keep it simple

API is used for a more edgy sound (Mostly used on Rock, guitar heavy, drum forward mixes), APIs are known for their character, they can be smooth, but are mostly edgy (not in a bad way)
Neve is used for a more "warm" smooth sound - Think most popular music with digital drums,synths,recording, neve eqs are often used to "phatten up" or "smooth out" the edges of a digital recording - without making it dull.

SSL is known for its choice of harmonic generation, adding those "sparkling highs/deep lows/etc". When pushed hard, you can get a grungy sound, though distortion it is often pleasant and musical, when subtle gain/compression is applied, you get those harmonics that sweeten the sound. Often seen as a median between an API and a Neve.

See, simple. It helps to know why they were used and what they were used on. This isn't to say you can't use a API to sweeten up a vocal, but this will let you know why it may not get you there in some cases. And why a particular plugin sounds good on certain things.

For those who are wondering - the V-Series of plugins from waves are the Neve replicas :-) now you know...

Also, for those buying eqs (you don't need to get waves)
Waves API Collection Eqs = URS A Series Eqs (160.00)
Waves V-Series Eqs = URS N Series Eqs (160.00)
Waves SSL Eqs = URS S Series Eqs (160.00)

BIG MIX TIP AND MONEY SAVER!!!!

Remember, too much color for no reason leads to a muddy mix, and if you have a "saturation plugin" (Sonnox Inflator,VariSaturator, AC1) you can get the same if not better results by using a medium to wide Q when boosting on your stock EQ or transparent eq before the saturator, and drive the saturator to achieve the harmonics that warm up or sweeten the sound.

You can buy Inflator for 190, or Varisaturator for 70, (read the manuals) and use your stock eq or favorite (Digirack3 Eq,Nuendo/Cubase Eq/Logic Eq/Sonitus EQ/Ren EQ/Sonnox EQ) to achieve a similar yet different and often more "you personalized" eq (like making your own eq sound instead of conforming to others.)

Follow this, and I saved you 1200 from buying the Studio Classics from Waves :-)"

Daily Dose Of Dope...Bob Marley - Is This Love

I was going to make a Fugees song todays dose but my coworker was bumping this and I took it as a sign. Peep...

Daily Dose Of Dilla.. The Pharcyde - Drop

Dope vid from Pharcyde that was directed by the one and only Spike Jonze. I have yet to see another music video that executes this particular technque so well.

Daily Dose Of Dope... Q-Tip - Move

Dope vid but I think it's a bit courageous to make this vid for the second single of his upcoming release. The references made in this video are going to go over the pop crowds (the ones who know how to Crank Dat) head. As a Michael Jackson fan, I myself am loving this!

Daily Dose Of Dilla... D'angelo - Those Dreamin' Eyes (DILLA REMIX)

For those of you who are not knowing, Dilla hit off quite a few R&b artists with gems. Like my man Tae say... "Learn About It!"

For The Beat Heads...Mixing Tip! 24bit recording

From The Mouth Of Mau...

"MUST READ!

You do not need to track hot or loud when recording 24bit (all DAWs can record 24bit), as 24bit captures details at the lowest level. You don't need to get the level of the vocals going in close to 0 at all! Don't believe me, read Bob Katz "Mastering Audio", chapter 5 page 72 - it reads "A 24bit recording would have to be lowered in level by 48db in order to reduce it to the signal to noise ratio of a 16bit recording" Therefore, you should never, ever, ever, ever, distort or clip, and your recordings will be cleaner with more dynamics, with lower levels.

People say, damn, "when I record, my waveforms look little, and it looks low", well, you can adjust the waveform zoom, not just the track zoom. As illustrated in the attachments (Regular vs Track Zoom). This is a low level track I mixed (and it sounds clean using -20RMS=0VU) <- if you didn't understand that, then you have a lot to learn, call me and I'll explain it to you :-) Regular Zoom is what you all usually have, you can adjust this using the top right hand corner slider in cubase/nuendo, or the waveform slider in Logic grey at the bottom, it is also in ProTools. DO NOT USE YOUR DIGITAL METERS TO TELL YOU HOW LOUD YOU ARE RECORDING IT ONLY TELLS YOU ABOUT PEAKS, NOT HOW LOUD IT REALLY IS. So use a plugin on your "input channel" like PSP vintage warmer and use these levels (USE THE RMS not PEAK) to tell you how loud your vocals/beats/instruments are. Calibrate your input using this instead, and if you want to check for peaks - make sure that your max peak level is between -10 and -6 Peak. And you will be recording like the pros, and never have to check if you have overs/peaks.

If it sounds low to you - then turn up the output of your mixing desk or audio interface. Your print to CD will be lower, but clearer, more separated, and any mastering engineer you work with will take you more seriously.

In a nutshell, - record, mix at lower levels, all the time, there should be no variation in this, just make it a practice. "