Filed under: gear, recording | Tags: all things audible, james childs, john leventhal, michael brauer, nickel creek, tenor guitar
As you know, lately I’ve been listening to a lot of John Leventhal (JL from here on out) production and I’m digging it. One interesting thing I read about JL is that he’s really not a fan of fancy studio gear and admits that outside of a few favorite pieces of outboard gear, he really doesn’t know much about the technical side of things. Rather, he is first and foremost a musician and enjoys the playing far more than the recording. While somebody like Michael Brauer collects gear such as compressors and delay units, JL has an impressive collection of instruments.
Just to name a few, he has standard acoustic, electric, high-strung, baritone, and tenor guitars along with lap and pedal steels, banjos, dobros, mandolins, bouzoukis, and tamburas, and then he has a bunch of percussion toys and vintage keyboards, organs and xylophones. Various combinations of these make it onto his records and they create lush layers of organic ear candy even if you don’t quite realize that they’re there.
Obviously, given my idolization of his sound, I’ve felt the need to start collecting instruments as well. This idea of mine is more long term as I’m somewhat hindered by a lack of cash and a tiny apartment. All that to say, one instrument has intrigued me the most and that is the tenor guitar.
This four-stringed beauty is smaller and higher-pitched than a standard guitar and can be tuned like a banjo or like an octave mandolin. It’s great for doubling other instruments and sits well when paired with a standard acoustic. To get an idea of how it sounds, listen to Nickel Creek’s “Can’t Complain” below (and excuse the cheesy music video).
Sorry for the long post, this stuff gets me really excited.
Filed under: artists, gear, news, records | Tags: all things audible, cd warehouse, coldplay, gibson j-50, james childs, john leventhal, marc cohn, michelle branch, rosanne cash, shawn colvin, the wreckers
I really hate when I get behind on posting but life has been crazy the past few months. We just finished moving and work has been incredibly busy.
Anyway, here are a few things I’ve been pretty into lately:
- John Leventhal production: The Wreckers, Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, Rosanne Cash, Michelle Branch… The man is a genius, I must meet him. He’s a great arranger and plays these very intentional counter-melodies that lead you through the songs. I can’t get enough of this stuff right now.. Do yourself a favor and listen to any of the records to the left.
- I saw Coldplay in concert last week which was an amazing show. I also found their Live 2003 cd/dvd for $6 and it’s a great show as well. As much as I liked Viva La Vida I hope they eventually get back to their roots and do something more organic. (photo courtesy of Josh Bain)
- Used CDs: well I’ve always been into these, but still. The other day I found 6 used CDs and that coldplay DVD for $30 at CD Warehouse in North Raleigh. Places like that are a gold mine. Why pay $9.99 on iTunes for files when you can experience the joy of digging through physical albums and finding what you were looking for? artwork and physical tangible music and it’s cheaper than digital.
- Gibson J-50s: One day soon I really want a good vintage acoustic guitar. My top choice right now is an old J-50, mainly because John Leventhal plays them and they sound awesome.
That’s all for now, but a lot’s happening this fall. A few projects I worked on are releasing and I’m getting to play out quite a bit, so stay tuned and thanks for reading.
Filed under: gear, recording | Tags: ath-m50, ath-m50s, audio-technica, direct sound, ex-29, extreme isolation headphones, grado, headphones, james childs, sr-60
Headphones are a vital tool for both recording and playing music and for listening and enjoying it. There are so many types and brands out there and without going out and demoing individual pair it can be hard to find a good set. I’ve always appreciated a good review or testimonial of a product so I thought I’d talk about 3 of my favorite pair for anyone who’s looking for a new set of cans.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50s
First up are my favorites and also he most recently acquired: the Audio-Technica ATH-M50s. I’ve gotten to listen to music at work with these every day so I’ve really gotten to know them inside and out. Even after the honeymoon stage I still think they are are an excellent pair of headphones that I’m so glad I was introduced to. I found a new pair on eBay for about $90 so they’re not cheap (depending on your definition of cheap), but considering this market of headphones ranges from about $60-$2000, I’d say you get a ton for what you pay for.
These are a closed-back pair, so they do a fair job of blocking outside noise and you can listen very loud in an office or record with a loud click track without any music bleeding out into the office or the microphone. They’re also very high quality and rugged and the ear cups are very comfortable even after listening for a long period of time. The only part I find mildly uncomfortable at times is the connecting-band on top of my head. (Make sure you get the m50s model which has a straight cable instead of the m50 coiled cable model, unless you’re into that.)
But the best part of these is of course, the sound. The tone of these is flat and balanced with tons of detail. The lows are present but not overhyped like far too many models and the highs are crisp and clear and also balanced and non-fatiguing after long listening. The best part is the amazing detail–you’ll hear subtle nuances and background parts you never noticed before because your old headphones were smearing the signal too much. This is especially critical for recording and mixing as you want a flat frequency output and detail so you’ll have an accurate picture of what you’ve recorded. And somehow after listening for a while on these, you’ll forget they’re on your head because they sound almost as good as real speakers. While mixing on headphones is generally discouraged, these cans would be the ideal choice for the task.
Above all others, I would definitely recommend these to anyone looking for some headphones for either studio or casual listening. They even come with a cool leather pouch.
Grado SR-60
Next up is my second favorite, the WWII-submarine-captain-looking Grado SR-60s. If possible, these offer even more for the money than the ATs. And that’s because they’re only $60 bucks, which is a joke for how awesome these are. They’re a bit quirky and somewhat fragile, but if you take good care of them, they make great headphones for a variety of uses. These are open-backed, so they leak noise both in and out. So tracking in the studio with these isn’t much of an option, but they’d be okay to engineer and do some monitoring with. The sound on these is pretty amazing for the price – extremely detailed with nice highs and mids. Because of the open-ended design (which increases detail), the one flaw is that they’re lacking pretty significantly in bass. But if you can get used to that, they’re a good set to have around for $60 – way better than most headphones that cost twice as much.
I’ve found one cool application for these over the past few months: since they bleed, you can put them on and play guitar, bass, etc. along to records. So I’ll put on my iPod with these headphones and then plug in my guitar or bass to an amp, letting me hear both the music and the instrument at the same time. I put on the bass reducer EQ setting on my iPod and I’ve gotten used to practicing bass this way.
Direct Sound Extreme Isolation EX-29s
Last up are the Direct Sound Extreme Isolation Headphones. These aren’t going for glamour, they’re a rugged pair of headphones built into those ear protectors that airport runway guys wear. The guy who built these is a studio drummer who wanted to solve the dilemma of hearing the track and click in his headphones above the drums without cranking them up till his ears bled. The result is that the shell of these is supposed to reduce the incoming noise by 29 dBs. They’re not noise-canceling in the true sense of the term but they do the trick with passive electronics. They’re great in the studio, especially for vocals or acoustic guitar where bleed can be a major issue. That being said, they’re not the most accurate phones in the world – they’re fairly dull all around and especially lacking in high end. But for their intended use they really do the trick.
They’re also backed by a great company with amazing customer service. When the cable on mine went bad after the warranty period was over, I got a hold of John Gresko at Direct Sound and he immediately shipped me a new set of drivers with instructions on how to install them. I was back up and running in 15 minutes without spending a dime!
Well, I hope this has been a helpful alternative to the technical reviews out there that talk about ohms and impedance without touching much on the practical aspects of the sound. If you need some new headphones any time soon, I’d definitely check these out. Any other great headphones I should know about? It’s kindof a fetish of mine now..
