S.W. Hammond's Blog, page 6
July 8, 2020
Build Your Own Skyline Diffuser - DIY Acoustic Treatment
As long as you have time and patience, this is a pretty easy and affordable DIY acoustic treatment project for your recording studio.
Skyline diffusers improve recording and listening environments by diffusing, or scattering, specific frequencies of sound waves when reflecting off of surfaces. Instead of sound hitting a flat wall and reflecting directly back at you, a diffuser disperses the reflection of the sound wave and interrupts it from being directly reflected back at you. This still allows for brightness within your studio while limiting problematic reverb.
June 26, 2020
The Ballad of Stevie Pearl – Beta Readers Are Getting Copies
I am happy and proud to say that The Ballad of Stevie Pearl has had its copyright registered and editorial copies have been printed for beta readers!
We’re moving to the part of the book writing process that is out of my hands. That’s always a little unnerving. For one, I’m still hanging on to all the little thoughts gnawing at me to improve a phrase or cleanup a passage. No book ever feels like it is “done.” Fortunately, I still have a few more opportunities to polish things before its official release.
Want To Influence The Final Version? Request Beta Reader Editorial Copy
Two, this will be the first time others experience the story. I’ve been talking about it for so long, but now a handful of people actually get to read it. This is less scary than it has been in the past–don’t know if that’s because I’m more confident as a writer / storyteller, or I’m just older and don’t care, haha. It’s certainly not “don’t care”–having anyone read my work is still full of neurosis.
March 21, 2020
COVID-19 – Our Response As Americans
There has never been a better time — there has never been more opportunity than right now — for people to do the right thing.
If we do the right thing as a society, we will become unimaginably strong. We will truly become the greatest and most powerful nation the world has ever known… or we’ll lose it. We’ll hand it over to China and take a back seat on the world stage like Great Britain. Right now, it has nothing to do with being first, but everything to do with idealism.
The United States represents the untethered spirit of mankind. Our unity and perseverance will solidify our values of democracy and republic. We will be the great country that was destined for us—that was preserved by the Greatest Generation, cultivated by hardiest of frontiersman, and industrialized by visionary innovators. Each one of you are the dream and beacon known the world over. You are their hope, but only if we unite.
The people of this country are in control. It will be through our volunteerism and cooperation at a local and community level — ignoring the pundits and partisanship — all of the thirsty politicians and their hollow rally cries. It will be us simply doing what is right for our towns and our people because it is the right thing to do. It won’t make up for our sins, but this selflessness will save our soul. This unity will fortify our unwavering dominance. This cooperation will prove that a free people is the most powerful people.
We are bigger than governments, we are bigger than financial systems, we are bigger than a natural disasters. We, as Americans, embody idealism — and we achieve it through hard work and unity.
This excerpt was taken from my personal, handwritten journal on Monday, March 16, 2020.
February 14, 2020
Mixtape Manifesto Articles Archived
The Mixtape Manifesto Articles No Longer Available Online
A quick bit of housekeeping—a bunch of old articles have been archived and are no longer available online. The majority of these articles can be found in my book, The Mixtape Manifesto: A Pop Culture Confessional.
After almost two decades, it’s time to allow these articles to retire. Super fans and those still needing access to these articles can find them in The Mixtape Manifesto hardcover coffee table book. This adds a bit of value to the hardcover—this content can only be found here—and rewards my readers by making this content exclusive to them. Only the cool kids have the hardcover!
Further, the digital text-only versions of The Mixtape Manifesto, commonly available on Amazon, Kobo, etc., will be unpublished in the coming weeks.
Article Archived
This article has been archived and is no longer available online.
Basically the article you’re looking for is really old and embarrassing. Instead of digging through my past, how about you dig through my present? There’s plenty of current articles and videos available on this website. Stick around and check things out!
Should you need additional help, you can contact me directly. Maybe I’ll email you a copy / link of what you’re looking for… maybe.
Sean “SW” Hammond
Article Only Available Through The Mixtape Manifesto
This article has been archived and is no longer available online.
Basically the article you’re looking for is really old and embarrassing. The only way to access it is by obtaining a copy of my coffee table book, The Mixtape Manifesto: A Pop Culture Confessional.
“How would I do that?” One might ask. As far as I know, there’s still a few copies available here.
Should you need additional help, you can contact me directly. Maybe I’ll email you a copy / link of what you’re looking for… maybe.
Instead of digging through my past, how about you dig through my present? There’s plenty of current articles and videos available on this website. Stick around and check things out!
Sean “SW” Hammond
January 31, 2020
Cloudlifter Review and Sound Test with Electro-Voice RE27 N/D
Spoken word and noise floor tests comparing the EV RE27 with and without a Cloudlifter. Is lowering pre-amp gain worth the price?
Word on the street is that you don't need a Cloudlifter Mic Activator while using an Electro-Voice RE27N/D microphone. However, to get the desired input levels, I had to run the Mackie Big Knob Studio+ pre-amp at about 90-95% gain. This seemed like a lot and I was afraid I was introducing quite a bit of pre-amp noise into my recordings.
In steps the Cloudlifter. Offering a 20-25 dB increase of ultra-clean gain for dynamic and ribbon microphones, I can now lower my pre-amp gain to 50-55%. But what does that actually sound like with the EV RE27?
January 27, 2020
XLR Cable Noise Test – Audioblast HQ-4 Star Quad Review
GLS Audio, Monster, and Blue XLR cable noise measured against Audioblast HQ-4 Star Quad XLR cable. Five mic cables go head to head to see which carries the least noise.
A review of the Audioblast HQ-4 Star Quad XLR microphone cable. This test proves it–quality Quad XLR cables make a significant difference in noise reduction over standard XLR cables. Perfect for voice overs, spoken word, audiobooks, and precision recordings, the Audioblast HQ-4 XLR cable offers superior noise rejection and the lowest noise floor.
January 7, 2020
Vizio LED TV Backlight Fix - LED Driver Board Replacement
Backlight Out On Your TV? Try This Before You Replace The LED's!
If an entire quadrant of the LED backlight on your TV has gone out, it's possible that you have a driver board failure and not burned out LED's. Look for a uniform outage, not sporadic dimming or a single dim line (suggesting LED individual lights or entire LED strip failure). If your outage looks similar to mine, taking up 1/4 of your screen, try replacing your LED driver board.
November 4, 2019
What Makes A Book Worth Reading?
Recently I contributed some thoughts on a series of questions revolved around what makes a book worth reading. It's a subjective question but I think there are a few core principles that the most enduring stories share; namely a strong stirring of beliefs, desires, and emotions.
What makes a book worth reading? In short, a connection with the characters. Characters are the most identifiable element of a novel. The more well developed they are, the more engrained any other philosophical principle the books strives to make will be become. Books that challenge or reinforce the beliefs and desires of the reader, then evoke an emotional connection within its characters usually tend to be the stories we carry with us and share with others.
Do books worth reading challenge ideas? Most of the time, yes. Generally, as humans, it’s only when we’re challenged do we remember the occurrence—a challenge indicates a memorable moment in time, and we analyze that moment for its successes and failures. Struggles, contradictions, and exploiting personally held ideas compels the reader into deeper contemplation. The reader may not arrive at the author’s desired conclusion, but regardless, the challenge inspired concerted independent thought of the individual. If the ideas are powerful enough, reflection upon the challenge will create an emotional response. Emotional responses have a higher likelihood of leading to action.
