DO BRAIN SURGERY AT HOME

[Girl Toes]

Larry mentioned to me this article by Walter Sear. An interesting spin on the state of recording these days...

In response to the EQ Magazine article in the August 2005 issue entitled IN DEFENSE OF: THE BIG PRO STUDIO, I'd like to make the following comments:

DO BRAIN SURGERY AT HOME
FOR FUN AND PROFIT

I'm not very technical but I just love doing brain surgery. I couldn't see wasting all that time to get an undergraduate degree in science, then wasting four more years in medical school and another three or so as a resident, but I'm sure that I can make up for the deficit with my enthusiasm and my love of brain surgery.

First of all, you really don't need to be in a big fancy building like a hospital. I use my ping-pong table in the basement to do my surgery. (I do throw a plastic sheet over it to preserve the paint). By doing it at home, I save on rent. I admit that sometimes the neighbors complain about the occasional screams that they hear, especially late at night.

Next thing is the equipment. They have all of that shiny stuff in the operating room and believe me, you don't really need it. I equipped my Operating Room at my local 99 cent store. At the hardware department, pick up a hack saw. This is very handy for cutting off the top of the skull. If you want to get fancy, pick up a cross-cut saw, for emergencies. A good claw hammer is handy for removing any extra bone that you missed with the saws.

Move on to the housewares department. Here, for $.99, you can get a whole set of steak knives. These are very sharp and they are good for the fine work. For the rough work--get a bread knife.

In the sewing department, you can pick up a sewing kit with all kinds of needles and different colored threads This is handy to sew the scalp back in place. You can also get a set of three different-sized scissors. Sometimes they come in handy.

There! For $7 to $8, you can completely equip your operating room.

On TV, you see the OR full of assistants. This is a waste of space. If you really watch them, they are all just standing around doing nothing. In my home operating room, I have eliminated all of these unnecessary people. I do, however, engage the family dog to sit under my operating table to clean up the scraps.

You see how simple it is to do brain surgery at home? Anyone with a love of brain surgery can do it. I never read Grey's Anatomy although I did see a copy once. Very nice pictures but half of it was in Latin. Who wants to bother with that! If you really want to be a brain surgeon, all you need is the desire and enthusiasm.

My prices are very cheap since I don't have all that stupid overhead.

ANYONE NEED TO HAVE A BRAIN TUMOR REMOVED? CALL ME.

Walter Sear
waltersear@aol.com

To see my Operating Room, go to www.searsound.com

[drumsound]

How much for a frontal Lobotomy?

[Rigsby]

How much for a frontal Lobotomy?

After hearing as many awful bands as you must have done i'd be surprised if you needed one, i know i don't.

[inverseroom]

analog: digital:

[soundguy]

whats funny (or not funny) is there are probably a lot of guys who read something like that and to them it must come off as this arrogant, snide kind of thing or some rich powerful dude trying to protect his "sucker" business. The gap between that world and the other is getting so big its pretty questionable if it will ever close up. In a lot of ways, its a big shame as eventually at least some of the folks trying to set "the old school" on fire will eventually grow into engineering and eventually want to be part of something like that and its not going to exist anymore.

definitely a wierd thing to watch happening.

dave

[Girl Toes]

analog: digital:

Actually, Inverse, as I understand it, the human brain is in fact digital.

[Girl Toes]

whats funny (or not funny) is there are probably a lot of guys who read something like that and to them it must come off as this arrogant, snide kind of thing or some rich powerful dude trying to protect his "sucker" business. The gap between that world and the other is getting so big its pretty questionable if it will ever close up. In a lot of ways, its a big shame as eventually at least some of the folks trying to set "the old school" on fire will eventually grow into engineering and eventually want to be part of something like that and its not going to exist anymore.

definitely a wierd thing to watch happening.

dave

What???

I'm totally pro DIY and Lo-Fi. What I don't like is DIY who think they are pro's. It used to be really obvious,now everyone thinks they are Walter cause they have AmpFarm, or BrainFarm for that matter. I dunno.

I'll tell ya, two years ago at AES there were so many 20 something "guitar center" producers all swirlling around M-Audio or something. There really weren't too many at this year's.

[inverseroom]

analog: digital:

Actually, Inverse, as I understand it, the human brain is in fact digital.

No, it's the human HAND that's digital...

[soundguy]

No, it's the human HAND that's digital...

nah, that's only luke's hand.

dave

[Mark]

Nah. Luke's hand's cool

[Professor]

Unfortunately, I just don't think brain surgery is a very good analogy for what we do. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the extent that the DIY crowd disregards the value of a trained and experienced engineer with quality equipment. But I also don't think there are lives at stake in our little segment of the entertainment industry. Even comparing it to repairing your own vehicle isn't quite accurate because getting it wrong won't cause the brakes to fail and make you mow down a playground full of school kids... unless your bass is WAYYYY out of control.
It's kinda like trying to paint your house, or like trying to paint canvases with oils, or like trying to write the great American novel. Maybe more like the novel, because the big thing that is generally missing is a good command of the language, an attention to grammar, the proper use of a dictionary, thesaurus, or research materials. And of course, the biggest thing missing is the editorial oversight - that subtle voice beyond just your closest friends who will always LOVE your work, who can really tell you honestly what sucks and what doesn't and who is in the position to actually correct the problems before going to press.

But no, not brain surgery, nor rocket science, nor even rocket surgery. It's just music which usually ain't much more than just simple entertainment.

-Jeremy

[Girl Toes]

It's just music which usually ain't much more than just simple entertainment.

-Jeremy

Then explain how musical therapy works.

[Professor]

OK, I really must say,
"touch?!!!"
if for no other reason then that I am currently sitting with my laptop on my lap, on my couch, listening to a CD entitled, "Music to De-Stress", part of the 'Sound Health Series' recorded by the Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble in assoc. with The Center for Pychoacoustic Research. It was given to me as a sample from a place in Denver called the Center for Inner Change whom I'd helped with a CD playback and headphone system several years ago.
I'm not listening because I'm particularly stressed right now, but because I saw the disc sitting at the edge of my desk and knew I'd not listened to it in ages. What amazing karma with the timing!

None the less, there is a difference. Yes, music therapy exists. But music therapy is STILL not brain surgery. Ain't nobody gonna die if the CD skips, or if the original tracking was done on 12-bit digital instead of 30ips analog. Of course, as this particular disc illustrates, music therapy is a psychoacoustic phenomenon and practice, so to attempt such a music recording project in anything less than an acoustically "sterile" environment with anything but top-shelf equipment would defeat the purpose of the creation itself, not for the musical or artistic intent but for the psychoacoustic stimulus intended.

But then again, how many people are setting up basement and bedroom studios, equipped with the latest Behringer electronics and MXL microphones, and attempting to record psychoacoustic stimuli for treatment of various psychological conditions?

Still, it's amazing timing.

-Jeremy

[r0ck1r0ck2]

just a quick aside....
there's this genius comedy team that did a bit that reminds me vey much of this thread...
here's the link to the mp3

i can't suggest this enough....
really i would force you all to listen to this at gun point if i could...
besides....it's some what cogent...

http://www.coyleandsharpe.com/mp3/druggist.mp3

[Girl Toes]

None the less, there is a difference. Yes, music therapy exists. But music therapy is STILL not brain surgery. Ain't nobody gonna die if the CD skips, or if the original tracking was done on 12-bit digital instead of 30ips analog. Of course, as this particular disc illustrates, music therapy is a psychoacoustic phenomenon and practice, so to attempt such a music recording project in anything less than an acoustically "sterile" environment with anything but top-shelf equipment would defeat the purpose of the creation itself, not for the musical or artistic intent but for the psychoacoustic stimulus intended.-Jeremy

It does depend on what kind of music you are recording. Anyhoo, I throw this non-scientific article at you, which I totally agree with:

http://www.diamondcenter.net/digitalstress.html

Note the support for DSD at the end, this isn't A vs D.

Depending on the style of music, some of it easily falls outside of simply being entertainment. At the train station at rush hour, they always play classical music for a reason, and its not to entertain you.

And, if music is therapeutic, then its probably a good idea to try and capture that aspect of that. It used to be that all recordings did. Its not brain surgery, but Mr. Sear is hitting on something more than just a fundamental understanding of music. The recording makes a BIG difference how the music effects people.