| Multitrack Minds
Musicians who want to record at home have more options than ever before. If setting up a complicated computer-based studio doesn't sound like your idea of fun, check out a self-contained digital multi track. Today's units are more capable than ever; here we help you identify the features most important for capturing acoustic guitar. .
Punktfest 06 - Kristiansand, Norway - Day Two, August 25, 2006
When British drummer Bill Bruford stepped up to the mic for the first time during his engaging and highly playful duet with Dutch pianist Michiel Borstlap, he made the comment that “as a true road warrior, by all accounts this is an incredibly well-run festival, setting a new high bar for overall competence." And those are truthful words from someone with enough years on the road to know. While organizing any festival, especially where numerous acts will appear on the same stage, is a challenge, Punktfest has to be one of the greatest nightmares from a logistical perspective. Chapter Index
Challenges
Hanna Hukkelberg
Karl Seglem
Bill Bruford and Michiel Borstlap
Frode Gjerstad and Jan Bang
Bugge Wesseltoft
The Wagner Reloaded Project (WARP)
Challenges Almost every act incorporates electronics to some extent, so just organizing soundchecks so that acts can set up, make sure everything works, and then come back later for the show with the assumption that everything still works is a big enough task.
An 'Idol'-ized songwriter
MELANIE CONNER/ Morgan Grace Practicing at home Move over, Kelly Clarkson: Oregonians have their own "American Idol." And ours actually writes music, plays instruments and sings. Late this summer, 29-year Portlander Morgan Grace won first place in the pop category of "American Idol Underground's" songwriting contest for "The Rules of Dating." The cash prize for her catchy pop tune? A cool $10,000. In her basement practice space, Grace recently spoke about the contest and performed the winning song. How did you hear about the contest? The contest sent a mailer to CD Baby (a Portland-based online music store) asking for independent artists, and I thought, "Oh, that might be cool," and then forgot all about it. A year later, I saw a link for it on MySpace and uploaded my song and forgot about it again.
Larry Martus | Transcendence
Solo recordings have to overcome extra hurdles in order to maintain listener interest. Single-line instruments like the saxophone tend to have the most difficulty because of their limited timbral range and inability to maintain an independent accompanying line. The piano is naturally the most flexible, allowing independent hands to work, but it also has timbral limitations. The guitar is in betweenit can fake true contrapuntal lines, but it also can change its sound through electronics. With Transcendence, Larry Martus has assembled a beautiful collection of original compositions for solo guitar. For the gearheads out there (meaning most electric guitar players of any stripe), a lot of different equipment was used in this recording. Martus lists a 1967 Gibson ES-335, a 1968 Fender Pro Reverb, and an old Fender Stratocaster (with modified electronics, of course) coupled with a 1956 (!) Fender Tremolux and a Roland JC-120 amplifier.
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