Podcast: Episode 10

Introduction

Hey light audio recordists, how’s it going?

Are you well? Because you’re looking well. I’m Ronan Fitzgerald, from light audio recording dot com. And today is Thursday July twenty fifth, twenty nineteen. This is episode 10 of the light audio recording podcast.

How’re’ya?

This month, we’re not finished discussing Gibson’s legal shenanigans that we talked about last month, we’ll mention summer NAMM, and a few other bits and pieces that help with compact and affordable recording.

Hopefully, all of this will inspire you to plug in and make some music this weekend.

Item one

So, last month, we kicked off the podcast talking about Gibson. From their stroppy video, to their legal action against Dean, to the rat form on their website.

Well, in that time, there’s been even more… stuff going on.

Firstly, in a story that first appeared on guitar dot com on june twenty eighth, the European Union General Court told Gibson that their flying v guitar shape wasn’t distinct enough to merit protection from other similarly shaped guitars.

It’s a bad start for a company screaming about how much they’re lawyering up.

A few days later, on July first, Gibson released a statement. It was an odd statement. They acknowledged they weren’t doing so hot. But also essentially denied liability, by saying all the legal stuff was started by the previous leadership.

They bragged about how many counterfeit operations they had shut down, and announced that they would be launching a licensing program to work with guitar builders, instead of waving law suits around.

Then, on July eighteenth, at Summer NAMM, Gibson announced their collaborative agreements with Jimmy Wallace Guitars, Banker Custom Guitars and Echopark Guitars, where those makers can use some of Gibson’s most popular designs, including the Les Paul and the Flying V.

Those are all incredibly expensive boutique builders. We have no idea if the program will extend to builders more friendly to a light audio recording budget.

Item two

Here at Light Audio Recording, we mostly associate the Cort brand with their gloriously ridiculous Gene Simmons axe bass.

The company does actually make normal guitars too though!

Just ahead of summer NAMM, Cort announced and revealed online, a little guitar called the Little CJ.

It’s a three-quarter size guitar. The body shape looks like a jumbo, but obviously smaller. The most notable feature is an arched back, which they say will provide a fuller, richer sound.

It’s coming out just in time for summer, and the road trips and beach days that go with it. So, perfect if you want to take your light audio recording on the road.

No word on pricing, but with Cort, it’s unlikely to break the bank.

Item three

Moving away from Summer NAMM, I came across a Chrome extension that I felt was worth talking about.

The extension in question is called reaper, which, given we talk about recording music, should not be confused with the DAW of the same name.

According to the register dot co dot uk, Chrome has a reputation for hogging RAM and CPU. Reaper kills Chrome’s excessive browser processes, supposedly to give you a quicker, smoother Chrome experience.

So, why does this matter in light audio recording? Well, if you remember our review of BandLab, you’ll remember it starts to lag when tracks and effects start adding up. It’s a compromise with a browser-based DAW.

Hopefully, reaper will help ease that. I’ll try it and let you know!

Item four

And finally, a piece of news that surprised seemingly everyone with an interest in music gear. On Monday, July twenty second, Reverb dot com announced that they had been acquired by Etsy.

Etsy started in two thousand and five, and is an online marketplace for creatives, like artists and jewellers and the like.

Based on comments online across various outlets, the news had mixed reception from Reverb fans. Some worry that Etsy’s questionable interface and higher seller fees will make its way to Reverb.

Others are more positive, feeling Etsy made the acquisition so they can use Reverb’s slick interface to get their own site in order.

However, right now, all we can do is wait and see what, if any, changes will affect us.

Wrap up

And that’s all for this month. You’ll hear from me again on Thursday, August twenty ninth.

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, Facebook, Pinterest and Linkedin.

I’m Ronan Fitzgerald, this was episode 10. Have a great weekend recording your music, and I’ll catch you next time.