The Null Device Blog

I took my preamp in for repair.

Then I got it back.

Then I took it in for repair again.

IT’s back again, and it seems to be much happier now, but MAN it was ticking me off.

According to a tech I talked to at, well, one of the only Focusrite authorized service centers in North America (Las Vegas), the gear from that era has a predilection for bad switches. And that in fact was what went wrong. The compressor stage had a bad switch that was shorting out and introducing large amounts of noise. Since it was out of warantee, I just took it to Full Compass (on my way to work, even) and got it repaired – for a not insignificant sum of money.

I brought it home…well, it was better, but it still popped and crackled on its own, with no input.

Back to Full Compass it goes, and a little bit of snide-unhappy-customer-voice later they agreed to check it out and probably fix it for free. Which, I’m happy to say, they did. I picked it up, pluged it in, and it no longer starts up with a horrible blast of static, and doesn’t pop and buzz anymore. Now begins the annoying process of resetting all my preferred settings, retuning the de-esser, resetting the compressor, getting the levels right…then I can record vocals again! Hurrah!

Still, a pain in the ass and it set my plans of buying a UAD-1 back a ways.

success! I now have functional electronic drums!

And cheap, too. Well, cheapish. The pads were like $40 total, the mic stand I had, the electronics and miscellaneous plumbing hardware from Home Depot were maybe $20 total. The DM-5 I got from a friend, it needs a new power adapter.

Laugh all you want at the shoddy construction, but dammit, they work. Octopad, eat your heart out.

just wanted to say…

oh yes.

As i’m standing in a crowd waiting for the Morrissey show to start, a couple walks up to me.
“excuse me”, says the girl of the pair, “are you from Null Device?

I respond affirmatively.

“cool!” she says. “well, enjoy the show!” She and her male companion wave and walk away.

How cool is that?

*edit*

It happened AGAIN by the end of the show!

The guy was even wearing a nulldevice Tshirt.

Ever wonder how reviewers come up with things to say about an electronic album? Or how those blurbs on the sticker are written?

Here’s a handy guide. Now you can write your own reviews!

“ironic retro sound” == sounds like Human League circa 1982
“minimal arrangements” == boring
“tongue-in-cheek humour” == the lyrics are embarassingly bad
“engimatic lyrics” == the standard floaty nonsensical crap that populates every trance song
“brutal beats” == used a distortion pedal on the standard 4-on-the-floor beat.
“thought-provoking lyrics” == cheesy sci-fi lyrics about future wars or replicants
“atmospheric” == no discernable melody, harmony, or rhythm
“ambient” == no discernable melody, harmony, rhythm, or low end.
“creepy” = uses horror movie samples
“intelligent” == borderline unlistenable
“sonic assault” == always loud
“groovy” == samples a 1970′s r&b drum solo
“cut and paste style” == random samples
“glitchy” == I know it sounds like your CD player is broken, but it’s really not.
“organic” == the band hired a guitarist
“loose” == the drum machine isn’t synced to the rest of the music
“genre-bending” == samples a rock song or has a rapper
“dub-influenced” == samples a reggae song or a jamaican rapper
“epic” == more than 7 minutes long
“lush, dreamy” == a cm7 chord held for 4 minutes
“trance-influenced” == 4 on the floor beat for 4 minutes.
“epic trance” == 4 on the floor beat for 7 minutes
“lush, dreamy epic trance” == a cm7 chord and 4 on the floor beat for 7 minutes
“angelic vocals” == twee, nasal female vocalist
“nod to hip hop” == samples the same breakbeat as Dr. Dre.
“trippy” == only listenable when high