Shameless Plug - A New Web Site You Might Find Useful

[MikeRivers]

http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com

Since so many magazines have been going down the tubes (not Tape Op, of course) and there are far fewer opportunities to maintain my status as a semi-famous author of useful technical articles and thoughtful product reviews, I've decided to do what everyone else does and post some of my writings on a web site. I doubt that it will make me any more famous, but at least it's a place I can point people to when I've already written 3,000 words to answer what they think is a simple question. Most of the articles and reviews posted on the site are from my monthly series Oops Wrong Button in Recording Magazine between 1995 and 2000. These are the versions before they were cut down to size to fit the magazine so some go into a little more depth than the print versions (and some just have more run-on sentences).

I've been going through my article archives and updating them a bit where necessary, but since mostly they deal with technical fundamentals that don't change very much, they're as applicable today as when I originally wrote them. More will be added as I get around to it, but I figured that I have enough material posted now to open the flood gates. Reviews aren't of the latest gear (because I haven't had any very recent assignments) but reviews of older gear can be useful, too, since you might be shopping the "experienced" market for a bargain, and you might be interested in something I've reviewed.

I like to try to teach the reader something about principles in my reviews, so you might find them a little educational even if you're not interested in the product.

I've also posted all of my NAMM and AES show reports that I've been able to find. The earliest ones go back to 1998. If anyone here managed to capture any of the show reports from the early 90s that I used to post on a daily basis (blogging before there were bloggers) on the MIDILink network and can contribute them, I'd sure appreciate that. Otherwise, that history is . . . history.

No sponsors or banner ads yet, and unless I can figure out a way to do that unobtrusively, there aren't likely to be. But what I'm hoping is that the site will help to keep my name out there as someone who, most of the time, knows what he's talking about, and perhaps I'll be able to get my hands on some current gear to add to the review library. And of course you'll continue to find my AES and NAMM reports after the shows.

Drop in, look around, and grab what you think might be useful. Feel free to leave a comment (you don't have to register). Everything is a PDF. You can read it on line or download it, take your laptop to the can, and enjoy them there.

HITS! I NEED HITS!!! MAKE ME FAMOUS.

[vvv]

"Gozintas and Gozoutas"

Wazzat you did something like "little red ties", or similar?

[fossiltooth]

Hi Mike, I almost didn't read your whole post because there are oh-so many words, and I'm oh-so ADD when it comes to messageboards, but I'm glad I did!

You wrote "The Mackie Compact Mixer Reference Guide"?!? That's F*ing amazing! Seriously. That manual is a true masterpiece of the form. IMHO it's half the reason Mackie made it so huge as a company. Kudos! Although I probably won't successfully read many posts longer than 12 sentences around these parts, I will most definitely go to your site to read the long-form stuff sometime.

Everybody go read that manual now, especially if you're just starting out. Seriously. Now. I saw a link to it on the site Mike is here schilling! It's a great resource and really helped change the game and shape it so it's closer to what it is today. Many people would lament that. I don't. The way I see it, the success and attitude of that manual and other resources like it helped make TapeOp what it is today.

OK. Phew. That is all.

[Bro Shark]

Subscribed to new posts, and I look forward to checking out your archives when I get some time.

[RodC]

Ill add a link to my site... Links should help SEO.

[Shane Michael Rose]

thats great! we need more people writing about what is up.

[studiodog]

Great site thanks for sharing!!

[-3db]

Great! Thanks for the link.

Where did you get that awesome headphone hat? I've looked everywhere and couldn't find a hat that had decent headphones.

[MikeRivers]

You wrote "The Mackie Compact Mixer Reference Guide"?!? That's F*ing amazing! Seriously. That manual is a true masterpiece of the form. IMHO it's half the reason Mackie made it so huge as a company.

Thanks. Actually, a lot of the credit goes to Ron Koleha (now with PreSonus). He spearheaded the Mackie manuals for so many years and, while he wasn't the author, established the tone, the slightly whacky humor, and the scope for Mackie manuals that made them something worth reading. He discussed the concept of a "master manual" with me, with the idea that it would go with every mixer, and be supplemented with a quick start guide. By the time the project was finished, Mackie was heading into a bit of a slump and it was too expensive to include as a standard item, but thanks to the effort of Keith Medley, the training guy, they managed to get it into an available form.

I used a lot of my Recording Magazine articles as the basis for a lot of that background material.

[MikeRivers]

Great! Thanks for the link.

Where did you get that awesome headphone hat? I've looked everywhere and couldn't find a hat that had decent headphones.

Actually the headphones and the hat are separate items. The phones are Sony 7506 (you probably have your favorites. The hat is the [url=http://www.koalawindsocks.com/index.htm ... unhat.html]Koala Soundman's Sun Hat[.url]. The hat trick is that that the brim has openings for the headphone headband, and there are snaps that open up the holes so you can put the hat on first, then put the headphones on over the hat. I actually wrote a short review of it which I suppose I should dig up and post on my web site.

It's useful for jobs like film sound recording where you're outside and need to leave the hat and headphones on for an extended period of time. When doing live sound, though (as I was in that photo) I need to have the headphones off more than on, so it's a bit of a nuisance. And the brim is acoustically reflective enough so that things sound a little different with the hat on than with it off.

Someone saw it and asked if it was a shooter's hat. I'll bet it would work great with ear protectors for a day of outdoor shooting.

[Gritze]

Great stuff Mike, have you tried posting articles via Twitter? I follow a lot of engineers and gear companies that share articles that I wouldn't have found stumbling around the web otherwise.

[drumsound]

Mike Rivers, Welcome!!!!

When I was a total noob reading Rec.Audio.Pro I spent a lot of time reading your posts.

[ott0bot]

Cool site! Definately some great info on there. I bookmarked the heck out of it.

[getreel]

I just book marked the site. Thank you!

[jnTracks]

oh perfect! just this morning i was answering questions about high/lowZ on another board and wishing i had a reference to check my accuracy!

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