Boondocks Studio - A MultiMedia Guide

Components of a Recording Studio for less than $700

2009-07-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the cheapest studio I would attempt to record with. To be sure, you can find cheaper mics and a cheaper audio interface, but they sacrifice on sound.

Here's a simply flow chart of how pieces connect in a basic mixerless home studio. This type of studio is the simplest and the cheapest, and it relies on the power of your computer for recording and playback.

Here's some products that will get you going at decent quality, but as cheap as possible. Note that you get software bundled in with the Inspire, a budget version of a well known sequencer.

PreSonus Inspire 1394 FireWire Audio Interface with Cubase ($159.95 Ebay Buy Now)

The INSPIRE 1394 is a revolutionary FireWire Recording System featuring professional quality 24-bit/96k analog to digital conversion rate, four simultaneous inputs, software control panel as well as audio recording and production software giving you the smallest, most flexible, most affordable and all-inspiring computer recording studio ever!

M-Audio KeyRig 49 49-Key USB MIDI Controller (US $99.00 Ebay Buy Now)

The M-Audio KeyRig 49 turns your Mac or PC into a versatile keyboard workstation. Featuring a 49-key, synth-action USB MIDI keyboard and the award-winning Key Rig software for the PC, KeyRig 49 makes it easy to start composing and performing music with a computer. Use KeyRig 49 to play Key Rig's virtual instrument sounds, or audition loops and compose songs with M-Audio's Session, Apple's GarageBand, Ableton's Live Lite (included) or other music-creation programs. The KeyRig 49 keyboard also includes professional features like pitch and mod wheels, an assignable volume slider, octave +/- buttons and sustain pedal input. It's powered via a single USB cable and works instantly with computers running Mac OS X or Windows XP.

AKG Perception 100 Studio Condenser Microphone ( $65.00 Ebay Buy Now)

The Perception 100 is a large-diaphragm true condenser microphone offering solid build quality, good performance and excellent value. It delivers a classic warm, transparent sound that conforms to the stringent standards defined for AKG recording products.

Here's the cables and stand you need

OnStage 7700 Tripod Boom Microphone Stand ( $20.00)

The On-Stage Spotlight Microphone Stand is the ideal tripod boom stand for countless stage and studio applications. With its durable construction of hybrid sheet metal and high-impact plastic leg housing it holds up to repeated use and abuse. A cast steel mid-point clutch also locks down the boom to secure your microphone. The boom arm can fold flat for easy storage and is removable for those times when a boom is not required.

CBI LowZ Microphone Cable with Neutrik Connectors ($68)

The CBI MLN Performer Series mic cables are extremely flexible and durable cables. They are constructed with Beldens 22-gauge, 2-conductor super low noise, ultra flexible audio cable, then fitted to Neutrik male and female XLR connectors.

Hosa Nickel-Plated Dual Cable (Dual RCA to Dual RCA) ( $ 9.00)

Precision molding of all plastics and high-tolerance tooling ensure tight, positive connections for all Hosa RCA connections. Hosa's Limited Lifetime Warranty expresses their confidence in these RCA cable assemblies!

KRK RP5G2 Rokit Powered 2-Way Active Monitor ($299.00 Ebay Buy Now)

The KRK RP5G2 Rokit G2 Powered Studio Monitor takes this KRK design to new heights.

A clear less than $1000.00 dollars recording studio! (Assuming you already have a capable computer system if not add another 800-1500 to the tab)

Top 10 Free Video Editors for 2009

2009-07-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

Video Editors have become part of our lives not only for aspiring film professionals but also for the great many public who have donned the Internet Era with Youtube videos captured with their personal video cams. Capturing those moments is one thing, but actually editing the small movies of our lives we captured are an expensive proposition. Commercial Video Editors costs an rm and a leg and every year somebody comes out better than the one that came before it.

Fortunately for us there are free video editors out there that not only are capable of equalizing our home movie productions in par with the likes of Adobe Premiere and Sony Vegas, but at time it actually goes beyond the capabilities of these commercial products.

Here are the top 10 for the budget conscious cinematographer.

1. Windows Movie Maker - is a basic video creating/editing software included in Microsoft Windows. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be modified using XML code. Windows Movie Maker is also a basic audio track editing program. It can apply basic effects to audio tracks such as fade in or fade out. The audio tracks can then be exported in the form of a sound file instead of a video file. it is bundled with Window's Operating Systems.

2. Pinnacle Videospin - Though it doesn't match the sophistication of paid-for applications, it does let you perform basic edits and output movies for use online or--if you're willing to sacrifice the cost of a cheap lunch--on your iPod or on a DVD. VideoSpin has some strict limitations. You can't import from DV camcorders, since the application works only with files on your hard drive. You can't edit audio, except for levels. And since the software has no video effects, you can't brighten dark movies. Unless you purchase add-ons, you can export only to AVI, Flash, Real, or MPEG-1 format; you can't exchange files with Studio, either. And the interface size is fixed, so you can't view it full-screen.

3. iMovie - Windows Media Player's counterpart for the Mac User. iMovie imports video footage to the Mac using either the FireWire interface on most MiniDV format digital video cameras, the USB port, or by importing the files from a hard drive. From there, the user can edit the video clips, add titles, and add music. Effects include basic color correction and video enhancement tools, and transitions such as fade-in, fade-out, and slides.

4. zs4 Video Editor - has more than 150 built-in video effects including excellent color and chroma keying. Other features include custom output video width and height, unlimited tracks and sub-composites, custom speed and direction change for video and audio, and the ability to slave effect and compositing controls to audio wave forms.

5. Avidemux - has often been considered to be an open-source substitute for high-end commercial editors, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, although it does not have as many features. Avidemux's numerous features and functions are comparable to VirtualDub. Avidemux can do things that its Windows-only counterpart cannot. It supports OGM, MP4 and Matroska files natively, direct read input for various types of MPEG files, and many other video formats and containers. It offers MPEG editing and has built-in subtitle handling.

6. VirtualDub - has digital and analog capture capabilities. It supports both DirectShow & Video for Windows capture. Capture features include capture to any AVI variant, audio VU meters, overlay and preview modes, histogram, selectable crop area, video noise reduction, auto stop settings (based on capture time, file size, free space, and/or dropped frames), and designate alternate drive(s) for capture overflow.

7. LiVES - allows the user to manipulate video in realtime and in non-realtime. The application also has features which go beyond traditional video editing applications - for example, it can be controlled and monitored remotely over a network, and it has facilities for streaming to and from another copy of LiVES. LiVES uses a system of plugins for effects, decoders, encoders and video playback.

8. Kdenlive - supports all of the formats supported by FFmpeg (such as QuickTime, AVI, WMV, MPEG, and Flash Video), and also supports 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios for both PAL, NTSC and various HD standards, including HDV. Video can also be exported to DV devices, or written to a DVD with chapters and a simple menu. Audio effects include normalization, phase and pitch shifting, limiting, volume adjustment, reverb and equalization filters amongst others. Video effects include options for masking, blue-screen, distortions, rotations, colour tools, blurring, obscuring and others.

9. Blender is a very robust and widely used open source application for 3D modeling and animation. A perhaps not so well known feature of blender is its ability to edit video and audio, thanks to its sequence editor. In fact, it is a full blown non-linear editing module, which allows to apply numerous effects, as well as doing simple tasks as blending clips together, adding transitions to name a few.

10. Cinelerra - support for very high-fidelity audio and video: it processes audio using 64 bits of precision and it is resolution and frame rate-independent, meaning that it can support video of any speed and size. It includes many of the features of the pricey professional editors and some extras: real-time visual effects, FireWire input/output, render-farm capability, and even support for HDTV formats and Ogg Vorbis. The downside is that its hardware demands are quite unforgiving.

Review: Mesmerizing "The Button"

2009-07-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

To start off with the Film Review Thursday here in Boondocks Studio, a very effective short independent short film with an Amazing script caught my attention. The Black Button was released in 2007 in You Tube by DarkHeart Production which garnered little notice during that time. However if you look at the brilliant film, it should have garnered more accolades than what it actually .
The set is as simple as you get, yet the dialog is so much powerful that it matters not that it was done with low quality equipment. It takes the audience well within the story, of Good vs. Evil, a film so Powerful that it has to be told in 7 minutes.

10 Reasons Why Most Indie Recording Artist Fails

2009-07-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

It starts with a dream. You listen to your favorite songs and artist. Try to play guitar and write songs. Form a band, then do local gigs. You try to cover as many songs as possible. You then try to go to studios, do some rough recording. And when the band are on the way home, you then talk to each other that someday, the band will be famous. You then planning to give demos to every key person in the music industry. The band then dreams of having a million dollar beach house, filled with parties and chicks. And finally dream of having an enormous bank account consisting of band royalties.And you think you are most likely to succeed.

The truth is, no you are not. Frankly speaking, music business is so HARD. The reason why it is hard because in the first place:

1. You do not study about music business:This means you do not know the protocol in the industry. Even how good you are, you end up being nothing. A great general will never win a battle without knowing carefully the battle territory.

2. You do not write songs seriously: Hit song statistics in a song catalog consist only of small percentage. Let say realistically 20% are hits (following the famous 80-20 rule, 20% of your songs will give 80% of the songwriter income). So this means the band needs to write at least 10 songs SERIOUSLY to have 2 hit songs. Do not fall into illusions of writing 100% hit songs, it is simply illusional and impossible.

3. No originally or creativity: If I were an A&R, I will try to sign an artist that sounds original. This means all songs, lyrics and image should be unique at the same time can be classified into a genre. The problem with indie artist is that they know cover songs more than their original songs. It is a sign of weakness. It is because, original songs is a bread and butter for every recording artist and it should mastered with heart.

4. Do not have enough live experience: Frankly speaking, do not fall into illusions that you will land a deal without doing a live concerts, do some but do not overdo. Remember you are a recording artist. Artist that are marketed through recording, this means you will to spend time working in studio. But without doing a live concerts in your career, is again a sign of failure.

Live concert

5. Too much live concerts and without studio work : Let the music industry know you are serious in your recording by spending some time to record songs with a producer or yourself. Spending too much live concerts will not make the music industry very interested because, after all when you get famous, they will not earned so much from your live concerts. But if you spend some time doing recordings, they will be interested as long the quality is good and marketable. After all you are a recording artist.

6. No business sense: This is worse, because if every thing you do, do not have a target consumers( consumers that will buy your CD for example, or a specific marketable genre of high demand like pop, rock and country) you are just wasting your time and big sign of future artist failure. Make sure every songs you make have impact and has target consumers. Make sure the image is marketable. Make it consistent with the trend.

7. Lack of extra-ordinary musical talent: To tell you, I believe music industry needs extra-ordinary talent, not so much of skills. Those signed artist are legendary singers,songwriters, entertainers and instrumentalists, being discovered doing very well at a young age. And make sure, your talent is extra-ordinary, if talent is not enough; it is highly suggested to select another career that are you are really good at. Or else, you end with disappointments later.

8. Lack of professionalism- Music industry are professionals. But do not get mislead of thinking that you mean of professionals are people well dressed and socialites. No it is not. Professionals means great attitude towards work. It is not a professional that is well dressed, well connected but poor attitude. Also the way you market yourself reflects professionalism. Overall, the way you treat music business as a serious business or how you approach and deal with relationships are being professional.

9. Lack of marketing strategies - Music business like any other business and being independent needs a solid marketing strategy. Most indie recording artist fails because they think it is someone else job. NO it is not. You have to start marketing yourself. Build some presence, connections and showing of talents. It is the time when you get noticed and music marketing professionals will join your team that will make you even more popular.

10. Failed to treat music as a career - Being decided to become an indie recording artist is a career choice. Yes it is. Sadly, I think 99% of the artist think of it as a hobby or just fun. This results to less committment, professionalism and time devoted to master the art of singing, songwriting and stage performance. Those very few who sacrifice other lucrative career opportunities for the sake of music are signs of success. It is because they are determined enough to take all odds to make their music busines career, a challenging and a very satisfying career. And based on actual experiences, a fear of rejection or failure as an indie artist is already a sign of failure. It is because, the root cause is to fail to treat music as a career, again by failing to plan.

An Inspiring Song by a Gifted Songwriter

2009-07-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

To start the series of Original Song reviews, I would like to introduce fellow You Tuber ReinaDelCid.
This particular song of her was made last year and have accumulated 195K hits. The lyrics yearns of a love that's remains a secret, a monologue between the song and the songbird. The Music was well develop and each phrase matches each strumming of the guitar, flowing smoothly, endlessly.
Obviously there is something with her song so here it is, Wonder.

An Interconnected Society in the Virtual World!

2009-04-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

Ok most of us are glued to our computer nowadays instead of being couch potatoes in front of the TV. Heck not only does the internet and its dizzying infrastructure turned into the #1 entertainment media of choice but it also now has become a mini society of some sort. Take me for example!

Not only do I surf the net for News, videos or just plain hanging out with my virtual friends online (chatting). I also have the idea that everybody that I know of wants to know every single thing that I do in my virtual life. After I finish this blog and published it, streaming RSS feeds will update all all my sites like MySpace, Multiply and Facebook which in turns updates the status update of that site that will filter back to my Twitter, Plurk and Utterlli! Or how about me watching a video in Flixster or simply listening to a music in I tunes and instantly updates my Uplayme player in Myspace informing people looking at that what videos or music I was listening just a few minutes ago, again sending out a stream into my Facebook and walla twitter gets updated as well!

Are you dizzy yet? Now if only I knew who among my friends or passerby has something to say about all of those things I do in the virtual world. Do you?

Boondocks!!!

Hollywood and the lack of Asian Artists

2009-04-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

You all might have heard or seen the Oscar winning Bollywood movie Slumdog Millionaire, who hasn’t? Its probably the first Asian film to garner world accolades and penetrate the Hollywood mainstream. Or what about the YouTube discovery, Charice Pempengco from the Philippines who most probably the first Asian World Diva in the making that is making waves in mainstream America with backup from some of the most powerful Hollywood personalities and studios.

Pan Asian Entertainment is currently the buzz in Hollywood, and rightly so! In the past Asians are underrepresented in World Entertainment. Besides Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan anybody remember the names of the singers and actors that have graced the silver screen? Hollywood for most part have been racially biased against Asians, even though Asians drastically populate most of the world with 4 Billion souls .

In America, Asian-Americans accounts for 10% of the population, yet Hollywood racial mix has been predominantly Whites, Blacks or Hispanics. Asians have tried to penetrate the Hollywood establishment for a while now, both in films and other media, but American entertainment industry has been very ethnocentric even to its Asian citizens. Don’t get me wrong there has been Asians in Hollywood who have considerable success. Vanessa Hudgens, Anna Maria de Tagle, Lou Diamond Philips to name a few, but their roles are most often non Asian roles. Asian actresses like Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Lea Salonga on the other hand have all been type casted for Asian only roles, and most of the time these are supporting roles. In Music there has never been an Asian Diva known worldwide but there are plenty of regional divas that can be leveled to almost every reigning American diva like Regine Velazques (Philippines), Anggun (Indonesia/France), Utada Hiraku (American born Japanese Diva), Coco Lee (American raised Chinese Diva), BoA (Korea) etc. etc. yet all of these regional Asian diva have had a hard time making it in the mainstream American industry even though they all speak English and at time are American citizens.

Maybe its time for Asian-Americans to fully support every single Asian artist out there that’s trying to break the current mold of Hollywood. Asian-Americans have 40 Million souls in the United States, we are the first supporters of any film/music artists that will try to break into the lure of Hollywood, whether be it homegrown or from Asia itself.

“When Hollywood is your stage, the world is your stage”
BOONDOCKS!!!!