IT'S RED-YOU'LL BE ABLE TO PLAY FASTER

In a world of amp and effects simulations you’ve got to have a soft spot for the real thing. DigiTech upped the ante on its Whammy pedal, building upon an iconic guitar pedal used by guitarists around the world. The new Whammy still features the classic Whammy sound, but moves to the next level by introducing chordal Whammy pitch-shifting, additional Whammy intervals and a true bypass.

The Whammy lets guitar and bass players raise and lower their tuning by up to two octaves to create pitch shifts from subtle to extreme and dramatic musical effects–and you don’t need to tune your strings again afterwards. Brilliant! The new Whammy now incorporates pitch-shifting technologies that enable the player to bend entire chords up or down while keeping all the notes in the chord perfectly in tune. The Whammy also keeps its signature Classic single-note mode that has made the pedal one of the most recognizable in rock and contemporary music, along with nine Harmony 2-note interval settings and two Detune modes. The “true bypass” means that the signal from the guitar is completely unaffected by the Whammy when it’s switched off. This can be especially important when using a lot of pedals on a pedal-board.

The Whammy uses 1/4-inch inputs and outputs, a MIDI input that allows control of the pedal from an external MIDI device and a 9-volt DC power input. High-quality 24-bit/96kHz analog-to-digital and digital-to analog converters promise a clean, smooth pitch-bending sound. An on/off switch engages and disengages the Whammy effect, and a “Classic/Chords” switch lets players select either mode (although this isn’t foot-operated unless you take your shoe off and use your toes to… well, look for yourself). The Whammy is built to withstand the rigors of the road with a rugged all-metal chassis, pedal and footswitch.  Go to www.harman.com

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: CMI Music and Audio www.cmi.com.au

TWO 24 INCH TELLYS... AH, SCREENS. COOL

Not sure if this is cheating or clever–CADAC is demonstrating its new CDC eight digital production console to the US Theatre Sound industry as a sponsor of the Live Design Broadway Sound Master Classes. CADAC’s US theatre sound distributor, RF Productions will be showing the new console to theatre design professionals and students during a manufacturers’ showcase sessions at the 99 seat Abe Burrows Theatre at the NYU (less than a hundred seats–no hiding from question time then). While the launch of the CDC eight has focused on the console’s role in spearheading CADAC’s move into the wider sound touring and installation sectors, the CDC eight still hangs its hat on CADAC’s heritage of providing theatre sound consoles.

With that theatre market firmly in mind, the CDC eight offers a high input count on a desk with a compact footprint–we all know that promoters hate “pulling” seats to make room for a sound mix position. It also has 40 configurable output busses which can be programmed as groups or matrixes, and additionally there are 16 internal VCA groups. Altogether, the console provides up to 128 input channels and using the input selection on each channel to sum two inputs together, that can be expanded to a potential 256. Keeping everything under control the CDC eight offers what CADAC call a “high agility” user interface with two 24 inch (590mm) 16:10 HD touch-screen control surfaces and a third smaller LCD touch-screen dedicated to system control and automation. CADAC has a “theatre development program” for the desk looking towards potential compatibility with its own J-Type SAM theatre automation software. The Live Design Broadway Sound Master Classes provides CADAC the opportunity to address an audience of dedicated theatre sound professionals, but most importantly it offers them quality time with the industry’s top designers in a relaxed, intimate setting. We’re still not sure if that’s cheating. Ask them yourself at www.cadac-sound.com

PLAY CRUEL TRICKS ON SHORT SOUND ENGINEERS

Argosy is a US-based company that specializes in studio and technical furniture. Its range of desks that are designed to hold mixing consoles and outboard gear have become so popular that Argosy can afford to create and sell units aimed at particular mixers. So, for example, it has a model specifically for Avid C24 consoles, Tascam DM3200 and DM4800 mixers, and the SSL Nucleus–and that’s just to name a few. A more recent addition to its range is an Argosy G-Series desk custom-designed to house one or more Presonus Studio Live consoles, which is a kind of testament to how much of the market Presonus is grabbing with its Studio Live series. However, as we snooped deeper into the Argosy website in a never-ending pursuit of journalistic integrity we stumbled across this new model.

It’s called the Argosy Aura 520 Sit-Stand and it’s a more generic style of studio workstation desk that–yep, the legs are motorized. If your guest sound engineer prefers to stand while they mix or they’re just generally too close to the ground thanks to short genes, at the flick of a switch the height of the desk, mixing console and 14 RU space of outboard processing mounts (7 a side with an optional 11 extra on top) can be lowered or raised to suit even to a point where an operator can comfortably stand behind the mixer. There’s no mention whether the motorized legs can be fitted to any of the other specialized desks, but we’re sure that if you asked nicely… It gives a whole new meaning to the request, “can you lift the mix a little overall?” Check out www.argosyconsole.com

Way back in primary school most of us only got crayons and Plasticine to chew on–sorry, to play with. And when it came to those embarrassing, annual school concerts it was all cardboard cut-outs and improvised broomsticks.

Not any more for the kids at Helensvale Primary on the Gold Coast in Queensland. They just got themselves an 1100-seat performing arts centre complete with full AV, lighting and sound facilities including a DiGiCo SD11 console. The DiGiCo got the nod because of its programmable features and touch-screen that allows operators to set up foolproof presets and templates for teachers who are more used to operating… well, crayons and Plasticine–okay, modern teachers are a lot more adept at using technology in the classroom, but you get the idea.

It’s not the only idea Helensvale Primary had. Its performing arts centre is available for hire to anyone else, creating a much-needed income stream in our cash-strapped education system. Other schools and institutions like dance academies (there’s a million of ‘em in Queensland) can rent the facility.

Interesting. A lot of existing performing arts centres, many of them owned and run by the local councils with tight budgets, enjoy a fair swag of crucial business in the latter part of the year as all those schools put on their wind-up shows. Creating a venue such as at Helensvale Primary is an exciting project for system integrators and suppliers, and despite the joys of a pre-programmed SD11 on hand you’d expect there’s still new job opportunities for professional AV, lighting and sound technicians, too. That’s all great news for the industry, but will some of the older, established venues take a hit?

Maybe. It’s fair to suggest too that a lot of grizzled, backstage technicians in those theatres might breath a small sigh of relief at dodging the dreaded, end-of-year “dance school season”.

For more information on the DiGiCo SD11 see www.digico.biz

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: Group Technologies www.grouptechnologies.com.au

After more than a decade Ben Folds Five are releasing a new album and, as you might expect from these guys, they’re doing things very differently. Taking social media in its stride the band has put out a Facebook appeal to its fans to make a “pledge” towards the creation of the album–we’re talking presales, in other words–as a means to fund the project. You can pledge to buy lots of stuff like the entire works as a download, a CD, a signed CD (an extra ten bucks), vinyl releases, tee-shirts and combinations of all the above. It’s not an empty promise and the lads have been busy in the studio. An “unmastered” version of a single called Do It Anyway from the album can be downloaded for free or you can hear it on Soundcloud. No surprise, by the way, that there isn’t a recognised record company in sight. BFF are doing this all themselves and asking the fans to change the way music is released. They are also careful to leave an escape route open stating it’s “a work in progress” and that they may “change course when necessary”, but fair enough–who wouldn’t slip in some fine-print on a venture like this? There is an added incentive that if you exchange social links with the BFF Facebook you’re automatically made a Vice President of Promotions. Sounds cool, however we suspect the salary package may be disappointing.

So far it all seems to be working brilliantly with a whopping 183% of the pledge target being reached and some of the items up for grabs pre-sold out (if there is such a thing). Does this mean BFF will chuck in a few extra songs? Good question. If you’re an indie band and this revolutionary new approach to making music looks like the answer to all your problems you should know that BFF have a very healthy fan base to start with. They didn’t have to reach out too far.

A lot of people from both sides of the studio mixing console will be watching the success of this project closely. A lot of emerging bands with a good-sized following will be watching as well. And AT will, too.

We’ll keep you posted.

FAMOUS ELECTRIC CHAIR "OLD SPARKY", THE GROUND LOOP YOU REALLY DON'T WANT.

This is one of those stories that’s gaining momentum so fast we’d better tell you now, before the Chinese whispers effect of the internet turns it into a best-selling novel, block-buster movie and subject of a full US senate enquiry–all starring Tom Cruise.

The start of all the fuss was an anonymous letter published on a hip-hop blog site. The letter was written by (apparently) a former record company executive who is now so riddled with guilt over his participation in a dastardly plot that he’s come clean–anonymously remember, so don’t be too impressed. The bottom line of this letter is that back in 1991, during a secret meeting of music executives, it was decided that gangster rap should be specifically encouraged and promoted by a collective of record labels to increase the level of violent street crime. Why? Because those same companies had invested heavily in America’s privatized prison system. The more prisoners inside The Joint, the more money the US government paid those prisons, thus a healthy return on the investments. The nasty lyrics in gangster rap incited the youth of America to glorify crime and do bad things, getting themselves jail time and filling the coffers of the record labels.

As a theory it’s not bad, although it’s lacking a grassy knoll and fuzzy pictures of the Loch Ness monster. Evidence so far is thin and it ignores the fact that most gangster rap lyrics are incomprehensible at the best of times. But here at AT we’re ahead of the game. We know exactly what will happen next–we’ll be told to listen to all those gangster tunes again backwards to hear the real, hidden message. It’s the ol’ backwards-satanic-message-embedded-in-the-song trick that’s been around since the 1980s. For once, maybe it won’t work. For most of us, listening to those rap songs forwards was enough, thanks.

You may not know that Line 6 has more strings to its bow than just noisy guitar stuff. At the least Line 6’s other products seem to hide in the shadows of its Pod and Variax products. Look again. For example, all its latest XD-V Wireless microphone systems are built on the same fourth-generation digital wireless platform, claimed to be “the most advanced in the pro audio industry” (we guess several other companies might like to debate that). What’s interesting is that the new XD-V55 system also employs Line 6’s famed modeling technology offering to emulate a selection of ten different, top-performance microphones, the available mics coming from the likes of Shure, Sennheisser and others. With the touch of a button you can switch between these models to find a sound that best suits your vocals. Not only does the modeling provide the sonic nuances of the most popular wired mics, but EQ filters compensate for mic placement and even cable length impedance. All systems are “compander-free”, meaning no compression or expanders are applied to the signal and it’s all done in 24 bit audio. The XD-V family includes handheld, lavalier, headset and bodypack units that are all interchangeable and the XD-V35, XD-V55 and XD-V75 packages denote just what you get, if you don’t need the lot. However, the mic-modeling only comes in the handheld microphone bundles. Exactly what goes with what is easier to figure out at www.line6.com. Now, if only they could “model” in some singing talent…

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: Musiclink Australia www.musiclink.com.au

NEW TLA1163 ON TOP, TLA210A SUB UNDERNEATH

Acoustic Technologies is an Australian-based (Queensland) company that has been designing and manufacturing its own line of professional PA speakers and components for more than 25 years now and its catalogue of gear is getting impressive. The latest addition is a new model in the Blackbird speaker series, the TLA1163. The TLA 1163 comes in a stand-alone array system of 16 3.5 inch (91mm) elements matched with AT’s TLA 210A compact sub cabinet where all the power and DSP trickery comes from. There is a big brother, the TLA 1243 which has 24 of the same elements and there’s also a passive version of the powered sub called TLA210B, so you can mix and match all kinds of configurations, but right now the new TLA1163 matched with the TLA210A is becoming popular seller for Acoustic Technologies. It’s small, lightweight and packs a punch–you just have to make sure only very, very thin people stand directly in front of the PA stacks.

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: ACOUSTIC TECHNOLOGIES www.atprofessional.com.au

LOOK FAMILIAR? IT'S JUST YOUR IMAGINATION

Okay, let’s admit it that at some time we just need a simple, budget-priced mixer, but we’re loathe to buy that particular brand, because it’s a bit like being caught with Black and Gold teabags in the kitchen. No one wants to be known as being that cheap. Hurray! Help is at hand with the release of a new range of affordable mixers from a company that has a fine reputation indeed–Cerwin Vega, renowned for its professional loudspeaker systems. CV’s three mixing consoles come in a 10, 12 or 16 channel configuration and if you squint your eyes (a lot) they don’t look a bit like the competition. Actually, with a snappy, black retro colour design and Cerwin Vega artwork they do look pretty cool and different from the rest. As you might expect the features are quite straightforward regardless of how much CV want us to get excited–these are budget mixers remember–however it’s good to see that all three models have a USB connection to be used as a simple DAW interface or just a digital recording output. The two larger mixers start to offer balanced XLR outputs and the like, too. You should be able to see more at www.cerwin-vega.com but it looks like CV is so excited they haven’t gotten around to updating the website. Shouldn’t be long.

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: MUSICLINK www.musiclink.com.au

Apogee Electronics has announced a new 8×8 Analogue I/O + 8×8 AES/Optical I/O and the 16×16 Analogue I/O Modules for Symphony I/O, Apogee’s flagship audio interface. In case you’re not familiar with the Apogee design and concept, Symphony I/O’s have a modular setup allowing for any two of its I/O Modules to be installed at one time, giving audio engineers multiple I/O configurations to choose from by simply slotting in the modules you need. For example, with two 16×16 Analogue I/O Modules installed into a single Symphony I/O chassis, 32 channels of analogue recording and monitoring is possible. The two new Modules join the current line up which includes the 8 Mic Preamp, 16 Analogue IN + 16 Optical OUT, and the 16 Analogue OUT + 16 Optical IN Modules. Collectively these five Modules represent 25 years of Apogee research and development, delivering the company’s best-sounding audio conversion and microphone preamp technology ever available.

For the record, the introduction of the 8×8 Analogue I/O + 8×8 AES/Optical I/O Module will mark the end of both the 8 Analogue I/O + 8 AES I/O and 8 Analogue I/O + 8 Optical I/O Modules since the new modules have got it covered. Also, in addition to 8 channels of Apogee’s premium AD/DA conversion, the new module introduces both AES and Optical connections on a single module with the ability to select one digital format at a time and toggle between them using a hardware switch, a feature that wasn’t available with the first generation of Symphony I/O Modules.

You can clear up any confusion at www.apogeedigital.com

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: SOUND DEVICES www.sounddevices.com.au