Soporific Airs (DJ Bolivia): 12's

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Video: Setting Up Your Turntables

Several years ago, I filmed Marc Carnes (a DJ and audio expert) doing a tutorial video on the proper setup of a turntable. I ended up posting it to YouTube about two years ago, although I had to cut it up into five different videos at the time because YouTube's 10-minute length-limit. I was tidying up some videos this week and noticed that the series had gotten quite a few views, so I decided to re-encode the original as a single full-length video and post it online to replace the older series. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_SWUbDgAW8

Basically, the video shows you how to properly set up your Technics 1200 turntables, including leveling, grounding, platter assembly, attaching a cartridge or headshell, and balancing the tone-arm. The Technics 1200 is the industry standard deck, but people using any other turntable brands will gain a fair amount of knowledge from the video too.

In addition to the video, I also have a page on my website that talks about this turntable in a lot of detail:

djbolivia.ca/turntables

I know that the old series turned out to be useful for thousands of people, so hopefully this single version is a bit more convenient. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments section on YouTube and I'll try to respond as quickly as possible. As always, if you find this video (or the turntable page on the website) to be useful, I appreciate you posting links on your blogs or favorite message boards.

I'd love to see this post & video shared around more. If you're a Google+ user, click on the +1 button to give them a thumbs-up:

I'm Jonathan Clark, known online as DJ Bolivia. Do you want to learn more about DJ'ing and music production? If so, visit:

djbolivia.ca/training

If you happen to enjoy techno tracks, most of my tracks are available as free downloads from this link:

djbolivia.ca/tracks

Thanks so much for visit, and for your support! I really appreciate the fan base that I've been able to build up over the years.

Also, if you want to visit any of my other sites, here are a few links:

YouTube: youtube.com/djbolivia

SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/djbolivia

Blogger: djbolivia.blogspot.com

Main Site: www.djbolivia.ca

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

How to Self-Ground a Technics 1200 Turntable

About a year ago, Fred Bissnette and I filmed a video that showed do-it-yourself technicians how to self-ground a Technics 1200-series turntable, so you no longer need to attach a grounding wire to the mixer. No more feedback or annoying hum from improperly grounded turntables! I cut it up into five parts and posted it on YouTube (because of the ten-minute file limit at the time) and in the past year, the videos have had tens of thousands of views. So now that my account has been upgraded to allow for long-length videos, I figured it would be worthwhile to spend a bit of time and to re-post the video in its original, full-length version.

Basically, the video teaches any competent home-repair buff how to do the job themselves and save a significant "upgrade" fee, with just a milk crate, phillips screwdriver, wire strippers (or knife), and a soldering iron. The modification is actually quite simple, and the video explains how to ground it properly, so that the deck is properly grounded for all types of cartridges, without rending your turntable in mono. Please note that we shall not assume responsibility for any damages to your turntable incurred while attempting this repair. However, watch the entire video, and you'll see that a competent DIY handyman can quickly and easily perform this task at home.

Here's a link to the new, full-length version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3leKhyNinNk

Again, many thanks to Fred Bissnette (DJ Nexus6ix) for his assistance with this video.

I'd love to see this post and video shared around more. If you're a Google+ user, click on the +1 button to give them a thumbs-up: