Audiophile Naija

Is it even possible? If we are neither speaking figuratively nor in spiritual terms is it feasible to have an audible experience without the ears? Well, in a manner of speaking, yes and this post will explore one way of hearing without using the ears per se. Imagine you were a soldier in the battle field and need to be conscious of the hostile environment you're in as well as pay attention to instructions from your communication device (or comms as they call it). Or you're listening to music while jogging on the busy streets of Ojuelegba and need not be run over by a vehicle you didn't hear coming. One thing is constant in these two scenarios, you want to listen to your audio device and be conscious of your environment at the same time. With on-ear, over-ear and in-ear headphones (your everyday ear buds and ear phones) you will have to sacrifice your environment for the music, except you want to listen really low or use only one ear. These conventional headph...

I had this mental picture of me rubbing my hands together and bearing a sinister grin on my face in anticipation for writing this post. I might be giddy with excitement because I'm a Reason nut, but I can't say a lot of producers and mix engineers in Naija share my enthusiasm. If you're wondering why this is so, well here are some of the reasons: - Reason is too manual - you will need audio engineering skills. - It has a steep learning curve - most people just want to make fire beats ASAP. - It is more suited for makers of electronic music - afro beats is more percussive than synth based. But the most important reason why it's not favoured by many is it's lack of VST support. So the big question is, can Reason 10 steer some people away from the hate divide into love? We'll have to wait and see but in the meantime let's look at some of its strengths and weaknesses. PROS Still Limitless Routing : Probably the reason why most people fell in ...

As advancement in technology over the decades has resulted in the simplification and affordability of the music production process, the word "Producer" has also evolved in meaning and usage over time. Gears like the Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) recorder,   Akai MPC's and Rolands range of portable synthesizers and drum programmers like the TR-808 are just a few in a host of other revolutionary audio equipment that brought music production to the everyday musician. In the digital realm, personal computers have become much more powerful and Steinberg's VST technology along with other Digital Audio Workspaces (DAW's) have made mixing "in the box" (ITB for short) a reality. The 21st century producer can literally make great sounding instrumentals with only a laptop! This change is however more evident in hip-hop and other electronic genres of music. So who's a music producer and what's his job?   Traditionally, music producers can be...

My last write up answered some basic questions about preamps in general, but the real problems arise when it's time to purchase one. In the myriad of outboard pres, audio interfaces, mixing consoles and channel strips - all boasting of premium preamps, the dilemma of which to buy is a common one. Really, a lot of people want to know if higher priced preamps sound significantly better than lower priced ones. In October 2012, the Sound On Sound magazine came up with a brilliant experiment to investigate this and I had the liberty of time to participate in the test . The results were stunning! In summary, using a device called a Disklavier (by Yamaha), they played back the same midi performance of a piano through different high end and budget preamps and also recorded it. Stay with me here, the same recording was made using 3 different microphones (valve, ribbon and capacitor) and here's where it gets interesting. The recordings were uploaded on the SOS website and ea...

Dear filmmaker, I write in sheer concern for our future as our destinies are interwoven one way or another, whether we choose to admit it or not. There is a lot to learn from our western counterparts who have mastered the art of filmmaking and turned it into a million dollar industry, however, this letter will focus on just one aspect. Nigeria is a hard country for creatives and the lackadaisical approach of the government towards developing other sectors of the economy besides oil and gas has made things even worse. Funding is no doubt an issue and young practitioners in the artistic sphere have had to use whatever they can gather to make whatever they can. This has been the story for a long time and whatever solutions this letter profers, they were made with this fact in mind. As a sound engineer and music producer, I've had a couple of of indigenous movies (feature length and short films) brought to my studio for mixing and mastering or scoring or both. At the cinemas t...

Preamp / Pre (short for preamplifier). Preamps are a big deal! I had to establish that first seeing that a lot of audio heads are firm believers that a great recording starts with a good preamp; this in turn has resulted in the success of some audio interfaces or mixer consoles over others. Some companies like Behringer even go as far as using preamp designs from other manufacturers more renowned for making quality preamps on their own devices, like the X32 line that features Midas preamps. So how much should one spend to get a good preamp? Do “follow come” preamplifiers that ship with audio interfaces and mixers fare well when compared to separate single unit pres or channel strips? Is a $4000 preamp significantly better than the cheaper ones? Can a preamp help a bad performance made in poor acoustic conditions sound better? Are preamps just over hyped? This two-part write up is designed to give you a more accurate understanding of preamps so as to help you make a ...

Okay, I promised myself I wont quote the notoriously famous “jack of all trades, pro at none” line in this post – I just did that didn’t I? Damn! Anyway, this is a dicey topic as the key factors to be considered such as mental ability, opportunity and financial income vary amongst individuals and greatly influence ones decision to either specialize or do all. Clearing The Myths Before we start talking about specialization, we have to look at what people can actually specialize in from a realistic stand point. I’m not saying you cannot go into sound design for games or movies or even be an audio software engineer in Nigeria, all I’m saying is have a spare car for Uber, you’ll be needing it to make ends meet. My point is, from a lucrative point of view and assuming all your clients are going to be from Nigeria; music production, audio engineering , mixing and mastering  are the most realistic areas of specialization as long as audio production is concerned. Sound design, film ...