Saturday, December 13, 2014

The Infinite Infuriation of Music

There are blistering difficulties in using a Peavey ProFX12 mixer with the computer as the mixer can be set up for delicious sound here in the Fort Worth Rockhouse ... but ... the moment I start an audio stream to the Internet, the system goes into uncontrollable feedback.  It's a cheap mixer but this is simple stuff and it should be able to hack it.

There should be nothing at all going back to the mixer from the computer.  There is a USB THRU switch which means to turn around the input audio and send it back out again over USB.  You can guarantee feedback doing that but I verify just about every time I have troubles.  That definitely isn't it.

I figured, ok, screw this ... I've got a smashed-up audio interface and maybe it still works.  I'll run the monitor sends to the interface and then into the computer from there.  Feedback is physically impossible that way.  Unfortunately, the interface was too smashed up from the crash in Nice so that was a fail and it's now officially a junker.  It was worth it to perform the test and, rats, sometimes they don't work.

The reason any of this has any importance is the problem comes in getting the audio level high enough for the MusikCircus without destroying me back here.  I do play loud but going past a certain point is painful, not to mention destructive.  The levels are crucial as some of the problems from the show were that I couldn't hear well enough the back track and things would get muddled.

The same applies to making videos as I record the audio the same way.


Some impending changes are definite:  the guitar synth will be removed as it adds more technical complexity than is warranted when it's not something I want to use all the time.  It will be worthwhile for something using both synthesizers with the guitar but only with a one-time set-up as it really does sound beautiful, it's just a flaming nuisance managing it for live.

Lotho suggested playing sitting down but in all these years I've never been comfortable doing that.  The position of the guitar isn't right, etc, etc.  My shoulder is quite specific on how well it will bend and small changes yield great pain.  That's why I don't play acoustic anymore as the width of the body is just enough that it pushes my shoulder past what it can handle.

The point is valid as if you can't stand very well then don't.  My preferred solution is to do more standing to see about toughening things up a bit.  That has been working fairly well ... but then these damn audio troubles.  Arrgghh.

I'm not sure that sitting would help so much anyway as the primary looper is a stompbox but switching patches with your feet is ugly.  Press one button for two seconds and then press another over and over until you find the patch you want.  Press the first button again and presto you're ready.  It's much, much faster to stoop down to do it by hand but too much going up and down like that will definitely bury the guitar guy.  Sitting wouldn't much help with that so I'll keep things as they are.  I tell you this so you don't think I dismiss out of hand the idea of trying it.


(Ed:  this is Christmas?)

Sure, I'm kind of hoping Santa will bring a magic spell that will make all audio equipment work the way you want even if it's not supposed to be able to do that.  Maybe there's no spell but who knows ... it's Christmas and magic happens.

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