People power

A bit off topic today, but I wanted to bring this to the attention of those who didn't know and those who snub social networks as gimmicks.

My faith in humanity has been restored a little after the two real world situations that Twitter users affected last week. I'm not going to go over what happened as it's now been told a million times but you can find out about the Trafigura incident here and the Jan Moir talking shite incident here. 

Has Twitter finally found it's niche as a open forum to express opinions en masse? The Trafigura story broke and was finished with in a matter of hours. In the old days there would have been a petition and maybe a demonstration or the like, which would have taken days, weeks or even months to organise and execute. Now the same effect can be achieved within a day. Love it.

I also love the fact that people with power seem to take the internet seriously, and in some cases are even intimidated by it. Not exactly why that is yet, but it could be because the net is such an open playing field. Once a dirty secret is laid out in a secluded corner of the net it can spread within hours to be a global talking point and those involved are often forced to respond. This is a powerful tool, and unbelievably it's still in it's infancy. It's inspiring and scary all at the same time.

In other news, I somehow was talked into running the live sound for an awards show at Alexandra Palace. It was for inventors and whilst I had no idea what most of the things did, the Korean guy who won invention of the year had a pretty amazing product. It's a synthetic bonelike material that can be used to hold breaks together. The idea being that if you break your arm you can be out of hospital in a couple of hours and have no need for a plaster cast. That's got to be worth an award at least!


 

See you soon,

Kev.

New Day Rising

It's quite possible to create a good recording anywhere with the equipment available these days but the one point that people seem to miss out is that you have to have the experience to be able to get the most out of it. For example - Waves have just released a series of 'Signature' plug-ins from such luminaries as Tony Maserati and Eddie Kramer. You can have a look at them here. Now what each these units actually are is a group of various plug-ins (compression, eq, stereo imaging, FX, etc) controlled by one GUI. Each of these units settings have been designed by the aforementioned 'Signature' artist, the idea being that you can now EQ your kick drum in the same way Eddie Kramer would.

I haven't tried these plug-ins yet and am actually looking forward to seeing what they do, but I do do have one huge problem with them - the way they are being marketed! I'm sure they sound great and do a good job, but they will not sound great on everything. On some things they will be bang on and exactly what you're looking for, and on other things they may be not so great or even make things worse. There's nothing wrong with that, as the same can be said for almost every bit of kit out there, from Neve to Behringer. Ok maybe not Behringer but you get my point.

Waves have chosen to market this as if it's the same thing as having Eddie Kramer come round to your house and mix it for you, and I think that's incredibly misleading. Most professionals and knowledgeable amateurs will know the score and if they choose to purchase, they will do for the right reasons - because they like what they do. However I think there will be a lot of people without the experience buying these thinking they will be the magic wand they've been looking for. If you put to much bass on something it doesn't matter that Eddie Kramer or Tony Maserati designed the plug-in, it'll still be too bassy! The same goes for too much compression, over (or under) use of effects, bad stereo imaging - the list goes on.

The greatest example of this technological quicksand is what i call 'The Beatles Fallacy'. Ever since the advent of the Tascam Portastudio, salesman and the misguided have been keen to point out that the home recording set up du jour is technically better than what The Beatles had available to them. I couldn't agree more.

But!!!!!

A) You're not The Beatles.
B) You're not in Abbey Road.
C) You don't have George Martin around.
D) You don't have have some of the most inventive engineers of their time helping out.

I could go on.

There was a interview I read once that I swear was with Brian May though my memery of it is a little cloudy. Anyway, whoever it was supported Jimi Hendrix one night, and for one reason or another ended up using Jimi's guitar rig. They said that all it just continously produced feed back and a sounded bloody awful, yet when Jimi got up and played through exactly the same set up it sounded like Jimi Hendrix! The point being that having the same kit doesn't somehow allow you to absorb someone elses talent or instincts.

So in conclusion, be careful - don't believe the hype! Buy something because you've tried it and you like what it can do, not what you hope it can do!!!

Kev.

Brave New World?

How are we all? Everyone ok? Good.

I'm the proud owner of an iPhone which has become an intrinsic part of my life in the last few months. Indeed, I'm actually writing this blog on it! Amazing bits of kit. A couple of weeks ago I downloaded the Spotify app for the iPhone and also signed up for a premium account with them. I'm sure you all know about Spotify and if you don't then you should.

Anyways, the app only works if you have a premium account, which costs about £10 a month, and as I'm the adventurous type I thought I'd give it a go. The main feature for me is it's ability to cache up to about 3000 songs for a month, meaning that you can have your playlists available off line if you need it (on the underground, on a plane, up a mountain, etc, etc). For me that is definitely worth £10 a month and more importantly Spotify itself may offer a glimpse of the music industries future. Sure it's not perfect and I know there's some controversy about artist payments but as a starting point it is definitely worth taking seriously.

The thing about it that compelled me to write this blog is the customer review section for the app on iTunes. There are plenty of people singing it's praises but there seems to be just as many who are complaining about the 'rip off' pricing of Spotifys premium account without which the app will not work. The ferocity and venom that some of these reviews have really shocked me.

It seems to be indicating that there are a lot of people out there who believe that they deserve this service for free. Not would like it for free, but rather expect it for free. Are these people a minority? Has the the wonderful inclusive and liberal nature of Web 2.0 backfired and created a mindset where music as a commodity is worth less than ever?

I know this cultural battle is far from over but I do belive that sides are becoming more clear cut than before. I understand the pirate reasoning for doing what they do, but I do not condone it. On the flip side to that I think the mainstream industry has been desperately hanging onto the past when they should be the innovators. Maybe it's too late to turn this round or maybe it's just a cultural shift that will balance out in the end. I don't know what the outcome will be or most importantly what this means for the musicians who are valiantly sending their work into the ether in the hope of some reward, but I do know that when the smoke clears it will definitely be a very different world.

Keep on keeping on.

Hello world,

How are we today?
I've been trucking away in the studio with quite a selection of jobs this last week and a bit. We've had in Darling Bones, Nimmo And The Gauntlets, Jessica Grace and Alex Vald (a.k.a. Lextrical). I've also been getting the scissors out for a radio edit of Wild Palms forthcoming single. The engineering legend that is Tom Morris took the reins for a quick and dirty session with the band Deep Shit (yes that's really their name), and Pinna is currently accomodating producer/engineering team Weller Hill tracking drums for a band whose name I don't know.
Add to that a couple of voice over sessions and a bit of avant garde electronic noise sculpture for Dan Wilsons latest film project and there you have it.
Currently I'm enjoying a couple of rare days off, but no rest for the wicked as you can expect to see a new Pinna website very very soon. How exciting!
Also today I made a stand for common decency. Some 'youngsters' on the bus sitting behind me kept playing bad hip hop from their phone as loud as they could. So annoying. So I played Frank Sinatra on my phone as loud as I could. They stopped their music and I won a small, petty victory. Still tasted sweet though.

Till next time,

Kev.

From the pen of
Kevin James Feazey.

Back in the saddle

Hey all,

Today I spent the afternoon working on a song for a new band project I've started up. I've been threatening to do this for years, and never quite had enough time. Or at least that was my excuse. Then about two months ago I started getting the itch real bad. Apart from a few bits of session work I haven't played in a full band since 2005 (I think). I've had a few attempts at writing some songs but nothing ever clicked, everything seemed a bit weak.
So today I got together with my friend Steve and we bashed out the structure for a new song and I can't believe how much I enjoyed it! As an engineer/producer I've worked with many different artists and many different genres and always thought that I was satisfying my creative needs but I realise now that I was kidding myself. I became an engineer through being a musician not the other way round and today I started to see all the creative possibilities that my studio has to offer. Even though I use this equipment every day it was only when I started thinking about the kit relative to my own music that I regained a lot of my enthusiasm for recording that i didn't even realise that I'd lost!
So I guess todays He Man morality lesson is to make sure you keep doing your own thing as well as your other work. Here's a picture of Steve to prove it all happened.



Ta ra then,

Kev.

Posted from the future.

Uuuuughhhh.

Today I was ill And not in the Beastie Boys sense of the word. Think i had eaten something dodgy. Haven't been ill for quite some time and it's not something I see myself picking up as a hobby. Anyway, feeling much better now so all good.
Been looking at the new Z Vex pedals, especially the Mastotron. If Zachary's demo video is anything to go by then this could be the pedal of my dreams. I'm so fed up off guitarists turning up at the studio with Boss Metalzones or Digitech Grunge pedals. Or even worse the dreaded multi-fx board!!! I'm sure all those products have their place it's just that I've never found it. Why would you want to sound like an angry wasp? Thank god for people like Mr. Vex and also Mr. Matthews over at Electro Harmonix who are still producing pedals that are interesting and don't take their selves too seriously. Ok, rant over.
Tomorrow I've managed to get a car for the day and am going to get the hell out of the city. The plan is to head for the sea and go from there. Feels like years since I was out of London. Am really looking forward to it as I haven't had an adventure in quite some time.
I only get one day away as Thursday is Silvery mixing day!!! Something I genuinely look forward to. The new album has a few more twists and turns than the last one. And flutes. Lots of flutes.
Oh and today I saw the smallest patio in the world.



Till next time,
Kev.

Posted from the future.

It's official!

That's right - I am officially the worst blogger in the world. I try to write something every week but it just ain't happening. So new tactic, I'll just write whenever I feel like it. Sometimes essays and sometimes mindless ramblings. Sound good? Ok.

Lots of love,

Kev.
Posted from the future.