General News « Rottenbread.net

8Oct/101

Check out my sweet desk

Audio Desk Sketch

I just finished designing my new audio mix desk which will be going into my nicely re-done audio room. The desk is being purpose built with dual rack spots that are each 4U high so a total of 8 single rack units. It has a rear, raised monitor stand big enough for dual 22" panels side by side (or alternatively mounted on bevel stands).

The desk surface is big enough to fit the shiny new Allen & Heath ZedR16 that i'll be getting soon, and the desk is built in a wrap around U type shape, to make accessing things easier. The lower right hand side (though not modeled in the picture) will be the computer housing, and will feature a closeable door to help isolate computer noise from the room. The rack units also double as speaker monitor stands, positioning a standard set of monitors at approximately the proper height for your ears.

I'm going to start construction of the desk hopefully next monday. Approximate cost of materials should be under $200, not bad considering a desk this size and of this quality would cost significantly more brand new. If all goes to plan, i'll release the sketchup files and plans for this desk in the near future for other DIYers, as well as some pics of the completed desk.

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3Oct/100

Anathema’s new album. Get it!

It's not often i'll post about another groups music here, but Anathema has come out with a new album recently entitled "We're here because we're here" and I have to say the album is truly superb and has been getting a good deal of repeat listens on my playlist. Even more interesting to me is that I just found out that Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree) was involved in the production and mixing of this album, and you can clearly hear his hand in it. It's a brilliant mix of progressive rock elements, ambient and orchestration with a ton of great harmonic layering. It's also great to see that a lot of thought was obviously put into the arrangement of the tracks, with many either seamlessly flowing into each other or otherwise sounding connected when listened to as a linear whole that really made the album sound organic and stand out to me (this has become a bit of a lost art, these days, it seems).

I've been a long time fan of Anathema, from their early doom metal days to their current incarnation, and their progression has been brilliant all the way through, and it fascinates me to no end that after nearly 20 years of playing together and producing music, they can still release an album like this, that is so different and so fresh sounding, but maintaining all the things that has made them great all these years.

If you're a fan of any sort of progressive rock, you owe it to your self to check out Anathemas new album, it really is a beautiful piece of work!