Ask Doktor Dave

September 2008

EP asks: How do I shrink the videos I place on my MySpace page like you have?

Doktor Dave Answers: Wash them in REALLY hot water…

But seriously…copy the “Embed” code for the video from YouTube or wherever, then paste it where you want it on your profile page.

Make them smaller by looking at the code and finding the width and height tags.

They look like this: height=”133″ width=”178″

Change ONLY the numbers to whatever works for you. The numbers in the above example are the size I use.

You can make them any size you want, just be sure to maintain the “aspect ratio”. This is the proportion of height to width.

For instance…to adjust the overall size by 10% (larger or smaller), you must adjust the height number by 10% of itself THEN adjust the width number by 10% of itself.

It took a bit of experimenting to settle on the size I use. I wanted them smaller because I wanted so many in one place…and I’m in them. [smile]

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EM Asks: What’s the difference between the overdrive and distortion effects?

Doktor Dave Answers: Overdrive helps you pass cars on the freeway while distortion is what politicians do to facts. JUST KIDDING! Kinda…

A Short Primer:

Distortion occurs when an amplifier has reached it’s efficient* level of amplifying whatever it’s supposed to be amplifying.

The power section of the amplifier becomes unstable. The audible result is an edgy, thick, somewhat chunky sound. Tonally speaking, this is the sound that separates tube amps from solid-state amps.

Tubes amps aren’t all that efficient, averaging less than 50% or so, and deliver a lot of chunk with a wider edge that blues guitarists, and many others just love.

Solid-state amps are more efficient, well up into the 80-90% range. Their distortion is more on the edgy side, a sharp edge with less chunk and thickness.

Overdrive, on the other hand, occurs in the pre-amp section of an amp, before the power section. The pre-amp “drives” the power section.

In most amplifiers, this drive can be adjusted via a knob on the face of the amp. The drive can be adjusted from a relatively zero level (clean), to a massive amount (ten…or eleven, if you’re Nigel Tufnel).

There are tube-based pre-amps as well as solid-state, and they do sound different…but the concept of overdrive is the same for both.

*In this sense, “efficiency” is an indication of an amplifier’s ability to amplify a given signal. For instance, if an amplifier actually uses 100 watts of power, but only outputs 50 watts of power…it is said to be 50% efficient.

The Effects:

The various effects available to us these days, mimic (emulate, model, impersonate) the amplifier conditions described above. However, they are placed before the pre-amp section of an amp, allowing you to use the tones they provide at virtually any volume level.

For instance, you can achieve a sound similar to (but not *exactly* like) a Marshall stack cranked to eleven…out of a 20-watt, single 12, combo practice amp. All at a volume level that allows you to listen to the Muzak playing while you’re on hold, waiting for your booking agent to surprise you with a headlining gig at the next North By North Park, while you’re learning the signature lick from Nirvana’s version of Man Who Sold The World. BTW, I just talked with your agent about you…he said “who?”

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JP asks: How can I ever hope to be as cool as you? Really. I need to know. – Desperate in Oregon.

Doktor Dave Answers: First, you have to move out of Oregon…

Second, I know who you are and saw what you did. You’re already as cool, if not cooler, than me.

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Hey! It’s time for the San Diego Music Awards! It all happens September 17^th at Viejas…come on, hang out with us and PARTY!! Get your tickets at Ticketmaster.Com

That’s it for now. Keep sending in questions and leaving comments here too…they’re always welcome!

Stay cool!

>Doktor Dave<