A Beginner’s Guide to Tape Music (1944-1970)
From scholarly and avant-garde beginnings to ambient soundscapes of the 21st Century, there is something for virtually every listener and performer to be found in tape music. What we’re discussing here is not just a performance recorded to tape, but compositions, experiments, and live sets using tape as an instrument. The Beginning It would be […]
Behind The Design: Fender American Acoustasonic Telecaster
At first glance, the American Acoustasonic Telecaster doesn’t look like an acoustic guitar. It doesn’t look like a traditional Tele, either. That’s because it’s neither…but it does take a little of both, mixing traditional acoustic resonance with electric feel and digital modeling to make something new… But, it doesn’t look like one of those futuristic, […]
Cymbal Anatomy Part 6: Alloys
At the cynosure of your cymbal’s tone, the widely discussed, and wildly differentiating: alloy. The alloy is the blend of metals that makes up your cymbal and shapes its sound possibly more than any other factor. Generally speaking, most cymbals are made from any variety of copper-based alloys. I’m just going to go through some […]
Road-Friendly Recording
Build Your Tour Studio As much as you’d like it to be, sometimes a recording studio isn’t always conventional. When you’re on the road for weeks on end and still need to keep track of your ideas, a recording studio can often be a hotel room, green room, laundromat, or the bench seat of a […]
The Denon DJ SC5000 is Changing the Way We DJ
A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t imagine seeing anyone else stepping into the professional media player/CDJ market. That was before Denon stepped up to the plate. The release of the Denon DJ SC5000 and its matching mixer, the Denon DJ X1800 Prime, have flipped the way live DJing can be done. After months of […]
Top Tones: Walrus Audio Lillian & Deep Six V3
Walrus’ two newest pedals are the Lillian analog phaser and the third incarnation of their Deep Six compressor. Check out our two Top Tones videos to hear each one in action! Lillian Analog Phaser Lillian is a multi-stage analog phaser that lets users select from four or six stages of flanging, and dry, phase-shifted, or […]
Talking Shop: Worst Gigs
Sometimes, you play a great show. Other times…things go wrong. From smashed gear to horrific venues to audiences looking to really rage, these are tales from the shows we wish we could forget. Read these terrifying short stories if you dare, and share yours in the comments below! Mellow Against the Machine Shop One of […]
How to Integrate Triggers Into an Acoustic Drum Kit
Ask a drummer what makes the perfect drum kit and they might say “wood, metal, a little plastic and a blanket.” Keep it simple, stupid. But we drummers aren’t as stupid as we look, and we want to stretch the limits of our sonic profile behind the kit! Electronic drum triggers are a great way […]
Important Akai MPC Updates
Lately, Akai has been releasing some incredible updates for the MPC Live and MPC X. There’s been little talk of these updates, but they are truly game changing and I would like to discuss their importance in case you haven’t hit that update button yet. Update 2.3 When I purchased the MPC Live, I was […]
