First up was a Soundcraft EPM12. It’s pretty barebones, but cheap. It arrived packaged exceptionally well and was cosmetically pristine. Once lifted out of the box I heard a little piece of something tumbling around inside, never a good sign. I held on to hope and plugged it in any way. But it was clearly an ex-mixer. Thinking that it might be the fuse I turn my attention there and see that the fuse holder has be jimmied with quite a bit.

After returning the Soundcraft, I found an Allen & Heath Mixwizard 16:2 for a good price. I really like these boards: they have really good features and are very intuitive. It did power on … which was a good first step. I hooked it up to the rest of the PA and started checking all the functions. There was one important function not working. The right main output was dead.

I immediately contacted the seller and they offered to pay for repair or refund my money, my choice. I figured I might as well peek in and see if I can spot the problem. Within a few minutes I found the culprit. Someone had replaced one of the mounting screws for the right fader with a screw that was way too long. The screw contacted the circuit board of the fader and proceeded to break that end of the circuit board off. The real kick was the number of mismatched, rounded out screws that I found leading up to the actual problem. Just a sloppy ham fisted mess.

I’m opting for the refund and sending this thing back.

… the eight songs on “Close to Home” have a pleasing live, there-in-the-room feel … performed by a skilled group and recorded well.

While I bask in the glow of “recorded well”, I need to add that Patrick Meagher did a great job on the mastering.

Some pictures of the process can be seen at the Dollar Fox website.

I put as few microphones up as I could get away with and am really happy with the mixes so far. For those that notice, yes, that’s an SM57 on the acoustic guitar. Yes, it’s intentional.

The Rumblejetts are consistent throughout the album — the production is first-rate
– Ink

This was recorded on my iPhone. I pulled the tracks into ProTools for a little EQ, delay and compression. The iPhone mic leaves a lot to be desired except for the upright, I am really pretty happy with the sound of that.

Evan is nuts with the walking. He’s now walking as his main form of movement. He starts to run then he trips. He’s als got a bit of dramatic flair with some simple fales turning into “roll half way across the room” event. Pretty cute.

Lily is having a good time back at school. Today she attended a cheerleading camp. We are really trying hard to expose her to as many activities as possible so maybe some will stick.

I’m planning for my vacation. A week alone! Crazy.

Finally listening to The Band. I’ve never really listened to any of their material. They are often brought up in conversations with the bands that I am in. Hell, both bands cover the same The Band song. I’m only familiar with it in passing. Sort of like the Stones. I just never really listened or paid attention.

We’re nearly done with the next Rumblejetts album. It’s been a LONG time in the making.