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TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME 26, ISSUE 2
22 Cover
PISTOLI
4. Letter From the Editor 5. Goodbye Bowie 6. Records That Changed My Life: Matt Heaton
G. Love
by Alexandra Lane
10
26. Soundfly – The Learning Hub for Musicians
28. Create Hits in the Cloud with BandLab 30. The Growth Of Music Analytics 32. TOUR TEST: Mitchell Guitars & Acoustic Amplification
Two Friends
by Zach Blumenfeld
14
34. 5 Tips To Prep Your Tracks For Mastering
36. 5 Awesome Ableton Live Stock Effects To Save You Money
38. Gear Reviews: Mixcraft, iRig, Earthworks, BC Rich, Peterson, PreSonus & more…
Lake Street Dive by Brad Hardisty
18
47. My Favorite Axe: Starlight Girls 48. Flashback: 1963 Epiphone Casino PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 3
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
As we go to press this month, the ink is not yet dry on two very saddening obituaries: Lemmy and Bowie. Both Brits touched my life in much different ways. Although I never had the opportunity to meet either man, their mark on my adolescence and my outlook on the music world is indelible. Lemmy taught me that “fuck everything” rock n roll attitude. I’m gonna do what I want, when I want, as loud as I want, drinking whatever the hell I please in whatever quantities I find suitable. I’m paraphrasing, but I interpreted it as something along those lines. Hey, I was 14 when I first heard “Ace of Spades.” I hadn’t yet figured out that sex, drugs and rock n roll weren’t all they were cracked up to be (well, the drugs anyway).
on the same hilltop once every 10 years for a new documentary. Bowie, on the other hand, made me believe in a similar “fuck everything” attitude that was more cerebral. More about one’s being and self-identity and less about getting piss drunk in an alleyway while your amp caught fire on stage. Everything he did, and every move he made was infinitely cool. He was a true chameleon, and it’s only fitting that his final mark on the world was to time his last album’s release date to coincide with his passing. Warhol is still getting a kick out of that one, I’m sure. But please, rock n roll gods – no more this month. I don’t think we can take it. Benjamin Ricci, editor
He also taught me that you could play metal with a Rickenbacker. And that you always do whatever Penelope Spheeris asks, even if it means standing
PO BOX 348 Somerville, MA 02143 CONTACT
Phone: 617-627-9200 Fax: 617-627-9930 PUBLISHER
William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com EDITOR
Benjamin Ricci ben@performermag.com DESIGN & ART DIRECTION
Cristian Iancu
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Bob Dobalina editorial@performermag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Alexandra Lane, Benjamin Ricci, Brad Hardisty, Christopher Devine, Don Miggs, Jaclyn Wing, Jon Vetri, Jordan Davis, Matt Heaton, Michael St. James, Tim Feist, Vlado Meller, Zach Blumenfeld
P.S. – thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback on our special Social Justice Issue [January 2016]. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and we were incredibly moved to have so many great artists and industry professionals contribute guest columns. If you’d like to see more of these types of issues (and especially if you’d like to contribute yourself), please do make it a point to reach out to us through social media. We’re always listening. Except between the hours of 2:00-3:30pm. That’s nap time. Don’t fuck with our nap time.
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Volume 26, Issue 2
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William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com © 2016 by Performer Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any method whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher. The magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited recordings, manuscripts, artwork or photographs and will not return such materials unless requested and accompanied by a SASE. Annual Subscription Rate is $30 in the U.S.; $45 outside the U.S.
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Performer Magazine, a nationally distributed musician’s trade publication, focuses on independent musicians, those unsigned and on small labels, and their success in a DIY environment. We’re dedicated to promoting lesser-known talent and being the first to introduce you to artists you should know about.
Did we make a heinous blunder, factual error or just spell your name wrong? Contact editorial@performermag.com and let us know, cuz we’re big enough to say, “Baby, I was wrong.”
MUSIC SUBMISSIONS We listen to everything that comes into the office. We prefer physical CDs, cassettes and vinyl over downloads. If you do not have a physical copy, send download links to editorial@performermag.com.No attachments, please. Send CDs to: Performer Magazine Attn: Reviews PO BOX 348 Somerville, MA 02143
4 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS In the words of our esteemed forefathers at CREEM: “NOBODY WHO WRITES FOR THIS RAG’S GOT ANYTHING YOU AIN’T GOT, at least in the way of credentials. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be sending us your stuff: reviews, features, photos, recording tips, DIY advice or whatever else you have in mind that might be interesting to our readers: independent and DIY musicians. Who else do ya know who’ll publish you? We really will... ask any of our dozens of satisfied customers. Just bop it along to us to editorial@performermag.com and see what comes back your way. If you have eyes to be in print, this just might be the place. Whaddya got to lose? Whaddya got?”
1947-2016
the starman who fell to earth. a true space oddity. you were indeed a lad insane, and we loved you for it. we miss you greatly. now let's dance. -performer magazine
REVIEWS
E
ver since I picked up my sister’s abandoned guitar, I knew I wanted to play music for a living. To make a career as a guitarist, I’ve ended up wearing different hats: I play traditional Irish music in a duo with my wife, singer/flute player Shannon; I have a surf band called Matt Heaton and the Electric Heaters; and if you see me before noon, I’ve got a whole other identity playing music for kids. I owe it all to some selective early listening.
RECORDS CHANGED
6 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
REVIEWS Planxty The Planxty Collection (1975)
Big Country The Crossing (1983)
The Raybeats It’s Only a Movie (1983)
If you want to like Irish music, listen to Planxty. The arrangements on this album still blow my mind. I first heard it on an unlabeled cassette given to me by a friend, and it took me years (and many random purchases) to find out what it was. The sport of pre-Internet listening...
Back in the day, U2 was one of a bunch of bands mining the same territory. My money was on Big Country to be the one to conquer. They didn’t. But their debut is still a great piece of majestic ’80s earnestness.
An odd collection with four of my favorite surf/ instrumental tracks ever recorded. I first heard the Raybeats on a Guitar Player flexi record. They remain one of my favorite instro bands and inspired me to play surf music. Finally available on iTunes!
Follow Matt Heaton on Twitter @matt_heaton and at the following URLs: www.mattandshannonheaton.com (Irish) www.heatonsurf.com (surf) www.mattheatonmusic.com (children’s) Which records inspired you to become a musician? Let us know and you can be featured in a future column. Email ben@performermag.com for more info.
S THAT D MY LIFE Matt Heaton
PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 7
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REVIEWS
“One-man toy piano band melts wax with unique melodic whimsy…”
D
ust Bunny is the latest in a long line of whimsical releases from Boston’s oneman toy piano band, Twink (aka Mike Langlie). Right off the bat, it’s well worth seeking out the vinyl over the digital version; the splattercolored platter features an amazing cover design – big props to artist Kate O’Hara on the artwork. Now for the music. Inspired by New England’s hellish winter last year, Dust Bunny is an oddly endearing instrumental mix of plinkyplunky toy pianos, electronica and wonderfully magical vines of melody. Here’s the thing about all Twink releases: you get past the “gimmick” (we hesitate to call it that) in about 30 seconds because the music is actually good and worth listening to. In lesser hands, the idea of ping-ponging away on toy instruments and rudimentary electronics would lose its luster pretty quickly. But Dust
Bunny is not ephemeral nonsense – it has a real purpose, a real story to tell, and as clichéd as it is to say, it takes the listener on a journey. We’re always happy to see a new Twink record show up on our doorstep, and if this winter is anything like last year’s, you might want to take shelter with Dust Bunny and a cup of hot cocoa. Enjoy.
Twink
Dust Bunny
Boston, MA (Disques de Lapin)
Benjamin Ricci
Follow on Twitter: @toypianoband PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 9
SPOTLIGHT Alexandra Lane Brandon Finney
On Pursuing Musical Innovation Through Relentless Collaboration
G. Love and Special Sauce 10 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 11
SPOTLIGHT
Y
ou can walk just about anywhere in Boston and stumble into a good Irish pub. If you’re lucky, it’s a good Irish pub that believes in a clean bar top, a dirty floor, and good tunes. The Tam O’Shanter used to be that bar. Located in the heart of Brookline, The Tam – as it was affectionately called by locals – closed down in the late 1990s, but for years it was a pit stop for famous musicians, and a revolving door for the city’s up-and-coming artists. For Garrett Dutton, current front man of G. Love and Special Sauce, The Tam will always be the place where it all started. Dutton was a street performer in the early ’90s, when The Tam was winding down, but was eager and willing to play anywhere he could get in. So when a busker buddy of Dutton’s called him to say that the opening band at The Tam had cancelled and asked if he’d like to play that slot, Garrett didn’t think twice. That night, 25 years ago, Dutton played for a room of about ten people, including the sound guy, the headlining band, the bartender, the cocktail waitress, and her boyfriend. After his set, Dutton hopped off stage, took a seat at the bar, and struck up a conversation with 12 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
the waitress’ boyfriend, Jeff Clemens, a drummer. The pair talked for hours. “He kind of tried to talk me out of trying to make it, for like two hours,” G. Love says. “So I missed the T, and he gave me a ride home. Then we started the band as a two-piece.” It didn’t stay that way for long, though. Jim Prescott was added soon after. He was also found through The Tam. “Jeff was running a jazz jam at the Tam, and his one rule at the jam was: no electric basses,” G. Love recalls. “Well Jim was like a rock and roll guy, and he had shaved the frets off his Fender bass and brought it down, and Jeff wouldn’t let him get up. So two months later, he came back with an upright, and Jeff had him get up. I think that was kind of a hot-shot jazz jam at the time, so of all the players that were coming through, Jim was probably the least technically proficient, you know, jazz guy. But he was the most perfect for our music, because he came out of rock and roll, and kind of a jammy sensibility.” Twenty-five years later, and – unlike The Tam - the guys are still going strong. They just released their 10th studio album, Love Saves The Day, and are planning yet another national tour in 2016. Their music is fun and funky, jazzy and filled
with that jam-band spirit. They sound like what would happen if a rock band was dropped in New Orleans, stripped of their instruments, and told to ‘just figure it out.’ Their newest record is potentially their bluesiest to date, featuring horns, slide guitars and song titles like “Baby Why You Do Me Like That?” When asked to describe the record in his own words, G. Love immediately says, “Down, Dirty, Blues.” But then he hesitates, thinks, and reconsiders. “Or maybe, ‘trash can blues’ is better.” It’s funny to think of any record that David Hidalgo or Lucinda Williams is featured on as being “trash can” anything, but when you listen to it from start to finish, you understand exactly what he means. It’s gritty and grungy, unpolished, and totally alive. As he recalls his current guitar arsenal, G. Love mentions an Airline ’59 3 pickup, a 1970 Les Paul, as his go-to electrics, a Gretsch Black Falcon, and a Gretsch 60th Anniversary for slide, a J-45 for acoustic and a Bohemian Guitar’s Boho for the fun, gritty, oil can blues jams. But of his guitars, he comments, “I always say that the material possession that’s most dear to me is my 1939 Dobro, which actually, Bo Diddley signed on the back. I ran into him at the airport one day. I literally came around the corner, holding my
But many have panned out to become some of his best work. His favorite collaborations to date are Let the Music Play with Ben Harper and Marc Broussard, and This Ain’t Livin’ with Jasper – a street musician friend from Harvard Square. While both come with wild stories of creation and execution, they share the common thread of innovation.
“And I was like ‘damn, he didn’t even say anything about my guitar!’ I thought at least he would have been like ‘Man, this is a cool Dobro.’ But yeah, it’s a cool, 1939 Dobro. My dad gave it to me when I was 18. So I think it meant a lot to me, for him to give me his blessing with music and the pursuit of music.”
When it comes down to it, that’s really what G. Love and Special Sauce are all about. Whether it’s described as creativity, individuality or freshness is irrelevant. The characteristic that sets this band apart is its need for innovation.
G. Love, now 43, has learned a lot about writing records and creative output over the years. His 10 band albums, and three solo albums have shown him what is possible, musically, and what works, naturally.
They were the first to really coin the idea of hiphop blues, they keep their song development fresh by inviting in a revolving door of collaborators, and they continue to expand their musical style, both as individuals and collectively.
He says that the spirit of their records come – aside from the band itself – from the energy that is generated by bringing in the collaborative guests that are featured throughout. “I always use the analogy of a family dinner where you have guests over,” he explains. “Like, a regular family dinner is good. You need to have those to bond, but that’s kind of where you have that tough love and get at each other or just be bored. But when you have a houseguest over, suddenly everybody’s on their best behavior and
Love Saves The Day seems to be the perfect example of that. Those are the three words that Dutton uses to describe the collaborative process: “Really. Fucking. Awesome.” He loves working with other artists, he explains. But that doesn’t mean he goes into the studio blind. In fact, Dutton says that many times,
“It’s important to be fluid and flexible. Because you should try everything.” they want to show the guest how great they are. It just becomes a different energy. Everybody kind of rises up, steps up their game.” That challenge to be their personal bests causes each member of the band to come to the table with fresh ideas and the drive to perform during studio time, he says. The idea has really paid off on the last two records, as G. Love and Special Sauce kickstarted both Love Saves The Day and Sugar (2014) with the help of David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) in the studio. G. Love explains, “David helps us to establish a bar of ‘OK, like, this is how great everything’s got to be the rest of the week.’ Then we have all these different characters coming in, you know, from Citizen Cope, to Lucinda Williams, Ozomatli, and all these people that we have so much respect for. They all bring such a different thing musically. So you kind of go into their world, and bring them into your world, and the result is usually just really fucking awesome.”
SPOTLIGHT
guitar. I swear to God, I literally almost physically bumped into him. I was like ‘Holy shit! Bo Diddley! Will you sign my guitar?’ and I had a sharpie in my pocket, so he signed it and I walked away.
“We all feel strongly about this record,” he says. “I don’t think it’s going to sell a million copies, because no one buys records. But, might as well go out and show ’em what we’ve got.”
Follow on Twitter: @glove
he will enter into studio hours with songs already well fleshed-out. The creative process then comes from a pre-recording meeting between the two parties. “We approach each song with a meeting, which would actually be out in the cutting room,” he explains. “We’d talk about it and say ‘okay this is the arrangement’ and then we’d cut it and talk about it.” He goes on to explain the process for the title track on Love Saves The Day. Before entering the studio, it was longer with fewer layers. But after the studio sessions, it ended up structurally and lyrically different. “You have to be able to bend your idea from how it was originally,” he says. “Again, that’s why it’s important to be fluid and flexible. Because you should try everything. Some stuff you know right away is not going to work.”
G. LOVE AND SPECIAL SAUCE LOVE SAVES THE DAY STANDOUT TRACK: “MUSE”
Over the years, he’s had to scrap a lot of ideas. PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 13
SPOTLIGHT Zach Blumenfeld Erik Voake
TWOFRIENDS How to Cultivate an Online Persona & Successfully Engage a Passionate Fan Base
14 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT
F
rom the rise of PLUR culture to the genre’s integration into the mainstream musical consciousness, modern electronic dance music has made its name on friendliness and inclusion. So it only seems natural that LA-based production duo Two Friends is on the fast track to success. Comprising inseparable besties Eli Sones and Matt Halper, the independent act has gained a reputation for infectious remixes and outstanding engagement with their fans—and 2016 is the first year they’ll spend making music full-time.
Two Friends started learning how to produce electronic music. “We didn’t have much vision at all,” recalls Sones, “besides ‘we’re second semester seniors, we have free time, let’s just fuck around and maybe we’ll come up with some cool stuff.’”
Sones and Halper met in middle school through a group of mutual friends who quickly became a tight-knit crew that endures to this day. “They called us ‘the Boyfriends,’” admits Halper. It probably wasn’t the best name for an EDM production duo--that aspect of Sones’ and Halper’s friendship only started towards the end of their high school career in 2011. Sones, who had delved into mashup culture but had little knowledge of music theory and still doesn’t play an instrument, asked Halper, a lifelong guitarist with extensive theoretical training, if he was interested in teaming up. “I never really had the inkling to produce, but [Eli] probably got restless with mashups,” Halper says. He agreed that joining forces would be fun, and a few months before they graduated high school, these
“It’s kinda nice that preferences of listeners all over the world have changed. They’re much more open to people trying different styles…”
“We started with just no expectations, which is actually probably a great thing, I think,” says Halper. “If we started with any expectations at all, we probably would’ve been frustrated in the
first two months, like we suck.” Adds Sones: “We had little expectations and little time pressure… we had four years ahead of us.” Those four years were their college experience; though Sones shipped off to Vanderbilt and Halper went up the coast to Stanford, they kept working regularly on their project. What started as a cool hobby slowly morphed into a legit music production operation
that began to pick up traction online and, eventually, on the radio. Their first breakthrough, with the accompanying realization that Two Friends had the potential to be a full-time venture, came when SiriusXM EDM station BPM decided to put their remix of Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die” into regular rotation during the duo’s junior year. “We had kind of started developing a relationship with some of the guys who worked
at that channel because we knew it was an important one, and we had finished that remix, we sent it,” says Sones. “I think it was a matter of hours, we were just not prepared for it, he emails us back and he’s like, ‘We’re gonna play it at the top of the hour.’ I remember we were kind of freaking out because neither of us was home to listen to it, so I had to call my little brother and say get the video camera, sit in the car, make sure you get it, record the whole thing.” PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 15
SPOTLIGHT
The remix received overwhelmingly positive feedback that could not have been more perfectly timed, since it coincided with the release of Big Booty Mix Volume 5, one of a series of hour-long mashups sets that have become a Two Friends mainstay with a devoted following. “People are very passionate about their Big Booty Mixes,” chuckles Halper. The idea originated with Sones, who has created vast spreadsheets of instrumentals and vocal tracks color coded and sorted by key that he and Halper then fit together like a puzzle. Over the eight Big Booty Mixes to date, the sets have gotten better and more complex, weaving in multiple vocal parts over a beat and using upwards of 130 songs over their course. And although Two Friends focuses mostly on originals and remixes now, they still enjoy giving their fans mashups when they want mashups. “We still do it for fun and it’s always a good time, but there’s also a sense of obligation, they want another one, we’ll give it to them,” says Sones.
Sometimes Sones and Halper post screenshots of messages they’ve sent each other that showcase their friendship. Other times, they’ll film themselves at Halper’s house doing such ridiculous things as stuffing spaghetti in their mouths and down their shirts as one of their remixes plays in the background. They also have a long-running gag of pretending to promote their music in the most obnoxious ways possible. Most memorably, though, a man who had asked permission to post a Two Friends song on YouTube asked if they’d give him something in exchange for the “advertising.” They gave him a picture of a potato and posted the conversation on their Facebook page, where it went viral.
“I think that’s a huge trend that’s taking over the whole EDM world, where I feel like it used to be you would make your tracks, they were meant for a nightclub, that they’re not necessarily meant to listen to on Spotify, in your car, in your room,” says Sones. “But now it’s much more universal… and as we get more and more experience, I think we realize that we don’t need to box ourselves into anything. It’s kinda nice that preferences of listeners all over the world have changed, they’re much more open to people trying different styles, different tempos, stuff like that.”
“There’s a funny collage, like a week after that happened, every email had give me a potato, I want one,” says Sones. “It was like what the hell did we get ourselves into? It was a funny thing.”
“The handcuffs of tempo are finally starting to fall off,” remarks Halper. “For years it had to be 128 BPM, 126 BPM, whatever. And now…the trend is going towards trying to make good songs. Whatever sounds good sounds good, it doesn’t have to be house, it doesn’t have to be a midtempo kind of thing.”
That virality is particularly important in the EDM world, which grew up online and is still
Two Friends has been waiting for this development for a while. According to Sones,
“The music always should be number one, but you want to relate to your fans, you want them to feel something more than just ‘I listen to their music on the Internet’—it should be ‘I know them.’” So far, the duo’s devotion to its fans has paid off. This past New Years’ Eve, they posted a list of their 2015 goals on their Facebook page. Among the ones they’ve hit: over sixty thousand followers on SoundCloud and nearly twenty thousand on Twitter to go with well over a hundred thousand fans on Facebook. They’ve built that following not just with great music, but also with a penchant for hilarious, inspiring, and endearing engagement with the social media “family” that starts with their own friendship and extends outward to include their listeners. “There’s so many producers and DJs out there that you wanna feel a connection,” says Sones. “The music always should be number one, but you want to relate to your fans, you want them to feel something more than just ‘I listen to their music on the Internet’—it should be ‘I know them.’” “Guys that we look up to do that amazingly,” adds Halper. “Dillon Francis is the king of that, you know him so well from his Snapchat and his Facebook posts, his fans and everyone knows his inside jokes.” 16 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
largely built around songs quickly building buzz on the blogosphere and sites like SoundCloud and Hype Machine. It’s an environment that’s friendly to independent acts like Two Friends who can successfully engage a passionate fan base and make them feel like family. Though the duo has released a few singles through labels and eventually wants to sign a deal, their online savvy has allowed them to flourish without one, both in terms of their music and their Internet persona, which feed off each other. As their profile rises, Two Friends is looking to shift their focus towards more original music in 2016. Most of their releases last year were remixes: Alesso’s “Cool,” Chainsmokers’ “Roses,” Blink-182’s “I Miss You,” and Tori Kelly’s “Expensive” stand out among them. Through the lens of familiar songs, listeners can pick up on some sonic signatures the duo is starting to develop, such as piano-based top lines and a penchant for experimenting. They’ve started describing their music as “soul house,” a term that intimates the open-mindedness they see in modern electronic music fans who have taken the songs beyond crowded dance floors.
there’s an “arsenal” of about fifteen original songs, varying widely in tempo, style, and progress of production, that they’ve built up over the past couple years and are finally planning to release over the coming months. “People don’t realize how slow and how patient you gotta be with some of these songs,” he says, “so it’s fun to finally be like, ‘Guys, we know that this stuff is cool, and now we’re ready to show it to you.’” If the new music lives up to Sones’ and Halper’s billing and they continue to engage their fans so effectively, this year is going to be very friendly to them.
Follow on Twitter: @twofriendsmusic
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SPOTLIGHT Brad Hardisty
courtesy of Big Hassle
How Crate Digging Can Fuel Inspired Songwriting Sessions
LAKE STREET DIVE
18 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 19
SPOTLIGHT
L
ake Street Dive has garnered attention both as a tenacious live act, playing over 300 dates in the last two years, as well as for their strong a cappella covers on YouTube of The Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The quartet of Rachael Price (vocals), Mike “McDuck” Olson (trumpet, guitar), Bridget Kearney (upright bass) and Mike Calabrese (drums) formed while attending The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, all having strong writing and performance chops. After signing to Nonesuch Records, the band decided to work with Producer Dave Cobb [Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell] at The Sound Emporium in Nashville, to record their latest LP Side Pony. While coming in with a pile of demos to work with before narrowing it to twelve finished songs, it was a hiatus that changed both the direction of their writing with some prodding by Cobb as well as vinyl listening sessions of outside-their-wheelhouse recordings by random artists that sparked new song structures and collaboration. We recently spoke with Mike Calabrese
20 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
Do you all write? We do all write. We have done our songwriting in a specific way pretty much since the beginning but this album; it was a departure from that. You know generally we were off, four songwriters, we would just do demos in each of our own styles and then arrange it together. We wouldn’t have the bulk of the song done but it was always there. What was the big change this time? We had twenty-five songs that we personally had cut down from forty. We did demos of twenty-five songs, then it was the producer who chose and we recorded the [final] twelve. We took about two weeks and then they were pretty much all complete and then at the end we took a big break and listened to everything. Did the break change your attitude? We thought three or four songs were not really album material. The producer thought we should write stuff together. In some cases, we started with just a riff that we were inspired
interested in what we were hearing after 30 seconds, we would just change the song or change the record. From that, we came across a Major Lance record and it had this song ‘Love Pains’ on it. The opening song is the riff of the Major Lance song and so we just took that and a click track out and sort of based it on a pop form, you know, pop structure. The grooves, the words, the melody, the inversions and all that stuff - so that was sort of a fun stretch of five people coming up with a song together. Was Dave Cobb suggested by Nonesuch to produce? We had him lined up. We told Nonesuch about people we wanted to work with and they were excited about us working with Dave, because he had just got a lot of attention from producing Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell. Were you into Sturgill Simpson? I had been turned onto Sturgill Simpson’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music and I had also heard Jason Isbell’s Southeastern. I brought the idea to the band. Sturgill has an old sounding voice but Dave incorporated modern elements
On changing up their writing process: “In some cases, we started with just a riff that we were inspired by from an old record, and we would find a song from there.” by from an old vinyl record that we bought at a record shop, and we would find a song from there. So, you picked up fragments and built tunes over them? I’ll take one example, it’s called ‘Call Off Your Dogs.’ That one was a complete song to start with, written by Bridget [Kearney] and from the beginning she was like, ‘I like the verses, I don’t like the chorus that I have.’ So we sat around coming up with a couple of ideas. The first one was to do the chorus in 4/4, instead of 3/4 which the verses are, and then come up with a hook that encapsulates the song that’s not as complicated as the verses. So, we tried to keep it ‘butt simple’ and come up with something more in the verse. ‘Can’t Stop,’ I think was the greatest departure that we made from our previous record. How did the in-studio songwriting collaboration start? Dave Cobb told us to go out to a record store to the $1 bins and buy records purely based on how funny the cover was and bring it in. We’d sit around on breaks and listen to them. So we would just drop the needle and if we weren’t
SPOTLIGHT
about the new record and the band’s creative process…
into it, and it sort of became something modern. That was sort of something we wanted to do. I brought it to the band and they were like, ‘Yeah this is cool.’
like we sort of skipped a record. There seemed like there should be a record in-between. Kind of like you skipped Rubber Soul and went right to Revolver? That is exactly the same reference that he made, it’s funny that you say that. He said the same thing? He says, ‘I feel like we had Help and we skipped Rubber Soul and went right to Revolver.’ That is exactly what he said. Honestly, you can hear it in the music. It makes sense.
Follow on Twitter: @lakestreetdive
We called Dave after that and it seemed like his philosophy really clicked and he was a very inspired, excited person to work with. He is stretching outside the lines. He was totally excited to work with us because we weren’t a Nashville act. We weren’t in the roots music scene. He still loves Motown, he loves the Beatles, he loves soul and that’s where we’re coming from. So I think it was cool, and it was exciting for everyone. Did you record in Nashville? We recorded at The Sound Emporium. It was great. It was really awesome. We are really happy with what came out. At first it was a shock. In some ways, we didn’t know we even had it in us and in other ways we had never approached coming up with songs in the way that Dave coached us through; we decided we would see what happens and just go along for the ride. Let’s try to merge our two machines. Dave feels
LAKE STREET DIVE SIDE PONY STANDOUT TRACK: “CALL OFF YOUR DOGS”
PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 21
SPOTLIGHT
Jaclyn Wing PISTOLI
22 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
DRESSY B
BESSY
SPOTLIGHT
Using the Comfort of a Home Studio to Kickstart Creativity After a Recording Hiatus
PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 23
SPOTLIGHT
T
o get a band to connect personally and professionally takes time and balance. After a seven year hiatus, Dressy Bessy is back and making their Yep Rock Records label debut with the album KINGSIZED. “If you can get a group of people together to sick it out with you and grow with you, only good and come from it,” says lead singer/guitarist Tammy Ealom. Their passion for music is obvious and flows naturally. Ealom notes that performing is a release of energy and positive vibes. She is proud of how the band plays together and notes that they feed off each other. All of the songs on the new LP reveal something inherently personal about Ealom but at the same time, relates to the general population. Ealom notes that for the past seven years “it’s not like I’ve been sitting here doing nothing… I’ve been writing!” Inspiration flows out her and songs aren’t forced. In the moment, things just happen and she doesn’t questions the origin. Looking back, she can usually reflect and realize where those feelings came from and what they were tied to. “I can’t really 24 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
pinpoint what I’m trying to say; I just let it go. Each time the song can be about something different, it can relate to what I’m feeling at that moment,” says Ealom. Perspectives change over time and our understanding of things evolve. Ealom’s ‘everything’s relative’ and ‘day-by-day’ perspective is the reason people can relate to the music on a deeper level.
record this album in their home studio because it was less pressure and they wanted to concentrate more on the performance aspect. Having the time and freedom for the creative process to flow was key to this album’s organic feeling. The quality of the room can dramatically alter sound. To get an accurate-sounding environment,
“Our main tracking room is also our rehearsal space and pretty much breaks every rule for what is generally considered a good tracking space.” Dressy Bessy’s first two albums were completed in their home studio and the following two were completed in professional recording studios. They initially made the switch because they had the option to: “It’s rock and roll! You have to try different things,” says Ealom. With recording in their home studio, Ealom notes that they downside is the same as the upside: “You can do what you want but you catch yourself second guessing.” They chose to
in terms of room treatment, guitarist John Hill notes that “our main tracking room is also our rehearsal space and pretty much breaks every rule for what is generally considered a good tracking space.” Hill reflects that there is so much gear in their room that reverberations aren’t much of a problem. The band tends to favor very dry sounds and their room has proven to be effective in this regard. Aside from vocals and percussion, all tracks
SPOTLIGHT
“One unique thing about our recording approach is that we rarely use condenser mics, with the exception of the drum set-up, and some of the backing vocals.”
some of which include the Beyer M201, Beyer M69, Beyer M160, Shure SM7b, and GLS Audio ES-57. Most bass tracks DI using a Little Labs Redeye into Sound Skulptor MP573. Hill notes, “One unique thing about our recording approach is that we rarely use condenser mics, with the exception of the drum set-up, and some of the backing vocals.”
Dressy Bessy’s indie-rock sound doesn’t try to emulate anyone else. Ealom expresses that by saying, “I have to make music whether people come out and like it or not.” I don’t think we’ll have to wait another seven years for another album. Dressy Bessy is back and ready to rock!
In true gear head fashion, Hill has a top-five list of pieces of gear that he couldn’t live without: EV RE20, Beyer M201, Beyer M69, Advanced Audio CM87se and the CAPI VP26 preamps.
are done in that room. Ealom likes having her own space to work out vocals since there is no pressure and her creativity can flow. They do a rough mix and then add vocals, which can, in turn, inspire lead guitar parts. Hill is the gearhead of the group and has fully stocked their home studio. For outboard gear they have preamplifiers in the API 500 Series format (8 channels total), although none of their modules are actually API. The two primary brands are Sound Skulptor MP573, which is a Neve 1073 inspired preamp, and Classic Audio Products of Illinois (CAPI) VP26. For tracking, Hill doesn’t use much processing but generally will have a compressor/ limiter in-line. Some of those are FCS Pico 500 (VCA), Alta Moda AM-10 (FET), Aphex Expressor (VCA), and Urei/JBL 7110 (modified). Ealom does most of her vocals with ElectroVoice RE20 into a Cloudlifter CL-2. For drums, Hill uses a rather simple set-up (a slightly modified Glyn Johns method for mics), two Advanced Audio CM87se for overheads, Beyerdynamic M201 on snare, EV RE20 inside kick, and CAD E100 outside kick. For guitars, Hill uses variations of two mics,
After a seven-year absence from recording, Ealom notes that the Internet has completely taken over in terms of bands self-promoting. Musicians are constantly throwing themselves out there just so people know who they are. The biggest challenge they think they will face with having a seven-year gap is finding what their old fan base is doing now. Having a support system that really appreciates the music isn’t only made up of the fans, it’s also the label that backs you. Signing with Yep Rock has been great for Dressy Bessy and they have nothing but positive things to say about the experience. “They really love our band and that’s number one. They [have] a great infrastructure, a great team of people and are working really hard for us,” says Ealom. Since the 2008 release of Holler and Stomp, the band has reconstructed itself. The number of notable guests bassists has increased and the collaborations have greatly impacted their music. The bass lines for KINGSIZED are stylistically different, so they sought out bassists with varying styles so each track would have a unique vibe. The collaborations happened so organically and working in their home studio really allowed the creative juices to flow unencumbered.
Follow on Twitter: @DressyBessyBand
DRESSY BESSY KINGSIZED STANDOUT TRACK: “POP PHENOM”
PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 25
MUSIC BUSINESS
– THE LEARNING HUB F
M
26 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
usicians, by nature, are constantly learning new things; from fresh songs to gear tricks, recording techniques to music business concepts. The life of a musician is an ongoing education process (or at least it should be). Even if you’ve played your instrument for 20 years, I’m willing to bet there is a style or scale you haven’t learned yet. I’ve written songs since before I was a teenager, and I still find value in learning new lyrical techniques, or exploring new modes and forms of songwriting.
There are fine institutions that focus exclusively on contemporary music studies, such as Berklee College of Music, Clive Davis Institute at NYU Tisch, and others. But as we all know, traditional education is not available to everyone for various reasons. Some simply can’t afford it, and others are not in the position to move and live in a new location. But the delivery method can be an impediment, too. As a teacher, I have experienced the challenge of balancing immersive one-on-one learning or lectures with
those who prefer to learn at their own pace, on their own time. Increasingly, learning by online video lessons is becoming the first choice of many. I spoke with Ian Temple, founder and CEO of Soundfly, a Brooklyn-based video education platform. Can you give me the elevator pitch for Soundfly? We are building the online learning hub for musicians. Basically, we are creating accessible and highly engaging learning resources for anyone, anywhere in the world, to improve their music skills. As someone who has been involved in developing OnlineEdu, you’ve done an awesome job. It’s so difficult to get the right mix of interaction, discussion, and tracking. Thank you very much. You hit on it the important parts, interaction and tracking progress. We worked really hard on that and I’m proud of the entire team’s work. What are some examples of Soundfly lessons? Well, the catalog is growing all the time. “Demystifying Synths” is really gaining traction, with a completion rate over 60%. But, we have everything from “Beginner Piano Theory” to “Touring on a Shoestring.” We are always open to hearing from the community about what they
want to see on the site, too. Is Soundfly meant for professionals or amateur musicians? It’s our core belief that “anyone can be a musician.” We’re a team of musicians who still work on Soundfly, and other jobs along the way. Our number of students has doubled since October, so we think it’s working for all experience levels. What’s your history with being a musician? Like many, I took classical piano growing up and it just didn’t stick. Then in high school, my mom asked me to give it one more chance, and sent me to a crazy old guy down the street who taught jazz. I went to a one-hour lesson with him. He was amazing, sharing his love of music, stories and the history of jazz. He taught me a basic chord progression and then how to play with the right hand over the top. Basically, he gave me the best improv lesson ever, and suddenly the world of music opened to me. Where do you stand on the free education movement vs. traditional? There is value in both of them. We all learn in so many different ways. I think that there are some things that the Internet is set up to do really well, and some things are better in person. The really cool thing is when you use them both together like we have with Carnegie Hall and West Side Story. We have a couple of colleges using our course with their musical theater courses. So,
MUSIC BUSINESS
HE NEXT-GEN FOR MUSICIANS you have professors mixing non-traditional video with their own [curriculums]. These are very high-quality courses. Are the instructors producing the content? Actually, all of our videos are generated/produced by our staff at Soundfly HQ in Brooklyn. We have an awesome team of seven story/content producers who work closely with instructors to produce their vision, but also make it valuable and accessible for our students. For instance, Carnegie Hall was very happy to let us come in and make the content and then we crafted a course around it. I’ve noticed most courses are free and some are paid; what is the overall vision of Soundfly? The model we are pursuing is to provide most courses for free. We want to share music knowledge with the world, that’s why we’re doing this. Some larger courses will be premium, and we hope to have a subscription option soon. Right now, we are focused on creating an amazing catalog of lessons that anyone can use at anytime to better their music life. Try it out for free at soundfly.com. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael St. James is the founder and creative director of St. James Media, specializing in music licensing, publishing, production and artist development.
PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 27
MUSIC BUSINESS
CREATE HITS CLOUD WITH CAPTURING TRACK IDEAS ON-THE-FLY How often does this happen to you? You have a killer song idea, maybe just a snippet of a melody, and it’s been kicking around in your head long enough now to where you feel you must record it somewhere. So, what do you do? Do you open up Pro Tools or Logic? Maybe, but the snippet’s not really ready to be a track yet with set tempos and such. Evernote? Sure, sometimes, but mostly for the lyrics; the audio save functions are so clunky. Have you ever done the Quicktime Audio trick? But that was impossible when you were away from a computer, I needed to be able to record a clip at anytime, anywhere. Shoot, I’m old enough to remember the days of having a mini-cassette recorder on me, or on my nightstand, to capture those moments instantly. And if you are wondering how well that worked, well I have about 150 cassettes of ideas that are damn near impossible to port into a digital files, so…basically a useless but fun memory. 28 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
For me, the answer for the past few years has been Voice Memo on the iPhone. In fact, many producers and songwriters I work with do this. It’s quick, mobile, and records fairly good quality for these purposes. This works, but I can’t tell you how many frustrated times I’ve seen “New Recording 8.”
LIMITATIONS In all of these cases, there are major limitations. First, simply categorizing and being able to archive or get these notes on computer has always been hell. For instance, you can record audio but can’t attach the lyric notes to the audio recording. Or on the flip side, you have tons of lyric notes hanging around, but no correlating audio. Second, if you are co-writing or collaborating, it becomes even more difficult to share notes in the same way you can share sessions or tracks in a pro-audio environment. With the switch to 64-bit, there is even more friction between DAWs and plug-in stacks.
MUSIC BUSINESS
TS IN THE H BANDLAB Introducing BandLab, the first cloud-based platform (iOS, Android, and Desktop) where musicians can capture their ideas and create/ produce new songs with anyone, anywhere in the world. ENTER BANDLAB BandLab focuses on three areas; let’s break them down. It all starts with Idea Capture. This is where you can sing that little melody, make a few lyric notes, and store that sucker to work on for later. BandLab’s interface on web and mobile makes it very easy and intuitive to record, wipe, and record again, until you like it. You can even save multiple “takes” because BandLab offers unlimited storage; no exceptions. After you have an idea captured, you go to the Mix Editor. This is somewhat of an amazing feature. You can really arrange, mix and tweak until your heart is content here. The UI is very intuitive if you’ve ever used
a multi-track DAW or software music editor. Additionally, you do not need to “sing” an idea capture, you can simply upload recordings, say a bass line, acoustic track, or beat, directly into the Mix Editor which accepts mp3, .wav, and .aac files. And you will find some limited loops and instrument pads here, as well. As the Mix Editor is on a platform, you can invite others to co-produce or add to tracks in the same environment. This can be very useful for song collaborations, especially in the pre-production phase.
hat on for a quick sec. Please, please, please, get split sheets on all of these. Make sure all of those who are involved have signed off on exact publishing and writing shares. OK, rant finished.
And like seemingly every freaking startup, BandLab has introduced a way for community sharing. It’s called “Forking,” and it’s basically a way for other musicians, or even fans, to add to or create their own versions of your creations. You can have multiple people, strangers even, adding to “works in progress,” or by invite only to un-released tracks.
So, go try it at BandLab.com for yourself. It’s free to use, there is unlimited storage, and all features are available to everyone from signup. I think it can be a great tool to capture those ideas that great songs eventually come from.
Normally I am not a fan of this, and I’m sure many of you who have written a song with more than one or two people probably feel the same way. Let me just put my music publisher/licensor
My qualms aside, I can see how it’d be a cool way for your band or project to activate fan participation. It’s fairly easy to share the link to your mix, so it’d be easy to do a contest involving this platform, centered around your latest single or a song you are working on.
LEARN MORE at bandlab.com ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael St. James is the founder and creative director of St. James Media, specializing in music licensing, publishing, production and artist development. PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 29
MUSIC BUSINESS
A Trillion Data Points: The Growth Of Music Analytics
E
And Why Knowing Your Band’s Data is Crucial
veryone knows that music has made the leap onto the Internet. But perhaps no one better understands how drastic this leap has been, or what its implications are, than Alex White, co-founder and head of music analytics company Next Big Sound. “I think the top-line number of over a trillion plays in the first half of [2015] alone is a really significant milestone for the industry,” he comments. That’s a trillion plays online in six months - a trillion data points to be measured and interpreted by everyone from fledgling artists seeing where they’re popular to major labels looking to sign the hottest new talent. Let’s take a look at how we got here and where music analytics stands now. THE PROPERTIES OF SONGS Though music analytics today focuses on artists’ performance in the market, the field has its roots in data scientists trying to categorize songs based on their acoustic properties. Two early pioneers were the Music Genome Project and Hit Song Science. The former, which used an algorithm of sonic traits called “genes” to determine similarities between songs, was the brainchild of Tim Westergren, who founded Savage Beast Technologies in 2000 to market the product as a music recommendation service at brick-andmortar stores. When the company floundered in the mid-2000s, it changed its name to Pandora and applied the Music Genome Project to the creation of individualized digital radio channels. Hit Song Science, a product of Barcelonabased Polyphonic HMI, sought to take its formula one step further than the Music Genome Project, attempting to predict songs’ success by comparing them to past hits. The software made some waves when it accurately predicted that Norah Jones’ 2002 debut album Come Away With Me would be a commercial smash, contrary to the expectations of many industry insiders. Like Savage Beast, though, Polyphonic struggled to find a market for its product, perhaps because of its artificial nature. According to a Harvard Business School case study on Polyphonic, “initial sales pitches had met with considerable resistance, and early news reports on Hit Song Science voiced some concerns,” many of which expressed skepticism over a machine’s ability to judge a song’s emotional impact. “Both Savage Beast and Polyphonic HMI were
30 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
a little too early to the music recommendation game and both companies were approaching bankruptcy,” said Polyphonic’s former CEO Mike McCready. “The music recommendation product just wasn’t catching on.” In an industry that has traditionally relied on “golden ears” and the subjective tastes of legendary A&R executives to make hits, it’s easy to see why the idea of reducing songs to mathematical properties was rejected. By directing the Music Genome Project towards the consumer, though, Pandora created a highly marketable music recommendation engine that laid the foundation for streaming services to take over the music industry. Apple Music and Spotify recommend music to users in a similar fashion, and Spotify in particular has embraced the analytical method, using algorithms to generate not just customized playlists but also, as of November, concert recommendations. DATA MOVES TOWARDS THE MARKET With the wholesale movement of music to the Internet and the advent of social media has come a flood of listener data that wasn’t available when terrestrial radio and record stores ruled. The focus
of music analytics has accordingly shifted toward making sense of this data, with an eye toward predicting artists’ future successes based on their current performance across as many platforms as possible. Such is the growth in this market-based music analysis that in the past two years, each of the industry’s leaders was acquired by a streaming service in a multimillion dollar deal: Spotify bought The Echo Nest, Apple Music bought Semetric (creator of Musicmetric), and Pandora bought Next Big Sound. Alex White said that the acquisition was initially driven by his company’s attempts to access Pandora’s listenership data. “In October of 2014 they opened up their artist marketing platform, which was the first time they’d shared their data publicly, so that was a big first step,” he told me. “They’d never bought a company before…we were just asking to license their data.” The process highlighted the most important playing field upon which the music analytics services compete: getting their hands on every iota of information. The Internet offers myriad ways to share music, and the more of these can be tracked by a label’s
The other key for each analytics company is the patented formula it uses to compile statistical reports on rising artists and songs. Musicmetric and Next Big Sound present some of their findings in public charts - the latter partners with Billboard to create the Social 50, a measurement of the most active artists on social media, and the Next Big Sound 15, an indicator of artists predicted to go viral based on their current online acceleration - but The Echo Nest keeps its “hotttnesss” rating system hidden, and only paying clients can access each service’s full suite of crunched numbers. And for good reason: the number crunching produces remarkably accurate predictions of success. For instance, Next Big Sound’s 2015 midyear report showcased how the company’s ability to track YouTube uploads of songs allowed it to predict, last January, that Halsey’s fame would grow exponentially and that Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” and OMI’s “Cheerleader” would dominate the summer airwaves. “We’ve been tracking this activity since 2009 online, so we have a lot of patterns for every artist that’s broken in those six years,” said White, “and we can see where they were at this stage in their career and what their trajectory looks like compared to everybody else.” It seems obvious for music industry professionals and brand partners to consult music analytics regularly, but it also behooves independent artists to use these services as a way to determine where and how their fans are best engaging with their material. In the future, White said, Next Big Sound hopes to convert its data directly into actionable items for delivery to its users instead of merely presenting numbers and leaving the interpretation up to clients. AN OLD DOG’S NEW TRICK: MUSIC XRAY Meanwhile, Mike McCready hasn’t lost hope in analyzing songs themselves. He reconfigured his Hit Song Science to form Music Xray, of
which he is the CEO, in 2009. Rather than directing hit predictions at labels and A&R personnel, Music Xray focuses on the artists themselves. For $10, they can put a song through the company’s diagnostics, which combines feedback from five industry professionals and twenty music fans with a patented algorithm to determine the likelihood that the song will be selected for one of the plethora of label opportunities, brand partnerships, or sync deals offered on Music Xray. “The only purpose of diagnostics is so that upon that first transaction, upon that song coming into our system, we can gather enough information about it to know whether it’s a needle or a strand of hay,” said McCready. “And we can show that information back to the artists.” Doing so ensures that most of the songs submitted to opportunities on Music Xray will be of high quality - with submissions costing an average of $16 and the company’s prediction model based on the assumption that songs are submitted to twenty opportunities, artists whose songs receive low scores will likely leave the site - and thereby turns the service into what McCready describes as an “industry filter,” a place for unsigned talent with high potential to break free of the Internet noise. Hit Song Science’s original comparison of acoustic properties still has a place on Music Xray in a sort of recommendations role; for example, if a music supervisor uploads “Crazy Train” as a reference track, any artist with a similar sounding track on Music Xray is notified. More interestingly, after six years at the company’s helm and well over a decade in music analytics, McCready is confident enough in his predictions that Music Xray has
MUSIC BUSINESS
A&R department, a management firm, or a corporate brand, the better chance they have of discovering an independent artist who is blowing up on one particular platform.
begun offering to front the submission fees for high-potential songs in exchange for 20% of the resulting deal. When asked why high-potential artists would give up 20% of a deal they were likely to land anyways, McCready pointed to the investment strategy as a way to finally awaken skeptical musicians to the power of song analysis and prove that Music Xray isn’t just out to nickel-and-dime musicians; once that happens, the company will shift its investments to the industry professionals who bring these artists to market. And McCready is certain it will happen; he likens the music industry’s apprehension to that of mainstream baseball during the advent of “moneyball,” which displaced the same “gut instinct” and artistic “fussiness” that still dominates much of A&R. It will likely take a string of chart-topping successes uncovered by Music Xray to convince the world at large that analytics should be applied to music itself. Until then, the field’s role in the music industry will be “confined” to collecting and analyzing those trillion data points. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Zach Blumenfeld is a freelance music journalist from Chicago. He will vigorously defend his city’s music scene against any coastal detractors, though that’s probably just his Midwestern inferiority complex acting up. He’s an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, where he hosted a live performance/interview radio show for three years, and now he spends his nights reviewing concerts for Chicago publication Gapers Block. You can follow him on Twitter @zachblumy. PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 31
TOUR TEST
Jamie Tervort Photography
TOUR TEST FINAL REPORT:
Mitchell Element Guitar & Acoustic A40 Amp [Editor’s note - in September we put out a call for musicians to enter to win a fantastic prize pack of a Mitchell Element Guitar (ME1ACE) and an A40 Acoustic Instrument Amp (from Acoustic Amplification). Winner number one was Jordan Davis, who posted a number of updates on social media during his testing period with the gear. His final wrap-up is below, followed by winner #2 Tim Feist’s report. Thanks again to all who entered!] JORDAN DAVIS When I get a new guitar I write songs on it that fit its sound. While exploring its ins and outs I hit record on SoundCloud and music is born. From that point the guitar and song are bound together. Hence my taking three different guitars to perform live on a radio show. In many cases the guitar becomes a part of the story of its songs, 32 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
from backstreets to rooftops to mountaintops and beyond. And now I am starting to uncover more stories, sounds, and songs via the newest guitar in my arsenal: a Mitchell acoustic/electric in the Element Series, the ME1ACE. The Venetian cutaway in the body is great for soloing up higher and for capo play. The built-in tuner and volume controls are a dream compared to other options for tuning right before a show. Turning on the LED tuner (by Fishman) automatically stops the output into the amp. Recently I performed at a wedding, and was actually able to fine-tune a bit during the ceremony between the entrance and exit music I played without disrupting anything. The sound is clear and bright, and I have enjoyed some alternate tunings thus far. The solid spruce top adds some nice reverberation
for rhythm parts. I adjusted the truss rod a bit to eliminate some of the buzz, and will work with a specialist to get the action where I would like it. One more needed adjustment is a quick file on the frets poking out on the bottom of the neck, as they can snag on things mid-song. But overall, no biggie. The A40 from Acoustic Amplification accompanying the guitar in the tour test package goes well with the Mitchell Element, and I love its power and clarity. After performing with the pair at the wedding I mentioned, I was DJing the festivities, and the volume in the venue’s built in sound-system wasn’t sufficient. I switched over to the A40 using smartphones and the built-in Bluetooth functionality it gave all the bounce needed for the remainder of the night’s dancing. The dual-channel, and versatility with
Tim Feist
TOUR TEST
accepting a standard mic input or a quarterinch cable are great functionality, but there’s just one caveat in that the variety of built-in effects available will apply to both channels. The Bluetooth integration is something I will continue to rely on heavily. It is just for playback, rather than for controlling the effects, but is very handy. I also enjoyed the feedback prevention technology, and the shape of the amp with its and control accessibility and upward projection.
Tim Feist
The wedding was the easiest gig I have ever done in terms of preparation and logistics. The guitar is incredibly light and easy to handle, and the amp is compact, easy to control, and powerful. These two quality items go together nicely. Thanks again, Performer Magazine, Mitchell Guitars, and Acoustic Amplification for the chance to tour test them! For more, listen now at yorudan.bandcamp.com.
TIM FEIST Mitchell has completely hit it out of the park with the ME-1 ACE; this guitar is amazing. The tone is wonderful. Picking it up and strumming that first chord is intoxicating! On top of that, it is one of the lightest acoustic guitars that I have ever held. It sounds extremely full and balanced. When I tune the guitar down to drop D, drop C, and different alternate tunings, there is not any difference whatsoever. I don’t get any fret buzz or anything. The addition of the Fishman electronics on board is also huge. The electronics that I have had before have always been extremely bulky and in the way, so to speak. These controls on this are very hidden, yet accessible. Also, the on-board tuner is very convenient. One press of a button and all of the sound (if amplified) is completely muted and I can tune the guitar without anyone being the wiser. However, I think the biggest compliment that I can give to Mitchell is that, in my opinion, they have produced a guitar that is absolutely affordable, yet has the tone and reliability of certain other +$1000 guitars (not to be named) right out of the box. For all of those parents looking to get their son or daughter a guitar to start learning, this has the kind of price tag to not only beg you to buy it, but will last your little one all the way from the first time they pick it up, until their very first gig. I now move on to the A-40. Acoustic Amplification has an amazing product here, as well. As a songwriter, this amp has everything that I could personally ever want. I have the ability to plug my guitar in, amplify my guitar, and even add effects to it. There are 20 factory presets available to me, ranging from reverbs, all the way to chorus
effects, and more. There are even 20 “user” presets available to me to customize any way that I want. The options for that little something “extra” in my tone are huge! My favorite thing about this amp, though, is the ability to plug my microphone into it. As a songwriter this is awesome! The other thing that I realized is that all of the factory and user presets can apply to my microphone as well. This means that now I can go out to ANY venue I want to, plug my Mitchell into my Acoustic A-40, and then plug my microphone in, and just go at it. I can have the natural tone of my Mitchell, and then use the Acoustic A-40 to add any of the numerous effects to my vocals, to make a very dynamic performance. Finally, as I was sitting on my couch the other night with my wife, I picked up my phone, synced it with the A-40’s Bluetooth,
and hit play. I’m sure that Acoustic Amplification intended musicians to use this feature in a different way, however, as I look back, I realize how incredibly convenient and cool that this little feature is in so many different aspects. To me, this set-up is AMAZING, for not only the person who wants to take their one man/woman show ANYWHERE, but also for the beginner who wants to cultivate their talent and passion! I think that these are extremely great instruments on their own. However, together, they make an unstoppable duo. This project has made me a true believer in not only Acoustic Amplification and Mitchell Acoustic Guitars, but the combination of both. Try it, you will not be disappointed! For more, head to www.facebook.com/ABreathAwayBand PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 33
RECORDING
5 TIPS TO P TRACKS FOR
T
hroughout more than 40 years in the music industry as a mastering engineer, I’ve worked with artists ranging from Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson and Celine Dion to Kanye West, Metallica and Prince.
label request, and makes it sound cohesive for the commercial release. We are the last piece of the recording puzzle before it’s approved to distribute to the market.
should pick one particular album they really like, as far as their sound guide for their upcoming album, then give those ideas as examples to your mastering engineer. LEAVE SPACE IN THE MIX I always tell clients that they should leave at least 3-5db’s headroom, which means the mixers should take off the limiters and finalizers and give us the mixes without these enhancements.
Here are some tips that should help you better understand the art of mastering and improve the sound of your finished product:
With today’s albums recorded and mixed by various engineers and producers in various studios, it’s crucial for the finished album to sound like one cohesive work. This is where a mastering engineer’s work is invaluable. All of the levels/ EQs, fades, crossfades are adjusted depending on the type of music and the artist’s specific requests. Mastering engineers also optimize the tracks for various formats - CD, iTunes, radio, or vinyl – and edit songs when they need to be assembled from different takes.
KNOW WHAT MASTERING IS Everyone who takes part in the recording process needs to be clear on exactly what mastering is. A mastering engineer is an independent set of ears who takes the sound of each track, enhances it, creates the album sequence according to client/
KNOW THE SOUND YOU WANT With so many independent artists knowing very little about mastering, it’s important for them to at least know what kind of sound they want - quiet, loud, dynamic, emphasis on low end, emphasis on vocals, then work from there. Artists
If you have a decent mix with proper head room then it’s possible for us to do a nice and thorough mastering job, and we can do a better job addressing whatever concerns the artist may have, especially with the digital EQ tools available these days.
But far too many artists and producers whether major stars or unknown acts - have expressed confusion or ambivalence about what mastering actually is, and how earlier steps in the recording process can make things go more smoothly in the mastering process.
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So many new mixers these days decide they want to “finalize” the songs – i.e. make it as loud as a finished album – so when it comes time for mastering, it’s so saturated that there’s absolutely nothing we can do to enhance that track.
KEEP COMMUNICATION OPEN THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS A simple way to look at the relationship between mastering and mixing is that mastering exaggerates the mix. If you had problems in the mix, they will become more prominent when they get mastered - louder, brighter, bassier, etc. It can’t be overstated how important and clear the communication between mixer and mastering engineer needs to be each step of the way. Good mixers will often ask me, “How is the mix?”, and I’ll share honest feedback and we’ll work back and forth until the mix is truly optimized for mastering. They appreciate the feedback because their name is on the record, just like mine is. That said, it can get extremely complicated and expensive when producers keep sending new mixes to the mastering engineer, so it’s vital to be clear on financial flexibility, especially for smaller independent artists. Good mix engineers will also give us multiple versions of songs – “vocals
slightly louder,” “bass slightly down,” etc. – so any corrections that need to be made late in the process are easier. Also, the fact that few albums are done in one place these days makes this type of communication even more important, so there is a sense of cohesion early on in the process rather than at the very end. ATTEND THE MASTERING SESSION It’s always been preferable for artists and producers to attend the actual mastering session, so they can directly communicate with the mastering engineer about any EQ/level changes they may want to make. If it’s an artist’s first time putting out a record, it’s even more crucial for them to understand what goes on in the mastering process and how they can attain the exact sound they have in mind. If all goes well, this should take a day or two of studio time. Then, they can really experience and learn the difference between mixing and mastering.
RECORDING
PREP YOUR R MASTERING
FINAL THOUGHTS For producers and engineers interested in getting a more in-depth look at the mastering process, I’ve been hosting hands-on workshops geared towards serious audio professionals. We’ve had engineers from all over the world come to our state-of-the-art studio in Charleston, South Carolina, with the latest technology on-hand to guide them through the most advanced mastering techniques. You can find more info on that at www. vladomastering.com. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vlado Meller is one of the most esteemed mastering engineers throughout more than four decades in the music industry, working with artists including Michael Jackson, Kanye West, Pink Floyd, Frank Ocean, Andrea Bocelli, Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, and Metallica. Vlado worked with CBS/Sony Records for 38 years and continues to work independently in Charleston, South Carolina. PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 35
RECORDING
5 Awesome Ableton Liv FX That Will Save You $ EQ Eight: This equalizer is my whole life. My mixes live and die by this EQ. Equalization is the most important part of mixing, and I honestly believe it needs to be done to every element in your mix. The EQ Eight features eight parametric filters per input channel. Each filter has a chooser that allows you to switch between eight responses. From top to bottom in the choosers, 36 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
these are: • 48 or 12 dB/octave Low cut (cuts frequencies below the specified frequency); • Low shelf (boosts or cuts frequencies lower than the specified frequency); • Bell curve (boosts or cuts over a range of frequencies); • Notch (sharply cuts frequencies within a narrow range); • High shelf (boosts or cuts frequencies higher
than the specified frequency); • 12 or 48 dB/octave High cut (cuts frequencies above the specified frequency). The EQ Eight has an output spectrum analyzer enabled for you, to give you a visual interpretation of your equalization. My biggest reason for using the EQ Eight is cleaning up mud in my mix, so here are a few tips:
Multi-Band Dynamics (OTT Compressor): “OTT” stands for Over the Top, and that’s exactly what this aggressive compressor is. I love using this on my basslines, to make them sound fuller. If my bassline has some reverb on it, that’s bonus points.
Good Starting point for Bass/Kick Sidechain Compression: Attack: 1ms Release: 30-50ms Ratio: 6:1 Threshold: Adjust by using your ears
Corpus (Kick Tight): Always throw this on my Sub and Kick Drums. Super useful effect, but needs to be used with caution. It can make your Kick go from amazing to unlistenable real quick.
Simple Delay (Haas Effect): Works best on pads, strings, or any big lead in your track. The goal of using the Haas effect is to make a sound bigger, fuller, and wider. Within Ableton you can achieve this effect by dropping a Simple Delay onto your channel. Make sure you don’t have the link button enabled, and switch the settings on the delay from “Synch” to “Time.” Set the left channel to any number between 5-20ms, and then the right channel to any different number in that same range. Don’t go outside that range of numbers or it will make your track sound very strange and wacky, and not in a cool way! Then make sure your “Dry/Wet” knob is up all the way to 100%.
The OTT uses Upward Compression, which is an uncommon type of compression. You use this to make quiet signals below the threshold louder. I typically use it on my basslines to round off the highs to then enable greater amplitude and grunt to the lower frequencies.
RECORDING
Sidechaining is extremely important because it can help in ensure that your bassline will make room for the attack of your kick drum, since they will be competing for the same low frequencies. I also sidechain tons of other elements in my mix. My bassline with my sub, or my snares with my effects. Anytime I want to bring one element out of the mix, but it might be competing with the same frequencies of something else, I use a sidechain compressor. The compressor in Ableton is perfect. If you’re trying to bring out a kick drum with a competing bassline, just insert a compressor on the bass track, and unfold the compressor window. Then select the sidechain parameter, and where it says “Audio From” is your input. Select your Kick drum channel in your input. Your compressor will now be enabled every time your Kick drum hits.
The best way to envision what the OTT is doing from my perspective is when it’s inserted on the bass channel, you are heavily compressing the signal. By using the “Dry/Wet” knob you can then blend between the super compressed signal and uncompressed signal.
Corpus is an effect processor that will allow you to add the synthetic layer to anything it is applied to. The Kick Tight Pre-set is great because when enabled it becomes an effect processor that allow us to add girth and body to weak kick drums. Try it out but be careful with the “Dry/Wet” Knob, so you don’t overdo it. I’d say stick to 30%-50%. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jon Vetri is a DJ, producer, and A&R Manager at Wind-up Records and has worked closely on the launch of Eclypse Records, not to mention with bands like The Griswolds, Crobot, and Civil Twilight.
Live Stock u $$$ Low End: Try less sub more (80Hz – 140Hz) on the kick drum; Mid-Range: Try cutting (450Hz - 800Hz) for a clearer top end; Highs: Use Panning and Stereo Separation/ Width to avoid too much build up in one spot. Compressor (Sidechain): I make a lot of dance music, and without sidechain or ducking my mixes would be a disaster. PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 37
GEAR REVIEWS
IK MULTIMEDIA iRig Acoustic - $49
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martphones and tablets have become very useful in recording, especially for electric instruments, but for acoustics, a microphone was pretty much the only way to go. IK Multimedia now has a solution with their iRig Acoustic pickup. Size-wise, it’s not much bigger than a standard guitar pick. Simply slide it onto the edge of the guitar’s sound hole, and connect it to a smartphone/tablet’s headphone jack. There is a small section of the cable that allows connection of a 1/8” headphone jack for monitoring. Recording can be done via a variety of standard and stock (already installed) apps, but IK has a free version of their iRig recorder that works great with it. With a few adapters
(1/8” to 1/4” TRS), it could also be used as a live mic/pickup just as easily. The sound quality is excellent, and it doesn’t pick up a lot of extraneous or unwanted noise. In a room with a TV set on about 12 feet away, the only sound it captured was the guitar’s. With its small size it truly doesn’t get in the way of picking or fingers. It can also grab any percussive sounds from slapping or tapping on an acoustic body. It works great on a variety of guitars, and even ukes. With a street price of $49, it a can take a guitar that doesn’t have a piezo option and give it a nonpermanent, totally reversible option to record or amplify its sound. Chris Devine
FEATURES
› Ultra-compact clip-on mic for acoustic guitar › Connects directly to iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac › Extended frequency response (15 Hz - 20 kHz) › Fits nearly any acoustic instrument › Integrated headphone output 38 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
PROS
Great audio quality, nonpermanent, non-intrusive. CONS
None.
C
onnecting a smartphone to a microphone isn’t a new idea. When a company offers a mic that works with a smartphone and a computer, it’s worth taking notice. IK’s iRig Mic Studio falls into this category.
PROS
Works with iOS & Android, great companion apps. CONS
Older 30-pin cable sold separately.
FEATURES
› Professional studio microphone with large-diaphragm capsule › High-quality 1” back electret condenser capsule › 24-bit converter with 44.1/48Khz sampling rate › Low-noise, high-definition preamp › Integrated headphone output › Onboard gain control and headphone level control
GEAR REVIEWS
IK MULTIMEDIA iRig Mic Studio - $149
Housed within a durable metal casing is a 1” diameter cardioid condenser capsule. It’s about the size of an iPhone 5. The controls are Spartan; a mic gain control, and a headphone level control that works with the 1/8” headphone output on the far side of the mic. For monitoring levels, a multi-colored LED is also mounted on the casing. Included are cables for USB, Lightning, and a Micro USB for connecting to Android devices. For older iOS devices, a 30-pin cable is also available (sold separately). A small desktop tripod is also included, but it can be connected to a standard mic stand with no hassles. With a maximum SPL of 133 dB and a frequency response between 20Hz-20kHz, it can handle pretty much any sound source this side of a jet engine. Connect the mic to a smartphone or computer, and it’s ready to go. Simple. Sound quality is on par with what a “regular” (i.e. XLR connected cardioid condenser mic) mic in this price range can deliver. It records at 24bit, so there is plenty of punch and clarity, without getting harsh, or squishy in the low end. It works great with a smartphone or tablet, and even better that it works on whatever recording app is already on it. Same thing goes for any computer-related recording software. IK also has a few apps that can unlock its potential even more so; their Mic Room app acts as an emulator, giving the user choices of various classic microphones. Does their app’s model sound better than an actual, for example, Royer R121? Like most audio models, not quite, but it does make the mic respond like one, and depending on the tone that’s desired, it’s nice to have those options on-hand. IK also has a few other apps for it that you can try out: VocaLive, EZ Voice and iRig Recorder. For field recording, it’s well worth it. Set it up on a regular mic stand, and record live bands, or use it as a mic source for video recording. Podcasting with a smartphone hasn’t been made any easier. Considering its affordable street price, it does offer a lot of applications for a variety of users, and we can definitely recommend it. -Chris Devine PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 39
GEAR REVIEWS
PETERSON PitchGrabber Mobile Tuner Pickup - $12.99
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be easy to attach a smartphone to a music stand, and connect to a brass instrument for practice, which would be excellent for slide trombones.
It’s a small spring-loaded clip with a piezo transducer installed in it, connected to an 8’ braided cable that ends in a standard 1/8” plug. It’s simple - place the clip on an instrument, and connect the plug to an electric tuner, or ideally, a smart phone/tablet that has a tuning app. It’s great for acoustic guitars, violins, cellos, as well as brass instruments like tubas and trumpets. With the long cable it would
The only downside is the cable; while it’s plenty long, if it gets damaged or snagged, there’s no way to replace it other than replacing the whole unit. At $12.99 it’s not a big investment for such a neat little tool, but it would be worth a little extra to have a detachable cable. For instructors, this is a no brainer; it can easily teach pitch to students for a variety of instruments. Playing in tune is considered a standard quality in a musician, and this is a great tool for developing an ear. Chris Devine
or certain instruments a standard electronic tuner just won’t work. Installing a pickup, or even an onboard tuner, can ruin a classic instrument. Peterson practically invented the electronic tuner market, so it’s no surprise they found a solution to this problem with the PitchGrabber.
40 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
PROS
Inexpensive, simple. CONS
Would be nice if the cable was detachable.
T
he ME1ACE model we received features an Auditorium Cutaway body style. It’s smaller than a dreadnought size, and for the player who always has an acoustic’s top digging into their picking forearm, this is an excellent fit, while still maintaining plenty of projection. The top is solid spruce, the back and sides are sapele, which isn’t that far off from mahogany. It’s finished in a nice satin that one would normally find on a more expensive instrument. It’s quite impressive in the details, too; the rosette, and the natural maple binding and center stripe are perfect, both in style and execution.
PROS
Excellent price, wonderful playability, great construction and detailing.
CONS
Absolutely none.
GEAR REVIEWS
MITCHELL GUITARS Element ME1ACE Acoustic Guitar - $349
The mahogany neck features a 25.5” scale length, with a maple-bound Indian rosewood fingerboard, complete with small abalone markers between the low E and A strings. Again there is some excellent detailing and beveling on the headstock, and the closed-back tuners have ebonite keys. The Nubone TUSQ nut is well cut, and the rosewood bridge sets everything up nicely. For electronics, it’s outfitted with a Fishman INK preamp that contains a 3-band EQ, volume, as well as a built in tuner that acts as a mute when engaged. A very nice addition, especially in this price range. Right out of the box it plays fantastically well; the action was smooth, and the fretwork was excellent, with no jagged frets hanging out. It’s a relatively slim neck, but still has plenty of girth and rigidity. There is plenty of access to the high strings thanks to the dovetail neck joint and generous cutaway. An electric guitarist should have no problem transitioning to this neck. Acoustically, it has a downright excellent sound, plenty of projection, and the overall tone is smooth and evenly balanced across the entire fretboard. The preamp is simple, and super easy to dial in a sound that still maintains the natural warmth and clarity of the instrument unplugged. With a street price of $350, it’s hard to find an acoustic guitar that sounds just as good when being plugged into a mixer, as it does on its own.
FEATURES
› Top: Solid Select Spruce › Back and Sides: Striped Sapele › Neck: Mahogany › Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood › Bridge: Rosewood
Overall, for the sound quality, playability, price, features, and the overall build quality, it’s hard to find any fault with it. For an electric player looking to transition to acoustic, and not breaking the bank, this is beyond an excellent choice. If this is a player’s first acoustic, it might spoil them for other guitars down the line. Highly recommended. Chris Devine
› Electronics: Fishman INK3 with tuner PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 41
GEAR REVIEWS
MANNMADE USA Intonatable Stoptail Bridge - $175
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ohn Mann has a long history with PRS Guitars; with his background as a machinist, he helped design the PRS Tremolo Bridge. Now he’s turned his attention to PRS’s (sometimes frustrating) stoptail bridge. PRS guitars have a reputation of being gig ready out of the box - just tune up and go. And there really hasn’t been any specific products or upgrades for them, until now. Milled from 6061 T6 aluminum alloy, the new bridge from MannMade USA is a direct replacement for PRS’s stock wraparound tailpiece/bridge. Due to it being a machined part, the tolerances are much tighter; this accuracy is noticeable when the strings are removed, as the bridge won’t slide off the studs, and possibly damage the guitar’s finish. This also means a more positive connection to the guitar, transferring more tonal vibrations. It uses individually adjustable brass saddles for improved intonation. This adjustability comes into play when using some more unusual string gauges that are required for some odd altered/ dropped tunings, which typically aren’t optimal for the stock PRS stoptail.
42 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
Our test guitar was a 2008 PRS Mira, and once installed, the difference is noticeable, even unplugged. Each string feels like it has a stronger, more direct connection to the guitar, with more volume and sustain across the entire instrument. There’s more punch to the lower strings and the higher strings feel like they have more snap and overall tonal focus. It’s like going from standard definition TV to HD. With a street price of $175, it’s a little pricey, but after the comparison to the stock bridge, it’s worth every penny (especially since you can now intonate perfectly). For a USA made PRS, it gives the instrument even more tonal resonance than ever before. For SE models, it also makes a world of difference. There are some special options John Mann offers too, including gold and black anodized finishes, as well as a piezo-equipped model. For PRS players chasing their ultimate tone, before changing pickups or anything else, this should be the first step. Overall, this new bridge pulls more of the great tone the instrument already has in it. A version of this bridge is also available for Gibson guitars, as well. Chris Devine
PROS
Excellent sound, fully adjustable, well made PRS replacement. CONS
None.
For more, visit GuitarVaultUSA.com and MannMadeUSA.com
GEAR REVIEWS
PRESONUS Eris MTM Series E44 Active Studio Monitor - $249 PROS
Perfect sound in vertical or horizontal placement, tunable to room space, excellent frequency range. CONS
None.
P
reSonus pretty much does everything, Audio recording software, input devices, processors and preamps. With their Eris E44 monitors, they’re giving studio pros and home recording enthusiasts something to really listen to. The MDF cabinet checks in at 7” wide, 7” deep & 14.25” tall, and contains (2) 4.5” Kevlar Drivers and a 1.25” silk dome tweeter. Inputs come by way of XLR, TRS & RCA connections. The rear panel has Input gain, a Low cut control that can be either flat, 80Hz or 100HZ, as well as an acoustic space control that has settings for flat, -2dB or -4dB. Frequency response is 55Hz-22khz, with a max SPL of 103db. Design-wise, they’re “stacked” even in horizontal or vertical placement, with the Tweeter placed between the two Midwoofers, hence the “MTM” name. It offers a better overall consistency, and a wide audio spread. Placement in the room is key, and the simple controls can
really tune these speakers so they’re not fighting the space they’re in. As stated before, they work well in vertical or horizontal placement, so regardless of physical space they’ll deliver an excellent overall audio “picture”. There is plenty of sonic depth while maintaining clarity, regardless of the audio source. Some may think these smaller 4.5” drivers would lack low end, but they can handle bass drops and deep beats with ease. Once optimum placement in the room is achieved, the seat between these speakers is perfect for really dissecting a mix. With no harshness in the top end frequencies, long mixing sessions yield less ear fatigue. But in actuality, with a set of these, mix down sessions won’t run as long. A pair of these would set you back about $500 (street price is $249/each) and considering the bang for the buck, it’s short change. Another in a long-line of top-notch PreSonus gear. Chris Devine
› Power Configuration: Bi-amped
FEATURES
› Speaker Size: 2 x 4.5” › LF Driver Size: 2 x 4.5” › LF Driver Material: Kevlar › HF Driver Size: 1.25” › HF Driver Material: Silk dome › Total Power: 90W › Input Types: 1 x XLR, 1 x TRS, 1 x RCA PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 43
GEAR REVIEWS
EARTHWORKS SR20 Cardioid Condenser Mic - $599
E
arthworks has been making quality microphones for decades, and has an excellent reputation of making highquality studio microphones. They also have a great line of mics for live use as well, with their SR Series. The SR20 has a cardioid capsule, which means it’s excellent for recording acoustic environments with clarity and depth - things that just can’t be replicated or modeled. Frequency response is 50kHz-20kHz, and with a maximum input of 139dB, means it can handle extreme frequencies and volume levels. The only attachment, save for a mic clip, is a screw on windscreen that not only protects the capsule, but also acts as a “p” popperstopper, when it’s used for vocals. Physically it doesn’t feel dainty, so use in a live setting isn’t an issue. Across the capsule itself, there’s no “dead spots” to be found. Even using it in an extreme off axis position (meaning not directly on the sound source) yields excellent acoustic depth. It’s a fantastic all-around condenser with applications aplenty; anything where the presence of “air” would add more to the mix. Acoustic guitars get plenty of definition, and no boomy-ness. Low frequencies still retain their depth, while ignoring any f lubbyness. Even as a room mic during recording, it can handle plenty of volume, capturing a performance and adding that rich acousticness a plug-in just can’t cover. As a vocal Mic, it’s quite rich; regardless how the singer is placing the microphone, there’s plenty of signal for it to ingest. Considering it can handle high volumes from instruments such as drums, and works equally as well for more subtle items such as strings, it’s sure to become a “go-to” item for any sound engineer. In the studio, in the field, or on stage, it captures a subtlety that just can’t be replicated after the fact. At a $600 street price, it’s well within the price range of most quality condenser microphones. Considering Earthworks reputation, the sound quality, practical applications, and
FEATURES
› Microphone Type: Condenser › Polar Pattern: Cardioid › Frequency Response: 50Hz-20kHz › Max SPL: 145dB › Output Impedance: 100 ohms 44 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
the fact it’s made in the USA, really makes it a good deal overall. The only downside was our test unit’s black finish seemed to get scuffed when sliding it in and out of the provided mic clip. Not scratching the finish down to the metal, but scuffing nonetheless. It doesn’t affect the functionality of the microphone, but for some obsessive/anal retentive engineers (a rarity, of course, in the recording industry) it might be a bummer. Considering the abuse some mics take in the studio, and don’t sound nearly this good, it’s still an excellent piece of gear that’s no one-trick pony. Recommended for every respectable mic locker. Chris Devine
PROS
Excellent sound, plenty of applications. CONS
Black finish tends to get scuffed.
T
PROS
Fantastic fit & finish, great pickups and hardware, comfy neck profile, ultraaffordable. CONS
None.
› Construction: Neck Through › Body Wood: Mahogany
FEATURES
› Tuners: Grover Super Rotomatic › Neck Radius: 12 in. › Fretboard: Ebony › Frets: 24 jumbo › Scale: 24 5/8 › Bridge Type: BC Rich Quad › Pickups: Duncan Designed HB-103
aking an aesthetic cue from the vintage Mockingbirds of the mid to late ’70s, the latest axe in the BC Rich lineup is our pick for the best guitar value of 2015. The Mockingbird is, hands down, the coolest guitar shape in the history of rock, and this particular STQ (the “q” indicating a Quad bridge) looks stunning with its natural flame maple veneer. The neck is nicely shaped: not Wizard-thin but not ’59 Les Paul fat, either. It features a gorgeous dark ebony fretboard with 24 jumbo frets (all nicely polished, leveled and no sharp ends to be found). Diamond inlays are a nice nod to the ’80s shred machines BC Rich is known for (although we would also like to see the maker’s famous cloud inlays make a return on future models in this price range). Scale runs, arpeggios and barre chords up and down the neck are super comfortable and easy to play. The scale length is the same as a Les Paul – so Gibson fans will feel right at home, while Fender aficionados should be able to make the transition easily, considering how smooth the neck feels and the addition of the aforementioned easy-to-play jumbo fretwire. The fretboard radius is 12 inches, so again we’re roughly in Gibson territory, which is probably the best all-around radius for most styles of play, anyhow. The fit and finish are near-perfect; it’s almost impossible to find any flaws in the body’s seams. The neck-thru contour is our favorite kind as well, since there’s virtually no heel to get in the way of upper fret access like on a chunky Strat heel or PRS neck. This STQ features two nicely matched, high output Duncan Designed HB-103 humbuckers. We found that slightly lowering the pickups really opened things up. Overdrive is killer when you crank the bridge pickup through a nice tube amp (our trusty Ampeg GVT52-112 does the job well) and rolling off the volume cleans things up nicely (just as you’d expect from anything carrying the Duncan name, even pups wound overseas). The sweet spot was the volume rolled to about 7 for slight breakup, and then rolled up to 10 for full-on saturation. The neck pickup is mellower and features more sustain due to its position above the strings, but we found the clarity of it to be its best asset. Things are rounded out with the Quad-style hardtail bridge, one of our favorite all-time designs (both for it’s ease-of-use and its simplicity). Intonation and saddle height are fully adjustable (and were spot-on out of the box), and restringing is a breeze. If the Mock fits your style, we can’t recommend this special limited edition STQ any higher. We sincerely hope BC Rich adds it, or something like it, to its full line in 2016. Benjamin Ricci
GEAR REVIEWS
BC RICH Ltd. Edition Mockingbird STQ - $499
PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 45
GEAR REVIEWS
CHAPMAN GUITARS Ghost Fret - $899
I
t’s hard to believe the Explorer body shape came out in 1958. It’s been a shape adopted by players as varied as James Hetfield, The Edge, and Rick Nielsen. Chapman Guitars now has their turn at this classic, yet modern shape. Construction wise, its neck-thru design lends to its stability. A three-piece maple neck runs the length of the instrument, while the “wings” are Sapele Mahogany. A nice thick book-matched maple top caps things off. With a 24.75” scale, it still has plenty of tension to really dig into the ebony fretboard. The 22 jumbo frets are nicely finished, and glow-inthe-dark side dots make seeing your position a breeze on-stage. With no inlays or markers on the fingerboard, save for the infinity symbol on the 12th fret, it has a modern aesthetic to it. Hipshot locking tuners reside on the reverse headstock, and the hardtail bridge is also by Hipshot. Pickups in our model are real Seymour Duncans (an upgrade option over the stock Chapman pups). A 3-way toggle sits on the lower bout, and the only controls are a volume and tone knob – complete with push/pull for the split/tap fans out there. One of the cooler features is the input jack; it’s an inverted Stratocaster version, positioned on the end of the axe to prevent any mishaps with the cable getting pulled out or snagged. Slightly smaller than a “standard” Explorer, it balances well even sitting down. The neck has an excellent response overall with a fairly wide and flat feel, with no lumpy neck joint to inhibit any playing in the upper registers. The pickups sit very nicely in the “classic” range when used clean or with a touch of grit. Apply more distortion and they can certainly go into metal territory. Classic rock riffs and chords can get chunky and big. The tonal balance is excellent between both pickups and the Ghost Fret cuts through the mix nicely. The tone knob is a push pull (as mentioned), so the coils of the humbuckers can be split yielding very usable single coil tones that don’t get lost sonically. The response is spot on across the entire fingerboard, and › Top: Book Matched Flame Maple › Body Finish: Satin Natural
FEATURES
› Neck Wood: Maple › Neck Profile: Thin C › Fingerboard: Light Satin Ebony › Frets: 22 Extra Jumbo › Tuners: Hipshot Locking Tuners › Scale Length: 24-3/4” › Bridge: Hipshot Hardtail Bridge 46 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
everything stays in tune, even after a lot of heavy use. It’s made in Korea and while the overall fit and finish was excellent on our test guitar, there was one small “flaw”; on the underside of the neck joint where the body meets the neck, there was a slight ragged edge of wood that didn’t look like it was finished off. It didn’t affect the playability or structural elements of the guitar, but considering its street price of $899, it’s certainly worth noting. Guitarists looking for a unique, modern look, while being able to cover clean, classic, and heavy tones, the Ghost Fret is well worth checking out! Chris Devine
PROS
Plays great, excellent tones, well thought-out version of a classic. CONS
Slight finish flaw at neck joint area (on our test guitar).
FAVORITE AXE
with
TYSEN (Starlight Girls)
MY FAVORITE AXE
my Sara Mundi YOUR BACKGROUND
I’m self taught; before the Internet was a thing. MAKE & MODEL
No make. No model. No year. WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU
It means I have a reliable tool for me to do my job. WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE
It has the range and tone that I need for my style, which sounds great if I’m not too intoxicated. SPECIAL FEATURES
The specs on this thing are sweet and comparable to a $2000+ bass of similar likeness. I’d say no logo is a special feature, too. CUSTOM MODS
I filed, sanded and oiled the body to put a nice taper on it, the soap style body is too right-angled for my liking. I’ve literally put my blood, sweat and tears into this blessed device. CAN BE HEARD ON
All of our live shows. It’s exclusively my live instrument. LISTEN NOW at starlightgirls.net.
Got a favorite instrument you’d like to share? Email us at editorial@performermag.com
PERFORMER MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2016 47
FLASHBACK
1963 Epiphone Casino in Royal Tan Rob Meigel BACKGROUND
Essentially a lower class Gibson ES-330, the Casino was a true thin-line hollow body with two P-90 pickups introduced in 1961 and, to the annoyance of Gibson, quickly won over the market for that style of guitar. It’s certainly seen as the “classic” Epiphone guitar. One of the reasons it was sought out in rock and roll music at the time was its ability to feed back! WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE
Like a guitar plugged into an amp. Classic. Listen to any Beatles recording or Gary Clark, Jr. for true references. NOTABLE PLAYERS
The Beatles, Gary Clarke Jr., Radiohead OTHER NOTES
Paul McCartney still brings his 1963 Casino (same as mine!!) out for “Paperback Writer” each night. Supposedly, the Casino is one of only two guitars that made an appearance on EVERY Beatles recording after it was acquired. Want to guess the other? ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Don Miggs is a singer/songwriter/producer and fronts the band miggs (Elm City/Capitol Records). His love affair with vintage instruments and gear only presents a problem when he’s awake. Chat music & gear with him @donmiggs or miggsmusic.com, lalamansion.com, or his radio show, @thefringeAM820 (Saturdays 5-7PM EST).
48 FEBRUARY 2016 PERFORMER MAGAZINE
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