McStine & Minnemann - Debut Album

[RMcStine]

Since it's Bandcamp Day, and I might have a fan or two here...

McStine & Minnemann is a new band consisting of Randy McStine and Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats). Pre-orders for their debut album will begin Friday, May 1st, along with the release of their first single, “Program.”

The duo initially met in 2018 while working with other artists, but as they discovered their shared passion for an assortment of Rock, Pop, and Punk artists, they began to talk about embarking on a collaborative project together. Although McStine and Minnemann initially set out to record an EP, they quickly shifted to making an album as their musical ideas and chemistry flourished.

The result of their self-titled debut, McStine & Minnemann, is a high-energy collection of ten compact, yet expansive Rock songs that sit well next to the likes of XTC, Mr. Bungle, The Knack, Queen, and Frank Zappa. As both men are prolific multi-instrumentalists and writers, they have created a space for each other to showcase their incomparable instrumental talents, while infusing them with an incredible mix of melodic and lyrical depth.

McStine & Minnemann was produced by the duo, and mixed by Forrester Savell (Karnivool, SikTh).

Bandcamp (CD and Digital)
Digger's Factory - Limited Edition Vinyl (100 copies)

[doh]

Randy gets 100% of the money today (even for a preorder), whereas normally the middle man would take a cut. It's an autobuy for me today.

[RMcStine]

Randy gets 100% of the money today (even for a preorder), whereas normally the middle man would take a cut. It's an autobuy for me today.

Thank you!

[mozo-pg]

Sounds great!! Thanks for posting.

[RMcStine]

Sounds great!! Thanks for posting.

Thanks for listening.

[pulse01]

Took the CD option yesterday. Looking forward to this one. Snippets shared so far on Facebook have been great

[progmeister]

Randy gets 100% of the money today (even for a preorder), whereas normally the middle man would take a cut. It's an autobuy for me today.

Sounds great. Just ordered on bandcamp. Randy I beg of you if you recorded it at 24bit please give us a hi rez download option upon release. Thx

[progmeister]

Sounds great. Just ordered on bandcamp. Randy I beg of you if you recorded it at 24bit please give us a hi rez download option upon release. Thx

UPDATE: just downloaded the single and it is indeed 24bit. Thank you Randy

[RMcStine]

UPDATE: just downloaded the single and it is indeed 24bit. Thank you Randy

All of the files were uploaded at 44.1/24-bit, but your initial comment had me wondering if there was supposed to be a separate process. I'm glad to hear it worked out.

[progmeister]

All of the files were uploaded at 44.1/24-bit, but your initial comment had me wondering if there was supposed to be a separate process. I'm glad to hear it worked out.

The only thing “unusual” thing about the download choices was that the only 24bit offered was ALAC. Normally the FLAC would also be in 24bit but in yours it’s only 16. I’m fine with the ALAC however. Once again thank you.

[RMcStine]

The only thing “unusual” thing about the download choices was that the only 24bit offered was ALAC. Normally the FLAC would also be in 24bit but in yours it’s only 16. I’m fine with the ALAC however. Once again thank you.

Bandcamp handles the conversion of files on their end, so I'm not sure why they chose one over the other. Personally, I don't even know what ALAC is. Haha!

[Firth]

Bandcamp handles the conversion of files on their end, so I'm not sure why they chose one over the other. Personally, I don't even know what ALAC is. Haha!

ALAC is Apple lossless, and could be better than CD if the conversion to ALAC started with 24 bit we’ll mastered files. But ALAC is 16 bit lossless 48 KHz.

[Firth]

Bandcamp handles the conversion of files on their end, so I'm not sure why they chose one over the other. Personally, I don't even know what ALAC is. Haha!

Oops, I said ALAC was 16 bit which is true, but ALAC-HD is 24 bit 48KHz. FLAC Can have higher bit rates.

[RMcStine]

Oops, I said ALAC was 16 bit which is true, but ALAC-HD is 24 bit 48KHz. FLAC Can have higher bit rates.

Could this be the perfect time for me to divert my own thread and ask your take on 48k vs 44.1k?

[progmeister]

ALAC is Apple lossless, and could be better than CD if the conversion to ALAC started with 24 bit we’ll mastered files. But ALAC is 16 bit lossless 48 KHz.

ALAC like FLAC can be 24bit, 44.1, 48, or 96. FLAC cannot ne played in itunes or iphone however. It is however the "people's format".

[progmeister]

Could this be the perfect time for me to divert my own thread and ask your take on 48k vs 44.1k?

First of all you must take this all as opinion because many people will tell you that you can't hear the difference between 16 and 24bit but if your equipment is up to the challenge I would strongly disagree. Now interesting that you mention it I find the difference between 44.1 and 48 to be greater than 48 to 96. 96 to 192 doesn't make enough difference for me to justify the extra space it takes up on my hard drive.

[RMcStine]

I find the difference between 44.1 and 48 to be greater than 48 to 96.

I find that to be a curious statement! There are engineers I've worked with who always insist on recording at 96, but I've yet to work with anyone who has said much about 44.1 to 48. However, 24-bit is always a common factor.

[Firth]

I find that to be a curious statement! There are engineers I've worked with who always insist on recording at 96, but I've yet to work with anyone who has said much about 44.1 to 48. However, 24-bit is always a common factor.

44.1 to 48 is a bigger deal that 48 to 96 because 44.1 was never sufficient to support anti-aliasing filtering. Aliasing causes high frequencies that are not filtered out, to fold to lower frequencies. 48-44.1 = 3.9 KHz and from an aliasing perspective the difference in folding is ~1.9 KHz which is significant. With 48 KHZ its much more likely bandwidth extremes are supported. 44.1 was a poor choice to sample at more than 2x a 20KHz bandwidth without affecting it.

[Firth]

I find that to be a curious statement! There are engineers I've worked with who always insist on recording at 96, but I've yet to work with anyone who has said much about 44.1 to 48. However, 24-bit is always a common factor.

24 vs 16 bit doesn’t matter if the mastering is crap.

[SRS]

Looking forward to this one. What a talented duo! Clips sound great!

Randy, have you Nick and Jonas thought about a follow up to The Fringe? I really dug that one.

[RMcStine]

44.1 to 48 is a bigger deal that 48 to 96 because 44.1 was never sufficient to support anti-aliasing filtering. Aliasing causes high frequencies that are not filtered out, to fold to lower frequencies. 48-44.1 = 3.9 KHz and from an aliasing perspective the difference in folding is ~1.9 KHz which is significant. With 48 KHZ its much more likely bandwidth extremes are supported. 44.1 was a poor choice to sample at more than 2x a 20KHz bandwidth without affecting it.

I slipped into another dimension while reading this. Thank you for sharing. Perhaps I will consistently set my projects to 48 from now on.

[RMcStine]

Looking forward to this one. What a talented duo! Clips sound great!

Randy, have you Nick and Jonas thought about a follow up to The Fringe? I really dug that one.

Re: The Fringe - Yes, absolutely. I love those guys (and our band), and we talk often, but we've yet to really be able to focus on it.

We made our album with everyone playing together in the same room, so for a long time, we wanted to stick to that idea. It hasn't been realistic for obvious geographic reasons, followed by the fact that we individually have very different lives, started picking up other gigs, working on our own records, etc.

Hopefully we can get a solid plan together moving forward, as we haven't quite nailed what I feel we're capable of.

[Firth]

I slipped into another dimension while reading this. Thank you for sharing. Perhaps I will consistently set my projects to 48 from now on.

It’s easier to understand with graphics as I received in my Electrical Engineering (EE) classes. When I started those classes a long time ago, EE and other engineering curricula were on the cusp of systems engineering (and I’m not talking IT) which is more generic and more about modeling of physical systems. Digital signal processing texts are good references for pictures of what happens to spectrums when processed. But when wrapped in a lot of math, it can lose the physical understanding. I was fortunate that my first systems class came from typed notes with graphics and a professor who was at the forefront of digital control/signal processing.

[RMcStine]

We've just released a new song to all supporters of the Deluxe Edition pre-order of our upcoming album.

You can join any time at https://mcstineminnemann.bandcamp.com/, as we'll drop a new song (along with a commentary track and Marco Minnemann drum playthrough video) every Friday until the album comes out on July 3rd.

This is a taste of "Falling From Grace."

[progmeister]

Randy you blew me away on the Prog at Home thing today. The absolute highlight of the whole event. I knew you were talented but did not understand the scope. Color me impressed!