In 5 Music Online

Sony ECM-HST1 Modifications

I really wanted the ability to connect my external wireless and shotgun microphones to my Sony HDR-HC3 camcorder.  Shame on Sony for not providing a microphone input on this camera, but it was the right camera at the right price for me when I needed to go to High Definition in mid 2006.  I didn’t want to be limited to Sony’s small collection of Active Interface Shoe microphones.  After googling around and finding a photo that William Zaggle posted about modifying the Sony ECM-HST1 stereo microphone, I decided to try it myself.  It was a delicate operation to cut the traces and solder such tiny components, but it seems to have succeeded. Here are some pictures I took along the way.  Click any photo for a larger version.

via laundrie.org

Very very cool concept. I own several of these HDV camcorders and my biggest complaint is the lack of external microphone connections. This quick DIY project fixes that problem. Check it out and if you can, try it out. I know I am.

The Feeling

A few days ago, I received a call from a friend of mine who went to one of my local shows. He liked what I was doing and gave me the "I know a guy that has connections..." speech that I've heard so many times before. He took a couple of CDs and said he would take them to his connection for me. I thought "here we go again?" laughed to myself and took a trip with my girlfriend to Washington, DC. When I returned I got a call from a man named Mike Winchester, currently doing work with the Funk Brothers of Motown. "Cleve, I listened to your record 10 times today and I love it...Not gonna blow any smoke up your ass, but I think you got a shot." WTF??? Is this real....? Sent from Cleve's Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

See ya later... We promise

We here at the Soundville Studios/In 5 Music/Childhood Productions/Visual Alliance Media family have done some corporate restructuring. We have painfully, yet productively decided to put some ventures on the back-burner and join forces on others (Including In 5 Music). The brands will now better serve our clients and customers with Visual Alliance Media serving as our Social Media specialists and Lucky-Star Photo as the Photography & Video Production Gurus. The music branch will be on hiatus for a short time. Cleve Speight will continue to tour the Hollywood scene, and Antonio Flecha will attempt to continue production on his AFfection album. (During his "free time") We will continue to write on this blog with any new and exciting musical news from In 5 or other newsworthy events. This decision comes on the heels of a rather large production that will allow the now dynamic duo (Visual Alliance Media & Lucky-Star Photo) to pull out all of our creative cannons and blow the world away with what we can accomplish collectively.

We are proud of how far we’ve come and excited about where we’re going. The changes made to our corporate structure will allow for a streamlined attack on multimedia… Be prepared everyone!