Performer Magazine: December/January 2021

THE MUSICIAN ’S RESO URCE

DEC./JAN. ‘21 FREE

Collaborating with Vocalists While Socially Distancing Guerrilla Home Recording for Drummers INTERVIEWS Willie Jones Oscar Lang Foxanne “I just want people to know that when they open the door to my music… that they have a place here.”

OOMPA

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focusrite.com/scarlett

INCLUDED SOFTWARE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

30

COVER STORY

OSCAR LANG

by Gus Rocha

34

OOMPA

by Sarah Brooks

WILLIE JONES

by Michael St. James

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VOLUME 30, ISSUE 6

DEPARTMENTS 4.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 6.

Dear Music Maker - You’re Doing Just Fine

TABLE OF CONTENTS

20

8.

Key Tips for Collaborating with Vocalists While Socially Distancing 10.

Kanye’s Twitter Blast About Artist Contracts Wasn’t Extreme Enough 12.

Is Your Band Ready for Entertainer Insurance?

14.

Couchsleepers on Recording Drums at Home 16.

How to Record Like a Pro from Home 18.

Licensing Tips from Soundstripe 38.

GEAR REVIEWS: BOSS, SSL, Mackie and more…

FOXANNE

contents

by Carolyn Vallejo

PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

LETTER W

ell, that was a friggin’ year, huh? As we button up here at the office, trying to tie up all our loose ends and prepare for 2021, I think it’s just an accomplishment we’ve survived and that we’re still standing.

It’s my sincere hope that live music makes a triumphant (and safe) return at some point in 2021.

It’s my sincere hope you all keep staying creative, if you’re up for it. And if not, perhaps things will turn around and you’ll start feeling the creative juices flow again in 2021.

I guess I just hope for some return to normality in the new year. Now, I do realize that things don’t just magically get better at midnight on January 1st (or noon Eastern on January 20th, depending on which date you’re looking forward to with more anticipation), but I do sense a change is in the air.

from the editor

Ben Kweller record (which just so happens to drop at the same time the ball does) – and if you missed our interview with Mssr. Kweller in the last issue, pick that up and give it a read. A diehard DIY’er, Ben’s got a wealth of information to share with his fellow musicians.

Looking ahead, we’ve got some amazing new music from this month’s featured artists, as well, including Oompa, Foxanne, Oscar Land and Willie Jones. We don’t put out listicles like “4 Artists to Watch in 2021,” but if we did, it would basically just crib from this very issue you’re holding. Each artist represents a different style and vibe, with unique perspectives on the world (and the musical landscape), and we’re honored to have all four talents in one issue.

With that said, let’s raise a collective glass, put the nail in 2020’s coffin, and toast to things to come in 2021. Can’t get any worse, right?*

A change for the better.

That said, at midnight on January 1st, I’ll personally be slamming the door on 2020 with the new

PO BOX 348 Somerville, MA 02143 CONTACT Phone: 617-627-9200 Fax: 617-627-9930 PUBLISHER William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com EDITOR Benjamin Ricci ben@performermag.com DESIGN & ART DIRECTION Cristian Iancu EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Bob Dobalina editorial@performermag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Anthony Gordon, Benjamin Ricci, Carolyn Vallejo, Chris Devine, Gus Rocha, Harrison Hsiang, Jay Harren, Jon Eades, Michael Flanders, Michael St. James, Sarah Brooks CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Illusionbreak, Diana Whitcroft, Lewis Evans ADVERTISING SALES William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com © 2020 by Performer Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any method whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher.

The magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited recordings, manuscripts, artwork or photographs and will not return such materials unless requested and accompanied by a SASE. Annual Subscription Rate is $30 in the U.S.; $45 outside the U.S.

Benjamin Ricci

* please don’t sue us if it does get worse -- we are not responsible for things like ancient curses, forces of nature or space pirates hell-bent on earth’s destruction. Blame Highlights for that.

ABOUT US / Performer Magazine, a nationally distributed musician’s trade publication, focuses on independent musicians, those unsigned and on small labels, and their success in a DIY environment. We’re dedicated to promoting lesser-known talent and being the first to introduce you to artists you should know about.

MUSIC SUBMISSIONS / We listen to everything that comes into the office. We prefer physical CDs, cassettes and vinyl over downloads. If you do not have a physical copy, send download links to editorial@performermag.com. No attachments, please.

Send CDs to: Performer Magazine, Attn: Reviews, PO BOX 348, Somerville, MA 02143 CORRECTIONS / Did we make a heinous blunder, factual error or just spell your name wrong? Contact editorial@ performermag.com and let us know, cuz we’re big enough to say, “Baby, I was wrong.”

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS / In the words of our esteemed forefathers at CREEM: “NOBODY WHO WRITES FOR THIS RAG’S GOT ANYTHING YOU AIN’T GOT, at least in the way of credentials. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be sending us your stuff: reviews, features, photos, recording tips, DIY advice or whatever else you have in mind that might be interesting to our readers: independent and DIY musicians. Who else do ya know who’ll publish you? We really will...ask any of our dozens of satisfied customers. Just bop it along to us to editorial@performermag.com and see what comes back your way. If you have eyes to be in print, this just might be the place. Whaddya got to lose? Whaddya got?”

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Volume 30, Issue 6

MUSIC BUSINESS

D

id you see that meme about how Shakespeare wrote King Lear during the plague?

How about Isaac Newton did you see the article about how he developed differential and integral calculus (among other things) whilst in quarantine?

But how about you?

Did you lose weight, get ripped, find enlightenment, finish a double album, clean out your closet, fix all your guitars, launch a milliondollar podcast, learn Spanish, and write your memoir? If so, I respect the hell out of you. I’ve seen the IG posts, heard the quarantine album drops, and I gotta tell you, it made me feel like a loser.

Here I had (have) all this time and what do I have to show for it? Bupkis. Sure, I started a lot of writing projects, produced a few songs, did a few small releases, and fixed a few things. But I just feel like I have not met the imaginary and unrealistic expectations I have set for myself during this first part of the pandemic.

However, I have decided to forgive myself, and you should too. You’re doing just fine.

There are plenty of good reasons for my lack of finishing and maybe you have felt some of this too. First, it’s a pandemic, that brings with it worry, stress, and unfortunately for so many of us, tragic loss. You worry about your family, friends, bandmates, neighbors, even your city and country. Add to that democracy, an election, misinformation, hope and judgment, racial justice protests, loss of income, canceled tours, business ventures closing, and on and on.

As a songwriter, I cannot believe with all of this material in life to pull from why in the hell I haven’t written and produced 100s of songs in a few months? I’m not sure of the exact reason, but I think part of it is I’ve just had trouble concentrating on creating, especially reflecting the world around me. After a day of news, I just want to retreat into a stupid TV show binge.

Honestly, I just want to concentrate on creativeness again. I bet you do too.

Here’s the good news. You still have time. You haven’t wasted anything. This damn pandemic is still going to be with us for a while, especially if you’re not the first in line to get vaccines (if and when they come). You’ve had to do what you’ve had to do to survive. It’s okay, you’re doing just fine.

So, relax, forgive yourself, and reset. We’re entering another phase of this thing during the Winter, and no matter where you live there will be more disruptions. By now you are probably in a rhythm, you know where to order stuff from, you know that tour is definitely off, you know which places you can play or not, you have your masks at the ready, you have a shopping schedule, etc. We’ve all settled in a bit. Now’s the time to go ahead and give yourself permission to do the work you want to. It’s time to let all of the guilt go and let yourself be creative again.

I know this is a “rah-rah” piece, but I think it’s needed - I know I needed to hear it.

I also know I am not alone. I know you want to really dive into your writing, unleash your voice, get some tracks recorded and released, get better at your instrument and feel like a creative force again. Good, that’s what I want too. Remember, music is important. This is not about your career or stream counts. It’s about music for the sake of music. Music is needed, your music is needed - not only for your fans, but for your soul. As a music maker, you are unique, not everyone can do it, seriously, it’s a rare thing and we should recognize that responsibility.

It’s just as important as fixing societal ills or solving a pandemic. Otherwise, what will there be to celebrate?

Now what?

Write one song this week. That’s it. Start small. Bang out a D-G-A tune. Write about the world you want to see. Then finish a single recording - not an album, just one track. Baby

steps. Learn one cover, pick a surprising song you absolutely love and haven’t played. Really learn it like you’re going to play it live next year.

Enjoy the process. Start with these little tasks and you will start feeling momentum. You’ll

DEAR MUSIC M YOU’RE DOING 6 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

MUSIC BUSINESS start breaking your shell, unleashing your creative power.

We’re going to get through this. Stop beating yourself up, know you are not alone. You’re going

to start making these small changes and realize how lucky we all are to be able to create and play music, just for the love of it.

You’re doing just fine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -Michael St. James is the founder and creative director of St. James Media, specializing in music licensing, publishing, production and artist development.

C MAKER NG JUST FINE PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 7

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4 INSIDER TIPS FOR COLL VOCALISTS WHILE SOCIA

I

n this era of social distancing, music creators are finding new ways to collaborate safely from afar. While there are plenty of workarounds for remote collaboration with musicians, working with vocalists poses a completely different set of challenges that haven’t been properly addressed. Until now.

As the makers of Auto-Tune, the leading vocal production software for over 20 years, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how these challenges affect our community. Here are four powerful tips for you to successfully collaborate with vocalists while staying safe and socially distanced.

Safety First Right now, it’s simply not a good idea to be close to a vocalist while they’re singing, or to share equipment like microphones. The safest bet is for vocalists to record their own tracks remotely (preferably at home), then send files to their collaborators. It’s not ideal, but there are ways to make it work.

Get Aligned on Gear Vocalists should invest in a home recording rig that covers at least the essentials: an interface,

microphone, headphones, and a DAW. To make collaboration easier, producers and vocalists should have a conversation to identify what gear works best for both of their workflows.

Interfaces used exclusively for vocals don’t need a lot of inputs. Vocalists can keep it simple by picking up a high-quality, two-input interface like Universal Audio’s Arrow. If you need more inputs, the Clarett series by Focusrite is another great option.

It’s important to understand that different microphones have different qualities when used on different voices. If you’re not sure what mic is best for your voice, a microphone modeling plugin like Mic Mod lets you audition virtual versions of over 100 industry-standard microphones. It also has the added benefit of making an affordable mic sound a lot more professional.

When it comes to your DAW, most producers have a preference for how they want tracks recorded and delivered. Some just want simple audio files, while others prefer entire session files. To avoid compatibility problems, make sure you’re aligned on your DAWs and what session formats you’ll be using to collaborate.

For headphones, we recommend using isolating (closed-back) headphones. Open backed headphones can bleed audio that gets picked up by a mic while tracking. Beyond these essentials, vocalists have plenty of other options for upgrading their home studios. Pop screens, microphone isolation shields, or even portable iso booths can all enhance your recordings.

Get Yourself Connected Great producers help vocalists deliver great performances by coaching them during tracking sessions.

Honor the importance of this dynamic by

8 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

using a video chat app to share feedback on a performance in real time. Another benefit of video chat is that if a vocalist isn’t sure the hardware in their vocal chain is dialed in correctly, they can use it to show producers how everything looks before tracking. Obviously, these apps aren’t designed for critical listening, but they can help you capture the emotional essence of a performance—and avoid annoying technical roadblocks.

The Fix is in the Mix Critical listening in real time is going to be tough. Instead of focusing on pitch and timing issues while tracking, focus on capturing the emotional essence of a performance. You can always fix pitch and time in the mix, but you can’t dial in a better emotional performance. AutoTune is by far the most widely used (and trusted) pitch correction software in the industry, so don’t be afraid to use it.

Beyond pitch correction, you also have options for dealing with other challenges that come from working remotely. Common vocal issues such as aspiration noise (heavy breathing) and sibilance can be addressed with plug-ins such as Aspire and Sybil. You can also use software to overcome certain physical limitations caused by socially distancing. Vocal harmonizers (like Harmony Engine, Choir, and Duo) can make it sound like you’re working with 2, 4, 8, or even 32 different singers—all from one vocal track.

We’re in it Together In every country, every culture, and every era, nothing connects people more deeply than music. As you discover new ways to collaborate, remember that the people who make music are the ones who give voice to the feelings shared by everyone. Ultimately, it’s your music that will help remind the world that we truly are all in this together.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR As Marketing Manager for Antares (makers of Auto-Tune), Anthony Gordon has an insider’s perspective into how the world’s top producers use technology to make hit records. Prior to Antares, Anthony ran the artist relations program for Avid (Pro Tools) for over a decade and has spent countless hours in the studio with everyone from Aerosmith to Alicia Keys.

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LLABORATING WITH IALLY DISTANCING

PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 9

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KANYE’S TWITTER BLA CONTRACTS WASN’T EX 10 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

But if you’ve been following his Tweet storm over the past few weeks about music labels and their exploitative business deals with artists, the truth is he hasn’t gone far enough.

Kanye is drawing attention to what he (and many others) sees as injustices in the way record labels strike contracts with artists. He is calling for big changes in how these deals are structured and ultimately who has ownership of copyrights.

While he makes valid points, and these are steps in the right direction, my view is that Kanye is looking at the problem from the wrong direction.

And not only is he going about it the wrong way, but he is also not thinking big enough.

The system needs to change from the bottom up. The frontier of what the future of the music industry could look like for musicians, songwriters, artists and creators at large is revealing itself — and it is ripe with opportunity.

This new generation of creators should be viewing themselves as founders and inventors, seeking their own paths and designing business models that fit their music and brand, rather than desperately handing over control and running the gauntlet of fame, popularity, and growth, where three-piece suits decide whether they get ‘dropped’ or not.

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ven for the native Twitter-ites with their high tolerance for bombast, rage, and histrionics, most of @KanyeWest’s tweets are just plain extreme.

Now, it is easy to dump criticism on music labels, and there is plenty of it going on already.

But that is not my goal here. Record labels do have a place. Their role as a bank and as a marketing agency can be incredibly powerful if used at the right time — but what is needed to establish this new industry around artists/founders is a new type of structure: one that acts as an investor and a partner, empowering and supporting creators on their journey, becoming a member of their team, and sharing in their successes, no matter how weird, wonderful or unconventional that may look.

The world needs investors who want to see an artist’s message out in the world, who believe in an artist’s vision of success, who partners with them, giving guidance, contacts, and financial support without overbearing control and a predetermined idea of business model. We need investors and supporters who trust and empower artists, not only as creators, but as founders — as founders of their own brand and businesses, to be defined and sculpted in an organic, proactive way, rather than boxed in by boiler-plate contracts.

The long-accepted wisdom that artists are a liability and shouldn’t be trusted to manage their brand and handle the business of their creativity needs to be shaken off. Sure, in some cases that rule does apply, but every day this myth is proven wrong by musicians the world over.

There is a better way — investors who take a

holistic approach, treating artists like any other CEO / founder with a deep passion and drive.

Then, giving them the guidance, tools, support, and connections to build a solid brand and successful strategy.

This is what Kanye should have been calling for in his rants about artist contracts on Twitter — wholesale, systemic change. And it must start with how we view artists from the beginning — as founders, not flunkies.

To see the music industry change for the better, we need to start empowering artists, not just call for them to be exploited in a slightly less awful way. Only this kind of extreme change will spark a newer, freer business life for artists.

But as a quick Google of the word ‘disruption’ will show, monumental change will not and cannot come from the ‘inside’. There is far too much at stake — labels have invested an enormous amount of capital in acquiring rights, and naturally aren’t going to just sit down and relinquish ownership any time soon. Change must therefore come from the outside, and a new industry must be built on new foundations.

In this new industry, creators who are looking to change the world with their art need to be encouraged to think of themselves as founders of movements, and to resist at all costs being treated as content creators whose role it is to simply feed assets into someone else’s system.

Jon Eades, COO and CoFounder of The Rattle

LAST ABOUT ARTIST EXTREME ENOUGH PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 11

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Most policies will require you to be at least 18 years old, since…well, you need to be of legal age to sign a legally binding contract in most places. So if you’re in a high school band, or have underage band members, you may not be able to qualify just yet. At least one of you will need to be 18, at a minimum.

So, it is entirely feasible that regular live shows may return in 2021. And if they do, you’d be best served to have your stage show dusted off and ready to go at a moment’s notice. So, how do you know, exactly, if you’re ready for liability insurance for your band or performance group?

Second, there may be a limit on the number of group members and there may be eligibility requirements with your policyholder. Typically, super-large groups will need a specialty policy (we’re talking dozens of members, like big choirs and stage shows, etc.) and you may find yourself ineligible for coverage if you, say, have animals as part of your act, regularly engage in mosh pits, or are implicated in sexual harassment or abuse claims.

KNOW YOUR BASIC PRE-REQS For starters, you’ve really got to know if you even qualify for an insurance policy before you know if you’re ready. Let’s start with the basics.

So if you’re wondering if you’re ready for liability insurance for your music project, know what the prerequisites are before seeking coverage. Now, if you are good to go and don’t tick

ith the world of touring and live gigs at a standstill for the past few months, you may be forgiven for not giving your stage show much thought lately. That said, now might be the best time to start planning for the months ahead.

There seem to be some promising vaccines in development, and a new administration poised to take control of the pandemic response in the new year.

any of the “no-no” boxes, continue on.

YOU’RE GETTING ASKED This may be obvious, but if you’re playing more and more events that ask its performers to carry liability insurance, that’s a pretty darn good hint it’s time to get a more comprehensive policy than the one-off event protections you may have skated by with in the past. For starters, it could be less costly in the long run, and provide better coverage as you venture out on the road in the future.

YOU’RE PLAYING MORE AWAY FROM YOUR HOMEBASE For super-small hometown gatherings and coffee-house type gigs, you may not really need liability insurance. You’ll need to make that determination for yourself, weighing the benefits against the risk that something unexpected might happen. In reality, a solo acoustic coffeehouse gig is probably an event that you could get away with, without having insurance.

IS YOUR BAND R ENTERTAINER I

12 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

MUSIC BUSINESS But, once you start venturing further from home, routing a tour or playing larger festivals and concerts with more than just a handful or people and a barista, that’s when the risk factors start to multiply, and when you’re likely ready to investigate your liability insurance options. Don’t wait until you’ve already mapped out and booked the tour and gassed up the van. Get this done head of time, before you hit the road, and you’ll sleep better at night (well, as good as you can sleep on the road, anyway).

YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT GETTING BOOKED Even if you haven’t planned that massive multi-state tour yet in support of your forthcoming album, having an insurance policy in place is one more thing to check off the to-do list when it comes to impressing potential talent buyers and venue/event promoters. Having a great stage show, songs, good representation pitching you, and all of your insurance needs locked in when you’re in the booking phase can make you seem like a more

attractive booking prospect when compared to other acts who don’t have their, well…act together, for lack of a better word.

WAIT, DOESN’T THE VENUE HAVE INSURANCE? If all of the above seems to apply to you, and you think you might be ready to start getting quotes and seeing what coverage options make sense for you, you may be left wondering, ‘Hey, don’t the venues I’m performing at have insurance already?’

And you’d likely be right. In order to operate in most locations, venues, festivals and live event producers must have their own insurance policies in place to get a show off the ground. But the key phrase here is ‘their own’ policy, not YOURS. Yeah, their policy might protect THEM if someone in the crowd is injured during your show, but what’s going to protect YOU? It’s not unthinkable that an injured party may go after the venue, the promoter, the sponsors and the artist if something

tragic were to occur. That’s why it’s important that EVERYONE involved is covered. So don’t think just because a venue has their own insurance policy, that you’re not ready (or in need) of one of your own.

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

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

The world might be scary right now but being caught flat-footed could be even scarier should an unexpected problem arise.

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

READY FOR R INSURANCE?

PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 13

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Guerilla Home Reco Couchsleepers’ Har

14 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

Part 1: Drums I record all my music myself in my twobedroom apartment. These days, I’ve assembled a pretty complete home studio set-up, but in the early days, that wasn’t the case. Despite the fact that we didn’t know what we were doing, and the only mics we had access to were SM57s — we still managed to produce polished, competitive recordings.

For most home recording artists, the major bottleneck is the drums. Drums are tricky enough to record in a conventional studio setting; you have multiple sources to balance while somehow capturing a full and detailed picture of the kit.

In a home recording setting, this becomes even more difficult, as you have to account for small, imperfect recording spaces and limited mic setups.

These are some of the things I’ve learned along the way.

1. Get the best sound you can As with any recording, it’s important to get the best sound you can in the room first and foremost.

The idea here is the better your source material is, the easier and more naturally it can be enhanced after the fact.

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cording with arrison Hsiang bouncing straight back at you.

samples.

2. Work within your limitations The resources we have at hand determine how far we can push our sound. Sometimes, if you have limited mics at your disposal, a tight, punchy mono drum sound will trump a thin, anemic stereo sound.

The way we achieve this is with some sort of external recording device — for example, a smartphone, although anything with a mic will do.

The quality of the audio isn’t important, as it won’t be audible in the final mix. This audio is solely to trigger the samples — just get them as close to each tom as possible and try to limit the bleed from other drums.

You can achieve a g​reat —​full, detailed, balanced — drum sound using just one mic. This will work with any mic with a cardioid polar pattern, like the Shure SM57, but it especially rewards faster, more detailed condenser mics.

The mic is positioned over the inside hoop of the kick drum, facing the snare. A characteristic of the cardioid polar pattern is the aptly named proximity effect, in which the low-frequency information is exaggerated as you get closer to the source.

This placement harnesses that effect to our favor, beefing up the body of the snare and the kick.

We can control the volume of the kick by changing the height of the mic relative to the drum; likewise, we can control the volume and tone of the snare by changing the angle of the mic. The balance of the kit is preserved, as the mic is positioned between the cymbals and toms — although they are slightly off-axis, giving preference to representation of our most important elements, the kick and the snare.

The number one factor in producing a great recording is having a great performance. The​ best thing you can do for your recordings is have This single mic–technique gives a fantastically a talented, well-practiced drummer on a good- fat, punchy mono drum sound. Even better, it takes sounding kit. It’s worth renting or borrowing a EQ and compression extremely well, as the single better instrument or space if you can. mic eliminates the need to worry about phase.

Adding a mono overhead to this set-up can help to If you can’t, there are steps you can take to bring out a more detailed picture of the whole kit. make the most of what you’ve got. Take your time tuning the drums; if there are nasty resonances 3. Do whatever you can to get the best you can’t tune out, muffle them with tape or old sound t-shirts — it’s really easy to take the life out of a Sometimes a mono drum sound just won’t cut sound with surgical EQ, so we want to do what we it. This technique involves augmenting the mic can n ​ ow ​to minimize the need for that later. set-up (above) using samples, but in such a way that is transparent and retains the nuance and Likewise, you can control the sound of the character of a live drum performance. room by moving furniture around and hanging moving blankets — which you can pick up at a Our one-/two-mic set-up above is providing hardware store for only a few bucks — to break us with a strong mono image of the kit. The ​stereo up reflective surfaces. Take your time finding the image is going to come from panned samples to best-sounding spot in the room and position the augment the toms, providing that sense of space. kit at an angle to the walls so the sound isn’t just But to do that, we need a way to trigger those

Have the drummer count off loudly — maybe against the rim of the toms, so it’s especially obvious — as this audio isn’t synced to the rest of our recording and will need to be aligned by hand in your DAW. From there, it’s simply a matter of samplereplacing the phone audio with a complementary sample, something that’s not too different from the actual live drum sound. You may have to use some combination of gating and EQ to eliminate bleed from other drums. Once you have your samplereplaced tracks, slowly raise the faders to blend them in with the single-mic picture of the kit.

Try to find the sweet spot, where the samples are adding detail and weight but not overpowering the single-mic audio; it can be tempting to lean toward the more “perfect” sound of the sample but remember that the samples are just here to add a little extra push to the solid foundation of our mono recording. If the performance is particularly dynamic, you can duplicate that in the samplereplaced tracks using an expander sidechained to the phone audio that’s triggering the samples.

By panning our “tom” (sample) tracks to their appropriate positions in the stereo image, we can convincingly fake stereo drums in the mix — all with a single mic! And despite the use of samples, the performance won’t feel canned or lifeless. The single mic captures the dynamic detail of the live performance, while the samples add body and depth.

This technique is neither pretty nor by-thebooks, and it takes time, but that’s the price of a low-budget drum sound that punches above its weight.

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HOW TO RECORD LIKE A PRO FROM HOME GETTING STARTED In the world of studio recording, when we think back to 15 years ago, there are some things we thought we could never do. In today’s age, getting professional quality recordings from your home studio may seem like a daunting task.

But with the equipment available to us, you can achieve professional studio tones right from your home.

Back in 2005, I set up a small overdub rig in my home so I didn’t have to take some of my heavier instruments and items to my studio. I looked into what was available and found that Universal Audio built a unit that had a preamp and a 1176 compressor, all in a two-rack space (6176). I found this unit to be spectacular and the first step in my remote home studio setup.

Next came microphones, a Rode K2 to record acoustic guitars and a Digi 002 interface which worked great, but nowadays you can buy an Apollo, and a 57 to mic up amps. After that, I got a good Mac computer to drive it all and a set of KRK Rokits as affordable monitors. As people all over the world are file sharing parts and making hit records in their homes, this kind of set-up is more prevalent today than it was back then.

Many major session players that I know were forced to purchase home rigs during the COVID shutdown. One of my session buddies said that as soon as all the studios were shut down, he jumped on the phone to Sweetwater and bought a rig for the house. Within a few weeks, it had paid for itself.

PRO-TOOLS AND PLUG-INS Pro-Tools is a wide, diverse platform and can often feel like another instrument in and of itself. The plug-ins we have available to us now are amazing, with no need to get into the never-ending ordeal of excessive plug-in

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buying. But knowing this, some of the DSP stuff is so amazing that it is very difficult to hear the difference between using them to the original units. I really like using the Universal Audio stuff, as I feel that everything they do is quality and user-friendly. For what I do, I find UA very easy to operate. I am not a tech head, but rather a producer/songwriter that plays stringed instruments.

ROOM SETUP I moved from my MusicRow Nashville studio to the basement of my house about three years back. I was concerned about how people would react to recording at a house, as opposed to a full-fledged studio. The basement ended up working out well; the control room had offset walls which worked as a good diffuser. Plus, I treated the room with bass traps. My main room sounded good already for guitar amps, vocals, and instrument tracking. I recorded all my acoustic guitars there on a carpet square recording into an old Neumann with an M7 capsule.

For records I would record with a high-end drummer or hire a room, but during occasional demo sessions I utilized a great loop library. All vocals sounded great there. I use a Rode Classic or Neumann pending on the voice, and then for the electric guitars I would mic my amps in the main room using a 57 through a Vintech 273, and also use it for bass guitar as well. As for pre’s I prefer the Universal Audio 6176 for its versatility. It has a tube in it which gives the sound warmth and if you want to drive it hard, you can get some nice tube saturation as well. I always use it on acoustics and vocals.

MIXING IT UP Some days I love the producing and tracking aspect of my job, but not so much the

mixing. I like to send my projects to different sets of ears to lend me a different perspective on the song. Given budget changes in recent years, some artists will prefer a producer to lead a project from inception to its final mastering, which leads us to buy mastering tools. My favorite is iZotope Ozone 9, which also has great presets to get you started and make your project sound professional.

Well there it is! The most recent project recorded with us that I’m proud to share with you is Jeremy Parsons’ Things to Come. He is an up-and-coming artist based in San Antonio, Texas and his new album stands as an example of the sound we’ve been cultivating at home in recent months. Several singles are available to stream now.

Cheers, Mike ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mike Flanders is an Australian/American award-winning producer/writer, who has worked with Heidi NewField, Doug Seegers, Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, Ky-Mani Marley, & Trick Pony.

Learn more at themichaelflanders.com

MUSIC BUSINESS PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 17

MUSIC BUSINESS

Soundstripe VP of Music, Licensing and the Perks o

H

everyone’s life. Being able to utilize music in a way that doesn’t cause the content creator to run into difficulties is becoming more and more challenging unless the platform being used to host the content has struck a deal with labels and publishers to clear all of the music for specific uses.

Whether for gaming, personal video creation, advertising, or simple social media posts, in today’s culture music plays a vital role in virtually

This is why royalty-free music has become more and more relevant in recent years. While “royalty free” music is defined on a case-by-case basis by whoever is providing it, at Soundstripe this means that our music library is cleared for

ave you ever made a video, found the perfect song to match the vibe of your creation, and excitedly publish it to your YouTube channel only to receive a notice from YouTube stating that you are in violation of copyright law and that they must take down your video immediately? It’s the worst, right?

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any legal use without having to pay any additional fees to labels and publishers outside of the Soundstripe subscription fee.

Soundstripe is one of the biggest players in this field offering high-quality, major-label quality music to subscribers to use in any of their content. We are able to do this thanks to our full-time staff of producers, composers, vocalists, and mix engineers who collaborate to create music for our catalog across all genres.

These artists include Grammy-Award winning mix engineer J.R. McNeely, and legendary music

MUSIC BUSINESS

ic, Jay Harren, on Music s of Royalty Free Tunes producer Aaron Sprinkle along with several others whose voices and tracks have been heard across countless videos and advertisements over the years.

In order to keep our music offerings fresh, we release over 250 tracks per month, so we also commission music from super-talented thirdparty artists to help round out our library when needed. Soundstripe wholly owns the rights to all of the music on our platform and as a result our end-users are able to utilize our music in any piece of content they wish from personal

videos to nationwide TV advertisements, to gaming channels like Twitch and everything in between without fear that they are going to get the dreaded copyright strike on their account.

In a world where content is being made

everywhere from bedrooms to full-blown studios, making sure the music you choose is protected is imperative and places like Soundstripe offer a valid solution.

For more information, please visit https://www.soundstripe.com

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SPOTLIGHT

FOXANNE Coming Down to Earth to Release a Scorching New Album Carolyn Vallejo

Diana Whitcroft

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SPOTLIGHT

I

n the midst of presidential election turmoil, in the throes of pandemic exhaustion, and on the precipice of releasing her debut full length album, Foxanne found herself on Mars.

Well, technically, she was about 8,200 feet above sea level upon the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, participating in HI-SEAS, a Mars-like space simulation experience. It’s not entirely out of left-field for the musician who, by day, is a science communicator, making a living by taking complex scientific topics like space and nature conservation, and translating them into meaningful and more attainable concepts for people of all walks of life.

For someone who revels in astronomical mysteries, a Mars simulation – which Foxanne described as “insane” and “totally wild” - may just be the perfect way to gear up for the release of an album undeniably inspired by the cosmos.

“I’m always trying to figure out how my music and my space science work fit together,”

she says. “There have been times where I’m like, ‘Well, I should just sit down and write a song about quasars or something. You know, make it happen!’”

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch, considering her latest video for “Opportunity,” the fourth track off of upcoming It’s real (I knew it), was inspired by NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover. The song, a heartbreaking and surprisingly relatable tune humanizing the robot that lost contact with Earth in 2018 after a massive dust storm on the red planet, is a prime example of how science bleeds its way into Foxanne’s art.

It’s not the only space-inspired piece on the record, either. Listeners will catch a galactic tone right from the album’s lift-off, through to its twinkly outro.

“When I write about space in my music – or when music finds its way into my space world, which it does – I try to let that happen naturally,” Foxanne says.

Not every track is an overt ode to the universe,

On mastering an album during lockdown: “It was definitely a little more complicated than usual.”

but every track certainly reflects Foxanne’s ability to detangle convoluted and arduous ideas for the masses. It’s real (I knew it) brings painfully human and empathetic melodies down to earth through rich vocals that are sweet and gentle as often as they are shrieking and authoritative.

She loves a good buildup, with tracks like “Let It Ache” and “Love You Forever” displaying the full range of her voice. And while fans will recognize a few EP tracks that have been rerecorded and remastered for the album, they’ll also enjoy some surprises, including “Sea Blue,” an ethereal tune Foxanne had only played live until recording it for the first time.

These days, it can seem life on Earth is too painful to swallow, too devastating to fully grasp.

On It’s real (I knew it), Foxanne has found a way to convey what it means to be human without diluting the truth.

Now, after about two years of working on the album, Foxanne is ready to release that sound into the world. Having begun recording last year, she says she lucked out by finishing up in the studio just before the pandemic lockdowns hit.

Finalizing the album was another matter, though.

“In terms of mixing, mastering, all of that, I couldn’t drive down to the studio and hear it and have a conversation with everyone,” she says.

“It was, ‘Let’s play this big game of email and telephone to figure out what page everyone is on, and make sure that it’s sounding like I want it to sound like.’ It was definitely a little more complicated than usual.”

Like so many other musicians releasing new music during this time, Foxanne is also working through how to promote a record without the ability to tour. In the meantime, social media platforms like Instagram are proving to be valuable tools for artists hoping to connect with listeners and actually perform live the music they release.

“With the pandemic, having those platforms has really changed why we continue to have them and what we use them for,” she says. “It’s dramatically different than it was last year.”

Foxanne admits she’s not the most fluent social media poster out there, but Instagram, she says, allows her to navigate a portal to perform, share music and post videos with ease. Her followers will probably get to see and hear new music not only from It’s real (I knew it), but also from her next record, which Foxanne is already working on after a short break from songwriting.

She’s been learning Ableton and Logic to record some demos in her home studio, made complete with a guitar and mini keyboard, but using her phone to record voice notes is typically the first

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SPOTLIGHT step in songwriting – a process, she says, that she can’t necessarily turn off.

to “feel things, whatever those feelings may be,” from her music).

“I already can’t wait to release the next music that I haven’t recorded yet,” she says.

Just before the pandemic hit, she began adding “Love You Forever” to her setlist. It’s the song she says she’s most excited to perform again once Earth returns to some semblance of normalcy.

Luckily, pandemic lockdowns haven’t affected Foxanne’s homegrown creative process much. And with live music still on hold, she’ll have plenty of time to write or connect with fans online to promote her first full-length. Foxanne has a background in public health, in fact, so while she says she misses performing, she’s “rolling with the punches” in support of keeping people safe and out of music venues.

That’s not to say she won’t jump back on stage the minute live music returns, however. Foxanne’s vocals are the kind that need to be experienced in-person to retain the full emotional power of her sound (whether people like the new record or not, Foxanne says she simply wants people

“What I wouldn’t give to be on a crappy stage and in a smelly bar, just performing my music.”

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SPOTLIGHT

OOMPA

Advocates for Collective Liberation and Visions of a Better World Through Song Sarah Brooks

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SPOTLIGHT

B

oston-based hiphop and spoken word artist Oompa wears many hats: lyricist, poet, creator, activist, and visionary are just a handful I learned when speaking with her. Her music, like everything Oompa does and embodies, is borne of intentionality and a deep understanding of the human condition.

Her name is a statement for reclaiming one’s body and taking up space: “The guys on the court called me that as an endearing term, but it heightened my visibility, the visibility of my body in a certain way as a bigger body. And I wasn’t comfortable with that at the time, but I was like, ‘How do I own this body always?’ So I think Oompa is a reminder,” she asserts.

Oompa’s ethos? To forever represent the queer orphan, the Black kid, as noted in her bio.

Growing up in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, Oompa lost her mom at the age of 18 and waded through traumatic times. Throughout her life, Oompa has maintained the inherent value of representation, and when you listen to her music, she hopes you feel held by it, too.

“I always verify that I see the humanity

“If it’s time to be a part of the movement, if it’s time for the upheaval and the unrest, I can be here for that, but let it be for the right moment…” because I think oftentimes it can be in question, depending on the situation and the place, so I just want people to know that when they open the door to my music or my art that they have a place here…It’s not like I’m the first of anything like myself to exist or to make art or to be visible or to inspire, but I think there’s a certain way that I just want to continue to tell people that I love who are experiencing life and trying to find joy and trying to be in this world, even with all of these different identities and experiences, 26 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

From her debut album to her second release Cleo, Oompa can see how she has expanded as both an artist and a human being by processing traumatic wounds: “The music that I’ve made up until “Closer”…I had so much hurt and so much pain and so much desire to be seen and held inside of me around the loss of my mother and how that experience was shaped by being Black and being poor and being from Roxbury.

And also how my housing was limited based on being queer and Black and just so many different things shaped my experience.”

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I just want them to know I see them. So yeah, that’s what it means when it says I represent. I got your back, and I see you.”

Oompa continues, “I think the promise of a future is what I wanted to offer that character [Cleo] as she was a representation for me of who I am and who I could be, but also whatever I am to other people. I wanted to offer myself a future, as well, and so I think that Cleo in some ways for me created a portal, but I wasn’t quite yet ready to walk through that door, both in my life but also in my music.”

Today, Oompa’s music speaks to the liberation of oneself, the ability to liberate those around you and, ultimately, the ways human beings can heal. Our interview quickly went beyond the surface level, as Oompa pondered many of life’s existential questions.

That’s just who she is—incisive, thoughtful, and looking past what is, to discover what could be and what beautiful futures are possible.

“The music that I’m making now is the music that comes after that [portal…but what does it look like to be at peace? What does it look like to go through my healing journey? I’m in therapy now, I’m finding spirit, I’m taking care of plants, I got a morning routine, I run now…What does it look like to have a life worth living at this point? And there will be sadness, and there is sadness, but how do I capture the promise of this life? Because it’s one thing to make the art that people feel when they want to feel bad or they want to relate or they want to understand, or they just want to know what I’ve been through, but for the kids who latched onto that music because they feel so alone in the world or they feel hopeless, I feel a need for myself and for them to go through that portal now and see what’s in there for us, and to say, ‘Hey man, shit is rough, but I’m here. I’m here, and you could be here, and you could stay here, and life could be a joyous occasion,’” Oompa says through a smile.

Oompa’s newest release, “Closer,” presents us with a dichotomy; on one hand, the song is an absolute jam, and on the other, the lyrics stop you in your tracks. The video has the same PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 27

SPOTLIGHT effect. It’s in this deliberate curation where Oompa’s music finds its power—each lyric is moving, each note evokes emotion. What Oompa wants people to know about it? While Black Lives Matter is a motif within the video, it’s not the theme.

To Oompa, Black Lives Matter is an inherent statement and also just one step toward an anti-racist society, not the whole staircase.

“Part of the video is in response to the emergence of Black Lives Matter ... Outside of the pandemic, I’m still getting these questions of, ‘What do you have to say?’ And my response is my slap in the face to oppression at this particular point in time: it’s to be in love, it’s to

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love the people around me, it’s to take care of my mind. Because how can I really think about what it means to be a part of the movement of Black liberation if I’m not even taking care of the Black person I’m most responsible for? And the person whose life I’m most responsible for enriching?”

She goes on to say, “If it’s time to be a part of the movement, if it’s time for the upheaval and the unrest, I can be here for that, but let it be for the right moment or the big moment or something that moves me to move in this way, and in the meantime, my form of protest is being alive and being well and being happy.”

Being in the Boston music scene, which Oompa describes as scrappy, she is able to

create in a way that she wouldn’t be able to in major music cities of New York or L.A., like hosting shows in living rooms when the venue says no (the latter later realizing their misstep) and forming a tight-knit community.

New music and shows are definitely on the horizon for Oompa, but for right now? She’s making sure awareness and love are her top focus.

“Right now if I’m gonna be here, if I’m gonna maintain my sanity and whatever is expected at this point, I need to be well. I need to heal. I need to find a way to be present. I need to see what is around me to take in. For me it was love, that’s the only thing. Awareness and love. I want it to always come from there,” she says.

SPOTLIGHT

“My form of protest is being alive and being well and being happy.”

Follow on Instagram: @oompoutloud

OOMPA NEW SINGLE: “CLOSER”

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SPOTLIGHT

Oscar Lang Harnessing the Power of Solitude on New LP Lewis Evans

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Gus Rocha

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SPOTLIGHT

O

scar Lang is no stranger to solitude.

A haunting sense of ennui and a gripping feeling of loneliness feature prominently in his work, particularly in his early albums.

Even so, going through his prolific catalog, one quickly notices a ubiquitous spirit of perseverance and self-reliance, and the emerging portrait of a young artist possessed of a keen ability for introspection. Raised in the southwest London neighborhood of Hackney, the twenty-year-old songwriter has been recording music since the age of sixteen, releasing six albums in the last two years. His seventh EP, Antidote to Being Bored, is out December 4th on Dirty Hit Records.

The son of a successful TV-show writer, Lange grew up in a household with a strong musical background. As a young man, his father shared a band with Fatboy Slim, and from an early age, his mother instilled in him a deep appreciation for genres as varied as pop and disco. “I think that my earliest musical memory must be from around 4 or 5. I used to sing little jingles about eating pasta,” he tells me over the phone. Affected much like the rest of us by the global pandemic, Lang nevertheless remains hopeful, his optimism driven by a natural tendency to get lost in his work and an ability to abundantly produce content no matter the circumstances.

Racking up almost 950,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and counting the likes of Beabadoobee and JAWNY as collaborators, Lang’s career appears to be on a steady upwards trajectory. We spoke with Lang about his songwriting process, the way his music has developed over the last two years, his plans for when touring resumes, and any tips for young and aspiring musicians.

You self-released your first two EPs. Both share a DIY lo-fi quality, and feature lush vocals, warm instrumentation, and twangy guitars. They also showcase a commendable degree of introspection, as they differ in sound and approach. Teenage Hurt is grounded in folk-isms and is mostly acoustic, while Silk follows traditional rock aesthetics and features a fuller sound. How far apart did you write and record these albums? And what was your guiding principle in terms of songwriting?

Well, they were actually written quite a decent amount of time apart. Teenage Hurt was written in the latter half of 2017 while I was quite unhappy at my secondary school. I went to an all-boys Catholic school, and at that time there was this sort of amalgamation of all that I had been feeling for the past five or six years, and I was at quite a low point, which is why it sounds kind of soft and hurt. That’s why I called the album Teenage Hurt. I knew that

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these were not problems that I was going to have for the rest of my life.

I actually ended up leaving that school, and that’s around the time that I started working on Silk, and I think that you can kind of see it. There’s a change in my mood. To be fair, that was never meant to be an album. It started off as an EP but I just kept working on all these songs and eventually said, ‘Alright, let’s do an album.’

How much does your hometown influence the music that you write?

I think it’s fair to say that it really does influence it.

In the winter, you’re walking home from school at 3:30 and it’s dark already. You go to school and it’s dark, and you come back from school and it’s dark, and that’s not a pleasant environment to be in, especially when you’re not feeling well. It can spiral you down, so it does influence me. Also, a lot of the earlier stuff was written in my room, and there’s a vulnerability to that, and I think that’s why Teenage Hurt sounds so vulnerable and honest, it’s kind of like writing a diary.

Beabadoobee makes a cameo in Silk on “Speed Dial.” How did you come to work together, and what was that process like?

It’s actually really weird because B was actually a fan of my music originally. Someone I went to

released in 2018. How do you view this album in relation to the first two? Was this your last self-produced album?

That album came about in a similar way as Teenage Hurt, where it felt like my life was getting bad again.

At the same time, leading up to it I had met my girlfriend. So I was writing all these songs about falling in love. I’ve always liked pop and orchestral music, and music that uses Mellotron, so that helped too.

That was my last self-released album. I was working with Dirty Hit because we were doing Patched Up with B. A couple of months later, B tells me that they might be thinking about signing me. Because I was partly her manager, I’d gotten to know the Dirty Hit team and was really friendly with them. So that was the last thing I self-released, but I continue to selfproduce.

Bops, etc, released last year, marks a departure from that contemplative early sound and pivots towards a rock-forward retroconscious style. What prompted that change?

It was kind of a weird and confusing time. I was getting a lot of flak from my dad because I was set to take the biggest exam you’re supposed to take here, the A-levels. I recorded in May and my A-levels were at the end of May. I had lost all interest in education once I got signed. I saw this as the one

“Don’t just upload music ‘cause you’re trying to achieve something, upload music because you love it.” school with told B about me, and at the time B had no music out. She was kind of famous on Instagram.

She had around 15,000 followers so I followed her back. You gotta think at the time I had 300 followers so 15,000 was insane. We started talking, she was into Mac Demarco and started talking about how she wanted to record music, and so the same mixer that Teenage Hurt was recorded on we recorded “Coffee” on. We recorded “Coffee” and her first EP live. We did her next EP Patched Up together and started this little partnership.

Is producing other artists something you’re interested in?

Yeah, so I took a little break from it this year cause I really wanted to concentrate on my music. There was a big gap between some of my EPs, and I didn’t wanna have big gaps in music anymore. Producing other people was stressing me out and felt like a lot of pressure so I took a break. But now that I’ve finished my album, I’ve started working with other people again.

To Whom It May Concern is the third EP you

thing I always wanted to do. I spent a lot of time and nights with my mates working on the record in this little room in the Dirty Hit Studios till 3 am. That was a lot of fun.

Can you tell me a bit about the music scene where you’re from? Is it a friendly or competitive environment?

I think it is quite competitive in the U.K., just because there’s so much music that comes out of this little island. We went on a tour, The Dirty Hit Tour in December [2019] that was 22 dates, which was something insane. And that was kinda like my dream to go on a big tour. It was great. It’s weird thinking about early gigs, cause we’d play gigs when we’d go onstage and have backing tracks on my phone, and I’d have to pause it between songs so I could change it.

How much have you learned in the last year since you’ve been on Dirty Hit not only about writing but also about recording?

I’ve learned so much. Having access to a big studio… it’s shaped the way my songs have evolved. I’ve

SPOTLIGHT

necessary work that we had to do as a band cause it wasn’t something that we could do anywhere else, so we were allowed to get into a room together being Covid-safe and stuff. So it was a huge relief after sitting at home for so long. Especially because we’ve been recording in Liverpool, and that’s one of my favorite cities in the U.K. I got to be away for about 22 days and we were recording stuff every day, so it was really fun.

The pandemic has obviously thrown a wrench into everyone’s plans, and for artists like yourself, that means having to put touring on pause. What are your plans for when touring resumes?

I think we might be looking at a couple of things for April and May [2021]. We’ve got a couple of festivals booked in for May, but of course, we’ve gotta keep our fingers crossed that everything goes alright and this really goes away. We just wanna play shows. We missed out so much on playing shows, and we’re just excited to play all of this music live.

Do you have any advice for any aspiring artists?

I know so many people that struggle to release stuff because they build up this anticipation of ‘I want my first release to be perfect’. Just release it. Even if it’s shit, at least people know they’re doing stuff. Get your music out there. Don’t think too much about it, and just have fun with it. Don’t just upload music cause you’re trying to achieve something, upload music because you love it.

Follow on Instagram: @oscar.lang

always wanted to make music like the music I make now, I just didn’t know how to do it and didn’t have the resources. Now, having access to these studios and working with producers, it’s helped me visualize the ideas I have and I can go, ‘Yeah, that’s what I wanna do, let’s do it.’

This brings us to your newest EP, Antidote to Being Bored. How long were you working on it, and how much did the pandemic influence the writing process?

[It] was written in quarantine, so that definitely had an effect on how I wrote. I’ve been trying to concentrate more on my lyrical ability. I wanted to sit down with this EP and tell some interesting stories and continue the sound and evolve it further.

I wanted to push through each sentence no matter how long it takes me until I got something where I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s actually really nice.’

Do you feel more at home with yourself in this album?

Oh, 100 percent. I really feel like I found a sound I’m happy with and that feels both original but also inspired by all the things that I loved growing up. I really feel that I’ve found my voice and progressed as a songwriter.

What was it like recording during lockdown?

After so long not seeing my band, just to get in a room with them and also with my producer and engineer, it really felt like a break from lockdown. This was

OSCAR LANG ANTIDOTE TO BEING BORED STANDOUT TRACK: “ANTIDOTE TO BEING BORED”

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SPOTLIGHT

Fusing Country and Hip-Hop into the Ultimate American Dream

WILLIE JONES Gordon Clark

Michael St. James

PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 35

SPOTLIGHT

I’ll let others argue over genres, I’m here for the songs, and these are damn good songs, written by a damn good songwriter, and delivered by a damn good artist. You’ll find plenty of downhome party songs on the new records. If you don’t love banjo, the breakup song “Trainwreck” just might change your mind. “Actions” surprises toward the end of the album as a beautiful pianodriven ballad about a troubled relationship that has the killer line, “you say ‘can you hear me?’ but you don’t speak clearly no more.” And then there’s “Whole Lotta Love,” a song infinitely syncable.

But the standout track, and the one that I believe is going to catapult Willie Jones into all sorts of ears and hearts (and spotlights) worldwide is “American Dream.”

This is a song for the moment, for the movement.

It’s a song about the Black experience in America, especially for young Black men. The American experience of being seen as “other,” as “less-than,” as something to be feared. An experience shared by far too many for far too long. It’s about the failure of this country to reconcile with our greatest sins by ensuring that this “dream” is equally available to all. It echoes the failure of America to understand that “When you’re living as a Black man, it’s a different kind of American Dream.”

I had a chance to catch up with Jones to chat about songwriting and what it’s like to launch an album during COVID.

W

illie Jones may be mistakenly categorized as that tired cliche of an “over nig ht success,” even though he first lit up The X Factor fresh out of high school way back in 2012, starred in the Netflix show Chasing Cameron in 2017, and then dropped an EP Road Waves (Acoustic Mixtape) in 2018, only to follow it up with a string of singles in 2019 and early 2020 that crushed Spotify and YouTube, like “Bachelorettes on Broadway” with well over 15 million streams alone Fast forward to the fall of 2020, with a coveted Warner/Chappell publishing deal inked, a venture label deal with The Penthouse/Sony Music Nashville, and a hit radio show on Apple Music as a DJ and tastemaker, Willie Jones has 36 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

released his first full-length album Right Now and is poised to really blow up.

Let’s get this whole genre question out of the way: Willie Jones is a songwriter and Country music artist. However, he blends his incredibly gifted storytelling songs with underground hiphop beats to make something entirely accessible to a wider audience. It ain’t pure country, it ain’t pure hip-hop, but what is? If you are of a certain age, this may be confusing to you, but the younger generations simply do not view music in traditional genres anymore. If it slaps, it slaps (they also probably won’t use “slaps” anymore by the time this article comes out).

Willie is keenly aware of his place in this new movement of rising Black country stars who are blending genres in their productions like, Kane Brown, Lil Nas X, Blanco Brown, and more, and he is embracing it.

How are you doing personally with the COVID thing? Are you freaking out when you travel?

Just as a person? (Yeah) I’m doing okay, man.

I’m safe. I wear my mask. Wash my hands. Yeah, we are all healthy, thank the Lord. But, I AM tired of this shit, though. (laughs) I mean, things are going great. Like wrapping up my album. I’ve been getting in a lot of good writing over Zooms.

And like, even my trip to Nashville and a lot of great co-writes in person. But other than that, I still stay pretty active, you know, gym, friends, and all that good stuff. I’m so annoyed with it.

Yeah, “Performer Magazine.” You know, I love performing, I miss the hell of it. And I still do things here and there, like, over my social media and virtual shows.

What was the last proper show you played before COVID? I was actually in Europe for the C2C Country to Country Music festival. I mean, it was dope. I was on the Spotlight stage, there were headliners for days. Rucker (Darius) was there, Old Dominion, Luke Combs, and I was going on like an intermission stage, in between for the bigger artist sets. And then I would play other shows

How are you feeling being described as part of this vanguard new “Black Country?”

Are you embracing that?

This is who I am and the kind of music I want to hear and make. But, I also get it, you know what I’m saying? Because it is a thing. Artists like Mickey Guyton, Breland, and Brittney Spencer, and so many other Black Country artists are getting a spotlight on them. But beyond that, we’re just artists, you know? That is dope. That’s initially why I got into it, because I didn’t see anybody like me. My stories and their essence.

Seeing them authentically being themselves, Black, you know, cool. I’m just a different type of person in the world. So, I just want to represent myself and just other types of stories.

You love songwriting. Do you have a process? Are you a guy that writes to acoustic guitar? Do you write lyrics first? Or do you write to beats?

Yeah, I kind of do all of those things.

Sometimes I’ll get in, and I’ll just have a song idea, or the co-writer will have a song idea, or we just get in there and just talk about life or something.

I usually already have a lyric going and we’ll write something acoustically. But usually, I’m the type to go in with a song idea, at least in my head, and just turn on the mic and freestyle, and then just write from there. Just build around that. Since I’ve been writing more the past couple of years, it’s definitely been something where it’s a muscle that has grown a lot.

What guitars are you playing and have you named them?

I got me a little Martin. It’s like an X-series type. It was a gift from my uncle a few years ago.

It’s nice. It does not have a name, but should name it?

You definitely should name it. But don’t jinx it. Wait until after 2020, that’s when you name it.

Yeah, I should. I’m gonna think on that.

Are you writing for other artists now too as part of the deal with Warner/Chappell?

I have written for a couple hip-hop artists.

Yeah. And I’m writing for some pitch things. I’m like, ‘Oh, I would like to pitch that out.’ None have gotten snatched up yet, but with just the rise of “Willie Jones” I think I’ll have more getting snatched.

It must be difficult launching an album during COVID. I mean, there was probably a full media blitz and hitting the road planned.

So how are you doing it?

Yeah, this was postponed for some months.

I’ve been doing a few cool virtual shows. I mean, I try to work my social media as best I can. With my new Crossroads Apple Music Show, I get to throw my songs on there. But yeah, it’s really strange. I mean, we’re definitely figuring it out.

A lot of Zooms, a lot of calls. But I definitely do miss the road and can’t wait to get back out there whenever that time comes. It’s just a different age we live in right now.

Let’s talk about Crossroads Radio on Apple Music. Now you’re the DJ, the influencer. How much of the music do you pick?

Oh man, like 60% of it. Yeah, it’s pretty dope.

That was a blessing from God. And that keeps me going, you know what I’m saying? I’m working on my music too, but this is a whole different thing. I work with really great producers - my boy, Trevor Bass and Tommy Nixon from Apple. You know, they’re young guys, really in touch with music, as well. We just have a good time creating and recording shows. We do it over Zoom. I actually had the chance to meet Trevor in person, this past Nashville trip. And he’s like, the homie. Seriously, because we just created such a rapport over Zoom in the past four months since I’ve had the show. Just meeting at the crossroads and playing country, hip-hop, and everything in-between, and we just create the stories.

Let’s talk about the song “American Dream.” It’s obviously a very personal song, but you are stepping into that leader position speaking out on it. Tell me about how you’re feeling about that coming out in this social climate in our country. Do you think it’s going to cause a ruckus?

I mean, I’m just speaking my truth, you know? I wrote it a few days after the Fourth of July, and I was like, struggling to put on my red, white, and blue. And I was like, ‘Man, screw that, bro.’ I’m wearing it. I am an American. I’m here, we ain’t going nowhere. Y’all just gonna have to get with it or get lost. (laughs) I mean, if a ruckus is created, then cool. I mean, hopefully, motherfuckers just learn from the song because I’m speaking from a place of honesty. You know, I rock with this country. Shit, America is dope.

I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, it’s just we just have to continue to grow. But it ain’t perfect.

Nowhere in the world is.

How do you feel about this summer and the movement hitting the mainstream (BLM and protests) - are changes being made?

I think it is. I mean, it’s always changing, right? Maybe it’s just gradual, slow. Supergradual. I mean, like the song (American Dream)

says, ‘We’ve come a long way, but we got a long way to go.’ And people just have to see each other as humans, you know what I’m saying? I’m just fuckin’ excited for just the growth that I’ve seen in my life. And I think that will continue to happen.

How are you finding navigating the music business, and especially as a nontraditional country artist taking off?

I know I’m protected and I’m good. Yeah, I got a great team. And I mean, my family and friends are just definitely just rocking with me and just there for me. At the end of the day, I’m not doing this to be accepted. I’m just doing what I love to do, you know? I’m saying what I’m saying and being authentic. And praise God, people have been rocking with it and I’ve inspired a lot of people, and I continue to inspire myself.

SPOTLIGHT

here and there for the whole festival. It was crazy.

And then we got the call that the [pandemic] was entering so we all had to dip out of Europe, like ASAP. Yeah, the next day, we’re about to play the O2. And I was like, ‘Damn! Things were going really well.’ But you know, I’m really hopeful and optimistic for the future. Like, yeah, this too shall pass.

How does your mom feel about all this?

Oh, she’s so excited.

Have you bought her the house yet?

I haven’t bought the house, not yet. We’ll see how this album goes (laughs).

Can’t wait to see you on the road next year (vaccine willing).

Yeah, just get me on the plane. Wherever it is, I’m there!

Follow on Instagram: @williejones

WILLIE JONES RIGHT NOW STANDOUT TRACK: “AMERICAN DREAM”

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GEAR REVIEWS

SOLID STATE LOGIC SiX 6-channel Desktop Analog Mixer

A

t the time of this review the COVID Pandemic has forced a lot of creative types to work from home. In many cases this means gathering a hodge-podge of cables and gear and attempting to try and make everything work. SSL has unveiled a professional, all-in-one small-format analog mixer with functionality and ergonomics that make sense and sound downright phenomenal.

First off, the angled design just makes perfect sense for the desktop studio. When using most small devices when seated, unless it’s right under your nose, you’ll constantly be craning your neck to see the controls at the back. It’s one of those “how come we don’t see this more often” moments.

control and bussing options, as well as a talkback mic XLR connection for your gooseneck and two sets of stereo inputs.

Output wise, there are XLR outputs, as well as two sets of monitor outs, which can be configured for bus outs. The large serial ports are send/returns for mix bussing, and inputs. The remaining 4 outputs cover multiple headphone connections or more monitoring options. Whew!

It’s a lot to digest. But suffice to say, in such a small package you’re essentially getting largeformat SSL sound and features at a fraction of the price. So, if you don’t need a million faders at once, this might be just the thing you didn’t know you needed.

Channels 1 and 2 are mono inputs, each with a long-throw 100m fader (nice touch), XLR and 1/4” inputs and feature SSL’s legendary preamps with the option to insert external effects. Stereo cue, high and low EQ controls and compression round things out nicely. We must point out, specifically, that the compression on your input channels might just be worth the price of admission alone. Placing this in front of your digital interface rig may be just the home studio upgrade you need to go from “demo” to professional sounding recordings with taking up a lot of real estate.

OK, with all those options it can easily be paired with an existing DAW interface (perhaps an SSL 2+, for example) and be used as a master mixing console to feed a stereo session into a simple 2x2 input device. Why would you use it like that, you ask? Well, with all of the live streaming happening these days, feeding in a small 4- or 5-piece band, with vocals, guitars, bass and percussion, and summing it all up to a stereo output makes a 2-channel interface more powerful, without having to deal with figuring out individual monitoring. Oh yeah, and with just a simple glance at the manual, getting a grip on connectivity was super easy.

Anyway, the remaining channels are grouped in stereo (3&4, and 5&6) and are a bit more streamlined, lacking the EQ, and individual compression features. Have no fear though, there is a fantastic bus compressor available, based on SSL’s SL4000G console. There’s full monitoring

Even using it in front of an interface for a normal recording situation and getting those great SSL preamps and compression right at the start, is a no brainer. It’s not just your typical mixer, it’s more of a central workstation that can pull double duty on your desk for recording

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sessions, as well as at the club for your combo’s live shows.

The big thing that a lot of folks pointed out upon release was the price; at $1499 it’s not cheap. It does sound fantastic, the design is great, and has pretty much every routing option an engineer could think of that fits in a small format, but it’s just short of overkill, and a lot of musicians looking for a mixer for an analog frontend to their DAW, might want to give this a look.

This is a serious piece of kit, as the British would say, and the professional features and options have a price, but for someone who is serious, this is a jack of all trades unit, that is a master of all of them. SSL sound and features at this price point? Color us interested.

Chris Devine

PROS

Great angled design, excellent sounding preamps.

CONS

Slightly pricey but worth it STREET PRICE

$1499

GEAR REVIEWS

S

SL consoles have been the choice of world-class studios for decades. However, getting one of those expensive (and large) devices into a home situation really wasn’t feasible, until now.

The rear panel of the SSL2+ interface is loaded with connections, from combo 1/4”/XLR audio inputs and 1/4” outputs for monitors, and two headphone connections, as well as full-size MIDI in and outs and red/white RCA jacks for monitoring or routing to a DJ setup or external mixer.

British audio systems have been the pinnacle of recording, and the preamps are exceptional in this unit, which in turn run into AKM D/A converters, running at 24-bit/192 kHz for ultra hi-res recordings at home. Ergonomically, all of the connections reside in the back, which makes for a clean look, but if you’re one of those users who keeps plugging and unplugging inputs, you might find that aspect an adjustment to the many competing units that have front facing inputs and controls.

However the top layout is pristine, with 2 channels each featuring phantom power for your condenser mics, LED level indicators, line or HiZ input selection for guitars, level and a Legacy 4k control, which brings in the high frequency push that made SSL boards and their preamp sections legendary. It’s a richer EQ approach that makes sense, especially with direct guitars and vocals, as it seems to add in bit of warmth and grit overall, but nothing that doesn’t work musically or something you’ll be looking for a work around later on in the mixing process. We found it to

SOLID STATE LOGIC SSL2+ 2x2 USB Audio Interface work perfectly on everything we threw at it, adding in that little “extra” that sometimes seems to take tons of plug-ins to capture (and even then, it might only get you 80% of the way there).

Separate headphone level controls and a very large monitor level round out the top panel, and after a few minutes of using it, we really started to appreciate the desktop layout.

Like a lot of other small format USB interfaces, it comes with a bucket load of software, but one really pleasant feature was it didn’t need to have some extra program to manage or run it. It was so nice to just connect it via USB and be up and running in no time. For included software, SSL’s Vocalstrip 2, Drumstrip, Flexverb and X-comp plug-ins are available, and to provide a complete creative package, SSL has included Ableton Live Lite, Loopcloud, Native Instruments Komplete Start and Hybrid Keys, and a copy of Avid’s Pro Tools First.

Our DAW software of choice for this review was PreSonus’ Studio One 5, and it connected easily with no issues, and right of the bat, we really liked the fact that no extra software was needed to run/control the interface. Initial I/O setup via Studio One’s preference pane was all it took. Plugging in a variety of mics from a Mojave MA-301, AT2020 to a tried-and-true Shure 58 yielded great results for vocals, and acoustic guitar. The Legacy 4k mode was a great addition to start with, and just..well...worked -- the added color at the beginning was quite impressive.

To bring electric guitars into the mix, we connected it to our Strymon Iridium amp and

cab IR pedal, and again, excellent results. The Legacy 4k function added in that extra depth and dimension without any EQ tweaking or extra processing. We don’t know, technically, what it’s doing under the hood, but whatever it is, it’s fantastic.

There’s a sea of 2-channel USB interfaces out there, but the Legacy 4k mode really makes this a standout audio-wise, and its control layout and rugged construction makes it feel like you’re running a real, professional session and not a toy box for making demos on your laptop. It’s portable enough, and brings big console sound and function to the bedroom.

Chris Devine

PROS

No added software required, excellent sound quality and ease-of-use CONS

None STREET PRICE

$279 PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 39

GEAR REVIEWS

BOSS OC-5 Octave Pedal

B

oss pedals generally set the standard, right from the get-go, of that particular effect device, until they re-set and raise the bar. Their OC-2 octave pedal is a classic.

Now they’ve updated things quite a bit with their OC-5, taking things to a new high, in the low ranges.

Boss’ indestructible enclosure/footswitch design is still standard here, with Direct level, +1 Octave level, -1 Octave Level, a -2 Octave range controls, and a vintage/polyphonic selector switch residing on the control panel. There’s standard 1/4” in and output, along with a 1/4” direct out, which is a dry signal only.

Our reviewer has had a couple of Boss OC-2 pedals on his board in the past, so the vintage mode brought flashbacks of the original, with the inconsistencies and glitching that made using it a talent unto itself. It’s not a negative aspect but knowing where (and how) to adjust a normal playing style to get the most out of the pedal really enhances its use. Add in the octave up function, and now it provides a gritty, faux-organ (forgan?) type effect. Simple two-note chords do work OK in this mode, but as notes ring and resonate, they tend to get a bit glitchy, but in a good kind of way.

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Switching into polyphonic mode things clean up quite a bit, and the tracking is far more refined.

No surprise that chordal work tends to be far superior, and in this mode, the -2 range control now flips to control the level of the -1 octave control. At the 9:00 position it only engages when lower frequencies are played. What this means is, playing Prince-esque funk bits on the high E and B strings come through un-affected, but shift to a low end run on the Low E, and the octaves (both up and down) kick in. No extra footswitch or controls needed.

It works equally well on bass and acoustic guitars, with again, excellent tracking results.

So, users who might want to do some looping, this is great way to put down a bass track, or even lower frequency, to layer or play over. It’s a great application considering its size, and ease of use. Players who like the original style effect but can’t commit to a spot on their board might find space for this one, as it brings a lot more modern functionality to the table (or board) that’s practical, and musical to dig into the low ranges while maintaining clarity.

Chris Devine

PROS

Highly flexible octave shifting, excellent tracking CONS

None.

STREET PRICE

$129

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I

MACKIE MP-460 Professional In-Ear Monitors

n-ears just keep getting better and better; when they finally started to be available at a reasonable price to the working musician, the results were, well...Meh. Mackie’s new MP-460’s sound amazing right out of the box, with no need for custom fitting for overpriced and under engineered features.

The big thing for IEMs is isolation, first off, so getting a proper seal in the ear canal is key.

Thankfully Mackie includes a huge selection of sizes of silicone earpieces, in the rounded, wide bore, triple flange versions, along with memory foam versions for pretty much every user preference. Our reviewer likes the memory foam versions that seem to stay put when perspiration is an issue, and still gives a tight enough seal for comfort and stability on stage.

Most earphones use single or even dual drivers, splitting up the frequency band amongst them for better tuning and balance. Mackie went deep, and with 4 armature balanced drivers by Knowles, and the range is pretty phenomenal, with excellent frequency response across the spectrum.

Sound-wise, these are killer, the overall audio resolution is phenomenal, with excellent balance. Starting off with a flat EQ, and pushing frequencies, they respond perfectly, so when you

find preset EQ patches like bass boost, you get that, but not the “bass boost you wish didn’t get so damn woofy or muffly.” When you get into any specific EQ tweaks from your source, it’s easily presented to the user, and makes any guesswork in “well how much treble or mid should I add or cut to feel it in my ears?” pretty much a moot point. Cut or boost a frequency a little, and it translates easily, so the user isn’t fighting their earbuds. Once we found an EQ we liked from the board, it was a set and forget moment, and even after long sessions we didn’t get any physical or audio fatigue.

Speaking of earbuds, they are detachable, which is always a godsend. So many good headphones meet an early demise from cables getting trashed, and Mackie actually included a pair; one with clear-ish silver braided, and the other a black version with audio controls for use with smartphones or tablets.

Mackie includes a nice mini latching case for the headphones and all their accessories, and it makes for a practical setup for IEMs. Considering the price, the features, and the audio fidelity, these are a bargain that are worth every penny.

For the performer who wants the mobility of quality IEMs, and wants their wallet to maintain its girth, these are the ticket!

Chris Devine

PROS

Excellent audio, welldesigned, modular CONS

None STREET PRICE

$499

PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 41

GEAR REVIEWS

BOSS GT-1000CORE Multi-Effects Processor

W

hen you take a flagship product, and streamline/consolidate it, the results in many cases are less than half the value. Boss figured out how to make a new axiom: “less is equal” by taking their GT-1000 Multi-fx system and putting into the size of their 500 series of pedals, all while maintaining the tonal options of its big brother.

The front panel sports three rugged footswitches, along with five parameter editing knobs, patch selector, and output level controls.

The big display is very bright and super easy to see and sits next to a minimal editing control section. On the back, stereo ins and outs, two effect sends and return loops, and control outputs, with another control connection on the side. Mini 1/8” MIDI connections and a USB port also reside on the side.

A great feature is the left output also doubles as a headphone out! The two loops can also be used as Aux In and Sub Out connections, as well, as for 4 cable method configurations. Pedal junkies who can’t part with that boutique fuzz or drive that’s all the rage now, can have those items easily incorporated into this system utilizing these loops. So getting this to play nicely with your existing pedalboard is a no brainer. Want to have it make your amp change channels as well? Connect it to the CTL jacks, and now your analog tube amp plays with it nicely, making it a complete control center.

We used this in a variety of configurations; in front of an amp, as a stompbox, the 4-cable method and through a set of headphones. Just

42 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

scrolling through the presets, we were blown away by the overall audio fidelity. Each new preset in stock form seemed well thought-out and could easily be the starting point for players looking for something new, yet familiar. Even some of the extreme versions of the more unusual effects like the slicer seemed far more usable in actual playing situations, and not just examples of parameters and “look what I can do” approaches.

The days of presets that may be perfect, algorithm wise, but meh for guitar or just impractical, are over! Pretty much every BOSS effect is in there, from chorus to blues driver, along with their 500 Series (delay, modulation and reverb) effects. Amp models galore are also crammed in here, and players wanting to emulate stereo rigs, with let’s say a Vox-y version and a Marshall-ish at the same time -- no problem, mate! Try to play “let’s see if it has this effect” game, and you’ll lose. This unit has it in there!

And if you want to see how much a patch can handle, try 24 effects at once. BOSS even included a looper mode.

If you add in the cost of getting one of these, and spend a few extra dollars on let’s say, an external footswitch like Boss’s FS-7, and their EV-30 expression pedal, what you end up with is a pedalboard friendly version of their bigger, full sized GT-1000, for about $150 less. Yes, it’s missing XLR main outs, and full-size MIDI connections, but it’s otherwise there in every other way.

Chris Devine

PROS

Well thought out, excellent sounds, plenty of options, pedalboard friendly CONS

Want to load your own impulse responses?

Of course you do. Well, there are 16 open spots for ones players have made on their own or downloaded from other sources.

The overall experience was impressive, finding more and more usable tones and variants that made sense, but not getting overwhelmed during the process, and getting inspired along the way. Players who need to re-create sounds that would normally require dozens of pedals and amps, this is the little box you’ve been begging for.

Might need a couple of extra devices (FS-7, EV30) to fully unlock potential STREET PRICE

$699

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AUSOUNDS AU-Flex ANC Wireless Neckband Earphones

T

he attachment we’ve made to a wired set of headphones is warranted, but Bluetooth headphones usually work great when you need mobility or working out, and that’s when listening to music isn’t the priority, just filling in as a distraction of sorts. Ausounds sent over a set of their wireless headphones and we might be re-thinking our standards.

There are a few components to this: a neckband with USB connectivity that contains the microphone (as these can be used to answer calls on a smartphone), indicator function light, volume controls, and active noise cancellation, as well as presumably the battery. These are wired to the earbuds, and collectively fit nicely around the neck and in the ears nicely, with three pairs of silicone earplugs included.

Charging takes about 1.5 hours and pairing through Bluetooth is simple. The headphones themselves are a planar driver design, meaning the actual speakers themselves are flat, as compared to the traditional cone shape. With two drivers, one for mid and high frequencies, and the other for bass, it’s a system that makes total sense for small format earphones and brings excellent separation and overall control to the tonal experience. The audio resolution is 24bit and a Bluetooth transfer rate of 990kbps, which makes for an excellent communication speed between the device and the headphones themselves.

A neat feature is the earbuds themselves have magnets on the outside, and when the earbuds connect, they shut off, saving battery life, and allowing the user to go hands free if they are on a call.

So using these as a regular set of headphones, they are quite nice, and sound fantastic; the noise cancelling feature is excellent, especially for a set of small-format earbuds. The bass response is excellent right off the bat, with no need for external EQ fiddling. One disappointment is the earphones themselves don’t detach from the neckband, so if anything does go wrong, it’s not as simple as swapping out a single bud.

One interesting application would be using these for video chats for a more natural look, with no white plugs sticking out of your ears, or tell-tale white cable. For vloggers using these as a means of monitoring and a microphone, it’s a great idea, without more wires being draped around everything.

For overall listening, these have made us re-think small format Bluetooth headphones completely, with the audio quality over all functionality. With a lot of musicians trying to get more functionality out of everything, they’ll do nicely in a work or play environment.

Chris Devine

PROS

Great sounding headphones & microphone, noisecancelling function CONS

Earbuds don’t detach.

STREET PRICE

$199

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GEAR REVIEWS

BOSS RC-5 Loop Station Pedal

L

ooping in general is a pretty simple process using a footswitch-enabled recording and playback device. In practice, it can take, well...practice, even getting the hang of simple units. Sometimes adding in features adds in complications, diluting the benefits. Boss has figured out how to bring advanced looping as well as rhythm boxes to the small pedal format.

Now there is an additional 1/4” connection for an external footswitch, such as Boss’s FS6 or EV 30 expression pedal -- for the clarity of not having to think about where you are in your looping process and take the chance of messing up by pressing the pedal’s main footswitch while in the wrong spot, makes an extra footswitch more than welcome. Using an expression pedal to control parameters is also an option, however, as there’s only one connection you’ll have to choose which accessory to use.

Now yes, it works like a looper should; press the button assigned to record, and when that part is done, you can stop the recording process, and start to play over what you recorded, or even overdub another track above that. An interesting feature is the reverse mode, which “flips the tape” on the rhythm and plays it backwards. With 99 slots for loops, there are plenty of spots to load in whatever your heart desires.

With 13 hours of internal recording time, along with a USB connection to backup loops to a computer, it brings contemporary functionality 44 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

to an old concept. Want to load in your own loops, well it’s just as easy. Boss also has a Tone Studio application for computers that manage this aspect very easily, and also have their own rhythm loops that can easily be practice platforms to be downloaded.

Once hooking up the device, it was pretty simple to record loops, however the double hit to stop took some getting used to. We did happen to have a Boss FS7 on hand, and while it’s not included, it made a great addition to the setup.

There is a large display that has blocks for the measure count of where you are in the loop, which is an excellent visual cue for when and where to hit the stop recording function. Making loops with the rhythm track was pretty easy to get used to, and in fact made it feel like we were actually playing something with a definition, rather than noodling around. Getting this far in a short time, and not getting overwhelmed in the process and underwhelmed in results was a huge boost in seeing how this could really be a supportive device for a solo player at a gig, or even just using this as a device to work out additional parts or solos to rhythm tracks.

If you’re a player who’s been using a “traditional” looper, this is the next step up, with the added rhythm components of the drum loops, so it’s well worth it on that level. This could also just as easily be used as a compact drum machine on its own, for beats and rhythms as a backing tracks. The possibilities are pretty open, and more than likely the average player could easily

apply a few of these approaches to this device, and possibly explore others.

The only downside to all of it, is an extra footswitch made this a lot more user friendly on our end, so for players really looking to tap into all of the functions, it’ll be worth the add-on expense.

Chris Devine

PROS

Plenty of storage, USB connectivity, included rhythm machine. Easy to use.

CONS

Players might want/need extra foot switch (not included) STREET PRICE

$199

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COPPERSOUND Strategy Analog Preamp and Clean Boost Pedal

O

K, yes it looks like a Jeff Goldbloom/ fly merger/accident happened with a stompbox and a Strat. The input is the same jack that’s been around since 1954, along with the knobs and part of a pickguard. A very large, and very bright LED indicates when it’s engaged. The tone control works as a high and low pass filter; at 1, the highs are rolled off, and the bass response is enhanced. Likewise, when it’s on 10, the highs are accentuated, and the bass frequencies are rolled off a bit. The volume control controls the overall level.

We plugged this into our trusty Fender Blues Jr. amp, and it was quite nice. It’s touted as one of those “always on” pedals, in many cases this statement is to be taken with a grain of salt, but not here. On its own, at lower volume settings on the Strategy added in an extra level of clarity, especially with humbuckers. The tone control really didn’t get shrill or spiky, even at more extreme settings. Bringing in the volume, it got really nice and gritty, hitting the front end of the amp harder, and making it sound... well even more “Fender-ish.” Switching it up to single coils, and pushing the tone closer to the low digits, it didn’t get dark or muddy -- just enhancing the lower spectrum with more depth and richness. Ever think you’d want to re-wire a Strat to have a tone control on the bridge pickup? Well, this box gives that same result.

Our Blues Jr, even with a Celestion speaker, has limitations, but this pedal

certainly narrowed them in a big way. It’s “more,” but without a ton of over-coloring that boosts and preamps usually bring to the party, while maintaining the character of the guitar and amp. Even better was with just two controls it was super easy to adapt to a desired tone, and along the way, we made mental notes as to ones we’d like to re-visit for other sonic applications.

Overall, our reviewer loved having the volume at about half way, with the tone favoring the treble side slightly. It paired nicely with some other drive pedals as well, such as the Earthquaker Plumes, and a Fuzzrocious Moth. But on its own it earned the “always on” tag, with a bigger sound and dynamic response than when turned off, where we certainly missed its presence. Even plugging it into our Strymon Iridium set to a Fender tone brought a nice, reactive drive that still had a shimmer that we couldn’t dial in on just the pedal alone.

Coppersound does offer up a ton of choices in the pedal’s appearance. Name a color combo, and they either offer it up already, or if you want one that matches a Strat you already have? No problem, they can do that.

PROS

Excellent sound quality, simple to dial in flexible tone shaping CONS

None STREET PRICE

$249

So the Strat styling may get your attention, but the tones and possibilities that it brings aren’t a gimmick, and for players who want a bigger F-style tone, this is the deal that is real.

Chris Devine PERFORMER MAGAZINE DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 45

GEAR REVIEWS

GEAR REVIEWS

BOSS RC-500 Loop Station Compact Phrase Recorder

I

t’s no surprise that looping pedals can be a way of providing personal accompaniment to performances, but in many cases, getting a small one-button device to get into layers can be confusing, and a larger unit may have all the bells and whistles. Boss found a way to cram a lot into a small footprint with their RC500.

Boss figured out size is key, and the 3-button format found in their 500 series is pedalboard friendly, and still loaded. The top panel has sliders for the levels of the loops, a display of the function or loop being played, as well as the controls needed to navigate all of the settings.

The 3-button configuration makes perfect sense out of the box, with a record/play, stop and track select footswitches. For added functionality, footswitches such as one of Boss’ FS pedals, or an expression pedal can be added. The rear panel sports stereo inputs and outputs, mini MIDI connections, as well as USB for connecting to a computer and using Boss’s Tone Studio application for loading and backing up files/ loops. A big added bonus though is the XLR input for vocalists.

As we primed ourselves by working with Boss’ smaller looper, the RC-5, there are a lot of similarities between them. The display works in the same manner, offering up a visual guide to

46 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

where you are in the measure of your loop, and recording. Users also get 13 hours of recording time, and 57 rhythm tracks, with an “A” and “B” variant for each. With 99 open slots of loops, each can have two tracks (with multiple overdubs), along with a rhythm track at the same time. All the while, the audio resolution is 32-bit. It’s a lot of features to unpack.

Now, Boss has also loaded in effects, with reverbs for the rhythm/drum tracks for added depth and ambience. For the loops, there are repeat modes that match the loop to the repeat, along with a shift function. The Scatter and Vinyl Flick modes take the other road, altering the loop to what can be described as destructionising quantizing, and bringing a DJ scratch approach to the loop, respectively.

Like any looper device, it takes a little bit of time perfecting timing for engaging or disengaging the record function, however with the three separate footswitches, maneuvering and knowing what mode we were in, as well as where we wanted to go, made more sense than smaller looping pedals. One excellent function is using it to load in pre-made loops from your computer using the app. Load up complete backing tracks to make that solo coffee shop gig more expansive than just an acoustic guitar. This

could easily be an extremely useful device for a band that may have gone heavy on overdubs on their new EP and want those extra percussion and synth tracks to be present in live shows, while not having to play to a click.

With a dedicated XLR connection, vocalists can now loop live, or even pre-record their backing vocals for performances, and recall them when needed with a touch of a footswitch.

Overall, it does share a lot with its lil brother, the RC-5, and the larger size allowed for the extra foot switches and an easier-to-navigate control panel, so it streamlines the approach to looping in general, and just seemed easier to jump right into.

Chris Devine

PROS

CONS

STREET PRICE

Easy to use, built in drum patterns, looping effects, XLR input for vocalists

none

$349

GEAR REVIEWS

COPPERSOUND Third Man Triplegraph Octave Pedal

B

ack in 2017 we got to review Coppersound’s Telegraph Stutter pedal with its unique momentary switch that uses the mechanical concept of old timey telegraphs. Now Coppersound has gone to a whole new level. Working with Jack White’s Third Man Records, the telegraph concept is expanded to new highs, and lows.

Size wise it’s not much bigger than the standard 3-button effect pedals, with three of the telegraph switch assemblies, or “keys” located on the top. These are more advanced, and far more mechanically robust than the previous telegraph stutter design and meant to live under foot.

Now here where it gets fun, the left switch engages an octave down effect, and the right switch does an octave up. Each footswitch can be set for latched (Coppersound calls this “loctave” mode) or unlatched/momentary operation independently. Unlatched means, when you press on the pedal, the effect is on, and when pressure is released, it’s off. Set it to latched mode, and the switches work like a typical effect pedal, press to turn on, and press again to turn off.

Now the middle switch has two modes, one is a kill for the dry signal -- if both the effects are off or not being pressed down in momentary mode, it kills your signal totally. The second mode engages an effects loop, with a send and return on 48 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

the back of the pedal, players can insert effect (or effects) into that loop, and when the middle pedal is engaged the effect (or effects) in that loop are patched in. It’s a momentary option only, though.

Plugging it in, the lower octave effect tracks really well overall, with no glitching; the effect itself is digital, however, it maintains a warm response that sometimes gets lost in digital pitch shifting. It’s also polyphonic, meaning chords do translate well. Simple voicings bring the best results on typical strumming or rhythm playing, so when you get into more complex voicings like 7ths or 9ths, your mileage may vary depending on the picking technique and what you’re shooting for.

Add in a dirty amp, and lower power chords really do bring in great results, thickening things up in a real big way. It kind of makes sense considering Jack White had a hand in it, however, your bass player may give you the stink eye when you kick this in. The upper octave effect is quite chimey overall, and in a way it’s a great faux 12-string effect with open chords and arpeggios.

Blending both in at the same time, and it really gets nuts, in a good way. It’s not quite an organ, but it’s more bigness (if that’s a word).

Using both octaves at the same time, and then engaging the middle switch, it feels in a sense that part of the concept is the middle drops out, letting

the octave effects just do their thing. But the real kicker is using it as a momentary effects loop. We had a blast plugging in all kinds of effects in there: flangers, chorus, tremolo as well as an EHX synth pedal. Being able to just throw a quick blast of one (or more) of those effects on for, well effect, is awesome.

The only downside is that certain kinds of players may want to tweak the levels of the octave effects. Well, those players are out of luck, as the levels are already preset, and at levels that make sense for guitar and bass. The octave effects are meant to be heard and felt. But the entire time using the pedal, we never felt the need for any these adjustments.

This isn’t some hipster, lo-fi gimmick, it’s a new pathway to approach creative playing and really altering guitar (and bass) tones, without presets, parameters and menu-diving. Highly recommended.

Chris Devine PROS

CONS

STREET PRICE

Excellent tracking, interesting/ creative approach to octave effects

none

$399

Versatile High-Fidelity Wireless 3000 Series expands the possibilities of performance

Interchangeable capsule options

audio-technica.com

• Class-leading, extremely wide 60 MHz UHF tuning bandwidth for maximum versatility • True Diversity operation reduces dropouts • Unique multifunction button on the handheld and body-pack transmitters can be used to switch to a backup frequency should interference be encountered • Automatically adjusts squelch setting to maximize range while minimizing potential interference • Frequency scan and IR sync for ease of setup • Handheld transmitter offers industry-standard thread mount for use with six interchangeable A-T microphone capsules, as well as other compatible capsules • New rugged cH-style screw-down 4-pin connector on body-pack transmitter

GOOD TO GO WHEN EVER • WHERE VER

A passion for playing means that inspiration can strike anytime, anywhere. With Elixir® Strings you know that when you pick up your guitar it’s going to sound great—time and time again. That’s because our featherweight coating protects your strings from the elements, keeping corrosion away and allowing your tone to sound great for longer, in any environment.

Elixir Strings. Performance-ready with long-lasting tone.

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