Jim Batcho :: words

Life through a wide-angle lens. Asheville, NC.
Photo courtesy of Adam Tow Copyright 2004.

Academic Papers

The Cultural Politics of Television News Sound (PDF).
(Master's Thesis [unpublished], © 2005 James David Batcho)
Abstract: Sound in television news is dominated by voices of authority, resulting in a narrowing of ideas and a restriction of experiential and cultural representation. Through selective access and a removal of environmental ambient sound, television news operates noncontextually and thereby fails in its obligation to the public good. This masters thesis aims to shed light on the problems of sound exclusivity in television news, wherein historical approaches to methodology and microphone technology have resulted in practice that serves the needs of the broadcaster over the public. As part of this examination, I offer a re-evaluation of presidential candidate Howard Dean’s infamous “scream” in Iowa and critique the practice of authoritative, subjective analysis in the broadcasting of the 2005 presidential inauguration. I argue for a more contextual sound practice through the inclusion of environmental ambient sound.

Magazine Articles (in reverse chronological order by publication date)

Digizine: Drum Room 3 (© Digidesign: Winter 2007)
Customizing Drum Performances in Strike
Strike is a bold new instrument plug-in that allows you to create shockingly realistic drum performances. Last time, we talked about loading Kits, tweaking parameters, triggering performance changes, and outputting a final multitrack. This time we’ll take a look at designing and saving your own Patterns using the Style section and, in particular, the Style Editor.
[link]

Product Review: Zoom/Samson H4 Handy Recorder (Remix Magazine: Jan. 2007)
[link]

Digizine: Drum Room 2 (© Digidesign: Fall 2006)
Strike: Your New Virtual Drummer
Plug-ins like this frighten me. Digidesign’s brand-new instrument plug-in Strike is, in essence, a virtual drummer. But all I can think of is imagery from 1950s horror films. You know, the ones where something terrifying and powerful is going on in a dark lab, with flashes of electricity and a Theremin humming away. If you put a talented and versatile studio drummer into one of these labs and somehow extracted all of his or her knowledge, ability, and good taste, you might end up with something like Strike.
[link]

Digizine: Drum Room 1 (© Digidesign: Aug. 2006)
Drum Sample Replacement in Pro Tools
Welcome to the Drum Room! I hope to balance this column between drumming and engineering, with an emphasis on how each affects the other—all within a Pro Tools context, of course. A perfect example of the intersection between drumming and engineering is the process of replacing drum samples. This time, we’ll look at three different sample-replacement processes using SoundReplacer, TL Drum Rehab, and a third technique that uses a stereo loop as a template to create a new drum multi-track. ...
[link]

How-To: High Fidelity (© Remix Magazine: Aug. 2006)
Using Instrument tracks in Pro Tools 7 to power your software synths
Ever since the soft-synth/sampler revolution began toward the end of the last millennium, Digidesign Pro Tools has attempted a variety of methods to exploit it in the world's most celebrated music application. The DirectConnect and SampleCell experiments are long gone, but there is something new to Pro Tools 7 that won't be going anywhere because it's built right into the application: Instrument tracks. ...
[link]

Product Review: JazzMutant Lemur (© Remix Magazine: June 2006)
[link]

Product Review: Native Instruments Reaktor 5.1 (© Remix Magazine: March 2006)
[link]

Product Review: Black Panther Snare Drums (© DRUM Magazine: March 2006)
[no link available]

How-To: Hybrid Rhythm Vehicle (© Remix Magazine: Feb. 2006)
Combining Electronics and acoustics into a symbiotic live performance rig
Electronic drum kits certainly progress every year, but they still sound unnatural, feel artificial and look silly. Also, sequencing with click tracks has always been a terrifying and flawed exercise. Modern production is all about texture and detail, and the really exciting aspects of rhythm production in music today come from the electronic side of things. Yet no matter how much technology has integrated with music, drummers seem to do best when they hit an object that resonates its own acoustic property. This begs the question: Isn't there a more symbiotic approach to live electro/acoustic rhythms? ...
[link]

Product Review: Craviotto Unlimited Maple Snares (© DRUM Magazine: Dec. 2005)
[pdf file link]

Product Review: Apple Final Cut Pro Studio v5 (© Remix Magazine: Oct. 2005)
[link]

Product Review: Premier Modern Classic Hammered Brass Snare Drums (© DRUM Magazine: Aug. 2005)
[link]

Product Review: Elemental Audio Systems Max Bundle (© Remix Magazine: Aug. 2005)
[link]

Product Review: Spectrasonics Stylus RMX (© Remix Magazine: March 2005)
[link]

Product Review: Digidesign's Synchronic Plug-In (© Remix Magazine: Oct. 2004)
[link]

How-To: Personal Space (© Remix Magazine: June 2004)
Making realistic sounding drum tracks through added ambience
Nothing kills the vibe of a song or an instance of music like rhythm tracks that strive for realism and fail. This is much of the reason that the rhythmic culture of underground music is identified by electronic pulses. The sound has emerged from basement studios and a DIY aesthetic that demands music be heard independent of class and economics. Of course, the continued development of cost-effective sampling is helping to alleviate some of the economic divide. But it is still somewhat restricted to set patterns, not to mention that sampled drums often create an identity crisis: They're kind of yours, but their genesis belongs to someone else. ...
[link]

How-To: Power Management (© Remix Magazine: Nov. 2003)
Improving system performance on low-powered computers
In an age of music production when computer mixing power is so prevalent that it's almost silly, you can remember all of the classic, brilliant records that were made with just four tracks and try to remind yourself that it's all about the ideas, not the tools. But that doesn't help when your buddy is streaming six stereo channels of the latest software synth into his mix without a hiccup while you're struggling to squeeze in a second reverb. ...
[link]

How-To: ReTooled (© Remix Magazine: Jan. 2003)
Using Pro Tools as a rhythm performance machine
Digidesign products may fill a lot of different roles in your studio, but they could also serve as tools you have never even imagined possible. Take your Digi 001, for instance — it's not just for tracking ideas, remixing sessions and recording your MPC loops. ...
[link]

How-To: Computer Recording (© Keyboard Magazine: Jan. 2002)
Pro Tools' Beat Detective demystified
One of the most common and time-consuming aspects of modern music production is editing drums. Beat Detective for Pro Tools 5.1 TDM systems aims to make the process considerably simpler, more automated, and more successful. ...
[link]