Podcast: Episode 7

Introduction

Hey light audio recordists!

Are you well? Because you’re looking well. This is Ronan Fitzgerald from light audio recording dot com and it’s Thursday March twenty eighth, twenty nineteen. You are listening to episode seven of the light audio recording podcast.

How’re’ya?

In this episode, we’ll discuss BandLab’s latest updates, a story about counterfeit pro audio gear, and a new solution for those looking to emulate The Beatles.

And hopefully, this’ll inspire you to plug in and make some music this weekend.

Item one

So, a month ago, we spoke about how BandLab’s most recent update was their biggest yet.

Well, despite that, they have not been resting on their laurels, and announced a few more features on their blog on March twentieth.

Speaking of which, one of said new updates is the ability to find out about new updates directly in the app. Going forward, there’ll be a wrapped gift icon on the notifications page that’ll take you to a list of the latest updates.

They’ve also improved the functionality of their global player, so that it’s now less obtrusive, sitting at the bottom of the screen. And you can give songs you like an in-app like by tapping the heart icon in the player.

Last month’s update included their creator kits, and this month, they’ve already updated it. If you tap out your beats, and the timing is slightly off, the input quantization function will fix it with the tap of an icon on your screen.

That’s incredibly cool.

Item two

Next, we have an odd story from China.

Pro Sound Network reported on March eighteenth that police raided a Soundpu Electronics Equipment factory. In the raid, which took place last October, they found the company was manufacturing counterfeit pro audio gear.

Among the names Soundpu were ripping off were Shure, Sennheiser, Yamaha, and Harman.

And you can be sure those companies are taking legal action against the manufacturer, and are working together on the matter.

Shure instigated the raid. The CEOs of all companies have decried their intellectual property being ripped off, the manufacture of equipment baring their brands’ name at sub-standard quality.

They encourage pro audio enthusiasts to buy their gear only from authorized dealers, but didn’t address the cost of pro audio gear that creates the demand for counterfeit goods.

Don’t worry. At light audio recording dot com, we use legit recommend legit gear.

Item three

This month, the piece of gear that most caught my eye is a pedal from Aclam Guitars, called the Doctor Robert.

Yes, the it’s named after The Beatles song from the Revolver album. The pedal emulates the Vox UL730 amp, as used by The Beatles extensively on that album.

It’s an early example of a hybrid amp, combining a solid state preamp, with a tube output amp. It was supposed to replace Vox’s AC30, but poor build quality and newer designs saw many of the original UL730s returned to Vox. Only about one hundred and two were made, with about twenty five believed to be still in use.

So, boutique gear makers, Aclam, have replicated it. I couldn’t find a demo, but I look forward to hearing it.

There are two UL730s on Reverb right now. The cheapest one costs more than twenty three thousand dollars, and the more expensive one was owned by George Harrison, so costs more than one hundred thousand dollars.

The Doctor Robert pedal will probably cost over two hundred dollars. So, it’s definitely the compact and affordable solution for emulating Revolver guitar sound.

Item four

Finally, a recent report says it’s a good time to be a microphone manufacturer.

The Global Music Microphone Market Report has an incredibly catchy name, and says that the microphone business is expected to grow with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of roughly four point five per cent over the next five years.

Therefore, the microphone business be worth two thousand five hundred and ninety million US dollars in twenty twenty four. That’s up from one thousand, nine hundred and ninety million in twenty nineteen.

The reason for this is largely being placed with improvements in microphone manufacture in China.

As long as you’re not making counterfeits, I guess.

Wrap up

And that’s all for this month. I look forward to bringing you the next round up of news in the next podcast, at the end of April twenty nineteen.

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the light audio recording blog at light audio recording dot com, where you can follow the exploration of recording music in an affordable and compact way.

You can also find light audio recording on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

I’m Ronan Fitzgerald, you’ve been listening to episode seven. Have a great weekend recording your music, and I’ll catch you next time.