EQ Magazine - February 2009 - (Page 4)

Talk Box MUSIC EVERYWHERE! Recently, I was approached by a good friend who works for Analog Devices, makers of (among other things) the SHARC chip that’s found in so many of today’s high-tech music devices. He said they were running a little internal contest called “Engineered to Rock” for the musicians in the company, and would I be willing to be a guest judge? He figured there would be maybe 20 entries or so. Sure, I said, what the heck . . . I don’t have any Simon Cowell fantasies, but maybe I could point some budding hobbyists in the right direction. Turns out there were so many entries the deadline had to be extended, and the bottom line was a CD with around 80 cuts. I must admit I dreaded the idea of hearing bad karaoke recorded in bad home studios, but that wasn’t the case at all: The variety of material was stunning, from serious classical pieces with serious chops to Weird Al-style songs about engineers, complete with hilarious videos. There was music that Nine Inch Nails would be proud to have inspired, an electronic/dance composition from two guys that sounded as good—or better—than anything else I’ve heard lately, some hot alt-rock, and yes, a couple semidreadful pieces too . . . yet even those had potential, if only the musicians doing them had known more about basic recording technology. And if nothing else, they were valid artistic expressions that had real feeling behind them. Far from being a chore, listening to this diversity of music from the USA, Ireland, Singapore, Indonesia, England, France, and several other countries was not only enlightening, but a real morale-booster. Why? Well, at EQ we believe in home/project studios, and creative expression, and we do our best to find articles that help people in those endeavors. But to hear the broad spectrum of how people are using today’s tools—from recording into a laptop mic to full-blown DAW productions—underscored just how far the democratization of music has come. Granted, the major labels aren’t what they used to be, the promise of the Internet hasn’t been fulfilled completely, and piracy—with its attendant disrespect of the value of the artist—runs rampant. But really, is that what music is all about? Or is it really about someone in, say, the Phillippines coming home from a day job, grabbing a guitar, getting together with some friends, and recording some cool music into whatever they have sitting around? And even better—music that I, located half a world away, get to enjoy? Music is everywhere. And I love it. www.eqmag.com Vol. 20 No. 2, February 2009 Executive Editor Craig Anderton, canderton@musicplayer.com Editor Matt Harper, mharper@musicplayer.com Managing Editor Debbie Greenberg, dgreenberg@musicplayer.com Contributors Janice Brown, Garrett Haines, Brian D. Holland, Roberto Martinelli, Scott Mathews, Lily Moayeri, Joel Patterson, John Payne, Greg Reynolds, Angelina Skowronski, Jonathan Stars Art Director Patrick Wong, pwong@musicplayer.com Staff Photographers Paul Haggard, phaggard@musicplayer.com, Craig Anderton, canderton@musicplayer.com Group Publisher Joe Perry jperry@musicplayer.com, 770.343.9978 Advertising Director, West Coast & New Business Dev. Greg Sutton gsutton@musicplayer.com, 925.425.9967 Advertising Director, Midwest Jessica Sullivan jsullivan@musicplayer.com, 661.255.2719 Advertising Director, East Coast & Europe Grace Newman gnewman@musicplayer.com, 631.239.1460 Advertising Director, Southwest Albert Margolis amargolis@musicplayer.com, 949.582.2753 Director of Specialty Sales Mike Montgomery mmontgomery@musicplayer.com, 650.238.0307 Specialty Sales Associate, North Allison Smith asmith@musicplayer.com, 650.238.0296 Specialty Sales Associate, South Will Sheng wsheng@musicplayer.com, 650.238.0325 Production Manager Beatrice Kim MUSIC PLAYER NETWORK Vice President John Pledger Editorial Director Michael Molenda Senior Financial Analyst Bob Jenkins Production Department Manager Beatrice Kim Director of Sales Operations Lauren Gerber Web Director Max Sidman Motion Graphics Designer Tim Tsuruda Marketing Director Christen McFarland Marketing Coordinator Rosario Perez Marketing Designer Joelle Katcher Systems Engineer John Meneses Assoc. Consumer Marketing Director Christopher Dyson NEWBAY MEDIA CORPORATE President & CEO Steve Palm Chief Financial Officer Paul Mastronardi Vice President Web Development Joe Ferrick Circulation Director Denise Robbins HR Manager Ray Vollmer IT Director Greg Topf Controller Jack Liedke Please direct all advertising and editorial inquiries to: EQ, 1111 Bayhill Dr., Ste. 125, San Bruno, CA 94066 (650) 238-0300; Fax (650) 238-0262; eq@musicplayer.com Please direct all subscription orders, inquiries, and address changes to: 800-289-9919, outside the U.S. 978-667-0364, eqmag@computerfulfillment.com Back Issues: Back Issues are available for $10 each at 800-289-9919, 978-667-0364, eqmag@computerfulfillment.com EQ (ISSN 1050-7868) is published monthly by NewBay Media, LLC 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125, San Bruno, CA 94066. EQ is a trademark of NewBay Media. All material published in EQ is copyrighted (©) 2008 by NewBay Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in EQ is prohibited without written permission. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EQ., P.O. Box 232, Lowell, MA 01853. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or artwork. All product information is subject to change; publisher assumes no responsibility for such changes. All listed model numbers and product names are manufacturers' registered trademarks. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Bruno, CA, and at additional mailing offices. 4 EQ FEBRUARY 2009 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - February 2009

EQ Magazine - February 2009 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Dave Cooley Low vs. Diamond Hank Williams III Travis Franz Ferdinand Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Apple Logic Pro 8 Cakewalk Sonar Near-Field Monitor Roundup Gadgets &�Goodies Sounds Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - February 2009

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