Performer Magazine: June/July 2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME 28, ISSUE 3

TABLE OF

CONTENTS cover story

24

LINQUA FRANQA

by Dana Forsythe

DEPARTMENTS 4. LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 5. VINYL OF THE MONTH: The Damnation of Adam Blessing 6. BOSTON CALLING 2018 10. The Beginner’s Guide to Instrument Insurance 12. How to Make Your Band Studio-Ready 14. Why 2018 is the Most Important Year for Your Career 16. Feedbands: Where Vinyl & Crypto Collide 28. Acoustic Treatment 101

EUREKA CALIFORNIA

by Anthony Cammalleri

20

30. How to Fix Buzz & Hum in the Studio 33. The ULTIMATE GUIDE to Portable PA Systems 38. GEAR REVIEWS: Mackie, IK Multimedia, iZotope, Ehrlund and more…

Cover

Stacey Piotrowska

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

LETTER

from the editor

Volume 28, Issue 3 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

Howdy, y’all.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

I recently got a chance to play around with one of the new(ish) Roland TR-08 drum machine. For those of you who don’t know, this came on the market last year as an homage to the classic 808 from the early 1980s. There are a lot of differences, of course, mainly the fact that the TR-08 is all-digital, is in a smaller form factor and has MIDI and audio-over-USB (technology that didn’t exist when the original 808 was released). There are a couple of other nifty new features, but those are the standouts.

I played, I tweaked, I came up with some great beats and what I found was that I got lost in the magic of the machine. I’ve read so may forum posts arguing about the transient time of some of the percussion sounds, or the decay of the bass drum not matching up exactly to the original when you compared waveform to waveform. The arguments were brutal, in many cases downright uncivil, and for the most part, unnecessary.

The point of an instrument is to inspire you to use it. It’s not to get lost in analyzing the minutiae of tech specs, spectrum analyzers or other such nonsense. The TR-08 inspired me to use it. As far as I’m concerned, that’s mission accomplished.

One of the best quotes I ever got from an interview subject was when I spoke with Rob Chapman of Chapman Guitars and Dorje fame. I asked him, since he owns a guitar company, what he would recommend a beginner look for in an electric guitar. And his answer was simple: “Pick the one that inspires you to play it every day.”

In a world where we can debate for hours on end about specs and play Doctor Oscilloscope with our internet pals, we sometimes lose the real purpose of these wonderful tools that are at our disposal.

They’re there to make music. The original 808 sounded NOTHING like real drums. It didn’t matter. It inspired a generation to make music. What’s going to inspire you?

Bob Dobalina editorial@performermag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Anthony Cammalleri, Armand Ghersin, Benjamin Ricci, Chris Devine, Dana Forsythe, John Hull, Matt Lambert, Michael St. James, Terry Hearn, Tyler Smyth CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Matt Lambert, Carlos Varela, Rodrigo Bertolino, Danchuter, Stacey Piotrowska ADVERTISING SALES

William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com © 2018 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.

Benjamin Ricci

PS – if Roland is reading this – any chance we can get one of those TR-08’s for the office? Hint hint…

ABOUT US / 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.

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 CORRECTIONS / 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.”

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?”

BE SOCIAL! FOLLOW US: PERFORMERMAG.COM

4 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

PERFORMERMAGAZINE

PERFORMERMAG

REVIEWS

The Damnation of Adam Blessing S/T and The Second Damnation

Benjamin Ricci

VYNIL OF THE MONTH

(Exit Stencil/Universal Music)

W

hen Exit Stencil Recordings told us they had restored two forgotten Damnation of Adam Blessing LPs and were going to re-issue them on vinyl, we nearly fainted. The majority of today’s consumers might not be aware these recordings ever existed, but for those lucky few of us who’ve either had original pressings lovingly tucked away in our collections, or (in many cases) nth-generation bootleg copies handed down from music geeks like the Holy Grail of undiscovered psyche rock, this is indeed a blessing. Sorry, can’t resist a good pun.

What we have here are both the self-titled debut album from The Damnation of Adam Blessing, and the follow-up LP, Second Damnation, both fully restored from the analog master tapes over a two-year period

by Eliot Kissileff. If you haven’t heard either of these before, you’re in for a treat.

One of the most immediate things you’ll recognize is that while, yes, this is a product of its time (the first

album was released in 1969), the psychedelic rock here doesn’t sound nearly as dated as other albums of the day. Sure, lead single “Cookbook” does offer advice to “feed your mind,” but other than that, it’s quite a fun, intense, and melodic trip through some good old rock and roll.

Sonic clarity is the real standout here. These records flat-out sound fantastic, so kudos to the entire team at ESR and Universal for the work that went into these releases. Artwork has been lovingly restored, as well, including the phenomenal “let’s plug in our instruments in this meadow” gatefold for Second Damnation.

Even if the ’60s aren’t your bag, these Adam Blessing LPs sound startlingly contemporary in places.

Mixed with the unprecedented clarity of the restored transfers, we recommend rock fans of all ages check out these two amazing releases.

For more info, visit www.exitstencil.org/damnation PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 5

REVIEWS

Another successful run of Boston Calling’s threeday music festival. It turned the fields of the Harvard Athletic Complex outside prestigious Harvard University into three stages, food vendors galore and exhibitions of new products and games – oh, and a Ferris wheel too. The first two days were beautiful, albeit hot spring New England days, the third and final a little chillier and rain-tinged; however, the crowds came out and had a great time.

The following pages feature some of my favorite moments from each of the festival’s three days.

Looking forward to seeing what this festival will bring for 2019!

DAY ONE The late afternoon sky was beautiful as rapper Noname was playing the main stage.

Portugal. The Man had the best visuals of the afternoon and hyped the crowd up with their brand of rock and roll.

Pussy Riot brought their political message to the Delta Blue stage Friday evening.

Paramore headlined the Delta Blue stage Friday night; their vibrant energy was infectious.

BOSTON CAL 6 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

REVIEWS DAY TWO I don’t think anyone was having more fun than Gail Greenwood of Belly, all smiles throughout their set. After a 23-year absence, Belly is back.

Leikeli47, performing with her signature mask, was extremely grateful to be playing in Boston for the first time. Oh Sees, from San Francisco, were a highlight of Day Two -- their quirky brand of jangly psychedelic rock really entertained the crowd on the main stage.

Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) dazzled the crowd with her fantastic guitar playing, singing and stage presence.

UK duo Royal Blood sounds way bigger than just two people; they thoroughly rocked the Red Stage before vocalist and bassist Mike Kerr injured his foot.

ALLING 2018

Matt Lambert

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 7

Evolving with you.

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Boston hip-hop outfit STL GLD got the crowd’s attention opening the Red Stage. Moe Pope is no stranger to Performer Magazine and his current configuration is outstanding.

REVIEWS

DAY THREE

New England trio Weakened Friends continued the kickoff for Day Three with their fuzzy brand of power pop-rock.

Tremendous singer-songwriter Julien Baker drove the crowd to tears with her emotional set.

Fleet Foxes closed out the Delta Blue Stage for the third day of Boston Calling, with warm ambience on a chilly rainy spring day.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 9

MUSIC BUSINESS

A BEGINNER’S GU INSTRUMENT INSU

I

10 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

f you’re a working musician, you can’t afford to lose your instrument. Unfortunately, instrument theft does occur. Instruments can also be damaged. When this happens, raising the funds to buy a replacement in time for your next gig can be difficult.

That’s why all musicians should consider insuring their instruments. Similar to apartment insurance, the right instrument coverage can help you ensure that you’re prepared in case of disaster. The following information addresses

key questions you may have on the topic, helping you better understand how this type of insurance works and why it might be ideal for your needs.

How is an Instrument Insurance Policy Different from a Renters Insurance Policy A renters insurance (or homeowners insurance) policy may protect an instrument to a degree. Depending on the cost of the instrument, it may be necessary to add extra protection for valuables to such a plan. For an amateur musician, this might be sufficient.

Armand Levitz, Jetty Insurance

MUSIC BUSINESS

UIDE TO MUSICAL SURANCE photo by Carlos Varela

provider. Many plans also reimburse you if the instrument’s value diminishes as a result of the damage and repairs.

However, if you’re a professional artist, your instrument is considered business property. Thus, it may need additional coverage beyond what your typical renters insurance plan offers. For example, musicians are often on the road, traveling from one gig to another. You might need a plan that offers protection in these circumstances.

Does the Policy Cover Damage and Repair?

It depends on each individual policy. If your plan does cover damage and repair, the repair shop will send an estimate to your insurance

How do Providers Generate Quotes?

After you fill out an application, the insurance company will assess the instrument’s value, as well as other factors like risk. This makes sense; if you’re merely a collector – rather than a performer – your instrument is less likely to be damaged.

Keep in mind, depending on the nature of your instrument, additional components like bows and a carrying case may contribute to the overall value. For high-value instruments, the provider might require an in-person appraisal.

What Does It Cost?

Costs vary depending on the specifics of

the policy, the value of the instrument, and any additional risk factors. In general, premiums cost $150 a year for many instruments of average value.

For instruments worth more than $5000, prices may be higher. This is especially likely if you’re a performer who often ships your instrument from one venue to the next.

However, most premiums add up to less than one dollar a day when spread over the course of a year. That’s not a lot of money to spend if you’re protecting something you rely on to make a living.

Again, if you’re only an amateur, a renters insurance policy may be all you need to protect your instrument. However, professionals should consider policies designed for their specific needs.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 11

MUSIC BUSINESS

GETTING YOUR B READY with TYL

T

his question has long been the goldstandard in follow up questions to band members everywhere.

This is because, for a very long time, the music was it -- the end product on the long path to becoming a band. If learning your instrument, meeting band members, playing shows, networking, shooting videos, creating merch, meeting fans, writing, recording, and every nuanced detail in-between were the Yellow Brick Road, the album was the Wizard of Oz you were off to see. It was Kansas.

In the New Music Industry, things have changed quite dramatically. We went from an industry where the album was the product to an industry where you are the product. You’re Kansas (no, not the band Kansas). And although the role of recorded music has shifted, it’s still the single greatest promotional tool you’ll ever have as an artist.

This is why it’s absolutely essential that when you’re headed into the studio, you’re prepared to get it right. I’m Tyler Smyth, producer and mix engineer for bands like Falling in Reverse, Blessthefall, and my own band Dangerkids. I’ve

“SO, YOU’RE IN A BAND, HUH? YOU HAVE ANY MUSIC I CAN HEAR?” 12 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

toured the world, had Billboard Top 10 records, and know exactly what it takes to succeed in today’s industry.

Here are my top five biggest tips for getting your band studio ready.

1. KNOW YOUR PRODUCER Choosing a producer is a lot like choosing a new band member, and like choosing your band members, you want to make sure you pick the right one.

Producers come in all sorts of different flavors: Some digital, some analog. Some prefer high production value and others want you to bring the heat with your instruments when you show up to record. Whatever the style, you want this to be ultra-complementary to your band’s music and personalities.

I will add this: in my experience there are plenty of mix engineers capable of making music sound great, but a producer will actually create little moments. It’s a difference of intent and a difference of mindset, but the music that goes on to achieve the success you’re out looking for are the songs that connect to people. The average listener doesn’t give a shit about the fidelity of the kick drum or the saturation of the vocal; they want to feel it in their bones.

2. RECORD ALL YOUR MUSIC Recording all of your music before heading into the studio (also known as pre-production) is sadly becoming more of a lost art form, but nothing will impact the quality of your songwriting and production more. Think of scratch recordings as the musical equivalent of writing all of your ideas on paper. There are several advantages to doing this, but the biggest by far is being able to actually listen to the song that’s in your head and decide objectively what’s good about it and, most importantly, what needs some love. There

is nothing exciting about this part; it takes serious work. You say you want a career and music but won’t take two seconds to study your own song?

Act like you want it! Focus up, discipline yourself, and dig into every single nuance of your song before you take it to your producer.

3. KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GOOD AT AND KNOW WHAT YOU SUCK AT This is the most beautiful thing about the studio: if your band truly cares about the group and not just the individual, you’ll be dropping so many truth bombs that by the time the smoke clears you’ll either have the best album ever or be broken up. Welcome to the big leagues!

Now more than ever, this is the time to double down on the things you’re good at, and delegate the tasks that you suck at. This is no place for tip-toeing around other people’s emotions! If you suck at recording all the guitar parts, let your other guitar players do it. Let your singer do it! If the goal here is to be the team player you claim to be, you might have to get your feelings stepped on, or even worse, get stuck doing all the work while the rest of your band plays Xbox.

MUSIC BUSINESS

R BAND STUDIO YLER SMYTH photo by Danchuter

4. PURE CREATION In songcraft, there might be some hardand-fast rules for what makes a song good, but the only way to arrive at something special is to mess with those rules. During the creation stage, I try to encourage my bands to stop editing themselves. Do you know how many great ideas never get articulated because people were so afraid of the embarrassment of a bad idea? Who freaking cares! Yell your ideas at the top of your lungs! Try everything - the stupider the better, because in my experience it’s the truly ludicrous recommendations that actually lead to the one idea that anchors the song, or sometimes even the album. Don’t be afraid to suggest doubling this part, cutting that part, adding a saxophone, recording a real choir instead of a programmed one, tracking with the lights off, doing the whole song with a handheld mic, or anything else you might dream up. Try to create at least one (or

more) lasting moment on every track! Your best ideas are the ones you’re hiding behind your teeth.

5. COMMUNICATION I saved this one for last because the success of everything I’ve mentioned above is anchored by your ability to communicate with each other.

Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4 Hour Workweek, says, “A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have,” and I have to agree. Think of how many times you’ve fallen short of greatness because of your fear.

What will my singer say if I tell her those lyrics she loves aren’t good enough? How do I tell my drummer that he’s not on time on that part? How do I tell the producer I don’t like their idea?

Every time you instinctually hesitate to

speak your truth is a moment you could’ve steered the ship towards smoother waters. What kind of captain sails towards certain death? Only the one who’s too afraid to tell his first mate that he sucks at reading a compass. Do the right thing now, speak all of your truths, and encourage the same open communication with the rest of your band. If everything goes according to plan, maybe you’ll find the treasure you set out looking for after all. *BONUS* OH YEAH, HAVE FUN Yeah, this too. Now go out there and crush it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR In addition to playing in the bands Dangerkids and Let’s Get It, Tyler Smyth has produced Billboard charting albums and songs, and even written and produced songs for AAA title video games. Learn more at http://tylersmyth.com PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 13

MUSIC BUSINESS

2018: The Most In YOUR Music B

2018

will be the most important year in your musical career and you need to pay attention.

It has nothing to do with your new release, or that mini-tour you booked. Nope, this is the nitty gritty, down and dirty, boring sausage making of the music business that you rarely see. It happens on the stock exchanges, in tech board meetings, and in Congress through the House Judiciary Committee. This is where monumental changes to your very livelihood happen. Remember when songs suddenly became $.99? Yeah, there wasn’t a musician alive who was fighting for that. It happened in a boardroom of a tech company trying to make money off music - including your music. Remember how you fought to get a streaming rate equivalent to a mechanical download but ultimately lost to some magical math figure based on ad revenue? No? It happened overseas in Sweden, with a bunch of VCs in a room full of Macs, and devoid of musicians.

Look, you may not be able to fight for the 14 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

change you want in your musical career, but you can no longer plead ignorance. You must be informed. You’re gonna need to know where every penny is. I have opinions on each one of these, and not all of these developments are positive, especially for our independent music making and rightsholders community. But, the most important thing is that you are aware of these changes in your industry.

that spur revenue growth and profitability.

You can find countless stories in the music business press exclaiming how, “if they could just lower the licensing dues they must pay, they maybe could turn a profit.” If you see this, understand that means less money for you as an artist, as a label, as a publisher, and as a songwriter; less than whatever your current rate of $.000whothehellknows.

So, here are the most important developments happening right now.

The biggest change that will affect almost every single us is The Music Modernization Act. This is part of the copyright reform package in the house called the “music-bus” bill.

Spotify is by far the biggest needle mover of all the DSPs. Aside from what the company specifically does on its own, it also is part of a music subscription sector that will determine, to some extent, what the competition - Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, et al. does as well.

Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) has become a publicly traded company. This means that they will be under pressure from analysts and ratings agencies to make traditional business moves

The MMA creates a new digital mechanical licensing organization (like SoundExchange), run by publishers and songwriters, to identify and pay digital royalties, and unclaimed or mis-assigned royalties will reside here instead of with the companies that owe them. This same organization would house a transparent mechanical metadata database (paid for by the DSPs like Spotify). By offering to help with identification, it would eliminate the legal

liability of DSPs (for 3 years) that has triggered lawsuits against Spotify and Apple Music for using songs without permission and failing to identify and pay the rightsholders.

There are currently many different databases at the PROs, and other digital aggregators, but publishers have not been able to agree on one to use or even been able to build a comprehensive and accurate one on their own. I have my doubts about this, but it’s a start. Lastly, the MMA will also amend Section 115 of the U.S. Copyright Act to change the way the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) determines rates. Basically, changing from using a vague legal standard to one that reflects market value, or a willing buyer/willing seller market rate.

If you’re an independent making music, guess what? You are a producer. In some cases, you may also be the engineer. Get your credits in order.

The AMP Act (Allocation for Music Producers) will be the first time that music engineers and producers are addressed in U.S.

copyright law. The bill, in its current form, would enable SoundExchange to make direct payments to engineers and producers when recordings are played on satellite online radio services - like Pandora.

digital music services to not pay royalties to artists on recordings pre-1972. This is right, this is just, and it’s way past due. Hopefully, you will enjoy a career in the music business long enough to be a “classic.”

Currently, engineers and producers get paid shares (points) from the artist or labels, but not directly. The AMP act will establish a legal and formal procedure for them to collect those royalties directly from SoundExchange.

Currently, SoundExchange does have a system in place for artists to pay producers and engineers their share of royalties directly through LOIs (Letters of Direction). One note, the current Senate bill markup only allows for engineers and producers to be paid on recording projects prior to 1995 when used on satellite and online radio services.

I know this is a lot of mumbo jumbo to many of you. Here’s what I want you to do:

There is no music business without those who came before us. The CLASSICS Act (Compensating Legacy Artists for their Songs, Service, & Important Contributions to Society) will finally fix a loophole that allowed

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.

MUSIC BUSINESS

t Critical Year Business

1. Get your catalog in order right now so that you can participate in a new database.

2. Go sign up for SoundExchange; it will become exceedingly more important to your career.

3. Follow @housejudiciary on Twitter and check their website for hearings and public comment.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 15

MUSIC BUSINESS

FEEDBANDS CRYPTO ON W

M

usic paired with streaming and crypto (cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether etc.) are about to explode. We know of at least two “crypto streamers” that just launched last month, and we’ve highlighted a few more coming soon. Streaming is a messy horse race between platforms, and most artists know that they basically have to be on all of them to be in front of as many fans as possible. While the craze over crypto is still a matter of debate, the underlying attraction to it - anonymous payments, low service fees - is worth looking into, especially for independents. Then there’s vinyl, the one bright spot in physical sales, but notoriously tough for independent acts to take advantage of.

So, what if a service encouraged digital downloads and merch sales like Bandcamp, and then added streaming like Spotify and Apple but only for independent acts - and ALSO was a monthly vinyl subscription service? Now, that would be interesting.

Well, that’s exactly what Feedbands is trying to do.

I had a chance to catch up with Graham Langdon, the founder of Feedbands, to get the inside scoop on how the company is pairing a vinyl subscription with crypto and a dash of digital streaming What is your musical background? Were you in bands, management, or just a lover of music?

I’m a musician first. A multi-instrumentalist who tries to learn most instruments, I can play guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, learning saxophone and violin.

Give me the Feedbands’ elevator pitch -what are you trying to accomplish?

Feedbands is the most artist-friendly music platform on the internet. Musicians can sell their music and merch and keep 99.99% of their sales, and the sales happen in cryptocurrency so they’re not just earning cash, they’re earning an asset

that has appreciated well over the last several years. We also reward artists that get voted well on our platform with a vinyl release that goes out to all our subscribers, and the artists give up absolutely no rights to their music to do the vinyl.

They get paid in cash and records, their album gets turned into vinyl, and people all over the world get the record in the mail.

I love that this is geared toward independents; that’s a tough market. Why did you choose this direction?

This was a personal decision based on passion.

I heard the music on the radio and thought it was all completely terrible. I heard music on the street, and in small independent clubs, and it had passion. It was easy to decide to work only with the music being made by people who are truly passionate about it, and not utterly entrenched in the industry.

How does the voting work? Is this another site where popular bands compete?

Members on our site must pay a monthly fee based on their level of subscription, which includes a digital subscription, a vinyl subscription or a t-shirt subscription. Any paying member can vote music up or down, and as artists get more votes they rise through our charts. Every month we offer deals to the artists at the top of our charts to release their album on vinyl and make a T-shirt for them.

Then we send the vinyl and the t-shirts out to subscribers.

So, vinyl is the hook, but artists can sell merch and digital. Do artists receive digital royalty payments for the streams?

Yes, from any artist’s profile on the site you can buy their music and merch, and the artist gets all the money, except for a small amount that goes to the Dash network for payment processing, which is less than a single cent on every transaction. We are working on something very exciting in terms of streaming royalties, and we hope to have an announcement soon.

Dash is your crypto of choice. Why Dash instead of say, PayPal? It is very hard for musicians to support themselves financially in today’s world.

Cryptocurrency is one of the most rapidly

16 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

MUSIC BUSINESS

S - PUTTING WAX

appreciating asset classes on the planet. We feel this might hold some promise to helping artists reach financial freedom. We chose Dash specifically because it can transact instantly and for less than a cent. PayPal typically charges 30 cents plus 3 percent on a transaction, so if an artist sells a 99-cent single, they’re only going to get 70 cents. That adds up. When people purchase the same 99-cent single and pay with Dash, the artist gets 98 cents. But, they also earn an asset that has appreciated tremendously year over year for the past several years. [Editor’s note: this article is in no way intended to provide financial or investment advice, these are merely the opinions of the interview subject.

Please consult a financial professional with any questions on investment opportunities or cryptocurrency in general.]

Head on over to http://feedbands.com - set up your profile for free, add music and merch, get a Dash wallet, listen to and support the other independent artists on the site. I can’t wait to hear you on vinyl.

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 JUNE/JULY 2018 17

MUSIC BUSINESS

COMMON EXC FROM ENTER INSURANCE P

OK

, let’s address the elephant in the room. Insurance isn’t the coolest topic to discuss when it comes to your career. We get it.

We’re sure you’re much more interested in articles on gear, recording techniques, business advice and so on. But, as a responsible musician, there comes a time when these matters must be addressed, and as we’ve pointed out before, it’s best to tackle insurance matters head on before the unthinkable occurs. And, as a responsible publication, we want to give you the resources you need to make informed decisions about your band’s business.

Now’s the time to talk about coverage – specifically, what’s not covered by the typical entertainer’s insurance policy. It was one of the most frequently asked questions we received when we polled musicians about insurance, and one that we’d like to set the record straight on.

As always, when it comes to such things, we urge you to consult professionals with any specific questions on buying coverage. For more information, you can visit our friends at K&K Insurance and remember, stay safe out there!

WHY ARE THERE EXCLUSIONS IN THE FIRST PLACE? When you boil it down, insurance providers exist (in ultra-simplified terms) to provide you with peace of mind in case of accidents or so-called “acts of God.” We’ve covered what this means before, but an easy example to think of is damaging to a venue during load-in. Maybe you scrape the walls or floors with your road cases. In this case, it’s clearly an accident; no malice was intended. And even though that’s the case, the venue operators may be well within their rights to file a claim against you, as the responsible party.

Now, that’s all well and good. You made a mistake, damage occurred, and hopefully you’ve got

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a good insurance policy to cover you against such damages. But, why would your provider exclude any acts from their policies?

photo by Rodrigo Bertolino

It oftentimes comes down to risk. How risky are you? More specifically, how risky are your behavior or actions? Are you engaging in or encouraging acts on stage that could potentially be dangerous and cause bodily harm, property damage or both? Well, that’s going to be a non-starter when it comes to writing you a policy.

Let’s look at some examples of notable exclusions.

ANIMALS Something you may not think of, but if you bring your dog out to the gig, it may all be fun and games until someone gets hurt. Regardless of fault, if the animal in question is over a certain weight threshold, and not a part of your stage act, you may not be covered for injuries or property damage Spike has caused during the show. So, think twice about bringing pets out on the road, or speak with your insurance provider about your specific policy to see which types of animal exclusions are part of the deal.

CROWD SURFING AND MOSH PITS Here’s one of the more applicable scenarios.

Your entertainer’s insurance policy may exclude such behavior arising from your participation or encouragement of others to participate in activities that could be dangerous. Right? While crowd surfing looks like a lot of fun if you’re in a Pearl Jam video from 1991, it’s a very risky behavior. And as we know, your insurance provider wants their ideal clients to be as risk-averse as possible. Since injuries are likely to occur, it’s a no-go. Don’t be surprised if this is an exclusion from your coverage.

Same for inciting and participating in mosh pits. It might be the epitome of rock n roll, but someone can get hurt if things get out of hand (heck, even if they don’t). And what have we learned?

Say it with me - if you’re responsible for behavior that clearly has the potential to cause injury and/ or damages, that could very well be an exclusion from your policy. Bottom line, don’t look for a lot of sympathy from your insurance provider if you’re hit with a claim from someone who was hurt because of your risky actions or your instructions to others in the audience to act in a way that got the person hurt.

Accidents are one thing. Those can happen to anyone. But the key difference when it comes to exclusions is the potential for injury or damage to occur because of actions you’ve taken. Loading in a bass amplifier is an action that typically doesn’t have the potential to end in injury or damage. Slam dancing,

moshing, body surfing – these are the types of things your insurance provider will pull their hair out over.

At the end of the day, we’re not going to tell you how to run your show. It’s your art. We just want you to have the information you need to make your decisions. That’s all.

PAINTS AND FLYING OBJECTS We’ve seen a lot of fun shows over the years that involve creative body paints and audience participation. Just know that your insurance provider might have exceptions in their policies for any substances you’re applying to yourself or others that aren’t non-toxic or FDA approved. So,

if someone develops an illness or reaction because of some cheap paints with who-knows-what ingredients, that could potentially be all on you when you’re hit with a claim.

And lastly, while it should go without saying, we’ll say it anyway just so everyone’s on the same page. If you toss objects into the crowd, even in a benign way (like t-shirts or other types of merchandise), and someone gets hurt or your whip a record into a ceiling fan and it breaks, you might have some explaining to do with your provider. In some instances, they might exclude coverage for actions you’ve engaged in where physical items are thrown at or into the audience. Think of that the

MUSIC BUSINESS

XCLUSIONS RTAINER E POLICIES

Benjamin Ricci

next time a cheap t-shirt cannon pops up in your eBay feed.

CONCLUSION You’ve heard us repeat it a million times, but to be sure, always check over your policy and ask your provider to answer any questions you may have.

They have the answers, trust us. The best policy (no pun intended) is consult a professional whenever you’re in doubt. Stay safe out there and look for more tips in the months ahead.

And in the meantime, check out kandkinsurance.com – you may qualify to get a quote or even purchase insurance online.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 19

SPOTLIGHT Stacey Piotrowska

Anthony Cammalleri

EUREKA CALIFORNIA

An ever-evolving, nonstop musical tribute to honesty in the face of adversity

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SPOTLIGHT PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 21

SPOTLIGHT

w

ith a long road ahead and a decade-long one behind, Georgia-based duo Eureka California released their fourth album, Roadrunners, this May. Now available both digitally and pressed on vinyl, Roadrunners is the latest checkpoint on Jake Ward and Marie Uhler’s voyage through hardship, friendship, and creating music that is molded not into poetry, nor rock and roll, nor punk, but instead, the form of whatever shape fits best at the moment the song is written.

Ward’s rough, energetic, and short-breathed vocals on tracks like “Gila Monster” or “Time After Time After Time After Time,” mixed with a fast stop-and-go tempo, will more likely than not remind listeners of the ’80s folk/punk scene.

In fact, if one were to listen to “Telephone Tone” after a Violent Femmes album, the resemblance might appear uncanny. Despite this, Ward cannot pinpoint a direct influence or direction in Eureka California’s unique style. The way they play now, Ward says, evolved naturally.

“I don’t know if there’s any direct influence.

We both listen to a lot of different kinds of music, and the music on Roadrunners just seems to have come about organically over the course of the records we’ve released [...] when creating it, I don’t think that either of us has a set thing in our mind,” Ward says.

Ward also defines the band’s songwriting process as organic, given that most of their songs, he says, either sprout naturally from a jam session, or, at most, from a simple base.

“Sometimes, I’ll come up with the skeleton of a song and show it to Marie, and then we’ll take it from there. One track on the record, ‘SWDs’, that just came from us jamming,” Ward says.

“In the cases of the ones that don’t come around spontaneously, it really isn’t until we both play it together that I think the songs start to really take shape or come to life. The two of us playing together is really the jumping off point of the song,” he says.

For Uhler, each one of Eureka California’s albums evokes memories of past hardships.

Roadrunners, she says, came after a bumpy ride with a dreadful work situation, health problems, and, overall, a troubled mind.

“In each album, we’re going through long-term difficult situations. In this album, for me, it was this job that I had that was really bad. I had health problems because of it. Thinking about the songs on this record and the practices we had leading up to the recording session, sometimes it was really hard to feel creative, or even to feel like playing. We couldn’t tour too much because I wasn’t able to physically be in a car,” Uhler says.

While each Eureka California record takes the band to a different place in their pasts, the ages of songs on Roadrunner, Uhler says, span anywhere from the duo’s birth almost ten years ago, to the very date they were recorded. From “Perfect Grammar,” which is a developed version of a song Ward had written back when the band first arose, to “JJT,” a piece Uhler wrote about hard times in Athens.

“The two of us playing together is really the jumping off point of the song.”

“Except for maybe our first one [‘MKUltra’], all the songs keep coming from different time periods in our band. The oldest one, [‘Old Grammar’], is ten years old almost, and our newest one we finished up while we were in the studio,” Uhler says. “[JJT] that was about this horrible job I had, and about how we lived in the poorest county in Georgia, one of the poorest in America, with one of the greatest income discrepancies, and everyone here, all the artists here, are struggling because there aren’t secure jobs that pay fair wages [...] even when I worked full time, it wasn’t really full time, and there was no security. I feel like I’ve been dealing with problems like that my whole life,” she says.

While both Ward and Uhler work to make ends meet, there is little time nor energy left to squander on creating an identity for their music to follow.

Instead, they prefer to allow an identity to follow their music. Be it their style as a band, their lyrics, or the instrumentation of their songs, the pair is committed above all else to a sense of authenticity

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SPOTLIGHT

“Honesty in our songs is the biggest thing. Who we are on stage is the same thing as who we are off stage.”

in their work. The goal, Ward says, is not to write the perfect song, but rather, the one that is most true to who they are.

“Honesty in our songs is the biggest thing. Who we are on stage is the same thing as who we are off stage. We both work all the time and have jobs to support ourselves, and then do the band when we can, so our songs are always grounded in reality,” Ward says.

Follow on Twitter: @eurekacalifone

Having no two albums alike, no two songs alike, and no two years alike, Eureka California writes, performs, and records only what comes to them naturally. In anything from basement shows in New Jersey, to touring England, it can be said that the duo appreciates the integrity of their sound more than the size of the stage from which it is created.

Looking forward, neither Ward nor Uhler has a specific vision of where they would like to see the band go. Discussing future aspirations, the duo held and shared only one clear intention: to continue to be Eureka California - nothing more, nothing less.

“I just want to grow as a musician, naturally.

Just by continuing to play, and playing shows, and listening to more music. I think that the whole nature of this band is to just keep saying: This is what it sounds like when we play music together,” Uhler says.

EUREKA CALIFORNIA ROADRUNNERS STANDOUT TRACK: “THREADS”

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 23

SPOTLIGHT 24 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

SPOTLIGHT

LINQUA FRANQA Stacey Piotrowska

Dana Forsythe

Hip-Hop Activist.

Doctoral Candidate.

Elected Official.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 25

SPOTLIGHT

B

etween running for office in Athens, performing as Linqua Franqa, helping to unite the city’s burgeoning hip-hop scene and pursuing a doctorate in linguistics, Mariah Parker, only 26, has zero time. It’s also about to get worse since Parker just won that office seat.

It’s impossible to talk about Linqua Franqa, Parker’s musical alter ego, without talking about her history of activism, as well as her background as a teacher and organizer. After moving to Athens, Georgia from a small town outside of Louisville, Kentucky in 2014, Parker became active in both the hip-hop scene and various social activist movements, including anti-discriminations marches, DACA protests and local Women’s Marches. Parker’s passion for activism continued as she founded Hot Corner Hip Hop as “push back against racism and classism in downtown Athens” after venue owners in the downtown area didn’t think hip-hop would bring crowds large enough to make sense financially.

Four years later, Parker’s musical and political lives have blossomed. Her debut full-length as Linqua Franqa (Model Minority, recently rereleased on vinyl) earned heaps of local praise for its neo-soul, nineties hip-hop influenced beats and meaningful messages. Franqa’s flow is dense and smooth, boosted by her imaginative use of syntax and storytelling.

I’m really proud of the hip-hop scene here in Athens. It went from being scattered and lonely three years ago to vibrant, mutually supportive, and challenging in a positive way.

In late May, Parker was voted to serve as an Athens-Clarke County commissioner. By June, she was already pushing the University of Georgia to do more to fight poverty and racism. While some may struggle walking the line between politician and performer, Parker embraces it with Linqua Franqa. While Parker was rallying residents to fight for economic stability and racial justice in Athens, Linqua Franqa was doing the same with her music.

The Model Minority LP features tales about addiction, depression, race, politics and feminism.

“Might look like Angie Davis if you’re racist, but on closer observation I’m whiter than mayonnaise is,” she raps on “Up Close.”

“Now I don’t trust these summer days ’cause where the fuck were they when I took knife to skin and wanted my entire life to end?” she contemplates on “Eight Weeks.”

We recently sat down with Parker to talk about her new life in politics, her musical career as Linqua Franqa and how she approached writing and recording her debut album.

Before speaking at forums while running for office, one of your closest advisors would often nudge you to “give ‘em less Linqua

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You’ve said your stage name, Linqua Franqa, is a play on Lingua Franca, a mish mash of dialects. Tell me why you chose it and what it means to you?

Lingua Franca is the linguistic term for a language used to communicate across cultural boundaries.

I think hip-hop is a lingua franca, and I want my particular kind of hip-hop to do that as best it can.

Please tell me a bit about where you grew up, how you ended up in Athens and why you’ve stayed there.

I grew up in a small town outside of Louisville.

It was flat, white, with little more than a movie theatre and a Walmart to entertain kids. I ended up in Athens after teaching English in Brazil for a year; I briefly moved home, hated it, and while visiting friends in Athens decided to shill out some resumes. I landed a job in a print shop, luckily, and never went back home.

Can you talk about the hip-hop scene in Athens and where you fit into it? Also, please talk a bit about Hot Corner Hip Hop, where it started, what it’s become…

I’m really proud of the hip-hop scene here in Athens. It went from being scattered and lonely three years ago to vibrant, mutually supportive, and challenging in a positive way. I started Hot Corner Hip Hop because I felt lonely here as a hip-hop artist. I wanted to bring folks together who were flung to the far corners of the scene, geographically and socially, by the catapults of racism’s legacy here.

I also had never performed hip-hop, only participated in cyphers and written rhymes, so I wanted to challenge myself to put my work out there by creating a platform where there wasn’t one. HCHH has definitely peaked; I think it’s important to share power and sometimes that means getting out of the way when others have stuff to say, so I’m laying low on that front while others continue to build the movement. But the important work of breaking down racial stigmas and inviting people together across cultural lines has really changed Athens, I think, and I’m still proud of that.

What’s your earliest memory of hearing music that moved you?

My mother is/was a gospel singer, and so the sound of her voice in harmony with her two sisters was intrinsically moving as a child and has influenced the harmonies and R&B stylings of the hooks I write today.

Tell me about recording this album. Where

On songwriting: “I’d take them apart, rearrange them, play with the sounds of words, make different meters and rhymes and similes tell different stories, until finally things began to congeal in an arc…”

five years, the kind of guy who never answered phone calls from his constituents, you know the kind. His hand-picked successor was about to run uncontested, too, and I just couldn’t stand for it.

Running seemed like justice, like true democracy.

I really want the folks in my neighborhood to be heard and above all else fight for them to have fair wage jobs and good working conditions so that they can provide the kind of lives for their families that everyone deserves. There’s a lot of puzzle pieces to that, but economic liberty is the finished picture.

SPOTLIGHT

Franqa and more Mariah.”

When Linqua Franqa is on, I can’t turn her off. I feel like Mariah Parker is the person I pretend to be in the daylight so LF can function normally in society.

Tell me about practicing and fully forming your flow. What kind of work did you put in to get where you are. Where does the doctorate in linguistics from University of Georgia fit into all this?

Having studied syntax and phonetics and did the beats come from for each song? morphology, I have a neat little analytic toolkit What was your writing process like for for thinking about how discrete bits of languagelyrics? Was this your first time in the studio? -syllables, affixes, verb tenses, noun phrases-Was it a challenge? can recombine, which makes it a lot easier to I wrote the lyrics over a period of about eight tell stories in ways that feel nice on your lips, years. I’d take them apart, rearrange them, play sound lushly dense, and take a few listens to fully with the sounds of words, make different meters unpack. Ideally my dissertation will be in rap and rhymes and similes tell different stories, until form--there are precedents for this already-- but finally things began to congeal in an arc that I felt we’ll see if I make it all the way through school at happy with, sonically as well as narratively. It was all, with everything else going on… challenging but extremely cathartic also. Yeah, performing these songs over the last two years has been incredibly cathartic. As a result, I’m not afraid or ashamed of what I’ve been through anymore.

When I first started recording, yeah it was my first time in the studio, and you could hear in the recordings that I felt so much unease and was embarrassed by the words coming out of my mouth. After months of recording we eventually threw out everything and started over. Once I’d laid it all out in front of enough crowds, though, I developed the confidence in my stories, in myself despite having lived them, to just own them aloud in the booth. So yes, it was challenging to record but ultimately very rewarding.

Tell us a bit about running for Athens-Clarke County District 2 Commissioner. What’s your history of activism in the community prior to running? What are you hoping to accomplish and why did you choose this specific race?

I see my organizing within the music scene as activism. I’ve also stood up against outright discrimination in bars by agitating alongside local groups like the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement for a civil rights committee and antidiscrimination ordinance and spoken at rallies for marijuana decriminalize and the abolition of ICE. I chose to run because I felt it was my civic duty; mine was a district where they’d been represented by the same guy for twenty-

Follow on Twitter: @linquafranqa

LINQUA FRANQA MODEL MINORITY STANDOUT TRACK: “BREATHE IN”

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 27

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT

A BEGINNER ACOUSTIC TR

I

Terry Hearn

t doesn’t matter if you have the finest professional equipment and the most talented musicians; without suitable acoustics in the room sounds will not be accurately reproduced, making mixing much harder and not delivering the quality of sound you need.

As with many topics around music production, the use of acoustic treatment can quickly become technical and alienating for beginners or those looking to construct a small studio.

By bringing some simplicity and clarity to the topic, this guide aims to build an understanding of how to implement acoustic treatment in any recording environment, and in doing so, improve the overall sound produced in your studio.

WHAT IS ACOUSTIC TREATMENT? While they might seem similar, soundproofing and acoustic treatment have very different roles to play in the studio. Soundproofing requires dense materials that are often built into the walls to prevent sound leaking in or out of the space.

While this will help to reduce unwanted external noise, it will not help to optimize the sound created inside the studio.

Acoustic treatment is used to control the acoustic qualities of a given space, minimizing the effect of unwanted echo and reverb to improve the clarity and quality of the sound produced. This is done using panels placed strategically on the walls and in the corners of the room to absorb or diffuse unwanted sound reflections, making for a cleaner final product. The increased accuracy of the stereo reproduction acoustic treatment provides will also allow for more accurate mixing due to the clarity of the sound.

With careful consideration, the use of acoustic treatment can also be relatively inexpensive, as panels can even be constructed as a DIY project.

WHY IS IT NEEDED? As well as the shape of the room, every surface will impact on the movement of soundwaves. It is

28 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

likely that most spaces will result in some degree of reverberation, echo and flutter issues.

Reflection is another major issue. While the majority of soundwaves will reach the listener directly from the sound source, a large percentage will only reach the listener after reflecting against walls and other surfaces. The resulting echoes can make mixing challenging, and do not effectively represent the sounds being recorded.

Acoustic foam reduces the level of echo in a room by minimizing the effect of early reflections.

Installing specialist acoustic foam softens surface area to increase the level of sound absorption and reduce noise pollution. It also controls and minimizes the reverberations hard surfaces create, resulting in an overall better

quality of sound.

With effective acoustic treatment, the quality of recording will not only be enhanced, but can be controlled and managed for different types of performance.

THE ROOM For most people, the space available for recording is going to be limited and will have its own natural faults. Every room will offer different benefits and problems. This may be down to many factors including the ceiling height, number of windows or the type of flooring. While the size and shape of the room cannot be changed, reducing the number of reflective surfaces will help to preserve your sound.

In the live environment, a reverberation time of between 1.5 and 2.5 seconds will ensure a full sound and clarity of speech. In a home studio setting, playback would require 0.5 seconds to achieve equivalent clarity.

The position of your workstation can also have a significant impact. To allow your monitors the space to accurately reproduce sound, they should be positioned a distance away from the walls, and to ensure an accurate stereo image, they should form an equilateral triangle between both speakers and the listening position.

TYPES OF ACOUSTIC TREATMENT Acoustic Foam Panels: The main function of acoustic foam panels is absorption.

This type of acoustic treatment is used in almost all studios, but is heavily used in home studios due to the cost and ease of installation.

Acoustic foam is very high density and is often provided in panels of varying size and with a ridged or textured surface.

Depending on the room, a number of panels will be required. The most important locations to cover are adjacent to the speakers and on the walls directly in front and behind the listening position.

Each piece of acoustic foam paneling

will provide additional benefit, so don’t be concerned if you can’t afford to fit a whole room at once. While a large number of panels may be required, covering more than 70% of the walls could have a negative impact by creating an overly deadened space.

Diffusion Panels: Often constructed from wooden panels, diffusion panels are a very effective but often expensive treatment for mixing rooms. By deflecting sound in a number of different directions, diffuser panels can reduce the influence of reflection and delay that could undermine an otherwise strong performance. Diffusion panels are ideal for bringing out the potential of smaller rooms and improving the sound quality in larger rooms when placed above the listening position.

Some of the most famous diffuser panels in the world are installed at the Royal Albert Hall. The ‘Mushrooms’ were first installed in the 1960s and are currently positioned directly above the stage and covering the mid-point of the ceiling, reducing the impact the high ceiling had on acoustics.

Bass Traps: Some of the worst problems in a room can come from the low-end frequencies.

This is especially true in small spaces. For this

ACOUSTIC TREATMENT

R’S GUIDE TO TREATMENT

reason, bass traps are designed to treat the corners of your studio space.

Porous absorbers are the most common form of bass trap. Constructed from heavyduty foam, fiberglass, or Rockwool. This type of trap will tackle a range of issues including standing waves and flutter. They are effective across a wide spectrum but will need to be extra thick or fitted slightly away from the wall to deal with the lowest frequencies.

A more expensive option is resonant (or pressure) absorbers. These work best when positioned against a wall, saving space compared to some porous absorbers, however they are not common outside of professional studios due to the cost.

The most common resonant absorbers use either an airtight cavity (Helmholtz resonators) or counteract sound waves with a vibrating panel or membrane (diaphragmatic absorbers).

While budget may limit your quest for professional standards of acoustic treatment, optimum speaker positioning and an awareness of the ideal location to fit acoustic foam will help to make improvements to your sound as cost-effective as possible.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 29

STUDIO SOLUTIONS

W

e’ve all been there. We’re setting up for a session, and the guitar amp is buzzing like crazy, or we’re opening up a mix to get started, and there’s all this noise on the guitar tracks. In this article, we’ll look at some solutions for humming amps and guitar tracks, and how to deal with them in the recording and mixing processes.

Recording Considerations In the recording phase, there are a couple of common offenders, and sometimes it’s more than one thing at the same time!

Offender #1: The Guitar Single-coil pickups in guitars are essentially receptors for electrical interference of all kinds.

When working with single-coil pickups, like on a Fender Telecaster, the first test is to unplug the guitar. Does the hum go away? If so, move on to Offender #2. Otherwise, read on.

Plug the guitar back in and turn up the volume knob on the instrument. Does the hum come back? If so, the hum could be caused by electromagnetic interference from fluorescent lights, dimmers, computer monitors, or other unshielded sources.

There are a few simple ways to combat this: Slowly spin in place. There’s usually a “sweet spot” with the least amount of electrical interference — you’ll hear it when you get there.

Use a fully blended pickup position. On a guitar with two single coil pickups, the neck

pickup has the inverse polarity of the bridge pickup, so that middle position (combining the two pickups) cancels out interference. At the cost of changing the tone, it’ll at least taper the electromagnetic interference.

If you have the luxury, use an axe with humbucking pickups. A single humbucking pickup is essentially two single-coil pickups in one, already canceling out interference. A good option to reach for when recording a quiet, clean part is a Les Paul with dual humbuckers.

Offender #2: Grounding and Ground Loops What if your amp is buzzing regardless of whether your guitar is plugged in or not? Chances are this finicky problem is a grounding issue or a ground loop.

Without going into a bunch of incomprehensible electrical babble, here’s the skinny. An electrical amplifier chain should be grounded. The AC lead from the amp, the extension cable, the power strip, and the outlet should all be three-pronged.

Your guitar cables will also have shielding to carry interference to the ground.

Lastly, the ground loop. Let’s say that an amp and an audio interface in a studio are plugged into different electrical outlets on different walls.

Even though they’re wired to a single breaker box, sharing a common ground, the voltages at those two outlets will be slightly different from one another (say, 115V vs. 122V). This voltage difference is small but important.

photo by Tony Webster

If someone wants to record the line output of the guitar amp, that will mean directly connecting the amp and the interface, and thereby creating a

HOW TO FI HUM IN TH

30 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

wasn’t handled in the recording phase for one reason or another (probably because they didn’t know all the cool stuff we now know!). Here are a couple approaches to solving this problem: Use a noise gate. The gate should be at the top of the signal chain and should open only when the guitar is played. This is particularly effective in rock projects where the guitars are pretty aggressive, since the guitar sound itself will mask most of the noise.

Use a de-noiser. If the part is more delicate, it might be necessary to eliminate as much extraneous noise as possible. De-noisers from Waves, iZotope, and other companies are incredible tools for removing unwanted amp noise. These plug-ins “learn” the noise profile of a sound by analyzing a clip of the noise, flip that noise out of phase, and then apply a selectable level of noise reduction. The only drawback is that this will likely alter the harmonic content of your sound.

Use Filters. Using a high-pass filter (around 80–100Hz), you can cut the 60Hz hum directly out of the signal. This won’t affect the frequency content of a guitar too much. Similarly, you can use a low-pass filter around 10–15kHz to remove any unnecessary high interference or hiss.

STUDIO SOLUTIONS SOUNDFLY

photo by Tom Harpel

As always, clean tracks start with clean recordings. Still, noise is part of the world of guitar music — there will always be some. It’s up to us and our tastes to determine how appropriate it is for the music we’re making. new connection between those two wall outlets, with their slightly different voltages. This will likely result in a noticeable, lovely, 60Hz hum.

There are a couple of common solutions to this issue: Source power from one outlet. Set up a power strip and run power to all devices from it.

That way they share the same ground and avoid creating a “loop” between two grounded outlets that might have different voltages.

Break the ground “loop” by using a DI box. The “ground lift” switch on a DI box basically disconnects the ground between the devices but leaves the ground of the amp and interface

safely attached at the outlets. (This also turns that line level signal to a crisp, balanced mic level signal — a cleaner signal with less possibility of interference. Win-win!)

NOTE: DO NOT break the ground going from your amp to the wall outlet of from your pedalboard to its outlet by using a three prong to two prong ground lift adapter. Ground is there to protect you from POTENTIALLY FATAL SHOCKS. It’s just not worth the risk.

Fix It in the Mix Sometimes, mix sessions come with hum that

ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Hull is an engineer, composer, and mixer, and the lead producer for most Soundfly courses. One-half audio nerd, one-half guitarist, and one-half fisherman... John Hull sometimes talks about synthesizers in his sleep. He enjoys long walks on the beach (as long as fishing is involved) and creating videos and songs. Special thanks to Marty Fowler and Austin Stillwell for fact-checking and suggestions.

Soundfly offers personalized learning experiences, mentorship services to help you crack your musical problems, and creative courses to get you to the next level. Learn more at soundfly.com.

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PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 31

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Choose and Set Up the Best Portable PA System For Your Band

W

elcome to a multi-part guide that will provide real-world advice about portable PA systems, copresented by Yamaha and Performer Magazine.

Yamaha has been kind enough to loan us a number of products from their professional audio range, which we’ll be incorporating into our series as we go – including the new STAGEPAS 400BT, a powerful portable PA system with Bluetooth, and its sister units the STAGEPAS 400i and STAGEPAS 600i. Let’s begin by looking at the basics of portable PA systems and some of the features to look for.

WHY CHOOSE A PORTABLE PA SYSTEM? The big question for most bands is: “Do I need to purchase my own PA system?” In our opinion, especially in today’s DIY climate, the answer is absolutely yes. While most traditional live

music venues will have their own house sound systems, we find that more and more solo artists and bands are playing an increasing amount of non-traditional venues, such as fairs, street performances, coffee houses, house concerts, private and corporate events, and many other live gigs where a full PA system and sound engineer are not typically provided.

So, in those instances, having your own PA system, and more importantly, a PORTABLE system that can be loaded in, set up and torn down quickly, is a must-have. In most instances, a portable PA system consists of a compact mixer and two PA speakers that are designed to work together as a cohesive unit. Most of the time, they are built in such a way that they either fit together when not in use for easy carrying, or into a custom-built case/enclosure that also aids in easy travel. So, what sorts of features should you pay attention to when searching for the best portable PA system for yourself or your band?

Let’s start with the “portable” aspect of these products…

SIZE, WEIGHT, AND TRUE PORTABILITY A true “portable” PA system should be lightweight and offer a compact mixer and speakers that are engineered to work together.

The beauty of today’s portable PA system is that not only have they been designed to work as a cohesive sound system, but neat design tricks have been employed to make them truly portable, which used to be code for, “Hey, it fits in a van, so we can get away with calling it ‘portable.’”

Take the STAGEPAS 400i, which we’ve tested in the past, for example. The entire configuration, including the mixer and two speakers, can easily fit in the trunk of a compact car, or the front seat of a sedan. Now, that’s portable. Furthermore, the entire setup weighs under 40lbs total, meaning loading in and out of a gig is a breeze. It also only requires one person PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 33

PRO AUDIO

having a touch of reverb at your fingertips (or via footswitch like with the STAGEPAS lineup) can be a handy tool for giving your sound a little extra life.

Another nice touch that we’ve found with the STAGEPAS lineup (and sometimes on more highend units) is feedback suppression. This is accessed via a simple pushbutton on STAGEPAS models, and in our tests virtually eliminated all unwanted (and clichéd) feedback on our test stage. Another excellent feature to put on your checklist when it comes time to make a purchase decision.

BLUETOOTH CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth connectivity might not sound like a necessity either, depending on your current setup. But more and more manufacturers are adding Bluetooth capabilities to their portable PA lineups. to move the entire setup, mixer and speakers, into and out of a venue, which is great if you don’t have a road crew assisting for smaller gigs. And finally, the design team at Yamaha has cleverly devised a way to fit the mixer into the speaker enclosure for ultimate portability. Set up, even for a novice who’s never had to put together a PA before, takes under two minutes in our tests.

POWER AMPLIFIER So, you want a portable PA system that’s truly portable. Check. Next up, we should talk about power. Conventional wisdom would dictate that the more watts, the louder the system. And while that’s technically true, doubling the wattage of a PA system, for example, doesn’t simply double the volume level, or decibel output.

And while that’s a more complicated topic for another day, increasing the power of the amplifier section of your portable PA system will have one key feature that you’ll be able to benefit from right away, and that’s clean headroom. The more power your system can produce (for example, the STAGEPAS 600i has a max output power at 4 ohms of 680 watts, 340 coming from both left and right channels), the cleaner the sound will be when pushed at higher volume levels. And for gigs with big crowds where you need to max out the volume, you’ll be thankful you spent the extra dollars when your band’s not clipping or distorting during your set. There’s nothing that leaves a worse impression with a crowd than an act with lousy sound.

MIC INPUTS, PHANTOM POWER AND HI-Z For solo artists and singer/songwriters, the number of inputs might not be such a big deal. But if you start playing with an accompanist (say, for wedding gigs), or expand to a full band down the line, you’ll want a portable PA system that offers flexibility. And that doesn’t just mean more XLR

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mic inputs, it also means more kinds of inputs.

Picking a portable PA that features a mixer with just the right number of mic inputs for your current situation might be limiting down the line.

So, look for additional features that could come in handy, depending on the types of shows you’ll be playing (and setting up sound for), in the future.

You may only have a handful of dynamic mics now, but you could expand your live rig to include some nice condenser mics down the road. And in that case, choosing a portable PA system because it’s cheap, may come back to haunt you. Make sure you have phantom power (usually indicated by a +48v label) on board to be able to handle these types of mics now and in the future. Also, be sure the systems you’re looking at have hi-z inputs or switches, that will allow you to connect instruments with passive pickups (acoustic guitars, electric guitars, basses) without the need for an extra DI box in the chain. Sometimes going direct through the PA makes more sense for an application than hauling additional amps and mics (especially for small, non-traditional spaces where space is at a premium).

Thankfully, the STAGEPAS lineup features at least 8+ channels in its mixer, phantom power and hi-z switching for direct needs.

ON-BOARD FX Depending on your needs, builtin effects may or may not be crucial to your portable PA checklist, but we’ve found through our own testing that the digital effects being included in today’s mixers blow away those included just a few short years ago. In other words, if you’ve dismissed on-board effects in the past, it might be time to re-evaluate. Again, if you’re going with a portable PA, it means you’re in charge of your own sound for the evening, so

It enables solo artists, for example, to wirelessly stream backing tracks from their smartphones or tablets without the need to take up another line input on the mixer. You can also stream music between sets through the PA while on break.

SPEAKERS AND OUTPUTS Of course, a portable PA system isn’t worth a darn if the included speakers aren’t high quality.

Now while that goes without saying (yeah, we said it anyway), one thing a lot of bands and

Another aspect of portable PAs that often goes overlooked is additional outputs (not just speaker mains). Having extra outs on your mixer will enable you to have the flexibility of an installed PA system, like you’d find at a traditional rock club. This means adding floor monitors and potentially subwoofers to expand the capabilities of your system, if you have the space and your needs require these for the type of gig you’re playing. What’s cool about the STAGEPAS 400BT we’ve been using is that adding a powered sub automatically assigns a high-pass filter to the STAGEPAS speakers without any additional futzing around.

the bumps and potholes a New England winter can throw at them).

HOW TO SET UP A PORTABLE PA SYSTEM Let’s begin by looking at the basic setup procedures for your first portable PA system.

Keep in mind this series is aimed more toward new users.

GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR MIXER Since sound travels from your microphones and instruments to the mixer first before anything hits the speakers, we’ll start there as our first set-up point.

To start, remember safety first. Now, while you probably won’t cause damage to most modern solid-state gear by plugging it in with the power switch already engaged, why take the chance? Make your connections first, then turn on the power.

The good part here is that since you’re working with an integrated system that was designed to function together, the hookup between your mixer and speakers should be simple. In most cases everything should be clearly labeled, come with the necessary cables and the connections between your mixer output

PRO AUDIO

artists overlook in the speaker department is “throw” and coverage. Basically, these terms refer to how far the sound will carry and in what direction, and how much of the crowd (or what angle of coverage) will be taken care of by both the left and right speakers working in tandem.

Look for the widest coverage and throw you can, as this will ensure that the entire audience is hearing your set, and not just those lucky enough to be directly in front of the speakers.

And lastly, if you’re able to shop in-store as opposed to online, really take a good look at the enclosures and speaker grilles before you buy.

The STAGEPAS systems are really rugged and can take a fair amount of abuse while on the road (we’ve lugged ours around town in the back of cars and SUVs and they’ve held up perfectly to all

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 35

PRO AUDIO and speaker inputs will match since they were designed that way. If you’d purchased a separate mixer and PA speakers, you would have had to make sure that both featured the same types of connections. For example, a mixer with only balanced XLR outputs and speakers with 1/4” inputs aren’t going to work together.

But again, portable PA systems are designed to match, so you’re in the clear. Make sure your vocal mics and instrument mics are plugged firmly into the appropriate channels of the mixer with quality XLR cables, and that phantom power is engaged for any condenser mics that might require it. The STAGEPAS models we’re featuring also have Hi-Z inputs, which are super handy for plugging guitars and basses (high 36 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

imprudence sources) direct without the need for additional DI boxes. Just push the Hi-Z button on the channels that support it to engage the proper connection.

Now you can power everything on.

SOUND CHECK With all of your instruments and vocal mics routed through the mixer, it’s time to get a level check. The nice part of the STAGEPAS lineup is the addition of a master volume level. If you’re coming from the guitar world, you may be familiar with the master volume feature of your amplifier.

For small to medium gigs, or performances where other audio sources still need to be audible (conversation at a wedding gig’s cocktail hour,

speeches at corporate gigs, etc.), it can be handy to be able to keep the overall volume limited, while adjusting individual channel volumes to taste.

Each channel of your mixer will have usually its own overall volume control (typically at the bottom of the channel strip either via a fader or knob) and additional EQ parameters as well as fx settings. You may also find that you have global settings on your mixer that apply to all active channels, such as additional fx, reverb, feedback suppression and more.

NECESSARY SETUP ACCESSORIES One of the nice things about portable PA systems is that the mixer is typically compact

BLUETOOTH PAIRING The last setup duty you might want to take care of before the gig starts is to pair your Bluetooth device with your portable PA, especially if you plan on streaming backing tracks or “break music” during your intermissions.

Typically, the device you’re streaming from will be able to locate your portable PA system automatically when Bluetooth is enabled in your device’s settings, so set up should be a breeze.

STAGEPAS also lets you pair up to 8 devices, so all of your band members can pair their devices.

Pairing is pretty straightforward – hold down the Bluetooth button for a moment to arm STAGEPAS for pairing. The Bluetooth light will start flashing at this point. Enable Bluetooth on your device, if you haven’t done so already, and select your STAGEPAS model from the device list on your phone or tablet. Once you’ve finished pairing, the Bluetooth light on your STAGEPAS will remain steady.

Once you’re paired, the process for connecting your device the next time you want to use it is just as easy. Press and hold the Bluetooth button for a second, the Bluetooth LED will flash, and you’ll select your STAGEPAS model from the device list on your phone or tablet. Depending on which STAGEPAS you are using, Bluetooth signals will route to either channels 7/8 or 9/10.

PRO TIP: If you’re using a phone for music playback, you can put the phone in airplane mode to eliminate the annoyance of alerts and phone calls for your audience.

SPEAKER MOUNTING We’ve spent the majority of this installment talking about the mixer, but sufficient time should also be spent positioning your PA speakers for the best sound depending on your particular venue. A general rule of thumb is that the main PA speakers should be higher off the ground than the tallest audience member.

So, a good 6-8 feet high is a general starting point. You want the sound to project to the rear of the venue, and not be blocked by audience members if the speakers are placed too low off the floor. You also want high-frequencies to be able to travel, as opposed to being absorbed by physical objects in their way.

PRO AUDIO

doubles as a sustain pedal for your synths, so if you already have one for your keyboard, give it a try with your STAGEPAS to see how well it controls reverb with the gentle press of your foot.

You might be surprised at how useful a feature that can be on stage, on-the-fly.

Even though you’re using a portable PA system, you should still have industrystandard mounting options available. The STAGEPAS units, for example, are all easily pole-mountable. We’ve got our up on sticks, and have even used them as wedge monitors.

Even better, they feature StageLok connectors, which ensure that your speakers are mounted quickly and securely, and aren’t going to change positions once they’re set-up.

The nice thing about a portable PA system is that total set-up time can be under 2 minutes once you’re got the hang of things. And since most systems, like STAGEPAS, are designed for ease-of-use, it’s really just a matter of making the connections, adjusting your mix, and positioning the speakers for the best sound possible.

CLOSING THOUGHTS Now, keep in mind these are the basics you’ll need to get started when setting up your portable PA system. Head to https://usa. yamaha.com/products/proaudio/index.html to learn more and to find the portable PA products and accessories that will fit YOUR band’s needs.

enough to travel well (hence “portable”) but oftentimes this means that finding a place for it on stage, from a logistical standpoint, can be a challenge. Luckily, many manufacturers provide handy mounting solutions that alleviate this problem, and allow you to control the mixer easily during performances without the need to “MacGuyver” a solution. We’ve been using the Yamaha M770 mixer stand during our tests, which makes things super-simple.

Another handy accessory you might want to add to your set-up process is a function-specific footswitch. Now, while not all portable PA systems come with this capability, our STAGEPAS 400BT allows you to use the optional FC5 footswitch for controlling reverb. In fact, the same footswitch PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 37

GEAR REVIEWS

SONOMA WIRE WORKS DrumCore 4 Ultra

F

or an artist who wants a good drum sound but doesn’t have all of the acoustic drum resources, the choices used to be very limited. Sonoma Wire Works just made things a lot easier with their Drumcore4 Ultra.

Now it works as a plug-in on pretty much every recording platform, from GarageBand to Pro Tools. For our testing purposes we were running it on Studio One 3 professional, which in turn was installed on a Mac. All of our content was shipped on a 120GB solid state drive. However, it is available as a download, but depending on your download speed, this might be a bit time prohibitive.

Loops were a big leap in getting realistic drum sounds into sessions where someone like a singer/songwriter wanted some drums that didn’t have the dated-ness of a drum machine, but eventually loops kind of felt the same way.

What really makes any session sound good is the feel and uniqueness of drummers and their kits that give drum tracks their own character. What DrumCore 4 Ultra has going for it, is a list of name drummers (too many to list for this article), as well as the sound of their drum kits.

Running the plug-in, a new window opens that gives the selection of the particular drummer, and a preview option to hear the various versions.

For artists that may not be familiar with the particular drummer, but wants just a “feel” selection choice, beats can be selected by genre, and it offers up suggestions as to what drummers should work best. But it goes a step further with a full editor suite to mix and edit the feel of each

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individual drum, such the velocity of a snare hit or a kick drum’s curve.

A mix section helps adjust the overall feel.

Want a snare drum that really cuts? Just bring it up. In the past doing something like this with a traditional loop was practically impossible.

There’s also an effects section, allowing adjustable compression, EQ and Delay. Now here’s where it goes into hyper drive; there are not only sound wave loops, but MIDI versions as well. So that means each Midi Loop can be edited to fit whatever musical situation. Like the loop, but hate the cymbal hits? No biggie, just move them to where you want them!

Like the Matt Cameron drum loop, but prefer Stephen Perkins drum kit? The MIDI version allows this virtual drummer/drum kit combo to happen.

Overall, it’s super easy to dig into, as there is pretty much every time signature loaded, and with the selections able to handle any tempo, the sky’s the limit. Just drag and drop the loop into your tracks. The only downside is picking out what to use. For the recording artist who wants something that sounds and feels like real drums but runs into any of the logistical issues of trying to record real drums, this is the best and most flexible alternative option that’s not a sacrifice to the tracks. Studios that like to work with singer/songwriters should seriously consider getting this as it would be hard to play “stump the system” -- it has every bell and whistle that could be thrown at a real drummer without any technical or creative bottleneck.

Chris Devine

PROS

Plenty of options of drummers and kits, many editing/ mixing options.

CONS

None.

STREET PRICE

$639

GEAR REVIEWS

EHRLUND EHR-H Microphone

W

hen it comes to live vocals, condenser mics are really starting to make their presence known. It’s a simple design and gives a lot more sensitivity and dynamics.

Swedish manufacturer Ehrlund has just launched their unique EHR-H mic to bring some serious sound.

Design wise, it’s well done, with a sculpted chassis for ergonomic use, and an extremely rigid grille. Ehrlund even incorporated the same triangular capsule found in their more expensive studio microphones. This gives a tight and quick response and a clear and true sound, with very low noise.

It’s HYPER clear, with very little to no coloring. Vocal mics sometimes don’t react with every vocal type or performance, but for super articulate and tight applications, like hip-hop or pop styles this is a great tool to bring that approach to the stage without having to do any external processing or EQ. It’s very sensitive as well, so sound guys

who sometime find that a singer might not want to get on the mic, this is a great thing to have. It brings plenty of output, even when not near the singer’s mouth, and proximity effect where the singer is moving the mic around keeps a solid output overall. It’s rated for a max SPL of 135dB, so even if a singer really gets on it, there should be no issues at all. With all that clarity and natural response, it really brings studio clarity to the stage. If a vocalist wants a mic to color things by having a bit more low-end or raspy depth, this might not be the mic for you.

Now the bad news, all that clarity and goodness has a price, and it comes in at around $799 USD. It does sound great, but at that price it should. There are other options for handheld live mics that aren’t slouches at half the price, and considering the abuse most live mic go through, it might be tough having to justify shelling out that kind of money. That said, if you’ve got the budget and you’re shooting for the ultimate in clarity and response in a live mic, this won’t disappoint.

Chris Devine

PROS

Excellent clarity and natural response, great for pop and hip-hop.

CONS

A little pricey.

STREET PRICE

$799

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 39

GEAR REVIEWS

PROS

Great sound quality, very simple and easy to use.

CONS

iOS only.

STREET PRICE

$349

iZOTOPE

Spire Studio

I

t’s tough to get into recording without plunking down some cashola. A computer, a DAW, software, cables. Never mind the learning curve of getting all of that to work together. Even with small format systems, it’s still a bit ungainly. Spire is as simple as its name to get into.

Size-wise it’s not much bigger than one of those home integration devices, with just a back panel with XLR combo connectors and headphone outputs on the back, as well as the front.

With the dual inputs, two tracks can be done at a time, and the maximum tracks it can do on a song tops out at 8. There are some interesting features in the app, like three amp simulations, and “spaces” that add ambience. The preamps are nice and work well with instruments, as well.

The overall sound quality is surprisingly great, and the ease of being able to set up and start recording without plug-ins and external devices is quite amazing. It’s reminiscent of the days of the cassette tape porta studios, before DAWs and interfaces, but with far greater sound quality and flexibility.

An integrated mic is also on the front, and the angled top has LEDs that not only act as a display but are touch sensitive and a finger swipe easily adjusts levels. Now while the physical device has minimalist controls, the iOS app (iPhone & iPad), really opens things up. It connects through Wi-Fi, and since the iOS device is just a control and display, there’s no worry about latency. The recording and processing is all done on the Spire itself. It can also be used with the included power supply or it can charge the internal battery for four hours of use.

Now the bummer on devices that are usually unique like this, is the ability to make the content accessible to others, and to other systems.

Thankfully this isn’t the case here. The app has an export section, meaning recordings can be shared by text or email. Sharing to Facebook, with your own album art, as well as to Soundcloud, is a simple export. Individual files can also be transferred out, meaning the Spire’s stems can be imported into a session in a traditional DAW. So, turning a demo into a finished polished recording is super easy with no issues in transfer or sound quality. This can also be reversed, where files can

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be transferred back into the Spire. This is a great idea for creating ideas and collaborating with others, without having to make the investment of a DAW or having to spend time and money in a studio.

We’ve reviewed some small form recording devices and interfaces that are lightweight, and one twist or pull on a cable while plugged in, means it goes skittering across the desk. With the Spire’s weighty metal construction, it’s anchored down, meaning when all the cables are connected, dragging it across the workspace while trying to grab that guitar pick off of the floor, isn’t going to happen. The only downside is that the app is only for iOS. So, with the ability to record anywhere, with great sound quality, without power, with minimal cables, the ability to share and export the material, makes this a fantastic little powerhouse. Podcasters alone should look into one of these as a simple solution. It’s an excellent sounding portable alternative to a DAW, and really redefines what it is to be a recording studio.

Chris Devine

INSURANCE

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EntertainerInsurance-KK.com K&K Insurance Group, Inc. is a licensed insurance producer in all states (TX license #13924); operating in CA, NY and MI as K&K Insurance Agency (CA license #0334819)

GEAR REVIEWS

I

K’s really embraced using iOS devices as a platform for their software, but in a lot of cases going from a tablet or smartphone to a practical live tool might be problematic; now their Stomp I/O gives the software a robust hardware platform to bring things to the next level.

With an all metal construction, it looks like a typical floor processor, albeit without the display and parameter selection areas. The empty real estate has a rubber coated area and lip to slide an iPhone, iPad or Microsoft Surface tablet in and connect to the device. There are four footswitches, with an expression pedal, along with Gain and Volume controls. The rear panel is pretty loaded for connection options like MIDI in/out, a 1/4”/XLR input, complete with phantom power. Two additional expression pedals can be integrated, and output can be by stereo 1/4” or a headphone connection. Connections to the tablet or smart phone as well as a USB out reside here, too.

Simply download Amplitube to a device and connect it to the Stomp I/O. Screen size might be a bit limiting, depending upon the device being used; the larger the screen, the easier it is to see (duh) and navigate the Amplitube app. Now it can work without a smart phone or tablet, just connect the unit to a computer via USB and since Amplitube 4 Deluxe is included, it turns your computer into your effects processor/ preamp. Now it can work with a stomp box mode, where you call up a bank of pedals, and can turn the individual pedals on and off, like a real pedalboard. The other option is going into another bank of pedals. It’s a user preference, and it’s nice to see that IK gives that option. It’s not just for guitarists; there are plenty of options for 42 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

IK MULTIMEDIA iRig Stomp I/O bass players as well. Acoustic guitarists can run it with Amplitube Acoustic, which brings excellent EQ and tone shaping, as well as feedback elimination and effects. Don’t want to bring a 12-string for that one song in the set? Their 12-string emulator is quite good for this.

Vocalists aren’t left out either, as the input is a combo XLR jack -- connect any mic, and it can simulate another completely different mic. Vocal effects go from subtle and ambient to extreme with harmony functions. The VocalLive software also acts as an 8-track recorder, and a 4-track looper. Super cool and useful.

Included is some post editing software, too: their T-RackS mastering and mixing. This makes the software package alone as flexible and functional as the actual iRig Stomp I/O itself.

not included, that are licensed by the original manufacturer. There’s also no way to audition or try them out. It seemed like every effect or amp that piqued our interest wasn’t available without making an additional purchase. It’s also great to see IK go beyond the Apple device platform, with the PC and the Surface tablet, but would be great to see it also work on Android devices.

That said, IK brought the power of the pedalboard into a whole new world of options.

And considering it also doubles as an audio interface, this could be the all-in-one solution today’s recording guitarist didn’t know they needed. Very highly recommended.

Chris Devine

PROS The overall sound quality of all the software is what we’ve come to know from IK; flexible, easy to use, with no disappointment in practicality or overall quality. Dialing in some great guitar sounds didn’t take long, and there were plenty of options, without getting overwhelmed. It felt and reacted like a traditional pedalboard, or multi effect preamp/processor/emulator. Plugging into an amp, or going direct into a computer, it sounded great, and at times seeing this big box connected to a tiny iPhone made us chuckle.

This could easily be a fly rig to home recording rig solution. In a sense, the simplicity of getting it going was almost overwhelming and may make pedal junkies re-think the entire pedalboard concept.

The downside is while Amplitube has tons of great amps and effects loaded out of the box, there are a plethora of effects and amps that are

Well made, very easy to use, flexible.

TONS of usable software.

CONS

Some “name brand” effects/amp packages cost extra.

STREET PRICE

$299

L

ocking tuners seem like a no brainer when it comes to any guitar with a tremolo; ease of re-stringing and positive hold on strings prevents any slippage that results in being out of tune. Graph Tech took the concept of locking tuners to the next level, with their new Ratio tuners.

Our test subject was a Fender Mexican Telecaster, which had a stock, sealed back tuner.

Locking tuners are great on tremolo guitars, but even on non trem guitars like the Tele, they can hold tune better, as well as making re-stringing go a lot quicker. Upon removing the old tuners, we noticed that there are two small holes drilled next to the tuners. The stock tuning peg has two “teeth” that align and fit into these holes, providing stability for the tuner. The Graph Tech Ratio Tuners have a similar design. However, these didn’t align up with the factory drilled holes. Included with the tuners were a plethora of Graph Tech’s Invisomatch mounting adapter plates. We did consider drilling new holes for these teeth, 12 holes in all. But using the adapter plates that fit our Tele, we would only have to drill six (one per each tuning peg). We decided to go this way.

Installing the adapter plates went easy, using a straight edge to align them, and then tightening up the tuning pegs, they seemed to sit nice and even across the board. Careful inspection from every angle possible showed they were all aligned. At that point we drilled holes for the alignment screws, being quite careful to drill

just enough depth for the screw. After that, using a screwdriver to fasten the adapter plate to the headstock. Overall a pretty simple installation.

However, if there’s ever any discomfort into drilling into your beloved instrument’s headstock, ALWAYS consult a qualified guitar tech.

great for players who might use open or alternate tunings in the same set, so they can get in and out of standard tuning very quickly, without having to go back and forth while strings stretch against each other. They also work across a variety of string gauges.

Installing strings is easy; undo the threaded thumbwheel on the back, slide in a string, pull tight, and tighten the thumbscrew. Now tune up, and it’s done. The big deal with the Ratio tuners is the gearing for each tuning peg is optimized for THAT specific string; therefore the amount of winding is minimized. So, no extra turns on that high E string, for example.

Overall, it’s a well thought-out and executed design that works in real world situations.

Some manufacturers are starting to make these standard on their guitars, but for those looking to upgrade to a locking tuner, the Ratio tuners from Graph Tech are certainly well worth a shot.

Chris Devine

GEAR REVIEWS

GRAPH TECH Ratio Locking Tuners

Here’s the rundown on each string’s tuning ratio for these: String E A D G B E

Ratio 39:1 24:1 20:1 14:1 20:1 12:1

PROS

CONS

STREET PRICE

Super quick re-tuning, nice locking mechanism.

None.

$139

The guitar came up to pitch VERY quickly without extra turns, or any slippage or fuss. For bands on the road, the speed and ease in which strings can be changed is well worth fitting a set of these. No muss with having to wrap strings around, under, etc. Since the tuners have their own individual gear ratios it also means going up or down a whole tone easily with one turn. This is PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 43

GEAR REVIEWS

GUITARGRIP Guitar Hangers

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isplaying an instrument has a few options; a floor mounted guitar stand, which is usually inexpensive and easy, until someone stumbles and knocks it over, or a flood happens (seen it) and the instrument is now soaking in a puddle. Getting it off the floor is a great idea, and GuitarGrip has some very unique ways to show off your instrument.

We received two very cool hangers, one was a very sexy feminine hand, their Blue Valkyrie.

The other is a very masculine Copper Antique hand, that GuitarGrip calls the Classic. It looks like it was molded from a superhero’s grip and is plated in an antique patina. The areas around the thumb and forefinger are fitted with a rubberized coating to prevent instrument damage. They do come in many other color choices, so matching to your studio/practice space/home décor is pretty easy, even if your style is bony skeleton/undead, and there’s also as a wood finished one that screams “I AM GROOT.”

Now they do come in left and right-hand versions, however that’s not dictated by the right or left-handed configuration of the guitar’s headstock, more of the shape of the headstock area, so check which guitar(s) you want to hang from it and pick accordingly.

Overall, they feel quite rigid and robust.

GuitarGrip states that it is safe for most finishes, including nitro. At the end of the wrist is a threaded insert to connect the hand to a wall with the enclosed threaded screw.

Installation is simple: drill a hole into a stud, then thread the screw into the hand. Now simply thread the hand into the wall. However, if there’s a situation where there are no wall studs to connect into, Guitar Grip offers hardware kits (sold separately).

They are certainly unique-looking and quite functional, the only qualm was the female one had some very long (and pointy) fingernails, and

while you’re hanging an instrument, your focus should be on that action - banging the neck/ headstock area on them could be an issue, if you’re not paying attention. If you’re looking to really do a makeover of your space, these are certainly very cool and well worth checking out.

Chris Devine

PROS

CONS

STREET PRICE

Unique design, plenty of color/finish options.

Might require additional mounting kit (sold separately).

Copper antique $49; Blue Valkyrie $44

GRAPH TECH Tusq Guitar Picks

I

t’s hard to believe that the standard guitar pick has evolved just as much as guitars and amps, but even the little things make big differences. Graph Tech has found an interesting way to change the tone, but not the feel in a guitar pick.

They come in three tone choices, materialwise: the white material is bright, the beige sits in a warm range, and dark grey is deep yet warm.

Each pick has the name and thickness in raised lettering molded on one side, and the raised Graph Tech logo on the reverse. It helps provide extra grip as well. They are available in a variety of sizes, from mini “jazz” sized to large threesided versions. We got a couple of mixed bags, which have a variety of sizes and thickness.

Picks are certainly an item that falls under a “your mileage may vary” situation. One player may prefer one kind, while another player could have the complete opposite preference. The claims of tonal response are really evident on acoustics, not so much on electrics. One great example is the three-sided pick with the warm toned material was excellent overall, with plenty of area to maneuver between the fingers, to get an open strumming feel, as well as some direct attack.

44 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

Their smaller jazz styled ones felt really sharp and positive. The edges are nice and have a very light radius. They also didn’t seem to wear easily, as the edges of some other brands seem to wear quickly based on the player’s picking pattern. An interesting observation, is while the thickness might be the same as other guitar picks, the Tusq’s material felt stiffer, which is nice for players who like the response of a stiff pick, but not a big thick piece of plastic between their fingers.

There are plenty of variations of size, thickness and materials, and certainly any player could adapt easily to one of these from whatever pick they’re currently using without any issue.

Players that have their preferred styles might want to check out a mixed bag; it’s surprising to see how much a small item like a pick can really change the way you play. It’s short money to mix things up and get a positive response.

Chris Devine

PROS

Nice variants on standard size and thickness of the usual guitar picks.

Stiffness without thickness.

CONS

None.

STREET PRICE

$5.95 (mixed bag)

T

Electronics-wise it’s quite familiar, with three ceramic magnet single coil pickups, a master volume, neck tone, middle tone, and a 5-way switch.

The body is not much bigger than a standard sized S-style pickguard. The Surf Green finish of our test model more or less comes in as a colored accent from the front view. Flipping it over there are some familiar hardware bits, such as a standard S-style input jack and strap buttons.

The neck joint has a beveled edge, allowing for easy upper fret access. It’s very interesting to note that the tremolo block hangs out the back of the body, exposed. One might think, is this going to affect any playability? But amazingly it doesn’t.

It feels like a normal 2-point S-Type bridge, with a pop in tremolo arm that can be adjusted for the tightness of its “swing.”

Picking it up it feels odd, and yet strangely familiar. Without all that extra body mass, it’s easy to get the hand into a very comfortable picking position. With the pop-in tremolo arm, the trem feels, well normal. Strapping it on, it’s nicely balanced, and in a seated position, it sits nicely where a normal guitar would go. The pickups are quite robust in all configurations, with more than enough output. Clean, Telestyle chicken pickin’ tones in positions 2 and 4 have enough warmth and quack, just like you would expect, and each pickup individually doesn’t disappoint. With a bit of grit from an overdriven amp, it delivers big (and almost unexpected) tones. Getting into more heavy drive, the usual single coil 60 cycle hum is there, but that’s no surprise. Comparing it to a full-size S-style guitar, it’s certainly not lacking tone or beefiness in any way.

The maple neck and fingerboard feel very nice, and are fitted with medium jumbo frets, which feels very familiar, however it’s a 3+3 tuner configuration on the headstock which brings the standard 25 ½” scale under a 34” overall length.

Our test guitar was strung up with .09 strings, so it felt like a slinky S-type. The frets were well polished and finished, and the bone nut is a really nice touch. With this uniquely “less is more” body, and great feeling neck, it is a joy to play

raveling with an instrument is difficult at best, even when it’s in a lightweight gig bag. There are travel-sized instruments, but with limited features sound wise and shorter scale lengths, which means it doesn’t feel and sound like a “real” instrument. Traveler Guitars figured out how to get a full-size instrument with a full-sized sound into a more travel friendly situation.

overall, and doesn’t feel or sound like it’s missing anything. Not what we expected at all.

Overall, for a player who does a lot of traveling this is well worth it. In its gig bag it can easily fit in the overhead compartment of an airplane with no fuss. Heck, a touring artist that might want to bring an additional electric on the road but shies away because of space issues should seriously consider one (or two) of these. There’s really no downside to one of these; they deliver a fullsized guitar in a travel sized package. Consider us impressed.

Chris Devine

PROS

CONS

STREET PRICE

Great neck, excellent fretwork, familiar feel, great single coil tones.

Aesthetics might not appeal to everyone.

$299

GEAR REVIEWS

TRAVELER GUITAR Travelcaster Guitar

PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 45

GEAR REVIEWS

MACKIE MP Series In-Ear Monitors

A

operation is in jeopardy. So rather than focus on bass, which we’d normally do for studio monitors, we focused on vocal clarity and upper mid-tohigh clarity and balance.

For our purposes, we tested each model in the range, starting with the MP-120’s all the way through the flagship MP-240’s, in two separate situations: first as part of a recording setup for mix monitoring, and separately through a PA system to test out their capabilities through a simulated stage experience.

As we mentioned, the MP-120’s fared surprisingly well in all of our tests (both on recordings and with a PA), with vocal clarity coming through in spades. With IEM’s, you don’t have to worry much about lousy room acoustics or crummy house wedges if you’re getting a decent feed from the FOH board and whatever wireless transmitter/receiver you’re using.

long with the MBD series of DI boxes, Mackie also unveiled a new lineup of inear monitors at NAMM, which we’ve just had the pleasure of testing out here at Performer HQ.

First impressions – if I had to guess the price point on each of these, I probably would have been way off. The MP-120’s debut at just $99 per pair, which means everyone in the band can afford them for the road. And their performance certainly belies their cost. I would have pegged these easily at $199. Bass response was tight, highs were articulate and there was no overlyaggressive mid-range hump that has plagued some other pairs of IEM’s we’ve tested over the years. Fit and comfort was great, as well (that goes for each pair), as Mackie thoughtfully provides a full range of different types and sizes of ear cushions to choose from (all housed in a nice carrying case, I might add). Rounding out the physical attributes are pro-quality detachable, braided/shielded cables. Nice.

The real test was with vocals – the main reason you might want to try IEM’s for your next tour. While bass response is important, we’re more interested in practical matters. And put simply, if you can’t hear your singer on stage (or worse, they can’t hear themselves), the whole 46 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

But the MP-220’s were a notable step up, balance-wise. With two drivers powering each of the 220’s, you can definitely sense a lift in overall response and dynamics compared to the entrylevel 120’s. That’s not to say the 120’s are bad; in fact, kudos to Mackie on delivering such good results for just $99. But judging them against the others in the range, you can see where the added expense goes for the 220’s and 240’s.

Speaking of the 240’s, they might just be the best value of the bunch (even at the highest price point). For just $199, they’re very competitively priced against other makers’ flagship IEMs, delivering crystal clear, high-powered audio with a clever hybrid design. You see, instead of the two dynamic drivers like those powering the MP-220’s, the 240’s are configured with one dynamic driver and a balanced armature driver with a proprietary crossover, sending the right frequency signals to the appropriate driver for perfect balance. Think of it as an automated mini-version of the crossover knob on the back of your subwoofer. The difference is sometimes

subtle, but also immediate in A/B testing. Bass response was better (which is great, don’t get us wrong), but where things took an instant shine were in the upper registers and with vocals sitting perfectly in a real-world mix. It’s that little boost in clarity and frequency balance/distribution that lifted these above the 220’s and justifies the added $50 per pair. Well worth it, if you ask us (and since you’re reading this, we suppose you did ask us, in a way).

What’s nice about all the models is that they offer pretty reasonable isolation (which is perfect for stage or studio use), they’re all built well, are comfy to wear and all come with nice hard protective cases. If you’ve got the budget, we say take the plunge and go directly for the 240’s, you won’t be disappointed. Likewise, if budget is tight, you could outfit your entire lineup with sets of the 120’s or 220’s and be ready to hit the road.

Benjamin Ricci

PROS

CONS

STREET PRICE

Great sound, welldesigned, nice carrying cases. Double as audiophile in-ears (MP-240’s)

None.

$99 (MP120); $149 (MP-220); $199 (MP-240)

GEAR REVIEWS

MACKIE MDB USB Stereo Direct Box

I

love products like this – they’re built to do one job, and they do that job well. End of story. Well, not quite. We do have a full review if you want to keep reading…

The new MDB series of DI boxes from Mackie were unveiled at NAMM, and that’s where we got our first look at these rugged little units. While DI boxes might not sound like the most exciting new product announcement, we were actually pumped to see these in action. DI boxes can make or break a stage performance; it’s one of those things that you don’t truly cherish until it doesn’t function properly. Something you rely upon and forget about how much you actually depend on it.

For us, the USB version of the MDB series was rather intriguing. As more and more bands incorporate synths and laptops into their stage show to trigger sounds, sequencers and soft synths, we hadn’t really come across many units designed to take audio-over-USB and feed that directly to an FOH mixer. That simple idea works incredibly well here: the USB DI box takes the source (most likely coming from your laptop or hardware synth module with USB audio capabilities) and allows you to run it (in stereo) through a hi-res DAC to balanced XLR outs. Complete with ground lift, so no humming annoyances!

straight from the 1/8” minijack into a line input on the mixer, and the difference was clear.

This little box made the connection noisefree, and the outboard DAC performed noticeably better than the one that fed audio through the headphone outs on one of the cheap laptops we tested with soft synths.

Put simply, the MDB-USB did the job well, and is built like a rock. Better yet, the whole operation is bus powered, which means one less power adapter to clutter up your stage or studio rig, and there are no USB drivers needed. It’s truly plug and play.

We’ve used plenty of DI boxes in the past, most traditionally for sending bass guitar signals straight into a mixer. But we’d never thought to test out a USB-based DI box before. Shame on us. This is one tool that keyboard players, electronic musicians and even home studio users will want to integrate into their setup. It’s time to ditch those wimpy, noisy mini outputs on your computer or tablet and opt for a more professional method of connecting your digital gear and apps to your PA system.

Benjamin Ricci

PROS

Works great, rugged build, affordable.

CONS

None.

PRICE

$149

You even get a decent built-in headphone amp for monitoring. In our tests, we used the digital output from a drum machine to the XLR preamp ins on a portable PA, with fantastically clear results. We A/B’d it against taking audio PERFORMER MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2018 47

GEAR REVIEWS

I

f a player has a hankering for some of that classic Filtertron tone, there aren’t a lot of options out there. Add in a need/want of a Bigsby tremolo, and the field sharply narrows.

Until now. Prestige’s DC Coupe Deuce captures those great classic options in a modern feeling yet contemporary guitar.

Right out of the case it’s got a classy hot rod like appearance, as the smoky metallic grey top finish (although Prestige calls this Metallic Black) and the chrome of the hardware really make this pop in appearance.

Its double cutaway body has a carved maple top and a mahogany back, which is finished in a clear coat that shows off the natural grain. A very classy binding acts as a dividing line between the painted top and natural finish look of the back.

It has a bit of heft to it, however it does balance nicely with no neck droop. Speaking of necks, it has an ebony fingerboard with offset MOP dots, along with some excellently done binding that sits on a mahogany neck. The Profile is a C shape that has some girth while not being clumsy feeling. The fret work is very well done, with no buzzing and a very smooth feel. The open back tuners are very classy, and seem to do the trick with no fiddylyness, and a positive connected tuning feel. A TUSQ nut finishes things off.

Pickup wise, its sporting a TV Jones Filtertron Classic in the neck and a Classic Plus in bridge position, with two volume controls (one for each pickup) and a master tone. A metal three-way toggle sits nicely on the upper bout.

Nothing sounds or feels like a Bigsby, and this B5 version is a great complement to the pickups 48 JUNE/JULY 2018 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

PRESTIGE GUITARS DC Coupe Deuce MB and overall design. Going a step further the Tone Pros bridge itself has roller saddles, meaning no getting the strings bound up or any string friction. It’s a subtle tremolo, where less is more.

There’s less wiggle room than say a Strat, but it stays in the area of actual musical use.

Strapping this on it doesn’t feel like some rock and roll relic. It feels modern, and a 24.75” scale is still familiar. Plugging it into a variety of amps, the TV Jones pickups really have some nice sparkle on the top end, without getting shrill or pointy. The bridge pickup has plenty of bark to it, while the neck pickup has classic warmth that doesn’t get woofy or muddled.

Together they’re glorious, especially in a clean setting. Balance between pickups in a guitar is a big deal, and these give the best version of their respective positions. Nothing sounds like a Filtertron style of pickup, it’s got a little single coil twang, some Humbucker depth, some P90 gulpy ness. It’s like a spicy sonic gumbo. Using it with dirty sounds is fantastic. It can get into some really heavy situations, though feedback issues are expected, so again it’s a situation where less is more; volume and punch beat out saturation and gain, and gives a bigger, richer overall tone. Think of how little distortion AC/DC actually uses, and how big their sound is.

Lead-wise it has twang and some slinky ness, and the Bigsby is set for the right amount of shimmer. Rhythm-wise it’s tight, with a ring and resonance that really doesn’t come from any other kind of pickup. Layering with another guitar player that was using humbuckers, it held its own sonic space, but added an overall richness to the mix. Layering any track with this style pickup,

along with a track with traditional pickup really brings in some unique tones. Across the board, it’s great for any rootsy, Americana, bluesy, early rock and roll organic type of approach, without any of the issues of an old styled instrument.

Prestige really knocked it out of the park on this one, with excellent components, a great design, great feel and overall fantastic build quality. There’s no downside to one of these.

Chris Devine

PROS

Great vintage vibe, excellent construction, modern feel.

CONS

None.

PRICE

$1299

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