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1.***I have a G-Track USB microphone that I also use to plug my acoustic-electric guitar into. Is there a program that I can install on Vista that will allow me to sound like I'm playing different instruments when I'm playing my guitar? E.g., play note C on guitar and it will sound like piano, trumpet, mandolin, etc.

2.***Why aren't the Kinks considered the greatest rock band of all time? I've just listened to all their albums up to and including Everybody's in Showbiz, and I've found tons of masterpieces. Now I always knew they were good, but I had only heard their stuff on greatest hits packages. The thing is, I made a playlist of all their best songs and I came up with 85 songs. And not merely 85 good songs. No, 85 GREAT songs! I don't think even the Beatles cut 85 great songs. For my money the Kinks are greater than The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and CCR just based on the fact that they produced a greater volume of great music than those other great bands did. And Village Green Preservation Society is the best album I've ever heard. Every track is a masterpiece.

3.***Speaking of Village Green Preservation Society, is the technology in Adobe Audition and my G-Track microphone more cutting edge than what was used to record that album?

4.***How can I soundproof a corner of my room cheaply? I just want a corner soundproofed so that I can sing loudly and not have to worry about anyone hearing me. I would like the soundproofing to be somewhat portable because I'm a perpetual subletter and I change residences a couple times a year. I would want the ceiling and floor of the corner soundproofed as well. It's okay if people feel vibrations but I don't want them to hear what I'm singing because I'm embarrassed about people hearing me. Btw, I live in Manhattan (and sometimes other boroughs).

5.***Is there software that I can use to train my voice to sing notes? I don't want something like the Brett Manning course, which is a little too comprehensive for me. I have no interest in becoming Maria Callas. I just want a program that can teach me to sing on key and develop an ear.

6.***Why does music today suck? Do I not know where to look for it? I think the most recently released popular music album that really excited me was Magnetic Field's 69 Love Songs, and that was released more than a decade ago.

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jg49 Mon, 06/22/2009 - 02:16

Let's see joined Nov 2008, well congrats on your first post. Seems like you might have been saving it up for a while because this is a lot of very diverse questions. Probably be easier in the future to break it up into seperate posts, or even do so now. For example ask #5 in Vocals and #2 in Pro Sound chat. I'll try and give my opinion on one. I do not know where the Kinks recorded, or what type of equipment was used and their career in the music industry spans 40 years or more. The Village Green Preservation Society was recorded in 1969 I believe so it is very likely that Audition offers more resources or at least as many as were available during that era. In a purist sense digital recording is a different animal than analog/ tape recording, so it is difficult to compare apples and oranges. However the huge difference in your set up and their recording would be the mics, the experienced engineering and the studio space. The G Track mic is hardly on the cutting edge of mics. In fact the words USB and great mic hardly even belong in the same sentence.
You should check out the studio construction threads re: soundproofing an area in an apartment but the general idea is that it is very difficult to do, but there are at least three or four threads in the last year about it. Not sure how you live in several buroughs but then again I am a linear thinking kinda of guy.

MadMax Mon, 06/22/2009 - 05:43

thunderhawk wrote: What an asshole.

I don't think you are... I just think you put too many questions in one thread that actually span a few of the forums, that's all.

4.***How can I soundproof a corner of my room cheaply? I just want a corner soundproofed so that I can sing loudly and not have to worry about anyone hearing me. I would like the soundproofing to be somewhat portable because I'm a perpetual subletter and I change residences a couple times a year. I would want the ceiling and floor of the corner soundproofed as well. It's okay if people feel vibrations but I don't want them to hear what I'm singing because I'm embarrassed about people hearing me. Btw, I live in Manhattan (and sometimes other boroughs).

While I'm not an acoustical engineer, I'll try to tackle the basics of your soundproofing question.

Sound-proofing is difficult to do well, and do it cheaply.

In the simplest of terms, the way to deal with sound being transmitted from one space to another is to isolate the sound source from the rest of the environment.

You either have to decouple the space or you have to have a lot of mass... and I mean a LOT of mass.

Mass is pretty much the cheapest way. Unfortunately, mass means weight. Which translates to not so easy to move.

Decoupling is expensive. It's easiest to think of decoupling as suspending a room in mid-air. It's typically done with stuff like springs and high durometer neoprene pucks.

Since you really do need "portable", I'd suggest a small-ish Whisper Room. It would probably be the most economical solution.

If you wanna' do a DIY solution, I'd suggest coming down to the acoustics forum and post. That way Rod, and the rest of the guys there, could better help you.

Davedog Mon, 06/22/2009 - 11:37

thunderhawk wrote: What an asshole.

I'm sure you have misunderstood what he was getting at. You really do need to post this hugely diverse set of questions in different forums here. The reason we have such a diverse set of forums is to be able to keep topics unrelated to each other separated to a point. It helps the search mechanism.....

Calling someone a name simply because you misunderstood the tenor of their post is unacceptable here. We dont like or appreciate flame wars and I will not stand for them. Since you're new here, I will overlook this at this time. Honestly, if you looked at jg's posts you would know that he wasnt flaming you at all but trying to let you know how to conduct your questions here and his answers were spot on.

If you still want to react like a child then you will be asked to not post here any longer.

Personally, I love the Kinks. They fathered many sub-styles of music genres over the years.

The difference in gear then as opposed to the digital world of today is night and day. "Is the G-track more 'cutting edge' than what they used in 1969?" NO. It is different. But the mics used on that recording are probably worth as much as a small used car and are as important today as they were back when. Quality never loses its cache'.

USB mics arent proving to be all that they were hoped to be. Most are junk and dont sound very good. USB is a conveience at best as it doesnt allow for large track counts at the initial recording stages. Its more for beginners doing one track at a time or podcasts with one mic active.

Now. Being a member here requires that you try to get along with the community. Theres a lot of people on here that will be helpful and easy to get info from. But not when you're overreacting to something you have completely misunderstood. So now its your turn to be an adult and apologize. You are wrong and all that come here on a regular basis know this. If you want to be a member of this community you need to act like a decent person.

anonymous Mon, 06/22/2009 - 22:14

I sincerely apologize to jg49. I see now that he wasn't being a jerk. I did misunderstand his intentions. Seems I need to get back on the meds because I'm paranoid again! :)

Some of the questions have already been answered, but I'll post the soundproofing question and the questions about the programs in the appropriate subforums.

Thanks to jg49, DaveDog, and MadMax!

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