BIG VOICE With the capability to generate substantial sound pressure levels when the music and clients demand it, yet maintain the clarity and transparency of a professional studio monitor – the new KRK Rokit Powered 10-3 offers an unprecedented level of precision, power and value. Professional and commercial facilities will appreciate the RP10-3’s ability to deliver compelling mid-field performance. Private, project and home studio environments will embrace having a singular system that can handle challenging high dynamic tracks for all genres of music. With space and placement of mid-fields virtually always a concern in recording, mobile and broadcast facilities, the Rokit RP10-3 offers location flexibility by placing the tweeter and midrange in a unique rotatable housing. Whether they are vertical, placed on their side or wall mounted – the proper orientation of the acoustic axis can be maintained!
THE KRK ROKIT POWERED 10-3 PRECISE. FLEXIBLE. POWERFUL. www.krksys.com
Rokit 5
PG. 2
MIXDOWN NO. 216
Rokit 6
Rokit 8
Rokit 10-3
Proudly distributed by: MUSICLINK AUSTRALIA 29 South Corporate Ave. Rowville VIC 3178 P: +3 9765 6565 F: +3 9765 6566 W: www.musiclink.com.au APRIL 2012
From Arena rattling monsters to pint-sized powerhouses, Ampeg has been the top name in ampliďŹ cation for over 60 years SVT-VR
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POWER TO THE PEOPLE At Yamaha, we understand that when inspiration hits, you can’t have anything holding you back, and with DXR and DXS Series speakers powering your performances, nothing’s going to come between you and your audience.
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VICTORIA - SOUNDCORP www.soundcorp.com.au 570 CITY ROAD, SOUTH MELBOURNE, VIC 3205, PHONE +61 3 9694 2600 NEW SOUTH WALES - MUSO’S CORNER www.musoscorner.com.au 1 NATIONAL PARK STREET, NEWCASTLE WEST, NSW 2302, PHONE: +61 2 4929 2829 WEST AUSTRALIA KOSMIC SOUND & LIGHTING www.kosmic.com.au 94 HECTOR STREET WEST, OSBORNE PARK, WA 6017, PHONE +61 8 9204 7577 SOUTH AUSTRALIA HOLDEN HILL MUSIC www.hhmusic.com.au 610-612 NORTH EAST ROAD, HOLDEN HILL, SA 5088, PHONE +61 8 8266 2699
PG. 4
MIXDOWN NO. 216
yamahabackstage.com.au APRIL 2012
DXR8
DXR10
DXR12
DXR15
DXS12
DXS15
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Welcome to a new kind of amp Conventional amps work great on stage. But what about everywhere else you play? Most portable amps are just smaller versions of stage amps, up until now. THR is the first amp truly designed to fit how you play off-stage. Everything you need is here; tones that recreate the exact response of playing a tube amp thanks to Yamaha’s exclusive Virtual Circuitry Modelling (VCM) technology, ultra-realistic reverbs and effects, and true hi-fi quality stereo audio playback that no guitar amp can get close to. You have your big amp that sounds great cranked up to 10. Maybe you have your amp for rehearsals and smaller shows. Now you have the perfect third amp. The amp for everything else, THR. Prepare to spend a lot more time playing guitar.
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available for download
NAMM 2012 Best In Show Award Winner - ‘Gotta Stock It’ Category NAMM is America’s largest Music Equipment trade show held yearly for manufacturers and distributors showcasing the latest instruments and music products
yamahabackstage.com.au
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 5
FORE
WORD
CONTENTS 8 10 14 20 22 24
As you’ve probably already noticed, we’re pretty damn chuffed to have one of history’s all-time guitar greats gracing the cover of our April edition. They don’t get any more influential than Buddy Guy – in fact, it’s near-impossible to imagine how modern music would sound had Buddy not made his indelible mark upon the rock and roll sound. But it’s not just about the longstanding legends, this issue is jam-packed with interviews featuring big names from every epoch of rock – certified shredders, a lo-fi progenitor, contemporary progrockers, two generation of Aussie alternative, hardcore punk, pop punk, dream pop – we have all bases covered. As well as our in-depth interviews, we have your usual smorgasbord of product news, tour announcements, and a whole heap of sweet new gear reviews. Have a corker of a Easter break (if you’re lucky enough to have one), enjoy Bluesfest (if you’re lucky enough to be there), and be sure to drop us a line on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ MixdownMagazine), and read us online, on your iPhone, iPad and Androids where we are accessible now too. Tune in, drop out, read on – Mixdown Aleksei Plinte Editor In Chief
26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
PUBLISHER Furst Media
COVER ART Patrick O’Neill
EDITOR IN CHIEF Aleksei Plinte mixdown@beat.com.au
MIXDOWN OFFICE 3 Newton Street Richmond VIC 3121 Phone: (03) 9428 3600 Fax: (03) 9428 3611
EDITORIAL CO-ORDINATOR Lachlan Kanoniuk PRODUCTION MANAGER: Patrick O’Neill
GIVEAWAYS NEWS & TOURS PRODUCT NEWS BUDDY GUY HOODOO GURUS MUTE MATH DRAGONFORCE ALTER BRIDGE NEW FOUND GLORY ANTI-FLAG ARCH ENEMY STEVE LUKATHER LOU BARLOW GRIMES DEAD LETTER CIRCUS CHILDREN COLLIDE WHAT’S THAT SOUND? - GUITAR UNLEASH YOUR INNER ROCK GOD WHAT’S THAT SOUND? - KEYS CLASSIC KEYS HOME STUDIO HINTS BANGIN’ THE TUBS ROAD TESTS
ADVERTISING Aleksei Plinte, Ronnit Sternfein
HOODOO GURUS
PAGE 22
DRAGONFORCE
PAGE 24
GRAPHIC ARTISTS Luke Benge, Gill Tucker, Jess Sneddon LOGO DESIGN www.furstmedia.com.au CONTRIBUTORS Peter Hodgson, Rob Gee, Nick Brown, Adrian Violi, Tim Clarke
LOU BARLOW
PAGE 30
DEAD LETTER CIRCUS
PAGE 32
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 7
MIXDOWN GIVEAWAYS APRIL GIVEAWAY
LAST MONTH’S WINNER
STERLING BY MUSIC MAN SUB SILO 3
CMC Music is pr oud to announce the r elease of the most affordable line of Music Man designed guitars yet. Based on classic and r espected Music Man designs including the Silhouette, Axis, Stingray and Stingray 5, and featuring solid tone woods, road tested electronics and eye catching f nishes, the SUB series intr oduces Music Man’s renowned tone and playability to a new generation of musicians. For your chance to pick up the very ace SUB Silo 3, head along to the CMC Music Facebook page (www .facebook.com/cmcmusicoz) and click ‘Like’, and tell us what the what the name of the SUB series version of the Music Man Stingray bass is. T oo easy! Simply email mixdown@ beat.com.au with your answer , your phone number and address to be in the running!
STRAUSS SRT-15
The response to last month’ s Strauss SR T15 giveaway was absolutely massive. Huge congratulations to Joseph Y oung of Melbourne who correctly answered that The Fearless Vampire Killers wer e featured on the Strauss site as well as our Mar ch issue. Here’s what Joseph had to say. “I’m certainly not the luckiest dude alive so winning the comp kind of made my day . well... my week. For an amp of it’ s size it really does pack a giant punch and delivers a crispy clear tone. The vintage design and the authentic valve sound go hand in hand to deliver a quality voice. Massive thanks to Jade Australia. Great win!” Onya Joseph!
*Competition disclaimer* All Mixdo wn Magazine competition winners agree to having their loacation, name and photo wi th themselves and their pr ize published in Mixdown Magazine and online. All en trants must be residents of Australia.
tuning distilled TC’s PolyTune® was a multiple-patents-pending, total tuning turnaround that has guitarists everywhere wondering how they ever got by without it. Now there’s PolyTune® Mini - the world’s smallest polyphonic tuner. Just strum your guitar and PolyTune® Mini shows the tuning of all strings simultaneously. So you can tune up and get back playing in seconds!
polytune® mini PolyTune® Mini is perfect for when size really matters. No other tuner takes up so little space on a pedal board (…so more room for more pedals!)
STRUM
TUNE
ROCK
Check out the new PolyTune® Mini at your nearest Authorised TC Dealer Tel: 1800 251 367 sales@ambertech.com.au
PG. 8
MIXDOWN NO. 216
www.ambertech.com.au/polytune-mini
APRIL 2012
The first portable Mid-Side recorder Newly designed user interface. Bigger and brighter LCD screen. Five new mic capsules. USB 2.0 interface. Analog Mic Gain for precision volume control. Edit audio onboard. Onboard reference speaker and stereo output. New data recovery function. 20 hours of battery life. Create stunning 360째 surround sound recordings. Linear PCM recording at up to 24bit/96kHz quality. Broadcast Wave Format support. 32GB SDHC card support. WaveLab LE software included for editing and mastering. Two Year Warranty when purchased from Authorised Australian dealers
The H2n features our best microphones yet and is the only portable recorder with five mic capsules onboard. The H2n offers four unique recording modes: Mid-Side (MS) stereo, 90째 X/Y stereo, 2-channel and 4-channel surround sound.
facebook.com/ZoomAustralia
dynamicmusic.com.au
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 9
NEWS & TOURS
GRAVEYARD TRAIN
DAMN TERRAN
Melbourne’s favourite sons have announced their return to the stage, with Graveyar d Train announcing that they will be taking over the east coast this May and June. The ramshackle outf t performed one of the shows of 2011 when they pulled off a massive spook-tacular at The Forum, and have made their pr esence felt on the festival circuit ever since. As well as for ging a reputation as a live act not to be missed, Graveyar d Train are also gearing up to r elease their long-awaited studio follow-up Hollow this May. Expect to hear a hefty sample of tracks fr om that album, as well as their well-adored body of classics, when they hit the road this May.
Awash with post-punk fury, Damn Terran’s blistering live set has seen them become one of Melbourne’s f nest young bands. A high energy exercise in barely controlled chaos, the unholy trio have a practiced ability to tear strips of f stages. To celebrate the release of their new 7” single ‘Rebels’, Damn Terran will be doing what they do best, taking the madness to their fans on various stages around the country.
BEN SALTER AND JOE MCKEE
Ben Salter and Joe McKee ar e embarking on a co–headlining tour of Australia this April. After ten years spent touring ar ound Australia with Gin Club and Giants, as well as acts such as The Wilson Pickers and The Young Liberals, Ben Salter released his debut solo album last year . Joe McKee’ s previous outf t, Snowman, wer e more than just a
little bit signif cant. They released two albums out of Perth – 2006’s self titled effort and 2009’s violent masterpiece The Horse, The Rat & The Swan, and one from the UK epic masterpiece Hyena.. Now these two veterans of the Australian music scene are joining for ces to perfor m a series of intimate shows across Australia.
TOUR DATES:
April 4 – Yours & Owls, Wollongong NSW April 6 – Front Gallery, Lyneham ACT April 7 – Petersham Bowls Club, Petersham NSW April 12 – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane QLD April 13 – Lismore Bowls Club, Lismore NSW April 14 – Spotted Cow, Tooowoomba QLD April 15 – The Treehouse, Byron Bay NSW
April 19 – Metro, Adelaide SA April 20 – The Fly Trap, Fremantle WA April 22 – The Bird, Perth WA April 27 – The Alleycat, Hobart TAS April 28 – The Gasometer, Collingwood VIC April 29 – Pure Pop, St Kilda VIC
TOUR DATES:
May 25 – The Hi-Fi, Brisbane QLD June 1,2 – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne VIC June 15 – The Metro, Sydney NSW
TIN SPARROW
TOUR DATES:
April 13 – The Zoo, Brisbane QLD April 14 – Tyms Guitars, Brisbane QLD April 28 – Old Bar, Melbourne VIC May 5 – The Grace Emily, Adelaide SA May 18 – FBi Social, Sydney NSW
KARNIVOOL
For a band still in their infancy, Sydney indie-folk quartet Tin Sparrow have had an eventful past nine months. From sold-out EP and single launches, to international interest and national airplay , to landing coveted support spots on national tours, Tin Sparrow is certainly one to watch. Catch T in Sparrow as they hit the r oad this April, for their f rst headlining east coast tour in support of their new EP.
CHET FAKER
TOUR DATE:
April 19 – Goodgod Small Club, Sydney NSW April 20 – Yours & Owls, Wollongong NSW April 21 – Grace Darling, Melbourne VIC April 22 – Grace Darling, Melbourne VIC April 27 – Ric’s Bar, Brisbane QLD April 28 – Railway Friendly Bar, Byron Bay NSW
ORBITAL
Karnivool HQ are more than pleased to announce that the 10 legged beast that is Karnivool has now arisen from it’s slumbers, and has plans to get a little festive with their fans on the Melodias Frescas Tour which will see the band hit the highways
through June and July . Yes folks, the Melodias Frescas tour will r eveal to the world some of the band’s new material which has been agonised over in Perth over the past year.
TOUR DATES:
June 22, 23 – Mermaid Hotel, Dampier WA June 27 – Prince Of Wales Hotel, Bunbury WA July 3 – HQ, Adelaide SA July 5 – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne VIC July 8 – Bended Elbow, Geelong VIC July 12 – The Hi-Fi, Sydney NSW
July 14 – Panthers, Newcastle NSW July 19 – The Northern, Byron Bay NSW July 20 – The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD July 21 – Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast QLD July 27 – Rosemount Hotel, Perth WA
PUBLIC ENEMY
Hailing from the tight-knit disco and house music scene in Melbour ne and taking elements fr om an acoustic past, Chet Faker has carved out a unique style that fuses personal stories of love and loss with an electronica soul that reaches far beyond his homeland. Shrouded in secrecy, hidden behind an alias and disguised by a bear d, Chet Faker enjoys mystery. He came to everyone’s attention when his cover of Blackstreet’s classic ‘No Diggity’ took the internet by storm. Chet will hit the r oad this April, so you can see what all the fuss is about live and in person. TOUR DATES:
April 21, 22 – The Toff In Town, Melbourne VIC April 27 – Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane QLD April 28 – GoodGod, Sydney NS
PG. 10
MIXDOWN NO. 216
Last seen in Australia just over a year or so ago, the English dance institution known as Orbital (made up of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll) were last seen here road-testing their live show out on a sea of blissed-out raver kids r eliving the heady days of early ‘90s dance. TOUR DATE:
May 3 – HQ, Adelaide SA May 4 – The Palace, Melbourne VIC May 5 – Metro, Sydney May 6 – Tivoli, Brisbane
APRIL 2012
A group whose musical style and incendiary delivery have earned them critical acclaim and millions of fans thr oughout their car eer, Public Enemy continues to blaze musical and technological trails with new songs and new media, pulling rap music into the future, all while keeping its musical roots f rmly intact. Public Enemy transcends the
conf nes of rap and pop music, r emaining one of the African American community’s most important messengers, digital music’ s greatest champions, and a rar e rap gr oup whose lyrics ar e dedicated to analysing, uplifting and empowering all of humanity. Public Enemy will also be appearing at the touring Groovin The Moo festival.
TOUR DATES:
May 10 – The Hi-Fi, Brisbane QLD May 11 – The Metro, Sydney NSW
May 15 – The Palace, Melbourne VIC
DEVILDRIVER, SIX FEET UNDER & DARKEST HOUR
LISA MITCHELL Featuring the legendary godfather of death metal Chris Bar nes, Six Feet Under have been delivering their brilliant brand of unapologetic metal since 1993. Their latest album Death Rituals, sees them delivering bludgeoning slabs of death, doom and destruction that only enforces their position as one of the most important bands in death metal history . Don’ t miss your chance to see moder n metal at its crushing best as Devildriver, Six Feet Under and Darkest Hour tour Australian in May.
TOUR DATES:
May 4 – The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD May 5 – The Hi-Fi, Sydney NSW May 6 – Billboard, Melbourne VIC May 7 – Fowlers Live, Adelaide SA May 9 – Capitol, Perth WA
Following on from the huge success of last year’ s inaugural Heavenly Sounds tour , featuring Seeker Lover Keeper, the intimate touring concept returns this year with the incredibly sweet Lisa Mitchell. The tour will pr esent a splendid opportunity for fans to preview material fr om Lisa’s much-anticipated sophomore record - due out later this year . As a precursor to the record, Lisa has released ‘Spiritus’, a single from an EP of the same name. TOUR DATES:
June 4 – Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle NSW June 7 – St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney NSW June 8 – St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane QLD June 13 – St Michael’s Church, Melbourne, VIC June 14 - Flinders Street Baptist Church, Adelaide SA June 15 – St Joseph’s Church, 3 Salvado Road, Subiaco Perth WA
CAIRO KNIFE FIGHT
Cairo Knife Fight, New Zealand’s electrifying power rock duo, will soon be in Australia for thr ee very special shows after adding their unique sound to this year’s 2012 SXSW Festival line-up in Austin, TX. With a sound replete with metal riffs and prog-rock expansiveness, Cairo Knife Fight have earned their fair share of admir ers and wer e personally handpicked to share their home stage with Queens Of The Stone Age, Them Cr ooked Vultures and twice with Foo Fighters. Get to know Cair o Knife Fight’s gritty, mesmerizing music and be prepared for their mosh-inducing live perfor mances as they bring their heralded sound to Australia in April 2012. TOUR DATES:
April 26 – Workers Club, Melbourne VIC April 27 – Good God Bar, Sydney VIC April 29 – Cherry Rock, Melbourne VIC
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 11
NEWS & TOURS
SIMPLE PLAN
TEMPER TRAP
The news that many Australians have long been awaiting is now at hand. The T emper Trap will return home this May to perfor m headline shows in support of their forthcoming self-titled second album. The tour will see the band headline
BassInTheGrass in Darwin and two nights at both Melbourne’s Forum Theatre and the Sydney Opera House as part of V ivid LIVE. The tour will be The Temper Trap’s f rst in Australia since 2010.
TOUR DATES:
May 26 – Bassinthegrass, Darwin Amphitheatre NT May 29, 30 – The Forum, Melbourne VIC
May 31, June 1 – Sydney Opera House, Sydney NSW
THE FEELERS
Get ready for the r eturn of Australia’ s favourite punk-pop ensemble Simple Plan this winter . Simple Plan will embark on a massive tour that sees them hit metr opolitan and r egional venues large and small in their most extensive east coast tour to date! Their latest of fering Get Your Heart On! stormed the ARIA charts upon its r elease late last year, armed with fan favourite and ARIA T op 10 single ‘Jetlag’ (featuring Natasha Bedingf eld). The new single ‘Summer Paradise’ is the latest in their artillery of hits alongside ‘I’d Do Anything’,
‘Addicted’, ‘Perfect’, ‘W elcome To My Life’ and many more. TOUR DATES:
June 1 – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney NSW June 2 – Festival Hall, Melbourne VIC June 3 – Panthers, Newcastle NSW June 6 – UniHall, Wollongong NSW June 8 – Southport RSL, Gold Coast QLD June 9 – Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane QLD June 10 – Caloundra RSL, Sunshine Coast QLD
THE DARKNESS The Feelers ar e launching an all-out assault, promising to deliver a blistering 90 minute set, powering through the hits and pr emiering tracks from their kickarse new album Hope Nature
Forgives due for r elease this month. The band launch their 6 date Easter n Seaboard tour in Brisbane with a set list full of hits and fan favourites.
TOUR DATES:
April 13 – The Tempo Hotel, Brisbane QLD April 14 – The Cooly Hotel, Coolangatta QLD April 15 – Great Northern, Byron Bay QLD
April 19 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne VIC April 21 – The Beach Road Hotel, Bondi NSW
Few in the 2000s rocked harder than The Darkness. Breaking through with their mind blowing debut Permission To Land, the band endur ed many bust-ups, a r evolving door member policy , and
a terminal case of sophomor e album syndr ome before combusting in a veritable snowstor m. Now in 2012, the classic lineup is back, better than ever. Hell. Yes!
TOUR DATES:
May 4– Eaton Hill, Brisbane QLD May 5 – Newcastle Workers, Newcastle NSW May 6 – Roundhouse, Sydney NSW
May 8 – The Palace, Melbourne VIC May 10 – ANU, Canberra ACT
THE TOOT TOOT TOOTS
Outlaws is a spaghetti wester n rock opera and is Melbourne band The T oot Toot Toots’ debut album. Set in the gold rush town of Gomorrah Fields, Outlaws follows the story of emigré Eli Rayne and the vengeance and bloodshed that
shadows his arrival. Spurned on by the like–minded doom–country comrades Graveyard Train and Puta Madre Brothers, The Toot Toot Toots turn the screw several notches further, f eshing out characters as compelling as they are grotesque.
TOUR DATES:
April 19 – The Junkyard, Maitland NSW April 20 – Sydney, The Vanguard, Sydney NSW April 21 – Great Northern, Newcastle NSW April 22 – The Phoenix, Canberra ACT April 27 – The Joynt, Brisbane QLD
PG. 12
MIXDOWN NO. 216
APRIL 2012
April 28 – Queen St Mall, Brisbane QLD April 28 – X&Y Bar, Brisbane QLD May 4 – The Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne VIC May 12 – The Brisbane Hotel, Hobart TAS
es s r u o C e Degre , 1 2 y a M starting ! The music industry has hundreds of different jobs. Find your place now with one of our degree courses in audio engineering, the music business or music performance
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Apply Now Online APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 13
PRODUCT NEWS SSL NUCLEUS DAW CONTROLLER
FISHMAN LOUDBOX ARTIST The new Fishman Loudbox Artist acoustic amplif er will be hitting our shor es later this month with an $829 RRP . Delivering 120 watts of bi-amplif ed acoustic power into two independent channels, both with 1/4” jack, XLR inputs and onboard effects, all wrapped up in a lightweight portable package, this amp is sur e to set the bar high in the acoustic amplif cation market. For more information on the Fishman range of products, phone Music Link on (03) 9765 6565 or visit www.musiclink.com.au
ZOOM SIGNATURE SERIES DAVE MUSTAINE G2.1DM SSL’s family of DAW users grows with the release of a new dedicated SSL Nucleus Pr of les for Samplitude/ Sequoia & SSL’s own Soundscape. The delivery of the new Console Contr ol Manager in the forthcoming release of V ersion 6.2 of SSL ’s own Soundscape DAW has enabled the implementation of a Nucleus prof le for Soundscape that delivers extr emely tight hardware control integration. The Nucleus pr of le for
Soundscape V6.2 will be available to coincide with the release of V6.2. For more information on the DP A range of product For more information on the SSL range of products, phone Amber T echnology on 1800 251 367 or visit www.ambertech.com.au
SSL SOUNDSCAPE VERSION 6.2 A new Console Control Module introduces a hardware control implementation that of fers elegant physical control over the softwar e using SSL ’s Nucleus and Matrix hybrid DAW control consoles. The new hardware control implementation delivers deep integration between SSL’s multi awar d winning har dware control surfaces and Soundscape’s advanced audio production workf ow. The Soundscape V6.2 r elease also enables Soundscape to be used with SSL’s MadiXtreme 64/128 PCIe audio interfaces for the f rst time facilitating direct connection to audio converters, MADI equipped consoles and r outing systems for lower cost system specif cation where systems don’ t require a softwar e mixer environment. Soundscape V6.2 can still be purchased with an SSL MX4 interface if a DSP driven mixer and plug-in envir onment is still r equired. MX4 systems include the SSL Bus Compr essor and EQ & Dynamics plug-ins as standard.
Metal guitar legend Dave Mustaine has joined forces with Zoom to bring you the ultimate metal guitar effects pedal. The G2.1DM incorporates patches personally designed by Mustaine that span his remarkable career. From heavy, driving distortions to his distinctive lead tones and even acoustic patches, the G2.1DM lets you play like a metal icon. The package includes specially designed pick, post card, and replica backstage pass from the Peace Sells... But Who’s Buying tour. Sweet!
AMPEG PF-115LF & PF-410HLF
For more information on the Zoom range of products contact Dynamic Music on (02) 9939 1299 or visit www.dynamicmusic.com.au
MARSHALL JMP-1H & JMP-1C
For more information on the SSL range of products, phone Amber T echnology on 1800 251 367 or visit www.ambertech.com.au
BG250 BASS COMBO Most bass combos claim to have loads of power and weigh next to nothing. TC’ s new BG250 is no exception, but that’s only half the story as no other bass combo of fers the ultimate power to choose quite like the T onePrint-enabled BG250. BG250 comes packed with 250 watts of power , delivered through TC’s cutting-edge, lightweight Class D amp technology that helps bring the total weight of BG250 down to an extremely portable 16kg, making it one of the lightest yet loudest combos in its class. Def nitely an all encompassing new combo to check out! For more information on the TC Electr onic range of products, phone Amber Technology on 1800 251 367 or visit www.ambertech.com.au
Recently unveiled at the 2012 Musik Messe show in Frankfurt, Ampeg have just launched two exciting new cabinets to their hugely successful Porta-Flex range. Additions include the PF-115LF, a 400watt ported 1x15 with extended low end and completing the range with the PF-410HLF, a high power ed, horn-loaded, fullrange 4x10 cabinet. Both cabinets featur e Eminence drivers and partner perfectly with Ampeg’ s Porta-Flex heads or any other high power ed head. Shipping will commence over the next few months. For more information on the Ampeg range of products phone Music Link on (03) 9765 6565 or visit www.musiclink.com.au
KORG PITCHCLIP
As part of Marshall’s 50th Anniversary celebration the world r enowned British guitar amplif er company announces the r elease of the JMP-1C 1x10” combo & JMP-1H head – two 1-W att, allvalve amps that r ef ect the era of 1970’ s Marshall tone and aesthetics. This duo ar e the second in a series of f ve Limited Edition 1-W att, all-valve head and combo pairings – each one paying homage to one of the f ve decades that Marshall has been in business. Each set will be r eleased at approximately 12 week intervals throughout 2012, Marshall’s 50 Y ears Of Loud Anniversary year . Like all amps in the series, the JMP-1H & JMP-1C are made in England with pride at Marshall’ s UK factory and will only be manufactured in 2012. For more information on the Marshall range of products, phone Electric Factory on (03) 9474 1000 or visit www.elfa.com.au
ERNIE BALL COBALT GUITAR AND BASS STRINGS
COLLARTS
If you ar e looking to establish a car eer in the music, entertainment or cr eative industries then you should def nitely check out Australian College Of The Arts. Collarts course options include Contemporary Music Performance, Audio Pr oduction and Music Business and are designed to make you industry r eady upon completion. Collarts of fers students a state of the art learning environment using industry standar d equipment from the world’s leading makers of audio, AV and musical products including Digidesign, Apple, Soundcraft, Kurzweil, Fender, Roland, Mackie, Rode, PG. 14
MIXDOWN NO. 216
Sony, Yamaha, Kawai, Zildjian and Canon. T o make your higher-ed decision easier go online and r ead up on Collarts illustrious staff roster, the experts that will be teaching you the biz back to front each and every class. If you want practical music knowledge and a range of degrees that will take you places, you’ll f nd it her e. Applications are now open for T rimester 2 intake this May, so don’t delay! For more information visit www.collarts.edu.au or call 1300 AUSMUSIC.
APRIL 2012
The Korg Pitchclip set a new standar d in the clipon tuner market in 2011, and now for 2012 Kor g have announced eight new colours. Still at a heaps reasonable price, and with stock now f owing into the country, get into your local Kor g dealer and snap up (and clip on) your favourite colour!
Ernie Ball Cobalt Strings ar e a new spin on Er nie Ball’s best selling set of strings which have been played by the likes of Eric Clapton, John Mayer , Steve Vai and many more. Engineered to maximise output and clarity, Ernie Ball Cobalt Slinky Guitar Strings are the latest innovation in string technology . Seeking to pr ovide guitarists and bassists with a new voice, Cobalt strings pr ovide an extended dynamic range, incr edible harmonic response, increased low end, and crisp clear highs.
For more information on the Kor g range of products, phone Music Link on (03) 9765 6565 or visit www.musiclink.com.au
For more information on the Ernie Ball range of products, phone CMC Music on (02) 9905 2511 or visit www.cmcmusic.com.au
PERFECT TONE... IT’S ALL IN THE HEAD
ValveKing
$899RRP
With built-in spring reverb and separate tonestacks, the ValveKing delivers tones ranging from bluesy clean to crunchy and classic rock. Featuring global resonance, presence and reverb controls.
VYPYR 120
$1,199RRP
Featuring 24 amp channel models – both the clean and distorted channels of 12 popular amps – plus 11 editable preamp “stomp box” effects and 11 editable post-amp “rack” effects with dual-parameter control
3120
$2,299RRP
The Ultimate tone machine. The amp is controlled by a master volume pot and independent volume knobs for each of its three channels.
NEW
6505
$1,999RRP
Loud, mean and built for the road, the 6505 was named in celebration of Peavey’s first 40 years, 1965 to 2005. Features three-band EQ for taming its notorious tone.
6505+
$2,499RRP
The 6505 Series amps are the undisputed go-to Guitar amps for scores of rock, hardcore and metal bands due to their raw tone, relentless power and road-proven reliability.
6534+
$2,499RRP
The 6534+ is a two-channel, 120-watt amplifier designed to give this American legend a British flavour. The amp’s Rhythm channel is voiced to clean up nicely while still retaining its raw saturation.
NEW
BUTCHER
$2,599RRP
This UK-voiced amp offers tones in the vein of hard and classic rock, blues and everything in between. The master section features 2 foot switchable master volumes.
Innovation. Amplified.™
TOUR 700
$999RRP
Tour 700 offers crushing power and relentless reliability in a bass amplifier that truly goes “one lower!” Winner of Bass Player magazine’s prestigious Editors’ Award.
5
YEAR
WARRANTY
For more info and your nearest authorised Peavey dealer: Call 1300 13 44 00 visit: www.peavey.com.au
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 15
PRODUCT NEWS TC ELECTRONIC SPARK BOOSTER PEDAL
STERLING BY MUSIC MAN 2012 RANGE
DUFF MCKAGAN BASS TONEPRINT
Following on thee success of their their 2011 2011 lineup, lineup Sterling Sterling by Music Man have announced an extended range of f nishes available for 2012. The classic AX40 ‘Axis’ style guitar with double locking tr emolo is now available in trans black with a quilt top. The range of colours available for the John Petrucci signature model JP100 has been extended to include a striking thr ee tone sunburst f nish (as pictur ed). The John Petrucci signature model JP60 is now available in one of the most requested f nishes for the Petrucci line of guitars – Pearl Redburst. Two new f nishes have been added
to the range Classic Active Active Ray Ray 34 34basses bass – Black with maple neck and tortoise shell pickguar d (as pictured), and a retro Vintage Cream with rosewood f ngerboard and tortoise shell pickguar d. The Ray 34 colour range has been extended to include a heavy f aked blue sparkle option. New models ar e due to ship f rst quarter of 2012 . For more information on the Sterling By Music Man range of pr oducts, phone CMC Music on (02) 9905 2511 or visit www.cmcmusic.com.au
DRUMCRAFT LIGNUM SNARES The new Spark Booster from TC Electronic features 26 dB of boost, making it the perfect tool for enhancing existing sounds and highlighting solo or rhythm parts. For guitarists who ar e looking for tonal options, an active EQ consisting of a Bass and T reble knob provides precise tonal shaping, as well as extended lows and added top-end sparkle. A Gain knob allows for the addition of sweet saturation and compr ession, and a Mid-boost switch adds loads of mix-cutting clarity to sounds. Spark Booster is also true bypass to ensure maximum tonal integrity . With this balanced set of features, Spark Booster simply adds ‘that certain something’ without any unwanted tonal shaping. Spark Booster injects punch, body and war mth into pickups, drives amps to peak perfor mance and adds life, grit and tone to guitar set-ups. For more information on the TC Electr onic range of products, phone Amber Technology on 1800 251 367 or visit www.ambertech.com.au
SEAGULL ARTIST PEPPINO SIGNATURE
TC Electronic is proud to announce its latest addition to the bass TonePrint artist lineup: Duff McKagan. The legendary bassist, who has shaped multiple generations of rock fans with his instantly recognisable chorus-laden bass tone, has chosen TC Electr onic’s Corona Chorus pedal (pictured) to get his signature tone as it is heard on timeless classics such as “Sweet Child of Mine”. Duff has worked side-by-side with TC Electronic to create a TonePrint that perfectly nails that sound and makes it available immediately as a TonePrint download to fans of both McKagan’s music and also great chorus sounds.
Beech
Oak
For more information on the TC Electronic range of products, phone Amber Technology on 1800 251 367 or visit www.ambertech.com.au
DEREK RODDY AUSTRALIAN CLINIC TOUR 2012
Birch
Maple Lignum is the Latin ter m for wood - thus, this extraordinary line of instruments combines a selected range of different wood species. Each and every snare has been specially designed in size, shell composition and Remo USA head combination to emphasize the specif c sound characteristics of the superb wood it is made fr om. The four models ar e available each with their own characteristics. The very good-looking range includes the Lignum Oak (loud, super sensitive attack, cracking mids, full body low end) Lignum Bir ch
(Studio workhorse, contr ollable and easy to tune, very dry, focused mids and highs), Lignum Maple (All round workhorse, controlled overtones, def ned mids) and Lingum Beech (very loud, equipped with CSX batter head, endless contr ollable volume and cutting frequencies) as pictured. For more information on the Drumcraft range of products contact Dynamic Music on (02) 9939 1299 or visit www.drumcraftdirect.com.au
PEAVEY EXPORT
Peppino D’Agostino is known for his beautiful, understated melodies, as well as the explosive rhythms that he drums, taps and beats out of his guitar . Add to that a r epertoire that requires a different tuning on almost every song and you have a man that demands a lot from his guitar. The Seagull Artist Peppino Signature CW QII delivers. And now Godin Dir ect have added it to their ever expanding line of Robert Godin’s amazing instruments including Godin brands Seagull, Art & Lutherie, La Patrie, Richmond and of course Godin. The Peppino Signatur e is handmade in Canada and features a Select Pr essure Tested Solid Spruce top with Solid Rosewood back and sides attached to a mahogany set neck and ebony fr etboard featuring an extra wide nut width of 1.9”, as specif ed by Peppino, providing more generous string spacing for f ngerstyle players. Comes complete with the amazing Deluxe TRIC case which of fer unparalleled protection against bumps, climate and back pain. For more information on the Godin range of guitars contact Dynamic Music on (02) 9939 1299 or visit www.godindirect.com.au PG. 16
MIXDOWN NO. 216
Some that play drums focus on speed, some on f lls or solos. At the heart of a true musician ther e is: a drive to better oneself, the will to control your playing and eagerness to explore and sometimes expand the boundaries in music. This site is the off cial home of musician Der ek Roddy. In a world full of new bands and drummers popping up every day ther e are only a handful that stand at the top, apart fr om the f ock. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Meinl cymbals, Derek will be heading around the country for a clinic tour. Sweet! CLINIC DATES: April 28 – Christ Church Hall, Geelong VIC April 30 – Red Hot Music, Devonport TAS May 1 – Cranbour ne Music Drumstor e, Cranbourne VIC May 2 – Drumtek, Northcote VIC May 3 – Allans Billy Hyde, Adelaide SA May 4 – Allans Billy Hyde, Perth WA May 5 – Mega Music, Perth WA May 7 – Allans Billy Hyde, Gold Coast QLD May 8 – Allans Billy Hyde, Parramatta NSW
APRIL 2012
Peavey Electronics proudly announces the Xport, a high f delity, ultra-portable 1/4” jack-to-USB audio interface for electric guitar and bass. Xport uses a standar d USB cable to connect your guitar to a personal computer or laptop. The Xport’ s highquality ASIO and Cor e Audio drivers of fer rocksolid performance for both Windows and Mac OS X.
Powered by the USB bus and featuring both Headphone and Line outputs, the Xport pr ovides musicians with a simple, hassle-free digital recording solution. Included with Xport is Peavey ReValver amp modeling software, the only virtual amplif er that captur es the true tone characteristics of vacuum tubes. This state-of-the-art software can be used as a stand-alone virtual amplif er or with your favourite recording software. For more information on the Peavey range of products, phone Audio Products Group on (02) 9669 3477 or visit www.audioproducts.com.au
KORG MICROKEY USB POWERED KEYBOARD
The Korg microKEY USB MIDI keyboar d family has expanded! The perfect companion for PC-based music production or performance is now available with 25 or 61 keys, in addition to the original 37-key model. The microKEY is a compact USB MIDI keyboard that’s ideal for the musician who wants to assemble a convenient and compact music pr oduction system. All models feature the acclaimed velocity-sensitive Natural T ouch
mini-keyboard found on other Kor g instruments such as the micr oKORG XL and micr oARRANGER. The microKEY is the ideal USB MIDI keyboard. For more information on the Kor g range of products, phone Music Link on (03) 9765 6565 or visit www.musiclink.com.au
RĂ˜DE ROCKS INTERNATIONAL BAND COMPETITION Think you’ve got what it takes to make it big? RĂ˜DE is looking for the very best unsigned artists around the world in the ‘RĂ˜DE Rocks’ talent search. Enter the competition online and you could be on your way to the Recor d Plant in Hollywood to record with all-star pr oducer Alain Johannes (Chris Cor nell, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Them Cr ooked Vultures). There are also a stack of studio prizes up for grabs too. Check out the illustrious list of judges that will be deciding who takes the cr own, your musical idol might just be one of them. Don’ t delay, you have nothing to loose!
PRODUCT NEWS ZOOM G5 GUITAR EFFECTS AND AMP SIMULATOR
For more information and details on how to enter RĂ˜DE Rocks, visit roderocks.com
Zoom is taking the gr oundbreaking design of its G3 pedal and dialing it up a notch with the G5 Guitar Effects and Amp Simulator Pedal. The G5 combines the ease of a stompbox pedalboard and the power of a multi-effects pedal and USB audio interface, along with an extra LCD display/footswitch interface, T ube Booster, 3D Z-pedal and additional amp models and effects. While extremely easy to use, the G5 gives you the ultimate in contr ol over your guitar tones for in stage and studio settings. Tube Booster, Z Pedal, the latest DSP, over 120 versatile effects on board and 60 second Looper function make this an amazing guitar tool. Then ther e’s the drum machine, USB interface for DAW recording and built in balanced DI! For more information on the Zoom range of products contact Dynamic Music on (02) 9939 1299 or visit www.dynamicmusic.com.au
PEAVEY TRIFLEX II
Wharfedale Pro Delta Series Speakers The Delta Series utilises robust technology and durable components to provide outstanding High output, low distortion cast-frame woofers with 3� voice coils are used for unparalled !"# $%# essive SPL and smooth HF dispersion. waveguides for impressive sonant nant plywood with dual Constructed from resonant o en nsure that your sound angle pole mounts to ensure he audience, a not at the is aimed directly at the ceiling. ( & & ' ( used on all models. Thiss new rpetthe durability of a carpetcovered enclosure. ing Comprehensive rigging D points are provided on Delta
) * )% meaning the series is equally at home + & $( e handles complete the d well-constructed and rugged enclosures.
Available from Industry Gear dealers nationwide. DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME! (02) 9718 4900 E-MAIL: SALES@INDUSTRYGEAR.COM.AU
The e Trifle Trif ex II is isaa1000 1000Watt W att three piece piece, two two-channel chann sound system, already tweaked and ready to go for sound reinforcement, DJ gigs, and various music playback duties. Consisting of a shared subwoofer cabinet and a pair of satellite speakers, the system has been pr e-engineered for a balanced sound and a crisp, punchy pr esentation. The three-way effective performance that the system is capable of provides a clear sound at high output levels, with plenty of punchy bass. For more information on the Peavey range of products, phone Audio Products Group on (02) 9669 3477 or visit www.audioproducts.com.au
AMPEG MICRO-CL
Let’s face it. You are the type who would happily crank up a full Ampeg SVT stack in your living r oom. Heck, who needs neighbours anyway? And noise violations are really just a badge of honour, right? For the rest of us, there is the Ampeg Micro-CL Stack, delivering 100 watts of Ampeg tone into any situation. It’s perfect for those just getting into Ampeg tone or for the seasoned bassist looking to practice in far f ung locations like the master bathr oom. The Micr o-CL Stack featur es a tough, 2x10 cab and tools like a ster eo input and output for silent practice, ef fects loop and dir ect out for recording. It’s everything you want in a full stack, micro-sized to f t perfectly into your life. For more information on the Ampeg range of products, phone Music Link on (03) 9765 6565 or visit www.musiclink.com.au APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 17
PRODUCT NEWS ROCKTRON UNITY TUNER
The Unity T uner is a true on-stage tuner for any gig. Part of the Rocktr on Boutique Series of stomp boxes, the Unity T uner lets you easily see what note you ar e tuning, no matter what the playing situation. Several r ed LEDs ar e also used to help you easily deter mine if you ar e sharp or f at and by how much. The Unity Tuner is equipped with a STROBE function for those who require extremely accurate tuning. The STROBE function is a sensitive tool that really allows you to dial in the exact tuning. For more information on the Rocktron range of products contact Dynamic Music on (02) 9939 1299 or visit www.dynamicmusic.com.au
EMG JAMES HETFIELD SIGNATURE SET
The JH James Hetf eld Humbucker Set is a totally new dimension for EMG, the design being driven solely with the input of James Hetfeld. After playing the 81/60 EMG combo for many years now James wanted something not only “new” sounding, he wanted a set that also looked totally new . The neck pickup uses individual ceramic poles and bobbins with an enlarged core that gives it a more percussive attack, higher output and a fuller low-end response making it clean & fat and fast attacking. The bridge pickup uses the same larger/taller core coil but has steel pole pieces, again for a tighter more percussive attack with less mutual inductance for a cleaner low-end,. Based of f the EMG 81 but brought to a whole new level. Both pickups feature an exclusive Black Nickel plated f nish and come complete with EMG’ s revolutionary solderless installation wiring components. For more information on the EMG of pr oducts phone Music Link on (03) 9765 6565 or visit www.musiclink.com.au
GODIN CORE SERIES GUITARS MAYONES GUITARS AND BASSES
These Rock Machines featur e all mahogany bodies with maple tops, and a mahogany set-neck design featuring an Er gocut rosewood f ngerboard. This gives you massive tone and endless sustain while the Ergocut shaping technique pr ovides an extr emely comfortable feel. Ther e are three models based around your choice of pickups; CORE HB with Godin Nitro Humbuckers, CORE EMG with EMG 81/85 active humbuckers and CORE P90 with Seymour Duncan P90 pickups. Each comes with a compr ehensive tonal palette due to its classic pickup switching arrangement. And just to add mor e options each model comes in a range of cool semi-gloss f nishes. If you’re looking for a big sounding guitar with North American build quality at r easonable prices try a Godin Core. For more information on the Godin range of guitars contact Dynamic Music on (02) 9939 1299 or visit www.godindirect.com.au PG. 18
MIXDOWN NO. 216
In 2012, Mayones Guitars and Basses celebrate 30 years of manufacturing world-class musical instruments. Selecting only the f nest quality raw materials and using only the best hardware and electronics for their creations, Mayones continue a tradition of handmade perfection and true craftsmanship rar ely seen in this day and age. Cr eated from high grade Flamed Maple, Quilted Maple, Swamp Ash, solid Mahogany , Amazakoe and Wenge woods and f tted with worldclass Schaller hardware, Mayones instruments exhibit an attention to detail and quality of fnish that conveys the sense of pride that the luthiers take in their work. For more information on the Mayones range of products, contact Übersonic on 03 9580 2060 or visit www.ubersonic.com.au
APRIL 2012
DVD & BLU RAY AVAILABLE IN STORE NOW! www.viavision.com.au
*While Stocks Last
ARE YOU THE NEXT
RØDE ROCKER? THE SEARCH IS ON. Think you’ve got what it takes to make it big? RØDE is looking for the very best unsigned artists around the world in the ‘RØDE Rocks’ talent search. Visit roderocks.com and you could be on your way to Record Plant in Hollywood to record with all-star producer Alain Johnnes (Chris Cornell, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Them Crooked Vultures)!
WIN
A 3-DAY STUDIO RECORDING SESSION AT RECORD PLANT HOLLYWOOD, OR AN AMAZING STUDIO PRIZE PACK!
M O C . S K C O R RODE APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 19
BUDDY GUY THE BLUES MASTER Blues legend. That’s all there is to it. Buddy Guy is one of the pioneers of the Chicago blues sound, a continually amazing guitarist, highly ener getic performer, and a prime inf uence on one Mr Jimi Hendrix. At 75 years young, Guy is nowhere near slowing down, playing Sydney and Melbour ne dates with Jonny Lang as well as, of course, what promises to be a standout set at Bluesfest. When Mixdown spoke to Guy he had just f nished up a string of dates on the Experience Hendrix tour in the USA, and was looking forwar d to his latest trip to Oz. “Oh, for an old fella I’m hanging on,” he joked. “I can’t count the times I’ve been to Australia,” Guy says. “I started coming down there in 1972. That was my f rst time coming down and I had never met [Delta Blues legend] Arthur Crudup before. I think it was the guy who cr eated the Newport Jazz Festival, Geor ge Wein - he was taking it around the world, and that was my f rst visit to Australia. And what a country, man. I just fell in love with it.” Guy has a unique perspective on the international blues scene, touring as much as he does, playing on as many diverse bills as he does, and hosting the world’ s best blues acts at his Legends club in Chicago. “People ar e the same,” he says. “People often come to my club in Chicago fr om Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and to me it’ s not wher e you’re from, it’s who you ar e that counts. And when I come down there, I feel welcome like I’m at home, especially if I can make someone happy with my music. Music speaks its own language. When I f rst came down ther e I worried, but now I’ve learned that, Buddy , you’d better go down there and make somebody happy, because the whole world is mad. And music has a tendency to make people smile for the little time they’r e listening to you. So hopefully I can keep doing that.” That’s part of the magic of the blues, Guy says: even if it’s a downtrodden kind of a song, it can help you out of a funk. The blues doesn’t have to be sad. “A lot of people who r eally don’t understand music, who come up to me and say ‘Oh blues, it makes you sad,’ after they see my show they say ‘W ow, man, your blues ar e not sad. We clapped our hands and tapped our feet and got to dance a dance all night. I was misled about it!’ And we don’ t sing about everyday life. I’m not coming to Australia to tell you “Oh, I had a har d time all my life.” I come ther e to make you clap your hands and give me that big smile!” Naturally, if you see Mr Buddy Guy live, you see him live. No backing tracks, no autotune, no mining. What you see and hear is what you get. And he wouldn’ t have it any other way . “Nowadays with all the technology , you see some entertainers - and I won’ t name names they lip sync,” Guy says. “And you know, I can’t even do that. If you come see a blues cat, man, you get the real thing. I can’t even play my own record like I recorded it! You know, I can’t even lip sync it, because when I come down, if I’m happy, man, I might even add a verse to my song! And if I lip sync I can’ t do that. If you’r e all feeling good and clapping your hands and laughing and enjoying, I might play it twice as long as the record!” Guy is of course known for his brilliant Stratocaster work, and Fender offers production and Custom Shop variations on the Buddy Guy model. “What happened was, Eric Clapton and the other British guys, they saw me and in 1965 and they’d laugh about it. Him and Jeff Beck, they said ‘I didn’ t know a Strat could play blues!’ I said ‘What do you mean, man?’ Because it became so famous. They got hooked on it because they saw me throwing it around on the f oor, you know what I mean? I was kicking it with my feet and it was still in tune, man.” Guy goes on to tell one of his favourite Strat stories: he was on tour in Africa once and his guitar was strapped to the top of the car . I blew of f in a gust of wind and hit the road. “I said that’s the end of my guitar. We turned around, went back and got it, I had to jump in the street to keep a truck from running over it. I picked it up, and it had one key out of tune. The E string was a little f at. And until somebody stole it fr om me PG. 20
MIXDOWN NO. 216
it was still good! After the British guys made it more famous than we did, they started making them look like they was smashed up. W e had them scratched up because we couldn’ t afford to get a new one! W e didn’t scratch them on purpose! As a matter of fact, we used to smoke a lot, and them tuning keys, that was our ashtrays. If you’re going to play a solo you pop your cigarette under the string ther e, and you’d forget sometimes and it’d burn down and put burn marks all on the tuning knobs. Then some of the British guys saw it and fell in love with that, and then the company started making them like that! But the way I look at it, that f rst
What happened was, Eric Clapton and the other British guys, they saw me and in 1965 and they’d laugh about it. Him and Jef f Beck, they said ‘I didn’t know a Strat could play blues!’ I said ‘What do you mean, man?’ They got hooked on it because they saw me throwing it around on the f oor, you know what I mean? I was kicking it with my feet and it was still in tune, man. scratch on your guitar, your new car, your shoe, after that you don’t have to worry about it being scratched because you’ve already got it.” Guy’s signature polka dot Strat is not the only piece of custom gear he uses: Jim Dunlop also offers a Buddy Guy Crybaby wah wah pedal, with two sweep modes (the bass-heavy ‘Deep’ mode and the more bell-like ‘BG’ setting) and the blues legend’s iconic polka dot design. Guy was one of the early pioneers of the use of the wah wah pedal, especially in a blues setting. “I’ve been fortunate enough to have the Dunlop company work with me,” he says. “I don’t know if they wer e the f rst one to make it, because Jimi Hendrix was so cr eative when he f rst started using the wah wah, him and the late Earl Hooker, people asked ‘What the hell was that?’ And they just kept banging away on it.”
APRIL 2012
Hendrix isn’t far fr om Guy’s thoughts at the moment, having just completed the Experience Hendrix tour. Guy’s inf uence on the V oodoo Child is well documented, and the inspiration obviously f ows back the other way too. “Jimi Hendrix was so cr eative, man. And when he died, the British people that br ought him out were like, ‘Hey man, whatever your’e doing, bring it on’.” Guy says that at f rst, European audiences weren’t quite war ming to tours by the likes of Big Bill Br oonzy and Muddy Waters. But the inf uence of Hendrix changed all that. “Whatever you’re doing, do it well,” he says. “And that’s why Hendrix made himself so famous. He was just doing what he was doing. And the people in New York was booing him for playing like that. Y’know, when Hendrix came along, he was playing for a living with Little Richie. And y’know, back then we didn’t look up and see we could come to Australia or Japan or wher ever we go ar ound the world, and make a decent living. It was just the love of music that made us play those guitars like that. Nowadays, young people say ‘Man, if I can be like Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton, I can get rich!’ And we didn’ t see that. Matter of fact, it wasn’t there! It wasn’t there when I lear ned to play guitar . I just wanted to learn how to play so I can be different, ‘cos can’t nobody else play yet. And that was a lot of us: the great Muddy, BB and all us felt like that.” BY PETER HODGSON
The legendary Buddy Guy performs at the Palais in Melbourne on April 3, the Enmore Thea tre in Sydney on April 4, and at Bluesfest on April 6.
Buddy Guy Standard Stratocaster®, Maple Fretboard, Polka Dot Finish, Model : 0138802306 and Dunlop BG95 Buddy Guy Crybaby Wah Pedal.
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NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 21
HOODOO GURUS SETTING THE SCENE Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian institution, responsible for some of the most anthemic rock/pop songs of recent decades, such as ‘What’s My Scene?’, ‘Like Wow – Wipeout’ and ‘Miss Freelove ’69’. With their new gr eatest hits collection Gold Watch just released and their mini-festival Dig It Up! about to hit cities ar ound Australia, Mixdown caught up with Sydney-based guitarist Brad Shepher d to chat about gear, the band’s enduring appeal, and the struggle to f nd the best way to celebrate 30 years of playing together. To the uninitiated – including Brits such as myself, and perhaps the curr ent generation of music fans who may not have been exposed to your music via their parents – how would you describe Hoodoo Gurus? How have you maintained your popularity for the last 30 years? The Hoodoo Gurus have always been unfashionably rock’n’roll. We were so unfashionable when we started in the early ’80s that people noticed us. What we were competing against on a local level was a variation of the British New Romantic sound, both on TV and radio. But we wer e these long-haired cavemen playing these big fat Gretsch guitars and we managed to capture a sort of zeitgeist, if you will, of music fans looking beyond something they wer e being spoon-fed. And I think we’ve always tried to concentrate on good songs. We’re all crazed musicologists, so we draw from a deep well of inf uences. Even if your inf uences are obvious, if there are enough of them, the lines start to blur and you can create something new. And we’re still deeply committed to our live perfor mances. Every night I go out on stage I want to destroy the audience! It’s a combination of a no-nonsense approach, a great live show, lots of good songs and not too many bad ones. Even if you don’t know the band, if you come and see our show, you will know almost every song. In many cases that’s down to the skill of our main songwriter , Dave Faulkner. Aside from the new single, ‘Use By Date’, which is up f rst, Gold Watch is a chr onological collection, and it’s interesting to hear the sound of the band evolve as the album pr ogresses. Often the changes are quite subtle, but the leap fr om ‘Use By Date’ back to very f rst single ‘Leilani’ is striking. Your current sound has a much harder edge.
The new single isn’t perhaps indicative of what we do at the moment. You might want to go back to our latest album, Purity Of Essence (2010), on which there are elements of that har der sound that developed in the band. From the perspective of the guitar sounds, r ecent stuff is mor e crunchy wher eas the earlier stuf f is more jangly. Has your gear set-up evolved much over the years? Yeah, I guess so. I was borr owing a lot of the equipment we used on the f rst few albums. I didn’ t even own much of the stuf f I was playing. I r emember that on our second album I was playing thr ough an amplif er that our producer had borrowed from a friend. We really didn’t have any decent equipment. I’ve managed to acquire reasonable equipment and work out what works for me over the years. I’m using the same amps that I’ve used for 20 years, which are Fender Tonemasters. They’ve served me very well and they never br eak-down. They’re really richsounding and I have no complaints about those amps whatsoever. Sometimes if we’re doing smaller shows I might use a couple of r ented Voxs, which I also love. Vox amplif ers have always found their way onto Hoodoo Gurus records. I’ve got an early ’60s V ox with the ‘top boost’, which has been on every album. But our live rig is essentially Fender Tonemasters and a spaceship of a pedal board. The main pedal I r ely on is a Cr owther Double Hot Cake. They’re hard to come by, but they sound mental. I have a funny little homemade fuzz that a friend made for me, which is essentially one of the cir cuits from a Roland Bee Baa fuzz, the really nasty one. I’ve used that for donkey’s years as well. There’s a Vox wah pedal too, and an old Roland Chorus Ensemble pedal fr om the
’70s, which I use for swirly, Leslie-cabinet sounds. Aside from the single and the ‘best of ’ collection, you’ve also put together a little festival called ‘Dig It Up’. I have to confess that the concept belongs to our pr omoter, Tim Pittman fr om Feel Pr esents. We’d been looking for some way to honour our 30 th anniversary. We’ve actually been going for 32 years now , which shows how long we’ve been looking for something to do to commemorate it! T im came to us with a vague concept of an event up and down Enmore Road here in Sydney. But from our point of view we wanted to tour the event, so we’ve br ought it to each of the capital cities. Some of the cities get bigger shows than others, but that’s really to do with local councils. In Melbourne we were aiming to play at the Espy and close of f the street, but St Kilda council weren’t into the idea, so we had to f nd somewhere else. There’s a lot of negotiation that has to go on. You have to f nd an appropriate environment f rst, then see if the council is amenable. In Adelaide and Brisbane we simply couldn’t f nd a suitable street that we could block off!
At the festival, what can we expect fr om Hoodoo Gurus? Well, we’re gonna play our album Stoneage Romeos, plus an extended ‘encore’ of songs that have been kind to us outside Stoneage Romeos. We’re really looking forward to it. By Tim Clarke
Hoodoo Gurus’ Gold Watch: 20 Golden Greats is out now on Sony Music. Dig It Up!, the Hoodoo Gurus invitational minifestival, is visiting the following cities in April: April 20 – The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley QLD April 22 – The Enmore, Sydney NSW 24 April – HQ, Adelaide SA 25 April – The Palace, Melbourne VIC 28 April - Astor Theatre, Perth WA
MUTEMATH SPACE ODDITIES It’s been a long time coming, but Australian audiences ar e f nally clued onto genreblending prog powerhouse Mutemath, thanks in part to the success of thir d LP Odd Soul and its mind blowing lead single ‘Blood Pressure’. Before their maiden visit to Australian shores for the upcoming Groovin The Moo festivals, lead singer Paul Meany recalls the homegrown approach for their latest LP. Odd Soul actually sounds great, which is why I was surprised to f nd out it was recorded at your house, rather than a studio. Well f rst of all, that’s very kind of you to say . What we have is an amalgamation of equipment we’ve accumulated over the years since we’ve been a band – you pick up this microphone there, you pick up this keyboard there. We’ve really just recorded on this hodge-podge of equipment. I think over the years we’ve kind of lear ned what things work best for us. The only thing we r eally set out to do was try to captur e the feelings of some of the live recordings that we’ve made as a band, and make a record that sounds mor e like that. W e’d just got f nished working on the Armistice Live record just before we started Odd Soul. I guess we wer e just feeling inspired, just analysing some of the things we did live and trying to set it up in my dining oom. r That’s all we did. W e’re locked up in my house for six months. It wasn’t anything fancy – just a Roland 2480 to do tracking, which I bought pr obably around ten years ago when it frst came out. I always had done demos on it, then we just kept getting better at it as we recorded ideas. Then we believed that we could do aour whole r ecord with this kind of thing. The mix of Odd Soul is fairly restrained in terms of instrumentation, did you feel like you had to hold back from piling on layers? It wasn’t so much holding back layers, it was just PG. 22
MIXDOWN NO. 216
trying to make each track count a little bit mor e. I think sometimes when you get into studio cr eation mode, you can be a little lazy with whatever you’r e tracking down – just pumping tracks on top of it, and it starts to sound good as it gets denser. I think that might have been a crutch on our pr evious records. This time we tried to give ourselves a little bit of a push to let go of that crutch. Whatever you’re playing needs to count because you’r e not necessarily layering it with other things, so it has to matter a little mor e. I think sometimes when we f nished our past records, it had taken us a while to reimagine it or recreate it so it can work live, so we had to strip back some of the layers. So we thought why not just cut to the chase on this record and just think about what we do live and make some music that’s ready to go for that. You self-produced Odd Soul, when it’s common for a bit of stunt-casting of a big name pr oducer at this stage of a band’s career. We’d kind of done that with Dennis Herring on the last record. It wasn’t a very lovely experience, to put it mildly. The label wasn’ t going to f ght us either because we had blown a bunch of money and it probably wasn’t worth it. It took us forever to f nish the record, and we wanted to have two pr oducers in the end to f nish it. Everyone had dif ferent ideas on how to f nish it. So I think the label was quite pleased when we said we wanted to do the opposite approach this time. We said we’d just go
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away and make something that we think is good, then we’ll come back and we’r e done. W e don’t need you to cut us a cheque, we’r e just gonna do it ourselves at my house, and that was it. They were f ne with that. I mean, we wer e hardly on the radar anyway so it wasn’ t that big of a deal. So we just went away and did our thing. We were really craving that the record wouldn’t suffer from too many cooks in the kitchen, which I think the process certainly fell victim to in the past. What was the mic setup like for recording? All we had for vocals was two micr ophones. We had this one condenser mic, a Solaris. That’ s what we used for a clean sound. Then I was using a 58 through this Focusrite pr e that has a r eally nice overdrive on it. It was just between those two, and we’d layer it out if we wanted to fatten it up a bit. It was either one of those two mics. Everything else was fairly ‘meat and potatoes’ – six mics on the drums, sometimes we only used four of. Then a lot of the time we used this Guild Maverick bass amp that has a nice spring reverb on it. We pretty much ran everything thr ough that – we ran some guitar takes through it, some bass takes through it, vocals through it sometimes, a lot of keyboards, and when we wanted to put a reverb on the drums. That Guild
amp was really important. How has touring Odd Soul compared to previous albums? It’s been r eally fun. This is the f rst time we’ve actually played the whole r ecord live. So working every track into the show has been quite rewarding. For whatever reason, past records have had those tracks that don’ t really work in fr ont of a live audience or they’r e just boring. But in that way I think it really did pay of f, because we have a very functional record. By Lachlan Kanoniuk Odd Soul is out now thr ough Warner. Mutemath will be in the country for Gr oovin The Moo as well as select sideshows. May 5 – Gr oovin The Moo, Bendigo VIC May 6 – Gr oovin The Moo, T ownsville QLD May 10 – Zoo, Brisbane QLD May 12– Gr oovin The Moo, Maitland NSW May 13 – Gr oovin The Moo, Canberra ACT May 16 – The Hi-Fi, Sydney NSW May 17 – Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC May 19 – Groovin The Moo, Bunbury QLD May 20 – Amplif er, Perth WA
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Tel: 1800 251 367 sales@ambertech.com.au NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 23
DRAGONFORCE UNLEASHING THE POWER It’s always tough on fans when a singer leaves a band. Sur e, Van Halen did f ne with Sammy Hagar, and AC/DC didn’t exactly f ounder when Brian Johnson joined, but ther e’s always that moment of “Oh jeez, will this work?” Post-Lane Warrant, heck, even post-Hagar V an Halen - ther e’s lots of scope for a misstep. The new Dragonforce album, The Power Within, will immediately shut up anyone who expects the band to lose some of its edge following the departur e of ZP Theart. About a year after Theart walked, Dragonforce announced they’d enlisted Mar c Hudson as their new voice. And what a voice. Dragonforce still sounds like Dragonforce, but even more musical, more powerful and more exciting. For a band who dishes out killer riffs and impossible guitar licks as easily as walking, kicking it up a notch is quite a feat. But The Power Within delivers. What did the switch to Mar c bring to the creative process? We def nitely turned the whole r ecording process, the r ehearsing, the whole band thing upside down and changed everything ar ound. I think it was going to happen anyway, because after we f nished the last album I wanted to look back at the ten years we’d been doing the band - how we did it, how we wanted to change things, how we could make it better. So for this album and the r ecording process, I suppose I can almost say it’s completely different from the last two albums. I understand you even jammed together on ideas for pretty much the f rst time. Yeah! Instead of the old days, especially the last two records, because it was such a rush then… When we f nished the Inhuman Rampage album in September 2005, we were still touring for the previous album. So it was all about going into the studio, writing the music, r ecording it and then, guess what: you’r e going out on another
tour for the previous album. But this album, we got to play it together and transfer that ener gy with which we play the song into the album. We had to integrate Marc into the band. It’s not just Dragonforce plus a singer . He’s actually in Dragonforce. This is def nitely the gr eat thing on this album: we wer e so open, so ther e’s no bullshit about upsetting anyone her e. We talked about the music and said ‘ W e don’t like that… we like that.’ W ith Marc we tried many things, many dif ferent vocal appr oaches, and merging them together , all for the goodness of the album. For the music. The art. People might get confused because we play a lot of solos, but really everything in the song - all the solos, the leads - they’r e worked out way after we’ve got the singing down. It’s got to be catchy before we put it in. So then it’ s not just about playing simple chords and soloing over it later! So it’s def nitely concentrating on the music f rst. Of course we’re known for playing fast, the 200bpm stuff, but on this album we also went down to some midtempo songs. W e also have
a song which is faster than all our other songs. It was a way to make the music dynamic and explore the voice of Marc, because he def nitely has a really wide range from low to high. Any cool new guitar tricks this time around? Well, fans don’ t need to worry . We def nitely have all the fast stuf f. But on this album, it’ s not like the old album wher e we thr ew in all the whammy bar tricks, sweep picking, taps, whatever, into every song. This time each song has its own theme. And on this one we tried to approach it so that every note f t every chor d really nicely and cr eated the right tension and the right feel. So we’r e kind of going slightly against the scene. Because everyone is shredding now - y’know, eight f ngers on the neck, six, seven, eight strings, necks left and right, loads of stuf f - but I think notes that sit on the chords and that move and bend into the right chord, we go a bit mor e into that. Exotic bends and all that kind of stuff.
Your Ibanez EGEN signature line is great. Any new models you’ve been working on? I have a seven-string version with the same DiMarzio pickups, and it’s got a violet chameleon f nish so it changes fr om violet to purple to green. We also have a seven-string Ibanez RG but the seventh string is fretless. I’ve got one like that with a Roland GR-55 synthesiser attached to it. So that’s a cool little thing! You can almost do slide on it because it’s got no frets. Those are probably the really weird ones. And the Ibanez 30 fret limited edition one [RG2011SC], to do some harmonies on the solos. In the old days we’d have to tune up the string but now we’ve got 30 frets to do the high harmonies. By Peter Hodgson
The Power Within is released April 13 through 3 Wise.
ALTER BRIDGE THE NEXT DIMENSION It must be hard being in two hugely successful bands at once, but somehow Mark Tremonti manages it. He and two of his bandmates Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips do double duty in Cr eed and Alter Bridge. But the vocal talents of Scott Stapp and Myles Kennedy respectively are not the only factors separating the two acts. Alter Bridge is darker , heavier and more musically adventurous than Creed, and with a two-guitar attack courtesy of T remonti and Kennedy they’re able to f esh out more complex arrangements. This was displayed to great effect on their recent Soundwave sets and sideshows, and it’s equally apparent on Live At Wembley, a live album, DVD and 3D Blu-Ray and cinema experience which captur es the band playing to an utterly huge audience in the UK, where they’re treated as royalty. The link between the band’ s UK and Australian career trajectories is very appar ent to Tremonti, as he explained backstage ahead of the band’ s Melbourne Sidewave with LA Sunset Strip glam overlords Steel Panther. “We came down her e without knowing what the cr owd response was going to be, and it’s just like we’ve been touring here our whole lives,” Tremonti says. “It’s incredible.” But with the Alter Bridge/Steel Panther extravaganza now a beautiful memory , Tremonti’s mind is on the futur e. Live At Wembley was released at the end of Mar ch on DVD and CD, and hits the stores as a 3D Blu-Ray a few months later. “Dan Catullo is a gr eat director,” he says. “It’s very well done. I think we played about 21 songs on ther e, so it’s a very long DVD, and if you’re a fan of the band you’ll pr obably dig it!” The timing of the Alter Bridge live material is designed to keep the band in fans’ minds while they concentrate on Creed. “We also have some B-sides we’ve never released that we might put out at the end of the year, to keep people happy. I think ther e are two or thr ee from the f rst record, one or two fr om the second r ecord. And when we get back home we’ll start e r hearsing for the Creed tour. We’ve already started rehearsing for the tour which starts in April, and we’ll get a new record out whenever it’s ready.” PG. 24
MIXDOWN NO. 216
Before then though, T remonti will r elease his debut solo album, All I Was. He says that while he’s always sang while songwriting, his natural inclination is to write in his falsetto range, knowing that someone with a higher voice - Stapp or Kennedy - will be singing. But on All I Was he tunes down to bring the pitch of the songs into his vocal range. “Y’know , I just never had the conf dence before. I think the more I’ve sang over the years the more I’ve developed the conf dence in my voice, and I’m f nally ready to do it on my own. But it’ s a whole dif ferent world.” Tremonti describes the material on All I Was as melody-driven, but heavier than anything he’ s released to date. “These are songs. It’s not shred for the sake of shred. It’s not an instrumental record, it’s a r ock record, y’know? It’ s def nitely got some shreddy solos on ther e, but there are some more tasteful ones as well. The r ecord’s a harder, heavier record than I’ve done in the past, so most of the solos are kind of pushing it a little bit. But no tapping or stuff like that.” Gear-wise, Tremonti is always open to new discoveries. “My favourite new amp is a Bludotone Universal T one,” he says. “Brandon who makes Bludotones makes all the amps for the old-school Dumble guys. He builds for Carlos
APRIL 2012
Santana, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, and now I got him to build me one of his newest amps. I’ve got a couple on order from him. Bludotones are incredible amps. One of my favourite amps of all time is the Cor nford RK100. Just an amazing amplif er. On my solo record I use that amplif er for rhythm and lead. It sounds amazing. I just got a Diesel Hagen, which sounds like a monster. At NAMM I found pr obably the best amplif er for the price that I’ve ever hear d, which is the Egnater Renegade 65. I love it. I’ve got a lot of high end, boutique amps that I love, and that’ s the only $2000 amp that compares to them. It’s just an amazing amp. It’s great, man, great. Also I’ve got a couple of new pedals: the T -Rex Mojo is amazing. The new T-Rex Octavius pedal is amazing. I’ve got the new line of G-Lab pedals this year. The delay and ‘verb are both so warm and rich. It’s the f rst delay I’ve ever used wher e you can EQ the delay, so if you want a nice big warm delay you can do it.”
As for guitars, Paul Reed Smith is pr eparing a baritone version of the longstanding T remonti singlecut model. And he has a few fun pr ototypes to play with as well: “I’m real excited about two guitars, one with a f xed bridge and one with a trem coming, with the new crazy r obot tuner. The newest technology there is. I think it has 327 tunings or something, and I use alter nate tunings all the time so it’ s something I’m r eally excited about. Because I spend half my time tuning the damn guitar and it drives me crazy!” By Peter Hodgson
Live At W embley is out now on DVD and Blu-Ray, with a bonus live album, thr ough Via Vision.
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NEW FOUND GLORY DEEP CUTS New Found Glory are riding high on the success of the critically acclaimed Radiosurgery. Released in August last year, it topped the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart and took fans back to the band’s classic sound. The band are about to return to Australia for about the millionth time, and Mixdown spoke to vocalist Jor dan Pundik about the tour and the demands of being a pop-punk vocal touchstone. So you’re on your way back! Y ou guys have played Australia a bunch of times. Yeah. We’ve done three Soundwaves now and then a couple of our own tours. T aking Back Sunday is going to be on the tour too. Your most recent album is Radiosurgery - do you play a lot off that? I think we’ll play a few of the songs fr om there, but we’re not the kind of band who will go and, when they have a new r ecord out they play mostly new songs. Because I know that that sucks for the people! I hated it when I would go and see a band and they would be all “We’re going to play a lot of new stuff!” So we’ll play everything. Being a musician magazine, I thought it might be fun to talk about the craft of being a lead singer. Your pitch accuracy is dead-on. How do you develop that? I don’t know, man! I think a lot of it had to do with the bands that I was listening to gr owing up. And from there it shaped the way I sang. I thought it was a cool thing to sound like a girl when the band f rst started. There was this pop punk band from Florida that we all loved, called Discount, and this r eally cool girl called Alison [Mosshart] was the singer, and now she actually sings in that band The Kills. And I think I was really just trying to sound like her! It’s interesting because ther e are some vocal styles that draw attention to themselves with
licks and tricks, then ther e’s the ‘graaarrr’ stuf f, but sometimes that doesn’t really cut through as well as a simple, clean note sung well. Yeah. And it is hard to try and keep up, to keep my voice going like that, obviously because I’m older and I’m a man, but I try my best and try to keep it as good as I can. Do you do exercises and stuff like that? Not really. Not as much as I should. Have you ever had any trouble with your voice or your hearing after years on the road? A little bit. I have a little bit of hearing loss in my right ear. But nothing that I can tell. It’s more like when I’m just doing tests and that kind of thing. I do lose my voice here and there on tour but it’s nothing I’m too concer ned about. I try to make sure I’m drinking water and not doing lines of coke or anything. I’ve interviewed some singers who basically sleep all day when they’re on tour so they can sing. Wow. I mean, I like sleeping on tour , I like being able to go to bed when I want and wake up when I want, but at the same time I don’ t want the whole day to pass me by . Especially in a place like Australia, places that ar e overseas. And I can’ t really, because we have to f y to every show. How does one become a lead vocalist and lear n that kind of attention and focus?
My real personality is more like the bass player, the kind of guy who wants to chill in the back and be the rhythm section. But I don’t know, I think it’s just one of those things. Because I am the singer, I have to do it. I have to put on the best show I can put on, and make sure people are getting their money’s worth or at least try to. Are you guys still doing your side band, the hardcore parody International Superheroes Of Hardcore? No, I think that’s run its course.
playing power chords. And I kind of look back on it now and think that I wish I took lessons and got really good at it, actually had something that I could do, y’know? Like if the band stopped, like I could play on peoples’ r ecords, but I’m too old now , it’ll never happen. By Peter Hodgson
New Found Glory will be touring this month alongside Taking Back Sunday.
Really? But it was such a cool idea! It was r eally fun for me because I didn’ t have to sing. I could just play guitar. But it was one of those things where it really surpassed what we thought it would do. I’ve always dabbled in playing guitar, my whole childhood, y’know, and I got r eally good at
April 5 – The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD April 7 – Big Top Luna Park, Sydney NSW April 8 – Festival Hall, Melbourne VIC April 10 – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide SA
about it and are not worried about the details – we’re worried about the big pictur e. That’s what punk r ock means to me.
and really connect with people and not just play on a big stage so far away that you can’ t even talk to anybody. We’re playing with Strike Anywher e and The Flatliners. Strike Anywhere have been one of our favourite bands for a long time. The Flatliners ar e doing a tour with us next week here in the States.
ANTI-FLAG MODERN UPRISING Unashamedly political and unashamedly punk-r ock, Anti-Flag keep it simple, passionate and dir ect. After for ming the band nearly 25 years ago in Pittsbur gh, Pennsylvania, founder members Justin Sane (guitar) and Pat Thetic (drums) ar e still going strong, alongside bassist and vocalist Chris Barker and guitarist Chris Head. Mixdown caught up with Pat Thetic to talk about gear gripes, their new r ecord The General Strike, and their upcoming international tour. So what sort of kit ar e you using with Anti-Flag at the moment? I’m playing a Pearl kit now. Pearl isn’t known for being a very sophisticated kit, but they sound better than any of the other drumkits I’ve had and they hold up really well for touring. The Premier kits I’ve used over the years didn’t hold up nearly as well. It’s interesting to hear that you’re a gear magazine as I’d like to raise an important point about gear. When I started playing drums I found a bass drum pedal that I r eally loved, and over the 25 years I’ve been playing, you can’t get the same bass drum pedal anymor e. Every year they keep changing the pedal. It’ s very frustrating for me to have to get used to using a new bass drum pedal. What’s the piece of gear you’re looking for that you can’t f nd now? It’s an Iron Cobra bass drum pedal. It wasn’t anything special 20 years ago, but they wear out and each time they reissue them, they have a slightly dif ferent design, tension and bearings. It changes everything. I don’t want a new pedal, I just want the old pedal to work, but I can’ t get one anymor e! Those are the challenges of my life: f nding new gear that’s the same as the old gear but isn’t all rusted together. You’re one of the original members of Anti-Flag, along with Justin. Yeah, Justin and I played soccer together when we were 8 or 9 years old. W e’ve been playing music for a very long time. We had a band that we called AntiFlag in ’87 or ’88, but it wasn’ t really the same band. In ’93 or ’94 was when the band as it sounds today really came together. PG. 26
MIXDOWN NO. 216
Has your sound evolved over the many years you’ve been playing together? Well, this is the inter esting thing. When you’r e a shitty musician, you create your own style. When you have your own style, you stick with it thr ough the years. From my point of view we’ve been r elatively consistent in sound over the years. I think the other dudes, who are more talented than I am, have been able to go in different directions, but it all f lters down through the drums and my particular style. It always sounds like Anti-Flag. The sound has gotten a little more sophisticated over the years. We’ve learned how to write a better bridge. But the basics are the same.
So have the recent political events inspired you to write more inspiring music? For sure – and mor e aggressive music. Ther e’s a hopeful element to it, too, that I hope comes across, which might have been lacking in some of the other records.
You recorded the new album in your own studio. Yeah, but we need to clarify that our studio is a cinderblock room with carpet on the walls! It’ s not posh, but having our own studio means we only have to answer to ourselves. The emphasis on having our own studio is not so we can do coke and have hookers come in; the emphasis is on having complete control of our destiny. We like to write and track at the same time. That’s very expensive if you’r e working in someone else’s studio and paying for other people’ s time. We believe we should do it all ourselves. I’m the recording engineer and the pr oducer and the vacuumer! We’ve learned how to edit drums and guitars and how to blend takes together. We do it all. Ultimately, the four of us will play all at one time, but we all go back and f x our parts. It’s a hybrid between tracking individually and tracking at the same time.
Even though you’r e broadly categorised as punk, would you say there’s more to the Anti-Flag sound? No! I’m a die-har d punk r ocker. When people say , “Is this just a punk-r ock record?” I say, “Fuck yeah!” There’s nothing better. It’s written by people who care
You guys ar e over in Australia in May . Have you been over here before? We have and we r eally love playing Australia. W e’ve played the big festivals like Soundwave and Big Day Out. We’re excited to do a pr oper club tour this year
How did the songs on The General Strike take shape? We were really inf uenced by the unrest in the Middle East and the Occupy movement in the States. Those events had a major impact on us and inspir ed us to write a lot of this r ecord. When you watch r evolution on TV every day, the passion translates into the music.
APRIL 2012
So you’ve got a busy few months to pr omote the record. Yeah, we’re playing Europe, Australia, the States and South America. We’re actually on the r oad from next week until December. My pet goldf sh will be very unhappy with me! By Tim Clarke The General Strike is out now thr ough SideOneDummy/Shock, and ar e touring nationally during May and June: May 24 – Capitol Theatre, Perth WA May 25 – Fowlers, Adelaide SA May 27 – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne VIC May 30 – The Zoo, Brisbane QLD May 31 – Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast QLD June 1 – Manning Bar, Sydney NSW June 2 – Uni Bar, Wollongong NSW
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NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 27
ARCH ENEMY KHAOS REIGNS SUPREME Arch Enemy ar e about to embark on the last r ound of touring for last year’ s excellent Khaos Legions. More melodic and with maybe a touch less death than you might expect from a melodic death metal band, Khaos Legions is also the last Arch Enemy album to featur e guitarist Chris Amott, whose departur e from the band was announced earlier this month. But mer e line-up changes can’t keep Arch Enemy down: new guitarist Nick Cordle of Arsis has taken up the co-guitarist throne alongside Michael Amott, and the band has a lot to say and do before they put the full stop at the end of Khaos Legions. You’re about to come to Australia for a very short tour. Only two shows. You know what that means for a lot of fans: heavy metal road trip! Yeah! We’re happy that we got the opportunity to play Australia at all this year , but it’s just these two shows. We wanted to play it safe. And it’s at the end of an Asia run. W e start in Japan and do four shows there, then we go r ound Singapore, the Philippines, Korea, various places ar ound Asia. Then we got the opportunity with a new pr omoter to tack on these two Australian shows, Melbourne and Sydney. We’re just really excited about doing it. I guess it’ s been a couple of years since we wer e there now. I think the last time we wer e there was ‘09. W e did Gigantour, we’ve done a few dif ferent things down ther e. This will be our fourth or f fth visit to Australia, and this will be the last one in a while. We’re obviously not going to come back this year after these shows, then next year, 2013 is going to be a year of f for Arch Enemy mostly. We’ll probably put out a new album in 2014. So I don’t know, maybe 2015 we’ll be back, if metal is still around at that point! So it’s going to be a while, so if anybody wants to see us and get their dose of Arch Enemy this is the last one for a while. Obviously the hot topic at the moment is Chris’ s departure from the band. What’s the story? Well, Chris informed us in October last year that he
wanted to leave the band. Again. [Laughs]. He’s been out of the band, in 2005, 2006, 2007. The f rst time he quit the band it was more of a shock. But this time it didn’t really have that impact on us. W e were half expecting it. He just hasn’ t been that happy playing in Arch Enemy for a while, and music is supposed to be fun. The r est of us love it and live for it, and if one guy doesn’t then that kind of af fects the whole atmosphere in the camp. So this is really for the best. And we found a new, really great guitar player. He’s in a band called Arsis and they supported us in America in 2010. I just kind of checked out the dude on that run. I saw him f rst and thought, “Shit, he really looks like Chris did ten years ago. That’ s uncanny.” Then I started watching the shows and I really liked his guitar playing and stage presence and everything. And then I just kind of put him in the back of my mind, I guess. I just pulled that name out when this situation ar ose late last year. On to guitar matters now , what wer e you after when you switched fr om an ESP signatur e model to a Dean one? Just something a little bit different. I wanted a thinner body. I was pleased with my previous signature model for a while, of course, but then you start thinking “Aah, I should have done this, I should have done that.” Then when I switched endorsement companies
I just wanted to put whatever things I’d been thinking about for the last few years - placement of knobs and switches, the little details… I also wanted a slimmer neck prof le. I worked on that a lot with Dean to get something that was still comfortable. And I liked working with Dean. Y a’ know, they’re an American company, their wood shop is in Florida so I f ew over there… although I didn’ t get my hands dirty , to my detriment! But it was just fun to be ar ound that kind of environment. I’d never done that befor e, actually. And to have input on that sort of level.
signature equipment in the studio! [Laughs] Usually the engineer will tell you, “I know you want to use this guitar, but let’s try another one,” and you end up playing a guitar that you don’t really like playing that much but that sounds better. And that didn’t happen this time around so I’m very, very pleased with that. No problem taking pictures and video in the studio! [Laughs]
Yeah, you have a signature DMT pickup... It’s very similar to the pickup I was using pr eviously but it’s got a little bit higher output and maybe a bit more scooped in the mids. That’ s what you hear on Khaos Legions: that guitar, that pickup, everything, which is very cool. I’m very happy that I can use my
Arch Enemy will be visiting Australia for a two-date tour at the end of the month.
anybody says! I like to make big-sounding r ecords. Look at Dark Side Of The Moon. Look at So. Look at Sgt Peppers, for that matter. But you can’t do four part harmonies live. So I do another take on things. But ir onically it does sound like the records: it sounds like the songs. It’s just a different take on it.”
But I listen to these things. They (Er nie Ball) were a little bit opposed to this at f rst, but we found a happy medium and so far the reactions are really positive.”
By Peter Hodgson
April 30 – Manning Bar, Sydney NSW May 1 – Billboard, Melbourne VIC
STEVE LUKATHER THE JACK OF ALL GUITAR TRADES How do I put this… are you familiar with a little thing called ‘music’? If you’ve ever listened to it, the chances ar e extremely high that Steve Lukather , aka Luke, was involved. Michael Jackson’ s ‘Beat It’? Luke. Olivia Newton John’ s “Physical” – Luke too. Richard Marx’s megahit album Repeat Offender? Luke. Hell, he’s even contributed backing vocals to a few Van Halen songs. But session work is only part of the story. Lukather’s band Toto are legendary within hardcore musician circles as well as to general pop radio audiences - an almost impossible feat to pull of f - and his solo albums somehow manage to bring together the whole br eadth of his pr ofessional career under a single banner without sounding disjointed. In fact, r ecent albums like All’s Well That Ends Well and Ever Changing Times sound incredibly current. Coming up for Lukather in 2012 is another solo album (currently in the works) as well as tour ing as a member of Ringo Starr’ s All Starr Band. But he’s currently in Australia for a series of G3 shows with Joe Satriani and Steve V ai, as well as a monster set together at Bluesfest. Like all G3 line-ups, this one came about thr ough Satriani putting the word out. “At f rst I said, ‘Are you sure you want me? I’m the right guy for this?’ W e’ve all played together befor e - as a matter of fact, all three of us have played together in LA - and we were friends, but I was a little nervous about it at f rst. Then I thought, why not? I’m a different f avour.” Luke says he’s also a different person to the man he used to be. He’ s now sober, he gets up at 5am, practices guitar for thr ee hours a day. “I don’t party any more. I’ve refocused my energy into ref ning my instrument. I used to just get up there and f ail away. Now I take a really hard look at everything and take it very seriously . I’m not sitting around trying to be a speed demon - there are so many other guys that do that so much better, why bother? But I’m trying to r ef ne the positive aspects of what I liked about my playing and what other people did. Mixing the jazz stuf f with the rock sound and r ef ning my touch, my tone, my intonation, my time… a mor e mature version of myself, rather than the drunken buf foon I’ve PG. 28
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been in the past, and been eviscerated for - and rightly so, in some cases!” So given that the G3 cr owd is fairly guitar hungry, what exactly will Luke play? “I’m not going to try to compete with the boys. That would be like beating up an old man. But I’m a huge fan of the guys and it’s a great excuse for us to hang. And it’s an opportunity to show another side of myself. We live in an internet world and there are a few YouTube videos of a few drunken jams there where I just kind of f ailed about, and it’s not really who I am. It’s not really a fair judgement.” So in that sense, the G3 tour r epresents an opportunity for Lukather to r eclaim his title as one of the world’s best guitarists. “I love the guitar again. Shit got away from me for a minute there. You do this shit for 35 years, you don’ t really realise how lucky I really am. And I r eally am lucky to do this for a living. I’m not taking this lightly. It’s going to be a lot of fun to me but it’s very serious business as well.” Lukather’s live band is highly skilled at taking his studio arrangements and tur ning them into stage-ready versions - which can’ t be easy . “I make these big, bloated, overpr oduced records and I love it!” he says. “I don’ t give a shit what
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Wherever Lukather goes, you’ll f nd his Ernie Ball Music Man signature guitar. At the 2012 NAMM Show the company debuted the LIII, a slight departure from the existing Luke model. “I’m loving mine. I wanted to do a dif ferent take on it. Nonactive DiMarzios, a little bigger body . It’s a simplif cation. But we’ve had such fantastic success with the guitar over the years, why not see where this goes?” The new, larger body shape was a response to requests from players who felt that the standard version made them look too big. “I listen to what people say,” Luke says. “Constructive criticism, I’m all about. But if someone’s going to go on the inter net and beat the shit out of me for a laugh, there’s not much I can do about that.
By Peter Hodgson
G3, featuring Joe Satriani, Steve V ai and Steve Lukather, will tour nationally alongside their appearance at Byron Bay Bluesfest. April 3 - Festival Theatre, Adelaide, SA April 5 - Convention Centre, Brisbane, QLD April 6 - Byron Bay Blues Festival, Byron Bay, NSW For more information on the Ernie Ball Music Man Luke III signatur e guitar, contact CMC Music by phone on (02) 9905 2511 or visit www.cmcmusic.com.au
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LOU BARLOW CEMENTING SOUNDS With a two-decade-plus career that has produced some of alter native music’s most seminal works under a variety of guises, it seems that Lou Barlow’s many creative outlets ar e beginning to achieve something r esembling singularity. Though his solo work and his ef forts with the fr eshly revitalised Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh outf ts remain somewhat disparate, Lou has managed to balance the projects seemingly equally with aplomb. Lou’ s imminent visit will be as a solo performer, following on fr om his Sebadoh tour of 2011 and Dinosaur Jr . visit of 2010. The man who is r eluctantly labelled The Godfather Of Lo-Fi lets us in on his multi-faceted history , his recent stint on a cruise ship, as well as shedding light on the upcoming Dinosaur Jr. LP. Your upcoming solo tour marks your thir d visit to Australia in as many years, with each visit happening under a different project. What’s it like switching between roles? I like it. Now that you put it that way, I haven’t thought about it. But it means that I can come to Australia three times in three years. I get to do totally dif ferent things, which is pretty awesome. Do you feel like you’ve achieved a sense of freedom? No, not r eally. Obviously Dinosaur Jr . is a very big priority. Dinosaur Jr. have a manager, plans and we get money to make records. And there’s a certain amount of fanfare involved, as modest as it r eally is. I have to be really careful, it’s a delicate balance I guess you could say. I try to keep up with Dinosaur Jr., which is a pretty good job as jobs go. It’s something that I enjoy. But playing with Sebadoh and solo, that’s sort of more of an expression of who I am as a songwriter and more of what I’ve done for the past 20 years – I’ve done that more than I’ve done Dinosaur Jr. So keeping that alive and keeping my bandmates in Sebadoh happy , because I sort of manage Sebadoh I guess, and more solo stuff requires me to be a little more hands on with the technical stuff and managerial issues. Basically it
isn’t easy, but it’s awesome. You kicked off the year with the W eezer Cruise [a f ve day ‘festival’ held on a cruise ship, curated by Weezer]. How was that experience? That was amazing, because I was playing solo, with Sebadoh, and with Dinosaur Jr . It worked out to be about seven days of shows, because we started with a show on land with Sebadoh in Miami. Then the next day the cruise started with Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, then the next day I think it was Sebadoh and solo, then the next day was Dinosaur Jr ., and Sebadoh and solo the next day – and so on and so on. Then it ended on land in Miami with a Dinosaur Jr . show. I think I played seven shows in all in seven days,. It was wonderful, I had the time of my life to be perfectly honest. As a performer, I was in heaven, honestly. You’ve just had your f rst record as Sentridoh [Weed Forestin’] reissued. What’s it like r evisiting your early material? I really enjoy it, I guess. When it comes to something like Weed Forestin’ – I r eally dedicated myself to that record. When I was making those songs, I r eally felt like I was making something unique to myself and something that was expr essing my situation in
the most individual way that I could. I wasn’ t really concerned with sounding like anybody else when I did it. I was trying to keep up the idea of making something kind of original. I think I succeeded. The record is a pretty unique-sounding piece. I really tried to make something that didn’ t sound like anything else at the time. It was r ecorded all on four -string guitars. I did a lot of tape collages and experiments with tapes and layering. It was trying to combine this idea of acoustic music and this kind of harsh noise experimentation. I r eally worked on it. When I was doing it I worked so hard on it and there was so much repetition involved that it still hits that part of my brain where I go, “You know, I did the best I could. It was the f rst thing that I did, it was my f rst love. You’re in the process of creating the next Dinosaur Jr. LP, how are the sessions travelling? It’s going well, really really well. I would say September probably. After this Australian tour I’ll be fying back to Massachusetts to f nish my songs, then the record will be f nished. It will be f nished on May 5th, the last day of mixing. The recent Dinosaur Jr. records, the ones since the reformation, stay true to the band’s legacy. Do you think the upcoming record will continue the run of
success? It’s always har d to say, because peoples’ tastes ar e always very f ckle. To me it sounds just as good as the other two [ Beyond and Farm], if not better . I actually did three songs for the r ecord, I don’t know if all three will make it onto the r ecord. I put a lot of thought into it, and I feel like I did my best for this one. I always do my best, but this one I tried to make it as logical and Dinosaur Jr.-friendly as I possibly could. I’m hoping that it will bear fruit. It’s been great, it was actually really good, I had a really good time doing it. I generally do, to be honest. By Lachlan Kanoniuk
Lou Barlow will be touring nationally this April. April 14 – Old Museum, Brisbane QLD April 16 – The Annandale, Sydney NSW April 17,18 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne VIC April 21 – Fowlers Live, Adelaide SA April 22 – The Rosemount, Perth WA
GRIMES CYBORG POP Without buying into the hyperbolic calls of a pr ematurely designated album of the year, the thir d full-length r elease from Grimes (the solo pr oject of Canada’s Claire Boucher) is without a doubt one of the standout r eleases of the year so far. Rising above the trappings of r ecent ephemeral musical trends, Visions presents a stunning encapsulation of sparse, and very danceable, electronic pop. While on the road from her recent SXSW showcases, Clair e speaks about her r ole as producer and her high f delity aspirations. Things are pretty crazy for you right now , do you think everything’s going to plan? I guess so. I don’ t really know what the plan was. I didn’t know what to expect befor e it all happened, but it’s all going better than I could have planned. It’s pretty crazy. How are you coping with the sudden widespr ead exposure? Sometimes it’s really stressful, thinking that everything you’re doing is going to be evaluated. We played this one show at South-By that was really bad, and it turns out it was streaming online and 140,000 people were watching it. But it was def nitely one of the worst shows I’ve ever played. It was one of those moments where you think, “Oh my god, what the fuck have I done?” But you just have to let it go. Your previous cassette r eleases lend themselves to lo-f , but Visions marks a pr ogression into something a lot cleaner. I’m really into hi-f . The album could be mor e hi-f , it’s not radio-slick. Def nitely one of my goals is to be a really good producer. I just want to always do weird stuff, but I want to be able to do radio-quality stuff as well. And I’m def nitely working towards that – getting better at making it sound professional. Where do you make the distinction between yourself and mainstr eam pop artists, such as Mariah Carey? Mariah Carey, I love her and think she’s the greatest, PG. 30
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but she’s kind of a pr oduct – you think “ar e these songs even about anything?” It’ s just radio pop music. I try to make music about stuf f I r eally care about. I try to integrate all these dif ferent genres, doing something more than straight pop. Do you think you could be fulf lled working solely as a producer, rather than as a performing artist? I like being able to not work for someone else. I like the fact I produce visual art for the project of Grimes, and I produce the songs I have written. I don’t know if I’m a good enough pr oducer to produce for other people, but maybe in the futur e. Graphic design is something I’m interested in, but music is something that I care about a lot more, so I’d rather do that. The clip for ‘Oblivion’ plays with the idea of gender archetypes, is that something you try to explore with your music? I think about gender stuf f a lot, but I also don’ t want to think about it a lot. It’ s a r eally male dominated scene, and one of the r easons why I make music is because it makes me feel r eally powerful. At the same time, some of my inf uences are aritsts like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey – really dolled-up, ‘girly’ music if you would call it that. I don’t think music is ever inher ently girly or masculine. I guess there’s that aspect of it vocally. Then production-wise I like to have a lot of huge drums because it feels so violent, physical and aggressive – mixing those things together . But I want to make music that’s genderless.
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Digitally altering the pitch of your voice, is that playing with the notion of gender? There’s the whole biological thing – women have higher voices, men have lower voices. But voices are voices, their tonally rich and evocative than any other instrument. I don’ t really like to think about things in ter ms of gender – it can be alienating when music is supposed to be inclusive. It’ s where you can communicate in a way that isn’ t superliteral, you’re not saying anything except expr essing pure emotions. Gender is about delineating r oles, music is about not having r oles and just appealing to humanity. I feel that they’r e the antithesis of each other. I don’ t want to think about in ter ms of “I’m pitching down the vocals because it sounds masculine,” or “I’m pitching up the vocals to sound feminine.” It’s about how voices sound beautiful together.
exist without humanity . Digital sounds, to me, ar e very, very human. They’re almost alienating because there is this human intelligence behind it, without human emotion. It’s a universal sound that anyone can make, because it isn’t reliant on a physical body. For instance, when we were talking about masculine and feminine – women have a smaller vocal chor ds or whatever so they make a higher sound, wher eas anyone can make a bass drum sound. It seems very human to me, but that kind of inhumanity can create something scary . Like I talk about cr eating that powerful bass, it’ s cool because it’ s something more than human, something more than a biological human can cr eate. I think that’ s really interesting, combining this electronic music with layers and layers of rich vocals. It cr eates that weird, uncanny feeling that it shouldn’ t be happening but it’ s happening anyway. I think that’s really beautiful.
You mentioned humanity, but the idea of pur ely digital music seems antithetical to humanity. Well I feel like humanity is heading in this direction of cyborgism. Everything digital that exists was created by humans. Computers are a natural thing, they’re a natural extension of the human brain. They couldn’ t
By Lachlan Kanoniuk Visions is out now thr Control/4AD.
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DEAD LETTER CIRCUS SOUNDING THE WARNING It’s not every day that a har d rocking band who have drawn musical comparisons to Karnivool and The Mars Volta can land a number one freaking record. But that’s just what Dead Letter Circus did in 2010 with This Is The Warning. The strength of that album has kept them busy pretty much ever since, and as Mixdown catches up with vocalist Kim Benzie, the band is holed up in T exas after kicking all sorts of arses at the South By Southwest festival. “It was pr etty interesting, show-wise,” Benzie says of the SXSW experience. “Doing those industry shows is always kind of strange, because it’s not like when ther e are crazy people moshing out and going nuts. But we did three shows. The one with the record label over here was one of those crazy mosh-out shows - you wouldn’ t have known it was an industry show - but the r est were really cool. Great reception. Heaps of people at all of them. And the actual South By Southwest as a party is pr etty fucking amazing. It’ s like the best party if you’re in your 20s to 30s and you just want to go somewher e to rock out. It’s just a two-mile street party with bands in every nook and cranny. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was crazy.” You’re heading back home soon to do a run of shows with Fair To Midland and Twelve Foot Ninja after your US run. Yeah. We met some r eally amazing people on our travels, especially Fair T o Midland. They’re probably our favourite band that we’ve encounter ed as far as watching them live, and when you’r e going to thr ow yourself up against each other on the night and see who can put on a better show. And as people we just gel together so well. W e’ve been hanging to bring an American band back with us, and this is our f rst opportunity to do that. And it’ s just going to be crazy, man. They’r e going to bring one of the most crazy onstage energies I’ve ever seen. It’s just fucking amazing. Same with Twelve Foot Ninja. I saw them for the f rst time in Melbourne recently and I’d heard from many, many people that they wer e amazing and I’d have to check them out. And I saw them and I was like, ‘wow.’ They’re really fucking amazing.
It’s been a while since This Is The Warning - are you working on the follow-up? “We’re going to r elease a single within the next couple of weeks, that we’ve already done. We actually did that the day after Rock The Bay . And hopefully another one in September, and then we’re aiming for the album a little bit later in the year. We’re just doing a longer lead-in because we like that. W e could wait a year, but we just thought, man, everyone’s been just so patient, so it’s time to put something out there. What direction is it taking? I guess the single that’s coming out is kinda like ‘Space In The Wall’ and ‘Cage’. Just bigger and fatter , that’s what we’re going for . We just kinda went in ther e and had a crack at an idea for a song we had. W e never really write whole songs. W e just usually have 30-second snippets, then we get in ther e, improvise, stress each other out, get into the pr essure, and
then something pops out. And this time something popped out. So are you working with Forrester again on the new stuff? Yeah def nitely. We feel we’ve got a bit of unf nished business with him. He’s kind of like a member of the band, in a way. We might even do the next one with him too, who knows. But we feel like we didn’ t even get started on the last couple of things. It’s not like everything he does sounds the same or anything, but usually if you’re a fan of one band he’s worked with, you’ll be a fan of another. I can’t think of many other people in Australia that are delivering in the way that he’s delivering. And the way that he cooks it as well, like he went over and trained in America. And he’s really doing about six peoples’ jobs. In America you’d have a drum guy that does the drums, sets up the mics, a guitar guy that just does the guitars, someone that sits ther e and edits it all, and all that kind of stuf f. But he’s a package in one. And
he really puts his energy into the music, which is kind of unique. Some people ar e like, if you’ve got your songs, they’ll just get you to play it. But he’ll make it sound a certain way . Like he’ll actually get his head inside the song, and he’s not scared to challenge you and to say ‘I don’t think that bit’s the best you’ve got in you. Pull something else out.’ And even at the last minute he’ll pull some crazy fucking 3am shit and go “Oh, I’m not really biting on that bit. Go write another bit.” And you’ll go, “Fuck dude, I’m catching a plane in four hours. What do you want me to do?” and he’ll say “It r eally needs to be done, dude. Just go and do it.” He’s really quite an amazing guy to work with. By Peter Hodgson
Dead Letter Circus will head out on the massive Sleepwalker Tour this May. For full tour dates, head to wwwdeadlettercircus.com/shows
CHILDREN COLLIDE STICKING TO THEIR GUNS There’s no bullshit when it comes to Childr en Collide. You needn’t look further than their announcement that their fourth drummer , Ryan Ceaser, would be leaving the band due to tension with fr ontman Johnny Mackay. Rather than spew forth the hackneyed cry of “creative differences”, the band laid everything out for all to see. The aversion to bullshit also applies to their musical output, which is set to include the upcoming thir d LP Monument. In the midst of the f nal tour with Ceaser, we caught up with Johnny as he let us in on the creation of the new record, as well as plans for recruiting a new drummer. The third album tends to be the stage wher e twopieces and three-pieces start to expand their ranks, have you entertained the thought in the live or studio setting? This album actually has a few extra bits on it wher e we could actually get some else into play . But we’ve always had the extra noises going on in our production. I guess it’s a thought, but I suppose our space dynamic would be pretty weird on a smaller stage – with an extra person there I’d probably end up knocking over their keyboard or whatever they’d play . But that could be part of the fun, I dunno. The new r ecord sounds stadium-sized, despite adhering to the three-piece formation. That all comes down to W oody [Annison, pr oducer] really. Woody and I would sit ther e with three or four amps set up, I’d be pulling out pedals left right and centre. We’d have up to ten or twelve guitars, maybe more, to choose from. We’d just sort of go through and test the sound. I have this ’62 Jag that I bought a while back. We were playing in New York and our gear didn’t arrive from LA, and we were sitting there waiting for the last f ight and it never came, we waited the next day and it never came. Then the only guitar we could hir e was this horrible brand new Squier thing. So I ended up just biting the bullet and buying a really nice guitar. Our tech then immediately put gaffa tape all over it, which fucked the paint job. But it sounds good and it ended up all over the record. It’s a really great guitar. Then we just experimented with all these amps. Woody’s done a really great job on the production. PG. 32
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Would you classify W oody as the fourth band member? In a sense, yeah. W e did our second EP with him, as well as pretty much all our demos since then. Not so much on a creative level, but on a production level he’s that for sure. You’ve kicked off the Sword To A Gunf ght Tour, how are the new tracks going down in the live setting? We’re only doing a couple off the record on this tour, but there’s one called ‘Cherry’ that’s killing it live. Everybody’s just paying attention to it, which feels good. ‘Sword To A Gunf ght’ has been compar ed favourably to the likes of Primal Scream, was that an explicit inf uence? I dunno, I always experiment in a lot of dif ferent ways. Whatever I’m listening to at the time seems to come out. That’s sort of what just happened, it wasn’ t very conscious. ‘Sword To A Gunf ght’ was written pr etty much sraight after the Big Day Out tour , and I was just mucking about in my r oom trying to get a little bit like Bobby [Gillespie]. It didn’ t really turn out that much like Primal Scream, but it’s always fun to try and attempt those things. I’m not a very good emulator , so whenever I try to emulate, it always sounds like I’m trying to do something else anyway . There’s probably a lot more early ‘70s German stuff on there more than anything. Having made mention of that UK and Ger man inf uence, you still r etain some very Australian
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qualities. Is that something you hold onto with pride? I just feel like I sound like a fake dick when I sing with an American accent. I think a lot of people do. It’ s a massive turn-off for me when I hear Australian bands singing with an American accent. They generally sound like dicks. [Laughs]. You’re averaging ar ound one album a year at this stage, which is rar e these days. Is it diff cult to uphold that stream? I f nd it diff cult to restrain the output. I’d put out more albums if it was feasible. I’ve got hundr eds of songs sitting there ready to go. I’m not saying they’r e all good, but I do write a lot of songs. A lot of bands that br oke through at a similar time to Children Collide have burnt out or faded away, do you think it’ s that prolif c virtue that’s kept you going? That is something that the thr ee of us have together , that drive. Obviously we’r e about to lose our fourth drummer, but that drive def nitely made him a part of our team. Maybe some bands just don’t have that. For me it’s just something that I can’ t not do. And for me to have this avenue and to be able to make a living off it and be able to play for people, it’ s something I will always f ght for, for sure. The presser announcing Ryan’ s departure as drummer was refreshingly candid. Was there much deliberation as to whether you wer e going to give the standard “creative differences” spiel?
That was contemplated, but that’ s really not who we are. Also it would have left r oom for a lot of r eally annoying interviews if we had to tapdance ar ound it. There’s really not much more to say on it. He’s a really good dude and one of the best drummers in the country. Just sometimes these things don’ t work out on a personal level. Saying that, this tour’s been great. The tour wraps up just before the album launch this April. What’s the gameplan at that stage? I’m trying not to think about it at the moment. As far as we’re concerned, Ryan’s our drummer. And once he f nishes, we’ll just sift thr ough the hundr eds of drummers who have contacted us so far and choose a small group to have a muk around with and see how we feel. My sister is an organisational psychologist and she does those personality tests on people, and my mums been saying “why don’t you get her to do a personality test on your new drummer?” Then I have to tell her that it really wouldn’t go down that well. [Laughs]. By Lachlan Kanoniuk Monument is r eleased April 20 thr ough Universal. Children Collide will wrap up their massive Sword To A Gunf ght Tour in V ictoria this April. April 12 – Karova Lounge, Ballarat VIC April 13 – The Corner, Melbourne VIC
I live to play... i play pro mark
Proudly distributed by D’Addario Australia sales@daddario.com.au follow us on twitter: @DaddarioAus APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 33
WHAT’S THAT SOUND? THE GUITARS OF DAVID BOWIE David Bowie has always had a knack for f nding incredible guitarists. Throughout his career he was always paired with axemen as iconoclastic and unique as Bowie himself, and that’s no mean feat. Could you imagine standing on stage with Bowie in character as Ziggy Star dust, the Thin White Duke or - hell, even just as David Bowie himself! The pr essure is def nitely on in that gig. You have to be creative, you have to have stage presence, and especially for the later guys you have to be able to do what your predecessors did too. This month we’re going to look at a few specif c Bowie guitar sounds (by Mick Ronson, Robert Fripp and Reeves Gabr els) and how you can get them too with whatever gear you may have laying around. “Ziggy Stardust” Guitarist: Mick Ronson There were a few magical tone factors that contributed to Mick Ronson’ s great guitar sound on “Ziggy Stardust.” One is his 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom, which started life with a black f nish but was sanded down to natural wood to incr ease its treble response. Ronson also used cranked Marshall Major heads with KT88 output tubes, and for fuzzier moments he stomped on a Vox Tone Bender. For the “Ziggy” sound, used a wah wah left in a stationary position as a tone f lter, rather than as a dynamicallyapplied effect. “Teenage Wildlife” Guitarist: Robert Fripp Robert Fripp added brilliant guitar work to Bowie’ s “Heroes” but he was even more present on the album Scary Monsters (And Super Cr eeps), with especially noteworthy turns on “It’s No Game” and “T eenage Wildlife.” Fripp is, of course, the master mind behind King Crimson, Fripp’ s guitar style is damn near inimitable, with his wild ployrhythms, blindingly fast hammer-on licks, and amazing tone. Fripp himself says he can dial in his signature sound with pretty much any
fuzz pedal, but if you want to incr ease your chances, try a Big Muf f-type pedal, switch to your guitar’ s neck pickup or r oll back the tone contr ol on your bridge pickup, and maybe even experiment with mic placement. Of course I wasn’t there for the recording, but you may f nd that one mic off-axis and another set back a few feet will give you the required smoothness and depth. Interestingly, despite how it sounds, Fripp’s sustained guitar lines on “Her oes” were not created with an eBow. In 2000 he told an online fan: “I have never used an e-bow professionally, and almost never otherwise. Chris Stein (of Blondie) gave me one c.1978 when we were chums in NYC. But “Heroes” was simply a Les Paul, Marshall cabinet and a way of working.” “Little Wonder” Guitarist: Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels f rst worked with Bowie in his T in Machine band, and soon found his way into the prime axeman role with Bowie’s solo work as well. There are great examples of Gabr els’ playing all throughout 1.Outside, Earthling and …hours, (a personal favourite of mine is the solo in “A Small Plot Of Land”) but perhaps the best example of his approach to tone is “Little W onder.” On this track
Gabrels used a Parker Fly guitar f tted with a MIDI pickup to interface with a Roland VG-8, an early digital modelling unit. Gabr els was always fond of the sound of P90-loaded Gibson Les Paul Juniors, so he based his main guitar patch on this sound. But on “Little Wonder” he takes this digital trickery even further. As he told Guitar W orld in 1997, “In “Little Wonder,” the guitar hook line is actually randomly looped. I sat with a DA T for about 40 minutes and played a bunch of stuf f that I liked to play or stuf f that I thought sounded cool in an abstract way . Then I threw it all onto a sampling keyboar d so I could
access all of the stuff that I played. I messed around with that until I found something. It didn’t take very long. A lot of it is pr etty random. The guitar hook in “Little W onder” is thr ee different samples that I played.” When the band started playing “Little Wonder” live, the guitarist had to f gure out how to physically play what he’d pr eviously constructed with samples. No easy job considering the huge leaps in pitch and technique between the thr ee parts that made up the riff! By Peter Hodgson
UNLEASH YOUR INNER ROCK GOD SEVEN-STRING-CHORDS If the 2012 NAMM Show was anything to go by , seven string guitars ar e in the midst of a big comeback. The f rst commercially-available rock-oriented seven (jazz guys had been doing it for years) was Steve V ai’s signature Ibanez Universe, but that instrument had the misfortune of hitting the str eets during the waning days of shred. A few years later, when the grunge boom ensured that sevens were at their lowest value on the used market bands like Kor n scooped up a bunch of secondhand Ibanez Universes and started to r eally exploit the lower end of their range. That was popular for a while and a lot of companies started r eleasing their own sevens, but soon many of these players realised that if they wer e just buying seven-strings for the low end, so they switched to baritone six-strings instead. But over the last few years, bands like Periphery, Unearth and Whitechapel have really pushed the cause for seven-strings, and now almost every major manufactur er offers at least one seven-string model. Curr ently one of the hottest cor ners of the guitar market is the boutique builders crafting handmade sevens out of exotic woods, often with extended scales, and often with particularly seven-friendly pickups by the likes of Bareknuckle and DiMarzio. Now, the easiest thing in the world to do with a seven-string is to go straight for those lowest two strings and simply chug out. But ther e’s a lot more you can do with them, whether you’r e into metal or not. So this month I’m gonna show you some of my favourite seven-string chords - chords which can be useful no matter what style you’re in. After all, doesn’ t the extended low range of a seven-string make sense in a context like country, for instance?
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MIXDOWN NO. 216
First up, personally the seven-string just feels right. To my ears the guitar always should have extended beyond the low E accepted as standar d, yet I also like that it goes all the way up to the traditional high range, for those of us who like to mash our f ngers into the squishier frets every now and then. But this means certain chor ds just sound wimpy . When played the traditional way, there’s no bottom end ‘oomph’ in a D chor d at all. But with a seven, you can maintain that high range while extending the low. Figure 1 is one way of playing a D chord on
APRIL 2012
a seven-string (actually it’s a D minus the third, but for our purposes here let’s just call it a D - when you hear it it’ll make sense). We’ll omit the high F#, use the f rst and third f ngers for the notes on the G and B strings r espectively, and mute the low E string with the underside of the middle f nger while using it to fret the third fret D note on the low B string. And there you go! One big D chor d which has all the low-end impact of a dr opped tuning but with the high-end clarity of standard tuning. Another fun chord is C Major. Normally this would again be a rather high-sounding chord, but you can lower it like this: take a simple barr e chord shape and move its r oot note down to the lowest string, release the barre so you can take advantage of the open G string. Easy-peasey. The f rst thing many players do when they pick up a seven-string is to play the familiar open E chor d shape but shifted down a string. And the second thing they do is wince, because that will sound terrible thanks to a note clash between the F# note
on the second fret of the low E string and the pitch of the open G string. W ant to tur n it into a much more sonorous chord? Try Figure 3. It’s not as much of a stretch as it looks (especially if you have good technique and posture and you and fr et with your f ngertips), and that G note is eliminated in favour of a fourth fret B, which is doubled by both of the open B strings and the B at the second fret of the A string. And f nally we come to my favourite seven-string chord ever: a Bm9 which I play in one of two ways: as a six-note chor d skipping over the low E string, or as a full seven-note behemoth. It’s a very contemplative, ambiguous chor d, and sometimes adding the octave of the low B r eally helps to add some def nition to it, but be careful! Warm up f rst! I’ve included two versions here: the full seven-note chord in the tablatur e, and the slightly easier sixnote version in the diagram. use the tip of your pinky f nger to mute the low E string if you’r e playing the six-note version. By Peter Hodgson
Programmable, loud as valve, your sound, your voice INDIVIDUALITY IS POWER.
Freecall 1800 441 440
WHAT’S THAT SOUND? KEYBOARD DEPECHE MODE Depeche Mode have br ought us numerous albums over the last thirty-plus years, ever developing and changing with their musical tastes as time goes on. Listening to their sound in the late 90’ s you hear d something much darker and more guitar driven than the bouncy , poppy synth-lead lines of their work in the 80’ s. With the gr oup hinting on social media this month that a new album is in the works and with them going back to their r oots with synth driven sounds for their last album, Sound of the Universe, ther e are all number of synth and keyboard based sounds they have encompassed over the years, few that have been untouched. But what is the single most unlikely keyboard sound they used in all that time? What really stands out in my mind is the good old melodica. EVERYTHING COUNTS In 1983 Depeche Mode released their third studio album, Construction Time Again, which featured a number of singles including ‘Everything Counts’. This track was an industrial style synth number that used all sorts of samples combining to create an aural picture as a base for the song, but it was the most unlikely of keyboar d instruments that gave this track its catchy hook – the melodica.
In two wor ds – bloody awful. It is somewher e in between the sound of a child’s toy and f ngernails being dragged down a blackboar d, but with the ability to be done in tune. Obviously this must sound very inviting to anyone who hasn’ t heard one, I am sur e, and you ar e all wondering how such an instrument could make it onto one of Depeche Mode’s greatest singles of the ‘80s. Well, it was the ‘80s, and appar ently everything counts, no matter how bad it sounds.
A TIMELESS TONE With all I have just said, it is har d to wonder how it could marry into the mix of any song, but Depeche Mode got the melodica to sit so well, it almost feels like the instrument was made just for them. Martin Gor e is often seen playing the melodica live on stage when they tour to gr eat
applause from the crowd and with a tone that is, if anything, absolutely timeless. It doesn’ t matter how, when or wher e the melodica is used, it still sounds the same. It just takes great talent like that of Depeche Mode to make it work within a song. By Rob Gee
WINDY KEYS For those of you who ar e unaware of what a melodica is or how it works, it is r eally quite simple. A mouthpiece allows the player to blow into the instruments chamber wher e the simple valve system is opened and closed with a set of piano style keys running acr oss the top of the body. They are usually found in either 32 or 37 key varieties and come in a range of horrible pastel colours that leave them looking like something out of a toy shop. In fact, you may well f nd one in a toy shop. But the sound that comes out of this instrument is what it is r eally all about.
CLASSIC KEYS ENSONIQ MIRAGE In today’s modern computer driven world of music pr oduction, there are so many options when it comes to electronic instruments. What makes this so appealing is that most of these options ar e available in software format, offering cheaper, space saving alter natives to getting the great sounds of yester day. But, unfortunately the sound of many hardware synths can never truly be emulated by a piece of software and, when all is said and done, ther e is nothing like getting your hands on the real thing. So, let’ s take a look at some of the classic keyboards and synths that some of us still own and many only dream about. This month, let’s take a wander back to 1984 and have a look at the Mirage, produced by Ensoniq. Many of the newer musicians these days may not even know the name Ensoniq, they seem to have almost dropped off the face of the earth, with just a handful of pr oducts still ar ound. But, anyone making electronic music in the late ‘80s or anytime in the ‘90s would def nitely have come acr oss a
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MIXDOWN NO. 216
few Ensoniq keyboards in their time. Possibly an EPS or an ASR model, but the keyboard that really stood out for me fr om Ensoniq was the Mirage, a sampling synth that was well ahead of its time.
not 128MB or even 128 GB as may be expected in today’s comparative units. So, one had to be creative with how you made use of this space and multi-sampling sounds was a near impossibility.
By today’s standards, the Mirage was a technological joke, but in its time it gave users an incredible f exibility within the means of the technology that was available. It of fered sample rates up to 32 kHz and 8-bit sampling, leaving it with a somewhat dated and lo-f in sound, but this was part of its char m. Best of all, it gave its users the ability to make the most of an amazing 128 Kb of storage space. Y es, 128Kb of storage,
What made the Mirage stand out ahead of many other basic sampling keyboar ds of the era was that it wasn’t just a moder n digital replicator, but it featured analogue f lters on board that could be used over the samples. There were envelopes for the VCA and VCF , an LFO and a nice low pass VCF that enabled you to take the somewhat grainy samples and give them some real character and a little extra life. Sur e, this keyboar d was
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almost outdated befor e it was even r eleased and probably fared better on the second hand market than it did when new, but it is one of those timeless pieces of junk that so many pr oducers have owned at some stage and has left its mark on so many recordings, it is hard to give it a totally bad rap. The Mirage may now be nothing but a heavy keyboard that of fers current owners very little, but it had its place in the bastions of music history and will never be for gotten, especially by anyone who had to lug one ar ound, or deal with the temperamental nature of the disk drive. By Rob Gee
Quality. Affordable. Brilliant.
ISA One [Digital or Analogue]
Saffire Pro 56
Saffire Pro 40
Octopre MK II Dynamic
Octopre MK II
Saffire Pro 24 DSP
Saffire Pro 24
Saffire Pro 14
Saffire 6 USB
Scarlett 18i6
Scarlett 2i6
2.0
Scarlett 8i6
2.0
2.0
focusrite@elfa.com.au Focusrite is distributed, serviced & supported in Australia by Electric Factory Pty Ltd 188 Plenty Road Preston Victoria 3072 03 9474 1000 www.elfa.com.au E & E O 2012
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 37
HOME STUDIO HINTS DJ CONTROLLERS IN THE STUDIO As many of you are probably aware, there are all number of control surfaces out there on the marketplace. Ther e are obviously ones that ar e designed specif cally to be integrated into a studio setup and work somewhat like a mixing console for your computer. But there is also a wide variety of control surfaces aimed at the DJ market. These contr ollers tend to focus mor e on real time interaction between the user and the softwar e, giving a mor e dynamic form of control over your computer setup. So, why just label them ‘DJ controllers’ and leave them only for use in a live setup, why not bring some of that dynamic control into your home recording environment too? TAPPING THE PADS The pad style contr oller is very popular for triggering samples and drum hits in live use as it gives the user a r eally dynamic handle on the music and brings a more human element into the performance. This too can be used to great results when producing in the home studio. Instead of laboriously marking in drum hits with your mouse, leaving you with a somewhat lifeless drum track, using a pad controller can not only speed up the process and make it mor e rewarding, but it can also add so much more feel to your drum grooves that you simply can’t get with a step sequencer. TWEAKING THE KNOBS The controller with a bank of knobs for tweaking selected parameters has always been a favourite of DJs and live perfor mers but this too can give you great control over your r ecording software.
As just about any of these contr oller works on MIDI data sent from the rotary encoders, it can be designated to perfor m just about any task within your DAW. This means that functions on your software synthesizers can be easily accessed for tweaking your sounds and EQ banks can be easily set up to make the mixing pr ocess so much more f uid. Most of these controllers allow you to set up multiple banks of MIDI contr ol change messages so you can switch your controller to work properly in different aspects of your recording software. MIXING IT UP The art of building a track fr om two decks and a mixer has not been lost, but it has become a whole lot mor e modern. With DJ console controllers, you can now mix between multiple tracks in your softwar e just like you would with turntables in a club. So, why should this be used
for just live perfor mances? Integrating a softwar e DJ setup into your r ecording process opens all sorts of avenues when it comes to pr oducing electronic music and triggering samples. Why settle with a sample being initiated from the press of a note on your keyboard when you can scratch, cut and mix them in with a DJ interface. The limitations of this process are few and far between and you ar e given the ability to add your own unique touch to the triggering of samples. After all, with all these contr ollers designed for music production and perfor mance, and all working across numerous platforms, why pigeonhole one for live use and another for studio use. Mix them up, let your cr eativity run wild and see where it takes your music.
By Rob Gee
BANGIN’ THE TUBS A SIMPLE ‘GOSPEL CHOP’ CONCEPT It’s always nice to get another idea for some new flls. Though sometimes, you don’t have to look that far fr om home to discover you alr eady have the chops there but haven’t done enough with the knowledge you have. Take this simple concept – based and inspir ed by gospel drummer and the types of f lls those amazing drummers play. They affectionately call the f ashy type f lls they play ‘chops’. So today I thought I’d shar e a cool ‘chop’ that you can experiment, and add to your own bag of tricks and is dead easy in theory. Figures A thr ough to D take you thr ough four variations of the one sticking – R L F F (Right hand, Left hand, Bass Drum, Bass Drum) and my preferred alternate stickings. Figur e A itself is enough to have a good play with. It is assumed that once you have the hang of it as written with the hands playing the snar e drum you can then move the hands ar ound the drums – try two hands per drum and then splitting the hands up across two drums, hi-hat and cymbals. The choice is yours. The next step is to look at the other variations. The process of per mutation creates these. In English, this basically means that we ar e shifting the f ll by one 16th note each time until you get back to the original sticking (Figur es B through D). Y ou’ll encounter a little challenge with each of the variations as you get used to feeling the sticking emphasising dif ferent parts of the beat. It’s a funny feeling at the start. Slow and steady wins the race if you encounter this. Another common challenge is still being able to play the two bass drums quickly on dif ferent parts of the beat. See how you go. When you can play each one, try going fr om one sticking straight into the next one.
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MIXDOWN NO. 216
Now that you can play each of the variations individually and you can go fr om one into the next, you’re ready for the next step. In f gure E, each of the stickings have been shortened and joined together to cr eate one big chop. I used each of the stickings at random for two beats each or two gr oups of four 16th notes. Where each sticking occurs thr ough the f ll has been marked. Obviously at this point, you’ll r ealise that there are stacks of variations and possibilities for this concept. The fact that you’r e dealing with essentially four dif ferent stickings means that you’ll have a wad of options. The most challenging option is to try using just one beat of each sticking (four 16th notes) and join them all together (Figure F). This makes a great f ll and when you move the hands ar ound the drums, you’ll understand that you can actually use the same combination and no one will know! When you’re conf dent, check out Figur e G and then come up with your own combinations. Information overload! Have fun.
By Adrian Violi
APRIL 2012
Saturday 28th April Drumania, Geelong GEELONG CHRIST CHURCH HALL (Next door to OXYGEN MUSIC, 261 Moorabool Street, Geelong) For Tickets Ph: 03 5223 1724 www.oxygenmusic.com.au
Monday 30th April Red Hot Music, Devonport RED HOT MUSIC 10-12 EDWARD ST DEVONPORT For Tickets Ph: 03 6424 2286 www.redhotmusic.com.au
(SERPENTS RISE/TRAUMEDY)
derekroddy.com
Tuesday 1st May Cranbourne Music Drumstore, Melbourne
meinlcymbals.com
CRANBOURNE MUSIC DRUMSTORE 132 HIGH STREET CRANBOURNE For Tickets Ph: 03 5995 5933 www.cranbournemusic.com.au
Wednesday 2nd May Drumtek, Melbourne DRUMTEK 529-535 HIGH STREET NORTHCOTE For Tickets Ph: 03 9482 5550 www.drumtek.com.au
Thursday 3rd May Allans Billy Hyde, Adelaide ALLANS BILLY HYDE 58 GAWLER PLACE ADELAIDE For Tickets Ph: 08 8223 5533 www.allansbillyhyde.com.au
Friday 4th May Allans Billy Hyde, Perth ALLANS BILLY HYDE 345 CHARLES ST NORTH PERTH For Tickets Ph: 08 9228 2223 www.allansbillyhyde.com.au
Saturday 5th May Mega Music, Perth MEGA MUSIC 95 NORTH LAKE ROAD MYAREE For Tickets Ph: 08 9330 2777 www.megamusiconline.com.au
Monday 7th May Allans Billy Hyde, Gold Coast
Follow the Derek Roddy Clinic Tour on www.facebook.com/meinlcymbalsaustralia
Allans Billy Hyde 53 NERANG STREET SOUTHPORT For Tickets Ph: 07 5532 7100 www.allansbillyhyde.com.au
Tuesday 8th May Allans Billy Hyde, Parramatta ALLANS BILLY HYDE LEVEL 1, 297 CHURCH STREET PARRAMATTA For Tickets Ph: 02 9689 2438 www.allansbillyhyde.com.au
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 39
ROAD TESTED
DV MARK LITTLE 40 L6
RADIAL FIREFLY TUBE DIRECT BOX
We’ve reviewed many Markbass bass amplif ers in these pages, but a little rarer across our collective desks is the DV Mark range of guitar amplif ers. With high pr of le users like Frank Gambale singing their praises, DV Mark amps are designed and built in Italy to incr edibly strict quality control standards and with some very unique features. Based in Vancouver, Canada Radial Engineering pr oduce a range of pr ofessional audio pr oducts from cables, switchers, snakes, DIs and interfaces to splitters, ef fects, preamps and rack gear. I’ve used some of their gear before and increasingly come acr oss live sound guys carrying they’re own Radial J48 DIs as f rstly you typically can’ t always trust house DIs and secondly they ar e killer with heaps of clean headroom and sound natural and dynamic with a host of options onboard. TOTALLY TUBULAR Intended for use both live and in the studio the Firef y is a dual input tube dir ect box with a plethora of possibilities be it for acoustic instruments, DI’ing bass guitar , adding some warmth to instruments or solely as a DI on stage. Yellow in colour with a black handle the f ref y is super cool straight out of the box. Light enough that you can carry, sit, manoeuvr e, move, adjust but solid as a r ock and tough looking that you get a good feeling fr om the steel casing that Radial have built this to last. On the front panel you get contr ols for A and B with trim levels and a select push button, a Drag on/of f button and load adjust control, low cut dial and a level control. Flick round to the back and you’r e looking at a power input, output jack, polarity r everse switch, gr ound lift, thru/pr e button and connections for tuner, insert, thru, input A and B and a remote switch. Did I mention that this thing is built like a brick? Seriously, you just feel conf dent that the Firef y is gonna work...and work and keep on working. Interestingly enough I read on their website that they have the lowest warranty repair rate in the industry too and ar ound 1 in 1000 which says a fair bit in itself!
GET LOW Radial have included a 12AX7 into the Fir ef y and with a Class A fr ont end you’r e greeted with a war m, dynamic unit with loads of character . You’ll also enjoy super low noise and the options from above to help reduce it if you desire. You can plug a host of instruments into the Fir ef y and the ability to have dual inputs with trim contr ols and then an overall level lets you switch between settings and active and passive whilst still having a constant signal level. The ability to switch this r emotely with a footswitch then becomes more appealing for say swapping between two basses or two keyboar ds without having to run over to the Fir ef y to pr ess the button. The use of the Thru control means you could also add in ef fects and switch between Pre and Thru if you need to check the af fected and unaffected signal. RADIAL GA GA A seriously pro unit the Firef y works a treat in a number of settings with great Radial build quality, features and sound! The Firef y stands as one killer tube DI box, one def nitely worth checking out. By Nick Brown
RRP: $879 Distributor : Amber Technology Phone: 1800 251 367
By Peter Hodgson Call for pricing Distributor: CMC Music Phone: (02) 9905 2511 Website: www.cmcmusic.com.au
STERLING BY MUSIC MAN RAY34
Peavey makes all sorts of amps for all sorts of price points, but one of their most popular is the Classic 50. That amp is great at mimicing certain US amp tones of a vintage persuasion. The Butcher, on the other hand, seems to be Peavey’s attempt at a mor e UK-voiced amp to give you classic rock tones but with a few handy moder n features too. PACKING A PUNCH The Butcher is a 100 watt head with 2 channels, 4 3L34s, 5 12AX7s and has two channels - Clean and Crunch. After your signal hits the amp it passes thr ough a global Presence knob and one of two selectable Master Volumes, so you can use one as your main volume and one as a solo volume boost. The Clean channel has a three band EQ (Treble, Middle, Bass) as well as its own Volume, Gain and Boost functions. This is a clean boost which increases the oomph of the pr eamp The Crunch channel also has V olume, Bass, Middle, T reble, Gain and Boost. There’s also a Punch contr ol for the Crunch channel, which gives you 12 stages of low end. Sort of like the Resonance contr ol of the 6505 but with pr eset levels, this function is gr eat for f ne-tuning the response to a particular cabinet or for simply getting mor e power from the low end for heavier tones. Around the back ther e’s a cabinet voiced MSDI output, which allows you to go into a mixing desk live or in the studio without mic’ing the amp up. It also has a selector switch for Nor mal, Bright and Dark voicings, allowing you to further shape your tone befor e it hits the desk. The effects loop has both ef fect send and r eturn level controls, very handy for maximizing how the amp responds to pedals or rack gear.
MIXDOWN NO. 216
UP THE GUTS Around the back you’ll f nd the footswitch jack, ef fects loop send and return, a Tube Mode switch for swapping between Pentode and Triode mode, speaker outs, and a very clever service port which you can use to connect the optional DVM Controller interface, which displays internal amp parameters such as voltages and tube life to help you maintain the amp to its full potential. Construction quality is f awless, and I like the side-mounted carry handle with little feet on the opposite side. Ventilation is great and you can see plenty of ‘amp guts’ thr ough the grille, which really gives you the feeling of working with a high-end audiophile piece of equipment.
Website: www.ambertech.com.au
PEAVEY BUTCHER
PG. 40
YO DAWG The Little 40 L6 is a single channel amp with fr ont panel controls for gain, master volume, pr esence, high, mid, low, and a 4dB switchable pad to compensate for higher output sources, along with the r evolutionary Continuous Power Control knob (CPC). This control allows you to vary the actual power of the amp from full power at 40W (class A/B) gradually down to 1W (class A) in Pentode mode or 15W (class A/B) to 0.5W (class A) in Triode mode. There’s also a +10db boost accessed by plugging in a footswitch, and with judicious juggling of the gain contr ol you can use this to kick between clean and over drive. The Little 40 L6 features two 6L6 tubes and an ECC83 in the power amp (you read that right - a pr eamp tube in the power amp), and a single ECC83 in the pr eamp. The Little 40 automatically biases and matches the tubes if they’r e within a variance of 20 percent.
KNOCKOUT PUNCH I tested the amp with DV Mark’s C212 Standard speaker cabinet and my T aylor SolidBody with thr ee mini humbuckers. Going straight for the gain control, I dialled in a smooth, vocal lead sound with really nice articulation on single notes, but which dirtied up beautifully when I played chords. I quickly found the sweet spot on the gain control to really open up the amp’s dynamics, but ther e are some great saturated, compressed sounds available too. The clean sounds ar e nice, and it’ s handy to use the input pad to clean them up further , and the ability to combine the CPC and Pentode/T riode modes meant lots of scope to vary between punchy and mor e delicate tones. The LIttle 40 is nicely input-dependent too: when I switched to my Fender American V intage ‘62 Strat reissue I was able to get war m but zippy R&B tones and great blues and blues-r ock voices, and changing pickup settings was almost like switching amp channels. Speaking of which, the boost featur e is great, especially when you use it to add some extra dirt and oomph to an already overdriven sound. Use it on a purely clean setting and you’ll certainly get a volume jump, but it could take your head off. Use it with light overdrive and play gently, and there’s your clean tone. Lay in with the pick and stomp on the boost and you’re off and racing. Cool. It takes a certain kind of player to be comfortable with a single channel tube amp that’s as interactive as this - you need to be sensitive to dynamics and to be comfortable with a lot less compression and saturation that many other amps provide. But if you’re a rock, fusion, jazz, country or blues-rock player who r eally needs some punch to their notes, this is perfection.
By the way, the Butcher is a very attractive-looking amp. I know that doesn’t make a difference to the tone but it’s always fun to stand in front of an amp that makes you feel cool for owning it. CHOP CHOP The clean channel of fers a nice midrange character and gentle highs which won’ t take your ears of f (very important). I particularly like how the clean channel reacts just-past-clean humbucker sounds too, when you kick in the boost. The crunch channel befor e you tur n on the boost is capable of some very tasty ‘70s-style radio poprock lead guitar tones of the Steely Dan variety , with plenty of sustain. Kick in the boost and there’s lots of fuzz and rumble which cleans up nicely when you pick a little softer. There’s a nice compressed kind of attack when you really crank the gain. TAKE IT TO THE STAGE The Butcher is not really a metal amp, but it’s not claiming to be. If your tastes run thr ough hard rock, classic rock, blues rock or anything in that vein, ther e are plenty of musical, usable, playable, listenable tones to be found here. And the two master volumes ar e such a gr eat stageworthy feature that I’m frankly amazed that it’s not a standard feature on all amps. By Peter Hodgson RRP: $2599 Distributor: Audio Products Phone: (02) 9669 3477 Website: www.audioproducts.com.au
APRIL 2012
Ernie Ball Music Man instruments have a stellar reputation for build quality , sound and playability . But they’re also expensive, which means not everybody gets the chance to own one. Music Man knows this - hell, a lot of companies would kill for problems like “everybody wants to play our instrument” - so they’ve authorised Sterling By Music Man, a separate line of instruments licensed by Er nie Ball Music Man and built overseas by Praxis Musical. A RAY OF LIGHT The Ray34 bass is based on the classic StingRay bass. It’s built using the same materials and components. The spec sheet says the body is made of Lightweight Ash, but to be perfectly honest, the particular example on review was pretty heavy. Not uncomfortably so, but it was noticeable. The maple neck joins the body with an incredibly tight six-bolt joint which, when combined with that chunky body, results in incredible string energy transfer and, ther efore, sustain. The strings pass over heavy duty Music Man-designed bridges and saddles. In fact, ther e are distinctively Music Man featur es all over this bass: the curved contr ol plate, the headstock outline with thr ee tuners on one side and one on the other, the truss r od adjustment accessible at the base of the fr etboard without the need to r emove any parts - and of course, that chunky Alnico pole piece-loaded humbucking pickup, with the correct conf guration of two height adjustment scr ews on one side and one on the other (which kind of mirr ors the machine head layout). The electronics include a master volume contr ol as well as an active thr ee-band EQ with boost/cut contr ols for bass, middle and tr eble. Various f nishes are available, and some versions have r osewood fretboards. The test model was the Ray34 TBS with sunburst f nish and maple fretboard. Also check out the BLSP (Blue Sparkle) model. Nice.
BASS IN YOUR FACE The playability of the Ray34 is f awless. The fr ets are well polished, clipped and lightly shaped, and the C-like neck shape is comfortable along the whole neck, even at the lowest fret where many C-shaped necks feel a little clammy to my hands. The unamplif ed tone is clear and punchy, and this translates well to the amplif ed tone. It’s great to have the thr ee band EQ on boar d, but you can get away with not even touching those three controls and still end up with a gr eat tone. But then if you need to really kick things up a notch, all thr ee are ideally voiced for emphasising just the right fr equencies. With all the fully active basses out ther e now it’s easy to for get that the StingRay was the f rst bass to really capture the hearts of slap-and-poppers, and the ability to boost the lows and highs while dipping the mids opens up a new hi-f kind of tone that even the original bass-and-tr eble-only models couldn’t achieve. And yet it’ s also gr eat fun to crank the midrange contr ol, especially if you use a fuzz pedal, to really get some grind going. THE BOTTOM LINE The Sterling Ray34 r eally is a f ne alternative for those of us who can’ t afford a Music Man StingRay - it looks the part, sounds the part and is certainly built to a high enough level of quality to take on tour. Even the pickup, often a place wher e ‘budget’ brands cut cor ners, more than makes the grade, and I can’ t see many players feeling the need to change it. In fact, I can’ t think of a single thing I’d change on this bass. By Peter Hodgson Call for pricing. Distributor: CMC Music Phone: (02) 9905 2511 Website: www.cmcmusic.com.au
ROAD TESTED SAMSON CS SERIES MICROPHONE The new CS Series micr ophone from Samson takes on a similar idea to that which I have seen with a number of microphone manufacturers, but in a simple and economic fashion. What exactly am I talking about? W ell, in this instance, when you buy a CS Series microphone, you really get two microphones in one. A pair of inter -changeable capsules allows you to take one dynamic microphone and put it to a variety of different uses. TWO FOR ONE It sounds like a late night television shopping channel deal to begin with, but the idea is really quite clever. With the CS Series micr ophone, you get a hand held dynamic microphone designed for vocal use that can be quickly and easily interchanged to become an instrument microphone with the same housing. Generally speaking, when I get a new microphone in my hands, the f rst thing I always do is unscrew the top and check out the capsule design. I can’ t
help it, old habits die har d I suppose. But, when I got the CS Series in my hand, I found that not only did the cage unscrew, but the entir e capsule came out with it, leaving me feeling like I had been outdone, for once. The design is very simple and sleek. The capsules and protective cages unscr ew effortlessly allowing you to change them ar ound in a matter of moments and increasing the versatility of one micr ophone dramatically. You can now have one dynamic micr ophone for use with vocals, but still be able to use it in other applications for instrument work without suf fering from the r estrictive sound of the vocal microphone. ALL WRAPPED UP When I f rst had this intr oduced to me, I thought it was a really nice idea. The micr ophone comes packaged in a handy zip up case that secur ely protects the microphone, clip and second capsule all in one. This means that when
you are using one capsule, the other is kept safely away and doesn’t get lost or damaged. Which was the f rst thought that came to my mind when I saw it. THERE’S MORE The CS Series Microphone gives you far more options than having just one traditional hand held dynamic microphone. The CS1 capsule has a super car dioid pickup pattern and a fairly level fr equency response with a healthy bump up around 10 kHz. It wants to be just about swallowed when in use so you get the sound from the vocals and little else of the room noise. Because of this, it can handle a decent sound pressure level without breaking up. The CS2 capsule is a little mor e elongated in physical design and is better suited to uses with instruments. It of fers a similar super cardioid pickup patter n, but gives you slightly mor e low end range than the CS1. The CS2 is also a little more timid at the higher fr equencies, offering slightly mor e air, but without quite the noticeable bump that projects the vocals in the CS1. When used correctly, this one microphone with many applications could be a very handy tool in anyone’ s setup. Just when you think you have the right microphone for the job, well, with the CS Series microphone, you will. By Rob Gee RRP: $112
Distributor: Electric Factory Phone: (03) 9474 1000 Website: www.elfa.com.au
LEXICON MPX NATIVE REVERB PLUG-IN
There a plenty of you out ther e who have no doubt used Lexicon r everb units over the years and many who still harbour them in your racks, as I do myself. The fact of the matter is, they got it right many years ago and Lexicon have continued over the years to bring amazing sounding r everbs that appear on r ecording after recording, often the unsung her o that ties a sound together. Now, with mor e audio r ecording and production being done all within the computer , it only makes sense to take those great reverbs we all know and love and have the advantage of using them in a software format. That is why, without any further adieu, I have the great pleasure of intr oducing you to the Lexicon MPX Native Reverb Plug-in. GET IT IN THE BOX Lexicon has always been the name to go for when it comes to quality digital r everb and now that ther e are all number of softwar e reverbs on the market, ther e is still no reason to turn away from Lexicon’s award winning sounds. The MPX Native Reverb gives you seven separate reverb types. You get Small Plate, Lar ge Plate (my favourite), Small Hall, Lar ge Hall, Small Chamber , Large Chamber and Room options to choose fr om on a user interface that is quick and easy to navigate. The way the software is laid out gives you the feeling of working with the real thing, so anyone who has come from using rack mounted Lexicon r everbs will have no pr oblem getting their heads around the MPX Native Reverb. PLENTY OF VARIETY With the seven dif ferent types of r everb, there are plenty of options to be had. The plug-in comes with, as you would expect with any Lexicon r everb, an overabundance of presets ready for you to simply dial up and put to use. Editing these is quick and easy so you can build your one custom r everbs from the presets to get them sitting just right for any pr oject you are working on. ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES Naturally, Lexicon hasn’t left much out from this package. You can run all the r everbs in either stereo or mono, or even with a mono input and split to a ster eo output, should your session require. There is a compare button, which makes it easy to listen to changes you make to the settings compared to the previous ones and all your saved settings can be converted to work with dif ferent DAW formats so you can r etain your r everb sounds when working between different platforms. All in all, the Lexicon MPX Native Reverb r epresents excellent value and outstanding audio quality, especially when weighed up against the price of a har dware reverb and the loss of quality when going back and forth fr om analogue to digital repeatedly. If you want to simplify your setup and still have those gr eat Lexicon r everb sounds, or if you have yet to experience them, get the MPX Native Reverb up and running now. You will not be disappointed and you mixes will come together all too easily. By Rob Gee Call for pricing
Distributor: Jands Phone: (02) 9582 0909 Website: www.jands.com.au
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 41
ROAD TESTED
ULTIMATE SUPPORT STANDS
FRANCISCO DOMINGO FG 16
AMP-150
You can’t beat a nice nylon string guitar , there’s something about the feel and tone that just makes you play differently and approach the instrument with a fresh look. Possibly more so for those of the steel string and electric variants that rarely use a classical guitar than vice versa but I f nd donning the nylon stringed axe can open up new ideas and sounds and gets you back to playing rather than focusing on tones, effects and a million other external factors. Aimed as ‘pr ofessional classical guitars priced for working folk’ the Francisco Domingo brand work with authentic styled designs to build quality guitars at a nice price. After playing the top of the line FG 27 a few months back I was inter ested to see how it’ s little brother the FG 16 fared. WHAT A PEARLER Every brand has their entry level model and for the Domingo folks this is it - the FG 16. A traditional styled body you get a solid cedar top, African mahogany back and sides, rosewood fret board and a mahogany neck. FD have also gone with a clean inlaid sound hole rosette, bone nut and saddle and gold plated tuners with pearl buttons for a conventional look. Everything about the guitar was neat and in or der with no sharp edges or shabby ends to be seen and no marks or f aws in the f nish making for a well presented instrument. CLASSICAL I love the sound of a classical/nylon string guitar , especially the fact that even lower priced models such
as the FG 16 can still sound good thanks to their clear , organic tone and this instrument doesn’ t disappoint. Good sustain, clear low end without that nasty honk you sometimes get in cheaper guitars and a clear top end. Out of the box it felt good, the intonation and action was f ne and after some bashing the FG 16 stayed in tune. For traditional f nger style you get the feel and r esponse of f ngers on the guitar and a nice resonance through the body with the mix of mahogany and cedar r emaining clear and true. FRAN-TASTIC Francisco Domingo have put another solid of fering on the table with the FG 16. An af fordable guitar, the FG 16 offers good features a nice feel and good, r ounded tone for a decent heap. And whilst I understand some of the hesitation and bad memories people have with lower priced nylon strings that seems to be a thing of the past with solid models such as the Francisco Domingo FG 16 showing the way . Predominantly an electric or steel string acoustic player looking for something fr esh? Beginner guitarist needing a solid starting instrument? The Francisco Domingo is what you’re after. By Nick Brown RRP: $249 Distributor: Dynamic Music Phone: (02) 9939 1299 Website: www.recordingkingdirect.com.au
TS-90B
4X-48
Ultimate Support is name that has been of fering great things in musical stand design for some years, but often goes unnoticed. They have clever designs and simple ideas that often go outside the box when it comes to conventional musical stand designs. Take this intuitive appr oach and a lightweight, yet stur dy build to all their pr oducts and Ultimate Support might be just what you ar e looking for to keep you keyboar d, or guitar , or speaker, or amplif er, or just about anything up of f the ground.
PA system just what they want and need. An easy setup. Its legs fold in neatly so it can be easily transported and is r eady to go in just moments. The lightweight aluminium tube design gives you plenty of strength without too much weight to lug. The rather nifty TeleLock collar on the stand makes it so easy to set the stand how you want it. There is no more need to wrench bolts into place to secure the stand, this simple design allows you to set it Raise, Lower or Lock with a twist of the mechanism. This is how portable PA should be. Quick and easy.
AMP-150 AMPLIFIER STAND The AMP-150, at f rst glance, looks somewhat like an incomplete guitar stand, but ther e is a r eason for this. It is not a guitar stand at all, but rather an amplif er stand designed to raise small combo amps up fr om the f oor and angle them towar ds the musician. It folds up to a very compact size for portability and assembles in a matter of moments. The two legs have support ar ms to hold the amplif er and the rear support extends beyond the top of the amp as a single ar m, with a microphone clip thread on it. Y es, it doubles as a micr ophone stand for you guitar amp, further speeding up setup time and removing clutter from small stages. Just about any boom ar m can be added to the top of the stand to position the micr ophone correctly in front of the amp. This is perfect for anyone who wants to run a small combo amp and run it into the PA with a microphone.
AX-48 PRO KEYBOARD STAND The AX-48 PRO r epresents just about everything a keyboard player could want in a two-tier ed keyboard stand. It is extr emely sturdy, yet surprisingly lightweight and folds into itself so it can be easily transported or stor ed away, unlike many other keyboar d stands that ar e nothing but a nuisance when not in use. The two sets of ar ms to support the keyboards are slightly different sizes, allowing you to f t a larger keyboard on the lower tier and ar e easily height adjustable so you can have both units at just the right position.
TS-90B SPEAKER STAND The TS-90B gives the travelling musician with a
By Rob Gee RRP: $59.99 (AMP-150) $169.99 (TS-90), $369.99 (AX48 PRO) Distributor: D’Addario Australia Phone: (03) 8761 6293 Email: sales@daddario.com.au
GODIN SESSION BLACKBURST
Most guitar companies tend to take inspiration fr om one of the big ones that were right there around the beginning. This helps the builders f nd somewhere to start from, and helps players with an easy point of r eference from which to base their sear ch for their Next Gr eat Guitar. Godin has ref ned its designs to the point that even if you can tell from a glance that a particular instrument has started with the inspiration of one classic axe or another , there’s something unmistakably Godin about it. Case in point: the Session. From photos it may look a little bit like a certain double-cutaway, three-pickup guitar we all know , but as soon as you pick it up, you can tell that it’ s got its own thing going on.
GREAT TONE & EASY ASY SY FEEL FEE FE EEL EL OVER VER 40 KEYS AVA AVAILABLE LABLLE REPLACEABLE PLLAC PLAC REED PLATES
TThe he favoured fav choice of professional players around the globe!
SOLID CONSTRUCTION DO-IT-YOURSELF TOOL KITS AVAILABLE
A man and his instrumeentt dedicated to excellence ....
contact: Musical Merchandisers P: 02 9905-0311 | E: info@musicmerch.com.au | www.leeoskar.com PG. 42
MIXDOWN NO. 216
APRIL 2012
EXPRESSION SESSION The Session has some weight to it, because it featur es a Canadian Laurentian basswood body. It comes in a series of solid and transparent f nishes, including ‘Raw SG,’ which happens to be the f nish of the r eview model. Some of the f nishes are satin gloss, and others ar e high gloss, and you have your choice of maple or r osewood fretboard for any model. If only mor e guitar companies would of fer this option as standar d. Now, basswood, a very even-toned timber, isn’t typically chosen for transpar ent f nishes since it tends to be rather plain visually , but the particular strain used here has just enough of a grain to be visually stunning. The neck is a solid chunk of r ock maple with a f attish 12” fretboard radius, ideal for comfortable chording as well as frenzied soloing. Smaller radii such as 9.5” and especially 7.25” bring with them a certain risk of notes fr etting out when you bend them, while others such as a shr ed-happy 17” are great for wailing but less comfortable for wide chord voicings. Godin has nailed the perfect neck shape, thickness and radius to appeal to players of every stripe: just enough of a curve for chor ders, and f at enough for fret-burners. It’s a pleasure to play, and it’s even kinda fun to just look at. Electronics consist of two Godin GS-1 single coils and a covered Godin humbucker . Controls comprise a 5-way switch, a master volume, and a master tone contr ol
which splits the humbucker pickup. Some such designs automatically split the humbucker when combined with the middle pickup, but the Session keeps the unit in humbucker mode until you manually activate the switch, giving you seven tone options instead of an alr eadyimpressive six. TIME TO ROCK The tones are tough and punchy with loads of bass, which is bef tting of such a heavy and solid guitar. There’s plenty of high-end bite no matter which pickup setting you select, and the humbucker has a raw , focused tone which records especially well and bristles with upper -midrange harmonics. It screams ‘hard rock.’ In single coil mode the bridge pickup is especially tough, bringing out the best of the maple fr etboard and sturdy 25 1/2” scale length. Country and blues players will love this. The neck pickup has a satisfying quack and cluck when you dig in with the pick, but it cools down perfectly when you soften your attack. Again, it’s unmistakably bluesy. The middle pickup doesn’t quite have as much character as the other two but it’s great for chord work and legato melodies. WRAP IT UP In my experience working at music stor es, players often walk in expecting to buy another brand, but walk out with a Godin, having been seduced by the build quality , playability and no-nonsense tone. They’r e great, versatile instruments and the Session is no exception. It may not be for metalheads (who will ther efore appreciate the EMGloaded Redline series) but for those who need a wide variety of clean and dirty sounds in an eminently hands down playable package that also looks pr etty cool, the Session is a winner. By Peter Hodgson RRP: $799 Distributor: Dynamic Music Phone: (02) 9939 1299 Website: www.dynamicmusic.com.au
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APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 43
ROAD TESTED
SAMSON C.CONTROL SIGNAL MATRIX
RECORDING KING RD-06
The new C.Contr ol Matrix Selector fr om Samson is the perfect addition to any home studio that does not have a lar ge format mixing console and r equires the f exibility of the master bus section from one. Basically, this handy little device allows you to control your signal f ow when using your computer as your main mix bus and you need to juggle several audio signals and route them to different monitor speakers or a live room from your control room. Recording King guitars and banjos hark back to the 1930s in the US of A. The Recording King brand has recently been revived with the idea of keeping the “deep respect for tradition and history” and making these new r eissues with the “look, feel and sound of the classic models with impeccable workmanship and enhancements for contemporary players”. Sitting right in the traditional looking guitar mould indeed is the RD-06 Dreadnought acoustic guitar. DREAD A dreadnaught shaped guitar with solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides the f rst thing I notice about the RD-06 is that it looks and feels like a quality instrument. I r eally like the minimalist look with an understated logo on the headstock, sparse fret markers, a clean looking r osette around the sound hole, nice grain in the woods and perhaps my favourite - tortoise shell body binding. Yes, it may be just a small thing but something about the tortoise shell that makes you like it twice as much. This guitar is also available with a cutaway, in a matte f nish, 12 string, with a wide sound hole and a lefty if you need some other options too. SPREAD Originally designed with extra bass and volume in mind the D style will give you extra oomph and spread. The RD-06 def nitely does this while remaining clear and focussed with great middle and bass def nition. The neck felt good and although
bigger bodied it still sat well standing and sitting. I was interested to see the inclusion of a bone nut and saddle which seems to add to the sustain and tone of the RD-06 and typically only comes on more expensive axes – nice choice. Whilst plenty of strummers and band guys go for dr eadnaughts thanks to their extra volume and pr ojection the RD-06 still picks up on the little nuances making it a good instrument choice for f nger pickers, slide players or the band type guy. Woody and solid with enough zing and brightness to cut you’ve got a fairly balanced number here. CRED The RD-06 does the classic dr eadnaught shape justice, feels good and just as importantly it sounds good. I know you’ve r ead it befor e but this could seriously be mistaken for a guitar two or three times the price, plus the build quality seems gr eat. This is a serious guitar (at a cheap as chips price) that really performs. Nice one Recording King. By Nick Brown
RRP: $449
Distributor: Dynamic Music Phone: (02) 9939 1299 Website: www.recordingdirect.com.au
ZOOM B3 BASS EFFECTS & AMP SIMULATOR It feels like it took long enough, but bass players ar e f nally getting all the cool toys that guitarists have been messing around with for years. Case in point: the Zoom B3 Bass Ef fects & Amp Simulator . It’s a small box, to be sur e, but ther e’s a stunning amount of functionality built into it. So much so that it’ s kind of hard to def ne it as any one thing. Let’s have a look. THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO ZOOM First up, the B3 is power ed by the new ZFX-IV DSP chip with 32-bit f oating point pr ocessing, which gives it unpr ecedented processing power. And it uses that power for ef fects, amp simulations, inbuilt rhythms, and even interfacing with your computer for home r ecording. There are three stompbox-like sections featuring thr ee control knobs each, along with a corr esponding LCD display and a heavy duty footswitch, and these can be used just as you would any stompbox. And the displays even show helpful graphics which capture the spirit (in a non-copyrightencroaching way) of the classic pedals they’r e emulating. There are 99 effect types included, as well as a 40-second phrase looper. Meanwhile a newly developed sigmoid curve clipper emulates the distinctive clipping of a tube amp’ s waveform, and it does it in a way that pr eserves the nuances of your technique. This is put to gr eat use in the amp models: Ampeg SVT , Fender Bassman 100, Hartke HA3500, SWR SM-900, Ampeg B-15, Acoustic 360, Aguilar DB750, Polytone Mini Bruite III, Marshall Super Bass, Gallien Krueger 800RB, Eden WT-800, Mark Bass Little Mark III. And the B3 includes presets by artists like Victor Wooten (Béla Fleck & the Flecktones), David Ellefson (Megadeth), Frank Bello (Anthrax) and Doug Wimbish (Living Colour). BOOM As an audio interface, the B3 comes packaged with Steinberg Sequel LE r ecording software, and it has direct monitoring capability to mitigate latency issues. There are also 40 inbuilt rhythm patter ns with tap tempo for r ehearsal or kicking of f song ideas. And once you get it onto the stage, ther e’s a built-in XLR output with a pr e-post switch and a gr ound lift. And Zoom says the B3 of fers the world’ s fastest patch change speed: a mere 1 millisecond! There’s an input for an expression pedal too, so you can expand the unit’s functionality. The unit runs on batteries, AC
PG. 44
MIXDOWN NO. 216
adaptor or USB power, and of course it has a built-in tuner as well. KILLER B Terribly important with a unit like this: the distortions and overdrives sound killer. It’s pretty much essential for bass players to have access to grittier sounds from time to time, and the B3 nails it, especially with its Muff emulation. Ther e’s plenty of def nition and, most importantly, character to the B3’ s grit sounds. Meanwhile the clean sounds and the funky synthy goodness are all present and accounted for (and very easy to access and tweak). And my personal favourite feature - behind a metalhead fr om way back - is the ability to nail those gr eat clean but punchy Ellefson tones, which ar e as useful for pop and r ock as they are for metal. I can’t really think of anything that’s missing from the B3. Like many units of this kind, MIDI contr ol would be nice, but its absence is not a deal br eaker. As an audio interface it certainly would be nice to have an XLR mic input though. But the looper is useful and easy to use, the effects are great and the amp models are spectacular. By Peter Hodgson RRP: $379
Distributor: Dynamic Music Phone: (02) 9939 1299 Website: www.dynamicmusic.com.au
APRIL 2012
ENTER THE RABBIT HOLE That sounds simple enough. But, Samson hasn’ t left it too simple, ensuring you get plenty of options for just about any r ecording setup. This handy little box takes away the need for a lar ge mixing console and allows you to r oute all your signals for monitoring in a modern computer based r ecording setup. The r ear panel houses all the connections with a Main ster eo input on balanced TRS connectors as well as thr ee separate stereo 2-Track inputs, two of which ar e supplied on balanced TRS connectors and one on RCA connectors, making it simple to integrate most home studio equipment. As far as the outputs go, ther e are again three separate stereo 2-Track outputs, with two supplied on balanced TRS and one on RCA connectors. There are also three stereo monitor outputs, only one on balanced TRS and two on RCA connectors and a stereo cue speaker output for running a speaker system into a studio from a control room if your setup allows. Adding greater f exibility to this is an input for a talkback microphone remote switch so you can trigger the microphone with a pedal, keeping your hands free for other operations.
FREE YOUR MIND The front panel allows you to dir ect these signals as you need. You can select the sour ce from any of the four inputs and then send them to either speakers A, B or C. Y ou can also switch the signal to mono for referencing your stereo spread and dim the sound for lower level listening. Ther e are two separate volumes for your monitor speakers, so you can adjust them to account for different levels in the individual speakers. If that wasn’t enough, there is even a built in microphone for talk back to the cue speaker in the live r oom or for going dir ectly to tape for r eference notes. Add a headphone output and volume contr ol for extra measure and any software studio can become inf nitely more f exible with just one little box thanks to the Samson C.Control. This is a neat little unit that takes so many featur es from the monitor section of a mixing console and bundles them all into one handy little box that will f t snugly on just about any desktop. If you need some more f exibility in your setup and don’ t want to waste precious space or loads on money , have a look at the Samson C.Control, it just might house the answers you are looking for. By Rob Gee RRP $224
Distributor: Electric Factory Phone: (03) 9474 1000 Website: www.elfa.com.au
SAMSON CL7 LARGE DIAPHRAM CONDENSER MICROPHONE Samson continue to release quality audio products at a budget price enabling anyone who wants to expand their live or studio sound to do so without breaking the bank. The CL7 lar ge diaphragm condenser microphone is just one of those products that will make home r ecording so much more affordable. BROADEN YOU SOUND So many people ar e recording at home these days and you don’ t have to use your tir ed old stage microphones to do so just because you ar e on a budget. The CL7 r epresents a gr eat entry level microphone for those who wish to get a better audio captur e. Why let all the subtleties of your performance go unnoticed with a dynamic microphone when you can allow the CL7 to capture everything. Its lar ge 1.1 inch diameter diaphragm allows you to get plenty of low end in yourecording, r whilst the sensitive nature of the suspended capsule brings out all the brilliance and sparkle of the high frequencies that you just have to capture. COMPACT DESIGN The CL7 is not overly bulky like many condenser microphones can tend to be. It comes with a stand adaptor to allow you to f t it to any micr ophone stand and is housed within a fairly compact body so it is not too imposing while recording. You could very easily use it for drum overheads as it isn’ t too heavy and shouldn’t topple your microphone stand when fully extended and it is small enough to slide under the lid of a piano should you want. SOUNDS BRIGHT I found that the CL7 gave a war m but bright sound that let a lot of what you want to captur e into your recording. It works well for vocals as its full range covers even the most diff cult of voices and can be used with just about any instrument, given that the SPL is not too overbearing. The capsule does not like to be r eally slammed, so guitar amplif ers need to be r ecorded at a slight distance for best results. There is a -10dB pad switch on the housing to combat this, but even so, some sound sour ces are just too much for the CL7 to handle. A low frequency roll off switch is also included to eliminate any low end rumble for m your microphone stand if you are not using an optional shock mount. BANG FOR BUCK So, this is not a hugely expensive micr ophone, and with that in mind, it is not going to be the gr eatest condenser out there. That is fair enough to say. But,
what it def nitely offers for the price is extr emely good value. You can get so much mor e out of this microphone in a home studio than you could by spending the same amount on a dynamic model. Yes, it does require phantom power to operate the microphone, but with pr etty much every r ecording interface on the market these days, that is a fairly standard option. So, if you ar e f nding your home recordings are lacking a little sparkle in the mix, don’t just assume you can f x the pr oblem with some EQ. Go back to the source and try something like the CL7 condenser micr ophone from Samson, it could just give your sound that added edge you were looking for. By Rob Gee RRP: $237
Distributor: Electric Factory Phone: (03) 9474 1000 Website: www.elfa.com.au
PERFORMANCE YOU CAN TRUST Your audience deserves to hear every note, every word, and every beat. PRX600 Series speakers were designed from the ground up to perform in the real world where difficult acoustical environments, high ambient noise levels or loud volumes are the norm. With four new full-range models and two new subwoofers you can tailor a system to fit your unique needs. And our 60 years of building speakers is engineered into every PRX600. Knowing that you can rely on your system to deliver gives you the freedom to deliver your very best. That’s performance you can trust.
POWERFUL.
RUGGED.
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Distributed by
www.jands.com.au
Perfecting loudspeakers for over 80 years... Still working on the hair. As one of the oldest established loudspeaker companies in the world, Tannoy knows a thing or two about studio monitor design. In fact, they pioneered the use of compact monitor systems in the 1970’s with the famous Tannoy Super Red. Tannoy have continued to be leaders in the art of precision sound reproduction ever since and you can hear how 80 years of research and expertise sounds in the new Tannoy Reveal range. Tannoy’s quest for sonic perfection has never changed... but thankfully the haircuts have!
Reveal 501A Active $599 Pair RRP
Reveal 601A Active $949 Pair RRP
Hear the REVEAL Series at these Authorised Tannoy Monitor Dealers: NSW
Turramurra Music DJ Warehouse Sound Devices Guitar Factory Tel: 1800 251 367 sales@ambertech.com.au
WA
Concept Music Music Park
VIC
02 9449 8487 02 9564 1791 02 9283 2077 02 9635 5552
Drum Power Music Factory 03 9720 4581 Pony Music 03 9702 3244 DJ Warehouse 03 9564 1791 Oxygen Music 03 5223 1724 Hans Music Spot 03 9725 8108
08 9381 2277 SA 08 9470 1020 Derringers Music
08 8371 4030
www.tannoymonitors.com.au
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 45
ROAD TESTED
STEINBERG UR28M USB AUDIO INTERFACE
LEWITT MTP 540 DYNAMIC MICROPHONE Lewitt Audio may be a micr ophone company that many of you have never heard of, and fair enough too. It is the brainchild of Austrian designer Roman Perschon and only really came into the manufacturing stage of his designs in 2009. But get r eady folks, these micr ophones have been very well designed with plenty of thought put into what the end users will need and they ar e sure to start popping up in studios and in live applications all over the place. The MTP 540 DM dynamic microphone is one that I can see entering a lar ge number of microphone kits all around the world as a staple handheld vocal microphone. BUILT TO LAST Firstly, I had to get my way thr ough all the well designed packaging that kind of makes you feel like this microphone is something special, even befor e you get your hands on it. They have been packaged to travel safely and when you get the microphone out, you realise they have been built to handle just about anything and probably don’t need all the packaging to begin with. This is quite a heavy microphone for a handheld dynamic, but there is something r eassuring about its weight. It does not feel like a f imsy toy that is going to fall to bits when a clumsy singer drops it on stage right in front of you. This microphone is built to last and built with excellent detail. Even the gold plated XLR connection feels right and doesn’t offer any give when a high quality micr ophone cable is connected. IN USE This is a micr ophone that is designed for vocal use, but can happily be placed in other applications as well. It will handle fairly high SPL ’s without breaking up uncharacteristically, so you can even place it inside a kick drum to get some extra snap in your beat. It does of fer a rich detailed sound that is very smooth for vocal use. Quite unlike many other vocal micr ophones I own that try to emphasise certain fr equencies to push the vocal
forward, the MTP 540 DM gives you a much smoother response that allows the voices natural characteristics and variations to speak for themselves. Ther e is a slight bump in the fr equency range ar ound 3 kHz or so, but this is not overwhelmingly harsh and simply lifts the vocal slightly, sparing it fr om sounding overly muddy or undesirably thin. The car dioid pickup patter n offers excellent side r ejection and keeps the sweet spot just in front of the pr otective cage, so you do not end up with unwanted stage noise or irritating feedback when you move around. All in all, for the f rst microphone from Lewitt Audio that I have ever been handed, I am quietly impressed. This is certainly one dynamic micr ophone I would not turn my nose at if I had a chance to add one, or possibly three, to my own microphone kit. By Rob Gee
RRP: $119 Distributor: National Audio Systems Phone: (03) 9761 5577 Website: www.nationalaudio.com.au
TC ELECTRONIC NOVA SYSTEM LIMITED
I’ve got to hand it to the design team at Steinber g. Not only ar e they pr oducing some very innovative pieces of hardware to marry up with Cubase, but they are also building them in such a fashion that they will make any home studio look good. The new UR28M USB audio interface fr om Steinberg is one of the sleekest desktop interfaces I have ever seen. Not only is it loaded with featur es and carries a r espectable price tag, it looks r eally good too. And let’ s face it that is what really counts when putting together your home studio; it needs to look the part. NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE Now, the UR28M may well be a gr eat looking piece of kit, but it is so much mor e than just that. This is a well thought out interface that not only gives you plenty of ins and outs, but also allows you the control you would want over your signals. Ar ound the back of the unit, you get four inputs, two of which ar e on combination XLR/TRS inputs and two just on line level TRS connections. You also get six line outputs on TRS connections, two headphone outputs, a 2-Track input and SP/DIF digital in and out on coaxial connectors. That gives you plenty of I/O options for a compact little unit that is connected with a USB 2 port. INTUITIVE INTERFACING The front panel gives you all the control over your I/O with an elegant, but detailed layout. Ther e are gain controls for the f rst two inputs with a Hi-Z and pad button for both as well as a master phantom power switch for both inputs. A separate volume contr ol for the 2-Track input is also supplied with the ability to tune it off altogether and the press of a button. Both headphone outputs also have a separate volume control so two sends can be used independently. LED metering is also pr ovided for both input and output stages, with two simple pairs of stereo four LED strips.
SIGNAL ROUTING On the right side of the fr ont panel you f nd all your options for signal r outing. There is a Sour ce Select button allowing you to choose fr om three separate mix options and below that a Dim button to lower the level, allowing you to get a better idea of how your vocals sit in the mix. A lar ge volume knob allows you to control the master volume level and thr ee buttons above this allow you to send the master signal to each of the three pairs of ster eo outputs, allowing you to monitor your mix on different speakers at the press of a button. There is also a Mono button to bring your mix to a mono feed allowing you to hear the dif ference to your stereo spread and a master Mute button to kill the signal going to your monitors completely. WELL PACKAGED Not only is the UR28M a well designed interface with plenty of options, it is built into a stur dy metal chassis that will stand the test of time. If the interface itself wasn’t enough, you also get Steinberg’s Cubase AI6 music pr oduction software bundled with the unit and a native VST 3 Rev-X plug-in and a Sweet Spot Morphing Channel Strip included to get you up and running right out of the box. Best of all, it is a Steinberg interface, so installation and softwar e compatibility for either W indows or Mac is a br eeze. You don’t need to be a tech expert to get this unit off the ground! By Rob Gee
Call for pricing Distributor: Yamaha Australia Phone: (03) 9693 5111 Website: au.yamaha.com
MOTU AUDIO EXPRESS FIREWIRE/USB AUDIO INTERFACE
TC Electronic’s Nova System is one of the company’ s most popular of ferings. It combines the same kind of high-quality effects, intuitive operation and bulletpr oof construction that you might f nd in the G-System, but in a smaller, more backpack-friendly conf guration. The Nova System has found its way onto stages with artists of the calibre of Chris Cor nell guitarist Peter Thor n and solo artist/Guns ‘n’ Roses axeman Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal, and the Nova System Limited pays tribute to these highprof le gentlemen via the inclusion of several of their personal presets. But before we get to those, let’s look at the specs. At the heart of any good multi-ef fect unit is its distortion. The Nova System Limited uses NDT - Nova Drive Technology - to cr eate all-analog pr ogrammable overdrive and distortion sounds which can be contr olled via pr esets. and an optional expression pedal. Aside from that, there are six ef fect blocks taken straight fr om the G-System: compression, EQ/noise gate, modulation, pitch, delay and reverb. TC Electronic’s delay effects are legendary so it’s great to have them at your feet like this. There are two selectable foots switch layouts (pr eset; which lets you select sound combinations, and pedal; which allows you to tr eat the Nova System Limited like a pedalboard). There are two inputs, drive and line. Use the drive input to use the pr ogrammable analog drive section, or the line input for using the Nova System in an amp’ s effect loop. Ther e are balanced ster eo outputs, digital outputs, MIDI in/out/thru, and a jack for the optional G-Switch extension. The unit itself feels absolutely professional and road-ready in every way, and it’s a bit bigger than it looks in photos.
PG. 46
MIXDOWN NO. 216
Controls include various ef fect select buttons, four algorithm select buttons, store, levels and menu buttons, and four knobs which corr espond to ef fect parameters on the backlit LCD screen. It’s pretty easy to get around. In addition to Thal and Thorn’s presets there are a further 20 by TC Electr onic’s guitar pr oduct specialist and demonstrator Russell Gray , including pr esets inspired by artists like U2, Pink Floyd and V an Halen. The sound quality is, of course, incr edible. Everyone knows TC’ s effects (especially delay and pitch) ar e great but the real surprise here is the dynamic range and punch of the distortions and over drives. Some players pr efer to use digital effects in the effects loop (I tried the Nova System like this with my Marshall and it sounded gr eat) but we don’t always like to run our entir e sound via pedals into an amp’s clean channel. But you can certainly do that with the Nova System Limited. Changing between presets is a little f ddly so it’s best that you thoroughly read the manual before taking this thing on stage. If the Nova System Limited can handle life on stage with Guns ‘n’ Roses, it can handle anything. This is a fully professoinal piece of kit with incr edible processing power, killer tone and a multitude of options for how you use it. By Peter Hodgson RRP $879 Distributor : Amber Technology Phone: 1800 251 367 Website: www.ambertech.com.au
APRIL 2012
I have to admit, I always love getting a new piece of MOTU gear to have a play with. The guys at Mark Of The Unicorn have impressed me for many years now with their A/D converters, MIDI functionality and audio interfaces, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. It was with those high standards in mind that I appr oached the new Audio Express, and MOTU have not let me down – nor will they any other would-be users of this product. HYBRID INTERFACING This is certainly the f rst of its kind that I have seen, and I’m sure more will follow. The Audio Expr ess allows the user to connect to their computer with either USB2 or Firewire. Yes, you read correctly, you can pick your choice of connectivity. At f rst this may seem a little over the top, or perhaps an attempt to appeal to users who just cannot make up their minds, but it’ s really quite clever. In its compact and portable for mat, the Audio Expr ess is sure to become an audio interface that goes places. It may end up bolted into the rack in some studios, with its included rack mount adaptors, but many users will take advantage of its size and portability to use it as an interface on the go. With that in mind, the Audio Express gives you the ability to change fr om one computer to another without having to worry about the right connectivity being available. IN AND OUT AND ROUNDABOUT Being of such a compact design, the Audio Expr ess doesn’t have much space on the fr ont for inputs, so a lone headphone output is supplied. Around the back you will f nd two microphone/instrument inputs supplied on hybrid XLR/TRS connections, plus an additional two line inputs on TRS connectors. Four outputs and a pedal input are also supplied on TRS connections, as well as MIDI in and out on f ve-pin DIN and SP/DIF in and out on coaxial connections. These are all squeezed onto the back of the unit along with the USB and Fir ewire connections and power input.
This doesn’t mean that the Audio Expr ess is a nuisance to work with, though – quite the opposite, in fact. W ith everything connected at the r ear, the fr ont panel has been designed to make contr ol of your signals quick and easy. All four inputs have a separate volume pot, which can be pushed to engage the pad and held for phantom power on the microphone inputs. A volume pot is also included, with options for mix, trim volume and pan accessible by holding or pushing the pot, as well as a separate pot for the SP/DIF volume. The headphone volume also doubles as the power switch by holing it in. As is to be expected fr om any MOTU interface, ther e is plenty of metering available on the fr ont panel. LED indicators show all number of options, including power , mix trim, mix volume and mix pan settings. In addition to this, metering for all inputs as well as clock settings ar e represented, making it very easy to see what is going on right in the unit itself. SOLID AND STABLE As with any MOTU interface, the Audio Expr ess is built like the proverbial. It can take a beating, even though it is never really going to. Setup and installation ar e fairly simple, and it provides a stable environment once a few differences get sorted out between the unit and your operating system. MOTU have always built high quality interfaces that offer superb studio quality audio captur e at a very reasonable price. I f nd it hard to fault anything that MOTU cr eate, and I’m pleased to say the Audio Express is no exception. By Rob Gee RRP: $529 Distributor: Major Music Phone: 1300 30 66 70 Website: www.majormusic.com.au/
SCHECTER STILETTO STUDIO-4 Schecter is well known on the metal scene for their incredibly shredworthy axes (which is a huge about-face when you consider the company’s earlier days making gr eat Strat and Tele-type instruments for players like The Who’s Pete Townshend). And this helps Schecter’s basses to have a lot going for them too: the company r eally understands how to make a fast, playable and comfortable neck on an instrument that is designed to handle the rigours of the road. THE BASS-ICS The Studio-4 is a neck-through instrument with a multi-laminate maple/walnut neck and body core, given some extra visual pop by mahogany body wings topped with slices of bubinga. Combined with a r osewood fretboard, the look is elegant and ref ned, and it’s the kind of bass that could look equally at home on a country, blues, rock or metal gig. There are some hints to the company’s modern metal leanings, particularly in the form of the pointy headstock, but the overall look gives the impr ession that this is not a one-trick pony. The neck featur es 24 extra jumbo frets which ar e f nished well. The ends could be better , but they’ve at least been f nessed to the point wher e they’re not an impediment, and the playing surfaces themselves ar e nice and shiny . The fretboard inlays are a set of of fset dots: single dots for the most part, aside from double ones at the 12th fret and thr ee at the 24th. Upper fret access is exceptional thanks to Schecter’s ‘Ultra Access’ carve in combination with the noodle-friendly treble side cutaway. Electronics are a pair of EMG35hz passive humbuckers paired with an EMG active 18v thr eeband EQ (treble, mid and bass) along with a master volume and a blend pot. Built using EMG’ s CS (ceramic and steel) design, the pickups are made to offer a warmer tone due to the higher inductance of
the steel, giving them a smoother attack and fatter treble. These pickups use a solid bar magnet and are generously sized, so the same pickups can be used with dif ferent string spacings. The bridge is a massive forged steel behemoth. LOW AND BEHOLD The neck shape is a little deeper and r ound than many moder n basses, especially those by companies more oriented towar ds heavier styles, but it r eally gives you something to hang on to, and it helps to orient the hand to the ideal playing posture for soloing around the middle of the neck. The tone is evenly balanced and with exceptional body and sustain. I’ve worked with quite a few of these EMGhz sets and active pr eamps and I’ve always found them to be gr eat workhorses - very simple, no concentric pots to f ddle with, and a good musical range to work with. The tr eble pot helps to restore some of this bass’s natural treble attrition if you need it, and the midrange and bass controls are great for tucking snugly into a mix until you need to crank them for a big her o moment. And the Stiletto plays especially nice with fuzz and overdrive thanks to its full tone and not-so-searing treble. STU-STU-STUDIO This is a killer bass for… well, pretty much anyone. It’s great for slap and pop, it rocks with a pick, it kicks ass for f ngerstyle, it’s versatile as all get-out, and it’ s extremely playable. And if four strings ar en’t enough, there’s a f ve-string version with similar specs and a 35” scale instead of the Studio-4’s 34”. By Peter Hodgson
RRP: $1299
Distributor: Intermusic Distribution Phone: (03) 9765 6565 Website: www.imd.com.au
TIMBERIDGE NEW MINI GUITAR RANGE
D I G I TA L D I V I D E N D
READY
XS WIRELESS is your entry to the wireless world. No matter if you are a speaker, singer or musician these wireless all-in-one packages provide you with reliable transmission and excellent sound quality. TR-M1-NST
TR-M4SB-NST
We’ve seen a few T imberidge guitars f oat through the Mixdown off ces of late and so far ther e has been nothing but good things coming fr om this Australian operated brand. With a line comprising of dr eadnaught and some smaller sized parlour guitars, they’ve gone smaller again with a line of new Mini guitars featuring both 6 and 12 string versions. TR-M1-NST Coming in at 580mm in scale length the M1 NST is a solid cedar top guitar with mahogany sides and back, mahogany neck and rosewood f ngerboard and bridge. The NST stands for Natural Satin which looks a tr eat sitting somewher e between unf nished and gloss - I dig. W ith maple timber binding and a timber sound hole rosette you have a rootsy looking guitar that combines the cuteness of a mini with the natural look of a satin f nished axe. B-Band’s A3T pickup/ preamp comes standard and you get the option of XLR and jack outputs. TR-M4SB-NST Looking ever so slightly more ornate than the M1 the M4SB shares the same woods except for the use of a spruce top. Timberidge have also used Abalone for the sound hole rosette which is still tastefully done (no garish over the top designs here) and sits nicely against the Satin f nish. A little deeper in tone distinguishes itself her e and is super impressive for such a small sound chamber. TR-M312-NGL A mini 12 string? Yep you’ve read it correctly. Again coming in at 580mm in scale length the M312 featur es a solid spruce top, r osewood back and sides, mahogany neck and a rosewood f ngerboard and bridge. This model was a gloss and used herringbone timber binding and an abalone rosette.
TR-M312-NGL
All three guitars played great straight out of the box. Good intonation and action (which can be a pr oblem on smaller guitars) and the Grover tuners that are standard on all models felt smooth and overall the tuning stability was gr eat. More than just a novelty or ‘bash around’ guitar the Timberidge line of Mini’s sound good in their own right and amplif ed you’ve got a serious instrument (thanks to the B-Band electr onics which really seem to hit the mark.). Surprisingly good bass response and volume and clear mids and top without the tiny and bright top end you might expect fr om a smaller bodied instrument. Nothing of the sorts to be honest with an even spread and plenty of volume and body . The combination of cedar and spruce with mahogany back and sides works well and both satin and gloss far ed well with the 12 string M312 pumping out harmonically rich content that a full bodied 12 would be proud of. The option of XLR and 1/4” jack for amplif ed work will satisfy even picky sound guys and although not everyone’ s tipple the D’Addario EXP long life strings felt and sounded good to top it off. Small, portable, light, comfortable but still r etaining good tone and volume in a guitar that is capable of gigging makes the Minis a winner. Far from toys, they feel solid and usable. and tick all the right boxes and then you see the price on these – ridiculous. Amazing guitars that will sur ely shake up the mini market. By Nick Brown
Featuring: • True dual diversity antenna system • 960 frequencies tuneable in 25kHz steps • 8 frequency bands with 12 factory presets • Automatic free frequency search • Wireless frequency transmitter synchronisation • Award winning Sennheiser capsule technology
From Only $529 For more information: Syntec International Australia: Free Call 1800 648 628 New Zealand: Free Call 0800 100 755 www.sennheiser.com.au
RRP: $599 (TR-M1-NST), $699 (TR-M4SB-NST), $799 (TR-M312-NGL) Distributor: Jade Australia Phone: 1800 144 120 Website: www.jadeaustralia.com.au
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 47
ROAD TESTED
ZILDJIAN HI HATS - 14” K CONSTANTINOPLE / 13” A CUSTOM POCKET HATS
KORG MONOTRON DELAY
The synthesiser design team at Kor g seem to be having a whole heap of fun these last few years. First, they took the world by stor m with the intr oduction of the Monotron a couple of years ago, putting the power of an analogue synthesizer into the pockets of anyone who could get their hands on one. Then they went bigger and gave us the Monotribe, with more control over the synths featur es and built in drums for even more fun. Now, they have reinvented the Monotron with the Monotr on Delay, yet another pocket wonder that gives you e r al analogue oscillators and f lters all in a little pocket sized casing that can go anywhere you want it to. THE NEXT (BIG) THING Just like the f rst version, the Monotron Delay is built into the same handy chassis with a built in speaker that allows you to make weir d and wonderful sounds where ever you ar e. There is the same ribbon controller to allow you to select note values and it still allows you to feed an auxiliary audio input thr ough the f lter, allowing you to r eally abuse the VCF , the same style as the one used in their MS-20 synthesisers many years ago. What this new version brings to the table that the original did not is the MS-20 delay circuit. Yes, you get all the analogue fun with a built in delay to further add to your sounds. NUMBERO UNO I absolutely loved the f rst Monotron. I even destroyed several in mod pr ojects that left them looking and sounding nothing like their original designs. So, I was very keen to get my hands on the Delay and have a play with it. Unfortunately, being built into the same shell, you still only have f ve rotary encoders, so with
Time and Feedback contr ols being needed for the delay, some contr ol features of the original had to be dropped, but I guess you can’ t have everything, especially in such a compact design. The delay itself sounds great, it has a r eal authentic vintage sound to it and adjusting the T ime feature while it is still feeding back allows you to get some wild r esults in the analogue circuitry. BUNDLE OF FUN Like its simpler br other, the Monotr on Delay gives you the ability to have fun anywher e with the inbuilt speaker. But this only gives you half of what this synth engine is capable of. T o really hear the power of this analogue beast, run the headphone output into some monitor speakers, or better still, the biggest PA system you can get your hands one and be pr epared to be blown away by the sound. Just because it is a small synth doesn’t mean it can’ t have a big sound. And it is huge. You will not f nd bottom end like this in half the digital keyboards on the market. It has such a rich tone you could be forgiven for turning up to a gig with just the Monotr on Delay, a DI box and nothing else. Get your hands on one of these, have a try and please, plug it into the biggest P A system you can f nd. By Rob Gee
RRP: $89.99 Distributor: Music Link Phone: (03) 9765 6565 Website: www.musiclink.com.au
Nothing like a good pair of hi-hats and these two new Zildjian’s are about as good as you’d ever really need - depending on your taste of course. But I found this couple to be pr etty tasty nonetheless. But they ar e very dif ferent hi-hats to each other and will have dif ferent musical roles. Both are new releases for Zildjian and ar e worth sussing out if you’re in the market for a new set.
13” A CUSTOM POCKET HI-HATS The A Custom Pocket hats were originally released as a bonus to buying the ‘Rhythm Alliance’ cymbal pack consisting of cymbals aimed at gospel drumming. The Pocket hats wer e previously only available in this pack. Not that it was a bad pack, far from it but now the hats are available as a separate purchase.
14” K CONSTANTINOPLE HI-HATS The Constantinople line is aimed at r ecreating the early sound of the jazz era, the 60s and so on and if you speak to most drummers, they’r e constantly trying to get their hands on vintage gear . The Constantinople’s do a good job of bringing back that old sweet tone.
These hi-hats ar e unlathed and featur e heavy hammerings for a very dry sound. I’ve actually tried a couple of these hats before and this particular pair sounded extra dry to the point that the top hat had an effect similar to me putting gaffa tape on it. Play the hats closed and there is a real cutting ‘chick’ but there is very little sustain when opened. This can be seen as a downside but you’d be r eally missing the point of these hi-hats. They’r e designed to be really quick and cutting and they achieve this well. For me, I don’t think I could use them as my primary pair of hats because I do so many dif ferent styles of gigs but the Pocket hats would work gr eat as a secondary hi-hat or effect. Of course this depends on your taste and you should visit your near est dealer to test them for yourself as they have purpose and may just be perfect for your style of playing.
Okay, I’m not going to lie. I loved these hi-hats. Most of the time when I play a set of hats, I hear the good and then ther e’s the slight con that annoys me - a little ‘ping’, a weir d note, the list goes on. Here we have a set of hi-hats that - whether Zildjian meant to or not - ticks all the boxes for me. They’re what hi-hats should sound like to me. The bottom cymbal is actually quite thick and the top is thin but this yields a great chick with the stick and an evenly balanced and pronounced chick with the foot. The overall sound is a blend rather than a r eal cut and this balance is pr esent when closed or open and sloshy. It’s hard to describe the sound other than to say that it’s so pleasing to the ear making these hats extremely versatile to cut any gig. Perhaps heavy players will need to f nd something louder and thicker but for me these ar e great and r eally worth a look.
By Adrian Violi RRP: $819 (14” K Constantinople) RRP: $479 (13” A Pocket Hats) Distributor: Music Link Phone: (03) 9765 6565 Website: www.musiclink.com.au
ZILDJIAN A CUSTOM 21” MEDIUM THIN 20TH ANNIVERSARY RIDE
VESTAX PAD-ONE USB CONTROLLER
There are so many dif ferent USB contr ollers on the market aimed at use for DJs and electr onic music production. Some a big and of fer more features than you will ever need in a lifetime and some a compact, concise, well thought out and built like an absolute tank, giving you just what you want and not making you pay for features you don’t need. The Pad-One by Vestax falls f rmly into the latter category. Not only is it a very well designed unit and is compact and portable, but this thing is built like a brick outhouse. If ever there was a product designed with the rugged use that DJs will undoubtedly throw at it, then this is it.
can set up four separate banks of pad assignments, meaning at the pr ess of a button, you can have 48 different functions for the pads, with the LED colour letting you know which bank you ar e operating in. There is a Roll function that when initiated allows you to hold a pad and have continuous hit trigger ed at the speed set by the tap tempo featur e, making it easier to get consistent timing over extended periods of use. Further to this, the Chr omatic button allows you to split this tempo right down to 1/64 th of the original value, making it easier to have contr ol over your tempo values once the tap tempo is set.
TAP IT OUT The Pad-One is designed as a control surface to allow you to integrate with your DJ or music pr oduction software, giving you a mor e human element to your music, rather than letting the computer do all the work. It of fers 12 touch sensitive pads which ar e all backlit to show which bank you ar e operating within. The pads have a great feel, they do not click in when hit, but rather just accept the force from your f ngertip and translate that into MIDI data. The chassis of the Pad-One is a fairly heavy aluminium shell that houses the pads and feels like it will take a beating time and time again. The last thing you want fr om a device such as this is a f imsy build that will not withstand the punishment it is meant to take.
XY MARKS THE SPOT To the left of the 12 pads is a lar ger XY touch pad that allows you to take even further contr ol of the timing and roll features. The vertical axis alternates the sound volume of the Roll and Chromatic functions and the horizontal axis adjusts the timing. This adds yet another element to your perfor mance and gives you even greater control on the f y when you r eally want to get creative. A master volume contr ol and a hold feature also give you additional contr ol to the pads, all making for a very powerful tool that is quick and easy to navigate.
MULTI MODES The Pad-One isn’t just 12 pads though. There is heaps more going on under the hood than just this. Y ou
Distributor: Music Link
PG. 48
MIXDOWN NO. 216
By Rob Gee RRP: $199.99 Phone: (03) 9765 6565 Website: www.musiclink.com.au
APRIL 2012
Available for a limited time in 2012 only , Zildjian have released the A Custom 21” Medium Thin 20th Anniversary Ride with some little differences but all the same great characteristics of A Customs we have come to know and love in the past. This cymbal is something to have a look at while you have the chance. Originally conceived and developed with master drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, the A Customs ar e known for being bright and crisp - the go-to cymbal line for a good mix of pop, r ock and everything in between. For most drummers that know A Customs, this 21” Medium thin 20th anniversary will be a familiar sound. The cymbal itself featur es, as mentioned, a 21” size, which I really like as a ride size. It gives you just a little bit extra with out going overboard. You also get a brilliant f nish with symmetrical hammerings, an inter esting overturned edge and a large bell. A good way to describe this cymbal is balanced. It’s not a light cymbal but it certainly isn’t dry and crashes very well with a good mix of stick defnition and wash. There’s that slight glassy f nish there too that comes through on most A custom but overall makes for a nice blend that balances with the rest of the drum kit sound. The bell is great on this cymbal too - it’s large and cuts through well, though not ‘take your face of f’ loud. Ideal for more intricate patterns.
I found the cymbal to be higher in pitch and featuring a great crash sound. In fact it was one of the qualities of this ride I loved the most. You have this cool mixed stick sound that doesn’t overpower the balance on the kit and then all of a sudden the cymbal opens up easily when you whack it to pr oduce good projection and a very useable crash that you would use more that you’d imagine. I like a dry ride as much as the next guy but you can’t generally get a crash out of them. This ride solves that. To make this ride a special edition, Zildjian have given it a slightly dif ferent aesthetic with cr eam stamping instead of the nor mal black. Whilst I do think it’ s not a completely dif ferent sounding A Custom, it’ s simply a good sounding cymbal and well worth a look. Perhaps not a r eally good cymbal for jazz if you’r e thinking it, mor e a versatile ‘everything else’ ride. Let’ s face it, we all need one of those rides in our cymbal arsenal. Check it out. By Adrian Violi Call for pricing Distributor: Music Link Phone: (03) 9765 6565 Website: www.musiclink.com.au
AT4050URUSHI Multi-pattern Condenser Microphone
AT4050/LE Multi-pattern Condenser Microphone
AE5400/LE Cardioid Condenser Vocal Microphone
50th ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITIONS
AE6100/LE Hypercardioid AE4100/LE Cardioid Dynamic Vocal Microphones
ATM25/LE Hypercardioid Dynamic Instrument Microphone
ATH-M50s/LE Professional Studio Monitor Headphones
Audio-Technica celebrates its 50th anniversary with an array of limited edition introductions offering stunningly clear, high-resolution sound and elegant design. Models range from the AT4050URUSHI with hand-painted Japanese maple leaves, to the legendary ATM25 instrument mic brought back for this special occasion. Each microphone is etched with a unique serial number commemorating 50 years of passionate listening. audio-technica.com.au
50YEARS OF PASSIONATE LISTENING
TAG. Ph. (02) 9519 0900 E. Info@tag.com.au
APRIL 2012
50th_Anniv_MixDown_400x280cm_.indd 1
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 49
5/03/2012 7:08:20 PM
ROAD TESTED LEWITT LCT 640 CONDENSER MICROPHONE Austrian microphone manufacturers Lewitt Audio have really made a gr eat impression over their f rst few years of pr oduction. Not only do they of fer innovative designs and exceptional build quality , but they bring a new approach to a market that has for many years been dominated by the same few players. The LCT 640 lar ge diaphragm condenser microphone is a stunning example of the quality that you can expect from Lewitt Audio and would make a great addition to any studio kit list.
STEINBERG CMC MODULAR USB CONTROLLERS There are all number of contr ol surfaces available for interfacing with your DAW , but very little of fer the level of control and f exibility that is given to Cubase users that the range of CMC controllers from Steinberg do. This new appr oach to DAW contr ol allows you to integrate one or mor e controllers into you setup to best suit your needs. And Steinber g has just about everything covered with the USB powered CMC range. It allows you to take individual aspects of a lar ger control surface and build it to suit your needs with separate modules that can be linked together . Let’s have a look at two of the mor e popular units in the range.
BOLD DESIGN The somewhat unique design of the LCT 640 does share some similarities with some ribbon micr ophones that have secured their place in history over the years, but it comes with a slightly for eboding, modern presence too. The all black f nish with a glossy centr e panel makes for a visually striking tool that does not just impress in look, but in sound as well. It looks like a traditional condenser microphone from the outside, but when operating under phantom power , you see some of its magic as the fr ont panel illuminates to show you what settings it is operating under. UNBELIEVABLE CONTROL Below the illuminated panel ther e are three buttons within the casing that almost go unnoticed with the sleek design. These allow you to adjust key functions on the microphone. You can change the input sensitivity with four separate settings, with as much as 18dB of attenuation. You can also change the pickup polarity of the microphone, with Omni, Car dioid, Super Car dioid, Hyper Cardioid and Figur e of 8 patter ns available to be used. Further to this, you can set a high pass f lter to operate in four settings up to 300Hz. This is made available through a digital circuit within the microphone’s housing that contr ols all these featur es, but does not detract from the analogue signal path you would expect from a microphone like this. STUNNING SOUND The LCT 640 is r eally a joy to r ecord with. Given all the options that are available on this micr ophone, there are very few applications that you cannot make it work in. It presents a very rich and detailed sound with an excellent frequency response across the entire range, giving you the warm and precise sound that you would expect from a microphone of this statur e. Changing the settings on the microphone does not need the channel to be pulled down as the noiseless switch initiates quickly and quietly, so you can get you placement right and then experiment with the settings to f nd the best suited setup.
The LCT 640 comes packaged in a sturdy aluminium f ight case, and is securely mounted within a foam block inside of this. It comes supplied with a heavy duty shock mount to allow you to get the best fr om the microphone and a wind sock for close use. In all, this represents a wonderful introduction to the audio world for Lewitt Audio. This is a microphone that is going to suit the needs of a lot of engineers and home recording musicians alike. It not only offers pristine sound, but a seemingly endless array of operating combinations that makes it such a powerful tool. Try one out, you will not be disappointed. By Rob Gee
RRP: $899 Distributor: National Audio Systems Phone: (03) 9761 5577 Website: www.nationalaudio.com.au
QUICK CONTROLLER The name says it all with this one. The QC or Quick Controller is designed to speed up you workf ow with a number of handy featur es that many of us r egularly use. Across the top of the fr ont face are two rows of four rotary encoders, giving you eight in total that can be mapped to serve any purpose within your DAW . Below these ar e a number of mode buttons to allow you to quickly change the uses of the r otary encoders as well as four function buttons. The button marked f/Q allows you to assign the encoders without any hassle at all. Y ou simply choose a function within Cubase, hit this button and then tur n one of the encoders and from then on it will operate that parameter . The EQ button instantly changes the encoders to marry up with the EQ featur es within Cubase and the MIDI button allows you to set any MIDI control number to any of the encoders. Then, below these again is a shift button, backwards and forwar ds buttons as well as a Read and Write button to engage the corr ect mode within your software without having to r ely on the mouse all the time. The QC is compact, so it cannot give you control over everything in your software at once, but it can speed up your workf ow and leave you using the mouse or shortcuts a lot less.
PAD CONTROLLER The PD or Pad Contr oller is going to be r eally popular with people wanting to put together drum beats and trigger samples from their software. You get 16 pressure sensitive rubber pads that can be assigned to perfor m just about any task. This little unit could even replace the need for a MIDI keyboard if space is really at a premium. The pads a backlit and illuminate in either green, orange or red when struck, depending on the velocity with which they ar e hit giving you a visual idea of how you are tapping in your notes. As well as a drum pad style controller, it can also be used as a step sequencer with the 16 pads used to trigger hits within program. A rotary encoder at the bottom allows you to br owse through sounds quickly, so you can dr op different hits into your pads and sequences. This unit appears simple at frst, but does have plenty to offer. Each pad can be used to simply trigger MIDI applications, with dif ferent banks able to be set up for user contr ol and one set aside for pr eset Cubase control options. Each pad can have a dif ferent MIDI note assigned to it, this can be easily changed within the included editing softwar e to help you get the most from this little controller. If your workspace is fairly limited, or you just don’ t want to clutter up your studio with too many bulky units, the CMC controllers are going to really get you excited. They are USB power ed, so ther e is no need for additional power supplies and they can be fed from a USB hub, not requiring individual USB ports on your computer. Best of all, the CMC range allows you to customize your contr ol surface piece by piece so you can get the level of control that best suits you. By Rob Gee RRP: $199.99 each Distributor: Yamaha Australia Phone: (03) 9693 5111 Website: au.yamaha.com
YAMAHA A1M & AC3M ACOUSTIC GUITARS Yamaha continue to lead the way with innovative ideas in their mid priced acoustic guitars and the new A Series is def nitely proof of just that. I f rst got my hands on one of these about four months ago and could bar ely put it down. Each model feels so good in the hands and they sound even better . For a range of guitars starting at $699, they really hit the mark for anyone looking to add a new instrument to their collection or upgrade one that just isn’t giving them what they want. The new A Series sees Yamaha presenting us with two body shapes, a dreadnaught and a concert sized. These come in a range of options, with either mahogany or r osewood back and sides. Further to this, you can start with the A1 models which feature a solid spruce top, or the A3 models that are all
solid woods. In total, this represents 8 different versions based around the same design that offers something for all tastes. The f rst thing you will notice when you get any of these instruments in your hands is how amazing the neck feels. This is a real standout feature of every model within the range. The A Series guitars all have a neck with a wor n feeling to it, with a semi open pore f nish that feels like it was once lacquer ed but has been stripped back with years of playing. The edges of the fret board are nicely rolled too, further enhancing the feel of the neck. When you get it in your hands, it just feels like a guitar that you have been playing for ten years. It feels comfortable and familiar right away , just the way a guitar should.
AC3M The AC3M offers the player something a little bit dif ferent. The concert size body is smaller than that of the A1M, making it all over more comfortable and easy playing. This guitar just wants to be held and played. The body shape projects extra volume from the sound hole giving it more punch and added brightness. But, just because it has a smaller body does not mean you are going to miss out on any tonal characteristics. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The AC3M offers an incredibly detailed sound with a beautifully even tone across the entire frequency range. The solid mahogany back and sides perfectly complements the solid Sitka spruce top, leaving you with nothing but a wonderfully rich tone. It simply sings and continues to r esonate as you let a chor d ring out. This guitar pr oves that Yamaha still has what it takes to produce a stunningly detailed acoustic instrument that leaves so many of its competitors well behind the mark.
A1M The A1M is quite an achievement for the price tag that it carries. The wooden binding ar ound the body, the rosette inlays and simple yet stylish headstock design give it an instantly appealing look. The tortoise shell scratch plate is a look back into the acoustic models Yamaha produced in the 1970s, giving the guitar a classic look and style and the high gloss body lets the timber’s naturally beauty shine. This guitar is not only very playable straight out of the box, but has a tremendous sound for the price. It offers a rich, detailed tone that comes from directly from the body of the instrument with plenty of low end as you would expect fr om its size. This low fr equency control is further enhanced by the unique bracing design and the mahogany back and sides allows the warm mid range to compliment it nicely.
PG. 50
MIXDOWN NO. 216
APRIL 2012
All the models in the A Series come fitted with Yamaha’s proprietary SRT pickup and pr eamp system that allows them to be faithfully r eproduced when amplified. This system does not simply emphasise the tone fr om the strings against the bridge saddle, but rather it gives you a full pictur e of how the guitar’s body sounds acoustically. In that r egard, you can hear the dif ferences between each model even when plugged in, making the A Series guitar perfect
for musicians who want to find their own tone both acoustically and amplified. By Rob Gee RRP: $699.99 (A1M), $1099.99 (AC3M) Distributor: Yamaha Australia Phone: (03) 9693 5111 Website: au.yamaha.com
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www.majormusic.com.au
1300 30 66 70
APRIL 2012
NO. 216 MIXDOWN
PG. 51
Blackbird singing in the dead of night take these sunken eyes and learn to see all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free
BLACKBIRD Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney ©1968, ® 1996 Sony/ATV Tunes LLC. ©2011 C.F. Martin & Co. martinguitar.com
C F Martin Guitars & Strings Proudly Distributed & Supported by Electric Factory Pty Ltd 188 Plenty Road Preston VIC 3072 cfmartin@elfa.com.au