Level 10 Sound

30/10/2024

'Enjoying the extended summer breezes in Chicago lately - while it lasts!
My dedication to summertime as a classic song is on my music channel.
Enjoy!

Multi-instrumentalist and singer-performer Tom Krol performs a classical rock hit about the good feelings of summertime.All music production, engineering and...

21/10/2024

Wow!! I don't know about y'all but there are a LOT of far right conservative posts flooding my FB feed. And FaceBook logrhythms ought to know better since I don't follow anything from that genre.
The foreign interference bots must be cranking out the propaganda so I may be need to be away from FaceBook until after 11/5.

25/09/2024

TechSmith software and product tech support is now horrible.

MAC Camtasia video recorder/editor is no longer any good.
Every time you upgrade your OS, expect to pay another $200 to TechSmith for a working version - if you can actually get it to work again. That's online robbery.

After my MAC OS upgrade to vs. 12-Monterey, TechSmith support told me to purchase latest vs. 2024 for $180 in order to gain recording of system audio as I had before with my prior purchase in 2020. It did not work.

It was that or $120/year subscription. Nope!
And that['s after two prior purchases of the same software.

After Camtasia refunded my purchase, Camtasia not only deleted my key for vs. 2024 but also for vs. 2020.
This is not supposed to happen.

Another chat with support to get my vs. 2020 is back up and running - though I can't still record system audio using any Camtasia product.

Contrary to TechSmith support's direction, my $180 purchase & install of an upgrade to vs. 2024 still did not solve my issue of their software's disallowing me to record system audio, even after a cold reboot using my MacBook Pro 2019 running OS 12-Monterey.

2+ hours of my pro time wasted.

I'm now using $40 Aiseesoft software instead to record screen and system audio successfully, and editing using my old Camtasia software. Actually, their prior software version to 2020 was a faster editor.

19/09/2024

Just found out from an IL county assessor office that the solar power vendors for your home don't tell you they file a lien on your home when you finance the solar PV system, so you are NOT able to refinance or sell your home without major complications.

Solar power is NOT regulated in IL. Beware!

Here's documentary from a very unhappy solar customer.

A documentary showing the many risks when trying to save the planet by going with solar power, an industry for renewable energy that is unregulated where sca...

19/09/2024

Machiavelli wrote, "Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived."

Read up on Machiavelli and "The Prince" from 1536 and you might find a playbook of someone in the news a lot, where Machiavelli wrote that an "effective" leader is one who rules without kindness but through deception and spreading fear and violence.

Two ways to look at this:
1) Literally as some do, or...
2) as a warning that certain leaders may appear kind but have a concealed manner of getting things done, hence the term "Machiavellian,"... e.g.: a friendly handshake from someone while they hold a knife behind their back.

I think Machiavelli intended the latter, since there was a lot of unrest, public turmoil and coups in his time.

"No matter whether people are good, evil, or neutral, we will always encounter bad people who wish to impose upon us."

10/09/2024

James Earl Jones was a kind and gentle soul. I met him briefly around the time of this photo, circa 1988, at Universal Recording in Chicago. I accompanied him to a VO session in the backroom studio on a Saturday afternoon. That inconic voice!

The photos shows pretty much how he looked when I met him, genuine and happy.

'Wishing his family peace.

(Photo: Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)

30/07/2024

Don’t go solar in IL yet - it’s not regulated and scammers abound with complete impunity in IL.
Here's a documentary of the hardships we suffered for 2 years after going solar to try and help save the environment.

A video documentary showing the many risks when trying to save the environment by going solar, an industry for renewable energy that is not regulated where s...

21/07/2024

Can't trust Google online reviews and misleading ratings.
Google permits unlimited false positive reviews posted by employees and their friends & families of companies with horrible customer service. There's proof out there.

Google does not care about spreading misleading reviews and ratings.

We hired a solar panel company with a favorable Google rating only to find out later it was false and their business practices very unethical.

23/06/2024

Recurring Pop Music Progressions: episode 3.
featuring David Rawlings and Neil Young

'Maybe a little bit of a stretch than previous episodes, but the similarity here still feels noticeable. Neil Young's rock "marching-sounding" anthem of 1970...

06/06/2024

Hey all! I covered Bonnie Raitt's '90's melancholy ballad "I Can't Make You Love Me" as a solo in my latest promo video. Enjoy!

Made famous by Bonnie Raitt in 1991, "I Can't Make You Love Me" is a song written by Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin and recorded by American singer Bonnie Rait...

23/04/2024

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Ya know,...changes to protect the environment - and people - can't happen until special interest lobbying in Washington D.C. is eliminated so that oil and coal won't block efforts toward fossil fuel reduction.
And we need regulation of renewable energy (solar) sales. Scammer solar companies abound! Beware!

Verse 3:
"Elections choose our leaders in D.C.
Meant to guard the law and serve the land
In reality, they're puppets on strings
Forgetting those who need a helping hand (such as our planet!)"

Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/2qHpe3PoMyo

P.S.: 'Sorry about that side camera. It's a $300 FaceCam and the front cam is a $5,000 Canon.
'Always improving the tech. Next time will look better. 'Promise!

22/04/2024

Happy Earth Day everyone!
Here's a link to my recent live stream music show dedicated to Earth Day, springtime, and the environment!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I82LMIM46g

Check out the 1-hour live show of covers and originals
from acoustic guitar & vocal to pop & hard rock.

The Set List:
Garden Song (John Denver)
Blackbird (The Beatles)
The Trees (RUSH)
Mother Nature's Son (The Beatles)
Ayamonte by the Sea (original)
Here Comes the Sun (The Beatles)
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts)
Primavera (Santana)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell/Counting Crows)
Aphrodite (original)
Why Is It So? (original)
Smoke Two Joints (The Toyes)

#4/20 #420

Tom Krol performs a live rock music show, covers and original songs with themes of springtime, summer, nature, and the environment. Using Tom's own producti...

14/10/2023

Latest hard rock drop from Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter/producer, engineer about OnlyFans culture and it's affect on the modern dating scene.

Check out my latest rock release “Transactional,”
about OnlyFans & similar platforms that bring self-objectification, virtual “love” in a post-pandemic world, and the rise of transactional relationships in the modern dating scene.

“Find the love you seek
That preys on the weak"

Lenny Kravtiz meets Soundgarden.
Inspired by The Guess Who's "American Woman."

Clicking these links will NOT automatically subscribe you to anything
(I wouldn’t do that).

“Transactional” on You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2ldLZ8b27k&list=OLAK5uy_nsHxWAarLNmdbt-XquFXWugHlhUPuJ0zs

Find “Tom Krol Music” on your preferred music streaming provider here:
https://linktr.ee/TomKrolMusic

30/06/2023

Happy summer everyone!
'Just a brief promo for my latest track drop; my alternative stoner rock love ballad. Check it out & enjoy!

And please like & subscribe on your streaming platform of choice.
Cheers!

26/03/2023

26/03/2023

~PRO GUITAR SOUND DESIGN REMOVES ACOUSTIC NOISES~
We guitarists grow accustomed to string squeaks. But lay ears may find them jarring and annoying, perhaps even more so now as the quality & popularity of earbuds and NC headphones reveal every nuance in recordings.

As a seasoned pro of session guitar and sound since 1991, I produce & edit guitar tracks from a finger-style guitarist’s POV.

Here is a short demo showing before & after my acoustic guitar sound design. I selected an excerpt from Todd Boston's intro of his "The Brightest Night" - which is an excellent recording but its nice treble EQ boost unfortunately amplifies string noises. Note that I'd need dry tracks without reverb to be most effective.

There's a prior post of my demo for classical guitar treatment at
https://fb.watch/jwfyMcEj8m/

I'm a true pro at mixing, editing, mastering; currently running MAC Pro Tools HDX Ultimate that feeds directly into a streaming encoder with a pro camera for virtual sessions.

I've done precise vocal sound design since 1994 and my indie film soundtrack mixes have been distributed worldwide, one by Sony. I also release my own solo guitar music. My recording of Chopin on solo classical guitar was curated on Spotify without label support.

Feel free to send inquiries to [email protected] .

05/03/2023

We visited the Dunn Museum in Libertyville where I learned that film projection, vital to the rise of film & video production and Hollywood originated from Waukegan's own Edward Amet in the late 1800's. Amet was later sued by Thomas Edison for using the 35mm film format.

On display there is the Amet "Magniscope, known as "The perfect projecting machine," and was one of the earliest motion picture projectors manufactured.

06/12/2022

https://youtu.be/ji0FA0ohzzM

Episode #2 of my video series demonstrating recurring musical patterns in pop music.For demonstration purposes only - song music credits are properly display...

03/01/2022

AVOID buying a
StageMASTER 8x4 100-Feet Audio Snake with XLR Returns (SMC0804FBX-100)

My company offers freelance, on-location live-broadcast audio services. This item was purchased at the onset of the pandemic and there was no opportunity until recently to perform a proper, on-site usage and test of this product.

A proper field test of this product cannot be done from a remote suburban home and must be done in a downtown, metro setting with all those airwaves. This was finally able to be properly tested in December, 2021, and I uncovered two serious flaws concerning the absence of proper audio grounding and shielding resulting in radio noises, clicks and hiss coming into the audio signal from its improper design. The only way I was able to correct all issues of noise interference into the audio signal was to remove this product from use and use ten 50-foot XLR cable runs instead.

The issue:
Item is defective from its design and manufacture from StageMaster. and was not damaged from delivery or damage.

1) XLR pin 1 is not normal'd to connector ground in the cabling side as it should be to protect against noise and radio interference. XLR pin 1 is also not normal'd to the breakaway box enclosure, thus permitting radio noises to enter the audio chain from the 12 unshielded jack connections in the breakaway box. This is a fundamental flaw of sound engineering where this product should not be sold to the unknowing public because of neglect of basic sound engineering protocol; using balanced audio cables and retaining a continuously balanced, shielded signal flow from microphones to mixer.

There is no disclosure that all audio lines of this product are not grounded.

2) Physically touching or even barely moving the breakaway XLR connectors creates noise in the audio. Touching the exposed grounding shields near the XLR connectors creates noises in the audio signal, whether or not ground is on or lifted in the connected audio mixer.

In mid-December, 2021, I was contacted by a representative from ProCo/StageMaster and during our phone conversation they claimed to not be in sales though they continuously claimed to me, over and over again, that thousands of these same products have been sold, seeming to me like an attempt to belittle or invalidate my complaint. They claimed the product was intentionally manufactured this way. Their proposed solution was to test the product by enabling and lifting the AC ground on my mixer. This was done without any resulting improvement to the audio in either ground state. I contacted them back to report this and again request a refund. They refused and insisted on sending me a replacement audio snake.

Why would I accept a replacement product from this company when they claim their design of improper audio grounding is acceptable? Where even physically moving their audio cables results in audible noises in the signal flow? Sheesh.

12/10/2021

All recording, mixing, mastering, and production done at Level 10 Sound in Deerfield, IL.
This song is live on streamers and retailers:
https://linktr.ee/TomKrolMusic
Keep staying safe everyone!

30/06/2021

Expert Classical Guitar Track Editing & Repair:

A brief video showing before & after my classical guitar track touch-ups. They're naked and without reverb. The goal is to have them sound as though no edits were done.

I've been a pro musician & audio editor since 1990 (going back to those days of Sound Designer), and I've logged over 1,000 hours producing recordings, post-editing & mixing.

Purists may argue that string squeaks are a natural part of acoustic recordings while non-guitarists may find them annoying as the reverb extends the shrill sounds. String squeaks can be kept at lower levels or eliminated, depending on what's there with which to work.

Contact Tom at Level 10 Sound when you need string noises to be minimized.

27/04/2021

Izotope sucks as a company.

'Was running Izotope RX on an older MacBook. When I bought a replacement MacBook, Izotope REFUSED to grant a license for the new computer, instead insisting that I AGAIN PURCHASE their RX all over again for $300.

Furthermore, Izotope tech support sucks.
They still have not done anything about their Ozone 9 being unusable with Pro Tools @ 96KHz.

Sweetwater Sound was nice enough to refund my purchase of it. Perhaps they've received other such complaints too.