Technology
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Robair Report: Time and Space in L.A.
"If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late."
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Tech Talk: 18 Years in L.A.
I’ve lived in Cleveland, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and now twice in Nashville, but the city I spent the biggest chunk of time in is...
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TechTalk: Upgrade? Is It Time Yet?
As an engineer, educator, content creator and communicator, I’m constantly wrestling with tech upgrades. But the first question I have to always ask myself...
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Robair Report: The Eternal Swap Meet
Do the products we use for music production ever become obsolete if they still work?
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TechTalk: Do Nothing
I’m always looking for something to do. Call it OCD, OMG, WTF or whatever you’d like—one of my dearest friends calls me her “favorite...
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TechTalk: On Being A Sponge
Everyone knows the Chinese blessing/curse, “May you live in interesting times.” For me, the polarity-flipped blessing would be, “May you always be surrounded by...
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TechTalk: It’s About Time
We all deal with timing every day. From hitting the stoplights on the way to work to setting a song tempo, making business decisions...
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TechTalk: MetApeel
Metadata is like a banana peel. It looks great on the banana, but once it’s separated, no one wants to own it. Who will...
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TechTalk: Traveling Rigs
NAMM is in a couple of weeks. I’ve been going to these shows since the 1980s, and I always get the same buzz from...
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TechTalk: Top Gear From 2013
The last 12 months have been an interesting ride for our business. Dealers I questioned at Winter NAMM were lukewarm about business, but just...
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Robair Report | Know-It-All
I recently played a show at a major performing arts facility on the East Coast, which not only had exceptional sound and lighting, and...
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TechTalk: The Conversation is Changing
I’ve talked about quality more than a few times in this column. I’m a firm believer that quality is cheaper when buying gear, and...
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Robair Report | Working With Limitations
After a recent lecture about DAWs, one of my students asked me which audio recording program I used back in the ’70s. The wide-eyed...
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TechTalk: Quality Is Cheaper
I often have students, colleagues and Facebook friends ask, “What is the best mic, speaker, headphones, interface, etc., I can buy?” Since my job...
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SPARS SoundBite | Fragmentation is Good!
As we head off to another NAB, we find that media production in general is experiencing a tremendous amount of fragmentation—a trend that is...
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TechTalk: I’m a Studio Junkie
After 30-plus years in the business, I’ve caught the studio bug again. I’ve been building a small mix room for four months now and...
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SPARS SoundBite | Why Participate in NAMM?
The National Association of Music Merchants produces two shows annually—the NAMM Show in Anaheim and Summer NAMM in Nashville. This month, the NAMM Show...
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TechTalk: What’s In Your Ears?
In my October column (“The Score: Consumers 10, Pros 0”), I talked about how manufacturers like Apple were reaching for the golden “consumer” ring...
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TechTalk: WYSI (Not Always) WYG
One of my rules when writing a product review is to never ask the price until the end. I’ll do everything I can to...
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SPARS SoundBite | Mentorship
I was lucky enough to have not one but two mentors. These incredible women taught me not only the logistics of my job and...
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TechTalk: The Score: Consumers 10, Pros 0
Of all the great gear we use to record and play back sound, the only non-audio product in the signal chain is the personal...
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TechTalk: Audio Is More Than Audio
While I’ve always tried to center my career goals around creating music, it hasn’t always worked out that way. Fifteen years ago, the titles...
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SPARS SoundBite | Film Is a Sound Idea
At Ardent Studios, our job is to create entertainment—any way possible. While we are rooted in the foundations of rock ’n’ roll from our...
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SPARS SoundBite | What Makes a Quality Recording Studio
SPARS has embarked upon a quest to seek out recording studios that have not only survived but are thriving today, in an effort similar...
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TechTalk: Quality, No Matter Where It Is
I remember the first audiophile playback system I ever heard. It was in a high-end Los Angeles home in the ’70s, long before I...
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TechTalk: Connections
Modern culture is all about connections: social, wired and wireless. Social networking has changed the way we interact with our friends, family and even...
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TechTalk: It’s All About Trust
As I was learning the craft of engineering, I was fortunate enough to assist some of the best ears in the business, which gave...
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