Apple AirPods Pro 2 introduce world’s first all-in-one Hearing Test experience
Approximately 1.5 billion people around the world are living with hearing loss, according to the World Health Organisation. Building on years of work in hearing health — including the Noise app on Apple Watch, headphone audio levels with iPhone, hearing accessibility features, and the Apple Hearing Study — Apple is introducing an end-to-end experience focused on prevention, awareness, and assistance.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Hearing loss prevention
According to the Apple Hearing Study, one in three people are regularly exposed to loud environmental noise levels that can impact their hearing. That can include common scenarios like taking the subway while commuting, mowing the lawn at home, attending a sporting event, and many more. In order to help users prevent exposure to loud environmental noise while preserving the sound signature of what they’re listening to, Hearing Protection comes to AirPods Pro. The ear tips help to provide passive noise reduction, while the H2 chip helps to actively reduce louder, more intermittent noise at 48,000 times per second. On by default across all listening modes, Hearing Protection is helpful in a variety of loud settings. Plus, with an all-new multiband high dynamic range algorithm, sounds at live events like concerts remain natural and vibrant so users don’t miss a beat.
Apple Hearing Test
Apple is also introducing a scientifically validated Hearing Test feature with AirPods Pro and a compatible iPhone or iPad, expanding the ability for users to quickly check their hearing from the comfort of their home in minutes. The test is simple to take, utilizes a standard clinical approach called pure-tone audiometry, leverages advanced acoustic science, and provides users with an interactive experience. When a user completes the test, they will see an easy-to-understand summary of their results in a personalized hearing profile for AirPods Pro, which is stored privately and securely in their Health app. Users can also share these results with their healthcare providers for more informed conversations.
Keep up with the full announcement here.
Mixdown’s guide to: Open back headphones vs Closed back headphones
Let me start by saying this: there’s no right or wrong answer here. This can serve as two things: one being the thought that “Great! Whatever I buy will be the right choice!”, and the other meaning to some of us, myself included, that “Maybe I’ll just get both.” Open and closed back headphones definitely service different purposes, and have different pros and cons, depending on your needs. All jokes aside, they’re also both handy to have around for different jobs. Open back allow your ears to feel less fatigued over long sessions, with air flow in and out of the headphone cup, while closed back headphones offer supreme isolation, also keeping all that precious low-end inside.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Closed-Back
One of the main advantages of closed-back headphones is that they have exceptional isolation, meaning that even in noisy environments you’ll be able to hear the finest details of the audio coming through. This might be handy for someone who catches public transport during busy commuting times or who lives in an especially loud house or area like next to a train line.
Another advantage is that they have low leakage, which is ideal for a recording environment where its important that the microphones don’t pick up any sound other than the instrument or voice that they’re meant to e.g. a metronome or backing track playing through the headphones. A third reason to use closed-back headphones is that they have superior bass reproduction to open-back. Many engineers and producers like to have a singer in the room with them for better communication, the glass and a talkback mic serving as a literal and emotional barrier between the engineer and singer. This sometimes leading to uncomfortable miscommunications at a time where singers need our support the most!
Closed back headphones also serve self-recording musicians well, with playback, the metronome and your own voice all being better isolated from each other for minimal bleed!
Open Back
All this isolation does come at a cost though – the isolated headphone cups are not unlike a tiny room around your ears, albeit well-treated! The minimisation of standing waves and reflections means that there is a more natural sound due to less coloration than a closed-back headphone can provide. Similarly, there is a better transient response due to less air pressure against the driver meaning the driver can respond better to changes in the audio signal. This is especially beneficial when listening to sound sources with a lot of voices like a choir or an orchestra.
Gamers like to use open-back headphones because it is lighter on the head and therefore more comfortable for long gaming sessions. Overall though an open-back headphone can provide “a more natural sound with increased soundstage width and depth.”
Check out the Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution of the Guitar exhibition!
Executive Director, National Guitar Museum (USA), Newquist said he was honoured to be bringing this exhibit on the art and evolution of the guitar to Ballarat. The far-reaching collection of classical to contemporary works on display track the history of the world’s most popular instrument from its medieval beginnings through to the guitar’s pivotal role in blues, country, and rock ‘n’ roll.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
“The Art Gallery of Ballarat is the only venue this exhibition will be visiting in Australia, and we are proud to call Ballarat the home for these incredible works for almost five months over spring and summer. ‘The guitar has long been the world’s most popular instrument – it outsells all other instruments combined – and visitors to Medieval To Metal will get to experience the entire history of the guitar all in one place. With 40 different instruments that show how the guitar has evolved in various forms around the planet, this exhibition explores the guitar’s role at the centre of both pop culture and art, and why it became the definitive musical icon of the last hundred years.”
Celebrate the history and stories behind the instruments that made the stars. Experience up close rare guitars and artefacts in this epic exhibition narrating the history, evolution and design of the guitar covering all music genres and all uses. Through this all-encompassing exhibition, music lovers can trace the history of the world’s most popular instrument through a nostalgic photography collection of iconic images taken by renowned rock photographer Neil Zlozower alongside photographic works by Australian music documenter Tony Mott.
As part of the Medieval to Metal exhibition, the Art Gallery of Ballarat will host a series of classical concerts: Art Classics. A celebration of music’s Medieval origins; expect to see a dynamic display of classical performances, from an internationally acclaimed lutenist, to classically reimagined takes on Australian rock icons Cold Chisel.
The Art Talks programs brings a range of music-loving experts to Ballarat. Hear the stories of journalists who go behind the industry curtain to chart the success of rock ‘n’ roll stars, listen to intimate conversations that hit unexpected notes and enhance your understanding of the guitar’s endless dance through art history and popular culture.
Art Late is a curated series of late-night encounters at the Art Gallery of Ballarat featuring a dynamic combination of mind-blowing music and thought-provoking art, plus food and drinks by local venues. For Medieval to Metal, Rose City Band (USA) with Dayfever perform 19 October, with Melbourne’s post-punk full throttle band RVG playing 2 November with support from Pyrex. Rock darlings CIVIC hit the stage with The Hot Lemons, 30 November.
Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution of the Guitar is exclusive to the Art Gallery of Ballarat, running 12 October 2024 – 2 February 2025.
Green Day Announce Australian Leg of ‘The Saviors Tour’!
Global rock superstars Green Day – Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool – have officially shared details of the Australian leg on their massive 2024/25 global stadium tour – The Saviors Tour, presented by Live Nation and Triple M.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
In their biggest live undertaking to date, the band has confirmed they will play Dookie and American Idiot in full, along with tracks from the new album Saviors and cuts from their vast collection of hits. Special guest is revered Californian rockers, AFI, who make a welcome return to Australia for the first time since 2017.
The Saviors Tour kicks off at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on March 1, followed by Engie Stadium in Sydney on March 3, and concluding at CBUS Super Stadium, Gold Coast on March 5.
- An artist pre-sale runs from Monday, September 16 to Thursday, September 19 – Gold Coast commencing at 1pm, Melbourne at 2pm and Sydney at 3pm.
- Vodafone pre-sale runs from Tuesday, September 17 to Thursday, September 19 – Gold Coast commencing at 10am, Melbourne at 11am and Sydney at 12pm.
The tour will be a larger-than-life, career-spanning celebration of one of the biggest musical acts of all time and some of the most important albums in history. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Green Day’s 1994 certified Diamond album, Dookie, and the 20th anniversary of 2004’s juggernaut, American Idiot. Each a cultural phenomenon in its own right, these albums have remained at the forefront of punk culture since their release. With blazing guitars and electrifying vocals, Green Day are ready to bring their mind-blowing collection of hits to stadiums across the country, along with plenty of new additions from Saviors.
General onsale begins Friday, September 20 – Gold Coast from 12pm, Melbourne from 1pm, and Sydney from 2pm – Tickets and more information at greenday.com and livenation.com.au.
Gear Rundown: Tom Araya
Tom Araya and Kerry King are the only remaining original members of the pioneering thrash metal band Slayer. Along with their ‘Big Four’ counterparts Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth, Slayer pushed the boundaries of speed, heaviness and extremity throughout the 80s and 90s. Frontman and bass player Tom Araya has been the face of the band for decades, after Kerry King asked him to join his new band in 1981.
TOM ARAYA ESP SIGNATURE
Araya keeps things simple and usually sticks to the one guitar throughout the band’s shows. He plays the signature models that ESP Guitars have been making for him since the late 1990s. These precision style basses have active EMG humbucker pickups with an alder body and an ebony fretboard. He is also known to sometimes use a pair of passive single-coils pickups.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
OTHER SIGNATURE MODELS
Araya requested an updated version of his signature bass, and wanted to ensure that the price was kept at an affordable level for the everyday fan, so ESP blended the Araya model with their popular and distinctively curved FRX Series. Araya now often plays the Tom Araya FRX, the TA-604 FRX, and the TA-204 FRX. The guitars are solid alder with a three-piece maple neck construction and an ebony fretboard.
Watch Araya talk about the signature basses in the video below.
AMPLIFIER
Early on, Araya used a Marshall Lemmy Kilmister Signature 1992 LEM Super Bass stack. This was an extremely limited edition 2008 replica of the Motörhead bassist’s 1976 head.
“We were rehearsing for some live shows and I couldn’t believe how good those amps sounded,” said Araya to Bass Guitar Magazine. “Kerry told me they only made so many and then stopped making them. He even called up Marshall [to ask about them] for me – but there was no way, they were all gone. That amp is where most of my sound comes from, rather than the bass, though what you hear on the record might sometimes be a mixture of different amps dialled in together. It has that piano-like ‘dong!’ to it. That’s the sound I like, clean and crisp with that low-end piano boom.”
Araya now uses stock Marshall VBA400 amp heads with eight 6550 tubes. “I use a standard Marshall bass head, which is a really good head,” said Araya to Guitar World. “And they made me a couple of cabinets that sound really cool. But yeah, I just use a standard rig. It’s not hopped up; it’s not the ‘Tom model.’ It’s just a Marshall bass amp, which sounds awesome.”
“Yeah, I just use Marshall stock heads. There’s nothing really special about them,” he said to Premier Guitar. “(I like) the brightness and punch. I didn’t use Marshall all the time. They made some cabinets for me; better than the cabinets I had and they sounded great. We asked them if they would send me some heads and they sent me the heads. My brother dialed in the tones that I like. This is what I got.”
COMPRESSOR
Araya uses a dbx 160A compressor/limiter, which is always on.
STRINGS
Araya uses standard Jim Dunlop Heavy .050–.110 strings on all his basses.
Keep up with Slayer on Instagram here.
Sound advice: how to arrange your pedalboard
The sound you are after is personal choice and may not conform to traditional wisdom. Rule number one, as they say, is that there are no rules.
Tuner
One of the most important components of the pedalboard is the humble tuner. Having your tuner at the start of your pedalboard chain means that you will receive the cleanest signal, which is important for better tuning accuracy.
A true-bypass tuner is a great choice as the additional circuitry within the tuner gets removed when the tuner is not in use. There’s multiple tuner designs available, ‘strobe style’ tuners being the most accurate as they can more clearly communicate the tuning accuracy. Peterson tuners are often accepted as the best in the biz!
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Filters (e.g. wah & EQ)
The general rule is that the pedal that you want the cleanest signal from should be placed to the front of the chain, avoiding colourisation from other pedals that will unintentionally affect your tone.
However, there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to creativity. A wah pedal works by adding and subtracting a preset ‘Q’ at a specified frequency, resulting in the “wah, wah” sound associated with both trumpet mutes, voice and guitarists like Buddy Holly, Hendrix and Slash. This sharp EQ can become harsh when placed after a distortion or overdrive, and can result in a more extreme sound. For this reason, it’s best to put your wah early!
Handy hint: a common trick is the ‘half-cocked’ wah technique, where the wah is engaged, but set to about halfway to add some extreme EQ. This is great for solos, and gives Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing” its unique ‘quack’.
Compression/Sustain
A compressor essentially acts as the nucleus for your tone, sitting almost in the middle of your chain to both enhance and cut unwanted low and high level sound. The compressor assists in delivering the most from your guitar’s tone and is often paired with sustain to push and prolong desired frequencies. Balancing out your tone is what a compressor does best and, much like a wah, can often sound extreme when it’s placed after drive pedals, therefore compressing the harmonics and sonics that a compressor introduces.
Bass players! Compressors are a great addition to your board to keep the tone balanced overall. An unruly bass can be distracting, especially with resonant frequencies in rooms, and a balanced bass tone will make the whole band feel and sound more consistent while you’re grooving and slappin’!
Distortion/Overdrive
The position of your overdrive pedal really comes down to preference. For example the late Rowland S. Howard (The Birthday Party) used an MXR distortion pedal followed by a graphic EQ stompbox to give those long sustained notes beef and bite. The post-punk innovator’s pedal chain placed less emphasis on maintaining balanced tones and more on assisting his wild performance, placing the MXR at the beginning to emphasise the high end.
EQ
When sculpting your own tone, an EQ pedal is arguably one of your most important tools, particularly if overdrive is being used, as it can provide some much needed definition. This is a flexible one, as shaping your tone pre-drive can result in a more controlled sounded, and after your drive can yield a more extreme effect. EQ can be used as an ‘always on’ effect or instead of a boost, to add much needed mids and definition. Removing low end can help your solos to cut through!
The EQ is often placed as the final step before amplification, though often also just before…
Modulation (e.g. chorus, flangers, phasers) and Reverb/Delay
Modulation and time-based pedals such as reverb or delay are essentially used at the end of your chain in order to not muddy the tone by compressing and applying distortion to a modulated signal. Modulating pre-drive can distort and ruin the modulation effect, whereas modulating after adds a sheen of flange, chorus or phaser across your carefully sculpted tone.
The order of your pedalboard can help you get the most out of your pedals! Keep reading about the biggest pedalboard here.
Ion Zanca tells his untold story with the Dallas String Quartet
Ion Zanca is the founder of the Dallas String Quartet, with him on viola, supported by two violinists and a bass player, amongst other musicians added to the mix that augment the foundational quartet. Composed by Ion himself, the album speaks to the tragedy and oppression of his people, building soaring arrangements with dynamic, expressive and above all emotive progressions and passages.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Speaking to the initial idea for the album, Ion explains “I was visiting Germany maybe six or seven years ago, and I went to the Dachau concentration camp. They had some signs and the history and the whole process of people being bought to camps.”
Continuing, Ion says “They had a map of Romani, or gypsy people, who were bought from Romania and Hungary. And on the map, it was literally the cities where my family is from.”
‘Gypsy’ is a derogatory term that’s become a catch-all for travelling, nomadic people.
“I remember my grandfather telling me stories that were so outlandish, like being deported on a heavy, cardboard boat just to make it far enough into the water for them to drown.”
“I thought this was too crazy, I thought it was just stuff my grandfather was making up… ‘cause nobody’s that evil, y’know?” Ion laughs, despite speaking about such heavy subject matter. “Well, I was wrong about that.”
“The more I looked into it, I realised not a lot of people know about this, including myself. It’s just a part of history that’s completely forgotten.”
“Last year my dad passed and I decided this needed to honour him and all the Romani people that have been part of this whole history, and nobody’s talking about it. I started interviews with professors from Hartford, Stanford, asking about it, the more I look into it; it’s a very difficult story to find.”
The opening track “Brewing Conflict” immediately invokes a pain, anguish and anxiety, with various harmonies and arrangement elements coming and going, and Ion speaks to this further.
“I’m a visual person, so based on my readings and seeing how people were treated during that time, I envision a Romani family being at the outskirts of the cities, because there were laws against them, that you didn’t have to serve them, didn’t have to give them jobs, so they were pushed a lot of times to the edge of the city, right?” Ion states, explaining that it put the Romani people into a cycle of struggling to integrate into society, being forced into stealing to feed their families and building a stereotype for stealing or being nomadic. “It’s the perpetuation thing.” he says.
“Brewing Conflict” speaks to the Romani family in this story knowing something bad is about to happen, but not knowing what. “That’s kind of the beginning of the conflict, the beginning of the journey.”
The melody begins solo, and as the track builds, more and more elements begin to play the melody, speaking to the story moving from the voice of one to the voice of many.
Ion goes on to further explain that he defines himself as a performer, having never really composed per se, and he initially intended for someone else to compose the album. He quickly realised it was too personal a story, so he took on the task himself.
Recording was a worldwide affair, with the Dallas String Quartet recording in Dallas, and musicians from Romania, Spain and elsewhere to record the solo parts on the album. From there, they recorded the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) at Abbey Road Studios, London.
“I wanted to tell more of a story, I wanted a more cinematic sound?” Ion says with a questioning inflection, explaining how and why that he decided to involve the LSO. “The more we were working on the project, the more I wanted that sound to be able to tell the story, and so then the orchestra grew size-wise and we got 6 French horns and 50 strings, so it became massive.”
“The previous years before my dad passed, I took some time off in London with my wife and my kid, and I had London in my mind for some reason. It was the place I was able to take a break from all the things that were happening in my life.”
“Historically speaking, LSO is one of the best known orchestras in the world, so I wanted to have LSO on the track because I want to bring awareness to a larger group. This issue is still happening now in Europe,”
“So it’s two-fold: one is they are incredible musicians, and two is they’re all also so well known, and it will give the album a bigger reach so we can tell the story.”
Ion speaks more directly to recording, saying he always records an acoustic violin, though switches to an electric for some live shows. The Dallas String Quartet have six albums before ROMANI: The Untold Story, though this album is the first to feature entirely original music, whereas the others feature a crossover style played by the DSQ.
As of the afternoon we’re chatting, Ion is re-arranging the album to be performed by just the DSQ in Brussels, a huge undertaking, but there’s plans to perform with the LSO at some point, augmented by a show documentary.
The album was mixed in Atmos, Ion being involved in the mixing itself. A list of engineers recorded, produced and mixed, the bulk of the mixing happening at AIR Studios in London. AIR handled the stereo mix, and Eric Schilling in LA handled the Atmos end of things.
“He [Eric Schilling]’s unbelievable, he has seventeen Grammys or something insane. He’s one of the legends of Atmos. When he was mixing he invited me in the studio to listen and have my two cents.” Ion explains.
“It was really great to work with him, and then we had to master in Atmos as well. It was a lot, a lot of work.” Ion smiles.
ROMANI: The Untold Story is available now and helping to raise money for the ROMA Foundation. Give poverty the boot!
Legendary Aussie producer Mark Moffatt passes aged 74, shaped 30 classic hits
Queensland-born Mark Moffatt, who has lived in Nashville since 1996 had battled pancreatic cancer for a more than a year.
Speaking to Mixdown in 2022, he said: “One of the hardest things to convince the Australian music industry is it’s better to go to Nashville, which is not hee-haw, and you get better opportunities than in New York or Los Angeles.”
Shattered
Fellow globally acknowledged producer Mark Opitz responded to news of his passing: “Absolutely shocked and shattered. I’ve known Mark since the (Brisbane ’70 blues rock band) Railroad Gin days in Brisbane.
“We worked together on projects together, spent time in Nashville hanging out in biker country music bars til 4am.
“But more importantly he was a dear friend and a wise gentle man.”
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Nice Guy
Former Cold Chisel manager Rod Willis posted: “A fine producer, musicians and more than that, a really nice guy.
“His legacy to Australian music is to be appreciated.”
In a remarkable career, Moffatt sold guitars to Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck in London and made the first Australian punk record “(I’m Stranded” with The Saints.
He won awards for records with Yothu Yindi, Divinyls and Neil & Tim Finn, was in-house producer for major labels, set up Vault Studios in Sydney, fell out with Michael Gudinski when he started his own Centre Records, and was instrumental in the global launch of Keith Urban.
QUEENSLAND
Mark Moffatt grew up in the Queensland town of Maryborough after coming under the spell of The Beatles.
But there was little musical happening there, so he moved to Bundaberg, and hung out with British immigrants who were starting bands and played with the likes of Web, Spike and Stop Press.
Blues Rock Boom
He eventually shifted to Brisbane, where the blues-rock boom was taking in shape with the likes of Mick Hadley’s fearsome Purple Hearts, Chain and Bay City Union.
Having scored a retail job at Drouyn’s Drums in George Street, he got the wanderlust. In 1972 he hopped a boat to London.
LONDON
On arriving, he got a copy of Melody Maker, went to the ads at the back, and sent out job applications to guitar shops.
He got two nibbles, a classical music store and the other from Top Gear, at the time the only guitar shop on Denmark Street.
Jimmy Page
In the second week he started, he looked up to find Jimmy Page strolling in. Then came Jeff Beck, Gary Moore and Jeff Beck.
“I got to know them and had ready access to them,” he recalled.
Trident Studios
Trident Studios, where the Stones and Hendrix recorded was up the street.
Moffatt would slip up to snag some sessions work and also pick up tips from the studio engineers.
BACK IN BRISBANE
By the time he returned to Brisbane in 1976 as a 25-year old, he had enough knowledge to land a job as house engineer at recording pioneer Bruce Window’s Window Recording Studios in Buchanan St in the West End.
Window built the console, configuring it with 24 mic input channels and a 16-channel monitor section.
Large For Its Time
“It was quite large for its time,” Moffatt recalled to Mixdown. “Each channel had a high quality input transformer and old style passive equaliser technology resulting in a very full sound and still highly desirable these days in vintage consoles.
“The console had been through the ’74 Brisbane flood and after cleaning it functioned well which speaks to the quality of construction.”
The Saints
On a Tuesday evening in June, two members of The Saint drove up in their transit van and told them they wanted to make a record.
It was their first, and they had no idea how a studio worked.
“Window was just a control room and one recording room measuring about 25’x25’ which was not very big,” Moffatt said.
“So this meant using baffles on the drums and guitar amp.
Left Hand Corner
“The drums were always in the back left hand corner, Ed was set up as far away from the drums as possible, in the opposite corner which was also close to the door and also meant I could run a mic cable out into the hallway.”
Moffatt suggested some changes, including Chris Bailey doubling his vocals in the chorus (vocals were miked from the concrete hallway) and Ed Kuepper doubling his guitar.
Golden Tone
Moffatt also found Kuepper’s Golden Tone amp too clean, and lent him the 1960 Fender Super he brought back from London.
“It was a tremendous amp, the speakers were on the verge of blowing and it had a replacement output transformer from a Marshall, an unusual combination which gave it a loud angry growl when turned up full.
Plugged In
“Ed plugged straight in (no pedals, contrary to urban myth) and there was the sound, his powerful right hand and that amp. Not much else was said as it was clearly better for the recording than his amp.”
Recording and mixing “(I’m) Stranded” and its b-side “No Time” took five hours for a total of $250 (or roughly $1,653.30 in today’s money).
It gave Mark Moffatt his first global hit.
EMI and TCS Studios
Production stints with EMI and TCS Studios in Melbourne (the latter where he was mentored by the great John French) led him to Sydney in 1980.
It was having done crash course on the Neve (“back then no one seemed to like them”), where he landed the sought after gig of becoming Festival Records’ in-house producer.
Biggest Names
He worked on some of the biggest names in Australian music for more than a decade.
He helmed more tracks in the APRA Top 30 Songs of All Time than any other single producer, and produced an astonishing 15 ARIA Hall of Fame inductees.
Eric Clapton
He also worked with Richard Clapton, Renee Geyer, Mondo Rock (Chemistry), Pat Wilson (“Bop Girl”), Tim Finn (“Fraction Too Much Friction”), The Ghostwriters, Anne Kirkpatrick (Out Of The Blue), the Starstruck soundtrack, Mental As Anything, Jimmy and the Boys, Jenny Morris, Eurogliders and Neil Murray.
He travelled to Yirrkala in the NT to spend time familiarising himself with their beliefs before they began recording Tribal Voice and “Treaty” in 1991 in Melbourne.
It would become one of the biggest indigenous hits internationally until The Kid Laroi.
MONITORS
During down-time in the studio, he would record some of his own stuff.
At that time British punk producer and jingles writer Trevor Horn put together a studio outfit with a changing lineup.
Called Buggles, they had a worldwide #1 hit called “Video Killed The Radio Star”.
Assembled
Moffatt assembled the similar The Monitors, playing guitar, bass and keyboards.
It was done with his jingles partner Terry McCarthy on vocals and keyboards and one time Beach Boy and Bonnie Raitt member producer Ricky Fataar on drums, percussion, guitar and keyboards.
The debut single “Singing In The 80s” went platinum and entered the Top 15, followed by an album.
THE VAULT
After Festival came his own The Vault studio, a Soundcraft two-inch 24-track facility and an Auditronics 501.
It was originally set up in his farm in Queensland, but later moved to Balmain, in Sydney, in the previous premise of a shipping company.
NASHVILLE
Moffatt’s career changed when Bruce Coburn, who had owned TCS Studios in Melbourne, moved to Nashville.
He told Moffatt he had signed Keith Urban to a publishing deal, and wanted him to come over and work with him.
Worked Out
Even before this invitation, Moffatt had already worked out he was going to make Nashville his home than Los Angeles or New York.
“I wanted to be close to the places like Memphis and New Orleans where the music which shaped me came from.”
Making His Mark
He made his mark in Nashville quickly, creating more hits and being a mentor and producer for Aussie acts as Mark O’ Shea, Melinda Schneider, Abbey Stone, Ross Wilson, Midnight Oils bassist Bones Hillman, Wright Smith and Brian Cadd.
He was president for three terms of the Americana Music Association, a co-founder of the Americana Music Foundation, served for ten years as APRA’s Nashville Ambassador, and was awarded the CMA (Country Music Association) Global Achievement Award.
KILO
At the time of his death, Moffatt was putting the finishing touches on a full album for KILO, a band he formed ten years ago with John “Swanee” Swan and which has released a series of singles and EPs.
Moffatt said: “Of all the Scottish soul singers – including Rod Stewart and Frankie Miller — John has the most distinctive.”
Read more about Mark Moffatt and his legacy here.
Is less really more? Let’s talk pedalboards
However, there is a school of thought that says that fewer pedals on a pedalboard will lead to a more pure sound and better playing. But do you really want to rock up to your experimental noise rock band rehearsal with one fuzz pedal? Probably not. Obviously different situations will require different setups, and below we’ve looked at some of the advantages of both small and large pedalboards.
Small Pedalboards
For many the main advantage of a small board is that it is easy to transport. A single, small board in a bag or case will be a lot easier to bring to a gig and set up than a three board behemoth, which will make loading in and out of gigs, rehearsals and recordings a breeze.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
A small board will be easier to play on stage; tap dancing between pedals and balancing on one leg while trying to reach the delay at the end of the board will become a thing of the past. Another advantage on stage is that troubleshooting is easier with a smaller board, as there are simply less things that could be broken.
From a more tonally conscious perspective, the argument for fewer pedals is that it keeps the signal from the guitar to the amp cleaner and making it sound better. There is even a small-but-vocal camp that is vehemently opposed to pedals, holding the belief that a guitar plugged straight into an amp is the best way to go. A barebones board could be the tonal saviour you’re after.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a smaller pedalboard will put the focus back on your playing. Without 50 different pedals affecting your sound, there’s less to hide behind. Although this sounds daunting, it is for the best. Most people at a show would much prefer to hear someone nailing everything they’re trying to play with a stock-standard tone, rather than fudging their songs through a super cool, heavily modulated wall of sound. If you’ve been behind that wall for too long, you might want to show your face again…
Large Pedalboards
Although I’ve kind of bashed big boards above, they definitely have a place in the setup of many guitarists in a range of different situations.
A large pedalboard will give the player access to heaps more different sounds, making experimenting and finding new tones easier. Hopefully you’ll also be able to find some original sounds. This can be handy in the studio to get the player out of a creative rut, as well as onstage, where they have the option to fulfil an idea that comes to them in a moment of inspiration mid-song or mid-set.
The ability to choose from a wide range of pedals also comes in handy for a guitarist that doesn’t stick exclusively to one genre. The pedals that work well for a prog rock-type song might not be as useful for the punk-pop number that the band plays later in the set, and so having the wide variety becomes necessary.
Another reason for a large pedalboard is to replicate the sounds that were made in the studio live. Running the guitar through different plugins or DAWs isn’t always possible on stage, especially for people who like to avoid computers in their live setup, therefore replicating the sound of the album has to be done with pedals. John Frusciante during the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Stadium Arcadium era is a good example of this. He couldn’t take all the modular gear that he was using in the studio out on tour with him, so he built a two-storey pedalboard. This had a follow-on effect for current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer (who replaced Frusciante), who tours with three massive pedalboards.
Looking again to the professional arena, Kevin Parker of Tame Impala has often cited the desire to make non-guitar sounds with a guitar as a reason for his extensive live setup. By using plenty of modulation pedals, you can disguise the sound of the guitar and almost give your band a different instrument to use. Large pedalboards allow the player to completely define the sound that they want, with greater control over the finer aspects of the sound.
In summation…
Regardless of which side of the debate you’re on, there is a general consensus that pedals should be used to complement good guitar playing, rather than mask bad playing. Both small and large pedalboards have their advantages and drawbacks, but the skill of the guitarist will always shine through either way. Now be a good guitarist and go and practise some scales.
Mixing OUTSIDE the box with Jesse Ray Ernster
Here at Mixdown we often discuss mixing, the rooms we do it in and how to treat those room acoustically. But what if we do away with the problems that a room introduces? Sound reflects off walls and ceilings, while low end bounces around, arriving back at our ears in phase in some frequencies and out of phase in others, ultimately summing to something that’s not overly accurate. World-renowned mixer, Jesse Ray Ernster, has decided to do away with all of that while his new mix room is being built and is mixing outside.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
A few months ago, Jesse Ray Ernster shared a photo to his Instagram and the onslaught of comments began. Yes his Strauss monitors, available for an eye-watering price, would get dusty and dirty, as would the Apogee Ensemble interface and Whitestone Audio gear, but the outdoor space does another thing: it removes reflections. There’s no low end bouncing back to Jesse’s ears as it fizzles out before it hits the back fence, diffused by the children’s play equipment. There’s a boundary fence between him and his neighbours, but it’s metres away from the listening position and covered in greenery until the fence stops and the sound can bounce off into the ether. Ultimately, all that’s arriving at Jesse’s ears is the pure sound from his monitors.
Producer extraordinaire Eric Valentine had a similar experience when setting up a temporary mixing space, comparing outside to an anechoic chamber, in that sound comes out of the speakers and never really comes back to your ears. With this in mind, her did some frequency measurements of a pair of Adam T7V monitors that he ultimately ended up using for his little space.
Keep up with Eric Valentine and his audio adventures here.
Low frequency control in your home studio
There is no real right or wrong answer when configuring a monitoring setup for a home studio space. But, there are a number of guidelines that can help you find the best solution for your needs. And for anyone looking to monitor in a space that offers a little room to move, deciding on whether you should include a sub in your setup is going to drastically alter how you listen and what you hear.
The low end of a room can be supremely reliant on construction, so no amount of additional acoustic treatment can help! As a rule of thumb, the depth of acoustic treatment needs to be 1/4 of the physical length of the waveform. For example, to absorb 100Hz you’ll need 75cm of absorption to absorb the 3m wave length of 100Hz. Problem areas like 60-70 Hz, or the low frequencies that a subwoofer would push like 30Hz would require absorption 1.4m deep or 2.8m respectively! In a spare bedroom of, say, 4m x 4m – there’s simply no space!
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Not every home studio space calls for the use of a sub in the monitoring system. Often there simply isn’t the room to have one incorporated into your listening, or you are monitoring in a very close proximity to the speakers and surrounding walls and it actually doesn’t benefit the overall aural image to incorporate additional low-end frequencies. But, there are a lot of people who are recording and mixing at home that are missing out on the benefits of mixing with a sub when they could very easily have one as part of their monitoring solution.
Studio subwoofer
What I often find is that many home recording setups suffer from near field monitors that are just too big for the space and distance they are being used for. So often, people seem to go with the ‘bigger is better’ approach to studio monitors and end up sitting between two speaker drivers that are few too big for the application and deliver a false image of the low frequencies in the mix. I am always coming across people who think that they ‘need’ 8” drivers in their monitors to get enough low frequency in what they hear. This usually results in an unbalanced mix that sounds terrible when heard on any speaker system other than the one it was mixed on. Having large drivers that deliver excessive amount of low frequencies when working in smaller home studio environments is never ideal. Separating your sound with a sub is more often going to be the better choice for getting the right amount of bottom-end in your monitoring.
Of course, a simple pair of four or five inch drivers can usually leave you wondering what you are missing in the mix. They can seriously under deliver in the low frequencies, resulting in your mixes coming out bass heavy as you inadvertently compensate for the speakers. The opposite results when your monitors have too much low frequency punch, especially when they are up on a desk, against a wall, or in a corner where the low frequencies are going to be further accentuated. Having your signal split between two smaller drivers and a sub allows you to find the right balance for the space. Your signal will run from your DAW into the sub and then pass through the cross-overs so that only the mid and high frequencies get into your top speakers, achieving a subtle balance.
This means you can have five-inch drivers working effectively and delivering the frequency response that they were designed to reproduce, resulting is a clearer, more accurate sound. The sub can then fill out the remaining frequencies without assaulting your ears right from the desktop. The crazy thing is, this makes more sense than so many arguments for simply buying bigger speakers, yet the latter is so often the result. People seem to think it will save them money to just get two speakers, but by purchasing bigger and more powerful speakers, to fill out the low-end. The truth is, in most instances, your final mix is likely to benefit from having a third speaker in your studio responsible for handling your low frequencies.
Keep reading about choosing the right studio subwoofer here.
Blu DeTiger is bringing something new to the Fender Jazz Bass
Blu DeTiger (her real name, by the way) now has her own signature Fender Jazz Bass. Featuring a unique and eye-catching Sky Burst Sparkle, the design of Blu’s bass speaks to the needs of a professional gigging, recording and playing musician, influenced by decades of pop, soul, Motown and more, melding it all together into her own unique blend of music. All of this probably most obviously on show on her debut record All I Ever Want Is Everything that was released earlier this year.
Blu is at home in New York, and we speak to her about the Limited Player Plus x Blu DeTiger Jazz Bass.
I start by congratulating Blu on the signature bass and she beams, responding in a relaxed tone, “Thank you, yeah, super exciting.”
Beginning with an important line of questioning, why did she choose the Jazz bass amongst the mire of endless Precision vs Jazz bass arguments?
“Actually for me, I started playing a P-Bass before I even got into the Jazz Bass stuff. When I was playing P-Bass, that’s when I started learning to slap and play funkier bass lines, and that’s when I was like ‘Okay, it’s probably time for me to get a Jazz bass,’ just because it’s easier to slap and do that technique on a Jazz bass.” she explains.
“That’s kinda the style that I fell in love with, so once I picked up the Jazz bass, I was like ‘Okay, this is the style for me.’”
Blu goes on to explain she still owns P-Basses, for when she needs them in the studio or on the stage, they do have a unique sound after all, but the Jazz Bass feels more like home. “But I appreciate both!” she laughs.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Blu’s bass is a reasonably traditional Jazz bass, bar the addition of a Custom Blu DeTiger Fireball humbucker in the bridge position.
“That idea came from… one of my favourite bass players is Bernard Edwards (bass player and co-founder for Chic). And his bass playing style, and the bass that he played has that sound that I was trying to achieve. So we tried this different pickup configuration where we have the humbucker and it adds this punch and drive that you wouldn’t normally get.” Blu states.
“[It] makes the whole bass super versatile, Fender has never done that pickup configuration before and I wanted to do something new and that would serve me as a player. I need that sound live, since I’m playing ‘lead bass’ almost?” she says. “It has the coolest tone, and it makes the bass super versatile.”
Blu goes on to explain that with the bass being so lightweight, the addition of the humbucker helps to round out the sound. The Blu DeTiger Jazz Bass is a chambered ash body, ash being a reasonably light wood at the best of times, the chambered design both serving to remove some weight while adding to the bass’ tonality.
“It’s all about balancing the bass to hit all the marks, but… it’s super sick. It’s [the humbucker] like a built-in drive.”
We chat for a moment about how important versatility is in recording, especially when the studio is so focused on getting the sound right from the start.
“If you’re spending money on a bass, and that’s your bass, you want to make sure you can get any kind of sound out of it. We achieved that on this one.”
Blu is leading the way for a new generation of bass players, following a long line of funk-focused, grooving and rock-solid bass players. Her bass influences include people like the aforementioned Bernard Edwards, as well as James Jamerson who played on a lot of Motown recordings.
“I studied [Motown] really heavily and deeply.” Blu explains, listing her influences one by one. “Larry Graham [of Sly and the Family Stone], some of the first slap bass lines I learned were his. Meshell Ndegeocello, she sings and plays, it’s incredible. Marcus Miller, yeah. Those are my top-tier list [of influences]. I could go on and on.”
Blu’s influences speak to her penchant for funky and soulful bass lines, all of these players having been both artists as well as session bassists on a slew of recordings.
We pivot here, speaking to the design of her new bass and the conversation she had with Fender began. A little digging on her Instagram reveals a version of her signature bass with a single coil in the bridge position.
“Basically, a few years ago I had a Custom Shop made. That’s the bass you’re referring to with the single coil.” she states.
“Me and the master builder at the Fender Custom Shop came up with this colourway, and everything I wanted and it was a very early prototype without me even realising that it was a prototype.”
“At that point it wasn’t even decided that I was doing a signature. It kinda stemmed from that Custom Shop.”
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We chat for a moment about the more regular design process, with prototypes being built, changed, honed and refined, whereas Blu unknowingly had the chance to really put her prototype through its paces over a few years and figured out what she loved and what might need work.
“Yeah it probably would’ve taken me much longer if I didn’t have this Custom Shop, but I already had the aesthetics down that I wanted, that knocked out a whole part of it,” she says. “And with the electronics we just changed out of the pickup and the bridge… I guess we did a lot to it.” she acknowledges, referring to the addition of the 18v Active Preamp with 3-Band EQ and Active/Passive Switch, as well as additional switching options to offer unparalleled versatility.
For a company like Fender, with over 70 years of designs, customisations and new releases, it’s really not easy to make something new. But here we are, with the Blu DeTiger Jazz Bass, a unique take on a classic design, with aesthetics and design elements never before seen on a Jazz!
“Yeah, that was my whole thing. I wanted to make something that the company hasn’t made, or something that I feel like is missing on the market.” she explains. “Like the humbucker thing, or the aesthetics of it, or how it’s super lightweight. It’s the lightest weight bass Fender has ever made!”
“I couldn’t find a lightweight bass, and that’s why I had to make the Custom Shop. It was missing.”
‘Was’ being the operative word here, the Limited Player Plus x Blu DeTiger Jazz Bass now being available worldwide.
Keep reading, shopping and listening at Fender Australia.
Music Australia launches support for breakthrough of Australian recording artists
Music Australia is proud to unveil a new funding initiative designed to support Australian labels, from local independents through to major label Australian subsidiaries that are actively discovering, developing, and promoting local talent. Offering grants up to $150,000, the Music Australia Record Label Development Scheme will support eligible record labels committed to the growth and success of Australian recording artists.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
“The role record labels play in developing our artists is significant and we need to safeguard them at a time when breaking Australian artists has never been harder. This investment will ensure Australian labels of all sizes, and with different genre focusses, can continue to compete effectively, support their artists, and contribute intrinsic value to a vibrant music ecosystem in Australia.” said Director of Music Australia, Millie Millgate.
The new program offers grants between $10,000 and $150,000 to support eligible record labels, that have been operating for a minimum of three years, with at least three active artists on their label roster. The investment will support a range of activity, including professional recordings, videos, digital content and artwork, marketing and promotional campaigns, production, manufacturing and freight, artist development, staffing, technology to enhance business capabilities, and professional development training. A mandatory non-recoupable 10% artist creation fee will be added to the grant amount to be shared amongst the artists that are featured in the project activities, including recording and video production.
Music Australia is also incentivising record labels to manufacture using environmentally sustainable materials. Where labels can demonstrate they have been guided by Green Music Australia’s Sound Country: A Green Guide on Physical Music Products, Music Australia will subsequently reimburse the price difference.
Keep up with Creative Australia and keep reading here.
The 10 greatest short-scale bass designs of all time
Biggest is not always best. Fellas? Anyway, short-scale bass guitars have a deep history in the music industry and their point of difference is their scale length. Subtracting a few inches results in a different timbre and playing feel thanks to shorter strings and closer frets on the inevitably easier to navigate fretboard.
Here are 10 of the best short-scale basses of all time.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Rob Allen Mouse Bass
The only fretless model to get a mention on this list, the Rob Allen Mouse 30 is the perfect weapon for any jazz bassist looking to experiment with a short scale bass. A piezo pickup installed under the bridge lets you hone in on woody bebop tones, while its 30” scale and lightweight build make the Mouse an easy alternative to your big old cumbersome double bass.
Ashbory Bass
A true oddity of the ‘80s, the Ashbory is a miniature 18” bass that used silicone rubber strings to produce a sub-heavy tone similar to that of a double bass. It may look like a toy, but the Ashbory proved to popular among some low-end theorists, with Tony Levin spreading the instrument’s virtues back when it was released. A weird one, sure, but given the recent success of Kala’s U-Bass, you can’t deny the impact the Ashbory has had in shaping the future of bass design.
Hofner 500/2 Club Bass
Introduced in 1964 as an alternative to their popular 500/1 Violin Bass, the Hofner 500/2 Club boasts a fully hollow body with a 30” scale, resulting in a thumping low-end tone that’s been used on countless classic records. While it’s had its fair share of notable users, there’s no doubting that the most famous Club fan is Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads, who used her 500/2 Club on a number of the band’s best records throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Danelectro Longhorn
Released way back in 1958, the Danelectro Longhorn was one of the earliest short-scale basses to really take off with players, who immediately took to the instrument’s squawky tone and idiosyncratic design. With a diminutive 29.75” neck and two high output lipstick tube pickups, the tone of the Longhorn is totally of its own, and proved to be popular with big name ‘60s bassists like John Entwistle and Jack Bruce, while Prince and Tom Petty have also been spotted playing the Longhorn at various stages in their careers.
Alembic Stanley Clarke Bass
Often renowned as one of the best jazz fusion bassists of all time, Stanley Clarke has used a signature 30.75” Alembic bass for the majority of his illustrious career, receiving his first model all the way back in 1973. Built to Clarke’s personal specs and featuring the unique addition of an inbuilt filter to function as an EQ for both pickups, the Alembic Stanley Clark is fully loaded to tackle all genres under the sun, but be warned: it’s definitely not cheap.
Fender Musicmaster Bass
The funky Fender Musicmaster was a student model sold by the company throughout the ‘70s, making use of a leftover Stratocaster pickup for its shrill midrange tones. While the Musicmaster wasn’t a huge hit with players at the time, it’s now seen as a viable entry into the world of vintage Fender due to famous fans such as Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and, more recently, Aussie bassists like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Lucas Harwood and Eamon Sandwith of The Chats.
Gibson EB-3
Gibson’s short-scale basses are among some of the best the company have ever made – the EB-2 and EB-0 are definitely worth checking out, and the EB-1 is something else in itself entirely – but nothing trumps their excellent EB-3. First introduced in 1964, the 30.75” scale EB-3 handles both sub-heavy low-end and biting midrange with ease, and sounds absolutely monstrous when paired with overdrive or fuzz – as best demonstrated by Cream’s legendary bassist Jack Bruce, who played an EB-3 for the majority of the band’s most celebrated works.
Fender Mustang
Perhaps the most underrated Fender bass of all time, the Mustang is a true pocket rocket, delivering the punchy tones of a Precision Bass in a 30” scale instrument that’s perfect for guitarists looking to make an easy four-string transition. Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman is a huge fan of the short-scale Mustang, while other prominent users include Thom Yorke, Air’s Nick Goodwin, Tina Weymouth and Justin Meldal-Johnsen, who recently linked up with Fender for his own killer signature Mustang model.
Epiphone Rivoli
A ‘fraternal twin’ of sorts to the EB-2, the Epiphone Rivoli was released shortly after Gibson’s acquisition of Epiphone in 1959, and shared many similarities: both basses featured a hollow body with a centre block, a single ‘mudbucker’ pickup, a ‘choke’ switch to boost bass frequencies and the all-important 30.5” scale. The Rivoli proved to be incredibly popular with several bassists from the UK rock boom of the mid ‘60s, with notable users including The Animals’ Chas Chandler and Jimmy Page during his stint with The Yardbirds, as well as appearing in the hands of The Clash’s Paul Simonon for the band’s ‘London Calling’ music video.
Hofner 500/1 Violin Bass
Honestly, what else did you expect to top this list? You simply cannot make a mention of short-scale basses without bringing up the Hofner 500/1, or as most know it, the Beatle bass. A longtime favourite of Paul McCartney (who still uses the instrument as his primary bass even today), the 30” 500/1 oozes a distinctive low-end tone that’s perfect for melodic, groovy down-picked lines, as heard on ‘Come Together’, ‘Ticket To Ride’ and ‘Day Tripper’, while Kevin Parker of Tame Impala is one of many modern artists to sing its praises. Often imitated but never duplicated, there’s few instruments with a legacy as rich as the Hofner 500/1.
Keep reading about the short-scale bass at Fender.
Gear Rundown: Stu Mackenzie
Those are the words of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard polymath Stu Mackenzie as he rides his bike on the way to his Melbourne studio. King Gizz has produced a countless number albums in a little over a decade and has garnered a reputation for churning out albums prolifically, but they’ve still managed to supersede their notoriety with an omnipresent and consistent international touring.
Read all the latest features, columns and more here.
For the first album, in true Gizz fashion the group didn’t bring any pre-written songs or ideas but instead, they worked off seven song titles, assigned a scale and BPM, and made it up on the spot.
“My philosophy when I’m making an album is I kinda wanna feel like I have no fucking idea what I’m doing. That’s when I feel the most creative when I’m winging it and learning on the job.”
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
But when it comes to gear, keeping it simple is the way he operates. “It’s because I like to play music,” he laughs.
“I’d rather not spend all my time tweaking knobs, although I do love that too, my first love was recording stuff. I want to focus on writing, the interplay between musicians, being there in the room and capturing that spark. I don’t want to stop that whole process because the hi-hat mic has moved three millimetres to the left.”
“When people come to our studio they’re like, ‘Holy shit, you made the records on these?’ We use pretty cheap shit, the most expensive mic I own is the Electro-Voice RE20.”
Yamaha 1967 Flying Samurai
“It’s the guitar I’ve probably played the most on King Gizzard recordings, it definitely sounds and plays like no other guitar I’ve ever played. I wouldn’t say that it sounds better than anything and I wouldn’t say that it plays better than anything. It’s kind of weird in a lot of ways, it’s got a super thin neck, it badly needs new frets – they’re tiny, you can’t bend the strings too much, it’s super old, it’s got heaps of problems.
“But the pickups are pretty unique, they sound pretty cool, I just feel really at home on it to be honest. It’s usually the first guitar that I’ll pick up – and it’s got a whammy bar on it too which is kind of cool. I find it to be an inspiring guitar, you know, I’ve played ‘good guitars’ a lot in my life and I’ve never bought them. Maybe it’s because I’m not into shredding, I’m kind of just drawn to things that are a bit cooked!”
The Flying Banana
Whichever of the 11 released Gizz projects you may choose to peruse, one thing that there is bound to be an abundance of is guitars. Mackenzie has used a variety of guitars over the years, but perhaps the most eye catching of them all is the one from which their latest album, Flying Microtonal Banana, takes its name.
“My guitar of choice is always kind of changing,” told Mackenzie to Tone Deaf. “At the moment, I’ve got this one that this guy called Zack built for me in Melbourne. It’s called the Flying Banana and it’s this yellow, sort of like a bent Flying V shape sort of thing, which he modified with microtonal frets in there. There’s some extra frets in between the frets, which unlocks some secret notes. That’s my guitar at the moment that I’ve been playing everything with, but I haven’t worked it into the live set just yet. I’ve been playing it a little on stage.”
Mackenzie can be seen playing the Flying Banana in the following video.
The below video provides both an insight into Mackenzie’s recording setup as well as an explanation of the special instruments and tunings used by the band to fit the microtonal compositions. Mackenzie can be seen playing the Flying Banana throughout the clip, and he takes some time to explain it at the 1:55 mark.
“We had the idea of adding some secret notes, sort of out of tune, like out of tune half, quarter-tones,” said Mackenzie. “So we’ve kinda been making this record to be quarter tone.”
Hagstrom F-12S
Mackenzie’s 12-string Hagstrom has featured largely in their live shows over the years. “It’s probably my favourite ever guitar,” he said to ToneDeaf. “But it’s old and it’s got old pickups and I’ve tried to replace the wiring before. It’s kind of perpetually shitting me. It’s a nuisance to restring. It’s got 12 strings, with these weird nuts, which sit really close to the tuning pegs, so it takes quite a lot longer than twice as long to restring.
“It’s a problem creator, for sure, but I still manage to always use it. I use it live more than any guitar now and it’s the guitar I played on the whole of the new record. I just keep coming back to it. I can’t think of any problem solvers.”
Mackenzie can be seen playing the Hagstrom in the following clip.
American Standard Stratocaster
As stated earlier, Mackenzie is something of an equipment fan and it would go beyond the scope of this article to be list all of the guitars that he has used in King Gizzard over the years, though a brief peruse of YouTube easily shows a variety of other models, such as the American Standard Stratocaster in the following clip.
Devi Ever Torn’s Peaker
“My pedalboard is more or less pretty standard and it’s been pretty similar except for one or two things over the years. The Fuzz pedal is probably the most far out, it’s a Torn’s Peaker made by Devi Ever, the new ones you can buy are different, that’s my thing that I tell everyone, ‘You gotta play one of the old ones, they sound really different!’.
“I’m using a standard Boss tuner, delay-wise, my go-to these days is the DD-3, they’re sick, they do everything I need and they’re ultra replaceable. I kind of believe in keeping it simple, you don’t want to spend half a show battling with your pedals because something’s broken, you spend the whole time on your knees pulling out every patch cable trying to figure out what the fucking problem is while everyone’s just stopped and staring at you! It’s like, ‘Alright, I’m going to keep this as light as possible and focus on the music’.”
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
“I’ve got the also-very-stock-standard Fender Hot Rod Deluxes, I’ve always just made my sound with my guitar and plugged it right in to one of them. If I don’t have any pedals and I just have a little bit of drive from the amp, it kind of just sounds like me!
“I’m pretty sure the Hot Rod Deluxe that I play is one of the most manufactured guitar amps ever, maybe don’t quote me on that (sorry Stu, any fact checkers out there?), but it’s ubiquitous they’re just everywhere, it kind of goes against my weird stuff ethos! But with the nature of touring, I just want something that I can replace easily, same goes with all my pedals except the fuzz one, you can just walk into any music store and buy a replacement if i have to. Which I do!”
Electro-Voice RE20
“I know this isn’t conventional but I use them as a mono overhead on a drum kit, there’s heaps of that across King Gizz’s whole discography, that’s what I most like to use it for. It’s drum overheads or vocals. Two pretty different things but they work pretty well for both of them! They’re great for vocals with kind of super intimate, in your ear, quiet singing kind of style. If I’m singing something a bit louder I’m probably less likely to use one, although if it’s already set up and it’s just sitting there, I’ll probably just use it!”
Electro-Voice 635A
“We’re using one on hi-hats these days for our live shows, they’ve got a cool EQ curve that suits a hi-hat in my opinion. It’s getting a fair bit of compression live, but on most of the Gizz records I have a lot less compression on them in the mix.”
Soundcraft
“I have a really sick Soundcraft desk now which I used for the preamps for everything, that’s kind of just giving a lot of flavour. I’m also using the EQ and printing that. But there’s not stacks of outboard gear anymore. I used to have a lot more but I just keep it a bit simpler now.”
TASCAM 38
“I have a TASCAM 38, a half-inch, eight-track machine which I’ve had since about the microtonal Flying Banana days. It’s a sick little machine, it definitely has a lot of problems. Usually if I print stuff from that there’s always little glitches or weird sections where you lose a bit of top end, getting super wobbly, tape’s rolling or whatever. It’s a bit of a nightmare but you always get happy accidents and I leave a lot of that stuff in. It feels real (or reel?).”
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Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms & Laminated Denim & Changes are all out now!
Gear Rundown: Jaco Pastorius
Few artists have been as monumental to the direction of electric bass guitar than Jaco Pastorius. Born in Florida in 1951, Pastorius began playing double bass after losing the ability to play drums following a wrist injury, before turning to the dark side – or going electric – as a teenager.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
In his youth, Pastorius was an in-demand session player, cutting his teeth with the likes of Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell before unleashing his full talent unto the world with a six-year stint in jazz-fusion all-stars Weather Report, where he notably performed on their classic rendition of ‘Birdland’ before leaving to enjoy a prosperous solo career.
Despite his relatively brief career, Pastorius’ influence can’t be understated – his use of harmonics, lyrical bass solos, effects and smooth, fretless runs set the standard for modern electric bass playing.
In this week’s Gear Rundown, we take a look at the iconic instruments behind Pastorius’ tone in celebration of one of the all time greats.
Jaco Pastorius bass
1966 FENDER JAZZ BASS
After his double bass became warped from the humidity of his home state of Florida, a 15-year-old Pastorius saved up for months to afford a brand new 1966 fretted Fender Jazz Bass, complete with block inlays and a bound fretboard.
This bass remained Pastorius’ number one bass throughout his adolescence, playing it throughout his tenures with early groups The Woodchucks and the Las Olas Brass Band.
1962 FENDER JAZZ BASS – ‘THE BASS OF DOOM’
Renowned as being one of the most famous basses in the world, the story being Pastorius’ number one instrument is almost as complex and mysterious as Pastorius himself. Hailing from 1962, the Sunburst Bass of Doom was supposedly de-fretted by Pastorius with a butter knife upon purchasing it for $90 in the early ’70s, filling the fret slots with plastic wood and applying multiple coats of Poly Poxy to cover up the gouges he created from his home job.
Despite his unprofessional guitar tech work, Pastorius’ playing on the Bass of Doom was nothing short of genius, utilising its narrow neck and round-sounding bridge pickup to hone in his signature playing style heard on recordings by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, and Weather Report.
While the tone of the bass and Pastorius’ expert knowledge of the instrument are of mythical proportions themselves, what’s really fascinating about this instrument is the tale of how it disappeared for more than 20 years, only to be brought home to Pastorius’ family by none other than Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.
Shortly before his death, Pastorius discarded the fabled instrument in New York’s Central Park in 1986, where it supposedly disappeared from the face of the earth before reappearing in mysterious circumstances in 2008 by an unnamed collector.
Upon hearing news of the reappearance of the Bass of Doom, Pastorius’ family embarked on a legal battle to receive ownership of the instrument, which supposedly turned ugly and almost bankrupted the Pastorius estate.
This resulted in Trujillo, a longtime Pastorius fan, buying the Bass of Doom from the anonymous owner in order to return it to his family. Read all about Trujillio’s take on the story here, and make sure to check out Bass Player Magazine’s experience with the instrument after it re-emerged in 2008.
1960 FENDER JAZZ BASS – FRETTED
Acting as his main fretted bass throughout his early career, this 1960 two-tone sunburst Jazz Bass was particularly favoured by Pastorius while touring with Joni Mitchell, and can be heard prominently on her album Shadows of Light. Jaco notably removed the pickguard from the instrument, which he supposedly believed assisted in creating its particuarly resonant tone.
1963 FENDER JAZZ/PRECISION BASS
In the early ’80s, Jaco starred in an instructional video titled Modern Electric Bass, playing a hybrid Jazz/Precision bass throughout the film. This bass features a ’70s Precision Bass neck with a maple fretboard bolted onto the body of a Sunburst Jazz body, and was later sold to a collector with both the original neck and its ’70s P-Bass replacement included.
1960s FENDER JAZZ BASS – THE ‘HIROSHIMA BASS’
With a character as eccentric as Pastorius, you’re always bound to have some pretty bizzare instrument stories, but this one might just top the charts. While touring in Japan in 1982 in support of his LP Word Of Mouth, Pastorius apparently hurtled this instrument into the depths of Hiroshima Bay—apparently, he didn’t like it that much. Ibanez Guitars later recovered the bass and refinished it in a natural finish.
Pastorius was diagnosed with bipolar disorder shortly after the tour, with his relentless touring schedule undoubtedly worsening his condition over time until his untimely passing in 1986.
BRESLIN 5 STRING ACOUSTIC
Co-designed by luthier Larry Breslin and Pastorius in 1974, this fretless acoustic bass featured an additional high C string, and boasted premium appointments such as a Brazilian rosewood fretboard with maple veneer fret-markers, a spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides. After breaking the headstock, Pastorius took the instrument to his luthier Kevin Kaufman, who still has the instrument today.
AMPLIFIERS
ACOUSTIC 360-361PP COMBO AMP
After playing through a 200 watt Sunn rig as a teenager, Pastorius quickly converted to the sheer power of the Acoustic 360-361PP after borrowing one from a friend to play a gig and being blown away by the responsiveness of the amp and its huge 18 inch inverted speaker cabinet. He would go on to play through the amps simultaneously on later tours.
The responsive tone of the Acoustic 360-361PP allowed Pastorius to pull off his signature pitch-bending harmonics with ease, certifying the model’s status as one of the key amps of the 1970s.
EFFECTS
MXR RACKMOUNT DIGITAL DELAY
Jaco prominently used an MXR rack-mounted delay through one of his amps while the other remained dry, resulting in a lush, modulated chorus tone when using short delay times, as well as using its sampling function to loop passages on songs like ‘Slang’.
For all things Jaco Pastorius, head here.
AIR Music Tech explore sonics with Lisa Bella Donna
AIR Music Tech, a leader in music production software, announces the release of Sonic Explorations, a documentary and accompanying preset pack in collaboration with synthesist and composer Lisa Bella Donna. The documentary explores Lisa Bella Donna’s work with the ARP 2600 synthesizer and her use of AIR Music Tech’s TimewARP 2600 in modern music production.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Known for her expertise in modular synthesis and electronic music, Lisa Bella Donna has worked with a wide range of vintage and modern synthesizers, gaining recognition for her innovative sound design and compositions. She first encountered the ARP 2600 while exploring modular synthesis for classical music and later brought her experience to the digital realm with the TimewARP 2600 software. The ARP 2600, used by artists such as Joe Zawinul, Depeche Mode, and Pete Townshend, remains a key tool in Lisa’s creative process.
Lisa Bella Donna
First created in 2006, the updated TimewARP 2600 carries this legacy forward, delivering the authentic sound that revolutionised synth-based music. It is the only ARP 2600 emulator endorsed by its original inventor, Alan R. Pearlman. The updated version features advanced digital modelling, eight-voice polyphony, patch memory, and modern enhancements while retaining the authenticity of the original synthesizer.
The Sonic Explorations preset pack, designed by Lisa Bella Donna for the TimewARP 2600, includes 65 presets that range from basses to pads, generative sequences, and more. This comprehensive library of soundscapes built the foundation of Lisa’s latest album, Hysteresis. Highlights from the pack include everything from basses, leads, and plucks to pads/strings, brass, and generative presets. Each sound, meticulously crafted by Lisa Bella Donna, invites users to explore the boundaries of the known and the imagined alike.
Keep reading about the Sonic Explorations pack here.
Mesa Boogie: their five most famous amplifiers
An American icon for over 50 years, Mesa Boogie has come to define an era of contemporary guitar tones whilst representing the utmost pedigree in craftsmanship and circuit designs.
This not only made the amplifier much louder but also contributed to providing a saturated high-gain guitar sound that quickly caught the ears of players like Keith Richards and Carlos Santana.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
From these early developments, Mesa Boogie has continued to innovate and leave its mark on subsequent eras of popular guitar music.
With Randall Smith laying the blueprint for the boutique amplifier manufacturer as we know it let’s take a closer look at some of the milestones in the Mesa Boogie legacy.
Mark II
The Mark II came onto the scene in 1978 with each of its iterations sending some form of innovation cascading through the industry.
For example, the original Mark II was the first amplifier in history to incorporate channel switching, whereas the Mark IIB was the first to implement a buffered effects loop.
Perhaps most notable of all the Mark II amps is the Mark IIC+. Popularised by the likes of Metallica’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet as well as Dio’s own Vivian Campbell.
The Mark IIC+’s impact on 80s pop and rock music was only challenged by the widely distinguished Marshall JCM 800. A massive impact considering this version amp was only available for a little over a year.
With period correct examples of Mark IIC+ amplifiers fetching as high as USD 15,000 on the used market, it is also worth noting that this model is Mesa’s most collectable and valuable amplifier.
Dual Rectifier
As the decadence of the 80s shifted into the grungy 90s players were opting for simple designs such as the Marshall JCM 800 or Soldano SLO 100 over boutique offerings such as the Mark.
This was due to a large demographic of players wishing to forgo the complexity of most Mark circuits. With options such as FX loops, multiple channels, and additional graphic EQs simply proving to be overkill for some players.
This led Mesa to take the initiative to design their own take on a simpler, no-frills metal/hard rock monster.
Drawing heavy inspiration from the Soldano SLO 100, Mesa Boogie introduced the Dual Rectifier in 1991.
With its characteristic metal tread faceplate, the Dual Rec was designed to look much more aggressive than the Mark series amplifiers. Providing a raw and bass-heavy sound that would go on to shape the sonic landscape of rock and metal well into the 2000s.
Randall has since commented on the fact that the success of the Dual Rectifier led many to forget about Mesa’s roots as a small builder marketed towards the heavy blues players of the 1960s and 70s jam band scenes.
Tri-Axis Programmable Preamp
Introduced in October of 1991 the Tri-Axis pre-amp set out to provide a solution for players that needed a plethora of tones at their fingertips.
Following its predecessor the Studio Preamp, a classic in itself, the Tri-Axis features an analogue signal path for authentic mesa tone and feel.
However, the key way it differs is in the way that it incorporates digital control, a means of providing superior flexibility onstage and in the studio.
Packing five 12AX7 tubes the Tri-Axis is able to provide players with creamy tone of the original Mark Series, the crunch of the acclaimed Mark IIC+, and the modern scoop of the Mark IV series amplifiers.
If all of this wasn’t enough, the Tri-Axis also includes a modified british lead mode amongst a multiutude of other tones.
This all stacks up to make the Tri-Axis Programmable Preamp incredible value for money for any player looking for a one stop shop for authentic Mesa Boogie sounds.
Badlander 100
The latest in the Rectifier family the Badlander strives to serve up a Dual Rec for more modern voicings and playing styles.
Tighter, meaner and more aggressive the Badlander is a two-channel amp that is well aware of the pedigree related to its lineage.
Switchable between 100, 50, and 20 Watts, the Badlander features all the DNA of its older brethren packed into two identical channels.
Clean, Crunch and Crush modes supply all the tone shaping you need, ensuring that the Badlander is up to the task of shaping yet another generation of contemporary rock and metal music.
Despite owning a lot to its heritage, its EL34 flavoured power section gives the Badlander its own unique voice amongst it siblings. Definitely a future classic in the making!
JP-2C
Long time Dream Theatre axeman John Petrucci has used Mesa amps exclusively for over 30 years, so its only natural that eventually things would come full circle and Randall would grant John with his own signature model.
The JP-2C is essentially a faithful reproduction of the cassic MKIIC+ enhanced with a plethora of features to bring it into the modern era.
Channel 1 on the JP-2C is a dedicated clean channel designed to utilize the highest amount of headroom possible. Channel 2 is essentially a faithful reproduction of the MKIIC+ circuit while channel 3 has been voiced to provide it own dedicated high gain lead sound.
The JP-2C also boasts dual parametric EQs and a control layout that has been streamlined from the original MKIIC+ design.
There has been a few tweaks to the original MKIIC+ circuit as per Johns own specification. Most notable is probably the switch from the PULL SHIFT control on the faceplate of the original MKIIC+ in favour of a PULL GAIN and PULL PRESCENCE.
However, it is worth mentioning that Mesa haven’t opted to leave out the PULL SHIFT circuit, instead including it preset to its optimal settings internally for the relevant channels.
The JP-2C is indeed a fine example of a vintage classic coming into its own yet again in the new millennium.
For local Mesa Boogie enquiries, visit Australis Music.