I often feel a bit like a fish out of water. While other movie buffs are replacing all of their DVDs with BluRay, I’m raiding garage sales for videotapes. While other gamers are flocking to games like Fortnite, I’m still playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2—on the original PlayStation, at that.
I work from home. And like any self-respecting freelancer, I have a well-stocked home office. Mine has a tall corner desk with all the compartments and drawers you could ask for. But I’m also a bit of an audiophile. I like to listen to music while I work, and I do most of my listening on vinyl.
Against all expectations, vinyl sales continue to rise. That means that more people than ever are buying record players. However, building a stereo setup for your vinyl can be a difficult undertaking if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
Vinyl is back with a vengeance. 2017 was the twelfth consecutive year that vinyl sales have risen. It’s also the year that I got the most questions from newcomers to the hobby about the best start turntables.
For years, I’ve coveted an original Wurlitzer 200 electric piano. My sonic palate needed that famous chiming tone like it was water. Unfortunately, I never had the extra $2,500 lying around to be able to buy one.
We have many musical instruments at our house, but we have always lacked a drum set. My youngest son has begged to learn how to play, so when I had the chance to review the Yamaha DTX400K electronic drum set (MSRP $799), we jumped all over it. I was not sure what to expect, but this thing has blown us away.
I’m an audiophile. And like most audiophiles, a good vacuum tube HiFi system makes me drool. But unfortunately, nobody told my pocketbook. Tube receivers sell for several hundred dollars on eBay. Even DIY kits are generally over $300. For a piece of equipment that my ears and budget could agree on, I decided to purchase this HiFi buffer.
Musicians have been using metronomes for millennia to keep them on beat. From early pendulums to the click tracks used in audio recording, they’ve helped everyone from beginning piano players to orchestras to metal bands play at a consistent tempo.
Iconic guitar manufacturer Fender announced today a special collaboration with Tim Armstrong, the singer/songwriter from Rancid.
Pyle USA has just added another innovative product to add to their already impressive fleet of audio products with their Bluetooth Vertical Turntable.
It has been nearly three years since I reviewed the recording Levin-Minnemann-Rudess, which I described as a “powerhouse onslaught of uncompromising instrumental joy”. It is one of those albums I ripped and added to my iTunes library and have listened to ever since.
Back in 2013 the power trio of Tony Levin, Marco Minnemann, & Jordan Rudess released a self-titled album that was a joyous romp for shred-loving musicians, but went much further and deeper. Now they are back with a new album called “From the Law Offices of LEVIN MINNEMANN RUDESS”, due out on July 15th and available for pre-order! In my review I described their first album as: “a powerhouse onslaught of uncompromising instrumental joy. Throughout the album there are tastes of prog rock from the 70s, 80s, and 90s as well as fusion, metal and pretty much every other hard-driving…
Spotify today announced a change to their family plans which expands the number of family members (up to 6) included for one monthly price of $14.99. This pricing change shouldn’t have been a surprise as Google Play and Apple Music have identical family offers.
Two years ago guitarist Mary Halvorson stepped back from her ever-expanding group projects and released an album called Thumbscrew with what I called a ‘trio of equals’. Now the group is back and ready to release their next album in a few weeks, called Convallaria. And from the preview track, it sounds great.
IK Multimedia has brought the symphony to your computer and given you full control. Miroslav Philharmonik 2 brings instruments played by the best musicians creating living, breathing samples. The new unique sound set brings feeling and emotion to an already great product. The number of instruments is staggering, and the sound quality is top-notch. Let’s take a look.
Do you have Amazon Prime? If you do, you probably take advantage of Prime videos and certainly use the free shipping. But it seems like Prime Music tends to be the forgotten child of Amazon’s services, especially in the face of competitors like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music. But Prime Music is free with Prime subscription, and it’s rapidly improving!
Seems as if Kanye West is in full self-promotion mode for his never really finished album, “The Life of Pablo” which was released on Sunday through streaming service “Tidal“.
It has been more than five years since I wrote a post stepping through the Beatles musical catalog, which I wrote just before their music came to iTunes. Since then the Beatles music has been available for purchase, but not for streaming. Tonight at midnight that ends, as the entire Beatles catalog comes to streaming services!
IK Multimedia has been a mainstay of iOS music making from the very beginning, and on the vanguard of Android music making since the OS began offering capabilities to make it feasible. Now they are taking the next step with iRig UA, an audio interface that brings the classic iRig/AmpliTube combination to Android devices at last!
What do you do when you have numerous interviews with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead and have only published a small number of them? If you are musician and journalist Alan Paul, you pull the interviews together and publish them as an Amazon Kindle Single. The result? The eBook-only Reckoning: Conversations with the Grateful Dead by Alan Paul.
Last year Mark of the Unicorn announced Digital Performer 8 at NAMM in January but didn’t ship until late September. This year they have turned around the new version much more quickly-Digital Performer 9 is now available with loads of new and updated features to make this an essential upgrade for all owners!
