Beegie Adair, Jazz pianist and recording artist

When I sat down with Beegie in the recital hall of the Steinway Piano Gallery in Nashville, I found myself a kindred spirit. I’ve had the privilege of meeting a few such people in my travels.

Within minutes of exchanging pleasantries, including details of each other’s musical aspirations and the such, I noticed we shared similar thoughts on many issues related to music. Beegie became my buddy the instant I found out she had heard the theremin; “they used to make theremin records when I was a little girl!”

Beegie aka Bobbe Gorin (B.G.) Adair, has seen jazz grow from a niche category in a music store to something more egalitarian, thanks to those who have had through generations, massaged their artistic persuasions into the music, much like one would rub spices culled from around the world into their cooking. (continue reading…)

House concert in CA

The idea for house concerts is neither a new fad nor the latest. Most of us are familiar with the concept of patrons of the arts opening their homes to artists of the classical music persuasion.

These patrons host a private event where friends are entertained, and have the opportunity to mingle with the artist(s). The chance to get intimate with the artist(s) while they spin an exotic yarn or two is often the real reason these musical soirées have ample attendance, and why a reply to Répondez s’il vous plaît is never tardy.

House concert in CA

In America, the trend for house concerts by mainstream – pop artists has become a ‘household’ name, to a point where societies in support of this activity have sprung up to provide helpful hints for hosts and artists alike. (continue reading…)

MikTek tube mics

I felt like I had made a lucky find when I finally stumbled on MikTek tucked in a corner at NAMM 2010.
This company from Nashville, TN was founded on the notion that tried and true technology should be at the heart of one of the most important assets of a recording studio.

Many consider appointing the services of a recording studio based on the sound desk or DAW used.
Whatever floats your boat I say, but the consensus from a recent conversation I had with Tom Brislin about the humble microphone was that there is indeed one made for every voice. The asset I am referring to is clearly the microphone and its heart according to MikTek is the vacuum tube.

The knowledge required to select the right directional or polar pattern and frequency response plays a huge part in the use of a microphone when one is particular about recording the voice, and there is a vast range of microphones to chose from. Yet there is no denying that when the right one is placed in front of you, how it enhances your voice is immediately apparent. (continue reading…)

myMix personal monitoring system (pic courtesy Movek LLC)

Just when you thought you had reached a dead end with personal monitoring, myMix appears in the nick of time to save us all from pulling out what’s left of our crowning glory.

The myMix uses a standard ethernet hub (externally powered or using the power-over-ethernet switch), is compatible with the AVB protocol and links up to 8 units on a network at 16 channels each. You can store up to 20 profiles or personal mix settings all viewable on a colour LCD screen. It comes with a mic stand adaptor to mount the unit. Convenient and easy to use so far.

So what exactly could the myMix give that other similar units don’t already? Well let me list just a few that stood out; these are not in order of ‘greatness’.

Each channel (instrument) can be muted or soloed. Many a time I would have liked to have been able to audition my synth, you know, solo my channel to make sure I have all the correct setups, perhaps run through a few tricky lines while waiting for the band to get ready. And to be able to mute instruments I don’t want in my mix without actually turning down their level then having to turn them up again at a later time. Efficient. (continue reading…)

Eddie Jobson who contributed to the design of the VAX77 @ Infinite Response Inc booth, NAMM 2010

As a traveling musician and one of such stature as mine; you know, diminutive  (aha, you thought I was referring to my musical notoriety) I need to think efficient.
With fees now attached to check-in baggage, all musicians big and small have to wonder if it is indeed worth forking out US$20 to $25 buckaroos each piece each one-way trip.

Infinite Response to the rescue!
This firm from Austin’s answer to this dilemma is the VAX77, a midi controller that folds in two, literally right down the middle. They have 2 versions to this keyboard, the standard light-weight keys and the semi weighted one, which weigh in at 35 and 37pounds respectively.

It also comes with a case that is suppose to meet carry-on size restrictions. Dimensions vary with different airlines, so make sure you check with the one of your travel choice before you hit the tarmac.

The VAX77 has the features and functionalities expected of a midi controller, such as a pitch bend wheel that is situated at the left hand vertical panel; placement due to space constraints imposed by the thrust of the design, which is its foldability. The slider situated on the left edge top panel takes the place of the mod wheel.
Though the two are not in close proximity, having polyphonic aftertouch means one could program any kind of modulation/effect to be activated via key pressure; pushing down on the key during the note-sustain stage. One can assign supplementary effects to foot controllers as Eddie Jobson demonstrated during an appearance at the booth. A man after my own heart, Eddie (UK, Asia, Jethro Tull, Roxy Music) who was integral in the development of the VAX77 in 2009, ran two laptops with Mainstage and a myriad of foot switches and controllers; extended synth techniques, baby! (I might try to cover polyphonic aftertouch in a future article.)
(continue reading…)

Westone Elite Series IEM (pic courtesy of Westone)

NAMM 2010 at the Anaheim Convention Center was to be a real treat for me.The last time I attended one was many blue moons ago.

I was ready to reinstate myself as a music technology geek, and for my hidden agenda – to start a wish list for my 2010 Christmas stocking!

Westone, manufacturers of in-ear products, were 1st to catch my attention.

In the business that began in the hearing health industry, Westone has been manufacturing in-ear products for 50 years, with IEM’s since the early 1990’s. They have fitted artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Babyface, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael W Smith, Woody Lee, Cirque Du Soleil and more, and have made IEM systems for some of the top companies in the industry.
As you all know, I have braved all kinds of weather and types of environment in my quest to go wherever my theremin takes me. I also lost my hearing as a teenager for a short period of time to a middle-ear infection. (continue reading…)

Sanctuary, Covenant Presbyterian Church-PCA in Nashville TN

Fresh from visiting a neo-eclectic symphony center draped with motifs inspired by an Egyptian revivalist church, I head for a Presbyterian church with an eye for the Gothic (read my previous article It’s the journey, not the destination, Mr Valentine).

“Originating in 12th-century France and lasting into the 16th century, Gothic architecture was known during the period as the French Style. Its characteristic features include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. It is in the great churches and cathedrals and in a number of civic buildings that the Gothic style was expressed most powerfully, its characteristics lending themselves to appeal to the emotions.” – wikipedia.

I have to admit that time and time again, my emotions succumb to beauty, whether presented in its popular form or distorted in translation.
During my visit to Spain a few years ago, I was entranced by the must see La Sagrada Família cathedral. Born from the mind of Antonio Gaudi, a Catalan architect who favoured the gothic style, La Sagrada Família is a breath-taking trip indeed.
It was with the same sense of entrapment that I approached the Sanctuary of the Covenant Presbyterian Church-PCA in Nashville TN to meet its music director.

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Alan Valentine, CEO-President Nashville Symphony

Nashville the music city travels under the noms de guerre ‘3rd Coast’. A case of the expression ‘small but dynamite’ with no pun intended.

According to the wiki entry, the term ‘3rd Coast’ is “used to describe several coastal regions distinct from the West Coast and the East Coast of the United States. While lacking an actual coast, the city of Nashville is sometimes referred to as the ‘3rd Coast’, implying that its cultural significance rivals that of the traditional American coasts.

Aha you say. Despite the size of the township which gave off an intimate almost provincial-like setting, this 3rd coast had only just begun to bedazzle me.

(continue reading…)

Nashville Symphony & Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero

“Led by Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero and President and CEO Alan D Valentine, the Nashville Symphony is today regarded as one of America’s most creative and innovative orchestras. With more than 140 performances annually, it is Tennessee’s preeminent cultural institution. One of the most active recording orchestras in America … the Symphony’s recent Naxos recording of (American composer) Joan Tower’s ‘Made in America’ received three GRAMMY awards. That recording was the orchestra’s first at Schermerhorn Symphony Center,  known internationally for its world-class acoustics.” ~ from the liner notes of the symphony’s recording of ‘Metropolis Symphony’.

When we arrived in Nashville, Tom (Brislin) and I wandered into town looking for lunch fit for two starving travelers. Naturally I knew all about the ‘southern comfort’. I am not referring to a swig of whiskey nor the song by rock band Sweet F.A. which does however reference this potent brew. I am talking about sticky sweet BBQ and Ribs of which there was plenty!

As we strolled down the main street, we were on the receiving end of live music wafting through the open doors of many a small diner. Not surprisingly, country music was the accoutrement to the local cuisine.

My next impression of Nashville was to be my confrontation with Schermerhorn Symphony Center and its owner, the Nashville Symphony led by its music director, Giancarlo Guerrero.

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On the road to Nashville

I set out to investigate Nashville two months ago; an idea that came about from a chat with Tom Brislin (Spiraling).
On the balmy evening of August 21st 2009, Tom and I had positioned ourselves upstairs at the serving area of Bar East Ale House in NYC. I had just met with NJ band Suspyre, their manager and UsaProgMusic editor Jill Hughes Kirtland, and Tom himself, for the article Age of Aquarius; Renaissance Raising.

Texture in Fall

Contrast of red and green

With ‘brew’ in hand, we began an extended conversational ‘trip’ that looked into the depths of ourselves as musicians, but more so about the searching for that success which only each motivated individual can define. Where do we go from here, we asked each other rhetorically.

(continue reading…)