Primacoustic Acoustic Solutions and Education

Now Stocking: Primacoustic Acoustic Solutions

We are pleased to announce Revolution Audio is now a dealer for Primacoustic Acoustical Treatment. There are a number of reasons why we are highly impressed with this company.

1. They are Canadian owned / operated in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. I love it when Canadian companies get it right!

2. They make affordable high quality acoustic solutions. Their most popular products are the Freeport free standing studio gobos, their Recoil stabilizers for tightening up monitors and their London 12a Studio room kits for instant acoustic success in small control rooms. Check out their full range of products here on their website and contact us for prices.

3. They also are a company with a concern for education. This falls in line with our mandate as Revolution Audio to not only sell the gear, but educate our customers on how to use and apply it. Check out any of these great acoustics articles on the Primacoustic website:

• Where to Start
• How Much Do I Need?
• Small Rooms
• Room Kits
• Studio Acoustics
• Build an Isolation Booth
• Controlling Spill
• Practice Rooms
• Music Teaching Rooms
• Studio HVAC
• Computer Noise
• LEDE Room Design

Great company, great products, great education: right here in Canada! Please contact us with any questions on how to take control of your room!

One-Minute Audio Mastering

I wanted to write a quick article about "one minute mastering." Before everyone gets on my case quoting Ludwig and Katz and tell me how music is being destroyed - let me explain: There are many situations where you don't need a full mastering job done on a song but you need it to sound more complete for listening purposes. (For those new at this: Mastering is the final stage of the audio recording process where the final mixed stereo tracks gets sonically prepared for duplication and competitiveness in the marketplace.) A one-minute mastering will not replace a complete mastering job, but you you may want to quickly prep your mixed song to listen to the mix beside other songs, to send a rough cut to someone or to even upload demos to the web.

Here's how to apply a quick mastering finish in 60 seconds or less:

Either import your stereo mix into your software of choice or for a quicker option, apply these effects across the master bus (main output) of your mixing software. Set your master fader to zero.

Step 1: 20 seconds - Insert a Limiter in the last possible effect input (to leave room for others before). Make sure it is set to 0 (zero peak) for the threshold. Play back some of the song and pull up the input just until you see that it is constantly applying limiting. (Most software limiters have a meter showing this) Then playback your loudest part listening to make sure it is not distorting the sound and back off on the input if it is.

Step 2: 20 seconds - If the music is Pop, Hip-Hop, R & B or even most Rock, you'll want some compression too. Add this as your first insert. Apply 4:1 compression as starters and then add the gain back in until it's pushing up to your zero master fader again. Because of the limiter you still should see no clipping.

Step 3: 20 seconds - Insert a multiband parametric EQ just before the Limiter and do two things: A. Roll off the bass frequencies below 40 Hz using a low shelf / hi-pass eq (these frequencies are often problematic whether you hear it or not on your speakers - we are just talking safe and quick here.) B. Listen to the high frequencies and add a high shelf, edging it up just a little until the top end really shines and makes it sound like you are filling the full frequency spectrum.

These steps are not intended to replace experienced, careful mastering, but will at least make sure your final volume and tone are in a decent range for listening. A great plug in for mastering is Izotope Ozone 4. If you are pressed for time you could even cut your 60 second mastering down to about 15 seconds by using the Ozone 4 quick and easy presets. Again, it's not professional mastering until you apply more time, skill and creativity but it's quick and will be better than nothing, as long as you use your ears as you proceed.

NEW Ozone 4 Mastering Suite Plug-in

Ozone 4 Mastering Suite is now in stock and shipping. The long awaited update to Ozone is here. Ozone gives you all of the essential tools you need to master your projects in one integrated plug-in. In Ozone 4 there are dozens of new features that will help you sound better and work faster. From a redesigned and streamlined interface, to the new "Intelligent II" Loudness Maximizer mode, to the power of mid/side processing, Ozone 4 has everything you need to take your mixes to the next level. Find out more by watching the Ozone 4 overview video or visiting the Ozone 4 info link below.

Try Ozone 4 | Read More about or Purchase Ozone 4

How To Get Your Music on Your Website

Many people wonder how to get their music onto their own personal music websites. Here are a few methods I've tried. There are essentially three ways: 1. By direct html/java web programming; 2. By using an application that basically programs a music player for you; 3. Buy using a third party "widget."

We don't have the room here to explain HTML web programming. And what musician wants to learn? It's a lot of work and you should be concentrating on your music. So, we will concentrate on the two other simpler options:

2. Applications for Putting Music on your Website

One program I would recommend is called "Impact Web Audio." It's cheap and easy to use for single songs. One main advantage is that there is no advertising or linking to other websites, you keep all the traffic at your own site. Buy Impact Web Audio Here. It comes with easy setup instructions on how to put it onw your own website.

Here is another option: http://musicplayer.sourceforge.net/ The big advantage is that it is free and I've used it with success on a couple of websites, but it's a little trickier to setup. It plays more of a "playlist" which is nice. So it's more configurable and takes some work but again no "other site" branding and little programming knowledge needed.

3. Third Party Widgets

There are many third party options out there for putting music on your own website. The process is simple: You sign-up and load your songs onto the third party website and then copy HTML code to paste into your own website. Here are two free options that are very easy to use: Reverb Nation http://www.reverbnation.com or Nimbit Free found here: http://www.nimbit.com/ . Nimbit has the added value of being able to sell your music through the widget as well. Instant music store!

Hope that helps you get your music on your website. Through the internet you are open to the world and now is the time to get your music out there for them to hear.