I’ve used Final Cut Pro for some time now, but it hasn’t always been this way. In high school, Andrew used an old Version of Adobe premiere and I had messed around with Sony’s Vegas – both PC only apps. I have no love for Adobe’s premiere (but I really don’t know much about the newer versions to make a solid judgement). Vegas, on the other hand, was a spectacular, intuitive editing program – and I would probably still use that if it not for a few considerations and a feature or two from Final Cut.

Crossover

Apple’s Final Cut Studio made sense for a variety of reasons: budget, our recently puchased Macbook Pro’s, and the newly added multi-angle editing support. What this last feature does is sync all of the feeds you have and have them playback in panes (much like a live video mixer would) and we are able to make edits on the fly by choosing the most appropriate feed in real time. The old method was to either cut segments and keep track of time (way too complicated!) or have two or more tracks of video in parallel and then “revealing” whichever angle we wanted. The main disadvantage of this last route was the inability to see both angles simultaneously. So that was, and still is a great selling point, especially since a lot of our work is recording live shows.

It’s Suite!

The cool thing about FCP Studio is that along with the editor (which is very powerful, even if sometimes annoying) there are some great supplemental apps that help with the parts of the project Final Cut would undoubtably butcher. I’m speaking mainly of audio and visual effects. Now I’ve messed around with effects apps like After Effects, Combustion, and the recently defunct Shake – and Apple’s revamped Motion (which borrows a lot from Shake) is gaining more power with each incarnation, but remaining very easy to use. I would definitely say it is is the easiest of those listed.

Audio is always a problem with FC, because it’s just not meant for all the nice plugins one uses in regular audio processing apps like Logic. Soundtrack is bundled with FC and it’s workflow is… nice. I would much prefer something that looked more like Logic with a better sample editor… but the ability to send sound files from FC to Soundtrack and then right back after things have processed is useful enough. I am not always pleased with the flattening/destructible edits I have to do, but I can usually live with the results.

Coloring was a new feature – I didn’t really get into color correction/grading until we had issues with some very “red” shots that needed cleanup for a certain job. FCP’s color corrector is fantastic, I find it very easy to work with. Beyond that, and for larger projects (especially creative ones) the application Color is useful for grading. This isn’t so much about fixing the color so much as styling it and making it more appropriate and/or vivid. It’s definitely one of the most fun apps to mess around with, even if it is one of the harder ones to master.

Final Thoughts

I can not justify giving Apple a full 5/5 rating for this suite of apps, because it really isn’t as good as it gets. I will give them 4/5 because they have a system that works well and beyond that, each new version comes with really useful tools. There are only a few real glitches and most of them have to do with updating the workflow. The way that the apps change and interact is very logical and organic and I feel this suite meets the needs of the current videographer/creative film-maker wearing all of these hats.

Many people curious about audio recording ask me about my setup. I am not an expert, but my preferred method on input to my computer is via preamp and audio interface.

The interface is (or can be) the point at which sound is converted to digital signal. I have used 3 interfaces – 2 by Echo Audio and one by MOTU, which I would not recommend. I currently use the AudioFire 12 (which is a successor to to the old Layla24 I had) and couldn’t be happier with the results. The one thing you want more than bells and whistles is something that works consistently and for long periods of time. You also want hi fidelity and as many inputs as you can get (since that gives you room to expand).

I like this piece of gear since it is central to everything I do audio-wise. Interestingly enough, it is the type of gear that will change the most (mics and preamps all working in the unchanging analog realm) as new computers and inputs will no doubt change the conversion parameters. If that day comes, I’m sure I will look again to Echo Audio.

Let’s Start an Acapella Group!

This is Vuvox, my college acapella group.

Uh… so I suppose this wasn’t the most original idea, but joining an acapella group has been one of the crown jewels of my college career. I don’t have many regrets from that time, but had I had the opportunity to join/create the group earlier, I would go back in time and chastise myself vehemently for not doing so.

I ended up arranging about 90% of what we sang during my time there and I still write for the group. Now I don’t claim to be a professional, but I did get a degree in music composition (so it has been on my mind lately). Here are a few tips about things I’ve noticed in my own workflow, and hopefully if people are remotely interested in the process, it will be an informative and enjoyable list.

10. Not every song is worth your time… choose wisely.

Everyone was always suggesting songs to me… my group, my really good friends, myself… it was hard to please everyone. I found picking a good few selections (and only working on two or three at a time max) allowed me to meet the deadlines. I found how to recognize easier songs.

9. Theory is a must, but feeling the groove is even better!

So I am always jamming at the piano – figuring out someone else’s tune or making up my own. The most important arranging skill is learning how to recognize musical patterns and simplifying them for other people. You can’t be afraid to sing things or mess up or play things really slow until they make sense… piano skills are REALLY useful here.

8. Bassline and Melody first!

Some people don’t know where to start – my classical training has me listening for both melody/bass relationships and chord progressions (which is usually just the bassline). It’s easy to get the bassline wrong or fill in the chord with a weird note… it’s easy to catch if you play your arrangement back. Trust your ears, especially in realtime.

7. Decide right away how faithful you are going to be to the original.

One of my earliest arrangements was Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody… I copied the recording tone for tone. In a version of Blackbird, I got the guys singing a completely different chord progression (because I felt the guitar picking wasn’t going to translate well for the whole song). Just make up your mind on these things, I’ve screwed up sections because of inconsistency.

6. Simple is better… usually.

I say this because complications in rhythm and harmony can add interest – but it can also turn youraudience off and increase rehearsal time manifold.  There are exceptions. Even more impressive is solving a complicated musical problem (like a pulsating piano line) with an easy solution (splitting it up the part into two or three digestible ones).

Wow… this list is long.

5. It’s slow at first, but over time you will get faster…

I was painfully slow at the beginning of all of this… so much so that I would not finish whole songs, cause I’d lose the excitement. Just remember Patience is a virtue.

4. Second time around, change something.

This is the first bit of practical arranging advice – and most good recordings follow this rule: almost nothing is repeated verbatim. The slightest addition to the texture during the next verse will be infinitely felt by everyone’s ears – as is every explosion of sound after a rock songs finishes the first “subdued” version of it’s hook. Just make the song grow.

3. Test drive!

Recording yourself is not vanity. Assuming you can get over the sound of your voice – first hand testing will improve the quality of your arrangements by 200%.

2. Highlight elements that can be reproduced accurately with voices!

I’m speaking here of range and timbre. The closer those match to the original the easier it is for people to identify the song (it’s more important than the key!) The most easy thing to reproduce acapella is lush vocal tracks.

1. Know your group – write for your people and to their strengths!

More than anything else, the success of an arrangement rides on individual performances. If you have an outstanding tenor, that opens doors for your arrangement. A group of strict baritones? Be careful how wide you voice things. There’s comfort level, what people tell you they can sing, and what you know will sound good come the concert. Be wise and gracious to your singers.

Well, that’s it for the Top 10 Arranging Tips… I might do another one someday, maybe with less running commentary. Peace.

In order to clear up some confusion about our name, I thought I’d begin with an article devoted to our card playing pastime.

The Origins

Originally developed by peasants in the mid-1700s, Schafkopf was thought to played on barrels (the barrel’s “head). We know it was developed by peasants because of the way the cards are ranked: Kings are less powerful than Queens, Jacks, Aces… and even 10s. We know it is German because along with it’s name, two important Germanic terms are commonly used in-game. First, there is the minimum amount of points needed to lose less badly – “Schneider”* – and then the less than flattering term we Sheepsheaders use to describe someone with a perfectly fine hand who still refuses to pick up the blind – the “Mauer” or as it is literally translated, the “wall”.

The Similarities

If you’ve played Hearts or Euchre or Bridge or any other Wist family game – you’ll be less jolted by the seemingly random rules of the game. Chief among the confusion is the order of trump, the fact that your partner(s) changes every hand, and the fact that you may not reasonably know who your partner(s) are until the last card is played. It’s a point-trick game, which amounts to 5 people playing a glorified game of “war”, with some cards being worth more points… As far as casual card gaming is concerned… this would probably be your last option, unless your friends have patience for learning games with a lot of quirky rules.

'Sheepshead' is both the name of the game and this winning hand!

The Reason

So why sheepshead? It’s not the most recognizable word – it’s one of those german words that mashes words together into even longer words. If we’re honest – we don’t really play the game enough these days for it to be as relevant as it once was. Identity is important – being distinct, memorable, and meaningful. We needed a banner to rally behind and we chose something we could easily relate to, as I’m sure most people in our situation have done. I guess we mainly didn’t want to be branded as something like “VideoTech” or some other jargon that would limit the company’s ability to expand. But there are personal reasons – the card game reminds us of a rich legacy.

Sheepshead meant a time of unrivaled camaraderie. Between the lunch hours, there was a spoken pact: we had to get down to the lunchroom and get as many hands of this game in as we could. There wasn’t enough time to eat, let alone play sheepshead. If you had homework to do, but still had the chance to play sheepshead, you’d count yourself fortunate. It wasn’t just a game we played during lunch – it’s what we went to high school for…

*There was a guy at the Sheepshead table named Schneider. So occasionally, Schneider got schneider…

After a long process of design and revision, our new website is fully online and features our new promotional video in high definition.  Check out the portfolio items and services and expect more updates soon!

This Sheepshead Studios blog, “From the Sheep’s Head” will be a place for both professional and creative discussion and commentary relating to audio and video topics in general.  Stay tuned!