My own President Obama is this week off making his pitch for why Chicago should host the Olympic Games. Correction. Oops. I need to read the news. Chicago was eliminated first. But look out – our friends at Antipop (slogan: “antipop music for a pop music”) are using a different tool in their arsenal: music.

Watch the video for some fun gear spotting, plus one vintage arcade cabinet. I could point out stuff I see, but that’d spoil the fun. Shout out in comments.

There’s definitely a commercial gloss on this, but it’s nicely executed, and felt so absurdly Olympic to me that I actually couldn’t help but smile listening. (In fairness, either Chicago or Madrid ought to be able to do better than New York did with 2012; I recall dignitaries in traffic while rowers paced the polluter waters of Flushing Meadows. Yipes.)

Here you go, probably the most commercial music we’ll ever run on CDM:

Makes me want to, like, train or something.

Updated: From comments, I like these alternative suggestions by safd in place of “anti” pop:

superpop, poppypop, hippop, popcore, purelypop, universapop

Popcore is something I need to work on. It was worth posting this for that word alone.

Background: “Antipop is the Antonio Escobar music production personal studio, one of the most awarded Spanish producer and composer.” [sic]

Update: Superpop or antipop, the song alone couldn’t melt the hearts of the Olympic Committee. Congrats to – Rio!

“Building an apartment studio” to many of us means adding a laptop, clearing off a desk, and donning some headphones. But Brooklyn-based Katherine Belsey Davis, who does all sorts of wonderful (non-musical) things in wood, glass, fabric, and other materials, had lofty plans for a NYC studio job:

Since this studio was built for mixing sound and music for film and TV in a residential coop apartment building in NYC, both sound proofing and treatment had to be near perfect. It also had to look good for clients… on a very tight budget.

The studio in question is for John M. Davis in Brooklyn Heights. Even in a coop, they pulled out all the stops — silent air conditioning, sound absorbers, floating floors, and decoupled walls. (I’ve been in a few apartments in the city with decoupled walls and floors, but not in a way that lent itself to acoustics so much as deferred maintenance.)

Studio Photos
Belsey Davis homepage

Stained glass and sound studios? You’re one Renaissance woman, Katherine!

She’s shared her work. Studio construction is a science (and a dark art), and not one I pretend to understand. And much of this is specific to the job. But for those who do know what they’re doing, I imagine this could be interesting inspiration – and to the rest of us, provides some insight into what’s involved.

I also quite like the multiple screens and Novation ReMOTE Zero for compact control. Here’s the process on Instructables:

Build a music studio in an apartment building – More DIY How To Projects

An old PC laptop could be relegated to the closet or (worse, since it’s highly toxic) landfill. But filled up with tasty freeware plug-ins, it’s a virtual studio full of tools and oddities. Via the feast of gear that is the CDMusic pool on Flickr, our friend Jumahat Leman aka uncle bigbrown artfully captures his budget software setup, described as follows:

• A 4+yrs old Acer laptop (a desktop replacement to be exact)
• Ableton Live 5.01 w/lots of freeware VSTs
• using same earphones/headphones/ToneportGx for recording

** My observation:
If you’re a “free VSTs/plugins” hunter/user like me, there’s tons of them available for download for the Wins platform in the worldwideweb. That’s where “cheap” Mac users/lovers (like me) are at a disadvantage with our OSX. So its always good to have a Wins machine at your disposal…

The Mac doesn’t get left out either, though. A G4 tower has become a virtual guitar stompbox and recording studio:

• 9 yrs old Sawtooth “Earache” G4 Mac
• Ableton Live 5.01 w/freeware plug-ins
• $80 Toneport GX
• old iPod earphones or $50 Sennheiser Headphones (for recording/monitoring/mixing)

**most times i load the “mixed songs” into the iPod to listen/compare/mix and check eq/volume.

(The guitar is a PRS SE Paul Allender.)

If these visuals got your attention, there’s another lesson to be learned here. Not only does this visual illustration give you a sense of what his workflow is about and perhaps passes along some tips, but he uses photos and illustrations as a great promotional tool. It helps that Jumahat is a talented designer. I love his mini-portfolio, below. He also makes wonderful promotional posters and stickers. As I noted earlier this week, the ability to make something visually expressive that is meaningful to your music can be powerful – starting with album art, but going beyond that.

Or, to make a more important point, Jumahat has one of the only tasteful MySpace pages I’ve ever seen — and that’s a feat.

Happy weekend projects to everyone; hope this provides some inspiration.

drechohead, Jumahat’s MySpace page
echoinmyhead @blogpspot, with more visual goodies

Updated: Plug-in List

Now, the answers revealed. (See if you guessed any of these correctly.)

Mac

• Studio Devil BVC (for my guitar needs)
• Togu Audio Line TAL Tube (to “tubify” guitar or other sounds, or “overdrive” them more)
• Togu TAL Dub (for my delay needs)

PC

• BTE Audio Juicy77 (for most of my guitar distortion needs)
• BTE Audio TSS (tube screamer stompbox simulation)
• Audio Damage Pulse Modulator (for crazy sounds)
• E-phonic Retrodelay (for mild delay needs)

ALL of my plug-ins are freeware coz i’m cheap! ; )

Ross Johnson of PR firm Strick and Company contacted me this week to say BanPiracy had responded to my challenge and, presumably, various criticisms these tactics have attracted. (Paris Hilton and Halliburton have turned to his firm, which is known for defending companies in crisis.) Ross writes:

“As a big fan of the lively discussions on your user forums relating to BanPiracy, I have encouraged my client to respond to your challenge recently posted.”

The response is titled “BanPiracy Says Thanks to the Brave Ones on Its Anniversary!” and was sent to various media outlets. Now, I’m likewise a fan of lively debate, so I want to thank Ross for encouraging BanPiracy to join the discussion.

But the answer to my challenge, evidently, is no, they can’t demonstrate that they have any other developers onboard. They even acknowledge that the fact that they’re a for-profit endeavor might “be a tough sell.” They manage to copy and paste supportive comments from a trade group and an anti-piracy manufacturer, but take those quotes out of context (including, bizarrely, a comment left here on CDM by one of our own contributors — he has a few, ahem, words for BanPiracy in comments now that they’ve distorted what he said).

Here’s the full response, penned by Tomer Elbaz and Michael T. David, COO and CEO respectively. I’ll say this: couched in epic battle terminology, it isn’t PR speak:

It’s been a year since BanPiracy, a company devoted to stopping piracy in the audio software industry, was formed. This is our report card to you, our cohorts in an industry that we love, but one that is also in serious trouble.

Has it been lonely walking the walk as one of the only groups willing to enforce copyright protection for our clients? Absolutely. Do we wish we had more support from audio software developers who are getting their software “cracked” and are afraid to stand up for their rights as businessmen? Most definitely. Are we going to stay the course in our battle with pirates who abuse international copyright protections? Bet on it!

This past year has been one of lessons learned. We learned to accept the harsh reality that the way our company was structured — as a for-profit LLC which gets its operating income from the collection of fees from those who are unjustly enriching themselves by using unauthorized software – might be a tough sell to manufacturers accustomed to looking the other way when their copyrights were violated. We learned that those who’ve come to depend on “cracked” software see their illegal activity as an unalienable right to exploit the efforts of talented professionals who labored to author that software.

And we’ve learned that there are brave people that will not be cowed by the noise of the rabble who want to take what’s not legally theirs.

It is a tribute to our industry that it supports such ethical publications as Pro Sound News and its European counterpart, Pro Sound News Europe. Both publications in mid-November published extensively-researched stories about our enforcement efforts. The writers of these stories were not afraid to take their shots at what they perceived as our shortcomings, but they bent over backwards to get both sides of the story, and we at BanPiracy acknowledge their professionalism.

In a Pro Sound News story written by Christopher Walsh, Andrew Kirk of PACE Anti-Piracy Inc., the developer of the ILok and InterLok tools, noted the uneven history of audio software manufacturers fighting the pirates, and noted:

“BanPiracy has a noble goal,” and added that the audio software markets “do need some enforcement – think about a society in where there was no enforcement of law.”

Another of our counterparts in the anti-piracy campaign is Ray Williams, director of the International Music Software Trade Association. We salute Mr. Williams for his efforts, which were heralded in the Pro Sound News story. “Our whole reason for being,” Mr. Williams told PSN, “is to try to have musicians respect the work of the companies who supply their software tools the same way they respect the makers of their hardware tools.”

We at BanPiracy also welcome the voluminous opinions on Internet message boards about out campaign. One of the most interesting challenges to what we’re doing was posted on Peter Kirn’s Create Digital Music website. In referring to the only client we’ve been able to sign for BanPiracy, Waves Audio, Mr. Kirn wrote, “Waves, I put the challenge to you: either demonstrate you have other developers onboard with you, or stop trying to convince people this is an effort on behalf of the industry.”

Mr. Kirn’s theory is that until Waves Audio, the initial client of BanPiracy, is joined by other software developers, any effort by Waves Audio to promote its involvement in BanPiracy is NOT a legitimate effort on behalf of the audio software industry.

A note to Mr. Kirn: The clients of BanPiracy are not asking your permission, or anyone else’s, to stand up to audio software copyright infringers. BanPiracy hopes that others will join Waves Audio in this fight, but the fight will go on as long as there is one man or woman willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Adrian Anders, who posted the following in a user forum on Mr. Kirn’s website on November 14, 2007.

“I think the studio owners were being very irresponsible to their paying customers,” Mr. Anders wrote in response to the many proponents of “cracked” software who frequent Mr. Kirn’s website.

Mr. Anders then added:
“Cracked software often causes severe problems in DAW environments and may even contain trojans, viruses, and/or worms that could compromise the data of their clients. Beyond the moral obligation to buy the software they use, [the studio owners] violated the trust of their customers by having potentially damaging software on their machines.”

Count on this, Mr. Anders: You’re not alone in this fight.

By Tomer Elbaz, BanPiracy COO and Michael T. David, BanPiracy CEO, Nov. 20,2007

CDM Responds

Since the cards are out on the table, and this site is singled out several times in BanPiracy’s public statement, I think a brief response of my own is only appropriate.

First, let’s get one thing straight: criticizing a specific means of enforcement is not the same thing as advocating piracy. BanPiracy’s statement attempts to blur those lines, implying an “if you’re not with us, you’re with the pirates” mentality. That’s ridiculous. The real debate here is over BanPiracy’s enforcement tactics and their rhetoric, not whether piracy is a good idea. CDM has been an aggressive advocate of legitimate software use, including commercial software, freeware, and open source tools. BanPiracy is quick to mention “the many proponents of ‘cracked’ software who frequent Mr. Kirn’s website.” Let’s address that as what it is: an attempt to discredit this site. The comments are an open forum. People looking for legitimate software look to CDM; people looking for pirated software elsewhere. I’m happy to let cracked software advocates speak freely here because they are so quickly shot down by users who pay for what they use.

Also, I never said BanPiracy needed my “permission” to pursue legal action — as near as I can tell, this action is within the law and within their rights, as is the ability of the targeted studios to try to defend themselves. But BanPiracy claims in bold type on their website that they represent multiple clients — and yet they admit elsewhere that, in fact, Waves is their only client. Even in this statement, I see a mention of “clients” (plural) and “client” (Waves). The question is not whether BanPiracy can represent Waves’ interests. The question is why does BanPiracy continue to refer to multiple clients and the industry when they in fact represent only the interests of Waves?

In addition to representing Waves, BanPiracy represents its own interests: by their own admission, they stand to make money here. The recent wave of 11 suits in the United States totals $1.7 million in damages, according to one of the Pro Sound News stories cited by BanPiracy. Those lawsuits are based entirely on Waves’ products. No other developer is mentioned. Updated: Pro Sound News Europe estimates damages at $4 million dollars and goes into greater detail on the US litigation.

The Music Software Industry

Now, maybe BanPiracy can claim to represent broader interests, even if they can only demonstrate one client. BanPiracy does manage to find supportive comments from a trade group and anti-piracy product maker, though they lift those comments from a Pro Sound News story from earlier this month. The headlines is “PACE, IMSTA Support BanPiracy.” Andrew Kirk of PACE Anti-Piracy, maker of the iLok and Interlok systems, in fact says some supportive things in that story. Here’s the quote you don’t see copied in the BanPiracy statement, however:

Kirk agrees that “Education will be key,” adding that lawsuits are not market friendly, nor do they fit well into a business model, yet “In some cases, the law is the last resort to flagrant piracy.” The anti-piracy movement is working, says Kirk, evidenced by the 123rd AES Convention. “I can tell you” he asserts, “if piracy rates were equal to the level of seven or more years ago, more than a handful of pro audio software companies and their products would simply not be at AES, nor would they even exist. Just about anyone would agree that this would be detrimental to the market.

So, lawsuits can be damaging to the market, often don’t make business sense, and may be a “last resort.” Oh, and other non-piracy efforts are actually working. That’s an argument I would’ve made, except PACE just made it for me.

BanPiracy also conveniently edits the International Music Software Trade Association quote. If you read the original Pro Sound News story, the group’s director Ray Williams is clear that — unlike the music industry’s RIAA — IMSTA focuses on education, not enforcement. Williams told PSN: “At IMSTA we are focused purely on education and making musicians think about piracy. We want musicians to buy the software they use.” In fact, when the IMSTA launched a recent anti-piracy education campaign, the emphasis was on positive communication with musicians, not litigation and scare tactics. So IMSTA may be “sympathetic”, but if at some point they do decide to openly support BanPiracy, in my view they’ll compromise the very positive image they had worked hard to build. (In fact, I’m disappointed Williams didn’t take this opportunity to more clearly distance what IMSTA is doing from what BanPiracy is doing.)

Cakewalk’s founder and CEO Greg Hendershott is on the Executive Board for the IMSTA. He spoke to us this summer about the cusomer relationship, among other issues. He talked about how piracy has hurt Cakewalk, but defended their decision not to use additional copy protection methods. Whether or not that particular decision is right for every developer, I think Greg speaks really eloquently about the customer relationship in a way that’s very appropriate to this conversation:

“But that doesn’t mean we like people to copy the software. It really comes down to the culture around intellectual property, and establishing your relationship with customers that is about more than just them buying the product, where they can get good support, there is a good community, a good forum for them to interact with you and other customers. So I think if people are buying into a long-term relationship, that’s part of the key to dealing with that issue. And I notice customers really tend to think that way.”

I’m not sure BanPiracy is aware when they quote Adrian Anders that Adrian regularly contributes to CDM, and does a series on free and inexpensive software. Adrian’s extensive knowledge is proof that saying you don’t have enough money is not an excuse for piracy: you can put together an entire software studio using free and affordable software. Adrian is quoted by BanPiracy as follows:

“Cracked software often causes severe problems in DAW environments and may even contain trojans, viruses, and/or worms that could compromise the data of their clients. Beyond the moral obligation to buy the software they use, [the studio owners] violated the trust of their customers by having potentially damaging software on their machines.”

Count on this, Mr. Anders: You’re not alone in this fight.

No, Adrian, you’re not alone — I agree with every word you say. But BanPiracy misappropriated the quote. Adrian wasn’t responding to any commenters at all. He was the first comment, criticizing (rightfully) a studio behaving unprofessionally. In fact, quite a few commenters criticized the studio in that very thread. Many other comments came from paying customers, some of them paying Waves customers — again, not pirates. Many paying customers explicitly said they would spend money on products that compete with Waves’ software. (note: NOT pirate Waves software, BUY someone else’s.) Most importantly, BanPiracy appropriated Adrian’s comment in a forum, distorted the context, changed his meaning, and then used it to support their cause without his permission. Then they sent that out as an “official statement”, evidently on the urging of their PR firm.

So, keeping score, BanPiracy has misrepresented which clients they represent, they’ve misrepresented what I said, and they misrepresented the readers and comments on this site.

I do hope we’ll talk more about finding solutions to piracy. But this really comes down to how to support making great software by legitimate means, whether that’s open source and free business models or commercial models. And that really starts with users and customers. It’s a conversation we’ll continue to have here, for those willing to read it. I hope readers will continue to agree and argue with what I say here; that’s the point. But it does mean you will have to actually read.

Related:
BanPiracy Puts Controversial Plans in Motion [Pro Sound News, 11/15]
PACE, IMSTA Support BanPiracy [Pro Sound News, 11/15]
Waves versus cracks: first writs issued in LA [Pro Sound News Europe, 11/14 - includes more details on the damages sought and funding]
BanPiracy Responds: Offical statement released to the forums [Sonic State, 11/21]
BanPiracy.org

Note that the Pro Sound News Europe story suggests BanPiracy might find clients beyond Waves:

“We are in active discussion with a number of companies we met at the AES Convention,” [CEO Michael T.] David concludes, “including software developers.”

Assuming they haven’t been turned off by BanPiracy’s statements, I’m sure any future client would be able to look forward to the same positive reaction from their customer base Waves has gotten.

Previously:
Studio Busted by Waves Anti-Piracy Police Shares Experience [CDM, 11/14]
Interview: Cakewalk Founder Greg Hendershott, 20 Years On [CDM, 11/12]

]]> http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/11/23/banpiracy-responds-waves-going-it-alone-in-software-crack-crackdown/feed/ 51 http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/11/14/studio-busted-by-waves-anti-piracy-police-shares-experience/ http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/11/14/studio-busted-by-waves-anti-piracy-police-shares-experience/#comments Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:46:26 +0000 Peter Kirn http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/11/14/studio-busted-by-waves-anti-piracy-police-shares-experience/ We asked to hear from some actual studios targeted by plug-in maker Waves’ anti-piracy police (aka “banpiracy.com”). Here’s one report from Nick Buxton, via comments:

I haven’t read all the comments but wanted to add our experience; all our recording software is legal, we use uad plugs but wanted to see how waves worked; couldn’t get a demo version, so tried out a “copy” on personal projects; decided what we already had was better so decided not to buy; but didn’t erase the “copy”; stupid; now maybe we were denounced, although since we didn’t use it on any commercial projects, this is not likely; whoever is behind this, got a court order by claiming that we advertised wavelab on our website, which was true, and that wavelab belonged to Waves, which is not; result, visit from a court officer, examination of our computer, legal proceedings; now we could fight this; false information for a court order, no proof we used the software, we are a tiny company; etc etc… but this costs legal fees, time, stress; so we are considering taking up the offered “solution”, ie buy the plugs, probably have to pay some legal fees, but end of story; i am making no excuses; we were wrong; but this does not seem to me the best way to sell your product

WaveLab is, of course, developed by Steinberg, not Waves, though both have the word “wave” in it.

And we have heard from countless readers that people really do evaluate copies before purchasing. That’s why smart developers offer legit demo versions — and many, many do. They not only cut down on piracy, but reduce the number of people who skip a product completely because they can’t try before they buy. Of course, even those who don’t aren’t regularly in the habit of sending people unannounced to your studio. (Though that would be an interesting idea for tech support, one users might welcome. “Hi, just here to spray for bugs.”)

Updated: Waves really do have plug-in demos, so either this person was misinformed, or this isn’t the whole story, or both. (see comments)

Before we launch another piracy debate, I’ve been having plenty of informal conversations with major music developers since this came out. They’ve been pretty unanimous in my unscientific surveys. They all feel their business is getting hurt by piracy, by people who can afford to pay but don’t. But they do also value their relationship with their paying customers. And so far I haven’t found a single developer who thinks Waves’ banpiracy effort is a good idea. That’s little surprise, though, as so far there seems to be no evidence that banpiracy represents anyone other than Waves. (Now, as I said, this was unscientific, so if you’re a developer and you think banpiracy.com is a good idea, feel free to share.)

I think the issue of who is onboard and which products are being targeted is a relevant one, though. Let’s assume for a moment Waves’ tactics here are defensible. Waves, I put the challenge to you: either demonstrate you have other developers onboard with you, or stop trying to convince people this is an effort on behalf of the industry.

]]> http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/11/14/studio-busted-by-waves-anti-piracy-police-shares-experience/feed/ 39 http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/02/27/bt-robbed-of-150000-in-gear-wants-to-protect-yours-give-away-tools/ http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/02/27/bt-robbed-of-150000-in-gear-wants-to-protect-yours-give-away-tools/#comments Tue, 27 Feb 2007 17:19:07 +0000 Peter Kirn http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/02/27/bt-robbed-of-150000-in-gear-wants-to-protect-yours-give-away-tools/ Electronic musician BT recently had US$150,000 in gear stolen from his studio, including his primary show computer with the entire This Binary Universe show on it and rigs for two other live shows and recording. He doesn’t just want to get his stuff back, though: he also wants to help musicians protect themselves from a similar fate. Few of us have studios worth anywhere near that amount, but losing your whole rig: priceless.

Among the loot: a Dave Smith PolyEvolver, serial #271, a Hartmann Neuron with BT’s patches, and a loaded Apple Mac Pro with This Binary Universe. All pretty priceless; the Neuron and PolyEvolver would be tough to replace and the Mac Pro has a whole show on it. To get them back, BT is offering a $20,000 reward or equivalent time as a producer to anyone with a name and address.

BT Theft Announcement and Proposals on MySpace

Via electronic music site Filter 27

And this would just be another painful gear theft story, except BT wants to go further:

1. Protecting gear from theft: He wants to start a simple subscription service to register and thumbprint gear, so it can be easily traced to retailers and online auction sites. (Note that New York’s Sam Ash, for instance, does just this for used gear and coordinates with the NYPD, but with online sites, tracking just got a lot harder.)
2. Giving music tech gear to the needy: He wants to collect new and user gear to give to musicians and producers who can’t afford it.

While the second one is an interesting idea, I’m not exactly sure how it would work here — and there are other, worthy organizations dedicated to this idea. But helping protect gear from theft sounds ideal. BT is looking for lawyers, musicians, and vendors to donate.

Know of similar initiatives? Or think you might be able to help with this? Let us know in comments. Know where BT’s gear is? Email gear@binaryacoustics.com

]]> http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/02/27/bt-robbed-of-150000-in-gear-wants-to-protect-yours-give-away-tools/feed/ 15 http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/02/06/nine-inch-nails-gear-pr0n-sigh-again/ http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/02/06/nine-inch-nails-gear-pr0n-sigh-again/#comments Tue, 06 Feb 2007 17:34:42 +0000 Peter Kirn http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/02/06/nine-inch-nails-gear-pr0n-sigh-again/

No matter how many music tech toys you have, no matter how many music tech toys you’ve ever seen, Nine Inch Nails still has more. Michael Hetrick writes to point us to his latest post over on KVR:

Total Gear-Porn on new NIN site [KVR Audio Forums]

It’s especially nice to see some of the no-prisoners, raunchy, tube beauty of Metasonix in there.

Of course, we’ve seen Trent and NIN deliver the gear lust before:

Hotel Room Studio: NIN’s Rack-Mounted Dual G5s

Inside NIN’s Studio on Audiohead

]]> http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/02/06/nine-inch-nails-gear-pr0n-sigh-again/feed/ 12 http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/01/29/gallos-right-round-adiva-ti-speakers-and-a-chat-with-the-designer/ http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/01/29/gallos-right-round-adiva-ti-speakers-and-a-chat-with-the-designer/#comments Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:47:16 +0000 Peter Kirn http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/01/29/gallos-right-round-adiva-ti-speakers-and-a-chat-with-the-designer/ ]]>

For many of us, our studio and our home are one and the same. The speakers we use to monitor mixes are the ones we use for rehearsals, improvisations, and casual listening. I first got interested in the Anthony Gallo A’Diva series speakers partly because I’ve long admired Gallo’s home speaker products, but also because the Gallos seemed to be comfortable walking this home/studio line.

Normally, engineers steer far clear of home audio equipment when it comes to monitoring. But producer Neal Pogue has been using the A’Diva speakers for just that, including five songs on the new Stevie Wonder album, and projects for Nelly Furtado, Indie Ari, Earth Wind and Fire, and Outkast. (See studioexpresso profile, or a 2004 interview in Electronic Musician for more about Pogue’s production background.) That’s pretty unusual for speakers aimed at the home market.

Having lived with a 2.1 set of the A’Diva Ti satellites for a while, I’m impressed, as well. The sound is uncolored and clear, with really gorgeous high-frequency definition. It makes these speakers sound both much larger than they are (you can fit them in your hand), and much more expensive. (They run just over US$200 a speaker, but you could easily fool someone into thinking they went for more.) That could make these ideal for complementing your existing set of monitors. I got to talk to Anthony Gallo, the speaker’s creator, about his background and, most importantly, why the speakers are spherical in the first place.

A’Divas on Test

First, if you’re like me, you’ve probably had some less-than-amazing experience with small speakers. There are plenty of small speakers that sound great at lower levels, but become harsh as you drive them. I was able to crank my A’Diva Ti setup to nearly painfully-loud levels without losing any clarity. It’s actually a little spooky: normally, “transparent” sound refers to the acoustic properties of speakers, but in the case of these two little spheres sitting on a shelf, there’s something unnerving about little tiny speakers making so much sound.

The drivers on the speakers are a combination of titanium and paper, hence the name and greater treble extension performance. There’s a 1″ voice coil for greater dynamic range, and to me, part of the reason these sound so good has to do with dynamic range and not just frequency range. I moved them around my living room studio and tried them both as traditional monitors and in a home stereo setup, and was pleased with the results for both. They’re small enough, as well, that you could easily mount them even in close quarters. Normally, that would allow you to set up a home theater, but it also happens to make them ideal as a secondary set of monitors for a studio.

The A’Diva Ti 2.1 setup I received for testing was mated with a 250-watt TR-2 subwoofer. Subwoofers are where home equipment tends to really reveal itself as a home product, but the TR-2 sounds terrific: rather than sounding boomy, it retains dynamic clarity right through the low end. (It’s good enough, in fact, that it revealed all kinds of nasty low-end mastering errors in my DVD collection, particularly with TV shows. Some disturbing up-mixing and down-mixing tends to happen when shows get tossed on DVD.) And, of course, those 250 watts are powerful in a way that’s incompatible with Manhattan living; after some brief fun in the middle of the afternoon, I decided I had to turn the level down as much as I could just to avoid getting evicted. (+6 dB boost? Uh, no, thanks, say the people on the fourth floor.) I think the 100-watt TR-1 would probably be fine if you’re in an 850 square-foot apartment. But if you want theater-sized bass and happen to live in the suburbs, you might look at the TR-2.

Just as with the satellites, the subwoofer eschews a rectangular design for a cylindrical enclosure. Unlike most subwoofers, the result feels well-crafted and looks quite lovely on its own. I was also pleased to find some decent options on the TR-2: low- and high-level I/O, plus EQ and a continuously-variable knob for phase.

Back to the original question, though: why am I bothering talking about “home theater” speakers on CDM in the first place? I can see a number of reasons why these would make sense. First, while I wouldn’t rely on them as my only studio monitors, they make a perfect second set, particularly when you want to experience what a 2.1 setup will do to your mix — but without the added coloration and, frankly, poor performance of a lot of inexpensive home speakers. Second, their size and shielding are perfect any time you need flexible placement. I’ve been looking for good speakers to use for installations, so I’m interested in them even for that. But when you’re in cramped quarters, even studio placement becomes an issue. Lastly, a lot of us have limited budgets and need speakers for our home setups. You want those to sound as good as your studio monitors, and you want them to be able to occasionally do double-duty. For me, at least, the A’Diva Ti’s fit the bill.

Now, I’m a fan of a very simple monitoring philosophy: listen in as many different ways as possible. I wish I still had my old Volvo 240 so I could try out mixes on its blown-out cassette and stereo system; if a mix worked there, it worked anywhere. “Mastering” is a pretty misleading concept because it suggests you know what people will listen on, when you don’t. So, I’m still going to hook up mixes — especially anything I’m considering for surround delivery — to some low-end setups, as well. But having the A’Diva setup to hear what’s going on across the frequency and dynamic range in more detail, and hear it the way it will sound in a 2.1 or 5.1 configuration, and have the setup for listening for enjoyment — that, to me, is the ideal.

I would never make a speaker recommendation blind (or is that deaf?); Gallo gets wide distribution so odds are you may have a set nearby you can go hear for yourself, and compare to some of the other available offerings. I will, however, stand by my feeling that you need more than one set of speakers to give your mix a good listening. And I’ll say, as well, more affordable surround setups like the Gallo could be just what we need to dip into surround, which has largely remained elusive to the home musician.

Of course, the one major downside of the A’Diva line is that they are configured as 2.1, which may rule them out as your primary monitors. Gallo is aware of this feedback, though, so perhaps we’ll see speakers geared for the studio in the future.

A’Diva Speaker Series Product Page (I evaluated the slightly higher-end Ti series with titanium drivers)

TR-2 subwoofers; Full surround line

Conversation with Anthony Gallo

Anthony Gallo Acoustics really is the result of the designs of an engineer named Anthony Gallo. I always enjoy talking to the people who actually design the stuff, so I was pleased to get to talk to Anthony a bit about his background and the thinking behind his designs.

Anthony began building sound equipment early in his teenage years, designing speakers as young as 13. He told me that his early work with electrostatics had a big influence on his current designs. (He notes in the company history that he got a “shocked a zillion times.” Well, they are electrostatics, after all.) I’ve found most designers I’ve talked to got started with childhood tinkering, all the more reason to encourage Make Magazine-style experimentation in the next generation of young men and women.

A brief excerpt from our conversations:

Peter: It seems like there’s a resurgence of DIY electronics, after a long lull. Do you see more people becoming interested in DIY electronics?

Anthony: It’s harder to know if there are more DIY’ers out there today. It seems like there are because of the internet. You notice a lot more of them, but to say it’s a trend I’m really not sure. I’m glad to see there are a lot of people out there that have the same passion as I do.

Peter: Did those early experiments impact your work today?

Yes it does. However, when I was experimenting on my own over 20 years ago I didn’t have the resources to develop drivers or even enclosures that I knew in my heart would sound much better than wood. Such as utlra-rigid spherical structures and enclosures with curves. They are inherently much more rigid.

Peter: There’s a lot of confusion, it seems, about speaker wire. I know you sell your own wire for your speakers. What kinds of differences do you hear between different speaker wire; what differentiates yours?

Anthony: For every person you ask, everyone will have a different opinion on the sound of wire. I have selected a wire that is cost-effective and sounds excellent with our products. And in general, I tend to like solid core wire, rather than a lot of the stranded alternatives.

Depending on the type of wire, it could range from a grungy, bloated sound quality, to a crisp, clear transparent on the other extreme. And then there is every variation in between.

Peter: For the layperson, why spheres? And can you talk about how you personally came across spherical cabinets?

Anthony: Firstly, it is the lowest coincidence of external diffraction. External diffraction is what occurs when sound leaves the driver and wraps itself around the enclosure. If there are sharp projections, such as edges on a box speaker, it will interfere with the propagation of the driver and projects different frequencies. Also, the sphere is the most rigid enclosure and since it’s so rigid, the wall can be made very thin, which saves internal air volume and allows the speaker to be smaller than wooden/plastic boxes.

I read about it back in the 70’s, however it’s been well documented as early as the 30’s, that the sphere is the optimal shape for sound. (See attached the graph with frequency response for various enclosure shapes). Since I discovered this, I started seeking out hollow round structures that could be used.

Finding this graph in a textbook was an “ah-hah” moment in his own designs, Anthony says.

I know some readers here build their own loudspeakers, so I’ll be curious to see your own non-commercial designs, as well — and if we now have Anthony as a CDM reader, you can share them with someone who’s well-known in the business!

We’ll keep an eye on the new designs coming from Gallo in the future, as it sounds as though they’ve become more interested in the audio/music production market as well as home theaters. In the meantime, as usual, I expect there are many of you who know more about this than I do, so we welcome comments as always.

]]> http://createdigitalmusic.com/2007/01/29/gallos-right-round-adiva-ti-speakers-and-a-chat-with-the-designer/feed/ 6 http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/08/17/music-of-snakes-on-a-plane-trevor-rabin-former-yes-man-now-a-mac-using-composer/ http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/08/17/music-of-snakes-on-a-plane-trevor-rabin-former-yes-man-now-a-mac-using-composer/#comments Thu, 17 Aug 2006 18:14:48 +0000 Peter Kirn http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/08/17/music-of-snakes-on-a-plane-trevor-rabin-former-yes-man-now-a-mac-using-composer/ It’s impossible to continue just to make music and ignore the serious threats to our security and the safety of passenger aviation. Tightened security has focused primarily on threats from the past, and reactive measures that can only prevent existing, known dangers. You know where I’m going with this: we need to evaluate screening methods and other security provisions to respond to the significant issue of snakes on a plane. I just can’t believe no one is doing anything about these motherf****** snakes.

Cult-hit-before-it-was-even-released movie Snakes on a Plane has none other than Trevor Rabin composing the musical score, as if I needed an excuse to bring up Snakes on CDM. Rabin has had an incredible history as a musician. Born to noted classically-trained parents, he went on to co-found the wildly successful Rabbitt, recorded a significant anti-Apartheid anthem, played with Yes, and wrote their #1 hit Owner Of A Lonely Heart. He even worked with Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, and Rick Wakeman. Now, like some other former rockers (Stewart Copeland comes to mind), Rabin has become a successful film composer, with a distinct action-movie tilt. (Armageddon, Bad Boys II, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds — no chick flicks in there, really.) Pictured: both “Rocker Trevor” and (from SoundtrackNet’s great story on Snakes) “Composer Trevor.”

And Rabin is a Mac guy. His studio Jacaranda Studios is powered by Power Mac G5s and, evidently, too much cool gear to list. Various reports suggest he uses both MOTU Digital Performer (like Copeland) and Pro Tools (probably because the studio guys require it). It’s funny, even though audio often gets bounced to Pro Tools for compatibility, film composers really largely prefer Digital Performer to anything else out there, and it certainly includes the most film scoring functionality. If you want to get inside his studio:

Home Recording visits Trevor Rabin

Trevor Rabin Scores Snakes on a Plane [SoundtrackNet]

Don’t try to get in touch with me at 10 pm tonight, incidentally, because I will be at the first show. (Check out the official site for a fun Flash feature that lets you record custom Samuel L. Jackson messages for your friends.) And will I be disappointed when the movie is awful? Absolutely not. I’m betting on it.

]]> http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/08/17/music-of-snakes-on-a-plane-trevor-rabin-former-yes-man-now-a-mac-using-composer/feed/ 9 http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/08/01/solar-powered-music-studios-could-solar-stop-climate-crisis/ http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/08/01/solar-powered-music-studios-could-solar-stop-climate-crisis/#comments Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:29:41 +0000 Peter Kirn http://createdigitalmusic.com/2006/08/01/solar-powered-music-studios-could-solar-stop-climate-crisis/ With New York City close to breaking its all-time record heat record of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s over 38 degrees Celsius), non-renewable energy costs soaring, and Con Edison unable to deliver reliable electricity, it seems like an odd time to be advocating electronically-powered music. It must be time for solar power. Via Rozling on the forums, here’s a thought: go solar, instead:

Friends of the Earth Climate Case Studies: The Premises, Solar-Powered Studio, via Synthtopia (originally) and Treehugger
BBC News on Eco-Studio
The Premises official site

This London studio has hosted Jamie Cullum, Franz Ferdinand, Hard Fi, Bloc Party, and Charlotte Church, and they’re now entirely self-powered via rooftop solar panels. They cut down on power costs, via low-power air conditioning and a low-power mixer, but here’s a bonus: sound insulation is also great heat insulation. Even if you don’t care about a climate crisis, you’ll save money; they estimate they’ll recoup costs in a decade. (That time could be vastly reduced if power costs went up — and increased production drove solar panel costs down.)

For further inspiration, here’s an important announcement from Al Gore, once he fights robot insurrection:

… via his film, An Inconvenient Truth. Now, come on, this isn’t a political post. I just think Al is the best summer movie action hero yet. Watch Apple Keynote go. Damn.

I’ve seen solar backpacks for laptops, and a lot of the interfaces we use are bus-powered. Any chance for a solar-powered computer setup? Suggestions, anyone?

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