tweakers, and the film could stand more in-depth explanations about the evolution of
the pedal’s circuitry, the various capacitors
and inductors used, and personal mods that
change the pedal’s tone and sound.
If you have a wah in your current signal
chain or your ears perk up when you hear
the fast-paced wah-chk-wah theme from
Shaft, the opening notes that eerily ring
out during Zeppelin’s “No Quarter,” or
the dynamic squealing that’s the hallmark
of Dimebag Darrell’s Pantera solos, this
55-minute movie is worth watching. But fair
warning: After viewing Crybaby, you may
experience an involuntary and irresistible
need to play your wah pedal. —Chris Kies
DVD
Alfred’s Pro Audio Series:
Modern Live Sound
Alfred
Many guitarists believe
that analog is infinitely
better than digital.
Professional live sound,
however, is not dictated by this mentality. Modern Live Sound
is a DVD that bridges the gap between the
analog world of live sound gear that many
guitarists are familiar with and the latest
generation of equipment.
Digital consoles are the future, already
comprising 95 percent of the pro-level
boards purchased today, according to a
Nashville retailer interviewed in the DVD.
Gone are the days when you could sit near
the analog mixing board for a national act
and get a visual on how many pots were hot
and roughly what kind of signal processing
was in the racks. These days, the big tours
have digital boards with computer screens
and built-in DSP, line-array speakers, and
snakes the size of Cat5 cables. The engineers use software to calibrate frequencies
and adjust line-array parameters, and—get
this—they do it while wandering around
the venue with laptops, iPads, and iPhones
that can take measurements and talk to the
main console. These technologies and more
are explained in Modern Live Sound.
The DVD features working front-of-house (FOH) pros and design engineers
walking you through the entire signal chain
of basic and modern systems, starting with
an excruciatingly elementary recap of microphone types. Signal-splitting, basic board
functionality, and power distribution are
covered along with signal processing, stage
monitoring, and FOH setup. The extra
capabilities of digital consoles—scene saving,
effects plug-ins, easier signal routing, and
multitrack recording—are also discussed.
Some less-than-slick video production keeps the DVD folksy. I’d also argue
that one of the video’s most important
segments—a recording of a band’s actual
soundcheck—fails in that the play-by-play
happens after the segment instead of during
it. This 180-minute DVD won’t replace a
formal audio-engineering education, but it
will help you get your bearings on the technology preferred by the pros. Remember, at
some point that technology will be offered
in the gear the rest of us use. —Joe Coffey
BOOK
Bob Taylor
Guitar Lessons
Wiley Publishing
Guitarmaker Bob Taylor
has become synonymous
with acoustic guitars
since his early days of working out of a
small San Diego workshop, fittingly named
The American Dream. In Guitar Lessons,
the focus is more about growing a world-class guitar business from the ground up
than how Taylor developed his craft. Since
starting Taylor Guitars in 1974 with his
business partner Kurt Listug, Taylor has had
his fair share of ups and downs. One of the
more notable stories from the early days
is when Taylor made a trip to the Martin
guitar factory and had an epiphany as to
how to better streamline his own production process and get more finished guitars
out the door.
Throughout the book, Taylor touches
on topics ranging from hiring the right
employees to developing and implementing
new production technologies. A particularly
interesting story happened during the early
’80s, when acoustic guitars were losing
popularity and many manufacturers were
drastically scaling back production—some
almost to the point of going out of business.
During this time, Listug hit the road with
a load of Taylor guitars (likely the precursor
to Taylor’s Road Shows) and proceeded to
develop long-lasting relationships with independent dealers all over the country.
One of the things I enjoyed most about
this book is how it’s arranged in a series
of short anecdotes with each one offering a guitar-guru tidbit or some nugget
of entrepreneurial advice. The chapter on
artist endorsements provides an inside look
into how these associations come together.
From Neil Young using a Taylor 12-string
in Rust Never Sleeps to Prince’s purple axe in
the “Raspberry Beret” video, Taylor Guitars
have been associated with some big artists. Taylor writes in an honest way how he
started to work with these artists and why
marquee names don’t always translate into
marquee sales. Thankfully, Taylor’s conversational tone turns what could easily be a
dry business book into a much more entertaining read. —Jason Shadrick
ALBUM
Bruce Cockburn
Small Source of Comfort
True North
Fans of Bruce Cockburn’s
extraordinary acoustic
fingerpicking will be
thrilled with Small Source of Comfort, his
31st studio album. Cockburn’s shimmering
arpeggios, syncopated riffs, and hypnotic
single-note lines blend elements of Mississippi
John Hurt, Jerry Garcia, Leo Kottke, and
Brazilian greats Luiz Bonfa and Oscar Castro-Neves, yet remain entirely his own. Of the
album’s 12 tunes, five are instrumentals, so
there’s plenty of crisp, ringing fretwork to
keep guitar aficionados happy. Yet Cockburn’s
poetic—and passionately political—
lyrics and burnished, world-wise vocals take
center stage, supported by earthy, clattering
percussion, dub-thick bass, and occasional
jangling resonator slide guitar (ably played by
producer Colin Linden). Jenny Scheinman’s
soaring violin adds a sensuous touch to the
music, which sounds like it was recorded
right in your living room by old friends who
truly enjoy rubbing musical shoulders. The
Zen meditation bells that periodically chime
accentuate the wisdom, sadness, humor, and
beauty inherent in Cockburn’s songs and shamanistic playing. —Andy Ellis
