10 | February | 2006 | A Year of Songs

It's Only Been a Million Years

I’m writing today’s post backwards.

So, you’ll have to wait a little while until I can ammend this post with some… uh… content.

Ah… I’m back.

There will be some reading this who will question my understanding of the basic precepts and conventions of the blog form. To them I say:

Conventions are for Shriners.

Actually, it was just that I hit the SUBMIT button by mistake — and the robots who act as majordomos to the blogosphere’s infrastructure get downright hissy when you ping them and then there’s no blog there when they trundle over to see what you got.

So I ended up for a few minutes with nothing much but a picture and some links to today’s song (as well as a link to the arguably superior earlier version).

Now… you may say… how is that really different from — hey, don’t hit that backbutton yet… oops. Too late. Everyone else, maybe I just ought to direct you to today’s song (with a quick sidenote to my fellow podcasters and musicians).

PRODUCTION NOTE: Once again, I used my new 80 dollar Samson C01U USB microphone to record the day’s track. (This time Iused the software EQ, reverb, and compression tools I normally use. Or misuse, as the case may be.) I mention this only because I waited for months for someone to buy and report on the quality and effectiveness of this mic, in vain. You can take a look at yesterday’s post which is more or less devoted to the subject.

previous AYoS version

It’s Only Been a Million Years

One day you’ll wake up
and figure out I’ve gone
Only thing surprising
took so damn long

It’s only been a million years
since I had a dream
It’s only been forever
since I felt a thing

One day I love you
next day I don’t
Hard to believe
You didn’t know

It only takes an instant
for the hottest flame to die
it only takes forever
to spend your life wondering why

It’s only been a million years
since I had a dream
It’s only been forever
since I felt a thing

Now, Baby, It's Never

[Still spun from the creative frenzy of writing a new song, I’ll be taking a break from my normal scribbling, here, so that I can decompress a bit and blab about a new toy that may be of interest to some of you.]

previous AYoS version

The ever-minimal AYoS project ratchets up its minimalist impulses with today’s posted track, recorded strictly with my new $80 USB microphone and my laptop and a pair of headphones.

My fellow podcasters and musicians may want to take note of this mic, since it combines in one (roughly 2 pound) mic shell a reasonably decent mid-size condenser mic, a preamp, a 16 bit audio-to-digital converter, and a USB interface. For 80 bucks (US) at music gear discounters.
XXXXX
Because of the nature of USB, there is a delay in monitoring the incoming signal from the mic over headphones while performing — so it’s best to turn off input monitoring. That means you might have to use the old trick of partially lifting one headphone to better hear your voice, acoustic guitar, etc, when you overdub.

The newly recorded tracks should match up, though, on playback. USB uses a time stamping feature to realign synchrized audio data. That said, various DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) softwares have different ways of dealing with the tiny timing inaccuracies inherent in current digital audio applications.

I saw this mic announced early last fall and kep waiting to hear from someone who had bought one — which I thought would be almost immediately, since it attempted to fill a particular need and at a very low price.

I posted in a couple of audio forums about the mic, hoping to provoke interest, but month after month, no one reported buying XXXXX one. I finally got tired of waiting, picking one up at one of the local music megastores this afternoon. Packaged in a reusable plastic bubble pack that serves a moderately protective function, it came with a special USB cable [don’t mix it up with others] and a mic clip for mounting on standard or European stands.

It’s pictured here (on a sheet of standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper) with a stand I ordered online for about $19 with shipping. (Quiklok A188 Desktop Tripod.) As you see it here, the stand is still attached but folded back for transport.

I’m blathering, I realize, but I know there’s been a fair amount of curiosity about this mic among laptoppers and podcasters. Anyone who wants to ask me more about it can use my contact form to email me.