Distributed in 94 countries, Mix is the world's leading magazine for the professional recording and sound production technology industry. Mix covers a wide range of topics including: recording, live sound and production, broadcast production, audio for film and video, and music technology.
The Winter NAMM show is one big five-ring (hall) circus. Every year the NAMM people say it’s the biggest show ever, this year touting some 85,000 registrants packed into the convention center. Now, note that they use the word registrants rather than attendees, so the REAL figure is somewhat less than that, but when the lines at the hot dog stands are still packed at four in the afternoon, you can safely figure the joint is packed.
At NAMM, the traditional salutation is not “Hey, howya doin’?” but rather “So what have you seen that’s cool?” In years past, this was an easy one to answer, but this year there was no single overriding product that was on everyone’s must-see list. So we move from Tier One to Tier Two, which leaves us with a lot of slick ancillaries and stocking stuffers for next year’s gift list. And in this melange, there are amazing little things that might slip by on casual glance. Here, are some of my faves in that oft-neglected category:
++ALLEN & HEATH’s WZ3 Monitor mixer is admittedly a little large for a stocking stuffer. With onboard passive mic splitting, 4-band EQ and 12 mix outs assignable as mono or stereo pairs, this 16 mic/line input monitor mixer is an ideal centerpiece for an affordable in-ear monitoring solution for clubs or traveling bands. www.allen-heath.com
++DIGITECH killed me with its new harmony processors. I’m normally underwhelmed by such things, but the Vocalist Live 2 and Vocalist Live 4 vocal effects processors (designed for the singing guitarist) blew me away, both in terms of intelligent, lifelike harmonies, and in their ease of use. Rather than make users define what key they’re in, you simply strum a chord on the guitar connected thru the unit, and the device follows the guitar to match harmonies with the vocal input. Both units include a clean mic preamp with vocal reverb/comp/EQ as well as an onboard chromatic tuner. The $429 list VL2 does two-part (plus your voice) harmonies; the $579 VL4 does four parts and throws in pitch correction as well. These pedalboards include a large bypass button for kicking in/out the processing during the chorus/verse/etc. www.digitech.com
++MXL may have finally got the USB mic thing down. For years now, we’ve been bombarded with the “revolution” in USB mics–something I’m not wowed about, because once you put a digital output (AES/SPDIF/USB/FireWire/etc.) on a mic, you’ve immediately created a product with a limited shelf life. Beyer did this back in 1996, with the “First Digital Mic”–a MCD100 that combined a condenser mic with a 16-bit digital converter in the handle. That was great until people started using 20- and 24-bit stuff and then the mic was obsolete. At NAMM, MXL showed a cigar-sized $99 accessory with an XLR on one end USB on the other: it’s connect and go. The idea of having an outboard USB adapter that works with any mic is cool, so your “USB mic” could be anything from your collection: a shotgun one day, a figure-8 ribbon the next… And best of all, MXL figured a way to supply phantom power from the USB bus—no simple feat. www.mxlmics.com
++NEUTRIK, everybody’s fave connector supplier came out with crimp termination versions of its popular “XX” and “DLX” series XLRs. These don’t even require stripped leads and automatically cut through the insulation to make a secure contact in the crimping process—a great time saver for cable fabricators, but having a couple available in your toolbox may surely save your neck sometime, somewhere, someday in the field. www.neutrikusa.com
++SABINE floored me with another innocuous-looking-yet-amazing accessory: the Phantom Mic Rider. Barely larger than an XLR connector, it packs an FBX Feedback Exterminator, automatic gain adjust, control of proximity effect and plosives and infrared mic gating—in a phantom-powered $119 inline accessory. Onboard DSP does the trick to create the world’s smallest automatic mic mixer that’s perfect for unattended mics in contracting applications or simply as automated mic gate for live sound that can shut off an unused vocal mic when no one’s nearby. www.sabine.com
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Check ‘em out at www.jenpet.com.
There’s something magic about Winter NAMM, which kicks off this Thursday. Maybe its the idea of getting out of your frosty environment and going to sunny So Cal and Disneyland for a break. Or maybe it’s just the feeling you get from walking though NAMM’s six-plus exhibit halls filled with guitars, drums, clarinets and every manner of pro audio device. It’s a music show, but you’ll find Avalon, Manley, Neumann, Rupert Neve Designs, Millennia, Summit, API, Studer and SSL—to name a few of the major league pro players—scattered among the aisles of instruments and musical accoutrements. The latter is what really gets me—the leagues of sellers hawking clocks, ties, mugs and scarves with musical symbols and notes on them. But I guess somebody actually buys all that stuff, because they’re here year after year.
This year, Fender and Gibson are unveiling yet more models of Strats and Les Pauls—who buys all this stuff??? But what’s even more ridiculous are the hordes (an appropriate term) of no-name knockoffs of everything imaginable. If you can buy an entry level Fender Strat or Gibson Les Paul for $99 or $149, then what’s the point of anyone buying some ridiculous garbage quality copy for $79? Usually the argument is well, it’s the kid’s first guitar so we don’t want to put too much money into it anyway. There are two problems with this. If the crap guitar plays like crap, then it discourages the kid from ever wanting to play–maybe ever! And the other downside of the no-name crap is that the resale value of that no-name piece of junk is essentially zero, whereas the used price on the $149 Strat will still be around $100.
That said, one of the industry’s real secrets is all about consistency. If you buy a higher-end (like custom shop-level) guitar, it oughta play great. If you go through 100 no-name guitars, there might be one or two that play decently, simply through happenstance or luck. If you go through 100 of those $149 Fenders or Gibsons, you’ll probably encounter about 90 that are OK and 10 that are great. In the $500 range, the ratio of OK to great might be 80/20, and so on. But it is possible to find a cheap guitar that plays great or a $$$ model that’s just so-so.
The good thing is, the quality of some of cheaper imports is definitely on the rise and there are some amazing low-cost instruments on the market now. You just have to play LOTS of them to find the one that’s right for you.
I’ve played a lot of guitars at NAMM over the years and what really floors me is the fact that a lot of companies don’t even seem to cherry-pick (or even bother to do a set-up adjustment on) the models they put on display. Maybe it’ll be different this year. Or maybe not. Either way, I’m packing outta here now.
In the meantime, check into www.mixonline.com this week for some NAMM-filled fun with blogging, podcasts, video highlights, product news and more–all from the show floor.
If you’re at NAMM drop by booth #5715 to say hello and maybe upload some of your comments. See ya there!
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Check ‘em out at www.jenpet.com.
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This pre-NAMM week is pretty slow on news, so I figure I’d launch a personal crusade…
Everybody who produces audio is blessed with a talent to create and the ears to separate the good from the… well… not so good. And these days, just about everybody who works in audio has access to the tools to make great recordings–just add talent on both sides of the board and magic can–and will–occur right before your (eyes and ears). Affordable, accessible gear offers the TECHNOLOGY to make it all happen. There’s a lot of great music and artists out there waiting to be uncovered, but for most, this will never emerge due a lack of money and/or access to gear and tech talent.
Here’s where the recording community can come in. Since so many of us have access to gear and know how to use it, why not not devote a session–at least once a year or so–to helping out someone who is talented and could use a break, but otherwise would have no chance to get their music out.
This puts you in the gloriously enviable position of grandmaster label boss/A&R head: Certainly, there’s plenty of needy talent out there to select from, whether at a club, coffeehouse, church choir, school recital, streetcorner, local orchestra or whatever. It’s all up to you to do that good deed, discover and encourage someone with talent—even if it’s just knocking out a quick live to 2-track demo or embellishing someone’s guitar/piano +vocal performance with a few quick overdubs to fill it out. A quick mix, burn a couple CDs to go and they’re on their way to stardom—or at least a better gig.
Lawyers refer to such occasional voluntary good deeds as “Pro Bono”–essentially unpaid work done for the public good–and if that oft-maligned caste of legal practicioners can do a freebie every once in a while, certainly those of us in the music biz could do the same. I’m not implying or suggesting that recording pros need to take an oath of poverty (beyond what we norally experience, anyway) or turn down paying gigs, but doing a good every once in a while could be great thing. Besides, it could be YOU that discovers and gives a break to tomorrow’s rising star. Imagine…
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
I just got an e-mail from South African engineer Peter Thwaites (whose credits include co-engineering Paul Simon’s Graceland with Roy Halee, as well as working with Pavarotti, Johnny Clegg and Savuka, Mutt Lange, Trevor Rabin and many others). Thwaites referred me to some consumer/pro speakers from South African manufacturer Vivid Audio and designed by a staff that includes ex-B&W engineer Laurence Dickie. The line consists of four freestanding systems, with elongated ovoid enclosures cast in a carbon fiber-reinforced polyester compound that’s available in five colors. The speakers look cool and have some intriguing design aspects and tout some impressive specs. Check ‘em out at: www.vividaudio.com.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Check ‘em out at www.jenpet.com.
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Here we are, welcoming in a new year. At least today, we’re all moving slightly faster than yesterday, when we were all feeling the pain and paying the price for the all excesses of the night before. Mine weren’t too bad, I guess, but after hosting a party at my house with a huge music jam that finally broke up around 5:30am on the morning of the first, anyone can feel pretty burned out the next day or so…
But if anything, a new year marks a new beginning—a fresh start so to say. And rather than call them “resolutions,” this is good time to plan out the coming year. Live sound companies know this period pretty well and (after winding all the cables from the New Year’s shows) find the January lull provides a chance to check their inventory and examine new purchases with the traditional moving of components from their “A” systems down into their “B” systems, “C” systems and so on. The hand-me-downs from the “C” and “D” systems can be sold/cast off to someone else, providing a constant cycling (or recycling) of new items into the chain.
This is also a good time to inject a little maintenance into your lives. No, it’s not as exciting as buying new toys, but even something as simple as sitting down and checking all your cables for shorts, opens, missing grounds or reversed polarity can–and will–pay off in terms of avoiding hassles down the road.
Especially in a virtual studio world, maintenance is essential, even if it’s no more than coming up with a regular schedule of backups for that day when (NOT if) your system goes south. This might also be that special moment when you should think about adding more RAM or looking into a new CPU, especially with the eventual arrival of Windows Vista or Mac Leopard.
Even the little things count. Whether you’re working live or in the studio, those small touches like cleaning the mic windscreens every once in a while is a great idea. On the gross scale, few things pin the needle faster than a stinky pop screen, so every once in a while, give them a quick cleaning dip (do make sure you remove the mic BEFORE doing this) or a least scrape the little bits of brie off them now and then. Your clients will thank you for this….
Anyway, welcome to 2007. But while we’re at it, let’s make this world a better place. Don’t forget those occasional unprovoked acts of kindness. If everybody gave some random motorist a break on the road just once a day, that would equate to a billion good deeds a day…. a pretty good start.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Check ‘em out at www.jenpet.com.
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