HC Confidential #178: Fender Won't Go Public, M-Audio Goes to inMusic, Welcome 7-Inch Tablets, Summer NAMM 2012 Coverage
By Guest |
Issue 178
Topics News User Reviews Forums Articles Videos Classifieds
| Dear Musician, |
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Business is booming for Fender, M-Audio/inMusic, and 7-inch tablets. Hey, I thought summer was a time to kick back, do some traveling, and quietly save up any ambitious projects for after Labor Day. Well, apparently our friends in the music and tech biz aren’t taking any summer vacations. Three separate breaking news items are developing right at this moment, and they’re not only all fascinating in their own right, they will directly influence musicians and the way we make music.
First up: Fender is NOT going public after all. I’m not used to hearing about Stratocasters on prime time TV and NPR, but I’ve been inundated with the news (known for some time now) that Fender’s IPO launch was imminent. What that meant to me was that Fender, with its history of success and growth, had arrived at the next logical step for a company of this size and with this kind of critical mass. Now, what it meant to my reactionary friend was something along the lines of The Death of Quality. “It’s 1965 and CBS all over again!” laments my doomsaying friend. But this is, of course, nonsense. Or more specifically, it’s a case of “correlation does not imply causation.” Just because some people perceived a dip in quality (though perhaps it was really “collectability”) after CBS bought Fender in the mid-’60s (which, let's not forget, was, 47 years ago) doesn't mean it was because of the acquisition.
By Craig Anderton
Sure, you can just stick some foam in your ears—but now we have better options
| Featured Industry News |
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This week's pick hits from our News section—including Summer NAMM Releases! Yamaha Releases New Synth Arp & Drum Pad App for iPad and Motif The new Synth Arp & Drum Pad app lets users play and produce phrases from a variety of musical genres, including dance, hip-hop, rock, and pop. Ignite is standalone music creation software built from the ground up to enable musicians to build songs in an organic fashion. It's not just another DAW—in fact, it’s not a DAW at all. Martin Guitar Travels Back in Time with Forward-Thinking New Retro Series C. F. Martin & Co. invites musicians to take a trip back in time with the introduction of the new four-piece Retro Series: D-18E Retro, D-45E Retro, HD-28E Retro, and OM-28E Retro. Korg Displays Pitchblack Poly Pedal Tuner In Korg’s first polyphonic tuner, a simple strum reveals the current tuning status of all strings simultaneously, saving time and effort for convenient tuning. Release Your Inner DJ, Learn to Play: The Yamaha PSR-E433 Lets You "Sculpt Your Sound" The PSR-E433 offers intriguing synthesizer features like an arpeggiator, complemented by all the necessary components for learning piano, including the Yamaha Education Suite, Portable Grand button, and a built-in recording function. VOX DelayLab Delay Pedal Now Available The DelayLab combines a wide array of modeled delay effects with multi-mode stereo looping and expressive control of all delay parameters. Blackstar Announces the Gus G. Blackfire 200 Blackstar’s first signature amplifier—the Gus G. Blackfire 200—was a close collaboration with guitar hero Gus G. (Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind). Korg USA Announces Kronos X Music Workstation The new Kronos X features hardware technology enhancements, including a boost in the internal memory capacity and the size of its SSD, plus enhanced sampler functionality. New Loudbox Performer Amp Offers More Power, Features The newly redesigned Loudbox Performer offers increased power, improved bass response, and enhanced features in a lighter, more efficient form factor. PreSonus Announces the ADL 700 Channel Strip The ADL 700 channel strip combines a high-end, Class A tube preamplifier with a fully variable, FET-based compressor and a four-band semi-parametric equalizer. Jet City Amplification Announces the Jettenuator Designed by Soldano, the Jettenuator can attenuate a tube amplifier’s output (up to 100 watts) down to a more manageable level. PRS Guitars’ Exclusive Collection Series IV Instruments by Private Stock Now Available Each Collection Series consists of one electric and one acoustic guitar made with the most exacting methods and the most prized components, including pernambuco necks and fingerboards. Propellerhead Updates Figure to Add Saving, Browsing and Exporting Figure 1.1 now adds saving, browsing and loading of songs, as well as variable loop lengths and export of audio through iTunes file Sharing. Fishman Launches Triple Play Wireless Guitar Controller at Summer NAMM Triple Play’s slim and intuitive form factor allows fast, easy setup so guitarists can quickly get to an unlimited palette of instruments and sounds at their fingertips, all with the freedom of wireless control. Arturia Announces ‘Next Generation’ Analog Classic Software Ten of Arturia’s most popular software instruments have had a complete makeover, including 64-bit compatibility, MIDI assignment improvements, and better performance. Earthworks Upgrades Measurement Microphones Earthworks has upgraded its measurement microphones to include electronic calibration files in addition to the accessories previously offered, but now at no additional cost. Bose Expands RoomMatch Array Module Loudspeakers with Five New Coverage Patterns Bose Professional Systems Division has expanded the range of available coverage patterns for the RoomMatch array module loudspeakers with five new patterns. JoeCo Ships New BlackBox BBR64-Dante Recorder Still only occupying 1U of rack space, despite doubling its track count from 32 to 64, the BBR64-Dante now ranks alongside its 64-channel MADI sibling as one of the smallest large-scale audio capturing device currently available. Hal Leonard Ships Power Tools for Reason 6 Power Tools for Reason 6 is a comprehensive book that provides a quick-start tutorial that not only gets you up and running quickly, but also delves into advanced sequencing and mixing techniques. Behringer X32 Digital Console Available July 27th! Featuring 168 assignable inputs with 32 fully programmable high-end mic preamps and 16 configurable mix buses, the X32 is one of the most affordable full-function digital mixing consoles. |
| Forum Watch |
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A few of this week's top discussions from our ForumsRefinishing Your Guitar: What You Should Know Is your guitar’s surface beat up? Is it sporting a poor paint job you’re itching to strip off? If so, you may want to refinish your guitar—but take a look at this thread to see what’s involved in giving your axe a facelift. Show Me Your Semi-Hollowbody Guitars! Lots of picks and props for the guitar model that’s a perfect blend of solidbody sustain and hollowbody resonance. What starts as comments about Behringer’s X32 mixer veers off into a fascinating discussion of digital mixers in live performance, mixing trends, monitoring, and more. Can you really use iOS stuff for making music? Really? Are the apps any good? What about live performance? The answers may surprise you. Fender Made an Inexpensive Cabronita Until now, the only way to get a Fender Cabronita was to pay the big bucks for a Custom Shop model—but a new version, with “street” prices starting around $600, has generated a ton of interest. Discofreq, a long-time friend of Harmony Central and contributor to our Frankfurt show coverage, is keeping tabs on the pedal scene at Summer NAMM. How Do You Guys Maintain Composure When People Ask for Stupid Requests? Every performance has gone through ”request hell” at one point, and the Solo and Duo Acts have some pretty good comebacks. Warning: Don’t be drinking anything when you read some of the replies, unless you want to spray your keyboard. Affordable Solutions For Recording a Marshall Amp Direct? The Studio Trenches community looks at the challenges of recording a high-powered amplifier direct and silently, as well as discusses possible solutions like speaker simulators and resistive load boxes. Why I Can’t Keep from Laughing When People Say Punk Drumming Is “Easy” The thread turns quickly into the Drum Forum’s mosh pit, but if you want to see lots of videos featuring punk drummers (although there’s quite a bit of debate over what is and what isn’t “punk”), this thread’s a riot. The OP keeps getting this weird clack sound . . . and it’s the Bass Forum to the rescue, with some other useful tips on getting a consistent bass sound. |
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Editorial Craig Anderton, Editor in Chief • Jon Chappell, Senior Editor • Phil O’Keefe, Associate Editor • Chris Loeffler, Reviews Editor
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