Canada’s largest pro audio and lighting show took place this past weekend in Toronto. I’ve actually never gone before (GASP!) but decided to head down this year with a handful of like-minded associates (friends).

My major interest was preamps and mics for studio application, and unfortunately I was a little disappointed. Predictably, the show emphasizes live sound reinforcement and lighting. A small handful of manufacturers did have mics set up that attendees could audition at the push of a button. Pretty cool, even if it is a useless exercise.

Still, its always fun to shoot the sugar with people who can appreciate signal chain and AD conversion! One of these days I’ll get myself down to a NAMM show.

http://www.thepalshow.com/

http://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2010

Caught a group calling themselves The Median the other night over at Orleans. They’re a four piece rock outfit headed up by the strong vocal prowess of Bernadette Connors, who hails locally from Keswick, Ontario.

Good stuff.

They covered a bunch of tunes including Van Morrison’s Moondance, where Bernadette’s voice really shined and guitarist Mat Power’s licks, well….rocked.

Their debut album is in the works so I’m sure you’ll hear more from me about them when its comes to light. In the meantime, check around YouTube for some of Bernadette’s original material.

Lenny Kravitz recently opened his new recording studio Gregory Town Sound a hundred feet from the beach on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas.  The studio began as a garage originally constructed to protect Kravitz’s belongings during hurricane season and has turned into what Kravitz’s calls “the most amazing studio that I’ve worked in”.

Not hard to believe.  If the location wasn’t enough, Kravitz also packed the place full of his incredible collection of vintage analog gear, including multiple pieces of equipment once owned by Abbey Road, but also uses CLASP (Closed Loop Analog Signal Processor) to seamlessly integrate that gear into his Pro Tools system.  Kravitz and his team of engineers can then easily use the assortment of analog tape machines essentially as effect units at any point in the recording/mixing process.

Perhaps the best part, is the fact that Kravitz reports that “the flow of writing is going well out here”, which hopefully means we’ll all be treated to some more of the great music Kravitz has become known for.

I recently got involved in some audiobook work.

Audiobooks have been with us for quite some time now, but they’re one of those content mediums that have slowly been coming into thier own as technology shifts the way we consume our entertainment.

As of 2009, the Audio Publisher’s Association (APA) estimated that audiobooks are a $1 billion industry, with just over 70% of those sales in CD format.  But as more and more distributors are offering digital downloads as a primary format for purchase, those trends are well on their way to shifting, and there’s little doubt that downloads are the way of the future.

The first audiobook I listened to was actually one that I had already read; The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolken, narrated by Rob Inglis.  Inglis’ work was cut out for him in this book, with all the spectacular characters he had to perform.  He even sang the songs that Tolken included in the story.  Suffice to say, I was officially hooked on audiobooks.

Incidentally, I’ve also updated my Projects page to include some of my own voiceover/narration work.  Feel free to take a listen!

The iPhone is without doubt among the coolest portable media devices on the market.  But when it really comes down to it, its essentially a toy, isn’t it?

A plethora of third party software developers have been creating apps since Apple first announced it as an open-source device in June of 2007.  Some of those apps are proving to make the iPhone a legitimate addition to an audio engineer’s tool belt.

This pleases me.

Bias’ iPro Recorder app turns the iPhone into a portable stereo recorder.  That sort of functionality is almost a no-brainer in my mind but what makes it really convenient is the fact that you can email the recordings, meaning you can effectively backup and transfer them without having to dock to a computer.

But the best apps for audio engineers have got to be those by Far Out Labs.  They’ve got a handful that are true working tools, ranging in price from usual few dollars right up to $99 for their highest functioning app, the ProRemote.

ProRemote actually turns the iPhone into a remote controller for Mac-based DAWs!  You can adjust fader levels, set memory markers, and of course operate basic transport functions.

It is a beautiful thing when the lines between toys and tools blur.

www.folabs.com/

www.iprorecorder.com/

An unfortunate reality in the business of making music has been the fact that a certain assurance of return on investment is required when producing a product, which most often results in only the most familiar types of material reaching the general public.

Ironically, if you’re too creative in a creative industry, it’ll hurt your chances of widespread exposure. You’ve got to wonder how many truly great ideas have gone undiscovered because of this?

That’s where YouTube steps in to save the day. Sure, there’s going to be a boat load of garbage but you’ve got to know there’s going to be some really cool ideas too, and nothing at all to stop them from reaching the masses.

So here’s a couple examples of what I mean for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy and be inspired!

The tables are turning. After decades of crying foul in the form of copyright infringement on consumers, Canada’s major record labels find themselves under the same charge.

Its all about compilation albums. Because of a loop-hole in Canadian copyright law, record labels would compile, manufacture and sell recorded music without acquiring the necessary licenses and without paying any royalties. Instead, the labels would simply compile a list stating that permission and payment was ‘pending’ and move ahead as they wished.

The problem of course is why would they pay for something they can have/use for free? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

And the tension grows…….

Geist: Record industry faces liability over ‘infringement’

Payment pending; Canadian recording industry set for six billion penalties?

I absolutely thought it was a typo when I first heard.

But then I watched the promotional video on their website and, though it took me a moment to get past being slightly annoyed by the prophetic vibe of it, became really excited about yet another new product from the company.

Apple is a truly innovative company. I just posted about the fundamental shifts happening in the music industry, well Apple is one of the companies that has their sights set on ushering in that new system, not focusing their efforts on squeezing a dying infrastructure.

Yeah, I’m a Mac guy.

On a side note – Steve Jobs announced at the same time that the company recently sold their 250 millionth iPod. Holy!

www.apple.com/ipad

The lead singer of the band OK Go, Damian Kulash, recently wrote a letter to fans responding to uproar over the inability to embed the groups copyright protected YouTube videos in their blogs and other sites.

He did a really great job of summing up what’s arguably the primary challenge facing the music industry today: working out the logistics of an entirely new means of content distribution without going broke in the process.

Its a good read. You can check it out here;

And for good measure I thought I’d post this YouTube video of one of their older releases. Enjoy!

Switchfoot got reacquainted with Toronto this past Friday night, making a stop at The Phoenix concert theatre as part of the Hello Hurricane tour.  It was their second show there within a year, and after catching the first one back in June, there was little question that my wife and I would head down for another round.

On this tour they decided to do something a little different by playing the entire album start to finish, followed up with a bunch of fan favorites from previous albums.  Very cool.

If its true that a great live show is all about making a connection with your audience, then Switchfoot certainly succeeded on this particular night.  Two things happened. First, lead singer Jon Foreman took the time to make sure a fan was okay after they passed out during the show.  Second, he invited another fan up on stage to actually play guitar for a portion of a song!  The energy in the place was high all night but kicked it up to 11 after that!

Great show!

www.switchfoot.com/
The Phoenix Concert Theatre