7.29.2004
Nashville
I'm informed that this is the buckle of the bible belt. Yes. Here I am in Nashville, TN. It's late on July 28, 2004. The first Brown Cuts Neighbors 7" record, "Broken Down Like A Bean" (by all accounts a mastering disaster, but a strangely popular record) was pressed in this city by United Records in 1990. I'd been reading Sam McPheeters account of the last days of Alberti Records (somewhere on http://www.sammcpheeters.com/ under "Writing")when suddenly that obscure factoid hit me. I'm wondering if they do factory tours at United. I think about vinyl music record things a bit too much to be healthy. I terrorized my girlfriend with the locked groove at the end of Lou Reed's " Metal Machine music" a few weeks ago on the eve of seeing Mr. Reed at Carnegie Hall... I've been having little 7" record fests of old Gems like Unrest's "Cherry, Cherry" and "Isabel Bishop" -- the latter being a Happy Mondaysish delight that begs repeat listenings... three yesterday at least. Music is some funny stuff nowadays. An understatement like that... to be sure... Eerorismatic wonderings aside.... anyway.... and so on...
Marc A.

7.22.2004
THE JOB
Recording engineers operate and maintain sound recording equipment. They may also work special effects equipment. These engineers install, test, repair, set up and operate the electronic equipment used to record and transmit radio signals. They regulate the signal strength, clarity and range of sounds and colors of recordings or broadcasts. They also operate control panels to select the material's source.

SKILLS
Sound/recording engineers must have manual dexterity and an aptitude for working with electrical, electronic, and mechanical systems and equipment. Beginners learn skills on the job from experienced technicians and supervisors.

EDUCATION
The best way to prepare for a sound/recording engineer job is to obtain technical school, community college or college training in broadcast technology, engineering or electronics. Certification by the Society of Broadcast Engineers is a mark of competence and experience. Prospective engineers should take high school courses in math, physics and electronics. Building electronic equipment from hobby kits and operating a "ham," or amateur radio, are good experience, as is working in college radio stations.

OUTLOOK
People seeking beginning jobs are expected to face strong competition in major metropolitan areas. Prospects for entry-level positions are generally better in small cities and towns. The overall employment of broadcast and sound technicians is expected to grow about 9 percent through 2008.

FACTOIDS:
• In the 1870s, British professor James Clerk Maxwell mathematically proved electric waves could be sent through the air.
• When on tour, U2 uses a sound system that weighs 30 tons.
• Tourists to Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion can listen to an audio tour in English, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Dutch, French or Portuguese.

7.9.2004
IC Vector (or Interval Vector)
An array of six integers representing the ic (interval class) content of a chord, where the first digit indicates the number instances of IC1 in the set, the second, IC2, third, IC3, fourth, IC4, fifth, IC5, and sixth, IC6. For example, <001110> is the ic vector for a major triad, showing that it contains zero IC1 (semitones), zero IC2 (wholetones), one IC3 (minor 3rd), one IC4 (major 3rd), one IC5 (perfect 4th), and zero IC6 (tritones). Identity of interval vectors (when two sets have the same IC vector) is the determinant Forte used for his equivalence relations between pc sets (transposition, inversion, Z-relation).

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