Musical Instruments

It's fair to say that there aren't a lot of truly innovative and fresh new products for musicians and creative types. Zoom's ARQ Aero Rhythm Trak changes that with its incredibly unique offering to musicians, DJs, and others with this all-in-one performance and production tool.

I’m a gear geek. I’ll admit it.   When I was asked to cover NAMM for Best Buy Canada, I was on cloud nine. The show was busy and we had a lot of appointments with vendors with a focus to get a first look at the exciting gear that Best Buy will be offering you.   Along the way, I HAD to take a look at the gear that I’d love to take home to my studio. Here are some of the products I saw that had me checking my bank account.

The Roland booth was packed (as usual) and had lots of toys to talk about. The one thing I saw that seemed to be always used and sampled was the HS-5. It’s a session mixer where all of the band members can just bring their instruments, plug in and jam with headphones.

Boss answers the boutique pedal manufacturers by releasing 2 new (old) pedals under their WAZA Craft branding that retain their original analogue warmth while adding some nifty new features. The Boss DM-2W Delay and the Boss SD-1W Super Overdrive are re-imagined for the modern guitarist. In this blog I will talk about their hallowed predecessors, compare them to this new iteration, and put them through their paces to see how kind time has been.

Music can enable every member of your family to escape from daily routines and become more relaxed and more creative.

Any meaningful discussion with an recording engineer will inevitably morph into a discussion about microphones. Just as a closet full of shoes is never enough for a lot of the women I’ve known, a closet full of microphones is rarely ever enough for most recording engineers. There are a lot of different types of microphones and there are a many, many brands, shapes and sizes to pick from. I hope to at least get you started with a road-map of what to look for in microphones and I apologize in advance for setting you on this path! If you’re set on recording as a hobby or career, there’s a very good chance that you’re going to get slightly obsessed with microphones.

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. 

Understand the world of podcast microphones, with insights on types, connections, multi-mic setups, and tips for speaking clearly.

Almost all major guitar manufacturers now carry at least two brands of guitar under their umbrella. You have the one “name” brand that is the premiere flagship brand and then a less expensive brand that makes more affordable versions of the classics. Gibson Guitars has the Epiphone brand, ESP has LTD, and Fender has Squier. And while these guitars are more affordable than their famous brothers, that doesn’t mean that they don’t play and sound great, especially considering their price points. This blog will look at two Squier Stratocasters and discuss playability, sound, and value.

The SM7dB mic features an active preamp and other improvements which make this a great choice for content creators with home studios.