Does It Make a Difference?

First of all, I love EM. I look forward to every issue. However, I am a little puzzled by the “It's Easy Being Green” article, by Jon Chappell (May 2008). He says that my home studio is contributing to global warming and environmental problems. Without getting into a debate, I'd just like to point out that global warming (as caused by mankind) is far from being an established scientific fact. While Jon's tips might save me a few pennies (and that's fine — we all feel the effects of the rising costs of energy), please don't try to sell me the ridiculous notion that my little home studio is hurting the planet, which was here 4.5 billion years before my studio.
— THAD REIST, VIA EMAIL

CONVOLUTION ADDITION

Thanks for the great “Master Class” on convolution (see the April 2008 issue). It is a very fertile area for sound design. I use and have enjoyed both the Spirit Canyon and Virtuasonic libraries, and the information from their creators was very inspiring. Your readers might also be interested in the pioneering work of Ernest Cholakis at Numerical Sound (numericalsound.com), who created the first convolution library (Drone Archeology) back in 1998. He related to me that it took five months of offline processing at that time to generate the impulses — a measure of how powerful our tools have become. Also, the SIR2 convolution software is now available for Mac users as a Universal Binary.
SCOTT SIMONS
VIA EMAIL

IT'S JUST NOT LOGICAL

I've read many fabulous reviews of Apple Logic Studio. I've been a Logic user for a long time and I use it to make my living, so I was happy about all the additions and improvements that have been made to the program.

However, something that Apple didn't do was so simple and so important to the creative process that I felt I should write to you. Logic needs to have the Core Audio Real-Time Sample Rate Convert implemented for auditioning loops, samples, and other audio files.

For example: I'm working at 96 kHz and want to audition and import audio files from my sample library. The audio files are 44.1 kHz files. I choose Import and the browser window comes up, showing my available samples. I can highlight them, and there is a Play button. I hit Play to audition the samples, and they play back at more than two times the pitch and two times the speed because their sampling rate is 44.1 kHz (as is that of most sample CDs on the market). They don't play back properly. Not sure why Logic can't play them correctly, as QuickTime, Peak, Battery, and Kontakt can. Even hitting the Spacebar on an audio file from within the system plays back the audio file at the right pitch and speed, no matter what my studio master clock is set to. But Logic Pro 8.0.2 can't, which is incredibly frustrating.
AARON JAFFE
VIA EMAIL

Associate Editor Len Sasso replies: Mr. Jaffe — It is not as easy as it might be, but Logic can do what you want. First, there's the project's sampling-rate setting, which appears both in the Project Settings→Audio tab and the transport (if enabled). You can temporarily change that to match the library files' sampling rate and, therefore, audition them correctly. Apple is aware of that limitation and will probably address it in a future version of Logic. In Project Settings→Assets, you can choose to have Logic convert imported files to the project sampling rate. That works when files are imported to Logic tracks or to the Audio Bin.

THE MISSING MIC?

While I understand the merit of such an article (“Budget Mics, Big Sound,” May 2008), I cannot for the life of me understand why you would use a Studio Projects C3 and not include the Studio Projects B1, which is an exceptional LDC that would have blown away the ones tested. Granted, it retails for $20 over the $100 limit, but I'm sure that the additional 20 percent is small in comparison to the massive difference in quality and features. (The B1 has both selectable filters, 75 Hz or 150 Hz, and selectable pads, -10 dB or -20 dB.)
COLT
VIA EMAIL

Editor Gino Robair replies: Colt — You may be right about the better sound and feature set of the B1. However, if we move up to $120, we have to let other mics in as well. Then it becomes a different article. Believe it or not, there are readers who really, really want to spend less than $100 for a mic. And we wanted to see what it would bring us if we kept that price cap. The Studio Projects C3 in the article was used merely as a reference point.

WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK

Address correspondence to:

Letters
EM
6400 Hollis Street, Suite 12
Emeryville, CA 94608

or email us at emeditorial@emusician.com.

Published letters may be edited for space and clarity.