First update in too long!

Wow have I have been bad about updating my website over the years!  In a lot of ways, the site isn’t an integral part of my work.

But I also deleted my social media accounts earlier this year and am happy to be without them.  So I am toying with making this a bit more of a personal space for me to share all of the boring non-audio things that I might otherwise share with friends on social media.  Or maybe I won’t.

As a kid, I learned to share well… but in the social media and networking age, I don’t share so well. 😛  I am not the kind of person who revels in a carefully curated online image of myself.  I’m going for something a bit less formal, a bit more uncensored.  (haha! That sounds like it is potentially bad for business!)

 

What has happened over the years?

Hmm, where to begin… I have been “wheeling and dealing” on new and used audio equipment and doing new builds and repairs and restorations of older units in my spare time.  I’ve somehow amassed almost my entire dream front-end audio equipment collection.  I need to build and/or mod a few more tube microphones to sound more mid-forward and less bright for that vintage tone, and I’m thinking putting M7 capsules on my GrooveTubes GT-67’s may be just the thing to start with since everything is on-hand with which to do it.  I still haven’t dished out the funds to purchase a U47 or a decent clone kit to build out.  But I have my bases covered on bright, neutral, mid-forward, and darker tones for FET condensers and dynamic mics.  I think I have 44 working mics to choose from at this moment.

I changed up my mic preamp and converter situation slightly, adding a pair of the wonderful Miktek MPA-201 preamps.  (Let me take a moment to sing their praises!  While I’m not entirely unaffiliated with Miktek, that relationship cannot change what my ears hear.  These preamps are the best features and functions of any of the Neve 1073-based mic preamps on the market.  It may not have Marinair or St. Ive’s windings for its transformers like a racked and restored console preamp module, it may not have the EQ included… but it does have some sweet AMI transformers all around, transformer DI inputs, VU and peak metering, and the unique “smooth” switch that toggles the Neve console’s patchbay resistor which dampens the ringing of the output transformer — something the racked Neve preamp units don’t include at all.  It has high-pass filters, and more than everything I need!  It’s a beast!) I also have been building what I’m referring to as a Po’Boy 3124, which is my hand-wired take on the API 3124 with several mods including an external power supply floor box.  I’ll make a post about it when it is 100% finished, maybe later this year.  I sent my MOTU Traveler mk1 up to Vermont for a friend to do some home recording with.  It got replaced with a reasonably priced used MOTU Traveler mk3. I also added another 8-pack of transformerless preamps to the interface rack that are based on a Midas or TAC design or something.

I rewired everything with quad cable to help reject more noise and interference when on location.

I added a set of 3-way transformer isolated splitters as well, which is perfect for multi-tracking live concerts and routing line- or mic-level signals all over the place.

 

And that’s just the audio gear!

 

I got involved with the Collaborative Productions gang during the 2015  54-Hour Film Festival (hosted by Watkins University, I believe), and again in 2016 as well as for the 48-Hour Film Festival.  The first year, I did location audio, Foley effects, and the final audio mix for our film to win the award for best sound design.  The next film won best picture, best musical, and was nominated for best sound design but did not win that category.  That day on location I recorded the hissing and popping of a bad mic preamp that was inaudible in my old headphones but glaringly obvious during postproduction; things ran long during editing and the film didn’t get mixed by the deadline.  I felt like Murphy’s Law had gotten us that time, and bought some better headphones and repaired the faulty mic preamp.  That was a mistake that will not be repeated!

Here is a link to “The Family Keel”, our 2015 54FilmFest entry.  “Take It All The Way” was our 2016 48-Hour festival entry.

This spring I had the pleasure of brushing up on the latest broadcast and cablecast loudness metering standards!  With that new practical knowledge, I got to mix and master the Ride 100% commercial.  Check it out!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Saturday, September 20th: Audio yard sale

Attention audio engineers, musicians, electronics and PC DIY-ers, and anyone else looking for some live/studio/hi-fi and other electronics!  Kenny Mims’ Quasi-Annual Audio Yard Sale is happening again this weekend from 8am-3pm at the corner of 12th Ave-S and Woodmont Blvd in Nashville, TN!

Come on out to meet and hang out with some of the best established engineers in the industry and to make a deal on some unique equipment.  It should be a good time, as always!

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

ITW Dynatec applicators with Henkel Adhesives

ITW Dynatec have another completed video shot by me.  This was used for a trade show on product assembly and features the UFD and Delta FX applicator systems for randomized and fiberized glue patterns, as well as the PM5 5-gallon pail melter in use with Henkel PUR adhesive.

 

Since this was used to demo their applicators on a noisy trade-show presentation floor, we kept the video silent with some title graphics to highlight the main features.

 

 

Coming up soon, I’ll be posting an operating tutorial for the ITW Dynatec PM5 dispenser system, as well as some live rock band sets that were recorded at The End!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

ITW Dynatec


This is the first video I’ve shot for Illinois Tool Works’ Dynatec brand of industrial adhesive solutions.  It is a testimonial from the good people at the Blackstone Brewery about their Dynamini hot glue melting system that is used for sealing their case boxes.

It was really a blast, I’ve always enjoyed getting into the nuts and bolts of things so getting to work with ITW Dynatec and visiting Blackstone’s bottling line was similar to shooting an episode of “How It’s Made”.

To learn more about ITW Dynatec, check out http://www.itwdynatec.com/

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Old demo material

I still haven’t caught up on mixes so I figured I’m long overdue for uploading some of my work here.  Below you’ll find my ‘commercial break’ reel from 2011 and a little ditty that Eric Westmaas and I programmed in Reason back in summer 2009 entitled “Light Plane”.  We wanted to use some synth tracks, but most of what you hear is sampled from organic recordings we made.

Enjoy, and know that new things are coming!  Namely… a whole slew of recordings from summer 2013 of my collection Live at Belcourt Taps, the new CCTV-55 television station in HD (which is available on Cullman County’s Charter cable and soon to be available across Alabama with AT&T’s U-Verse).

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Backing Up

It’s been too long since I’ve updated the site…  I sold my desktop computer a few weeks ago, am backing up lots of live recordings and starting to wade through the mixes and getting organized and ready to build my new system.  I still have to make a fan baffle for my computer cabinet.  Still troubleshooting some gear and mods I’m perfecting.  Still chomping at the bit.

On the bright side, I should have mixes finalized on an upcoming Dream Journey program/short film with Matthew Kelly , as well as a good bit of Foley for the philosophically intriguing Discover Kasper short film by Seth Christian.  I’ll be uploading some photos and shootout samples of my mods on some Chinese made condensers soon (MXL 990’s with M7 mylar knockoff capsules and some circuit upgrades 😀  can’t wait to be using these as room/overhead/VO mics or anything where I need a little darker flavor… oh, and a version of the 550 with a P-48 capsule as my FET47 lookalike… I won’t claim it sounds alike. haha… and what else, mostly little tweaks otherwise [and mostly cheap transformerless stuff and inexpensive parts for now].)

For now I’ll just add some photos of the AKG ‘The Tube’ that I modded with an RK-12 capsule (C-12/ELA M251 knockoff from www.microphone-parts.com; not a bad start, especially for the sub-$120-range but doesn’t have some of the extended bass and highs of the real deal) that I did for Bob Farnsworth’s Hummingbird Productions…  with a little help machining the capsule stand from Shannon Rhoades over at Mic Rehab (who happened to get an identical capsule in the mail that day for one of his clients’ mods… haha)

Look at that good transformer iron & copper

Look at that good transformer iron & copper

P-48 capsule being removed

The RK-12 with handmade P-48 style mount, courtesy of Shannon's drill press

The RK-12 with handmade P-48 style mount, courtesy of Shannon’s drill press

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Consolidating tracks and Keeping organized

Some days the progress bar is half full, sometimes it is half-full.

Some days the progress bar is half full, sometimes it is half-full.

Today feels like an interstitial day on the road to delivering mixes.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

VHS transfers and Consolidating backups…

Monday afternoon

Ah, Monday morning started off early here.  What a beautiful day!

I just finished some VHS transfers, am authoring DVDs now, as I do a bit of work on the site and start consolidating my backups so I can get started cutting the new demo reels and choosing photos for the latest portfolio.

Next week I’ll be in Alabama for a few days to continue some other, more exciting projects, so I hope I can wrap up everything in Nashville and come home to a clean slate.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

www.JGWAudio.com IS LIVE

Hi all!

I’d like to welcome you to JGW Audio!  The page is only an hour old at the moment; bear with me as I update my reels and portfolios over the next few weeks and begin to flesh out the site.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment