33 And A Third

Quiet! We're Broadcastin' Here!

Published on 2006-10-06 11:04:00

I have a ton of songs on my computer...last count: 3,938. Figure a half a pound a song, you're talking literally almost a ton of songs. The little Sony speakers that came with my "emachine" (what a great name, bet someone in Marketing got a corner office for that) are dandy for what they are. But they can't compare with my stereo speakers. In the living room. Ten feet away.So the cure for that was to run a cable from my computer sound card to an input in the stereo tuner. Now I could listen to m

The Church of Rock & Roll

Published on 2006-06-18 12:28:00

On this beautiful Sunday morning I want to take the opportunity to reaffirm my belief that 99-percent of the love, peace and happiness in the world is contained within the grooves of the standard Long Playing Record. May it rest in peace.I've long held this belief, at least since I was a small boy, when I would listen with enraptured ears to my Mother's copy of the soundtrack to the "King & I". My Father wisely removed that record from the house, but I continued in my beliefs. But, much like

Review: Golden Records

Published on 2006-06-13 21:19:00

I'm already on record with Audacity being my favorite software for recording audio files. If I'm recording an album with some pops and clicks I then save the Audacity file to wav and run it through ClickRepair. I'll then save my repaired wav file as mp3s. This makes for some nice clean audio, but it also means spending at least 80 minutes to record a 40 minute album...first 40 tracking the album and second 40 in ClickRepair.I wanted to give NCH Swift Sound's new software a try, it's called Golde

This Is Your Brain On Music

Published on 2006-06-11 21:09:00

I walked into a room and two scientists were talking. And the first scientist said...actually I have no idea what the first scientist said. When I hear two scientists talking I leave the room. Quickly.But the scientists over at physorg.com have an interesting article on a Dartmouth study which finds, among other things, that a catchy song will make your brain itch. Doesn't even have to be a song you enjoy. Nope, it'll make your brain itch and the "only way the itch can be scratched is by li

Sleep On It

Published on 2006-06-08 17:34:00

When I was a kid I had a dandy little "pillow speaker"...a small speakerin a hard plastic shell that you could slide under your pillow and pluginto the earphone jack of a transistor radio. A wonderful invention that allowed me to listen to the radio till all hours without alerting the parents. They of course never understoodthe importance of catching the KOMA skywave that came bouncing in after sundown.So I love the new offering over at Linen 'n Things...the Cozy Tunes Pillow. Nothing better tha

Nervous Kats & Kitties

Published on 2006-06-06 15:01:00

It seems sometimes, no matter what fancy footwork you employ, you just can't help but step in a big, hot, steaming pile of good fortune. I know! It happened to me!There was a time when a band could become quite large in their own small world. Back before the homogenized national media and the national merchandisers a band could play every weekend and build legions of fans, but remain remain virtually unknown outside their local market.In my neighborhood that band was Bailey's Nervous Kats. These

Digital Audio Recording

Published on 2006-06-04 19:55:00

If you're transferring your old albums to digital, the first step is recording the audio onto your hard drive. The software I use for this is Audacity, a free, open source software for recording and editing sound files. I don't require much of the software...I lay down a simple stereo track, trim the dead-air from the beginning and end, adjust the levels, and export as an mp3. And Audacity is more than up to that. Plus there are some extra functions such as hiss removal, noise reduction, equaliz

Kicking Ass & Taking Names

Published on 2006-06-04 03:11:00

Registered the blog at Technorati.com this morning. I'm not really sure what that will accomplish, but it seemed like something that a lot of other bloggers have done. And in fine lemming fashion I determined that I probably should too. Upon signing up I discovered that 33AAT ranked an impressive #1,370,014 in popularity. Not bad for a week's work. There must be a billion blogs, and I'm in the top 1.4 million!It was of course with giddy anticipation that I checked back this evening to see if the

School's Out And The Learning Begins

Published on 2006-06-03 18:17:00

It's graduation time around here. My son will be one of those shuffling across the stage and tripping down the steps onto new adventures. School's Out shout the boys. but the joke's on them. Gonna cut off their hair, and sell them a suit, and send them to work In Tall Buildings.ADDED TODAYAlice Cooper - School's OutJohn Hartford - In Tall Buildings

Saturday Scavengings

Published on 2006-06-03 14:44:00

I enjoy Saturday morning garage sales. Chance to get out the house. Meetsome neighbors. Buy their stuff for less than it's worth. Hopefully,much less.I picked up some records...a Righteous Brothers album on Verve, that couldbe good. Found the Johnny Nash Hold Me Tight album on JAD. That was abrand-new sound for most of us in 1968...the first infusion of reggae intoAmerican pop music.But best find this morning was a sweet mid-50s Phillips console radio withturntable in a very nice small cherry ca