MOTU Traveler And The Importance Of Word Clocks With Trumpeter / Engineer Jaimie Branch
Chicago based trumpeter and freelance recording engineer Jaimie Branch is proof that the guild system of craft education is alive and well, at least in the pro audio service industry. As a former intern at Black Lion Audio, Jaimie can talk the word clock talk and walk the MOTU-mod walk with the best of them, and she does so while telling GW a little about her BLA-modded MOTU Traveler.
[JAIMIE BRANCH PERFORMING]
JAIMIE BRANCH: My name is Jaimie Branch. I’m a trumpet player in Chicago.
This is a MOTU Traveler and I have a Black Lion mod, which is basically going through and changing out all the op amps and upgrading them to better op amps which means better sounds. I did part of it and then my buddy did the other part. I built the clock and then he put it in for me. I was interning there and basically building all these little clocks and then the other guys were installing them in the units.
What it has in it is a little clock that’s put in there and then soldered into the wiring so like I clock everything now to the internal clock of the MOTU, and they do a really great job. They’ve designed a really great product so it’s a very accurate clock and I haven’t had any problems with jitter since then. My recordings have actually sounded a lot better, and even he changed the op amps on the outputs as well so when you’re listening back it sounds -- It just sounds bigger. It sounds fuller. I feel like it’s more accurate so mixing becomes easier and more true to life I guess.
This is a group called [PH] San Augustin originally from Atlanta, and it’s a recording I did for them at the Empty Bottle.
[JAIMIE MARCH’S RECORDING OF THE SAN AUGUSTIN PERFORMANCE AT EMPTY BOTTLE CHICAGO PLAYING]
I used this setup, my trusty hard drive, OWC Mercury Elite FireWire Pro. This is Logic Pro; this is the program I use. I use Rode NT5’s, Rode NT1’s as the drum overheads -- No. Rode NT5’s are the drum overheads. Those are small diaphragms. Rode NT1’s on two guitar amps, and a digital reference large diaphragm on the bass drum.
I’ve been upgrading the whole time I’ve been recording, so you know it’s hard to tell what exactly is the -- like when I got the hard drive that was a big deal. It sped everything up, and I didn’t have any more crashes which I had to deal with at first. In and of itself, getting a MOTU is great and then the mod kind of changed it into a much better product like their clock is definitely comparable to the Apogee Big Ben, and so to have that inside the unit is pretty great.
In digital, like the whole time it’s like I think it’s based on algorithms and it’s all ratios and so nothing is exactly perfect like analog it’s like very like -- I mean it’s a lot of things to be said to sound perfectly like an analog, but you know it’s you plug it in, the sound gets put on the film, there you go. In digital it’s like ratios and when things aren’t completely like -- the signal can get caught up with stuff called jitter and you have to dither and stuff like that when you bounce, and when you have a better clock, it really cuts down on -- It makes it more efficient basically.
Jaimie's technical prowess
I'm sure she's a fine trumpet player and a good sound engineer, but concerning her technical prowess: she's grasping at straws (or at least this single video makes her appear so). She couldn't describe what jitter was and why it's bad. Why is a good clock needed, Jaimie? Can you share your clock signal between components? What is the benefit of this, Jaimie?
She used the word 'dither' but could not describe that process or why it is needed.
To say that "...Jaimie can talk the word clock talk and walk the MOTU-mod walk with the best of them..." is wrong. Ms. Gretchen Hasse of Gearwire, are you listening?
Jaimie is right. Evil Overlord it is U who is wrong
Your post smacks of misogyny and ignorance. Jaimie gives a great reference to jitter clocks etc. She is not defining dither etc but saying you have to deal with it in ratios when bouncing.
If you bone up on your own tech knowledge, Mr Overlord, you will get a lot out of this video as I did.
She actually describes how the mods will improve a recording system very well but you need to have done 'Sound 101' to appreciate the high technical level she is discussing.
I have listened to many brilliant engineers and scientists try to describe technical matters and realised that it was not me but they who are unable to convey in simple language.
I am a trial attorney who needs expert witnesses to say it succinctly every time and briefly so language is my business. I would be very happy if Jamie was giving evidence in a technical case I was in.
I learned a lot from this vid when I was previously trying to understand what Black Lion do from reading and not 'getting it'. After this vid I just 'get it'.
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