Music Planet Issue 1

›LISTENING ›PLAYING ›PERFORMING

dolphinmusic.com THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF

usicPlane usic Plane $FREE

BE A PLAYER! ISSUE 01 Autumn 2008

FENDER

Classic Player

JAGUAR SPECIA SPE CIALL HH FULL REVIEW P27

THE TH E

SUBWAYS

UNDERGROUND HEROES

MONITORS ROUND-UP

Beginner’s Guide

COMPUTER

MUSIC

BANGIN’ TUNES FROM SOFTWARE

SEVEN PAIRS UNDER £700 REVIEWED

EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW!

Buying an

ACOUSTIC GUITAR

2box

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT MODEL

DrumIt Five CAN IT TAKE ON THE BIG BOYS?

SIX OF THE BEST

LATEST GEAR REVIEWED

DIGITAL RECORDERS

DBX DRIVERACK PX NI PX NI GUITAR RIG SESSION AKAI MPC5000 TOONTRACK SUPERIOR 2.0

GIG REVIEWS

VENUE GUIDE

PRACTICAL PRAC TICAL ADVICE

Q&A

lets make music

Designing Schools For The Future At Dolphin Music we recognise that teachers and music professionals require more than musical instruments to successfully deliver their curriculum. cur riculum. For this reason we have developed a suite of specialist services designed to meet those needs. Add to this our extensive portfolio of musical instruments’ great education pricing and fast delivery and you know the future of your department is in safe hands.

Services: Installation | Training | Accoustic Consultation | Music Education Consultation Recording | Computer Music | Orchestral | Drums | Percussion | Pianos | Keyboards | DJ | Lighting | PA PA | Guitars

Be a player! MusicPlanet Magazine Venture Point West, 70-72 Evans Road, Merseyside L24 9PB T +44 (0)151 448 2086 E info@dolph [email protected] inmusic.com Editor: Neil Worley E [email protected] Designer: Kate Lucas E kate_lucas [email protected] @btconnect.com Director of Marketing, Dolphin Music Paul Harris E paul.harris@ [email protected] dolphinmusic.co.uk .uk T 0151 448 2696 To advertise: Please contact Chris Fleischhack E chris@dolphinm [email protected] usic.co.uk T 0151 448 2085 Contributors: Jeannette Appleton, Peter Bickerton, Helen Burge, Martyn Casserly, Robert Collins, Mark Cousins, Anita Curbishley, Trevor Gilham, Steve Harvey, Owen Hopkin, Sarah Kelsall, Ellie Laycock, Richard Lennon, Miguel Mascolinas, Paul Oldeld, Oz Owen, Peter Pollard, Ivan Silva, Lee Varey, Sheldon Wood, Andy Wright, Jade Wright A big thank you to all the suppliers, manufacturers and distributors who helped us put together this rst issue of MusicPlanet – good work everyone.

The Ofcial Magazine of Dolphin Music Who are Dolphin Music?

Dolphin Music is the UK’s Number 1 online retailer for all your music equipment needs. Dolphin Music has nearly a decade of experience in ser vicing musicians throughout throughout Europe with equipment, and we are focused on providing our customers with what we like to call the Dolphin Experience. What is the Dolphin Experience?

Our approach from day one has always been to look after our customers. We understand that musicians have different needs to those of a general consumer. We also understand that when it comes to gear, the customer must be assured of honest, reliable and trustworthy people to deal with. That’s why all our staff are highly trained and experienced individuals. Where do I go?

Although primarily online, we have stores in Gateshead, Hudderseld and Liverpool. Our product experts are trained thoroughly and can help you with any issue you may have. We pride ourselves on not being pushy sales people and are ac tually here to help you decide what to do. So even if you’ree not thinking of buying, but just need a bit of you’r help, feel free to call or email us!

[email protected] 0844 248 8117 www.dolphinmusic.com All contents copyright Dolphin Music Ltd, 2008 While we make every effort to ensure the content contained within MusicPlanet is correct at the time of publication, we cannot take responsibility lity for nor be held accountable for any errors or omissions. Due to constant uctuations in pricing, we cannot guarantee to be accurate with product price details at the time of publication. The opinions expressed in MusicPlanet Magazine are not necessarily those of Dolphin Music or Note Media Ltd. For up-to-the-minute price information, please check the Dolphin Music website at www.dolphinmusic.com MusicPlanet Magazine ISSN 1758-0951 (print) ISSN 1758-096X (online) Published by Note Media Ltd

E [email protected] T 01749 880016 W www.note-media.com

Welcome to MusicPlanet…

H

ello and welcome to MusicPlanet, the rst issue of Dolphin Music’s new free customer magazine. But why is the UK’s number 1 online music equipment retailer producing a magazine? The aim of MusicPlanet is to provide a forum for musicians to interact with each other, manufacturers, and the music industry, and also welcome those who would love to get into making music. Our vision is to have a community of musicians at all levels – interacting, communicating and providing relevant content on all genres and all musical instruments. The growth in home studios has led to a revival in people playing musical instruments, and not just the popular rock’n’roll instruments, but also brass & woodwind, pianos and even the Stylophone! At the moment, the MusicPlanet website at www.musicplanetmag.co.uk delivers a digital version of the printed magazine with some extra digital content for you. We will be developing the website in the future with blogs, forums, articles and videos, so keep an eye on it as time goes by. In the same way that we want to provide you with a place to express your opinions on the website, we also want you to be a part of the magazine, so please send your thoughts on the magazine to [email protected] Please enjoy the Ofcial Magazine M agazine of Dolphin Music.

Jason Tavaria Joint MD, Dolphin Music [email protected] Rob Williams Joint MD, Dolphin Music [email protected] www.musicplanetmag.co.uk

s r o t u b i r t n o C

Owen Hopkin

Owen’s our drum expert. He’s been hitting wood and complex metal alloys for nigh on 20 years. His parents called it sonic vandalism, Owen still maintains it’s art. A 9-to-5 escapologist by trade, he’s The Crimea’s drummer and Xfm’s go-to man for all things digital and on-line. Houdini had been known to hit him up for tips. And he likes holding famous stuff.

Mark Cousins

You might think you recognise this man – it has been said he bears more than a passing resemblance to Angus Deayton. In fact, Mark writes TV and lm production music for BMG Zomba. He’s also a leading authority on matters of music technology and recording, recor ding, and has written more words on the subject over the last few years than he cares to remember.

www.dolphinmusic.com 0844 248 8117

MusicPlanet

Steve Harvey

Steve is MusicPlanet’s acoustic expert. Having co-founded Acoustic magazine, he was its Editor for three years and is now a regular contributor to Guitarist magazine. Over the years, he’s amassed a sizeable collection of desirable acoustics and has played and written about every signicant acoustic body shape in existence. Clever man…

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ISSUE 01 Autumn 2008

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CONTENTS FEATURES Subways 06 The Still determined to follow their own path

The Subways

33 Review dbx DriveRack PX 43 Group Test Powered studio

reviews 47 Gig The pick of the summer’s live events

monitor round-up 51 Review AKAI MPC5000 53 Preview 2box DrumIt Five 62 Review Toontrack Superior2.0 64 Six of the Best Studio mics 67 Review Native Instruments Guitar Rig Session 69 Reviews In Brief

an acoustic guitar 57 Buying How to choose the right model for you

REGULARS

digital music 21 Making Getting started in computer music hours in Liverpool 29 48 The best music venues on Merseyside ‘Phats’ Hayward 35 Jason One man’s continuing musical mission

74 Unsung heroes – Snake Davis

GEAR

13 News 34 Win a Jaguar Special HH 39 Music Clinic

18 Six of the Best Digital Recorders 27 Review Fender Classic Player

52 Win a pair of Yamaha MSP7s 72 Top Five Best Sellers

Successful session saxophonist

Jaguar Special HH

Your questions answered

35

Jason ‘Phats’ Hayward

57

Buying an acoustic guitar

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www.dolphinmusic.com www.dolphinm usic.com 0844 248 8117

43 Monitors round-up

21

Making digital music

N W I N

G ! JA A A J 3 4 O N P A G E

27

Fender Classic Player Jaguar Special HH review


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s o f small homembark ed on a serie e y e h th t , s ts t n e he r th a p i r e h th r form on t th i h t wi t w ite and pe fo wrr te y,, w o pla y to t w o h g n i n r a e l , , s s ys y r u a o to wa w r y ub tr y t Su he S Th coun t and, no w called T b e h th t , e i m ti t e m are a e s s e e h h th Th t t t y.. A waa y w lf-recorded EPs. T ion, se f ti t i d e d e te t i i m l f o s i e r pu t ou t a se te i ems. ors ’ t to t l considered collec ful y no w righ t fu

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p p l a y e r s

Charlotte Cooper, Billy Morgan (centre) and Josh Morgan

s y a w b u S e h T


S E O R E H D N U O R G R E D N U

. s t e c a m a K n U t l s a e n g o g t i i b a r i e p h t s n f i o n e a f m o o s e s i h r t i g w n s i o e c g n n o a r e a h e t p s p t r a a o t h c e r i s i h n l s l d r o C o t f r t r e e b H o n R , s w s o t - e l n l i a s u m s b e h m t o r n F i

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“The Satchurator is the most musical, most dynamic, multi-function distortion pedal I’ve ever played through.” Joe Satriani

JOE SATR JOE SATRIA IANI NI & VOX VOX SATCH CHUR URA ATOR DISTORTION PEDAL Drawing on Joe Satriani’s knowledge accumulated from decades of groundbreaking performances, both live and in the studio, VOX unveils a breakthrough in guitar tone – The Satchurator™ distortion pedal. Designed to Satriani’s exact specifications. The Satchurator produces Satriani’s Satriani’ s signature tone and adds new features and improvements never before combined in a distortion pedal.

Featured on Joe’s new release, ‘Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock’.

photo courtesy of ccphotoart.biz

www.voxamps.com

VocalBooth.com™ manufactures state-of-the-art portable sound booths and isolation enclosures for the professional, home recording and broadcast studio.

To learn more about our products please contact us at www.vocalbooth.com™ or www.dolphinmusic.com or call Dolphin Music on 0844 248 8117.

PLANET NEWS PLANET NEWS

The latest gear and events for bands, players and DJs

Take ultimate control of Cubase Steinberg teams up with Yamaha to develop the most integrated front-end controller ever for Cubase 4 Who better to build a fully integrated hardware controller for Cubase 4 than Steinberg, the developers of Cubase itself? Designed in collaboration with Yamaha, who acquired Steinberg from Pinnacle in 2004, the new CC121 Advanced Integration Controller replicates many of the essential software features of the Cubase mixing environment in hardware. It enables you to distance yourself from the confines of the mouse for a more tactile approach to mixing. The CC121 has a single 100mm motorised touch-sensitive fader, which can be used to take control of any channel in Cubase. Alongside the fader is a dedicated pan knob and a selection of channel control buttons, for solo/mute, record arm, automation read/write and effects settings.

Alongside this is a bank of 12 rotary encoders and six buttons designed to provide you with full control of Cubase’s built-in 4-band parametric EQ. With these sections alone you’d have a powerful controller that would make mixing in Cubase a more enjoyable experience. However, the CC121 doesn’t end there. You also get an eight-button transport section, jog wheel and an innovative Ultra-Precision Advanced Integration Controller knob which can be assigned to any visual parameter in Cubase by simply clicking on it. The CC121 is plug-and-play compatible with Cubase 4 with no additional setup or parameter assigning necessary before you get started, and

Brass and woodwind events at Dolphin Music stores Want to play an instrument, but not sure how to start? Now’ Now ’s your chance as Dolphin Music stores are hosting a series of events aimed at helping you choose an instrument. First of all Dolphin has teamed up with Yamaha to demonstrate a variety of brass and woodwind instruments. Yamaha representatives will be in Dolphin Dol phin Music stores to answer questions. The Huddersfield store will be showcasing the saxophone on 15 November with Rico Reeds, Cannonball Saxophones and sax legend Snake Davis. While the Gateshead store will be staging a World Of Brass Weekend, with special discounts available on a range of instruments. For more details, call the relevant store; details are in the box, right.

WHERE AND WHEN 18 September Gateshead Store Back To School, Yamaha 2pm-8pm

20 September Huddersfield Store Back To School, Yamaha 10am-4pm

15 November Huddersfield Store Saxophone day. 10am-4pm

14-16 November Gateshead Store World Of Brass Weekend. Normal opening hours

18 October Huddersfield Store Clarinet Day. 10am-4pm Huddersfield Store 01484 427455 Gateshead Store 0191 493 2244

www.dolphinmusic.com

includes a Cubase Ready LED, which shows when the unit is connected and ready to use. The CC121 Advanced Integration Controller will be available in the autumn and could prove to be the ultimate hardware front end for project studio owners using Cubase 4. Pricing is yet to be announced, so keep a keen eye on the Dolphin website for more details. www.dolphinmusic.com

JBL ANNOUNCES CONTROL 2P Achieving a detailed reference mix in small environments is about to get easier, thanks to the JBL Control 2P Compact Powered Reference Reference Monitors. Monitors . The Control 2P is a 5-inch 2-way powered stereo system boasting a high output level without distortion and a linear frequency response with impressive low-frequency performance for its size. jbl’s specifications claim a low end that runs right down to 80Hz, with a maximum SPL of 115dB. The system includes two speakers, one of which incorporates the 35 Watts per channel power amplification and user controls – including a highfrequency contour – while the other speaker is a passive system. In addition the JBL Control 2P speakers have a built-in headphone jack and are magnetically shielded, so they can be placed near your computer monitor without interference. www.dolphinmusic.com


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PLANET NEWS PLANET NEWS

SNIPPETS SPECTRASONICS OMNISPHERE It’s not often that a new software synth builds the kind of anticipation that has surrounded Spectrasonic’s new Omnisphere since it was first announced at NAMM in January this year year.. However,, Omnisphere is no ordinary virtual However instrument, promising to deliver unique and innovative sounds using a variety of real-time synthesis techniques combined combined with a huge library of psychoacousti psychoacousticc sounds. Omnisphere is based on Spectrasonic’s new STEAM audio engine, which is capable of variable waveshaping synthesis, granular synthesis, timbre shifting FM, polyphonic ring modulation and sample playback among other techniques. Omnisphere will be released on 15 September. Pricing is yet to be confirmed.

PUTTING IK IN THE BOX IK Multimedia’s Total Workstation line of sample instruments, powered by SampleTank are now available pre-installed on the Muse Research Receptor hardware plug-in player. The Total Workstation Rack combines SampleTank 2.5, Sonik Synth 2, Mirsolav Philharmonik, SampleMoog and SampleTron with the Receptor’s unique hardware to create a powerful hardware instrument. Over 10,000 sample-based sounds are included, and with Muse Research’s UniWire technology they can be integrated into any DAW as a normal instrument plug-in without putting any strain on the host computer’s CPU.

INTO THE BLUE WITH DOLPHIN Blue Microphones has grown from a small firm making hand-built microphones in California to one of the most innovative developers in the world. These mics, including the new Dragonfly large-diaphragm condenser (Dolphin ID 35877, £449) are now exclusively available in the UK through Dolphin Music. The Dragonfly will be joined by the rest of Blue’s range, which includes dynamics, the Woodpecker Woodpeck er ribbon mic, a wide range of smalland large-diaphragm condensers and three tube-based large-diaphragm condensers. Dolphin will also be stocking Blue’s specialist high-specification audio cables. www.dolphinmusic.com

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Unleash the digital DJ within Serato and Numark have been collaborating to develop their new high-end NS7 product that’ that ’s specifically aimed at digital DJs. The fruits of Numark’s partnership with Serato Audio Research have been revealed with the release of the new NS7 computer DJ system. The NS7 system combines two motorised seven-inch turntable platters with a 2-in/4-out audio interface and a DJ-orientated MIDI control surface. The two turntables use a direct-drive mechanism and feature adjustable torque with a real vinyl surface to give you a professional turntable feel. Control and audio signals from the NS7 are sent over USB 2.0, with control signals providing more than double the resolution of standard MIDI. This gives you an even greater level of control over your mixing, improved accuracy

of scratching and better response in Serato’s ITCH software. The system also provides dedicated MIDI controls for many of the functions available in the software. However, these are all assignable to different controls, should the need arise. The audio section has a single balanced 1/4-inch input for use with microphones, and stereo RCA inputs for use with other line-level DJ equipment. Separate outputs for the main speakers (on both XLR and RCA) and booth monitors (RCA) enable you to set up pre-mixes from the booth, or from the headphones. NS7 is expected to be available later this year. Dolphin ID 37711 Price £899

New exotic Dean guitars FIND A NEW REASON Propellerhead is giving you the opportunity to expand your sonic palette in Reason with the launch of three new bundles. Propellerhead Studio Combo bundles together all four Reason hypersampled sound libraries – Reason Drum Kits, Reason Pianos, Abbey Road Keyboards and Reason Electric Bass – for a price of just £199. The Propellerhead Rhythm Combo combines the Reason Drum Kits and Reason Electric Bass for only £119. And the flagship bundle Reason Premium Edition includes all four sample libraries along with a full copy of Reason 4 for just £399. Whether you only need to expand your rhythm tools, your entire sonic arsenal or you’re looking at taking the leap into Reason 4 for the first time, there is a bundle for you. And with these extra instruments added to your collection you should have all the sounds you’ll need for every occasion.


Dean Guitars have a range of new electric guitars available, including including the ML Exotic and ML Knight. Knight . Both of these guitars has a 24.75-inch scale mahogany neck and rosewood fingerboard. Dean’s signature stylings are evident on each of the new models, with a variety of different finishes available for each. With exotic woods like Bubinga, Mapa Burl and Spault, top-quality hardware including Dean Humbucker or EMG pickups and a Floyd Rose tremolo on the ML Knight these new guitars are sure to sound as good as they look. Each of the woods has its own unique look, feel and tone so be sure to try each of them out to find the best instrument for you. Final pricing has yet to be decided, but by the time you read this the new models should be available. Call or visit Dolphin Music for more details. www.dolphinmusic.com 0844 248 8117

SNIPPETS OILED UP

David Gilmour signature model Fender Custom Shop set to honour David Gilmour by reproducing his signature Black Strat for mere mortals to own and play… Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is being honoured by the Fender Custom Shop with a signature guitar based on his famous Black Strat. Gilmour’s Black Strat has been a cornerstone of the Pink Floyd sound, defining the tone of many of Gilmour’s greatest guitar solos. Featured extensively on Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and his recent solo album On An Island , the Black Strat has recently won a vote in Guitarist Magazine for the best ever guitar tone, with readers singling out the 1979 track Comfortably Numb as the guitar’s finest moment. Developed by the Fender Custom Shop in conjunction with Gilmour and his long-standing guitar tech Phil Taylor, the David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster is a complete reproduction of the look, feel and sound of Gilmour’s Black Strat. It

features a black lacquer over three-colour sunburst alder body with a black pickguard, one-piece maple neck, custom pickups and electronics, and a shortened vintage tremolo arm. The guitar is available in two variants; The Relic (£3,200), with aged parts and worn paint, and the New Old Stock model (£2,700) with all-new parts and finish and an additional white plastic backplate. Both come in a custom black case by G & G, with plush green lining and embroidered logo, a set of GHS David Gilmour signature strings, an Evidence Audio cable, a deluxe Fender strap and a David Gilmour plectrum. You’ll also get a copy of David’s three-disc three-di sc Live In Gdansk CD/DVD and Phil Taylor’s book bo ok The Black Strat , which chronicles the guitar from 1970’s Atom Heart Mother to now. Both models should be available in November.

EVENT OPAL DEVELOPMENT BEARS FRUI FRUITT Event Electronics has recently completed the development of a whole new range of monitors, which the company hopes will set a new standard for nearfield monitors.

The Event Opal has been designed by Marcelo Vercelli as an 8-inch, 2-way speaker with the same dynamic and extended mid-range as the most expensive 3-way systems. To achieve this, Marcelo and the Event R&D team have developed innovative new technologies at every stage, including completely redesigned woofers, tweeters, amplifiers and cabinets. The EX8 driver operates from 30Hz to 10kHz with power handling of up to a staggering 1000 Watts, while the high-power neodymium motor offers 24mm of linear excursion, aimed at creating an extremely detailed and responsive low end. The unique X-Coil system increases the driver speed and lowers total harmonic distortion, resulting in a mid-range that Event claims surpasses even the best 3-way systems. The range will include two further monitors, which share the same DNA as the Opal, the Type 25 and Type 28. All are expected soon. Check the Dolphin Music website for more details.


Ultra-Pure Professional Valve Oil is used by some of the greatest trumpeters, including Wynton Marsalis, Dave Douglas and Arturo Sandoval. It keeps your valves playing smoothly and prevents them sticking or behaving sluggishly, sluggishly, even in incredibly dry locations and under stressful touring conditions. The oil is non-toxic, odourless, and long-lasting, ensuring your playing experience is kept as enjoyable as possible. Dolphin ID 38364 Price £4.99

BAND ON THE WALL REBORN Legendary Manchester venue Band On The Wall has been awarded a £3.2 million redevelopment grant by the Arts Council of England and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The aim is to provide new facilities for per formance formances, s, education, recor recording ding and a music archive. The venue has been important for local bands, including Joy Division, The Buzzcocks and Ar t Blakey. Blakey. Building work on the venue has already begun, and it’s scheduled to re-open in Spring 2009. Contact 0161 834 1786

Big sounds in little packages Ashdown Engineering has launched two new diminutive bass amps that will fit easily in your gig bag, but fill the room with sound when hooked up to a bass cabinet. The Little Giant 350 and 1000 weigh just 3kg and 3.5kg respectively, but provide you with a whopping 350 or 1000 Watts of amplification and a powerful range of features. Both pack switchable active/passive active/passive instrument inputs, a 7-band parametric EQ, Deep and Shape switches and EQ bypass, along with separate i/o level control and metering. Combination 1/4-inch jack and Speakon outputs are included with a pre/post switchable DI output. 350 is available now, the 1000 is due mid-Sept. Dolphin ID 35477 (Little Giant 350) Price £225 Dolphin ID 35478 (Little Giant 1000) Price £325


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dolphin deals Here at Dolphin Music, we like to give that little bit extra to our loyal customers. So, as well as giving you this cool magazine to keep you well informed of what’s hot in the music industry, we have put together a great selection of our best and most exciting deals. This is only a small selection of what we have to offer, so we have tried our very best to display a varied mixture of goodies from across our (huge!) range. We understand that everyone is different, so if nothing here fits the bill, please call or email one of our dedicated team of experts and they will be delighted to help you.

Happy shopping! Prices correct at time of print, phone or check online for latest prices.

DANELECTRO

VINTAGE

LINE 6

IBANEZ

FENDER

DC 59

V100 ICON

VARIAX 300

RG350EX BLACK

STANDARD

the delicious double cutaway ‘59 Dano is back and cooler than ever.

Get one of the new Vintage ICON™ Series guitars and save 20 years of your life! ID: 20028

ID: 34829

ONLY £169 save £30


An entire guitar collection in a single instrument. ID: 28009

ONLY £249

The weapon of choice for visiting sonic mayhem on the metal masses. ID: 15329

ONLY £279

TELECASTER Features the best of the old and the

new. ID: 10640


VINTAGE

BEHRINGER

ASHDOWN

LINE 6

ASHDOWN

V300 ACOUSTIC

EL TORO

FIVE FIFTEEN

SPIDER JAM

KLYSTRON C210H-500

Combines a 100 watt power section and a 15” bass

75 Watt

Ashdown’s flagship bass amp range.

Grab the El Toro guitar pack and sound like a pro!

This little concert acoustic is stonkingly good ID: 14261

ONLY £75

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SIX OF THE BEST Portable recorders have come of age lately, offering high-resolution recording recording and a wealth of features squeezed into devices no larger than an iPod...

Yamaha Pocketrak 2G £215 Dolphin ID 35408 The Pocketrak 2G has many of the same features you’d find on other portable recorders, but it’s small enough to fit in your pocket. Weighing in at only 49 grams, the Pocketrak 2G is the smallest portable recorder currently available. Squeezed in alongside the retractable USB jack and cutting-edge Eneloop battery is a built-in stereo microphone that tilts up to 90 degrees, while a built-in speaker enables you to audition your recordings on the move. The built-in solid-state hard disk can store up to two gigabytes of audio and can be used as an MP3 player. It can also serve as a data stick for storing and transferring non-audio data.

M-Audio MicroTrack II £199 Dolphin ID 33304 M-Audio’s MicroTrack MicroTrack II builds on the success of the previous model by extending the input range of the built-in microphone preamps, enabling you to record with extra gain to capture quieter sources without internal noise problems. To prevent the preamps being overloaded when turned up, M-Audio has also built-in an analogue limiter that cuts the input gain when the signal strength exceeds the threshold, ensuring distortion-free recordings. Like the original model, the MicroTrack II has balanced 1/4-inch inputs capable of delivering 48V phantom power to professional microphones.

Edirol R-09HR £247.95 Dolphin ID 36261 The R-09HR initially appears to be a minor update of the successful R-09 design, with the option of recording at sample rates of 96kHz instead of the 24-bit/48kHz maximum recording resolution of the R-09. But it doesn’t stop there. Edirol has fitted the R-09HR with an OLED screen and improved the circuit design and built-in microphones to reduce the noise floor of your recor recordings. dings. Furthermore, the Edirol R-09HR has a built-in speaker, enabling you to listen to your recordings without the need for additional speakers or headphones.

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www.dolphinmusic.co www.dolphin music.com m 0844 248 8117

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Por ortable table Digital Rec Recorders orders

Zoom H2 Handy Recorder £149 Dolphin ID 24689 Zoom’s H2 Handy Recorder goes one step further than the competition by providing you with two pairs of stereo microphones. The front pair are set at 90 degrees to each other, while the rear pair provide a wider stereo field, set apart at 120 degrees. You can use either stereo pair individually or capture a surround recording using all four microphones simultaneously, enabling you to take advantage of a variety of recording techniques including quadrophonic surround sound. The H2 also doubles as a USB microphone when attached to your PC or Mac , bypassing the internal SD card memory and providing up to four channels of audio directly to your DAW via USB.

Tascam DR-1 £219 Dolphin ID 36208 The Variable-Angle Microphone Mechanism built-in to Tascam’s DR-1 enables you to angle the microphones to point directly at the source even when the recorder is placed flat on a table. Also built-in to the DR-1 are some useful ef fects, including an analogue limiter and auto-gain control, a low-cut filter and a useful instrument tuner. There’s also a vocal-cancel feature that can be used to strip the vocals from the centre channel of a recording. The DR-1 also enables you to overdub recordings, so you can make primitive sound-on-sound recordings without needing a DAW.

Korg MR-1 1-bit £44 9 Dolphin ID 24572 24572 While almost every other digital recording device we’ve come across uses PCM recording at bit rates of 16–24-bit and sample rates of 96 or even 192kHz, Korg has adopted the advanced 1-bit DSD recording format, which is also used by SACDs. This format has a frequency response that goes all the way up to 100kHz and has a staggering dynamic range of 120dB. In addition to the unusual recording format, the MR-1 has a 20GB internal hard drive and comes with Korg’s AudioGate software for converting recordings recordings into the more standard PCM file formats.

››› BUY NOW

To buy, or for expert advice call

0844 248 8117 Or logon at

www.dolphinmusic.com And enter the Dolphin ID in the Search box at the top-left of the screen.


MusicPlanet

Autumn2008

19

what a revolution sounds like. Korg first defined the concept of the workstation with the legendary M1. Now, the new M3 Music Workstation/Sampler revolutionises everything a workstation is and all it can do for you. The M3’s all-new OASYS-derived Enhanced Definition Synthesis delivers sounds so realistic you’ll swear you’re coaxing them from the instruments themselves. Second generation KARMA interactive phrase-generating technology fluidly adapts as you play, creating shifting musical backgrounds to fuel the imagination. Capture and further shape your playing with a new hi-res sequencer and advanced sampler. Take command of your musical performances with a powerful control surface, dynamic drumpads, and the colour touch screen’s KAOSS capability. Plus, you can use the M3 with your computer as virtualised hardware with the included plug-in editor software, and single cable audio/MIDI communication via the EXB-Firewire option. Only Korg brings so much sonic power, inspiration and flexibility to a single instrument. The M3 defines a new class of workstation that sounds, and is, awesome.

M3. A SONIC REVOLUTION. REVOLUTION. Download the free update from www.korg.co.uk/m3

KARMA® (Kay Algorithmic Realtime Music Architecture) and the KARMA Logo are registered trademarks representing patented technology licensed from Stephen Kay, Karma Lab LLC, www.karma-lab.com.

In practice

Making digital music Taking your first steps in music production needn’ Taking needn’tt be too taxing thanks to the huge choice of intuitive, loop-based audio packages out there. Mark Cousins puts you in the picture.

››

Computer-based recording has redefined music production in recent years, trading traditional musical conventions such as the ability to play an instrument or the need to understand compositional ‘rules’ for a passion for music and a keen ear for how a track is pieced together. In particular, the advent of loop-based audio applications such as Ableton Live and GarageBand has enabled composers to experiment with the

›››

In this feature we’re going to break down the process of creating a loop-based track using a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Although we’re going to concentrate on just two entry-level DAWs – Steinberg’s Sequel 2 and Ableton’s Live LE – the same principles can be applied to any contemporary contemporary audio application.

THE BUILDING BLOCKS Listen to any piece of music and you should be able to identify a number of key building blocks that

yourself, many DAWs come with a wealth of loop-based content designed to help you build up your tracks piece by piece, using the various components as you see fit. In the absence of any beat-matching technology, though, this ‘jigsaw puzzle’ approach can soon become a cacophony cacophony,, but thanks to a DAW’s ability to automatically time stretch loops, everything should stay in perfect sync irrespective of the original tempo the loop was played at.

WITH JUST A LAPTOP AND A SPLASH OF IMAGINATION YOU COULD BE CREATING RELEASE-QUALITY MUSIC IN HOURS

building blocks of music, layering different drum loops, bass lines and so on to create a kind of musical collage. Indeed, with just a laptop and a splash of imagination you could be creating release-quality music in matter of hours. As inspiring as this all seems, though, the task of putting together your first track can seem rather daunting. With so many different applications to choose from – not to mention a seemingly endless list of terminology and no clear step-by-step explanations of the progression from A to B – it’s all too easy to get lost in technicalities rather than enjoying the process of making music. music . However, by breaking down the task into the key essential steps and acquiring a better understanding of the possibilities offered by the various software packages, you can soon start assembling your own music with little or no previous experience.

make up the track: drums, bass, maybe some keyboard and guitar hooks, and vocals. Although you can choose to play these parts

Once you’ve selected the appropriate loops from the DAW’s media browser, you can start to assemble your song using what

M O C . K C O T S I

Is your PC up to it? Most off-the-shelf computers should be more than capable of running a basic audio application. However, you’ll need to ensure that you’ve got around six Gigabytes of free drive space if the package includes a large amount of looped sound content.

is commonly termed an Arrange page. The Arrange page shows the progression of the song over time from left to right, organised into a

TOOLS OF THE TRADE Choosing the right application

Ableton Live LE £94.99 Dolphin ID 33245

Steinberg Sequel 2 £69 £6 9 Dolphin ID 28038

Apple Logic Express 8 £129 Dolphin ID 33445

Live LE is the entry-level version of Ableton Live, an application that’s fast becoming one of the most popular means of creating loopbased music both in the studio and on stage. The learning curve is slightly steeper than packages like Sequel or GarageBand, but it’s packed with tools and features that make it, in essence, a thoroughly professional product.

Built on the same technology that powers Steinberg’s popular professional audio application Cubase, Sequel is an easy-to-use and intuitive solution for those starting out in music production. There’s more than 6GB of audio content included with the application, and the range of functions is wide enough to include all of the essential features of a typical studio-based DAW.

The cut-down version of Apple Logic Studio, Logic Express 8 offers the same powerful production tools as its big brother, including full notation and 24-bit/192kHz resolution. Plus you get 36 instrument plug-ins and 70 effect plugins from the full version of Logic. It ’s a bit more expensive than the other two offerings here, but you do get a lot of s tuff included.


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➥ ➥

NOCTURN - The Stylish Automatic Intelligent Plug-in Controller Nocturn is an intelligent desktop controller that gives every plug-in the pimpin’ of its life. Just boot up a plug-in and the paramet ers automatically assign to each control. Nocturn combines eight touch-sensitiv e dials, eight buttons and a cross-fader with Novation’s unique ‘speed dial’ and exclusive Automap Universal 2.0 software to deliver the most lethal plug-in controller in history. Check it;

k c e h C ! t u o o s i d

Understand the difference! Novat ion’ ion’s s Automap Universal 2.0 delivers a whole new level of software control Nocturn’s transparent control GUI lets you check at a glance how everyt hing is assigned. Instant ‘learn’ function lets you re- assign every control in seconds. Simply click and touch. Each encoder has a bright eleven-LED ring; ideal for laptop DJ’ing in a dark club environment.

Custom transparent GUI; check at a glance how each control is assigned

Novation’s unique unique ‘speed dial’ lets you instantly take cont rol of whatever your mouse is focused on! To see how your plug-ins plug-in s can be offi cially pimpe d, visit ww w.novat .novationmusic.com ionmusic.com /pimpe /pimped d

For more details call 0844 248 8117 or visit www.dolphinmusic.com

In practice

are the differences between the two types of loops presented to you. One loop type, for example, will display a waveform view of the material contained within within it. This type of loop is known as an audio file (it can also be referred to as an audio clip or audio event) and contains an actual recording of an instrument or phrase, whether it’s two or four bars of acoustic drums, a piano melody or something else. As they ’re re based on actual recordings, an audio loop tends to provide plenty of authenticity and ‘flavour’, although, as we’ll see in a minute, the authenticity might be at the expense of a certain degree of flexibility flexibility.. The other principal type of loop breaks down the ‘information’ into two constituent components – the raw note data (also referred to as MIDI data) and an accompanying software-based software-ba sed virtual instrumen instrument.t. In Sequel 2, for example, this is called an Instrument Part, with the MIDI data displaying as a series of blobs, and controls (available from the track’s Inspector) provided to modify certain qualities and parameters relating to the instrument. Although more complicated than a straightforward audio event, an Instrument Part offers powerful flexibility,, enabling you to change the flexibility pitch and duration of each note as well as the character of the sound used to play it – maybe changing it from a deep, subby hip-hop bass patch to a buzzy electronic bass sound, for example.

GETTING STARTED IN STEINBERG SEQUEL 2

1 Create a new Project (select File>New Project) and

2 Drag the loop into the Arrange Zone and Sequel will

arrangement, either by 3 Start to piece together your arrangement,

4 Now open the Mixer page and start to balance the

open the MediaBay at the bottom of the window. From here, you can specify various criteria to narrow down your search to ten or so different loops.

dragging the small arrow on the right-hand side of the loops to extend them or copying a loop to another location by holding down the [Alt] key and dragging.

series of different tracks, such as bass, drums, guitars and so on; loops that you’ve selected from the media browser can be dragged onto a corresponding track lane. The loops are represented as a series of blocks that indicate their duration. As you duplicate and move these blocks around the screen – perhaps bringing certain crucial loops in at the start of the piece with others coming in later – you effectively start to structure your song. Alongside the basic techniques and tools for copying and duplicating loops, you will also find a number of other Arrange tools that enable you to further refine how the loops are used in the song. Rather than using the whole loop, for example, you could choose to slice small segments from

›››

create a new track for it. Add further instruments and loops to subsequent tracks as you require, selecting the various parts from the MediaBay.

levels of the respective tracks. You can also apply effects (such as reverb and EQ) to each loop by clicking on the Track Inspector tab.

INTO THE MIX

THE PROCESS OF CREATING A GOOD MIX BEGINS WITH CAREFULLY CONSIDERING LEVEL AND PAN SETTINGS

it using the Scissors tool – losing a beat to provide a suitable musical pause, perhaps, or cutting out smaller elements of the sound (an individual note or drum hit, for example) to be used elsewhere in the song. If you’ve used ‘tuned’ loops – a bass line played in the key of C major, for example, or a guitar strumming a chord – you may need to adjust the relative transposition of the loop up or down to match the key of the other material. In some

cases, it might be that the loops automatically conform to your song’s existing key signature signature settings. If not, you can adjust the Transposition parameter and perform the job by ear (a technique that can also be the source of some interesting creative tuning effects).

DECISION TIME Important points to note as you start to assemble the various loops you’ve selected into a finished piece


Determining where the loops come in and out of your track is very important in terms of musicality. It’s also just as important to consider how it’s mixed: putting additional emphasis on particular loops, for example, as well as effects (reverb or compression, perhaps) that you might want to use to change how a loop sits in the mix. In addition to the Arrange View of your song, a DAW will also present you with a Mixer View. On this screen each track is displayed horizontally, along with a variety of tools to change how the track and, of course, the mix as a whole sounds. The process of creating a good mix begins with carefully considering the level and pan settings for each ➥

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23

In practice

loop. All of the various elements playing together at high volume will make for an uneasy listening experience and probably result in distortion across your main output (also indicated by red peak LEDs lighting up). A better approach, therefore, is to structure the principal instruments and build the additional supporting elements around them, ensuring that individual elements all have space to breathe. Pan, of course, sets the relative position of the loop in the stereo image, from the left speaker to the right speaker. With everything panned centrally your mix might begin to sound cluttered and ill-defined, so

›››

THIS WAY OF WORKING IS GREAT FOR BOTH KICK-STARTING THE CREATIVE PROCESS AS WELL AS LEARNING HOW TO USE A DAW

actively exploit the full width of the stereo image to give better definition and focus between the loops.

GET EFFECTED Further manipulating the sound of the individual loops will require the use of some form of effects plug-in. Typical effects include equalisation (this changes the relative timbre of the sound by raising or lowering different frequencies in much the same way as the treble and bass controls on a hi-fi), compression (used to squash the dynamic range of loop and effectively make it sound

‘louder’ and more intense) and reverb (which simulates the effects of room ambience). By mixing and matching effects (usually placed in series in the signal path) you can control how the loop appears in the mix, maybe applying some compression and bright equalisation to make one loop sit towards the front of the mix, while another has reverb and a darker equalisation applied to sit it at the back. Getting creative with plug-ins enables you to bring individuality to the loops and the track as a whole. More extreme plug-ins – Auto Filter,

GETTING GET TING STARTED STARTED IN ABLETON LIVE LE

Erosion, Redux and so on – can distort and re-shape a loop to the extent that’s it’s unrecognisable from its original form. Equally, using automation – which adjusts the settings of faders, pan pots and effects over time – will make your mix more dynamic and interesting.

EXPORT STRENGTH The final part of the creative process is to export your mix as a two-track, stereo audio file, in an audio format that’s suitable for your particular objective. Use a high-resolution, uncompressed format such as a 24-bit, 44.1kHz .WAV file if you want to burn the mix to a CD-R. Alternatively, create a compressed MP3 file, which renders down the mix to reduce file size. This format is preferable if the file is being uploaded to the internet – to a MySpace page, for example – or being sent via email.

BEYOND THE LOOP

1 Click on the Arrangement View Selector (top right) to set

the Arrangement View. Open the File Browser to browse your loops, which can include clips files from Live 7 LE’s content as well as .WAV files from your own collection.

2 Double-clicking on a loop will enable you to view its

properties. In this case we can see the results of the tempo-matching tempo-matc hing process, and we also have the option to change parameters such as tuning.

What we’ve explored here are the techniques and processes of producing music with loops, but equally, it’s also been a perfect opportunity to introduce the concepts of a DAW and how music and audio is handled in the digital domain. As you’ll soon find out, this way of working is great for both kick-starting the creative process as well as learning how to use a DAW, enabling you to achieve professional-sounding results with the minimum of fuss. As we’ll see, though, mastering this process and learning how to turn raw ideas into a finished piece of music take time to perfect, but with many exciting tools and possibilities to discover along the way, it’s a journey well worth undertaking. MP

Next time

3 Importing a MIDI-based clip gives you even more

control over the clip’s properties than you have with audio clips. In this example, the Grid Editor is being used to re-program the drum loop from scratch.

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Autumn2008

4 Live LE’s Session View is a more traditional mixer

interface. From here you can balance the various elements and shape your mix or apply further effects to the loops in the Live Set.


In next issue’s In Practice we’ll be taking a look at the principles behind acoustic treatment and considering how you might be able to improve the sound of your studio.

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When Fender first introduced the Jaguar back in 1962 it took the world by surprise. Gone was the brutal simplicity of the Telecaster or Strat, replaced instead by a more complicated beast that boasted some unusual features. Although initially only a moderate success, it wasn’t until the early nineties when bands such as Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Placebo, and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers adopted the Jag as their weapon of choice that its potential was finally realised. Now Fender has added it to its Classic Player range, making the Jaguar more affordable than ever and opening up its unique vibe to us all.

MADE TO MEASURE? The first things that catch the eye are all the switches and dials. In total there are eight, but don’t let this put you off, they all make sense in no time at all and are the heart of the guitar’s flexibility. On the upper horn are a slider switch and two dials. The slider is a kill-switch, which totally mutes the guitar once engaged (handy for those tremolo moments that you want to control by hand). The two other controls allow you to dial-in single coil or humbucker tones for each individual pickup – always handy. On the lower section of the body are three slider switches, two of which simply turn the neck or bridge pickups on or off. The third is a low-cut filter, which essentially takes some of the bass out of the signal allowing the tone to stick out more. Lastly, of course, we have master volume and tone controls complete with vintage-style knobs. Visually the Jaguar is stunning. From its body shape that resembles a lopsided strat (shared of course with the

FEATURES Construction ➔ Alder body, maple neck ➔ Rosewood

fingerboard ➔ 24-inch scale length ➔ 22 medium jumbo frets ➔ Dot inlays

Hardware ➔ Chrome-plated control

panels ➔ Adjusto-Matic bridge ➔ Vintage-style floating tremolo ➔ Tremolo lock ➔ Vintage-style tuners

Electronics humbuc kers ➔ Two Enforcer humbuckers ➔ Tonal blend

controls

➔ Kill-switch ➔ Low-cut filter control ➔ Master volume and

tone controls ➔ Fender Super 250R (10-46) strings

Extras ➔ Deluxe gigbag

ACCESSORIES Essential add-ons

Fender Mini ‘57 Twin Amp

£32.41 Dolphin ID 34131 Not just a practice amp this little beauty – former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford can be seen recording with one on YouTube.

Ibanez TS9DX Tubescreamer Turbo

£79 Dolphin ID 16003 Adds a Mode switch with four distinct preamp voicings to the original TS-9’s Drive, Tone and Level knobs.

Jazzmaster), through to the chrome-covered control plates and tremolo, the retro vibe is tangible. Originally meant to appeal to surf-rock players of the sixties, the design still looks exciting and edgy today, offering a viable alternative for those who want to play something a little bit differen dif ferent.t.

FEELGOOD FACT FA CTOR OR The 22-fret rosewood neck features a shorter 24-inch scale-length (as opposed to the regular Fender 25.5-inch), 25.5-inch), which seems to soften the string tension a touch, making the guitar very comfortable to play. Add to this the spongy tremolo system, which is perfect for those 50s-style wobbles, and suddenly the Jaguar has an effect on you. Rather than the normal riffs that might leap almost subconsciously from your fingers, somehow the feel, look, and general originality of the guitar coaxes you into different areas. Altered chords appear, stranger voicings, it’s almost as if the Jag knows something you don’t and wants to share. Whatever it is – I like it!

SOUND INVESTMENT? With clean tones the Jaguar is crisp and full-bodied. Dialling in the humbucke humbuckers rs warms up the sound without it becoming muffled, and switching the pickups back and forth reveals pleasing combinations. With overdrive the two Enforcer humbuckers really show their class. You’d always expect some spank and grit from a Fender, but these pickups add more grunt and attitude. Lead lines soar, while angry rhythm work is rewarded with excellent open tones. Put them together with the kill-switch and you’ve got a real modern workhorse with bags of retro cool. Obviously surf-style players will enjoy the Jag, but alt-rockers will also find much to make them smile. MP

➔ VERDICT ● Great looks ● Huge tonal flexibility ● Classic Fender sounds ● Easy to play ● Originality

In a world of ‘me-too’ manufacturers the refreshing nature of the Jaguar is a welcome relief. Classy looks, plenty of tonal options, and great feel. If you’re stuck in a rut, this kitty might well dig you right right out.

››› BUY NOW


0844 248 8117 Or logon at


And enter the Dolphin ID in the Search box at the top-left of the screen.


MusicPlanet

Autumn2008

27

SMALLER. SIMPLER. SUPERIOR.

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v e n u e s : L i v e r p o o l

M o C . K C o T S I

o h c ... It’s officially Britains’ Most Musical City and European Capital of Culture 2008, so what better better place to to take in some gigs? The Liverpool Echo’s Jade Wright explains.

F

rom the heady days of the Cavern, through Eric’s, the house music years at Cream and now Korova and The Zanzibar Club where The Coral and The Zutons were spawned, Liverpool’s music scene is intrinsically linked to the venues that inspired it. A stone’s throw from the rehearsal rooms The Zutons share with the city’s up-and-coming unsigned acts lies Mathew Street. It’s the top spot on the itineraries of the thousands of tourists who make the pilgrimage to get their pictures taken next to the statue of John Lennon, buy a souvenir or wander down the steps of the rebuilt Cavern Club – the original closed in 1973 and was demolished by Liverpool City Council. But, while they may have come to tread the same steps as John, Paul, Ringo and George, they also take time to look at the spot where Eric’s once saw the birth of the second great wave of Liverpool bands, including the Mighty Wah!, Echo and the Bunnymen and the Teardrop Explodes. Wandering Wandering further along the street music wafts from the many pubs and bars hosting the stars of the future in return for a few quid and a pint of Liverpool’s finest Cains beer. Mathew Street in 2008 seems worlds away from the dingy sidestreet of legend, and mixed in with the salty breeze from the Atlantic is an unmistakable sense of optimism. Liverpool is a small city, easily navigable on foot. In minutes you can stroll from Mathew Street to the Philharmonic Hall via the Neoclassical splendours of St George’s Hall, passing scores of live music venues on your way. The problem is choosing which to visit…

Friday evening (late) Korova – 39-41 Fleet Street With a clientele which reads like a who’s who of Liverpool’s music scene, start your time in the city with the uber-cool kings of the indie scene.

Liverpool

Korova is a bar run by electrorockers Ladytron. Arctic Monkeys usually pop in when they’re in town and Dave McCabe from The Zutons is never far away. In fact, one look around shows that everyone there is in a band. Some are working there, others drinking. There’s normally a singer or two behind the bar, and a drummer supervising a delivery outside. They host live bands every weekend, and Friday nights are always popular. The Rascals, Mark Ronson, Rumble Strips, The Kooks and of course Ladytron have all played there recently. There’s a restaurant in the back room – every bit the epitome of shabby chic, lots of antiques and thick red velvet – that’s surprisingly good value. Their jambalaya rice balls are fantastic, and at £8, there’s still change for one of their great speciality beers. At 11pm each night the restaurant is transformed into a danceoor, where you can dance until the wee small hours. If you’re planning on going, log onto their website and become a member first, it’s free and it will get you a 20% discount on food and drink.

or... Bary – 90 Seel Street If you fancy something a bit more hectic, head down to packed student favourite Bary. With three spaces and live music every night, they take bookings from signed and unsigned bands from all over the world, although competition for slots is tough.


Korova

venuedetails venue details Korova 39-41 Fleet Street t 0151 709 7097 www.koro-rpoo.com www. koro-rpoo.com

Barfly 90 Seel Street 2424 t 0844 847 2424 www.brflycb.com/rpoo www. brflycb.com/rpoo

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ELLIE L AYCoC AYCoCK K

v e n u e s : L i v e r p o o l

Hard Day’s Night Hotel, McCartney suite

Saturday (early)

Mathew Street

Mathew Street

venuedetails venue details The Grapes 25 Mathew Street t 0151 255 1525

The White Star 2-4 Rainfrd Gardens t 0151 231 6861 www. hwhr.co.k hwhr.co.k

Hard Day’s Night Hotel Nrth Jhn Street t 0151 236 1964 www.hryghho.com www.hryghho.com

Carling Academy 11-13 Htham Street t 0151 707 3200 www.rpoo-cmy.co.k www. rpoo-cmy.co.k

Zanzibar 43 Seel Street t 0151 707 0633 www. hzzbrcb.com hzzbrcb.com

The Magnet 45 Hardman Street t 0151 707 0633 www.mgrpoo.co.k www.mgrpoo.co.k

3345 33-45 Parr Street

Egg Cafe Tp Flr, F lr, 16-18 Newingtn

Zanzibar

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or... Carling Academy Liverpl The Academy occupies the former home of the legendary L2 in Hotham Street round the back of Lime Street. The building has been extensively refurbished to provide provide two venues in one building a 1,200 capacity main hall upstairs and a smaller 500 capacity venue on the oor below.

Saturday (late) Zanzibar – 43 Seel Street

t 0151 707 1050 www.3345prr.com www. 3345prr.com

t 0151 707 2755 www.ggpc.org www.ggpc.org

N trip t Liverpl is cmplete withut a pilgrimage dwn Mathew Street. It’s hard t think f Liverpl’s music scene withut als cntemplating the city’s mst famus sns, The Beatles. Try as yu might t imagine a Mersey sund withut them, the fab fur cast a lng shadw. Start ff in The Grapes. This is where the fab fur drank in their Cavern-playing days. The evidence remains remains in a 1962 phtgraph taken f Jhn, Paul, Gerge… and Pete Best, as they relaxed after ne particular gig. Yu may even bump int their ld prmter Sam Leech in the back rm. Buy him a pint and he’ll tell yu all yu ever wanted t knw abut Liverpl’s mst famus sns. Frm there, g fr a pint in the White Star, just arund the crner. This frmer 19th Century ships’ chandlers is named after the great shipping cmpany The White Star Line, and The Beatles were knwn t frequent the back rm – just have a lk at their nameplates n the chairs. And if yu’re feeling ush, pp int the bar f the new Hard Day’s Night Htel, again just a stne’s thrw away. It’s the wrld’s nly Beatle-themed htel and wrth visiting fr their superb lifesize phtgraphs that adrn the walls.

The bar that launched The Cral and The Zutns features a hst f live music every night. night . It’s ppular ppular with everyne frm students t the mre mature music lver, and Nel Gallagher has even been knwn t pp alng fr the ccasinal imprmptu imprmptu gig. gig . It’s nt quite as extic as the name sunds – there desn’t seem t be an African theme – but it’s a fantastic bar and venue nnetheless. The studiusly understated clientele are a friendly bunch, and n any given night yu’ll hear a mixture f indie-rck, electr and funk. The Zanzi, as it’s knwn t its friends, has regular band nights, where acts turn prmters fr the evening and jin tgether t put n a bill f likeminded artists, but mre ften than nt, there’s a bigger band in, with supprt frm lcal acts. Either way, the standard is nrmally high, and it’s well wrth a visit n any music fan’s trip t the city.

Autumn2008


Feeder sampling 3345’s bar stock

or... The Magnet Indie favourite, with bands on most nights. Downstairs DJs play a frenetic mix of hip-hop, drum and bass and Northern Soul. It gets packed at the weekends, weekends, so it’s worth heading down early if you can, or resign yourself to the resultant crush.

Sunday (lunchtime) 3345 – 33-45 Parr Street Parr Street is the hub f Liverpl’s music scene, and the biggest studi in the cuntry utside Lndn. It hsts relaxed acustic gigs thrughut the week, and its award-winning restaurant cks up a mean Sunday lunch t help yu recver frm the night befre. The studis are run by Ech and the Bunnymen’s managers, and play hst t the biggest names arund, including Cldplay, Ech and the Bunnymen, Rihanna, The Beautiful Suth and The Charlatans. C harlatans. It’s als hme t prducer Ken Nelsn, wh has wn three Grammy awards during his time at Parr Street, thanks principally t his wrk n Cldplay’s albums, Parachutes, Rush f Bld t the Head and X & Y. There’s als a htel upstairs, nrmally used by visiting artists and bands, s the celeb cunt is high, but the strict drstaff keep ut the riff raff. mp

or... Egg Café The Egg is something of a Liverpool institution. It’s a fantastic vegetarian and vegan cafe that hosts acoustic performances performanc es and poetry readings througho throughout ut the week. It also provides some of the best value dining in the city, with three courses and a tea or coffee for £8.50, but it doesn’t have a drinks licence, so bring your own wine or beer for a small corkage.

After setting standards in the studio for 60 years, AKG hits the stage with a range of premium microphones that your fans and ears will thank you for using.

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Planet Gear

to worry too much about feedback we could apply more creative compression to the individual channels using insert effects.

dbx DriveRack PX

FEELING THE SQUASH

Designed to optimise the performanc performance e of any powered PA PA, and simplify simplify the sound engineer’ engineer ’s task. Miguel Mascolina Mascolinass finds out if it delivers the goods. £279 Dolphin ID 37059

››

Mixing a live performance is a taxing job that involves numerous simultaneous tasks, any of which could improve or spoil the music. Thankfully there are several bits of kit that can help to make life a bit easier in one way or another. dbx’s DriveRack PX is one such item, fitting into your live rig across the master buss.

FEATURES ➔ Auto-EQ with 28-band

real-time analysis ➔ Three-band parametric EQ ➔ Stereo feedback elimination ➔ Subharmonic synthesizer from the dbx 120A ➔ Classic dbx compressor ➔ PeakStopPlus Limiter

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME The DriveRack PX provides a number of useful functions, which in many cases should reduce the amount of other external gear you need on your master buss. The primary function of the unit is to act as a speaker optimiser, designed to get the most out of powered speaker systems, with presets already in place for many popular powered PAs, including the almost ubiquitous Mackie SRM350 and SRM450 models. DriveRack comes with a measurement mic, which is used with the unit’s Auto-EQ function to analyse the room and compensate for any problems in the audio environment. Once you’ve analysed and created an EQ curve to compensate for room deficiencies, you can use the parametric EQ to apply creative shaping to the output. Once you’ve compensated for a room you should hear a more natural sound coming from the PA. This makes life considerably consider ably easier when you start mixing. In addition to providing both a 28-band graphic EQ and a three-band parametric EQ, DriveRack PX also has an Advanced Feedback Suppression (AFS) system. This has 12 notch filters that enable you to ramp up the levels knowing that DriveRack will automatically compensate for any feedback issues that occur. In our early experiments with the DriveRack, just using these features was enough to really improve the quality of the sound in the room. With the EQ and AFS systems running we were able to focus on the creative aspects of mixing the band. Finding space for each instrument in the mix is much easier when your room is correctly compensated for. Furthermore, since we no longer needed

All doesn’t stop with EQ-based effects though. DriveRack PX comes with dbx’s classic Overeasy compression algorithm, PeakStopPlus limiting dynamics processors and a subharmonic synthesizer for adding extra low-end frequenciess to your mix. frequencie mix . Using compression and limiting across the master buss is a useful, but tricky technique, as it is just as easy to ruin the mix as it is to make it better. If you aren’t familiar with buss compression, it’s best to start with a fairly low ratio and a high threshold, so you don’t overdo it. However, we found the dbx Overeasy algorithm fairly forgiving. The limiter is even easier to use and guarantees that you don’t over-drive the amps in your powered speakers. With the loud funk/metal act on which we were testing DriveRack, we were able to push the compression fairly hard to get a tight, thumping sound, which pounded your chest. However, it did require a little bit of control from track to track as different songs brought with them very different dynamic levels. The subharmonic synthesizer was also incredibly useful with our live act, as it gave the low-end a good amount of punch, which you could feel right in your chest. chest .

ONE FOR THE ROAD

ACCESSORIES Essential add-ons Gator GR-2S Shallow Case £67.99 Stock Code 38446 This unit is going to have a hard life being traipsed all over the place. Don’t just chuck it in the back of the Transit, move it safely in its own case.

Dolphin Music XLR/XLR 10m cable £9 Stock Code 34934 Most powered PA features balanced XLR inputs that need to be plugged into the desk. You’ll Y ou’ll need long leads.

The DriveRack PX is one of those bits of kit you don’t realise how much you need until it’s taken away. The improvementt in sound quality we achieved at the improvemen two test gigs was incredible. Not only does the DriveRack itself improve the sound, but it enables the engineer to concentrate on the more important aspects of his task, task , knowing that the DriveRack is taking care of everything else. MP

➔ VERDICT ● Set up and use in a couple of minutes

EQ, dynamics and subharmonic ● Provides EQ, synthesis in one unit ● Replaces several other rack units The dbx DriveRack PX is a joy to use, and we’re looking forward to making it a permanent part of our live rig.

››› BUY NOW


0844 248 8117 Or logon at



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Autumn2008

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Competition

Win a Fender Classic Player Jaguar Special HH! Strap on the new Fender Fende r Classic Player Jaguar and rediscover an overlooked masterpiece! When Fender first introduced the Jaguar back in 1962 it took the world a bit by surprise. Gone was the brutal simplicity of the Telecaster or Strat, replaced instead by a more complicated beast that boasted some unusual features. For your chance to own one of these classic instruments (RRP £569) answer the following question.

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To Enter visit www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/jaguarcompetition No purchase necessary. Visit www.dolphinmusic.com for full details of competition entry .

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Autumn2008

www.dolphinmusic.com www.dolphinmusic .com 0844 248 8117

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p p l a y e r s

Having shot to fame with the massive hit Turn Around , Jason Hayward Haywar d always believes the next hit is just around the corner, corner, as Oz Owen discovers…

’ ’ S S T A H P ‘ N O O S A W A R D J A Y A H K U . O C . Y H P A R G O T O H P N E E R G N O M I S . W W W Y H P A R G O T O H P N E E R G N O M I S

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ew places in the UK are overflowing with talent like Brighton, cultural beacon of the south coast and mecca for creative types of all persuasions. For Jason Hayward, aka Jason Phats, founder member of feel-good chart-toppers and multiplatinum selling outfit Phats & Small, Brighton has witnessed over two decades of a music career that’s seen him score considerable success as DJ, musician and producer. It was a love of all music that led to an early fascination for dissecting the music by artists as diverse as The Specials and Neil Young, but it was a love of early 80s synth pop – spearheaded by masters The Human League and Heaven 17 – that would see his life dedicated to a love of music. His compact studio space now houses a massive collection of hardware and software that kicked off back in 1984 when

a 14 year-old Jason acquired his first synth, a Korg MS-10 – a beast of a machine by anyone’s standards. There’ T here’s nothing like hitting the ground running! The studio is still being added to regularly, with recent acquisitions from the likes of Dave Smith Instruments and Moog keeping his sound fresh. He’s also just signed a deal with Ministry Of Sound’s Data Records, which sees him paired up once again with long-time collaborator and ‘voice of Phats & Small’, Ben Ofoedu. “I’ve just produced the video for the new single. There’s a tiny trailer on YouTube – if you search for Phats & Small Can’t Stop you’ll find the trailer. Doing that was great fun, but I really have to watch myself though – taking on too much stuff to learn. But it’s been really good fun. The technology’s there so you can do these things yourself these days. That’s the next ➥ ➥


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which pretty much says it all. It’s been superb. I just plug a Røde NT2 into it and I’m away.” “I had Paul Carrack [Roxy Music, Squeeze] recording some vocals down here a few years ago. He was using an expensive BLUE microphone, but he was so happy with the result that we got from the Røde plugged into the 430 that he said, ‘leave it, I’m happy with that!’ There are so many rules when it comes to music production, but ultimately you have to trust your ears.”

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

KEY KIT KIT SELECTED GEAR FROM A HUGE COLLECTION ■ Apple:

3 desktops Macs, 1 laptop, Logic 7 & 8 ■ SSL Duende ■ Universal Audio UAD Nevana fully loaded with all UAD plug-ins ■ Waves Platinum Bundle ■ Ableton Live 7 and all plug-ins ■ GForce plug-ins ■ Ohmforce plug-inss ■ FXpansion plug-ins ■ Native Instruments Komplete 5 ■ Celemony Melodyne ■ Yamaha NS10M monitors ■ KRK V6 monitors ■ M-Audio Oxygen 8 keyboard ■ Focusrite: ISA430 Producer Pack, Platinum Compounder, Platinum VoiceMaster, Platinum Mix Master ■ TLAudio: C1 Compressor, EQ2 Parametric Valve EQ ■ Lexicon PCM91 ■ Sherman QMF Quad Modular Filter Bank ■ Røde NT2 microphone ■ Moog Voyager V3, Little Phatty Stage II ■ Dave Smith Instruments: Prophet 8, Evolver ■ Novation: Bass Station, Super BassStation, DrumStation, Supernova, ReMOTE SL61 ■ Roland: VP-9000, Super JD990, JV-1080, Juno-106 ■ Korg: Legacy Collection, MS10, Zero8 ■ AKAI: S1100 x 2, S3000, S3200 x 2, S6000, MPC 2000XL ■ Technics SL1210 x 2 ■ Pioneer CDJ 1000 mk3 x 2 ■ Vestax PMC 50A

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thing – a feature length film and I’ll do the music too! I envisage ‘Brighton’ written across the South Downs in big white letters, Hollywood style! It’s been one of the most exciting things I’ve done recently. The single will be out… probably October, but maybe September. After the closing parties in Ibiza. “We’re also working on an album at the moment, so we’ve been beavering away on that. I never stop working, never stop writing songs. I carry a dictaphone around with me 24 hours a day, so I’ve always got plenty of ideas, plenty of songs to work on. And I’m still working very closely with Ben, the singer – we’re rekindling our love of good, catchy, hooky songs.” The dictaphone may be where a lot of Jason’s ideas first get locked down, but it’s the studio where those ideas will be hammered out, and after so long making music, be it remixes or original material, he’s got the production process down to a fine art. “For recording vocals, I use Focusrite’s ISA430. I got it back in 2000, the original MkI version, and it’s just fantastic. I think it’s a re-creation of a Neve channel,

E I N C S,, S I N S G N N I H T F O E D D I S G N N I S E S O C “ O N T H E P R N D T A I T D K A U O O I D U A L A S R E V V I N ” B O U G H T T H E U K C N G B A I N O K O L O N N E E B S S ’ E R E H T S S L D U E N D E

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With huge quantities of hardware and software at his fingertips, no one is in a better position to illustrate the differences between the two, and define the roles that both play in Jason’s sound. “I think they’re totally different instruments, like the acoustic guitar and the electric guitar. Everyone goes through periods when they think music’s exciting because it hasn’t sounded like that for a while – like the last few years everyone’s loved the Electro thing, for instance, and at first you could tell without a doubt that it was produced inside computers. I mean, I can hear that now, the more experience I get and the more I play with pro-level kit, my ears have definitely become tuned to it. It’s enjoyable to hear that digital sound, but then you get bored of it and then you want to return to that analogue sound again. “I’m loving the analogue at the moment, and the MIDI thing as well – it just sounds different, it triggers differently, computer speaking to computer. It clocks differently. It took me ages to get used to the transition from an Atari ST to a Mac. I just hated it at first because they’ve got a totally different sound, a different groove. But analogue’s doing it for me at the moment, I’m just loving it. “But then on the processing side of things, since I bought the Universal Audio UAD kit and SSL Duende there’s been no looking back. Having all that at your fingertips has been wonderful, absolutely wonderful! “I do tend to do a lot more of the actual signal processing in the computer, mostly because of the recall settings. That’s one of the things that bugs me about using the analogue stuff… There’s been a couple of occasions when I’ve been fiddling about on the Prophet 8 and I haven’t saved the sound and then I’ve changed something in Logic and it’s done a program change and I’ve lost my settings. It all goes digital in the end though, it all goes into the computer and from there I’ll process it… So I’ll record stuff live into Logic and then process it from there. “With those UAD plug-ins, well… You just can’t beat the hardware, but I haven’t got the cash or the space for a Fairchild compressor. I’d make room for one, though! thoug h! When you have dedicated chips, well… That’s the


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“I STRONGLY STRONGLY BELIEVE BELIE VE THAT IF YOU KEEP THROWIN T HROWING G THE BAL BALL L AT AT THE HOOP, EVENTUALL EVENT UALLY Y IT WILL GO THROUGH…”

difference between using the chips in the Mac or using the dedicated chips inside the UAD system or Duende. There are all these arguments on the forums now, people saying that you can get the same results through Logic as you can with these high-end systems, but it just makes the job easier. “I use Duende and the UAD a lot, I max them out. I’m just thinking of getting some more in, actually, but it will mean me getting an expansion chassis, though. I could do with another two UADs and the chassis – which is ridiculous money, about a grand or something.” “When it comes to monitoring, I’m looking at some big Genelecs right now. Those KRKs that I use, they’re great, but I need something that’s going to make the room throb. This is probably going to be the most extravagant spending for me. I can’t believe I’ve left it right until last, because it’s so important. I think I’ve been thinking about my neighbours more than anything!”

TURN AROUND For many artists, it would be difficult to listen to a single that was so ubiquitous for such a long period as Turn Around – the debut single for Phats & Small – but not for Jason. “That record makes me smile – it was done so innocently! It was a year that I was very prolific, I was doing a lot of remixes for DMC, and I was helping a lot of people out in situations where they’d run out of deadlines for a mix, or someone hadn’t delivered. I’d get a phone call and someone would say ‘can you do a mix for me? Yeah, I need it, er… tomorrow?!’ “So I was boshing out all these mixes, and just doing what I loved, and wasn’t really making any money out of it, and I did Turn Around in 12 hours with an Atari ST and a sampler. It’s just the simplicity of it – it all just fell into place. I grabbed a few records from my collection and an a capella record that had been gathering dust and it just happened…! The filtering was done through the MS-10 and the BassStation, and it was just seven tracks of MIDI on an Atari ST. That year I just made lots and lots of records. I strongly believe that if you keep throwing the ball at the hoop, eventually it will go through. And if it doesn’t – then just keep trying!” MP

The next Jason Hayward single Can’t Stop will be released in mid-October on Data Records.

www.dolphinmusic.com www.dolphinmu sic.com 0844 248 8117

MusicPlanet

TOP TIPS

Jason’s advice for making it in the music business…

1 No matter what anyone tells you – never give up. You’re in the wrong industry if you can’t take a knock back. 2

If you’re starting out, pick yourself up a cheap Mac and get yourself Logic, it’s got everything in there. It will teach you about every aspect of production.

3

Watch what you’re signing, and treat every record you make as if it’s a hit, because it just could be. You can’t second-guess what’s going to happen. Turn Around took 12 hours to make, and went on to sell 3.5 million copies. Records like that don’t come along every day. No one can predict them, or knows how they happen. Remember – where there’s a hit, there’s a writ. So be very careful!

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WITH 60 CLASSIC COMPRESSOR AND EQ EMULATIONS ACROSS 16 CHANNELS, A HARDWARE CONTROLLER, AND ALL THE ADVANTAGES OF A PLUG-IN. It’s the arsenal of vintage and classic gear that gives top producers the edge they need to truly nail a mix. Such an array of classic processors simply isn’t a reality for most of us, but with Liquid Mix 16, their sound is. Liquid technology delivers genuine emulations of all the most revered signal processors used throughout 20th century recording history. No host-based plug-in can do this. No other DSP-based solution delivers anything like the variety. Liquid Mix does, and with Liquid Mix 16, it’s never been so affordable. Ready to nail that mix? Contact your local pro-audio dealer, or find out more online.

www.focusrite.com/liquidmix16 Need more channels? Look online for the original Liquid Mix (32) and the expansion card. IMPORTANT INFORMATION: FOCUSRITE, the FF logo, LIQUID TECHNOLOGY, LIQUID MIX CONTROL, LIQUID MIX and the LIQUID MIX 16 logo are trademarks of Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd. DYNAMIC CONVOLUTION is a trademark of Sintefex Audio Lda. All other product names, trademarks, or trade names are the names of their respective owners, which are in no wa y associated, connected nor affiliated with Focusrite or its LIQUID MIX products and which have not endorsed Focusrite’s LIQUID MIX products. These other product names, trademarks, and trade names are used solely to identify and describe the third party products the sonic behaviour of which was studied for the LIQUID MIX products, and to accurately describe the functionality of the Liquid Mix products. The Li quid Mix products are an independently engineered technology which utilises the patented process of Dynamic Convolution to actually measure examples of the sonic impact of original analogue pro ducts upon an audio stream, so a s to electronically emulate the performance of the original product studied. The result of this process is subjective and may not be perceived by a user as producing the same effects as the original pro ducts studied.

For more details call 0844 248 8117 or visit www.dolphinmusic.com

››› MUSIC CLINIC

Got a problem related to performing or recording your music? Then drop MusicPlanet’s team of experts expert s a line and we’ll come up with a solution. To submit your question to MusicPlanet’s Clinic team simply email [email protected] with [email protected] with the word Clinic in the Subject line.

GET A CAB?

feedback occurred. Alternatively, some outboard graphic EQs, such as the Samson S-Curve 215 (Dolphin ID 31922, 31922, £159) have LED faders that light up to indicate the loudest frequencies, which are commonly the ones that are feeding feeding back. back . MM

If you can’t get the sound you want, think about changing the amp format

Q

I’m thinking of buying a new valve amp for practising at home as well as gigging, but wanted some advice on which to pick. Our band plays mainly classic rock covers in pub/club type venues, and up until now I’ve used an old 100 Watt Marshall head and 4x12 cab. The problem is that I can never really turn it up loud enough to get the sound I want before the rest of the band complain it’s too noisy. Any ideas?

SPEAKER PLACEMENT

Q

Dave Williams, Stroud

A

In all honesty, unless you’re playing big venues you’re probably better off with a quality combo. Many of the great tones we hear on records are created by the amplifier being pushed really hard, which drives the power stage. This simply can’t be done without turning up the volume. Most manufacturers worth their salt offer 15, 18, 30 or 50 Watt models which will do the job nicely. Good examples are the Vox AC30 (Dolphin ID 10039, £450.21), Orange Rocker 30 (Dolphin ID 12484, £614.99), Cornford

FEEDBACK PROBLEMS

Q

I’ve just purchased my first small PA rig. I’m using it to play my songs in small bars – it’s mainly just for me to sing vocals and to amplify an acoustic guitar. I’ve managed to work out most of the functions, and am fairly happy with the sound I’ve been getting. However, I usually have feedback problems long before the system is up to full volume. Is there any way I can reduce this? Steve Johnson, London

A

I’ve just recently bought a pair of Behringer’s TRUTH B2031A monitors, and I was just wondering if you had any advice on positioning them in the spare room I use for my studio. Do I really need to buy some speaker stands, or will they be fine sat on my desktop either side of my computer?

Orange Rocker 30: a quality combo Hurricane (Dolphin ID 7965, £999.99) and Laney VC30 (Dolphin ID 24880, £374). The advantages of a combo include less lugging things in and out of the van and more space at home where the 4x12 used to be! But if you really love your current setup then maybe buying a power attenuator will be the answer. It goes between your head and cab and acts as a master volume control. Just turn up the amp full blast, then set an acceptable level on the attenuator – bingo! MC

Feedback is the bane of live production – there are many ways it can be produced and many methods for taming each one. However, one of the first things you should be looking at is the relative positions of your microphones and speakers. The most common microphoness for live performance are microphone cardioid dynamics, such as the Shure SM58 (Dolphin ID 2022, £74.50). These offer excellent rejection to signals from the rear, helping to reduce feedback, and are best at rejecting sound

Martin Eastwood, Newcastle

A

coming from 120 degrees to either side. So place your speakers in front of you at roughly this angle to the microphone, facing the audience. To get even more gain without feedback, you need a PA with a graphic EQ on the outputs. If you have good ears you can ‘notch out’ the exact frequency that is feeding back. If you aren’t sure you can do this take a bit of time before you play to notch up each frequency until it feeds back, then notch out the frequency that needed the least pushing before

Positioning monitor speakers speake rs is a fine art that needs to take into account many factors. With a rudimentary understanding of the principles, though, and the opportunity to experiment with various placements in your room, you should find an adequate solution. The first point to remember is the golden triangle – with your ‘sweet spot’ (in other words, the point in your room where you listen) and the two monitors forming an equilateral triangle. You also need to make sure the monitors are firing at your ears correctly, which will involve pointing them inwards slightly and ensuring the mid-point between the woofer and the tweeter is aligned with your ears. It might be that your existing desktop or workstation allows for this, especially if you have a raised shelf ➥ ➥

A graphic EQ unit can help you identify and eliminate feedback problems www.dolphinmusic.com www.dolphinmu sic.com 0844 248 8117

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Autumn2008

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A&H Xone:4D: far more than just a MIDI controller

SYNC’ING FEELING? Introducing a laptop to your DJ set can bring a new degree of complexity

Q

I have recently been performing DJ sets using both CD decks and a MacBook running Ableton Live. I am controlling the set up with a Novation Nocturn MIDI controller and have got a good overall sound using my DJ mixer. The only major problem I am having is keeping everything in sync. I have no problems when using the CD players to mix, but I can’t seem to be able to get things in time when I want to play back music from the laptop. The main problem is that I can’t change the speed of the music in Ableton like I can on the CD decks. Is there any way I can get round this problem, or a way to make things easier? Spin, Birmingham

A

Luckily there are a couple of ways you can attack the problem you’re having. One would involve purchasing a more advanced controller, or mixer, that includes jog wheels capable of controlling Ableton. This would allow you to change the pitch of the audio playing back from your MacBook in real time and therefore mix between the two mediums seamlessly. You could opt for something basic like the EKS XP5 Digital DJ controller (Dolphin ID 34875, £129), or invest in something more fully fledged such as the Allen&Heath Xone:4D (Dolphin ID 36978, £1468.95). The latter is not just a MIDI controller but supplies a full audio interface and DJ mixer. The second solution would be to use a device that converts audio signals to MIDI clock. This allows Ableton to sync to the correct tempo and locks the mix between decks and laptop. This is a pretty groundbreaking area, but there are more and more manufacturers incorporating incorpora ting this technology into their products, so keep an eye out. MC

like those provided on workstations such as Quiklok’s dual-level Z600 (Dolphin ID 4766, £499). Monitor stands, of course, provide a more adjustable solution, as well as improving the isolation between the speakers. Look for heavier designs that will support the monitor properly. The less the monitor and stand move, the more acoustically effective they are. You should also be careful not to position the monitors too close to any of the walls in your room, as this can produce an unnecessary – and often muddy – boost in bass frequencies. Before you settle on a particular solution, though, try moving the position and orientation of your equipment around, listening carefully to the sound you achieve. MC

GUITAR STORAGE

Q

I’m going to be storing my Taylor 310CE in the loft for a few months. Should I slacken off the strings? Jim Fry, Dorset

A

Firstly, let’s take the issue of storage. Under no circumstances store any

S R S E R D E R D O R C O R E C R E

IA A N S I C C I EA AL M U S I FOO R R E F Want your multitrack with lots of knobs? Want to hit a button instead of scrolling a menu? - Then get a load of these cool Fostex MR digital multitrackers. multitrack ers. Power up, plug-in and start recording - it’s that easy. easy. Guitar amp and mic simulation plus crunching analog guitar distortion is right on-board on-board.. And you get stellar, un-compressed sound quality, phantom powered mic inputs and sparkling digital effects. Whether you go for the MR16HD/CD with 16-track playback, CD mastering, 4 fully-fea fully-featured tured inputs, AUX outs and 4-track simultaneous recording to hard drive, or opt for the convenience of the battery or mains powered MR-8mkII which records direct to CompactFlash, you’ll have everything you want. Hedonistic extravagance for real musicians.

H D 6 H 1 6 M R 1 www.scvlondon.co.uk Distributed in the UK by SCV London. Call 020 8418 1470 for your nearest dealer

H D 8 H - 8 M R -

k I I m k M R - 8 m M R

›››MUSIC CLINIC guitar – acoustic or otherwise – in your loft. loft . Guitars are made from an organic substance and although the wood would have been ‘cured’ prior to being used in manufacture, it’s still subject to the atmospheric conditions around it. It’ It ’s the same principle as wooden garden gates. They swell up in the winter when it’s wet and shrink in the summer when it’s hot. The same could be true of your guitar if you don’t control the conditions around it. The temperature of your loft swings from icy cold to baking hot, sometimes on a daily basis. Subjecting an acoustic to such temperature extremes will cause havoc and almost certainly damage the guitar. If an acoustic is to be stored it should be kept in a case and at a constant room-like temperature. Anything else and you’re asking for trouble. Secondly, it’s true that some manufacturers manufactur ers do slacken off of f strings prior to transporting an acoustic, but only by a small amount. Remembe Rememberr that your guitar is designed and built to work in conjunction with the tension that the strings create. Eliminating that tension altogether can

cause the neck to warp. In effect, the tension created by the strings helps to keep the guitar stable and rigid. SH

AMP EMULA EMULATIONS? TIONS?

Q

As a guitarist I have been reading a lot about software amp emulation and effects recently, and while I’m a little apprehensive about bypassing my amp entirely (I have collected some beautiful amps over the years), I am intrigued at the prospect of using the various effects built into amp emulation software. Is there any way I can combine the best of both worlds, or should I get a hardware effects processor? I considered recording the amp and then running the signal through the effects, but this would place the effects after the amp, which I guess would not be an ideal situation. Grinko, Manchester

A

Your guess is correct, recording the amp first and then running it through the effects would not be the ideal way to use the effects in amp emulation software, although that

doesn’t mean you couldn’t get some good sounds this way. Many studio effects are added after the guitar has been recorded. However, it is entirely possible to run the signal from your guitar into the computer and then back out to your amp for recording. To do this you will need to DI (Direct Inject) the guitar signal going into the computer, process it and send the output signal into your amp. If you have a spare input channel you could then record the amp at the same time. Or if you don’t, you can always record the DI guitar first and add the amp processing process ing afterwards. There are a couple of things you should look out for when doing this, firstly the output from your audio interface is almost certainly line-level, while your amp will be expecting a guitar signal, so plugging it straight in could overpower the amp and even damage it. In effect, what you need to

do is reverse-DI your signal, which you can do very simply with a passive DI box, attaching at taching your leads in reverse. This will sort the impedance, impedance, but you will still need to be careful with the output level. Radial Engineering makes a dedicated unit for this purpose, the Pro RMP (Dolphin ID 25168, £82), which addresses both the level and impedance matching. MM

Radial’s Pro RMP is a useful passive DI box

Transparency If there’s one thing you don’t want from a monitor it’s sound colourisation. The sound should be transparent and pure. It’s as simple as that. And that’s what you get from the superb Fostex PM Series Mk2. Minimal resonance, sparkling highs and deep lows.

From only £115 inc VAT.

PM Series Mk2. It’s all in the detail www.scvlondon.co.uk Distributed in the UK by SCV London. Call 020 8418 1470 for your nearest dealer

Number one by design.

INTRODUCING INTR ODUCING

The Studiophile BX Deluxe Series What happens when you surpass what people expect rom a near-feld reerence monitor? You You end up with the USA’s USA ’s best selling* monitor in its category—the M-Audio Studiophile™ BX5a. Now our obsession with perection has led us to raise the bar again. Meet the Studiophile BX5a Deluxe and the Studiophile BX8a Deluxe. The BX Deluxe monitors sound balanced at a wide range o volumes, so your mixes will translate across diverse listening environments. They also provide detailed sonic imaging, seamless requency integration and an amazingly cohesive sound. The BX Deluxe monitors are designed to deliver an exceptional monitoring experience that’s true to your music. Hear or yoursel at your local M-Audio dealer. * Source: MI SalesTrak To learn more about M-Audio’s complete line o monitors, please visit

www.maudio.co.uk/monitors .

Studiophile BX8a Deluxe

Studiophile BX5a Deluxe

• 130 watts of bi-amped power

• 70 watts of bi-amped power

• 8” Kevlar low-frequency drivers

• 5” Kevlar low-frequency drivers

• 1” natural silk high-frequency drivers

• 1” natural silk high-frequency drivers

• XLR balanced and 1/4” TRS inputs

• XLR balanced and 1/4” TRS inputs

• OptImage IV wave guides

• OptImage IV wave guides

For availability and pricing information please visit the Dolphin website at www.dolphinmusic.com or call the sales team on: 0844 248 8117 © 2008 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product eatures, specifcations, system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice. Use o the enclosed sotware is subject to a related license agreement. Avid, M-Audio, the “>” logo and Studiophile are either trademarks or registered trademarks o Avid Technology, Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property o their respective owners.

www.maudio.co.uk

Monitor round-up

Powered monitor monitor group test

Picking the right pair of active nearfield monitors could make all the difference to your studio setup. Andy Wright examines some of the available choices.

I

nvesting in a pair of studio-grade active monitors could easily be one of the most important and beneficial improvements you can make to your home studio. Although it’s tempting to think that a trusted pair of hi-fi speakers will provide an enjoyable and reliable working environment, you’re more likely to end up producing recordings that simply won’t translate over a range of systems. You would also be missing out on the subtleties and nuances that are so important when working with tools like compression and equalisation. Realising just how vital a good set of monitors have become to the

›››

project studio musician, a number of key manufacturers now produce a range of attractively priced, highperformance active monitors. But how do you go about distinguishing between the various models on offer? Is it best to go with established monitoring brands? Can a small 4-inch woofer provide a performance that matches that of a monitor with an 8-inch woofer? And, ultimately, which monitors best suit your kind of music and production activity? In this round-up, we take a broad overview of the types of active monitors available in the sub-£700 price bracket – from affordable,

ACCESSORIES Essential add-ons

space-conscious 5-inch models, space-conscious through to larger 8-inch designs. Rather than being swung by any immediately impressive and flattering characteristics, though, we’ve taken a long hard listen to all of the monitors in question – identifying how they might positively affect your working process over time, as well as the sonic characteristics that really count. Ultimately, of course, it’s still worth using your own ears before you make the final decision, but this guide should at least help identify the principle characteristics and differences between the various options out there you’ll need to choose from.

Samson MS200 monitor stands £59 Dolphin ID 32063 Mounting your monitors using stands improves their performance, creating a more accurate representation representa tion of your mix.

Dolphin 3m cable XLR(m)-XLR(f) £5 Dolphin ID 34932 Most active monitors feature a balanced XLR connection for the input, which will need to be fed from your mixer or audio interface’s outputs.

Auralex Mopads £34 Dolphin ID 2331 If you’re placing your monitors directly on a desktop or a shelf, it’s well worth considering some form of isolation pads – like Auralex’s Mopads.

INVESTING IN A PAIR OF STUDIO-GRADE ACTIVE MONITORS MEANS YOU WON’T MISS THE SUBTLETIES AND NUANCES OF YOUR MIX

Genelec 8020A £399 (pair) Dolphin ID 35641 Standing just 242mm tall, the Genelec 8020 seems to defy the laws of physics, delivering an impressive studio-grade performance from just a 4-inch woofer. Although the bass extension doesn’t quite match the larger monitors, the Genelec 8020s really delivered in respect to their detail and neutrality. They enabled us to hear right into the depths of the mix, as well as delivering a surprising amount of separation and detail between sounds. The top end wasn’t quite as pin-sharp as some of the more ‘hyped’ monitors, but this seems to help create a more transferable mix. Built-in Iso-Pod isolation stands undoubtedly help the performance of

the 8020s, and there’s also an array of DIP switches to help fine-tune the monitors to your room’s acoustic. The level control is also handily accessible from the front of the monitor, although unfortunately, it also doubles as the power switch.

VERDICT

➔

FEATURES ➔ Bi-amplified 40 Watt active nearfield monitor ➔ 3/4-inch metal dome tweeter ➔ 4-inch bass driver ➔ 66Hz–20kHz free field frequency response

Don’t let their size deceive you – the Genelec 8020s deliver a surprising amount of power and bass-extension. The 8020s excelled at providing a detailed representation of the mix, making them a perfect choice for critical listening environments without lots of space to spare.


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Monitor round-up

KRK Rokit RP5 G2 £249.99 (pair) Dolphin ID 37568 The second generation of KRK’s Rokit series features many of the design innovations first developed on the company’s VXT and Exposé monitors. Overall, the Rokit RP5 G2s seem keenly targeted at the needs and demands of the project studio market. Using a 5-inch design keeps down the cost and space requirements, yet they still deliver a sound that isn’t overtly boxy or lacking in bottom end. We particularly liked the mids delivered by the Rokits. Vocals, for example, tended to be clear and upfront, allowing you to extract plenty of detail and information from such an important area of the mix. The inputs

FEATURES 1-inch Neodymium Neodymiu m Soft Sof t Dome tweeter ➔ Glass Aramid Composite Cone Woofer ➔ Front-firing port ➔ Curved front plate eliminates diffraction distortion ➔

provide XLR, TRS and RCA (phono) connections, making it easy to incorporate the Rokits into a range of setups, and a HF adjust control (both positive and negative) allows you to contour the top-end to match your particular tastes.

➔ VERDICT An effective balance between

sonic performance and price – the KRK Rokit RP5 G2s cost under £300, but deliver a sound clearly influenced by KRK’s top-of-therange monitoring solutions. A good sense of bass, tight and defined mids, and an airy top-end that isn’t overly harsh.

Yamaha MSP7 FEATURES Bi-amplified 70 Watt active near-field monitor ➔ 5.25-inch Kevlar lowfrequency driver ➔ 1-inch silk-dome high frequency driver ➔ 60Hz–22kHz frequency response ➔

ESI nEar 05 eXperience £153 (pair) Dolphin ID 30850 At £153 the ESI nEar 05s are astonishing value, particularly when you consider the price of an affordable passive monitor can fall into this bracket. They might not be built to the same level of visual and technical charm as some of the more expensive 5-inch monitors, but the nEar 05s still include plenty of studio-grade features, including a Kevlar woofer, as well as a generous 70 Watts of bi-amplificatio bi-amplification. n. While the sound of the nEar 05s isn’t super-wide, we still found them suitably un-coloured and detailed enough for studio work. The top end extends well without sounding too pushed, and the mids possess

44

MusicPlanet

enough detail to pull the mix together in an effective way. As well as being an excellent choice for cost-conscious users, it’s also well worth considering a pair of nEar 05s as your secondary small-scale monitors in a larger setup.

➔ VERDICT ESI nEar 05s deliver a performance that far exceeds

what you’d expect from a sub-£200 pair of active nearfields. Although they lack some of the depth and precision of some of the more expensive monitors, a generally neutral sound and clear top-end aids effective mixing and recording.

Autumn2008

£495 (pair) Dolphin ID 34225 Having somewhat invented the first ‘universal standard’ for reference monitoring with their ubiquitous NS-10s, Yamaha’s monitors always demand scrutiny. Certainly, it’s clear to see that things have come a long way since the rather mid-heavy sound of the NS-10s, with the MSP7s revealing a surprisingly open and neutral sound. The woofer is slightly larger than the majority of other monitors on test – measuring 6.5 inches – with a 1-inch titanium-domed tweeter to cover the top-end of the frequency spectrum. The weight of each monitor also indicates plenty of power in the amplifier, with a total of 120 Watts split between the two drivers. Although maybe not terribly exciting on first listen, we kept being drawn back to the MSP7s for their neutral sound, excellent imaging, and wide sweet spot that made them a pleasure to work with over time.

➔ VERDICT A worthy (and considerably more audiophile) addition to the NS-10’s legacy – the MSP7 delivers a clear top-end that doesn’t tire over time. The bass extension is also very natural and delivers a well-reasoned amount low-end woofer movement without any excessive hype.

FEATURES Bi-amplified 130 Watt active nearfield monitor 6.5-inch cone woofer ➔ 1-inch titanium dome high-frequency unit ➔ 45Hz–40kHz frequency response ➔ ➔


Monitor round-up

JBL LSR4326P £619 (pair) Dolphin ID 13716 FEATURES ➔ 130 Watts of bi-amped power ➔ 8-inch Kevlar woofers ➔ 1-inch silk high-frequency drivers ➔ 40Hz–24kHz frequency response

M-Audio BX8a Deluxe £299 (pair) Dolphin ID 37858 Although some 5-inch monitors produce an impressive bass-end, there’s only one real solution to achieving effortless sub-1 sub-100Hz 00Hz extension – buy a bigger monitor! In that respect, M-Audio’s BX8a Deluxe was easily the most impressively sized monitor we tested, striking a dominant presence in any setup. Looking to the rear, the BX8a Deluxe controls and inputs are relatively straightforward: with just an XLR and TRS connector for the inputs, and a simple gain adjustment for the monitor’s level. With 8-inch woven Kevlar woofers, and a 130 Watts of bi-amplificat bi-amplification, ion, these monitors deliver undeniably

big sound – extending well down to the bottom of the mix where smaller monitors can fail to give a full and effortless representation. representation. The only downside was a slight lack of detail in the mids, although the top-end felt suitably clear and well defined.

➔ VERDICT If the low end of the mix is mix is important to you, then M-Audio’s BX8a Deluxe provides a good dose of power and bass extension beneath 100Hz. Ideal for anybody producing hip-hop or dance music who needs a suitably ‘vibey’ pair of monitors.

It would be easy to talk at length about the accurate imaging and wide frequency characteristics of the JBL LSR4326Ps, but what’s particularly distinctive about these monitors are the controls and features they offer. Of all the monitors here, only the JBLs offer direct digital connectivity, including AES/EBU and S/PDIF. Add to that an intriguing HiQnet system for connecting the monitors as part of a 5.1 array, and a USB connection to run JBL’s Control Centre software. Using the supplied mic, you can also calibrat calibratee the monitors to your room’s acoustic, activating an optimised EQ profile using the small RMC button on the front of the cabinet. If this level of control and customisation appeals to you, then the JBLs are well worth a listen, offering the potential to really tailor the speaker’s performance to overcome potential inadequacies in your studio.

➔ VERDICT An impressively forward thinking design including room calibration, remote USB control, and JBL’s HiQnet 5.1 array system. Plenty of hands-on control from the front of the monitor makes the JBLs ideal for perfecting the monitors’ performance in a given room.

FEATURES ➔ Bi-amplified 220 Watt active nearfield monitor ➔ 6.25-inch self-shielded Neodymium woofer ➔ 1-inch self-shielded Neodymium tweeter ➔ 55Hz–20kHz frequency response

Adam A5 £465.98 (pair) £465.98 (pai r) Dolphin ID 36432 By using Adam’s own ART (Accelerated Ribbon Technology) ribbon tweeter technology, the company has certainly made its A5 monitors stand out from the crowd in terms of the way they represent treble. In theory, a ribbon tweeter provides a far more electrically effective ef fective way of moving air (in comparison to more typical ‘voice coil’ designs). This results in faster transient response, better high-frequency high-freq uency imaging, and a more extended top-end. top-end. In that respect, the A5s sound great on drums, and really enable you to pick apart the top end of a mix, mix , although the slightly more ‘upfront’ sound of the ribbon tweeters might not be to everybody’s tastes.

If that’s the case, though, you can always use the tweeter level control (to the back of the unit, along with two other room EQ controls) to tailor the output accordingly.

FEATURES ➔ Bi-amplified 50 Watt active nearfield monitor ➔ ART tweeter ➔ 5.5-inch Rohacell/ Carbonfibre Woofer ➔ 55Hz–35kHz response

➔ VERDICT Superb high-frequency imaging and transient response set Adam’s A5s apart from the crowd, making them a must for anybody who prefers a crisply defined top-end with plenty of percussive detail. A worthy entry-level ‘multimedia’ version of Adam’s ribbon-driven monitor design, that wouldn’t sound out of place on any desktop.

››› BUY NOW


0844 248 8117 Or logon at




MusicPlanet

Autumn2008

45

planet live

Missed a gig you really wanted to see? Perhaps a MusicPlanet reporter was there. This is what we thought of the summer’s more esoteric acts…

New York Dolls, Hyde Park, London At the ver y beginning of the summer, 70s survivors Kiss played a high-pr high-prole ole headline slot at the Download Festival, accompanying their trashy brand of pop rock with an armoury of lights and explosions. A month later 70s survivors the New York Dolls also played a festival, invited by Morrissey to the Prince of Misery’s day at the O2 Wireless shebang in Hyde Park. Safe to say, they let rip with their trashy brand of rock to considerably fewer punters than the guys in the face paint. Once, both these bands were contemporaries, putting the fun back in rock and roll and giving the nger to prog and the baggage that came with it. This isn’t the place to reect on their divergent paths, but in the present, the contrast is striking. Because where Kiss are overblown and dated, the New York Dolls still burn with the excitement that must have set Manhattan alight back in 1973. Of course, these are old men now. And the fact that three-fths of the classic Dolls’ line-up

has passed away doesn’t help. But this is a band that comes armed with some of the best rock and roll tracks of any age; songs of sex and street life that epitomised punk before it even had a name. David Johansen can’t quite hit the high notes these days, but Babylon , Jet Boy , and the ever-fantastic Trash still pack Pills and Pills Trash still a sonic kick to the groin. They’re not afraid to bring out the new tunes either, Dance Like A Monkey proving Monkey proving age is no barrier to punk rock spirit. Despite their massive nancial success Kiss never came close to equalling the mighty inuence of the Dolls. Too raw, too extreme and too dangerous, music wouldn’t have been the same without them. We’re lucky to have them around. Review by Robert Collins www.myspace.com/newyorkdolls

Honest Jon’s Chop Up! Barbican, London Damon Albarn has come a long way since his band’s ght with Oasis took Blur to the heady heights of the singles chart. Unlike his rivals, Damon has looked to constantly re-invent himself. 1997’s Blur saw the Blur saw band turn to grunge, with the single Song 2 possibly 2 possibly being the most dening grunge song after Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit , and 1999’s 13 experimented 13 experimented with Gospel and electronica. Damon continued to experiment with music outside of Blur, joining Mike Patton and Dan The Automator on the Lovage Lovage project, project, which no doubt inspired his later hip-hop explorations with Gorillaz. However, it was 2002’s Mali Music album Music album recorded with Toumani Diabaté and Afel Bocoum among others that helped to cement Albarn’s

reputation as a musician who thrived in collaborations. After visiting Mali with Oxfam and recording recor ding over 40 hours of music, Damon launched new label Honest Jon’s from a record store in London to promote the album and other world music artists. To celebrate the artists on this label, Honest Jon’s arranged the Chop Up! at London’s Barbican, bringing together together many of the artists to share a stage. In typically under-stated fashion Damon took a back-row place behind his harmonium for most of the night, leaving his label-mates to take the front stage. The fusion of African rhythms, vocals and solo performances with more Westernthemed bass parts and structures can sometimes fall at, but tonight everything merged perfectly. Tony Allen’s exquisite drumming provided a driving force from start to nish,


while the funky jazz of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble met perfectly with Toumani Diabaté’s spidery kora playing and Afel Bocoum’s bluesy acoustic guitar. When Damon nally took to the front of the stage for a closing performance of Sunset of Sunset Coming On – On – the standout track on Mali Music – Music – backed by Simone White and Candi Staton, the crowd was electried. It was a shame it had to nish at all. Review by Miguel Mascolinas www.myspace.com/damonbluralbarn

SeriousMusic Golden Lion, Bristol Anticipation is high and it ’s standingroom only, due partly perhaps to the fact that SeriousMusic gig relatively infrequently, making their shows something of an event on the local calendar. A ve-piece live band, they cram a bewildering array of

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planet live live

equipment onto the small stage. Turntables sit atop huge beer barrels, the drum kit is supplemented with sampling pads and there’s not a guitar or bass to be seen. Instead, producer Hollin Jones performs both lead and bass instruments on a mothership of live keyboards hooked up to various amps. Debut album The Heights is a heady blend of hip hop, funk, jazz and dub with a strong Latin inuence thanks to Colombianborn MC SpokesMao. Produced at Portishead’s Bristol studio, it was going to be intriguing to see how the band would translate its slick, layered style to the live arena. Taking the stage to a slow-building and unexpected samba workout, SeriousMusic immediately dispelled any notion of a beats’n’shouting hip hop performance. The sound is

all-consuming, the metronomic beats of drummer Matt Albon meshing perfectly with the huge, thundering sub bass and spiky piano, Rhodes, Clavi and Hammond lines red by the keys. SpokesMao is joined by the band’s other live rapper Chalk MC, breakdowns, and the band and MCs whose machine-gun delivery and deft rhymes complement perfectly are as adept at freestyling salsa, the rapid re, conscious lyrics of the dub and bouncy hip hop as when sticking to the script. An impromptu Colombian. He raps, incidentally, both in Spanish and English, which is stage invasion closes the show quite something to behold. and SeriousMusic leaves the crowd Album tracks like Food For calling for more. See them. Soul , crowd pleaser Un Tono and Review by Sarah Kelsall Recall are delivered with ferocious, www.myspace.com/theseriousmusic bouncing energy and the crowd Radiohead loves it. New tracks Acid Tongue and Spirits reveal a harder-edged future Victoria Park, London direction for the band, and scratch Rarely does one band change DJ Cutterz Choice features heavily the face of the music industry so on several apparently improvised abruptly as Radiohead managed

d o o w n o d l e h S

My Bloody Valentine Carling Apollo, Manchester My Bloody Valentine is a band that many assumed would never return. It was part of their myth: after two perfect albums – Isn’t Anything (1988) and Loveless (1991) – they vanished, amidst rumors of mental breakdown, bankruptcy and tales of the loudest gigs ever. Fifteen years later, they’re back. As soon as the rst notes of I Only Said were played, the whole power of the My Bloody Valentine live experience hit you like a tsunami: the extreme loudness of the guitars, the bass shaking your guts, the strobe lights and the psychedelic projections. It felt more like an art performance, with sound and visuals so intrinsically married as to be more important than the band themselves. MBV played classic tracks from their albums, but the highlight was set closer The Holocaust , which turns 1988 single You Made Me Realise into the loudest 20 minutes in your life. Those brave enough not to wear the free earplugs distributed before the gig, had no choice but to protect their ears. It wasn’t music anymore, but an art statement, an experiment, pushing and challenging the audience – some people couldn’t cope and had to leave. No discernible notes, just a loud rumble and sheer white

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noise. From time to time, slight changes in the pattern could be noticed, while frantic visuals hypnotised the audience. When eventually the images slowed down, we all just felt the end was coming soon, and My Bloody Valentine went back into You Made Me Realise to an ecstatic audience. One last chorus, and it was over. Afterwards, the crowd leaving the venue looked tired. Some faces were stunned. Some simply appeared relieved that they’ll still be able to hear clearly – when the tinnitus recedes after a couple of days. We did it. We survived My Bloody Valentine, the loudest band on earth. Reviewed by Ivan Silva www.myspace.com/mybloodyvalentine

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last year with the unique pay-what you-choose distribution method for the band’s latest album In Rainbows . However, this little episode is likely to be only a footnote in the history of a band who’ve been busy pushing the boundaries of their musical world since their inception in 1992. Having dened a whole genre of melancholy rock with 1995’s The Bends , Radiohead moved on to bigger things with 1997’s OK Computer and then again shifted gear into glitchy electronica with Kid A and Amnesiac . At Victoria Park, Radiohead once more showed their determination to not look back, opening their set with three tracks from In Rainbows , driving the crowd into a frenzy with the galloping beats of 15 Step , the driving bass of Bodysnatchers and Thom Yorke’s beautifully shifting vocal on All I Need . This set the stage for the ve-piece to work through nearly every song from In Rainbows as well the excellent Bangers & Mash from the In Rainbows boxset, which saw Thom supplementing Phil Selway on drums. Earlier hits, such as Paranoid Android , Karma Police and Creep were ignored in favour of tting in more of the band’s experimental work, and even when they went back to their earlier catalogue only Just could be considered one of the more radio-friendly choices. This gave the band an opportunity to play less well known fan favourites, like How To Disappear Completely and Planet Telex . “Thanks, we were frightened,” said Thom as he sauntered back on stage for the encore to play Cymbal Rush from 2007’s solo album The Eraser , before the band came back on for the closing You And Whose Army and the incredible swirling syncopation of Idioteque . Those expecting more of a greatest hits selection for their £40 could be heard mumbling words of discontent as they made the long walk back to the tube, but among the majority of attendee’s, ourselves included, it was all huge smiles and gleeful faces. mp Review by Miguel Mascolinas www.myspace.com/radiohead

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Planet Gear

AKAI MPC5000 With its brand-new flagship music production centre and sampling workstation, AKAI hasn’t skimped on new features. But does it cut the musical mustard? Andy mustard? Andy Wrig Wright ht samples the delights. £1,549 Dolphin ID 36476

››

AKAI’s MPC sampling beat production workstations have long been a staple of studios and producers worldwide, used in the making of such seminal albums as DJ Shadow’s Endroducing , and countless others. The newest member of the family also happens to be the biggest and most fully featured they’ve built to date, the flagship MPC5000.

EXTENSIVE ROUTING The interface will be familiar to anyone who has used an MPC in recent years, with the 16 pads for programming beats and sequences dominating the front panel of the unit. The MPC5000 is designed to be the centrepiece of your studio, able to perform many or even all of the tasks you might normally associate with music production. As a result it’s furnished with an impressive set of ins and outs round the back, comprising combined jack/XLR jack/ XLR stereo inputs; a phono input stage with RIAA RIA A preamp for sampling from turntables; S/PDIF coaxial in/out and optical ADAT out with eight channels. There are stereo master outs plus eight separate separa te mix outputs, six MIDI ports por ts and a USB socket for connecting a computer.

EXPANDED HARDWARE On the face of the MPC5000 is a contro controll section to the right, right , a hinged display panel (bigger than on previous models) plus twelve Q-Link controllers comprising four faders and eight knobs. These are assignable and can control external MIDI equipment but also get mapped automatically to important parameters on whichever edit screen you are currently working with. Making settings and entering data is therefore intuitive and fairly speedy. The unit ships with 64MB of RA RAM, M, expandable to 192MB 192MB via a user-accessible memory port and there’s a CompactFlash card slot for media up to 2GB. A great new feature is a built-in 80GB hard drive which supports up to eight tracks of direct-to-disk recording of any external source such as guitars, bass or vocals. It can also be used to mix down tracks internally and burn them to disc using the optional CD-R/DVD drive for a complete production solution. The MPC5000 functions like other MPCs in the sense that you work with samples, sequences and songs. You can sample your own material and edit it using the extensive

FEATURES ➔ 64 voice drum/phrase

sampler ➔ 16 MPC pads ➔ Built-in synth plus arpeggiator ➔ Hard disk recording Onboard d effects ➔ Onboar ➔ 12 Q-Link controllers ➔ 64MB RAM

sample looping and audio proce processing ssing tools, including Chop Shop 2 for beat slicing and automatic time stretching. Or you can import impor t existing sample data and recor recordd audio direct to the hard drive. You even get a 650MB sample set of crunchy beats from Loopmasters pre-installed. There’s a powerful mixer section where you can balance levels and also apply any of the onboard effects to audio tracks. There is an excellent selection of effects on of fer to spice up your productions and two master effects – compression and EQ – to boost and sweeten the final mix.

ONBOARD SYNTH The other major new addition, apart from those mentioned and the many workflow and capacity improvements, is a built-in analogue synthesizer. With three oscillators, 20 voices and a built-in programmable arpeggiator, it is perfectly suited to hip hop, r’n’b, grime and other similar kinds of music with its selection of fat basses and gritty leads. For those preferring a more hands-on approach to making sample-based music, the MPC5000 repr represents esents the most total solution available for sampling, recording and programming – capturing the vibe that has made the MPC series such a success over the years. MP

➔ VERDICT

ACCESSORIES Essential add-ons Dolphin Music MIDI Cable 3m £5 Dolphin ID 34988 For connecting the MPC5000 to other MIDI devices, you will need MIDI cables. This range from Dolphin is extremelycost-effective.

AKAI EXM-E3 128MB Expansion Board £95.99 Dolphin ID 38397 Bumps up the onboard memory of the MPC5000 from the standard 64MB to a very useful 192MB.

Powerful rful sampler ● Powe ● Well designed ● Great new synth ● Hard drive recording ● Multiple inputs and outputs ● Extensive audio tools Keeping the things that made the MPC series great, the MPC5000 builds on earlier successes by adding some handy new features like a hard drive, built-in synth and a set of real-time controllers. A great hands-on music production solution.

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51

competition

Win A Pair Of Yamaha MSP7s! Yamaha’s monitors always demand scrutiny. The MSP7 delivers a clear top-end that doesn’t tire over time. The bass extension of the 6.5-inch bass drivers is also very natural and delivers a wellreasoned amount of low-end woofer movement without any excessive hype. For your chance to own a pair of these fantastic studio monitors of the 7-inch bass drivers answer the following question.

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2box DrumIt Five Preview L D W O R V E C L U S I V E X

Out of th box

Owen Hopkin visits Stockholm to investigate a product under development that’’s destined to become a big player on the electronic drum scene. that

S

tockholm is the picturesque location for MusicPlanet’s world exclusive visit to the premises of burgeoning electronic drum maker 2box. Since we rst heard about it at the NAMM show in January of this year, we’ve been desperate to get a close-up of this brand-new product. We reckon it’s going to cause a big stir in the world of electronic drums when it goes on sale later this year. It’s called DrumIt Five – and it’s very orange indeed. If truth be told, were we to have a world exclusive anywhere in the world, we may just have settled on Sweden’s capital city. Its gentle hills and delicate patchwork of islands paint the most glorious of backgrounds. And DrumIt Five itself is no eyesore eyesore,, and with its relatively modest anticipated price tag of around £1,600, you could almost say it’s even more attractive than some of the Swedish – ahem – citizens. From a country already punching above its weight in the worlds of artists (Abba, The Hives, The Cardigans) and instrument makers (Ddrum, Clavia), DrumIt Five and 2box may well be the next names etched on the walls of the country’s hall of fame. Yes, it’s entering a very competitive market, but this Swedish revelation is ready to jostle for space with the behemoths of the digital drum world and, from the glimpse we had of it, might well create itself some space.

AN eNVIABle leGACy Before DrumIt Five is even ready to hit the shops, it already has credentials many kits would kill for. The brainchild of Bengt Lilja and Rik van der Brugghen, it comes with two lifetimes’lifetimes’-worth worth of experience in the digital music industry. “I was a musician interested in new technologies and triggering electronic sounds,” says Bengt. “ There were no solutions available at the time and that’s where the idea for the Ddrum came from. Rik and I worked on that together.” Ddrum was the rst go-to electronic drum brain for forward-thinking forwardthinking musicians looking for inspiration. Until it was sold to an American company a few years ago, Ddrum was a huge commercial success, with more than a few admirers. A combination of great sounds and ease of use saw its core values seized upon by manufacturers who could clearly see the potentiall in electronic drumming. potentia This in itself would be enough heritage for many a new product, but DrumIt Five also benets from the pair’s next career move, which saw them mastermind a range of Nord keyboards at Swedish synthesizer giant Clavia. In the form of the Nord Lead, the duo launched another very successful product. Here, control over digital sounds and their triggering was key.

www.dolpinmusic.com 0844 248 8117

MusicPlnt

The heaD Who’s for a beating? Th back msh hads that covr ach of th DrumIt Fiv’s drums add a grat ook and f. Tpica th rsrv of th markt’s top nd, 2box has brought th tchnoog kicking and scraming into th smipro word. lik acoustic drums, th hads ar hd in pac with tnsion scrws, which aow for an amost imitss rang of ‘fs’. Rgardss of th tnsion, th drums sta disconcrtin disconcrting g quit dspit a fw of MusicPant’s gratst mta drumming movs. This is car good nws for ong-suffring nighbours, parnts and partnrs th word ovr. Th msh hads ar aso asi changd for ra drum hads. Car mor nois – th drum’s baring dg producs a fantastic, vn ton – this givs th DrumIt Fiv as ra a ook and f as possib without straing into th acoustic word. Addd to th diffrnt-sizd drums, w’d vntur thr isn’t much Bngt and Rik coud hav don to mak acoustic pars f mor at hom. Rubbr hads ar anothr work in progrss for 2box. Diffrnt tps with diffrnt proprtis ar currnt bing rsarchd with th aim of crating a rbound which is as raistic as possib.

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➥ ➥

Advertising Promotion

LINE 6 JM4 LOOPER £257.33 Dolphin ID 37551 www.line6.co.uk

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JM4™ Looper provides guitarists with the tools they need for endless musical inspiration. Featuring professionally performed and recorded jam tracks, soundon-sound looping and a full arsenal of legendary Line 6 tones, JM4 Looper sparks inspiration in ways other looping pedals can only dream.

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JM4 Looper boasts over 100 Endless Jam™ tracks and drum grooves energetically performed by professional session musicians. Many of these pro players, including top talent from LA and Nashville, helped propel countless rock, R & B and country artists into world-famous world-famous music industry icons. Every jam is jam-packed with world-class talent, exceptional ability and experience worthy of sold-out stadium tours and multi-platinum multi-platin um albums. Taking time from their busy schedules, our pros joined forces with some of the finest recording studios in the world to bring these jams to life and ensure an amazingly lifelike jamming experience. Steve Vai’s studio, The Mothership, as well as Sound Asylum in Canoga Park, California, Sound Emporium in Nashville, Tennessee, and London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios, are just a few of the places the band captured rhythm-section chemistry and the kind of extraordinary musicianship only seasoned pros can produce.

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Jam 103 Swing Rocker is solid, slamming, and right in the pocket, pushed along by Tony Franklin’s pulsing, gritty bass and Simon Phillips’ stomping beat. Jam 100 Outlaw Country Club is a smooth, twangy, midtempo bounce inspired by the greats of Outlaw County. It features a truly amazing ensemble in Brent Mason (lead guitar), Dave Pomeroy (bass), Steve Turner (drums), John Hobbs (keyboards), Pat Bergeson (acoustic guitar), and Paul Franklin (steel guitar). Jam 150 Walking Jazz is light and airy but dynamic with Tony Franklin’s walking-bass walking -bass backbone. Hear drummer d rummer Gregg Bissonette switch from sticks to brushes! The secret weapon behind each jam in JM4 Looper is the Endless Jam Engine. The Endless Jam Engine breaks each jam into sections and arranges everything between the intro and outro into an Endless Jam, keeping the jam tracks sounding fresh instead of boring and overly repetitive.

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Recording your jams with JM4 Looper is super-simple. The dedicated footswitches for Record/Overdub, Play/Stop, Half Speed and Undo make for easy practicing, songwriting and creation of an entire backing band on the fly. Layer guitar tracks, bass tracks, keyboards, and even vocals using the balanced XLR microphone input. Both the balanced XRL input, which features a Mic Trim knob, and the 1/4” Aux input, share a dedicated 3-band EQ and effects including Compressor, Delay and Reverb. Add color and pro tone to any vocal or instrument track you record. With internal storage of up to 100 recorded jams, totaling 24 minutes of recording time, JM4 Looper lets you capture all your riffs and musical ideas. With a 2-GB SD card you can store up to 6.5 hours of recorded jams and even export them to your DAW for further tracking, mixing or editing.

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Line 6 pedals and stompboxes are heralded around the world for their jaw-dropping versatility, legendary tones and sonic capabilities. Affording you a huge head start on the road to rock stardom, JM4 Looper delivers these classic Line 6 benefits while helping to sharpen your skills at the same time. After jamming with JM4 Looper, Looper, your playing will never be the same. PM

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Chemistry ● Sound-on-sound looping ● Legendary Line 6 tones ● Lifelike jamming experience JM4 Looper lets you capture all your riffs and musical ideas, sparking inspiration in ways other looping pedals can only dream.

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MusicPlanet

Autumn2008

55

2box DrumIt Five Preview

Having neatly placed another feather in his cap, Bengt decided to take a break from the business. “I was painting my basement at the time and I had a ash of inspiration. At that point, I decided it was about time Rik and I got back into electronic drums.”

IF KOOKS COUlD KIll

As Bengt ushers us into 2Box’s modest workshop and ofce space, we’re struck by the dictionary denition of a hive of activity. Cymbal and drum stands litter the oor, two large computers ash 3D hardware designs, leads hang from hooks in spaghetti-like clumps and various bits of rubber top prototype drums on a small table. Standing proudly amid the chaos is DrumIt Five itself and, well, it looks amazing. The rst thing you notice is its unashamed ‘orange-ness’. It’s utterly glorious and positively radiates from the drums. Matched with a black bottom and the hardware’s frosted grey, it looks incredible. Ostentatious? Absolutely. Vibrant? Of course. It’s everything a modern digital drum kit should look like and will certainly catch the eye in the scrum that is retail oorspace. oorspace. The ve drums that we see hanging from the rack are in different sizes: there’s a 12-inch snare, 8-inch and 10-inch rack toms, a 12-inch oor tom and a 14-inch, satisfyingly round, bass drum. Bengt tells us that the rst model is unlikely to be available in exactly this format, but the size differen dif ferentials tials instantly make it resemble an acoustic kit and would make even the most die-hard drumming technophobe feel at home. Sure, the sizes are a little truncated when compared to a traditional rock kit, but future custom options will see these gripes disappear. On each of the drums (including the bass drum), are black mesh heads, but more on these beauties later…

CyMBAl IDeAS

Flanking the main body of the kit are four rubber cymbals, one of which is set up as a hi-hat. Round, thick and re-assuringly thwack-able, the material used provides a surprisingly lifelike rebound, whether the cymbal is being crashed or ridden. With three playing surfaces (bell, edge and body), as well as the

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ability to choke, the thick black pads seem electronic in appearance only. The hi-hat is just as impressive. The pedal allows vertical motion and there’s enough give in the clutch to resemble the action of open hi-hats. All of this eye-catching goodness is hung from grey aluminium hardware. Two thick poles arc around the kit horizontally, with the top pole supporting the rack toms and cymbals, the bottom supporting the bass drum with an added supporting vertical screw on the drum’s base to ensure maximum stability. The snare drum, hi-hat and oor tom are supported by two auxiliary arms and legs that swing from the rack’s main structure. It allows maximum manoeuvrability, enabling the drums and cymbals to get into the most awkward of positions. On top of this, the snare drum’s cradle allows a 360-degree tilt, and the custom-built mounts enable the drums to be adjusted to suit the most awkwardd of playing styles. awkwar Being that we’re in Scandinavia, perhaps it’s inevitable that DrumIt Five is also one of the greenest bits of music technology you’re ever likely to encounter. There’s barely a sniff of chrome anywhere on the kit (chrome’s bad for the environment, kids), and aluminium makes up the lion’s share of the drums and the hardware’s construction. This is good for two reasons: rstly, it makes DrumIt Five incredibly light but also portable and durable; secondly, virtually the entire kit can be recycled. We’re guessing the chances of you wanting to recycle the kit, however, will be pretty slim.

UNFINISheD BUSINeSS

Despite our positive rst impressions, Bengt keeps reminding us that DrumIt Five is still a work in progress. “It’s not going to be perfect. We’re trying to re-create human nature – it’s never going to be perfect!” In the short term there are still tweaks to be made before its retail release which is due in October. Most pressing is a studio session to record some of the brain’s samples. “It doesn’t matter how impressive the technology technology is, if the samples sound bad, the kit will sound bad. It’ It ’s as simple as that,” that ,” says Bengt. Despite considerable interest in the instrument fueled by Bengt and Rik’s history, and an impressive showing at Frankfurt’s Musikmesse trade show, the 2box founders still believe there’s work to be done on the kit in the long term. The real litmus test, says Bengt, will be when the kit is put in front of real players. players. “It has to get out there and be played. We’ll get feedback from drummers and take it on board. A project like this is never really nished – it’s constantly a work in progress.” We can say it’s a more impressive ‘work in progress’ than we’ve seen for a while. We’d also bet the modest number that hits the shops this autumn will provoke a similar response. We hope to get our hands on one of the very rst units in time for a full review in Issue 2 of MusicPlanet – so keep an eye out. mp

www.dolpmusc.com 0844 248 8117

The brain

We have the technology

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Buyer’’s guide Buyer guide

CHOOSING AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR The choices you face when buying your first acoustic guitar can seem endless and daunting. Should you opt for steel or nylon strings? Cut-aw Cut-away ay or full-body designs? Onboard electrics? Steve Harvey talks us through the options.

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uying your first acoustic guitar should be simple enough, shouldn’t it? Just pick the one you like the sound and look of and it’s done. But in reality, things just aren’t as simple as that. The number of brands and options on offer can actually make the choosing the most difficult part of the whole process. The vast range of guitars to be found in the average Above: Tanglewood TW47 B, music shop isn’t a bad thing, though. The fact is that Dolphin ID 37269, £449 modern construction techniques – particularly the use of CNC machinery – have raised the standards of even Right: Tanglewood TW28 CSN, Dolphin ID 37275, £179.95 £179.95 low-budget and entry-level instruments to new heights. If truth be told, a £250 guitar in 2008 is probably just as good as one that cost £400 in 1990.

HIGHLY STRUNG

The first choice you need to make is whether you want a nylon- or steel-string guitar. Typically, a set of nylon strings comprises three nylon strings and three wound with steel (the upper and lower three strings respectively). Acoustics referred to as steel-string guitars use strings made of metal, usually either nickel or steel, although sometimes both. As you’d expect, nylon strings sound very different from steel strings. Classical and Spanish guitars are strung with nylon strings – listen to Eric Clapton’s Tears In Heaven for an example of the nylon-string sound. Nylon strings are often a good choice for beginners – particularly young children – because fretting (the act of pressing a string against the fingerboard) requires less pressure than it does with steel strings. By contrast, steel strings can feel like cheese wire to unaccustomed fingers, but they sound very much more contemporary. When you hear the likes of Coldplay, Bon Jovi or McFly play an acoustic, it’s a steel-string that they’re playing.

THE NUMBER OF BRANDS AND OPTIONS CAN MAKE CHOOSING THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF THE PROCESS

Some to consider...

Yamaha FG720S £149 Dolphin ID 10098 Guitars from Yamaha’s FG series are fantastic entry-level instruments. They’re well-built, reliable and excellent value for money. This gloss-finished 720S is the pick of the bunch.

Vintage V300 £75 Dolphin ID 14261 This small-body Vintage was recently voted Best Acoustic Guitar Under £100 – and it’s easy to see why. It has a comfortable, fast-play fast-playing ing neck, good dynamics and plenty of volume.

Famous steel-string songs include Extreme’s More Than McCar tney’s mega-hit Mull Of Kintyre and David Words , McCartney’ Gray’s Babylon .

WHICH WOOD?

One subject that often confuses newcomers to the world of acoustic guitars is that of tonewoods – the different woods used in the construction of the guitar itself. Does it make a difference? dif ference? Yes. Yes. Do different dif ferent woods actually sound different? dif ferent? Absolutely. Absolutely. It’ It ’s true that the tonal variations unique to tonewoods become more evident the more expensive a guitar is, but even for entry-level models, the materials used will have a real impact on tone. Which wood you choose is up to you and your ear, but, as a rule, opt for a guitar built from solid wood rather than laminates. What’s the difference? As the description indicates, solid-wood guitars are made from whole pieces of wood, but generally cost a little more. Laminates are essentially ‘wood sandwiches’ glued together. Solid woods generally function better than cemented laminates because they vibrate more freely than and give a louder, clearer tone.

BODY TALK

Just as the woods used in the construction of an acoustic have an impact on its tone, so too does the size of the instrument’s body. Which is best for you really ➥


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SPEND TIME PLA PL AYING DIFFERENT MODELS TO DETERMINE THE SHAPES AND PROPORTIONS THAT FIT YOU

some of the guitar’s sound chamber you are, in fact, sacrificing a percentage of its performance capabilities, albeit a small one. Bob Taylor, owner of world-famous Taylor Guitars, refers to the cut-away area as ‘prime real estate’ and advises customers to choose a cut-away guitar over a non-cut-away only if they really need to. Again, whether to choose a cut-away or not depends on what you’re going to be using the guitar for. If you’d like to learn and play searing solos, then a cut-away would be a wise choice. If, however, your aspirations are more chord- and song-based, then it might be better to stick to a non-cut-away model.

If you choose a cut-away, be aware that there are different types of cut-aways. Some cut-aways are very ‘soft’ and some quite severe. A Florentine cut-away, for example, is much more scooped than a Venetian cutaway, which is more rounded. Try a few to find out which is more comfortable for you. depends on what type of music you want to play. By far the most popular body shape is the Dreadnought. Originally designed by the Martin Guitar Company in the early 1900s, the Dreadnought is a good all-rounder, but, because of its beefy bass and overall sound projection, it excels when strummed and is the perfect choice for accompanying a vocalist. So, if you plan to learn a few chords and serenade the family, a friend or a loved one, a Dreadnought may well be best for you. Smaller-bodied guitars such as an OM (Orchestral Model) or folk-bodied instruments are often more suited to fingerstyle playing – that is, when individual strings are played with the fingers rather than strummed with a pick. Smaller-bodied instruments can also be much more comfortable to play than the significantly larger Dreadnought or Jumbo guitars. Be aware, too, that as well as having different body shapes, acoustics can have different scale lengths – in simple terms, the length of the neck. String spacings (the distance between each string) can also differ between models. Even a difference of a millimetre or two will feel very noticeable under your fingers, so it’s well worth spending time playing a number of different models to determine the shapes and proportions that fit you and your fingers.

CUT IT OUT

A cut-away guitar has a section of the body literally ‘cut away’ at the point where the neck meets the body. Usually,, a cut-away is on the treble side of the upper bout Usually (the side of the guitar closest to the floor when it’s being played). Some electric guitars, such as the iconic Fender Stratocaster, have what is referred to as a double-cut-away. This is where a cut-away has been made on both sides of the neck, but this is rarely seen on acoustic guitars. The purpose of a cut-away is to provide easier access to the 14th fret and above. It comes at a cost, though, both in financial and tonal terms. By chopping away

Above: a cut-away design offers unrestricted access to the 14th fret and above. Right: onboard electronics enable you to hook up your acoustic to an amp.

TURN IT UP

Some acoustic guitars are fitted with an onboard preamp. This battery-powered unit provides a means by which to process the sound and vibration of the guitar through an amplifier. The science of amplifying an acoustic guitar is not an uncomplicated one and, in truth, thousands of pounds can be spent seeking the Holy Grail of acoustic amplified tone. Some entry-level acoustics have an under-saddle pickup fitted, which is more than adequate for its intended purpose. Of course, if you purchase an electro- ➥ ➥

Some to consider... Fender Sonoran SCE

£179.99 Dolphin ID 33522 This trendy cut-away Dreadnought has an onboard preamp and is available in candy apple red, Lake Placid blue, shoreline gold, surf green or natural.

Ibanez AW28RLG

£155 Dolphin ID 15804 This new model from the Ibanez stable features mahogany back and sides, a striking flamed sycamore pickguard and a natural, lowgloss finish.


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acoustic (an acoustic guitar equipped with a means of amplifying it), you’ll also need to purchase an amplifier. If you’ree a beginner you’r beg inner and this is your preferred choice, we’d suggest looking into ‘package deals’. These generally include an electro-acoustic guitar, a small amplifier, a strap, a tuner and, in some cases, an instructional DVD. Again, whether you choose to purchase an electroacoustic or not depends on your intended use for the instrument. If you want to play to a large room or venture into the world of home recording via your computer, you’ll need a pickup. Either scenario leads to greater expense whether it be for PA equipment, software or similar. Buying a guitar with a preamp might save you a little bit of money as some models come with a built-in tuner. It should be noted, though, that having a preamp fitted to your acoustic increases its price somewhat, and some would argue that it’s more advantageous to assign your entire budget to the guitar itself in order to purchase the best instrument possible. Remember that pickups and preamps can be fitted at a later date if required – many pickup companies produce magnetic soundhole pickups that are designed to be fitted retrospectively.

WILL THAT BE ALL?

Having made your choices concerning strings, body size and shape and whether to choose a guitar with or without a preamp, what else should you consider? First, check if

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THERE’S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HAVING HAVING TWO OR THREE SHORTLISTED INSTRUMENTS WITHIN ARM’S REACH

If you plan on playing standing up, ensure that you choose a guitar with strap buttons.

Some to consider... Tanglewood TW28S SN £159.95 Dolphin ID 37276 This high-quality, satinfinish Dreadnought has a solid Engleman spruce top, ash back and sides, maple binding and a rosewood fingerboard.

Dean Tradition Exotic £165 Dolphin ID 19621 With its fancy soundhole decoration, shapely headstock and stylish bridge, this Dean Dreadnought not only plays beautifully, but will also get you noticed.


the guitar has a strap button at the base of the neck where it meets the guitar’s body. If you’re going to be playing standing up, you’ll need a strap. You can fit a strap to the area behind the nut (John Lennon-style), but you might find that this arrangement isn’t great at keeping the guitar in place. If the guitar you’re leaning towards doesn’t have a strap button, ask if one can be fitted for you. They’r They ’ree relatively inexpensive and easy to fit. Secondly, ask whether your proposed purchase comes with any extras thrown in. Even entry-level instruments can sometimes come with a case of some sort. It’s also worth asking if the guitar comes with a tuner. Training your ear to be sensitive enough to tune a guitar can be a slow and frustrating process. If you’re a beginner and your preferred guitar doesn’t come with a tuner, we’d strongly recommend getting one. The battle to tune a guitar could be enough to put you off playing altogether! That battle is easily and inexpensively won with a tuner.

PLAY IT BY EAR

Finally, we’d advise trying as many dif ferent guitars as Finally, possible – ideally back-to-back. There’s no substitute for having two or three shortlisted instruments within arm’s reach and playing the same chords/song/notes on all three one af ter another. Trust Trust your ears and your fingers. Your ears will tell you very quickly which one you prefer and your fingers will tell you which one is more comfortable to play. Some say that you can tell within 15–20 seconds of playing a guitar if it’s right for you. Whatever the case, buying your first acoustic is always a special occasion and, at the risk of sounding soppy soppy,, the ‘chosen one’ will hold a special place in your heart. MP

››› BUY NOW


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Thomas, BEHRINGER Germany Technical Director added the secret circuitry seasoning that has made the 2442FX a worldwide best seller.

Dian helps assemble the XENYX 2442FX at BEHRINGER City, our highly advanced manufacturing complex. Can she make one for you?

Axel, BEHRINGER Germany Systems Engineer, designed the ve-star XENYX mic preamp from wholesome ingredients.

Every XENYX 2442FX is tested over forty times during the production process by technicians like Zhi Yong to guarantee that it’s really well done and free of defects.

Thomas, BEHRINGER Germany Software Engineer, brewed up the USB interface and ASIO drivers for the 2442FX. Bon appetite!

IRON CHEF

COOKS ‘EM UP

RECIPE WRITER

CIRCUIT TASTER

BIT SLICER

These are some of the 3500 technicians, assemblers,

Hot mixer. tasty digital audio workstation program from… Norway? N O W W I T H

, d y e r a e t w r 0 s i o 0 g N 0 e r n 0 0 . , i c d 0 e 0 n t I , r a 0 e l o 0 0 p p r 5 p o A c 8 f n o i 9 . s k S e r a A i m e r n a e a p d w m a t r o t f o c a S d s T e i X t c f a a o l e r M s d . k e r c a n a i t m d o e t n d L t ) u a r e t o t P h e ( t r i a s w o g n e g i g l o l d n o a T H h c X y R g E o r t G t e n N c I e e R j e H b h u t E s B e d y n b c a n a 2 s e r a T e X n e p y c i g l p r a e r e n d d e n , n a o u s g d n l e o o s i t e r u a a c g i f n w i i t c f e e o b p S e s l T r a X a c d i e n n h t h , a , c e e r y a T . a w H t w r b f o o N m S f G T o l a X s n s . a w o e i t r l e a i t n n h t r e u r t e o d n c I r n R e u E h d G t e o t N d I c R n e t H a o E . r B S . p 8 U e r 0 e a 0 h 2 t d n n © i a

Free energyXT2 DAW software is also available on these tasty XENYX mixer models with USB interfaces.

XENYX 1622FX

XENYX 2222FX

XENYX 1222FX

XENYX 1832FX

S O F T W A R E

designers and engineers who are BEHRINGER.

A smorgasboord of features including Audio & MIDI sequencers, built-in synth/sampler & drum sampler, time/pitch engine, internal mixer w/EQ, multi-FX, ASIO & VST support & more.

When we decided to blend even more value into our XENYX USB mic/line mixers, we looked to XT Software, a gang of brilliant programmers in The Frigid North. They cooked up energyXT2 Compact BEHRINGER Edition, a deliciously radical new approach to recording, sequencing and production. energyXT2 Compact loads in under 5 seconds, ts on a USB drive with room for multiple projects and moves ‘twixt Macs, PCs and Linux boxes without annoying registration codes or dongles. It’s a perfect side dish for the 2442FX. With 12 XENYX mic preamps, 2-in/2-out USB interface, four buses and 100 twenty-four-bit eects like reverbs, delays, phasing and anging, you can’t nd a more versatile creative tool. Learn more about the 2442FX and other XENYX USB mixers online or at your dealer. Then start serving up the music in your head through energyXT2 Compact BEHRINGER Edition.

www.behringer.com

Planet Gear

TOONTRACK SUPERIOR DRUMMER 2.0 From the company that brought us dfh and EZdrummer comes a new release. Miguel Mascolina Mascolinass gives it a Superior beating. £189 Dolphin ID 37573

FEATURES

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➔ 20GB

For most musicians, getting a great drum track for their recordings is one of the trickiest production tasks they face. Even if you have (or are) a great drummer you’re going to need a big mic collection and a superb-sounding room just to get your drums in the right ballpark to compete with professionally produced recordings. To make things easier Toontrack has been sampling drums in one of the most incredible studios in the world. They also provide you with the tools to manipulate these samples into your recordings, so that they not only sound great, but also natural as if played by a real drummer, live in the studio. Superior Drummer 2.0 builds on the unprecedented level of control provided by its predecessors, providing you with a huge selection of drum pieces to play, and the ability to control exactly how the kit sounds in your recordings, as well as providing a means to compose and arrange your drum tracks, either using pre-supplied MIDI drum loops played by Nir Z, or by playing in your own drum parts with a MIDI controller or e-Drums kit.

TOTAL TOT AL CONTROL Subtitled The New York Studio Legacy Series, the tracking for the Superior Drummer 2.0 samples was done at Avatar Studios in New York by producer Pat Thrall (Black

sample library ➔ Five built-in effects ➔ Three kick drums ➔ Eight snare drums ➔ Three hi-hats ➔ Five toms ➔ Five cymbal set ups ➔ Four Rides ➔ Cowbell

ACCESSORIES Essential add-ons Toontrack EZdrummer to Superior 2.0 Crossgrade £129 Dolphin ID 37575 If you’re a registered EZdrummer user, you can crossgrade to Superior 2.0 for £60 less.

Crowes, Beyoncé), Beyoncé), and engineer Neil Dorfsman Dor fsman (Kiss, Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits and Sting) with session drummer Nir Z (Genesis, Joss Stone and Chris Cornell). The collaboration of these three individuals with Toontrack has brought some of the finest sampled instruments we’ve ever heard. However, the final say on how the instruments sound is entirely down to you, and controlled from within the Superior Drummer software. soft ware. The mixer engine has a staggering amount of mic’ing mic ’ing options for each instrument. There are four direct mics on the snare drum, including both top and bottom, a side mic and a separate channel for the top mic through a Neve 1176 compressor. You can also control how much bleed from other instruments comes through into each microphone, as well as routing the channels in the mixer through their own busses and adding effects either directly to the channel or to busses. One of our favourite discoveries from the mic’ing options was the Bullet Mic, a Shure 520D placed about a metre from the kit running through a Mesa Boogie amp, which gives a crunchy, filtered sound without any of the phasing issues commonly asscoiated with postprocessing through distortion.

MIXING DOWN Within the mixer you have five effects from Sonalksis alongside the traditional five-band EQ. These include Highpass and Low-pass Filter, Gate, Compressor and Transient Designer, which enables you to emphasise or hide the attack phase of each instrument. The effects ef fects have a great sound all of their own, and are far more advanced than many of the built-in effects we’ve seen in other plug-in instruments. While the EQ and Compressor don’t have quite the flavour of an SSL or Neve desk, we’d be happy to mix the drum sound on one of our recordings entirely within the Superior Drummer environment.

TWEAKER’S PARADISE With so many different options to choose from, Superior Drummer 2.0 can be a little overwhelming for anyone new to drum mixing. If, however, you have the time to invest in learning your way around it, or you already know your way around a professional studio, SD2.0 offers the flexibility to producee everything from incredibly clean, tight drums, to produc big, pounding roomy sounds or dirty dirt y, biting hits. And if all this does seem a bit too much for you, Toontrack’s EZdrummer has a similar amount of quality in a less-advanced and easier-to-use package. EZ also offers a great way into SD2.0 at a later date. MP

➔ VERDICT ● Incredible-sounding drums ● Massive creative potential ● Flexible mixer ● Great-sounding effects If you like to stay on top of your drum sound, this is the software for you. Superior Drummer 2.0 gives you control of every facet of your drum track, from the rhythm itself to the kit used and the tone of each piece.

››› BUY NOW


0844 248 8117 Or logon at



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SIX OF THE BEST Kitting out your studio with one or two good microphones can bring a new dimension to your recordings. And doing so needn’t cost the earth

Røde M3

£73 Dolphin ID 29187

The small-diaphragm Røde M3 is a versatile studio microphone designed to be used for everything from vocals to acoustic instruments, as drum overheads, or even in front of a guitar cabinet . This flexibility is further enhanced by a built-in switchable 80Hz low-cut filter and a three-position pad, which can provide up to 20dB of attenuation. The M3 is also useful for field recor recordings, dings, as it can be powered from a standard 9V battery as well as by phantom power. The M3 comes with a heavy-dut y flight case, foam windshield for use outdoors and a sturdy mic clip. Røde also provides a ten-year warranty, which should ensure your mic has a place in your studio for years to come.

Behringer B-1 £73 Dolphin ID 1788 Behringer’s versatile B-1 microphone has a 1-inch large-diaphragm capsule plus a switchable low-cut filter filter,, 10dB pad and a maximum SPL handling of 148dB, making it useful for a huge variety of sources, from drums and guitar cabinets to vocals and acoustic instruments. The B-1 has been tuned with a presence boost in the upper range, which will help bring clarity to vocal recor recordings, dings, and on other instruments will help ‘brighten’ the sound of the instrument, adding shine to otherwise dull recor recordings. dings. The B-1 comes with a carry case, shockmount and windscreen.

Audio-Technica AT2020 £58.99 Dolphin ID 5090

The Audio-Technica AT2020 microphone has a side-address cardioid large-diaphragm capsule that is ideal for recor recording ding vocals and acoustic instruments, capturing the full frequency ranges of these sources. What’s more, the AT2020 AT2020 can handle SPLs up to 144dB, enabling you to use it with loud sources without distortion creeping into your signal chain. The AT2020 AT2020 comes with a pivoting, threaded standmount that enables you to precisely position the microphone for the optimal recor recording ding position, while the cardioid capsule ensures that you capture only what is in front of the microphone while other sources are rejected.

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Studio Microphones

Samson C01 £29 Dolphin ID 4398 When it comes to recording vocals, the smooth low end and extended frequency range of a large-diaphragm condenser is an essential studio tool. Samson’s C01 brings these characteristic feature featuress of large-diaphr large-diaphragm agm microphoness to within any budget, ensuring that microphone your vocal tracks stand out from the crowd. The C01 is also useful for mic’ing acoustic instruments and as another option for drums, either as an overhead or as a room mic. The microphone comes with a gold-plated XLR connector and an LED that indicates when 48V phantom power is enabled.

SE Electronics SE2200a £139 Dolphin ID 4713 SE’s award-winning SE2200 microphone

AKG C 1000 S £94.99 Dolphin ID 1503

quickly established itself as itself as a project studio favourite, with low noise and excellent sonic characteristics setting it apart f rom the competition. The improved SE2200a model shares the same 1-inch gold-plated diaphragm as the original, but has improved electronics that offer an even better signal-to-noise ratio. ratio. It also includes a low-cut filter and 10dB pad, making the mic useful not only for acoustic instruments and vocals, but also as an option for close mic’ing loud sources, such as guitar cabinets and brass instruments.

AKG’s C 1000 S is a workhorse microphone that microphone that you’ll find in studios and PA setups across the globe. The microphone comes with the PPC 1000 Polar Pattern Converter and PB 1000 Presence Boost adaptors. The PPC 1000 enables you to switch the C 1000 S from cardioid to hypercardioid, which is useful in live applications for helping to reject feedback from monitors or spill from other instruments. The PB 1000 adds 3-5dB of high end between 5kHz and 9kHz, which can improve the clarity of speech and add definition to some instruments.

››› BUY NOW


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“For Powered Speakers, I’d Use a DriveRack PX.” —Russell Fischer FRONT OF HOUSE ENGINEER, SOUND IMAGE TOURS INCLUDE: Eric Clapton, Marilyn Manson, Toby Keith, Poison, Janes Addiction, and many more...

Making a sports arena sound like a concert hall is just another day in the lie o world-class FOH engineer Russell Fischer. His ability to sonically tame the most unruly o venues is the stu o legend. Russell knows that to get Fischer. the most out o your speakers, you need to optimize them to the room. The DriveRack PX Powered Speaker Optimizer connects between your mixer and stereo powered speakers and makes you soun sound d like a pro. It even supports subwooers. At the touch o a button i t corrects or audible defciencies in any room, kills annoying eedback, enhances bass response, and protects your speakers rom overload.

Louder, clearer, better sound rom your powered speakers.

www.dbxpro.com

Planet Gear

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS GUITAR RIG SESSION Native Instruments’ amp and effects emulation is now available at an entry-level price, complete complete with interface. Miguel Mascolina Mascolinass takes it on a session. £159 Dolphin ID 37189

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Guitar Rig Session combines the entry-level version of Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig 3 software – Guitar Rig 3 XE – with a twochannel USB audio interface. This provides you with all the tools you need to connect mics, guitars and even line-level equipment to your computer, to be processed by the selection of effects and amp/cabinet emulations in Guitar Rig 3 XE.

PLUG-IN BABY Compared to the Rig Kontrol 3 controller, which comes with the full version of Guitar Rig 3 the Session IO controller is fairly basic, featuring none of the stompboard-style controller aspects of Rig Kontrol. However, Session IO does provide you with two 1/4-inch TRS inputs, which can be switched between line-level and Hi-Z, enabling you to connect two simultaneous Hi-Z sources, such as a guitar and bass, or a stereo line-level source, such as a synth or drum machine. In addition, the Session IO has an XLR mic input , which can be used instead of the 1/4-inch input for channel 1. The mic input has switchable Phantom Power, enabling you to use any of the mics in your collection, whether dynamics, ribbons or condensers. While Native Instruments is best known as a soft ware company, Session IO is not a last-minute addition, but is a worthy interface for your project studio, easily matching similar dedicated two-channel interfaces from competitor hardware companies.

GUITAR HERO Guitar Rig 3 XE uses the same audio engine as it s bigger brother, but with a reduced number of amps and effects to choose from. However, while it may not have quite as many amps and effects Guitar Rig 3 XE is hardly short of potential, and will no doubt provide you with considerably more sonic options than you could hope to have access to using hardware alone. The amp options available include several of our favourites from the full version of Guitar Rig 3, including the obvious Marshall JCM800, Fender Twin Reverb and Vox AC30. As any good guitarist will tell you, you can get a lot of different tones from a good amp, so having five different ones, each with its own strong character should provide you with a healthy dose of tonal options, especially when you consider that you can pick and choose from up to 12 different speaker cabinets to go with each amp. And it doesn’t stop there; you also have access to 21 effects to help sculpt your tone. Unlike the amps, some of our favourite effects are actually missing, including the Tape Echo and Rotator, but there are some pretty good alternatives, including the Quad Delay and Phaser Nine.

FEATURES ➔ 5 amp models ➔ 12

cabinet models ➔ 21 effect models ➔ Tape Deck for recording and playing back audio ➔ Built-in tuner and metronome ➔ Bundled two-channel interface with mic, line and Hi-Z inputs

ACCESSORIES Essential add-ons AKG K77 headphones £25 Dolphin ID 36835 Great for sitting around in the studio perfecting your tones and blistering solos without the neighbours calling the police.

Dolphin 6m cable 1/4-inch jackangled jack £8 Dolphin ID 34983 Plug your favourite guitar directly into the Session IO interface with one of these great-v great-value alue Dolphin Music cables.

All the basic effects types are covered, including a selection of distortion and overdriv overdrives, es, and a high-quality studio reverb. There are also two interesting effects which behave as modifiers on other effects – an LFO and an input level and envelope follower, which can be used to create some entirely unique sounds.

ANYONE CAN PLAY GUITAR We’ve been using the full version of Guitar Rig 3 since it first appeared on the scene. The feature we missed most in this cut-down offering was the real-time control offered by the original’s Rig Kontrol hardware. While you can program in effects automation in the studio, it isn’t quite so easy on stage. Without Rig Kontrol we had to switch effects rigs between tracks using the mouse. That might make gigging with Session a bit of a chore. Having said that, although it’s often useful to have a wide selection of sonic tools to choose from in the studio, Session’s range is still so wide we barely noticed the reduced number of options in the XE version. MP

➔ VERDICT ● Realistic-sounding amp models ● Full range of effect types ● High-quality audio interface Guitar Rig Session might not have all the clout of the full version, but it still provides a huge range of creative opportunities at a price within reach.

››› BUY NOW


0844 248 8117 Or logon at




MusicPlanet

Autumn2008

67

M-Audio: Total Pro Tools M-Powered Compatibility

M-Audio®, the top provider o technology,

creative

brings

you

audio over

interace

two

dozen

hardware peripherals that let you work with the industrystandard Pro Tools M-Powered™ sotware. Customize your setup with diverse options ranging rom a pocket-sized mobile interace to a ull-eatured control surace— including the brand-new ProFire™ 2626 and Fast Track ® Ultra interaces with on-board DSP and awardwinning Octane preamp technology. This combination o best-in-class hardware and sotware delivers unprecedented unctionality—and a new level o fexibility thanks to the real-time tempo manipulation eatures in Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4.

ProFi re 2626

Fast Track Ultra

Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4

•26x26simultaneousI/OviaFireWi •26x26simultaneous I/OviaFireWire re (upto24-bit/1 (upto 24-bit/192kHz) 92kHz) •8XLRmicpreampswith award-winningO award-wi nningOctanetec ctanetechnology hnology •exibleon-boardDSPmixer

•8x8simultaneousI/Ovia USB2.0(upto24-bit/96kH USB2.0(upto2 4-bit/96kHz) z) •on-boardMXCoreDSPmixing andeff and effects ects •4preampswithaward-winning Octanet Octa netechn echnolo ology gy

•sessioncompatibilitywithall currentProT current ProToolssys oolssystems tems •industry-standardaudio/MIDI productionenvi product ionenvironment ronment •ElasticTimereal-timetempo manipul mani pulatio ation n

© 2008 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid, M-Audio, the “>” logo, Pro Tools, Pro Tools M-Powered, Fast Track, ProFire, Octane and MX Core are either trademarks or registered trademarks o Avid Technology, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property o their respective owners. Product eatures, specications, system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice. Use o any enclosed sotware may be subject to related license agreements.

www.maudio.co.uk

In Brief

E-Mu Tracker Pre USB £109.99 Dolphin ID 34901

Auralex MoP MoPads ads £34 Dolphin ID 2331 Hi-fi magazines are always rammed with tricky gadets to extract those precious few extra decibels of sonic performance from a pair of speakers. While some of the techniques are dubious, to say the least, the concept of decoupling (where a monitor is acoustically isolated from the surface that it stands on) can have a positive impact on the sound and performance you can achieve. Auralex’s MoPads are one such decouplingg solution, using a series decouplin of polyurethane polyurethane foam pads to lif t the monitor – and acoustically isolate it – from the surface it sits on. Intriguingly, the MoPad system also comes with a series of wedges, allowing you to tilt your speakers by four or eight degrees backwards or forwards. Despite some initial reservations, we were surprised by the improvement i mprovement in our monitors’ performanc per formancee with the

MoPads, with a definable lift in the tightness (especially in the bass-end) and improvement to the imaging. The MoPads can be positioned to work on speaker stands, or in situations where monitors are placed directly on a work surface. In our opinion, the MoPads seem to produce the best improvement to monitors placed directly on a desktop (often the case in a home studio) – where poor decoupling can produce serious deficiencies in performance, and, of course, the angling of the monitors is rarely set correctly.

This enables you to use the preamps on their own, for example to power a small vocal rig, or as additional mic preamps on a small-format mixer. The preamps themselves are roughly equivalent to those in most modern small-formatt mixers, however the small-forma addition of insert points could provide you with extra flexibility for kick and snare, or as a special vocal channel. Also included is a software bundle to help you get started. The apps include SONAR LE, Cubase LE4, Ableton Live Lite 6 and instruments from Waldorf and E-Mu themselves.

keep the mic resistant to moisture, as well as being presented in a weather-resistant aluminium storage cylinder. Sonically speaking, the NTG-33 is certainly no slouch, with an NTGimpressively low amount of self-noise, and a tight polarity that focuses the mic’s pickup on whatever it’s directed at. The frequency response response is also pleasingly flat, with just a small presence peak around 10kHz to give its output a sense of air. The only potential downside of the NTG-3 is the lack of a

battery-driven power supply (instead, you’ll need to make sure your mixer or camera has a 48V phantom power supply), although its durability and sonic excellence more than make up for this.

➔ VERDICT The Tracker Pre stands up as a solid entry-level audio interface, and the thoughtful addition of the standalone capability could prove incredibly useful.

➔ VERDICT Auralex’s MoPads are a cheap and effective way of improving your monitors’ performance, especially in situations where they’re placed directly onto a desktop.

Røde NTG-3 £369.99 Dolphin ID 37590 As any location recordist will testify, the demands of recording outside the studio are radically different from those of working in the comforts of an air-conditioned recording facility. Røde’s NTG-3 is a microphone specifically aimed at the demands of the location market, including film and TV sound recordists, or indeed, anybody who likes to get ‘out and about’ recording a variety of sounds. Like their studio microphones, the NTG series (which also includes the NTG-1 and NTG-2 microphones) has a keen eye on price,

E-Mu’s Tracker Pre is a two-channel audio interface in a small portable unit with a surprising amount of high-quality features packed in. The two combo XLR/TRS inputs enable connection of mic, line and Hi-Z inputs enabling you to record from just about any source. The addition of TRS insert points on each channel enables you to connect the Tracker Pre to additional outboard equipment such as EQs and dynamics processors. 48V phantom power is available, even when the Tracker Pre is powered over USB thanks to the unique CurrentMorph preamps, which enable you to use condenser microphones. However, this is a universal switch rather than being independent to each channel. Of particular interest is that the Tracker Pre can act as a standalone preamp without connection to a computer.

yet without unduly compromising its sonic performanc per formance. e. At £370, the NTG-3 is positioned at the top of Røde’s shotgun microphone range, but it’s plain to see there are a number of features that mark out the microphone from its competition. Biggest of these has to be its durability or roadworthiness, using a technology known as RF bias to

➔ VERDICT A great shotgun mic with a particular eye on durability – even in extremely wet conditions! A tight polar response, and low-self noise also make the NTG-3 a good all-round performer.

››› BUY NOW


0844 248 8117 Or logon at

www.dolphinmusic.com And enter the Dolphin I D in the Search box at the top-left of the screen.


MusicPlanet

Autumn2008

69

black rocks

  experience a new breed of guitars at www.lodestoneguitars.com

Top Five Best Sellers The last thing you want to do is turn up to band rehearsal and have everyone laugh at your latest acquisition. What better way to make sure you’re not buying a duffer than to know what Dolphin Music sells the most of. These are like the charts for gear…

1 s e n o NT1-A h Rode £109 o p Dolphin ID 2998 i o This multi-award winning r d c microphone is one of the world’s u i biggest-selling studio mics. Very t S Msensitive and virtually noise-free.

0844 248 8117 Or logon at



4

5

Behringer C-1

SE Electronics SE1000 SE1000a a

Audio Technica AT 2020

£120.99 Dolphin ID 1503



£58.99 Dolphin ID 5090

Suited for recording and live sound applications. Can be powered by a 9V battery if no phantom power is available.

Professional and super-affordable large-diaphragm condenser mic, for an irresistible price – but no compromises made on quality.

Entry-level condenser for studio vocals and instrument recording. It performs well above its price point and looks the business!

Great for studio use on vocals, acoustic instruments and amps. The price/ price/performance performance standard in side-address studio condensers.

Shure SM58

Behringer XM8500

Sennheiser E815S X

Samson Q7




£29.99 Dolphin ID 14082

This is the world standard for live microphones. Most venues will only use the good old SM58… Should you?

Not only a favorite among entry-level vocalists, but also the choice of several pros. Quality that matches more expensive models.

General-purpose microphone for General-purpose live use, karaoke and club PA. You can feel confident to use it in all sorts of applications.

The ultimate all-around microphone. Take it on stage or to the studio – you’ll never be disappointed.

JBL EON15 G2

Mackie SRM450 V2

Yamaha Stagepas 300

Tapco Thump 15A

Behringer B1520DSP

£350 (each) Dolphin ID 35249

£1,098 (pair) Dolphin ID 35798

£299 (pair) Dolphin ID 5646



This system is firmly entrenched as the industry leader in powered portable PA systems, with many thousands of users worldwide.

Live sound is whipped completely into submission, giving you more control over your shows than ever. Has a powerful sound.

Flexibility, portability and simplicity come together in this new, all-inone PA system, that fits in a car boot. Includes integral mixer.

This powered speaker provides amazingly accurate EQ response, giving it just the right amount of punch.

Rock band, church or a one-man show? This PA delivers at all levels – from quiet to loud, always sounds great.

Digidesign Mbox 2

M-Audio Fast Track Ultra

E-mu Tracker Pre USB

Apogee Duet

£289.99 Dolphin ID 7550

£218.43 Dolphin ID 34490

£109.99 Dolphin ID 34901


Next-generation USB-powered audio/MIDI DI production system that improves on the original Mbox Mbox – Digi’s most popular ever.

M-Audio’s mobile recor recording ding line hits new levels: high-speed USB 2.0 connectivity, DSP mixer and award winning Octane preamps.

Bundled with powerful Mac and PC audio and MIDI applications, it has everything needed to create, record, recor d, edit, and master CDs.

With control functions built directly into Logic Pro, Soundtrack Pro and GarageBand, Duet helps create professional recordings effortlessly.

UA-25 e c Edirol £127.99 a Dolphin ID 4001 f o i r Powerful USB audio/MIDIDI interface d e designed for premium sound u t quality, durability and portability for n computer-based -based audio engineers. A I computer

72

3


AKG C1000S

s e n o D 5 h AKG p £65 Dolphin ID 29898 o and backing vocals will r e c Lead deliver a powerful sound even i v on the noisiest stage. Show the i L Mguitarist who’s boss!

A P

2

››› BUY NOW

MusicPlanet

Autumn2008


1 s r d e r M-Audio Oxygen 8 V2 l l a £50.99 o o Dolphin ID 8558 r t b Updated version of the MIDI controller that started the mobile n y revolution. Perfect for making o e studio C K music on the move or playing live.

2

3

4

5

AKAI MPK49

E-mu Xboard 25

Novation ReMOTE SL61

CME UF80





A new era for USB/MIDI controllers, featuring high-quality 49-key, semi weighted keyboard with aftertouch and genuine MPC drum pads.

Great controller with advanced studio/live features. For a limited time, Dolphin offers an additional 1.5GB E-mu Sample Library.

A versatile controller that feels like a real instrument, and includes Automap mapping functionality. Used live by bands such as Muse.

Arguably the most convenient and cost-effective full-function master keyboard in the world. Includes free wireless USB/MIDI adaptor.

Ableton Live 7

M-Audio Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4

Apple Logic Studio

Propellerhead Reason 4



Pro Tools gets revolutionary, with all-new music creation tools and support for more creative options.

Logic Studio delivers everything a musician needs to write, record, edit, mix, and perform. Users include DJ Danger Mouse.

Complete easy-to-use soft studio system featuring all the tools and instruments you need to turn your ideas into music.

Euphonix MC Control

Digidesign 003 Factory

Mackie MCU Pro

Jazz Mutant Dexter


£1,495 Dolphin ID 26160


£1,899 Dolphin ID 31373

Combines the functionality of motorised faders, programmable knobs and buttons, and incredible customizable touchscreen interface.

Has everything to compose, perform, record, record, edit, mix , and master audio for post production projects with professional results.

Adds to your software’s functionality to deliver the ultimate hands-on control. The most compreh comprehensive ensive feature set on the market.

Ground-breaking unit bringing the power of Digital Audio Workstations to your fingertips. Users include Daft Punk, M.I.A and Bjork.

Yamaha P-85 (black)

Nord Stage 88

Casio PX-320

Korg SP-250

M-Audio ProKeys 88SX

£399.99 Dolphin ID 35678

£2,194 Dolphin ID 7537

£469.95 Dolphin ID 33940


£214.59 Dolphin ID 8088

With the best of Clavia’s award winning technology, it hosts Organ, Piano and Synth instruments, plus an extensive effects section.

A new AIF Sound Source delivers all the sound quality and playability of a fine grand piano, for unmatched realism.

This digital piano features a new weighted hammer action, which delivers the same playing experience as a grand piano.

Designed for performance and recording, recor ding, it delivers excellent sound in a portable package – you can carry it under one arm!

Ibanez AEG10NENT Natural

Tanglewood TCO-CE Concert Classical

Yamaha C80

Admira Almeria





Features include electronic pickup, Shape Shifter EQ, onboard tuner and a comfortable cutaway body.

Perfect electro-classical for the classical player wanting a first-class instrument with on-stage capability capability..

For its modest price, the C80 offers a level of quality, performance, tone and playability unheard of in its price range.

Award-winning model that continues to be the recommended choice of classic guitar by teachers the world over.

Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster

Dean Dave Mustaine VMNT Angel of Deth

Ampeg Dan Armstron Armstrong g Plexiglas

Jackson Pro Series RR3 Rhoads – Cobalt Blue

£1,099 Dolphin ID 21553


£1,069 Dolphin ID 15670


This guitar unleashes fury with features like a scalloped neck and aged parts – this is pure Yngwie! Yngwie!

Loaded with Dave Mustaine Live Wire USA active humbuckers and Dave’s favourite neck.

Iconic rock’n’roll guitar made famous by Keith Richards. It has a unique sound with great sustain.

A tribute to mourned Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads, this is metal guitar at its best – fast and loud.

e Cubase 4 r Steinberg £334.95 a Dolphin ID 15129 w DAW merging great t Cutting-edge W f sound quality, intuitiveness and a A o vast range of tools for composition, recording, ding, editing and mixing. D S recor

e r Project Mix IO a M-Audio £749 w Dolphin ID 33563 d universal solution that r W The combines the best of the worlds of a A hardware and software for a new H D standard in streamlined production.

s e o The new Yamaha 88-key digital g n piano is perfect for stage and a a home use. Elegant, simple and t i S P great sounding.

Jose Ferrer Classical t l a 4/4 Size c Guitar n i £36.99 e Dolphin ID 14652 d s s Designed by guitar teachers for u a students, this is a step-up student t l S C instrument and a great first guitar.

Ibanez RG350EX Black

£279 c s i r Dolphin ID 15329 r a t The of choice for visiting t c i sonicweapon mayhem on the metal e u masses, the RG has rocked its way l E G to classic status.

£279.99 Dolphin ID 33899 This sequencer marks the arrival of the new Drum Rack, which streamlines beat production via an easy drag-and-drop interface.

£163.99 Dolphin ID 35349


MusicPlanet

Autumn2008

73

iii p l a y e r s

UNSUNG HEROES

Snake Davis Session sax man Snake Snake Davis is proof you can make make up for lost time with raw talent and a great attitude. Robert Collins charts his unstoppable career

CREDIT CHECK CHECK

T

M People Elegant Slumming 1993 (Deconstruction) This Mercury Music Prize-winning combination of house flavours with pop sensibilities features Snake througho throughout. ut.

Pet Shop Boys Very 1993 (Parlophone) Snake played on the track Go track Go West , but is in no way responsible for it reverberating around football terraces across the UK ever since.

George Michael Older 1996 (Virgin) Snake played on what is arguably the key George Michael album – the one that gave all the clues that someone was about to emerge from the closet.

Tom Jones Reload 1999 (Gut) Snake added the sax to the sizzle between TJ and Cerys Matthews on Baby It’s Cold Outside .

The Guillemots Red 2008 (Polydor) Snake entered the world of indie rock earlier this year with his contributions to the second LP by the Brit-nominated, critically acclaimed Guillemots.

SNAKE HORNS

He’s recently started to try out newer models

Until recently, Snake favoured the old Selmer Mk6, circa late 50s/early 60s. But after a successful tryout with the Yanagisawa SC902 soprano, he decided to take on the bronze Yanagisawa A992 tenor (Dolphin ID 38250, £1999.99) and alto with equally pleasing results.

››› 74

he name might not be familiar, but you’ll probably recognise the face. Because when people need a sax player, they tend tend to give Snake Davis a call. Who are these people? People like Paul McCartney, Ray Charles, Kylie Minogue, George Michael, Amy Winehouse, Tina Turner and Motörhead. He was the in-house saxophonist for Jonathan Ross for a while, too. It’ It ’s certainly a remarkable CV,, particularly for a man who only star ted playing the CV instrument aged 19. “It took time to find the right instrument for me,” Snake explains. “I was a boy soprano in south Wales before my voice broke. broke. That was my first thrill from f rom music. I played guitar through my teens and picked up a flute at 18. There were a lot of punk bands around at that time and the flute wasn’t really loud enough. Someone said I should tr y the sax. I was passionate passionate about Motown then and the sax gave me that melodic, soulful sound. Once I’d been playing sax for a few months I realised that this was it.”

HARD GRAFT Snake’s willingness to put in the hard work soon became legendary. He was in multiple bands during his 20s and was famous among his peers for practising in the back of the van when the rest of the band were in the pub. When the offer of a full-time job onboard cruise ships in the Caribbean came up, it didn’t change Snake’s outlook. “We had to work hard – in musicians’ terms,” he laughs. “We’d play two two-hour sets every night without a night off for six months. It was a standing joke that every morning I could be found in a broom cupboard practising.” Having absorbed many new experiences playing professionally, Snake soon found himself in demand on returning to the UK. “A guy we had standing in on keyboards one night turned out to write music for Granada TV and produced the odd pop record,” he recalls. “People suddenly wanted me to play on their records – and they were giving me quite a lot of money as well. Through that I met Lisa Stansfield and ended up on her records, touring the world with her. It was extraordinarily exciting and inspiring.” Snake Davis had somehow become one of Britain’s leading session musicians. And the calls kept coming… “I did some work on Flowers In The Dirt for Dirt for Paul McCartney, with a big horn section,” he explains. “But for Flaming Pie , Paul phoned an orchestral contractor direct and there were just three of us working together in his

“PEOPLE WANTED ME TO PLAY ON THEIR RECORDS – AND THEY WERE GIVING ME QUITE A LOT OF MONEY” MusicPlanet

Autumn2008

www.dolphinmusic.com www.dolphinm usic.com 0844 248 8117

home studio. That was incredibly exciting. Seeing how he worked at close quarters was kind of spine-tingling – although he took the piss out of me, calling me Lizard.” A gig with The Godfather was another highlight: “I was playing in the house band for the Jonathan Ross show and we knew that James Brown was coming on. His manager reminded us that we had to call him Mr Brown. And then when I met him I went, ‘Aw, James, it’s a pleasure to meet you’. Luckily, he was in a good mood. I was just trying to suppress my cheesy grin enough to play the saxophone.”

FITTING IN Snake’s success is rooted in the years of practice he put in during his 20s, but it’ it ’s his ability to understand different roles that makes him the perfect model for aspiring session musicians to follow. “I’m good at slotting into a new situation fast and getting into someone else’s musical mind. I can enhance something without stamping all over it. That’s not to say I don’t love it when the spotlight hits me and I get my 30 seconds of glory. I worked flipping hard and I sound pretty good.” You can hear Snake’s work and learn more about his remarkable career at www.snakedavis.com MP

keep it in the family .

kiwi cactus

mouse

omnimouse bottle

blueberry

woodpecker dragony baby bottle

bluebird

8-ball

robbie the mic pre

snowball snowake

In an era of cookie-cutter mics with indistinguishable sound, features and looks, Blue professional recording tools stand out from the crowd. From our top-of-the-line Bottle mic to our innovative Snowball & Snowake USB mics, Blue’s genetic makeup can be heard (custom hand-tuned and tested capsules & Class A discrete circuitry), as well as seen (beautiful cutting-edge design and an obsessive attention to detail). We like to think of it as a family of individuals who sound as unique as you do. In the UK, visit your local Dolphin Music retailer for a rsthand look at our superior stock. Like our propensity for terrible puns, you’ll discover our Blue genes t a wide variety of sound. www.bluemic.com

©2008 Blue Microphones. All rights reserved. Mouse, Kiwi, Bottle, Cactus, OmniMouse, Bluebird, B lueberry, Dragonfy, Woodpecker, Woodpecker, Baby Bottle, 8-Ball, Robbie the Mic Pre, Snowfake, Snowball and Snowball and Blue Logo Oval are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blue Microphones. Options and specications are subject to change without notice.

The legendary Fender Princeton Reverb Amp o the 1960s was small, light, and moderately powered. Though originally intended or practice situations, the Princeton was capable o big tube tone, and countless guitarists chose it as their go-to studio amp. With a simple mic’d-up Princeton and a stomp box or two, signature sounds owed onto recording ater recording. Our world-class Reverb and built-in Vibrato eects were the icing on the cake.

RebiRth of a Legend new! Vintage Reissue ’65 PRinceton ® ReVeRb amP Today, original Princeton Reverb amps are prized collectibles, and becoming harder to fnd. The new ’65 Princeton Reverb Amp oers today’s players all o the great tone and dynamics o the originals in an aordable, roadworthy reissue. The robust 15-Watt platorm is a wise choice or creating tube tone in a small space, and even provides enough output or small gigs and rehearsals. For more ino, go to www.ender.com/princetonreve www.ender.com/princetonreverb rb

Output: Speaker: Controls:: Controls

© 2008 FMIC. Fender ®, Stratocaster®, Strat®, and the distinctive headstock and body designs o this guitar are trademarks o Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved.

Eects: Tubes: Tub es:

15 watts into 8 ohms 1 10” Jensen® Special Design C-10R speaker Volume, Treble, Bass, Reverb, Speed and Intensity Reverb, Vibrato 3 12AX7, 1 12AT7, 2 6V6, 1 5AR4 Rectifer tube

Music Planet Issue 1

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