Musical Instruments

How are you going to be using your studio?   The answers to this question will set you on a path to figuring out what you might need to start your journey in recording. There are many, many different configurations of gear that can be assembled into a studio. Which configuration fits your needs best?

Yamaha introduces a new category of mixers with their AG line. The AG03 and AG06 are hybrid mixing consoles and USB audio interfaces for web/podcasting, gaming audio, and music production. This new approach to mixers eliminates the need for software by putting all the control at your fingertips. 

The Turbo Mesh Kit by Alesis is ideal for silent home practice thanks to its great features as well as its quality pads.

I’m going to be showing my age here, but I was in high school when the CZ-101 was introduced in hardware form. It was one of those little synths that you could easily pass off as a toy, but packed a lot of punch and eventually proved to be one of the iconic “retro” synths that are in demand decades later.

Gibson showed us some truly beautiful guitars in the Melody Maker and SG lines. They are celebrating their 120th anniversary this year and have added some really tasteful extras to their lines to celebrate.   What I really found exciting was the Min-ETune feature hardware that Gibson demonstrated to us. Will this be the end of manual tuning?

The goal of a studio monitor is to represent audio in the most accurate, uncoloured form it can. That being said, all speakers colour sound to some degree. Monitor speakers are designed to be as flat as possible whereas it’s assumed that consumer or Hi-Fi speakers enhance aspects of the frequency spectrum.   A pair of monitor speakers are going to be your best friend. Regardless of whether you record, edit, mix or master audio, your studio monitors will determine how well your work translates to … well, pretty well everything else out there: car audio systems, TV’s, headphones and earbuds.  

Focusrite's Scarlett SOLO and Scarlett 2i2 3rd-generation audio interfaces are excellent for beginners, singer-songwriters, and podcasters. Check out their fun new features.

It’s not actually a black-and-white question. There are many different variations of keyboard action and it gets down to a personal preference question.   Being armed with what to expect is going to get you a good way down the road to a decision.

A guitar and an amplifier, while clearly the most important ingredients in live performing, are but two of the components in this stew. While recipes differ from player to player, this is the core set of requirements that live players require as well as those extra little things that while not requisite, are certainly appreciated. In this blog I will go over some of the accessories that can make your performance truly shine by relieving stress and providing a helping hand when one is needed.

Now that 2016 is here, it’s time to honour all those resolutions you made when the clock struck midnight. There’s no better time than the present, but don’t worry, we’re here to give you some support in keeping those promises. So, if your New Year’s resolution was to learn a new skill, read on for how to actually make it happen in 2016.