by Lidia Paulinska | Apr 20, 2015
Occasionally in life we have a rare opportunity to re-live some of the more exciting and memorable cultural experience of our past. And so it was this week when we had the unique opportunity to enjoy an extraordinary big-screen showing of selected historic performances by the incomparable Led Zeppelin, one of the most creative and influential rock bands of all time. This one-night-only cinematic extravaganza spanned the band’s incredible career from 1970 to 1979. The film that featured several classic live performances was cleaned up, converted to digital and had the sound track remastered under the oversight of Fathom Events.
Viewers were treated to a larger-than-life concert experience featuring the band’s legendary performance from London’s Royal Albert Hall in January 1970, their historic dates at New York’s Madison Square garden in July 1973, their triumphant five-night run at London’s Earl’s Court in May 1975, and their record-breaking shows at England’s Knebworth Festival in August 1975.
The genius of singer-lyricist Robert Plant, the shrieking guitar brilliance of Jimmy page, the unrelenting power-drive of drummer John Bonham all combine in a synergistic amalgam to create what is probably the greatest rock and roll band has ever known…a seamlessly unified whole that was the sum of its genius parts. And although Led Zeppelin is known as one of the progenitors of heavy metal, the influences that shaped them are varied as their music: acoustic folk ballads, pop guitar, James Brown, country, Motown, traditional riffs, and what’s been called the trance-inducing element of blues repetition, all resulting in such varied works as “Whole Lotta Love” (’69), “Kashmir” (’75), “Rock & Roll” (’71), “All My Love” (’79), and “Stairway to Heaven” (’71).
But their time of personal glory was not to last. In September 1980, drummer John Bonham died suddenly of asphyxiation as a result of alcoholism and the tragedy of that loss marked the end of the magical synergy that was Led Zeppelin. A press release at the time read, “We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deepest sense of undivided harmony by ourselves … have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were. “ Signed simply “Led Zeppelin”. The “undivided harmony” was shattered forever and the music fell silent; the combined effect of all their creative geniuses was essential to sustain the whole and suddenly that unity was lost, but their extraordinary legacy was alive for us this week on the big screen, four decades and a lifetime after its inception, and for that we are very grateful indeed.
by Lidia Paulinska | Apr 19, 2015
While at NAB 2015, we had a chance to have a 1;1 talk with new Global President of Professional AV for Roland Corp Kim Nunney. Kim steps into this role from his recent position of North American President for Roland Corp. Kim and his team were credited with the turnaround on the North American marketplace for both the consumer and professional products.
To kick off the discussion, as there is so much encroachment of consumer level up into the professional market place with features and motivation to produce more price aggressive and lower entry points of the professional market what is “pro AV for Roland”? Kim defined this space under two themes – the Professional AV space is a B2B marketplace, it deals with performers, studios and stages. The core technologies for these markets are live sound and broadcast audio & video. The Roland path is to develop hardware to simplify the live performance and broadcast control with new UIs for the equipment.
Kim went on to discuss that device they are making are focused on high level content – 4:4:4 for broadcast, 4:2:2 for live events for the video side, 24bit/96K for the audio both in the digital domain. These ae important as the use of the devices for streaming applications should be treated the same as for “live” as they are both temporal delivery without the option to miss capture or mess up on playout. The professional line is for reliability, repeatability and configurability so they can not only be setup as needed, but are always available when call on.
For these applications, the Roland Pro AV products deal with the front end of the signal flow – DRM, wrappers, metadata, security & encryption are done after the hardware in post or before the equipment on ingest. The newest generation of the product are all network integrated and aware, which makes for connectivity on an in-house or hybrid (in-house and cloud) workflow are supported in native mode for the devices.
Kim indicated that the trend is to continue this same high reliability both mechanically and electrically on the products to be able to produce the best live performance & broadcast experience and simplify the control & interface with software.
The company has a strong history in the Pro AV space and the newly re-vitalized Roland is aggressively moving towards delivering new modular products to the market that have the capability to address emerging audio and video standards, without having to make the customers develop new workflows. Kim hopes to be able to duplicate the North American business units success on a global basis with the professional products.
by Lidia Paulinska | Mar 11, 2015
Paul Reed Smith is a master luthier and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars which is considered one of the top makers of high quality guitars in the United States. Carlos Santana, Orianthi, Jimmy Buffett all claim their PRS guitars are their favorite instruments. Ted Nugent has owned a PRS guitar for decades. Mike Oldfield, Larry LaLonde, Al Di Meola have also used PRS guitars in public performances.
It was a strong passion to make it?
There was a strong passion to be at the band. I wanted this piece of gear but I did not have money so I needed to make it. So if I wanted to base I made it if I wanted a guitar I made it. Because I wanted the staff people at the band have but I can’t get money from my family so I made it.
Apparently that was easy for me to do it, I can measure something and make it. That was fun I enjoy it and then I started to make living by making the instruments for professional musicians and I finally got Carlos Santana and Al Di Meola and Howard Leese. From that point he started his own company as he said: there was enough power in guitar business to be endorsed so people will pay attention when he goes to market”. Santana, Leese, Di Meola there were people they took me under their wings. He decided to do it.
If I could play in the band in high caliber as Carlos’s band or Deep Purple or whatever I would done it but I wasn’t good enough musician. My decision was financially driven. If I want my kids to go to good college I needed to make living. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to rise the family.
How did you settle on what the product line was?
It is all like baby steps. If you making the instruments for somebody you are making modifications like baby steps. There were some big steps modifications – they wanted me to change a body shape that we are using now (big step), to put the burden laze (?) major step, when we switch to get more sound from the guitar (major step). But if I met somebody like Peter Frampton and I said I wonna make a guitar I would go to the rodeo and ask to play his guitars and get an idea what he liked and I would put in the middle between his instruments. You can learned about what musicians like by using what gears they use. If I walk to the studio and I see what gears a guy is using I get general feel for it, what he likes to use. Smith – you are making a judgement where to point the gun.
Do you feel like you good at the judgments?
Sometimes perfect shot is the first shot. Sometimes it takes 30 years. With Carlos Santana the first guitar I made for him he did not like it, the second one he really, really liked. From there that was fine. John McLauglin on other hand, I was waiting for him to order a guitar from me for 30 years. One day, son, you will be good enough, one day. Now we are working on giving a shot very, very good guitar players. We see. It depends, sometimes you know from day one, sometimes you have to wait.
What wakes you up at night?
The guitar business never wakes me up at night, but struggle with people does. Never when I struggle with gears. Things between people yes, but never things between me and physics.
What is more challenging finding a the right gears or finding the people?
It is all the same bucket, I can’t separate it. I can tell you that not finding the solution can be very painful. You have so many famous people out there, if you would find the right solution for them they will give you an order. If you have an employee you have disagreement with, it can even more painful than not getting an order. The people are the both the challenge and the prize.
What do you do to manage the challenges?
I used to have a cat that sat on my lap and calmed me down. But that cat died. Right now, I focus on my 5 children – 3 blood, 2 step. They are the calming influence.
Would like them to be your successors?
No, that not fun. Why? I want them to do what they want, you can’t forcing something on somebody. My dad wanted me to be a mathematician, but I thought that did not happen. But it turns out making guitars is pure math, it took me 30 years to figure that out. He was really good in one kind of math, I am good at visualizing geometrics. If you are guitar maker you need to be able rotate the design in your head in 3-4 dimensions before you make it.
by Lidia Paulinska | Feb 17, 2015
At the NAMM Winter Conference, the She Rocks Awards moved from their daytime subdued event to a full nighttime gala event with red carpet. The 2015 She Rocks Awards were hosted by the founder of WiMN Laura B. Whitmore and performer Orianthi.
The show opened with an opening performance by the fast rising group SHEL. The four sisters who make up the group are touring the US and Europe between recording new albums and music for television, film and commercials. Continuing the theme of celebrating Women in Music the award ceremony featured an all female house band. The house band was led by guitarist Gretchen Menn and included Zepparella members Angeline Saris on bass, Clementine on drums and guest keyboardist Jenna Paone.
The show had one non-female winner – Rob Christie was recognized for the Champion Award.
The highlight was the “ICON” award winner as major contirbutors to the field of Women in Music. This year’s award was given to The Bangles – Vicki Peterson, Debbie Peterson and Susanna Hoffs who also performed that evening with the host and house band.
Spanning all varieties of music, the “Mad Skills” award was given to Mindi Abair. Berklee College of Music graduate Mindi is receiving multiple recognitions in addition to the She Rocks Award with several Grammy nominations and increasing demand for her unique saxophone style and sound. Mindi addressed the crowd with the fact that in her music career a lot of her success is due to the support from her family and teachers who encouraged her to follow her own style and sound, and that she did not have to conform to “sound like someone else” she “can create and define her own sound”.
The “Legend” award was given to Capitol studios manager Paula Salvatore who in her 24 years at Capitol has been an integral part of recordings for some of the industry’s most iconic artists.
The “Inspire” award was given to Debbie Cavalier. Debbie is currently the Vice President for Online Learning and Continuing Education/CEO for Berklee’s award-winning online continuing education program, Berklee Online, and is also the leader of the award-winning kids/family band Debbie and Friends. She has also been the recipient of the 50 on Fire Award, the 2013 Education award, and also composed and recorded a song featured on the 2011 GRAMMY Award-winning CD for Best Children’s Album through her work with Debbie and Friends.
The “Excellence” award was given to Craigie Zildjian the first female CEO of the 400+ year old Avedis Zildjian Company. She has also sponsored the Zildjian Family Opportunity as well as the Zildjian Percussion Facility at Berklee College. Additionally, Craigie developed the American Drummers Achievement Awards, an event that honors drumming legends. She also is an active member in the musical community with past service on the Board of Directors for the International Music Products Association (NAMM), the Board of Advisers of the International Association of Jazz Educators and the Board of Overseers at New England Conservatory. Currently, she Chairs the Zildjian Board of Directors and is a Trustee Emeritus of the Berklee College of Music.
The “Video of the Year” award was given to performer Colbie Caillat. Colbie is a two time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter who has sold over six million albums and ten million singles worldwide. Caillat released her fourth studio album Gypsy Heart, which features her hit single “Try” which was co-written by legendary producer and singer-songwriter, Babyface. The companion video for the song has become an online phenomenon, quickly amassing 30 million views. As was the video recognized with this award.
The “Next Generation” award was given to Katie Kailus. Katie Kailus is the editor of Music Inc. and UpBeat Daily magazines. She started at Music Inc. as an intern and was soon appointed associate editor. In January of 2014 she was named editor. She is one of the first women to ever be named editor of a musical instrument trade publication.
Also being recognized were Gayle Beacock and Amani Duncan. Gayle is co-owner of Beacock Music Company in Vancouver, Washington. Their Education Center is widely regarded as one of the top in the country. Amani is the Vice President of Brand Marketing for C.F. Martin & Co. A 17 year music industry veteran, Duncan’s experience runs the gamut from artist relations to visual marketing, digital and social media, campaign creation and strategic partnership negotiations.
by Lidia Paulinska | Feb 2, 2015
The current trend is to eliminate wires from all the computer peripherals and also allow the same access to mobile devices as you would have with a full computer. While the direction has been successful for most products, this success has come with the cost of speed, productivity, limited battery operating life, and reduced features to add the power and the extra parts to bring wireless capability. The wireless devices that dominate the market are also an added burden and SMB and SOHO locations that have limited, consumer oriented networks.
Addressing this trend is a new product in the marketplace that took a different approach. The Fujitsu ScanSnap ix500 is a business class, high productivity scanner that added wireless capability, rather than throw out features to bring in wireless. The 25 page per minute full duplex (simultaneous both side scanning) color scanning feature has simultaneous multiple feed paths that are set for full standard pages (8.5” x 11” and A size sheets), a receipt width path and a business card path. To supplement the scanning and simplify the results in the output, they added a hardware chip that incorporates a licensed Adobe PDF generation engine, that takes the raw scan and creates fully annotated and OCR compatible PDF files in the time most system provide a JPEG. The interpretation engine is smart enough to re-orient documents in case pages are upside down or sideways, so all the results are usable and readable. The business card section is also smart enough to “bind” the front and back of a double side card as one set of information for use in importing the cards to your contacts manager.
This high speed and built in PDF engine now allow professional and business level scanning of documents to connect to a mobile device. When the output is directed to a mobile phone or tablet, the result is a single file with a fully functioning PDF document on the mobile device with no delay for processing and using the limited computing power of the phone/tablet – the document is just usable. This allows for the ability to take full reports that you may receive on paper, scan it, and have a readable document directly on the phone/tablet in seconds with no other programs needed – just the existing Adobe reader on your phone/tablet.
The scanner is plugged in the wall for power, so it is a 24/7 available device – not limited by battery time. Since it is plugged into the wall, it can be placed in a central location to be shared by many people, so it is not a 1:1 accessory to person device. To enhance sharing among people, the device works as a full wireless client device in a network. It has a simple setup for joining an existing wireless network, and can be addressed by any device on the network. Each of the devices that talks to it needs to have software to “request” getting a scan from the device, and one can be designated as the “default” device. In default mode, any pages that are placed in the scanner, and the scan button pressed on the unit, will send the results to that computer.
A big difference in this scanner versus other wireless devices, is the ability to switch to “wireless direct” mode. The unit has WiFi host adapter electronics that let the scanner directly connect to just one device – a laptop, phone or tablet – if you are in an area where that device is not part of the main wifi network. This is especially useful when someone is visiting the office, and you do not want to give them access to your business network. You just select the option on the menu for the scanner for direct connection, open the app on the mobile device and select the scanner as the wifi network, put in the password for the scanner and all the results from the scanner are sent to that device wirelessly and securely up to 25ft away.
The devices comes with Adobe Acrobat Standard software for the PC & Mac that allows you to manage and manipulate the output of the scanner. This saves the cost of purchasing an additional software product to be able to merge multiple scans into one document of break up a big scan into several files. As the unit is a full color scanner, it also allows you to pull out a high resolution scanned picture from a scanned page that may have text or other photos on it, without and additional programs.
The scanner is currently available from Fujitsu and its retailers.
