Breakdown of the FCC's Net Neutrality Ruling

Net neutrality is a concept that's very hard to make tangible for everyone, but it's important to you if you use the net. The FCC recently made an important ruling, and here's DVICE's breakdown:

http://dvice.com/archives/2010/12/what-you-need-t.php#more

In part:

The Good

Network management and packet discrimination must be reasonable

The FCC is trying to prevent companies from being able to pay more to have an Internet service provider (ISP) treat its data better than everyone else's. We're not talking about charging you and me for a faster connection (which is fine), we're talking about giving different types of data prioritization across the network, which would make things suck for everyone who didn't pay for that service. This is now a no-no.

Now for something completely different - Archaeology

One of my hobbies outside the realm of music is history. That's actually what my first degree is in. My dream job would be something where I could spend all day going through dusty old books or researching on the internet.
So stuff like this really jazzes me.

Archaeology Magazine's Top Ten Discoveries of 2010.

These are all so cool, I can't even pick a favourite.

And back to the Van Halen Rumours...

From the Van Halen News Desk, aka the VHND, some more rumours about what, if anything, the lads in Van Halen have been up to or may soon be up to:

Sources tell the Van Halen News Desk that the band is very eager to tour, and that they want to tour behind new material. Eddie Van Halen has been very busy during most of 2010 writing music. Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen often join Eddie in the 5150 studio and the three of them have been hard at work jamming and recording demos. The three Van Halens have been sending the music to David Lee Roth, who’s adding the lyrics. Two of our sources have heard some of the early versions of the tracks (without vocals) and were very pleased. The music is said to sound like straight ahead rock ‘n’ roll and “very Van Halen.”

Read the rest here:

http://www.vhnd.com/2010/12/09/huge-van-halen-update-van-halens-2011-plans-and-the-truth-behind-the-rumors/

As usual, I remain skeptical. My biggest worry at this point is not whether VH will put out any more material or whether they will tour. My biggest worry is whether anyone will care either way. Have VH simply waited themselves into irrelevance?

New Toad the Wet Sprocket Song

Just in time for Christmas, one of my all-time favourite bands, Toad the Wet Sprocket, have released a new song.
It's called "It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas", and you can listen or download it here:

http://toadthewetsprocket.bandcamp.com/

Recorded some Christmas Songs

A rare bit of studio activity to post. Had some really nice ladies in on November 27th to record some Christmas-y songs on piano and vocals. I had just gotten the Yamaha C7's tuning touched up the week before, so it was sounding great. First time recording it in the new room, and it sounded beautiful.

We did five songs in total - three with vocals and two just piano. I used the Neumann U87 for the vocals, and started out with a pair of Audio Technica AT3035's for the piano, but ended up switching to the Oktava MC-012's before we got going. They just seemed to be capturing the detail of the piano better.

Preamp for the U87 was my trusty Great River MP-2NV, and an ART TPS-II for the piano. The Great River is very precise sounding and a good match with the Neumann, while the ART is good for putting a little softer edge on the piano.

I didn't have anything else in the signal chain going in - just mics > preamps > Pro Tools. On the mixdown, I did add a little bright plate reverb to the vocals, but I left the piano pretty much alone, save for flipping the phase on one of the piano tracks.

The U87/MP-2NV pairing is my go-to for vocal tracking. The combination gives some really nice, crisp sounding vocals that are just so easy to fit into the mix. I've never once had a problem using that setup getting the vocal to sit right where I want it and still cut right through. I also can't say enough good things about Fletcher from Mercenary Audio, from whence I got both the Neumann and the Great River. He was great listening to what I was trying to do and giving me a recommendation that worked great for me.