Jennifer Batten

Transcription

Jennifer Batten

Volume 2 Number 3
Inner-Vu
Featuring
Rich Haugen
GBU
Miss Murgatroid
and Petra Haden
Welcome
To The Future
Management Deals:
The Basic Deal Points
The Band
Getting Organized?
Ron Rogers
The Artist
AMF Local 99
Is It Your Union?
Is Protools Spot On?
My tyPod
Jennifer Batten BukoiMagazine
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photo Buko
Contents
Top selling 20 Portland Artists for July 2008
1. Curtis Salgado - “Clean Getaway”
2. Death Cab for Cutie - “Narrow Stairs”
3. Ellen Whyte - “Four Way Stop”
4. Various - “PDX Pop Now 2008”
5. Helio Sequence - “Keep Your Eyes Ahead”
6. China Forbes - “78”
7. Strange Tones - “We’re on Our Way”
8. Esperanza Spalding - “Esperanza”
9. Colin Lake & Wellbottom - “Bullet”
10. Cassandra Wilson - “Loverly”
11. Spoon - “Ga Ga Ga”
12. Pink Martini - “Hey Eugene”
13. Amelia - “Long Lovely List of Repairs”
14. Pink Martini - “Hang on Little Tomato”
15. Shins - “Wincing the Night Away”
16. Pink Martini - “Sympathique”
17. Lewi Longmire - “Fire ‘neath the Still”
18. Derby - “Posters Fade”
19. Builders & the Butchers - “Builders & the Butchers”
20. Pierced Arrows - “Straight to the Heart”
Deals: The Basic Deal Points
p4Management
by Bart Day
is “spot on” in Leopard
p6ProbyTools
Doug Dyer
Duncan SFX03 Twin Tube Classic
p7ThebySeymour
L. Belliagio
with Rich Haugen in the Studio
p8Inner-Vu
by Johnny Martin
to the Future
p15Welcome
by Carl Tietze
it’s your Union, AFM local 99
p16Musicians,
by Keith Laurent
Batten; Time to fly
p18Jennifer
by Anne Steiner
p22RonbyRogers
Stacy Brocket
the Bad, and the Ugly
p26thebyGood,
SP Clarke
p28wMybytyPod
Ty Hitzmann
Get Organized
p30thebyBand:
Mike D Light
Eyefull
p31Buko’s
by Buko
August 2008
• Established 2007 •
by Buko Publishing
Fearless Leader / Graphics: Buko
CFO: Jeannine Dawson
Media: Get Up Media
Photos: Buko • Jeanne Galarneau • Ty Hitzemann •
Writers: L. Belliagio • S.P. Clarke • Bart Day • Doug Dyer• Jeanne Galarneau
• Johnny Martin • Ty Hitzemann •Keith Robert Laurent •
Mike D. Light • Carl Tietze • Anne Steiner • Ximena Quiroz
Printed by: Oregon Lithoprint
Buko Magazine LLC
PO Box 13480 • Portland, OR 97213
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Buko magazine Vol.2 No.3 - 3
Y
ou wonder about people who made [and lost] a fortune, and you
always think they drank it up or stuck it up their nose. That’s
not usually what brings on the decline. It’s usually the battle
to keep your creative child alive while keeping your business shark alive.
You have to develop cunning and shrewdness, and other things that are not
well-suited to the arts.
--Joni Mitchell
Keeping one’s “creative child” side and “business shark” side alive
at the same time is a hard job for anyone, whether a successful artist
ties’ attorneys. At that point, there will often then be some further
negotiations between the parties concerning some of the detailed
sections of the written management agreement. If so, then a revised
version of the written management agreement will be prepared
before the artist and manager actually sign the agreement.
Although it is not possible within the space constraints of an article like this
to discuss all of the important aspects of management contracts, there are several
aspects which are particularly important: (1) The future duration of the artistmanager relationship; (2) The manager’s compensation; and (3) If the “artist” is
a band, then the possibility of personnel changes in the band.
1. Future Duration of the Artist-Manager Relationship. Management contracts generally have an initial term of one to two years, and often give the manager
the option to renew the contract once a year for several more years after the initial
one or two-year term expires.
In recent years, it has become more common to see the length of the contract
(“the term”) defined not by a certain number of years, but instead by “album
cycles.” In other words, the manager will remain the manager for as long as it
takes to release a certain number of albums, rather than the contract being for a
certain number of years.
by Bart Day
Entertainment Attorney
living in a pressure cooker type of environment, or a struggling new
artist facing all of the frustrations of trying to get established in the
music industry.
A solid manager can greatly help an artist to balance, in a healthy way, the artist’s creative needs with the artist’s business needs, not to mention the many other
valuable services a good manager performs. Yet, the artist-manager relationship
is fraught with many potential problems for an artist, since there are many ways
in which an incompetent or dishonest manager can sabotage an artist’s career,
intentionally or unintentionally.
When choosing a manager, an artist should evaluate the prospective manager’s knowledge of (and connections in) the music business, the manager’s
personal compatibility with the artist, and the amount of time the prospective
manager will be able to devote to the artist. It is also important to check out the
prospective manager’s background.
After the artist and the prospective manager have decided that they want to
have an artist-manager relationship, they (or their attorneys) should then discuss
“
Before an artist and manager enter into a management contract, they should
carefully evaluate and discuss their expectations of each other. Their management
contract should take into consideration their expectations and should contain
provisions allowing an early termination of the management contract if the parties’
respective expectations are not met. Often, for example, management agreements
provide that if a record deal is not obtained within a certain period of time, or if
the artist does not earn a certain amount of income each year, the artist will have
the right to terminate the management contract.
A manager’s compensation is typically based on a percentage commission
of the artist’s earnings. Therefore a prospective manager will often push for a
long-term management contract, so that the manager can participate in the artist’s
income for as long as possible. The artist, on the other hand, may not want to get
locked into a long-term relationship with a manager, particularly if the artist does
not know how compatible the artist will be with the manager, or if the artist is
not sure how much the manager will be able to contribute to the artist’s career.
2. Manager’s Compensation. Managers usually receive in the range of
fifteen to twenty percent of the artist’s gross income. This manager’s commission
is separate from, and in addition to, the commissions paid to booking agencies
for booking shows.
When choosing a manager, an artist should evaluate the prospective manager’s
knowledge of (and connections in) the music business, the manager’s personal compatibility
with the artist, and the amount of time the prospective manager will be able to devote to the
artist. It is also important to check out the prospective manager’s background.
and negotiate the specific terms of their
future relationship, such as how long their relationship is to last, what the manager’s
compensation will be, and what the manager’s specific responsibilities will be.
The outcome of these negotiations will be greatly affected by the relative
bargaining power of the artist and the manager. If, for example, an experienced and
well-connected manager is negotiating a management contract with an unknown
artist, the manager will obviously have much more leverage than the artist will.
In fact, sometimes the artist is facing essentially a “take it or leave it” situation.
Once the most basic terms of the management deal are agreed upon, a
detailed written management agreement will then be prepared by one of the par-
4 - Buko magazine Vol.2 No.3
”
Management contracts usually contain very complicated clauses pertaining to commissions. Some management contracts, for example, provide for one
particular commission percentage for income from record sales, and a different
percentage for other types of income. In addition, management contracts will
sometimes provide for changes in the manager’s commission rate as the artist’s
income increases.
Incidentally, there is one aspect of management contracts that comes as
a surprise to many artists, which is that the artist’s financial obligations to the
manager don’t necessarily end when the management contract expires. This is
because many (if not most) management contracts provide than even after the
contract expires, the manager will continue to receive income from deals which
had been entered into during the term of the management contract. If, for example,
the artist and the manager have signed a three-year management contract, and
then sometime during that three years the artist signs a five-year recording contract with a record company, the manager will normally be entitled to receive
a certain specified share of the future record royalties even after the three-year
management contract has ended. (These are commonly referred to as “tail-out”
or “sunset clause” commissions.)
By the same token, most management contracts also provide that the manager’s percentage share of such income will be reduced after the management contract ends, and/or that there will be an outside time limit after which the manager
is no longer entitled to share in the artist’s income. For example, the artist and
manager might agree, among other things, that the manager will receive a share
of the artist’s income and royalties for only one or two years after the expiration
of the management contract, even though the artist’s recording contract may be
generating royalties for years after that.
3. Personnel Changes. If the “artist” is a band, the management contract
should anticipate the likelihood of personnel changes in the band. For example,
will the contract give the manager the right to manage the careers of any departing members after they leave the band? And will the addition of new members
to the band require the approval of the manager, as some management contracts
provide? These types of potential problems need to be covered thoroughly by
the management contract.
“Excellence in sound since 1986”
Custom Crafted
Amplified Music Products
“
There is one aspect of management
contracts that comes as a surprise to
many artists, which is that the artist’s
financial obligations to the manager don’t
necessarily end when the management
contract expires.
”
CONCLUSION
Management contracts can be exceedingly complex, due in large part to
the complexity of the music business itself. Yet a carefully drafted contract will
substantially reduce the likelihood of future misunderstandings and disputes
between the artist and manager.
Note: Bart Day is an entertainment attorney who divides his time between Los
Angeles and Portland, Oregon. He has represented numerous nationally known recording artists, record companies, music publishers, computer game companies, managers,
and producers, and has served as Vice-President of Legal and Business Affairs for a
Los Angeles entertainment company
Bart is the co-author of the book “Music is Your Business: The Musician’s FourFront Strategy for Success,” published in 2007. He is also the co-author of a chapter
(entitled “Contracts and Relationships between Major Labels and Independent Labels”)
in The Musician’s Business and Legal Guide, a book compiled by the Beverly Hills Bar
Association and published internationally by Prentice Hall Publishing (New York).
From 1998 to 2002, Bart was an elected member of the Board of Governors of the
Pacific NW Chapter of the Recording Academy (presenter of the Grammy Awards).
The reader is cautioned to seek the advice of the reader’s own attorney concerning
the applicability of the general principles discussed above to the reader’s own activities.
Bartley F. Day The Entertainment Law Group
1001 S.W. Fifth Avenue, Suite 1100
Portland, OR 97204 USA
Telephone: (503) 291-9300
E-Mail: [email protected]
Pictured Musiclord Shortstack practice amp.
www.musiclord.com
Pro
Tools
is “spot on” in leopard
by Doug Dyer
orry I just couldn’t resist the pun... So
if you haven’t already heard by now, Pro
Tools has released version 7.4.2 software
which touts complete compatibility with latest Mac
OSX 10.5.4 “leopard” version of the Mac operating
system.
For those of you that
don’t know; Digidesign,
(the creators of Pro Tools,)
has been struggling to keep
up with Apple’s (the creators of the Macintosh)
breakneck pace as they
blaze forward with their
cat code named OS versions. Since November
of last year, when Leopard
was introduced, Digidesign has been working
diligently to create a solid
and stable version of Pro
Tools to run in Leopard...
And now it’s here.
Pro Tools 7.4.2 has all of the latest and greatest
of Pro Tools 7.4 features: • Elastic Time : Allowing
you to change tempo and timing on on all types of
audio without editing a sample,
• Enhanced Avid
Compatibility : The ability to work with unrendered
AVID video files and still have full DSP effects and
automation. And • Improved Re-wire performance :
Allowing 3rd party Apps and Plug Ins (Like Reason
or Live) to send MIDI controller data directly into
Pro Tools. But it’s really the “Point 2” that makes
all the difference when it comes to overall Leopard
compatibility.
Digi has put an incredible amount of effort and
energy into this release but has still made it a free
upgrade to anyone who already has 7.4 and they’ve
kept the “paid upgrade” reasonable. 7.3 users can
upgrade for $49 (for LE) and $79 (for HD) and if
you’re still back in an earlier version of Pro Tools 6 or
7 the upgrade is only $75 (for LE) and $199 (for HD)
The biggest issue most folks face when upgrading,
is overall system compatibility within their system.
Before jumping headlong into an upgrade only later to
find that you didn’t have the right... (Fill in the blank;
Software version, firmware version, processor speed,
etc...) I would always recommend that you double ...
OK triple check that your system meets the compatibility requirements. The best place to start is www.
digidesign.com/compato here is a great list of all the
compatibility info... The 7th Link Down in the center
of the page the “Mac OSX requirements with Pro Tools
6 and 7” will also give you the specific compatibility
for your Mac it’s Hardware and Software.
S
Aug. 8th, 9th & 10th
Kerosene Dream
Renegade Saints
The Crazy 8’s
Portland Cello Project
Laz D
Dan Reed
Tony Starlight
Charmaine Neville
Reggie Houston
Steve Lockwood
Casey Neil
& the Norway Rats
Dusty York
Belinda Underwood
Debra Arlyn
Niayh
Linda Hornbuckle
Janice Scroggins
Shoehorn
Keegan Smith
for more info
www.biteoforegon.com
Digidesign says that Pro Tools 7.4.2 is fully qualified on all the new MacPro Towers, and compatible but
not fully qualified with G5 (PCI & PCI-E) second and
third generation dual processors. They haven’t done
any testing on First Generation single or dual processor G5’s or any G4’s also they haven’t gotten around
to any Laptop testing so
far. Again just make sure
to double check that your
system is on the list.
Another thing that
you’d also want to check,
is the compatibility with
all of your 3rd party plugins & applications. A
great way to verify this is
info can be found at www.
digidesign.com/plugingrid This lists every current
3rd party Plug & App and
clearly shows it’s compatibility with the latest Pro
Tools 7.4.2 release - Luckily the vast majority of the plug ins work great and are
fully qualified with this version with a few notable
exceptions : (Digidesign’s Structure, Most Native
Instruments Plug ins and Spectrasonic’s Atmosphere
& Trilogy)
So if you’ve been itching to upgrade your Pro
Tools, and maybe even get into into of the new 8 core
Macs, now looks like a great time to upgrade. And if
you’ve never owned Pro Tools and have thought about
the creative freedom that comes with owning your own
rig, you might want to take a long look what owning
one of these bad boys can do for you.
Remember that Sound Thinking (or your regular
Digidesign dealer) can assist you with correctly setting
up a new or upgrading your old rig. Good Luck and
Happy Pro Toolin’
Note: Doug Dyer is a long time Pro Tools guru, he
owns and operates Sound Thinking, one of the Northwest’s
Premieres Digidesign dealers. He has built rigs of every
level of size and complexity from entry level Laptops for
students up to full on HD rigs for Steve Miller Band &
the Blazers.
He currently works several days a week with the
folks over at the MacPac and is very knowledgeable when
it comes to computer audio systems in general and Digidesign’s Pro Tools family of products specifically.
If you have any questions or would like to contact
him personally feel free to reach him at the MacPac 503256-5210 or [email protected]
The Seymour Duncan SFX03
Twin Tube
Classic
f
f
u
t
S
R
GEA
by L. Belliagio
T
he Twin Tube Classic is a two-channel guitar preamp
that uses a duet of subminiature 6021 dual-triode
vacuum tubes. The NOS, USA-made Phillips Sylvania 6021s represent the pinnacle of tube technology. They were
designed and manufactured to meet the MIL-E-1 spec. They
provide extremely long service life and exhibit virtually no
tendency toward microphonics.
The Twin Tube Classic employs a fully encapsulated,
toroidal transformer to achieve the high plate voltage
required for true tube amplification. The 100% vacuum
tube signal path with a high-voltage power supply allows
the tubes to operate at their fullest potential. The
result is maximum dynamic range, the most gain,
the smoothest tone, and the low-order harmonics
from a tube preamp.
The pedal features true bypass with gold
relays, up to 90 dB of gain, a silent switching
circuit designed to eliminate noise when
changing channels, it works like a champ.
Built in a heavy-duty chassis with chicken
head knobs.
The Twin Tube Classic has twochannels, with a volume and gain control for
each channel. It effectively provides three channels to a
single-channel amp: Rhythm, Lead, and bypass. Voiced for classic
rock tones, the Rhythm channel goes from tasty grit to moderate crunch and
the Lead channel goes from thick chunky overdrive to a distortion that peels the wallpaper
right off the wall.
MSPR is $219.00, Ebay they run around $160.00. This is a great tube pre amp pedal at price thats
well worth it.
I
should take a second and thank my readers. Like myself, many of you
are interested in recording and engineering and enjoy picking up small
tips and interesting perspectives from the column. Some of you are just
starting. Some record for fun, and others are making their own records. It can be
an isolated existence, and it’s always good to network and share info with each
other. I learn a lot every time I sit down with my peers. Just like today with Rich
Haugen (pronounced “Hogan” ) from Super Natural Sound. If ever a guy had the
right to own a bumper-sticker that read “Got Gear?” this is the dude! Tube-tech,
Helios, Alan Smart, Neve, Daking…somebody stop me! Did I mention the most
beautiful API Legacy console you ever saw in your life? Yeah,
baby! Anyway, the room is big with natural light, the grand piano
finely tuned, and the engineer knows his stuff…
How long have been making your services available?
We’ve been here 17 years at this studio and had an earlier studio
called DAT SOUND in SW Portland for 3 years or so. I’ve been
in the business 20 years.
Did you come out of a school?
I did the PCC program and from then on it’s mostly been just
studying it, watching it and building up our rig.
How about the studio- you built this yourself?
I had a framer help me actually nail it together. There are certain
“ Golden Ratios” that you use when designing a room that eliminate room modes to the greatest degree possible. The honest
truth is rooms are works in progress a lot of times. Sonic treatments can solve lots of problems and greatly improve the sound
of most rooms. This one is fundamentally great, and to be honest
I got fairly lucky with it- it had such a great inherent sound.
When we put the wood floor in seven years ago, I could hear
the sound of the room change as I was laying the floor down.
When I was finished the tone of the room was remarkably better.
Every engineer who had used the big room earlier commented
on the improvement. Wood just sounds great that’s why they
make instruments out of it and that’s why it’s a big part of the acoustic treatments
I design and build.
And so you funded the whole thing yourself?
Yes, basically this is my 401k; as I’ve made money over the years I have continually invested in it.
You don’t pick up this kind of gear overnight.
It’s been a process for sure.
It takes a long time to research and find it and…
And pay for it! (laughter)
photo by Buko
Now, are you buying mostly new?
It’s a mix. I’d say 50/50. New and used. If I buy it on Ebay and I’m confident about
the seller, I’ll always do that. Some gear has just come out and is very difficult
to find used. The best stuff is rarely discounted significantly, so the warranty and
certainty involved in buying new product outweighs the additional cost.
When you buy the used is it generally already refurbished or you’re thinking “ it
doesn’t matter- I’m going to have it done” or…
Sometimes- it depends how bad I want it. For example, that AMS RMS-16 over
there- it came from a guy who was a tech so I was very confident it was going to
be in excellent shape. That reverb is over 20 years old- it sounds
as good or better than the 480L. It was sort of the British 480L
that came out, and it’s the bomb! I love old reverb sounds. I
have a great plate reverb in the tracking room that weighs most
of a ton. Probably more of that goes on records mixed here in
terms of the amount of gain than any other reverb I have just
because producers love that sound.
It’s an EMT?
It’s an Echoplate.
Is that 4 X 8?
It’s 4X8 yeah.
And that came out of the states, or overseas?
It came out of a studio in town. The thing about big stuff like
that is, when people have to sell it- they really have to sell it! You
can’t just put it in your car.
Did you have a goal when you built the place?
It’s interesting you ask that question. I always just wanted to
have the best room I could have. I’ve made lots of changes.
We’ve changed consoles in here a number of times up until this
one. And I won’t be changing this one. I won’t be changing it
again- that’s not going to happen.
And I should mention, it’s an API Legacy Plus console.
Yes with flying faders automation. It’s one of about 13 in the
world. They’re basically like a custom motorcycle- they’re hand
built to the specs of the original guy who buys it. We did a radical thing. It was
originally built with a double wide left hand tt bay and I really wanted a right-hand
patch bay because my trough is on the right side. So my main tech, Alan Garren
and I removed the two buckets on the left and consolidated this full double wide
patch bay into a single one, which hadn’t been done on a 48 channel Legacy Plus.
It’s far and away the finest console I’ve ever had.
It looks like you could cut an entire album with just those pre’s.
That’s what folks want.
So that was you’re goal- just to have a great sounding room?
Just to continually improve the room. The industry you know, is going through an
enormous change. It’s been brutal. Most studios this size have closed, particularly
in Nashville and Los Angeles. Portland’s been spared- mainly because studios here
have had to live on nothing for decades. Rates haven’t gone up in 20 years. It’s just a
weird Portland thing, a lot of people want to do studios here. The quality of rooms
available to people has improved dramatically in spite of the industry downturn.
The scene has improved then?
Right. There’s no nice rooms that are closing that I’ve heard of. Which is really
unusual. Hopefully things will continue to improve here in Portland. What’s
really driven the national decline is the death of the CD market. CD sales were
how record labels made all their money, and there really hasn’t been anything to
replace it. Consequently, I’ve made the most fundamental change in my perspective since I first got into the business. Up to now I have continually been working
on improving the sound of the rooms and the gearlist; the room now is pretty
much where I want it to be, though there’s always more mics and other cool stuff
that comes along. My energies now will be concentrated on Rainmaker Music
Group. Has Nick Moon told you about Rainmaker?
No, tell me about Rainmaker.
It’s a fairly new company that we started. It’s a full service production house that is
fully integrated with Toneproper Mastering and CD Forge. We will be negotiating
production deals with artists we like which will involve making and selling records,
producing shows and assisting our artists with all other aspects of a successful
music career. Our aim is to find, develop and retain the most promising bands and
singer/songwriters and in doing this, craft better and deeper artistic and business
relationships with them. In that way it’s like a label, but our model requires that
“When we put the wood floor in seven
years ago, I could hear the sound of the
room change as I was laying the floor
down. And it got way better- ‘cause
wood just sounds great! That’s why
they make instruments out of it.”
we do live sound exceptionally well. To this end we have put together a fabulous
rig that we can use in any venue that seats less than 2500 or so people. We will
have Neumann mics, a full 10 space api 500 rack, a bunch of great Avalon Design
comps and eq’s, an Alan Smart c2, a pair of Universal Audio1176’s and any of the
other essentials for making great tone. This will be routed thru a Midas console
and EAW mains and subs- it will sound better than any club-sized PA in town. I’ve
always felt that the final frontier in audio is live sound. While some of the most
successful bands do this exceptionally well, it’s rare that artists and audiences at
the club level get to experience it. Concerts are seen as money makers for the band
and typically most of the effort spent on bigger amps and cabinets and less attention and money spent on the quality of the signal that is fed to them; we all know
about the garbage in-garbage out principle. We will set up our live sound as if we’re
tracking a record- and many times we will be. A sweet front end that begins with
a great sounding instrument is how great sounding tones and mixes are achieved.
It’ll have that attention to detail that you’re talking about.
It’ll have basically a really quality signal path that gets you the sound. There’s
kind of an artificial distinction that’s been made between live sound and studio
sound. What I found when applying studio principles of using drum sub-mixes
and other things to live sound that it just works magic. The vocals will be sweeter,
you can hear everything that’s being said or sung. That’s my goal for live sound,
to make it sound like a record.
It’s called Rainmaker?
It’s called Rainmaker Music Group. It’s Nick Moon, Steve Murray and I. Rose
Allen has been helping us, and she’s going to be a big part of it.
Let me ask you about the room. Your reverb time is about where you want it ?
The room sounds great!
How high’s your ceiling?
It’s about 17ft at it’s peak and slopes down to about 14ft.
You have a drum booth, do you ever pull drums out and do them in the big room?
Most of the drums are done in the big room because producers are after the room
sound on the kit. Its a room reverb like any other you might dial up on a digital
Speaking of the upheaval in the recording industry and studio world, are guys
coming here just to get drums?
Absolutely. I have people come here just for drums, I have people come here just for
mix. The API Legacy, for rock records, it’s the best mixer in the world. Most people
would agree with that. SSL 9000’s and old 80 series Neves are really fine as well.
What type of music have you yet to record?
We haven’t done a lot of hip-hop.
“Rainmaker is a fairly new company that we started. It’s a full service production
house that is fully integrated with Toneproper Mastering and CD Forge. We will
be negotiating production deals with artists we like which will involve making and
selling records, producing shows and assisting our artists with all other aspects of a
successful music career. Our aim is to find, develop and retain the most promising
bands and singer/songwriters”
reverb except that its real and not a simulation. The best reverb sounds are usually
You said you’re one of the more expensive studios. Is there a flat rate?
real rooms and chambers. Thats how they did it back in the day before the digital
The rate here is $600 a day. But a lot is going to be changing. Ultimately what we’d
boxes were invented in the late seventies.
like to see is our own Rainmaker Music Group productions filling up the studio.
Often times the drum sound is the sound of the record…
You’re bringing in clients under Rainmaker?
Exactly. I can’t tell you what a holy grail the Led Zeppelin drum sound is. An
Yeah, we’re in the record business. And not just records, but live sound, merchanamazing number of artists will come in here and that will be the
dise, events, tickets, concessions and all that stuff. The business
fight- did the engineer really achieve that? It’s a little silly just
has changed so much, the bottom has fallen out of the CD
because that’s a specific room and kit and mic setup, but there
market. It’s crushed studios. It’s crushed labels. We have a lot to
are ways to approach that, to get that type of sound.
offer artists in terms of the institutional knowledge and gear. The
And a way to play too, from what I understand.
industry buzzword for our approach is “vertically integrated”.
Absolutely.
Essentially we will be partnering with artists and attempting
And tune your drums etc.
to make a much bigger and better pie so that we all can make a
Right.
living doing what we love.
Do you ever listen to your early demo reels- your very early stuff?
Distribution, are you working with local?
I put it on occasionally. A lot of stuff we did earliest was the
We’re going to rent distribution until we have enough critical
band I was playing in.
mass to get it in a more formal way, the way labels have it. We
What band was that?
made a great blues record called FIREWATER! It’s amazing how
It was called the Hartatax. This was ’88-90. Most of it was done
well it worked. It’s a compilation that was released it at the Wateron a ½” 16 track at DAT Sound. Mixing is a blend of instinct
front Blues Festival. It got a lot of airplay on a number of stations
and experience. When I set up I just try to get the best tones
and great reviews. We’re going to be doing more of that kind of
essentially, that’s the process you go thru- I always try to get and
thing, we’ll be doing a jazz record soon thru Rainmaker, and a
print the tone. Then once you’re in the mix phase, you sort of go
number of other ones- it’s just a great way to meet the artists.
at it again, and unless it’s just perfect, then you’re going to think
That will be recorded here?
about what EQ or compressor is going to flatter that sound the
Yeah. We had 10 different blues artists come in over three days
most, relative to the rest of the mix.
to track it. We had a great sounding kit so our drums sounds
3319 SE Division
Do you have time for experimentation, or is that up to the client?
were very consistent and excellent, as well as everything else.
503-238-GITR
It just depends, we are a relatively expensive studio for this town
I know preamps are all subjective, but is there a pre that you’re
and budgets are tight so what people will say is “we’re going to [email protected] using constantly since you got it?
mix the whole thing in 2 days…” so they’ll pound until 4 in the www.guitarcrazy.com The API preamps in many respects are just the best sounding for
morning and usually fall short. I would say that most people do some. There is a
a lot of applications. All mic pre’s have different flavors and different ones work
lot of really cool stuff you can do as far as re-amping guitars. I’ve seen a number of
better or worse at different times on different instruments. But I love the Neves,
projects with small drum sounds actually run those drums thru speakers and mic
I love the Daking, I love the Helios 69’s. The Quad-8’s are fantastic!
the room up so they can print the Super-Natural sound. It’s amazingly effective!
Now you have a Yamaha C7, a beautiful piano. What pre are you…?
Like running drums thru a PA?
What’s my piano signal path?. The one I like the best is probably a pair of Neve
Yeah. I have a pair of Tannoy active speakers that Joe (Chiccarelli) loves and mixes
1084’s, the Chandler compressor, and the blue bottle mics with the B6 capsules.
thru, that we can set up in the room there, like 15ft away or so
That’s just a glory piano sound.
you set up a pair of stereo mics; just bus the drums down there and that’s what
That sounds like a pretty impressive signal path.
you’ve got.
That Chandler compressor is modeled after the mix compressor on the old EMI
Are you going for the body then or cymbals and everything?
consoles that the Beatles used. Its very articulate yet very squishy sounding. The
Sometimes the engineer will send down the cymbals with the kit, sometimes not.
sparkly detail in the high end comes through even when you use lots of gain
It basically puts the drums in that space.
reduction at high ratio’s. A lot of times lesser units tend to dull it- they don’t give
you the detail. This thing is crazy, especially if you have it on the limit function.
So you’re getting the notes to sing and ring?
It just creates a track that sits really nicely in the mix. That’s probably my favorite
piano set up.
Those are large diaphragms and you’re using two.
Stereo pair, yes.
What do you monitor on?
We have Adam S3A’s, we have NS-10s that have a sub on them as well. And the
Westlake HR-1’s. Those speakers weigh 500 pounds each and have a very cool
pedigree. They were originally installed in Pink Floyd’s Britannia Row A room
in the mid-80s. Following that they spent some time at Bernie Becker Mastering
when a number of the later Neil Diamond records were made.
What do you listen for on each of these?
The Westlakes will show you details such as reverb tails and other aspects of
your sound and tones that you can’t get anywhere else. And they also are very
critical when your mix is done- it should sound great on these. If it doesn’t it will
show you in the mids where you messed up. The Adams are great; they’re not as
fatiguing because they have a ribbon tweeter. They also show you the low mids
in a way that nothing else does.
So you’re after clarity there?
Yeah. Essentially if there is something muddy going on down at 300hz, it’s going to
show you that in spades so you can solve it. If people are mixing for long periods
at a time they use them.
Which one do you turndown super quiet for that low-volume leveling?
You know, a lot of guys do that. I tend to mix up my levels quite a bit.
Primarily, I want to hear what my mix is doing when it’s 95db or so. I also hook a
boom-box up sometimes and have that be my fourth set of monitors. Sometimes
you want to hear what it’s going to sound like on a crappy stereo.
So are you slapping heavy compression on the stereo buss to get a feel for how it
might sound on the radio?
You know, there’s always mastering after this anyway. My opinion is that you
just want the best sounding mix you can come up with. It’s not a CD-ready song
because it hasn’t gone thru mastering. The better mix you give the mastering
engineer, the better it’s going to be.
But are you using compression and limiting as a “look-ahead”?
Well we absolutely use mix-buss compression and EQ on any record. We usually
use the GML 8200and the API 2500 or the Tube-Tech Multi-band.
Do you take it off before giving it to mastering, or do you leave it on and say
“this is where I’m headed”?
That’s it, absolutely. You don’t want a completely squashed main mix. Then you’ve
given the mastering engineer nothing to work with. You want to account for 2 or
3 db of compression that he may want to use to bring out aspects of the record
that’s compelling. You compare the original mix to the mastered and it should
sound better- that’s what their job is!
Can you share a moment that elevated your engineering skills?
The biggest moments were when I lobbied the folks that were buying equipment
for live rigs. I told them we really need a class-A mix compression and EQ on this.
We put Avalon 747 on left / right and 737 in the center. Immediately, it started to
sound much more like a record. Prior to this the venue had a Behringer multicom
on left, center, right and sub right before the amps. It was peaking at around -25db
at the levels normally used in the building and it just murdered their sound.
Which part of the studio are you hoping to upgade?
We’re doing a B room right now. The studios are fairly complete, equipment wise.
The biggest upgrade will be the live sound rig. We’re going to be a full-service
music production company. That’s the revolution that’s happening, because
frankly, the business model for studios doesn’t exist anymore. If all you’re doing
is selling studio time, I don’t know how you can make money. ProTools rigs have
gone into everyone’s bedroom, and at the same time the recording industry is
a quarter of the size it was in 2000 because the CD market has been in a 20%
decline annually for years.
So, you still have to make the music, but there needs to be a change of reference
mentally, that’s why we’re looking into forming partnerships with the artists that
we believe in. We intend to shine a positive light on them, and likewise they’ll
Discover
the
possibilities.
Jazz,
Blues
& NPR News
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KMHD Development-503 491-7271
be shining a positive light on Rainmaker, Supernatural Sound and Tone Proper
Mastering. So I think ultimately that’s how the corner’s going to be turned in
the industry.
Can you name a few engineers you hold in esteem?
(without pausing) Chiccarelli! His chops are legendary. He’s done Zappa, Elton
John, Tori Amos, Beck, U2. He’s as big a guy as there is in the business. He’s excellent. I think Portland in general has some outstanding
talent. Nick Moon is a fantastic engineer that gets superior tones
and mixes very quickly. Jordan Richter, Sean Flora, Rob Bartleson,
Dean Baskerville, Tony Lash, Jeff Saltzmann and Gabe Wilson are all
outstanding talents who have each made a number of great sounding
records here. Other stellar talents that have worked here include Larry
Crane, Tucker Martine, Reid Shippen, and TJ Doherty.
Name two pieces of gear you have your eye on.
I’ve always wanted a long-body U47 or U48. I lusted after that TubeTech multi-band compressor for a number of years until I found one
on Ebay. I’ve never had a compressor that I could dive into and really
make any two-track source sound better no matter what.
Wow- pretty valuable huh?
It really is. It’s as much of an EQ as a compressor. The audio quality
is amazing!
Speaking of mics- do you have any Klaus Heyne mods?
I don’t. I’ve got a couple I want Klaus to work on though. He’s a guru.
And that’s really what it’s about. The guys that build really good gear
are artists. Like Rupert Neve, he invented the electronics of great
preamps, EQ’s and consoles such that when you put music in it just
sounds better coming out the other end.
Because of 2nd and 3rd harmonics and things like that?
Yeah. For example, an API 550b EQ. You can leave it flat and run
some audio thru it, and most of the time it sounds better coming out
the other side. It’s not bypassed, but all the bands are flat. If you want
to know the nature of a piece of gear, listen to it flat and see what it’s
doing to your source.
How young were you when you started recording?
I really got started when I found out how expensive recording studios were, and
started my own rig. I didn’t want to pay the freight, but I sure wished I would’ve,
cause you can’t get that music back.
So it happened to you, and it’s happening to other people. You can drop ten
grand easily on a record.
The way to make the best record for the money is to use a big studio like this that
has a great sounding room to track with so you get your print basics tracks properly.
Be well rehearsed and do it as fast as you can. Then you take it home for editing
and overdubs, where most of the time is spent. Following this, bring it back to a
big studio and you use all the outboard and great summing on the console, and
that’s how you make the record.
That’s the cost-effective way to do it?
That’s the cost-effective way to do it. If you’re a band like the Shins, that have a
relatively big budget, you can do most of the overdubs and editing in house like
they did here.
Do you have a Rich Haugen basic drum mic set-up?
My basic set-up for drums for drums would start with an AKG D20 on kick.
There are a number of ways to get kick. Sometimes a condenser a yard away will
and listen to what is happening. The real about phase is it’s not just 180 or zero,
there are phase relationships all along the spectrum. So most of the time, the way
you’re going to solve your phase issue is to position your mics differently and get
them as close to one of those 180 poles as you can, and have the phase button in
whatever position it needs to be.
photo by Buko
get aspects that you want to put in. Snare-wise I love the Sennheiser 441 top
and bottom and maybe a condenser, a KM84 or Octava taped to the top mic
to squash and blend in. On toms I like Sennheiser 421’s usually about an inch
and a half away from the head at a 30 degree angle. For rooms, the Blue Bottles
are impossible to beat. For overheads KM84’s and I love Audio-technica 4041’s.
They’re very sweet sounding.
They’re really quick, and you like the top on them?
Yeah it’s a really warm, rich-sounding mic.
You’re bottle mics for room- what are they, 10ft high?
You want to make the room mic’s equi-distant from the snare. Get out your
measuring tape. That will give you a coherent snare sound. There’s a sweet spot
for kick drum that Wes the drum tech from the Shins session found by walking
around the room hitting the kick with a beater.
How are you checking for phase. Are you looking at waveforms or using a clicker?
The rough way to check phase is just to push the phase button on the console
Announcing MacPac’s Digital Audio Division
Naturally room mics are going to be out of phase because of the distance?
That’s the whole point of having your mics equi-distant from the snare.
You measure because you want that wave to arrive exactly at the same time, but
there’s going to different phase relationships in there as well with the toms etc.
Do you tend to use your overheads and bring in the close mics?
It depends on the tune. Sometimes the overheads sound the best and sometimes
the room. You can have all or none or any ratio in between.
It’s all subjective, tempo, type of song etc.
It’s all art.
What’s your current back-up system?
Now days it’s so easy cause drives are dirt cheap. Back-up is the responsibility of
the independent (producer) if there is one, otherwise we back up to two drives,
you always want two copies in different places.
If a band wants to use tape do they stay tape the whole way?
No. They usually track basics and almost always go into Protools.
Comparative listening CD’s- what do you use?
I have a list I listen to a lot. I listen to Neil Young, Dylan, Tom Petty, the Dead,
the Beatles as well as some more contemporary records.
You use Tone Proper for mastering now that you’re in association, but did you
have luck with any mastering houses in town?
A number of projects went to Freq or Superdigital. A lot of times
it’s not my decision. Most of the time it’s not. It’s up to the artist
or the label.
Back to the comparative listening CD. If you were to walk into a
room, generally what would you play.
Tom Petty Wildflowers, some Stones, and Dire Straits. Whatever
is going to give me the most information about whatever rig I’m
listening to.
How do you approach compression on drums? Do you sometimes
compress when you’re tracking?
Oh yeah. My basic philosophy is print the tones you want. I know
some guys just want to do the straight mic pre to tape thing, and to me
that’s just a way of avoiding decisions. I want the best sound printed.
So kick, snare, toms going to tape?
Yes.
Is that mainly getting the hit, the punch, and is protecting your
levels part of that too?
You have to realize that compressors are as much about tone as
volume regulation. The reason for this is that they magnify the quieter
aspects of your signal. A lot of things, especially vocals, the loudest
parts of the vocal are maybe not what you want to hear as much.
Where as the quieter aspects, or harmonic aspects of that sound
that make it sparkle. The name of the game is to sort of modulate
the envelope of that so that the better aspects of the tone are brought
down relative to the other ones.
And that’s the tone- not necessarily the singer’s dynamic- the
whispering etc?
All singers are going to have their own sound. Hopefully they have good vocal
technique. I don’t really like it when a singer moves back and forth on the mic
too much.
It changes the tone.
It really does. You get proximity effect etc, but vocalists do it. If you’ve got a good
compressor on it, they’ll do it less. Because they’ll hear that working.
Oh, so you’ll have that in their fold-back?
Oh yeah! Our headphone system is the 16 channel Furman, and basically you
just open up the pipe and the band solves their own problems.
What are you’re best sounding pre’s. Is there a “desert island pre”?
You know- if I had a pair of Fearns I’d probably say yes. All the pre’s I have in here
I love. Whether it’s the Helios or the Quad8 or the Daking or the API. They’re
just all really good- they’re just different flavors.
The ones I have the most of- the API, if you’re doing a mic pre shoot-out they’re
going to win a lot of the time.
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Marc Baker
503-227-1771
Really. The details there…
In a sense API has a very hi-fi, almost rubbery quality to it, that is really musically
pleasing especially for rock. In a lot of ways they are less colored than a Neve or
Daking. So if the question was what mic pre I really ought to get, it might be a
Grace or Millennia or something known for transparency.
How do you approach a mix?
I start with drums. I want to get them to where they need to be, to be the foundation for the rhythm section. My first big job is to get the rhythm section right.
We’ll almost always add in Alan Smart on the sub-mix, usually just the drums,
sometimes the room, rarely the cymbals. You bring that back on a couple faders
and that just makes the drums pop. There are certain pieces that I just couldn’t
do audio without.
Really?
And Alan Smart is one of them.
For sub-mixing drums?
Yes, though sometimes put we put it on the whole record. What I found in listening is what I’m really using the Alan Smart compressor for is to get the snare kick
and toms to pop. I found that I usually dont like what it does to the cymbals. But
there are no fixed rules.
When you’re squashing your room mics for drums are you using the Distressors?
I’ve seen them used for that. They’re typically used on kick and snare.
A favorite set of overhead compressors are Spectra-Sonics 610’s . They’re a late
60’s early 70’s design and only they do what they do.
So you’re saying if you’re API pre into Alan Smart, it makes your job easier
because you’re going for that punch and trying to glue the kit together. Then you
leave your overheads nice and airy and separate from the sub-mix.
Yes. When I get independents in here, and they’re most of my business by far, I
pay close attention to their signal chains and their mix set-up. If there is something
really compelling about what they are trying to do I’ll have a chat with them
about it- if it’s appropriate, And that’s just the process of learning more about the
alchemy of sound.
Are you flipping overheads out of phase with the rest of the kit?
You need to just position the mics on the kit in such a way that they’re not causing
you any phase problems.
So you measure?
You listen more than anything.
Are you a 3:1 rule guy?
The 3:1 rule that I would mention is that the mic pre has three times as much
impact on the quality of a tone than does the microphone. What I mean is you’re
way better off with a better mic pre and a less expensive mic than the other way
around. Every record ever made has got Shure 57’s on it, often with a mic pre that
costs 20 times as much. The mic preamplifier is the circuit whereby a mic level
signal becomes line-level so a console can work with it.
Any books that you could recommend to would-be-engineers?
The kind of bible of sound is Modern Recording Techniques. The author of it is
David Miles Huber, he’s been down here a couple of times, a really nice guy who
knows as much about the business and audio as anyone.
What’s your ratio between guys that just track and guys that just mix with you?
I would say about a third of them do the whole thing here. A third of them track
here and a third of them mix here. It kind of depends where people are at in their
project and what their mind-set is. A lot of people just have to have the drum sound,
and once they get that they’re fine in the box. Audio is totally cumulative. Every
step along the chain that you can make an improvement, it’s going to translate to
the over-all output at the end of the line.
Thanks again Rich. Any advice for would-be-engineers?
Use your ears. That’s your number one resource. Have a persistent and relentless
work ethic. Always make the best record you can for the artist.
Contact Rich at Super Natural Sound 503.631.7909
www.super-naturalsound.com
www.rainmakermusicgroup.com
Welcome To The Future
by Carl Tietze
R
ecording your music at home has never been easier, cheaper, or more
powerful. But before you spend a dime, Portland’s electronic guru
Solovox can show you the lay of the land...
Ever since Bing Crosby gave legendary guitarist Les Paul an Ampex Model
200 reel-to-reel tape deck only to watch Paul re-engineer it into the world’s first
multitrack tape machine, we have had the glorious ability to overdub. No longer
required to perform live flawlessly as a group, musicians could now layer and layer
and edit their mistakes along the way. From that fateful gift in 1948 to the creation
of masterpieces like Sgt. Pepper’s and Dark Side Of The Moon, multitracking may
be the single most important musical invention of the 20th century. Thanks Les!
Welcome to the 21st century. Ampex, the legendary maker of tape decks and
more importantly the tape itself, is now out of business. Today’s
generation of young musicians have never used a cassette tape...
some haven’t even bought a CD thanks to iTunes and other digital
download sites. Gone are tape hiss, tape hum, bias adjustments,
razor blades and ping-pong tracking. Today we have new strange
terms, like MIDI, ASIO, VST, TDM, S/PDIF, ADAT, and MP3.
It’s no wonder that the average musician looks across the counter
at today’s music store and feels a sense of utter confusion...even
dread...at deciding where to begin. Well don’t go running for that
harmonica and banjo to ‘get back to the basics’ just yet. I’ve got
plenty of good news...and some simple answers to the mystery of
making music in 2008.
Prices Down, Power Up
The only thing more amazing than the last thirty years of
music technology is the last five. In 2001 I finally took the plunge
and went for a computer-based system with top-notch synthesiz- Carl Tietze.
ers, effects, monitors, and microphones. Within 3 years most of my studio was
obsolete.
Why the sudden revolution? Computer power, plain and simple. By 2003 or
so desktop computers and laptops had made huge strides in both overall power
(CPU) and memory (RAM). Seemingly overnight a laptop with 2.0ghz of CPU
power and 2GB of RAM cost less than $1000...and the software developers didn’t
look back. Old digital workhorses like ProTools, the industry standard for digital
recording, were joined by new programs like Reason, Ableton Live, Sonar, FL
Studio, and many others. Suddenly a few hundred dollars could give you more
sonic potential on your laptop than anyone ever dreamed possible. Hardware
studios like mine began to collect dust, and everyday lovers of music began to
build little yet astonishingly powerful ‘studios’ in their basements.
Getting Started
This is an amazing time to make music at home. It has never been cheaper or
more powerful...and players of every stripe and talent can join the fun. The most
common question folks like me are asked is an important one: what do I buy?
The Big Four items, of course!
How about an easy way to remember the Big Four items? M.A.C.S. (and
no...I don’t necessarily mean you should line the pockets of Steve Jobs). Let’s
reverse it: S. C. A. M. Either way...it means: Software
Computer
Audio Interface
Midi Controller
That’s it. Do you need monitors...as in speakers? You bet. But many classic
21st century recordings have already been made on headphones...so I can’t call
monitors a ‘must have.’ Unless you’ve been living in 1974, you probably already
own a computer...right? Some of you may already have a MIDI-equipped keyboard. You see...you’re halfway there!
Computer
In upcoming issues, I will devote special articles for the nitty gritty about what
kind of computer to buy, the Mac Vs. Pc saga, and more. For this article, let’s just
assume you already own a desktop or laptop with at least a 1ghz processor...more
than likely if you’ve bought your computer in the past 5 years you’ll be ready to
rock. RAM has never been cheaper; if you have less than 1GB of memory, don’t
be a tightwad...upgrade to 2GB and thank me later. Having firewire or USB 2.0
ports is the other must-have.
Audio Interface
In plain English, the audio interface is the bridge between our ears and the
computer world of one’s and zero’s. It converts our voices, guitars and bagpipes
into the computer code that our software is really processing. Let me clarify something right up front: don’t use the audio interface that is built into your computer.
If you plan on playing any type of sound on your computer with a keyboard…
you’ll want to have a real interface. ASIO, or Audio Stream Input/Output is the
standard protocol for computer-based music-making. But don’t
worry…every audio interface you see behind the counter is going
to have ASIO. One less thing to worry about.
The real question with your audio interface is to decide how
many inputs. Just recording your voice and guitar? A two-input
interface will do the trick. Having your buddy over to record a full
drum kit with his new set of drum mics? You’ll need a more professional 8-input interface to accommodate all those microphones.
Answer the question of ‘how many inputs’ and the choices will
become clear.
I greatly recommend Lexicon’s new line of audio interfaces.
The Alpha, Lambda, and Omega units are respectively 2, 4, and 8
inputs audio boxes that not only come with a great reverb under
the Lexicon name, but an incredibly powerful piece of software
called Cubase LE, which provides you all the recording power you
may ever need. Shockingly, all of these units are under $200. Don’t
worry, I had to rub my eyes the first time I read it too.
Midi Controller
Sometimes folks try to reduce this list to Three and bump the midi controller.
They are foolish. It’s not just because I’m a piano player, folks…you need a midi
controller. From playing virtual drum kits to laying down string arrangements…
there is no better tool in the last thousand years or so than a keyboard to relate your
musical ideas quickly. The big bonus is that so many controllers (keyboards that do
not have sounds in them, but control the sounds inside the computer) come with
knobs, faders and buttons to give an immediate hands-on feel to your work on the
computer. Further, even though MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is
almost thirty years old, it has successfully jumped on the USB bandwagon…and
your computer will provide power to your keyboard as it communicates. Sweet!
M-Audio has an impressive line of controllers, from their flagship Keystation
Pro with it’s oodles of knobs and weighted piano action, to the highly popular
Axiom series. Check out the Axiom’s soft drum pads if you plan on making lots
of beats. My personal fave is the Korg MicroKontrol, and the very similar SL line
from Novation.
And the budget approach? The next time you are at Fred Meyer buying
another case of PBR, stop by the Electronics department and pick up just about
any of the cheap consumer keyboards…almost all of which have MIDI. Then
find the USB Uno from M-Audio at your locally-owned music store to convert
the midi into a USB port. Voila.
Looks like we’re out of time to talk about the really fun stuff…software! We’ll
pick up here next time and talk about the ‘Trinity’ of programs that thousands
of folks are using to make their musical dreams come true…see you next time.
Note: Carl has been making electronic and acoustic music for over 20 years. His
website, www.solovox.com, features hours of free streaming music and info. His music is
frequently broadcast nationally and he performs in the Northwest regularly. He teaches
music software privately and at Portland Music Company located at 531 SE MLK.
Check his web site for upcoming shows.
Musicians, it’s your Union.
9
9
l
a
c
o
L
T
M
AF
he motto for Portland area
Movietone and phonograph record work. In
Musicians Union Local 99
the 1930’s The Encyclopedia of Recorded
is: Unity, Strength and
Music was published. Newspapers started
ent
Power. How does that exactly translate
record columns. Radio, recorded music and music education created a
by Keith Robert Laur
to you, the local musician? Before you
can really get a grasp on the motto
music conscious nation.
of this local, you need to identify a little of the organization’s history.
In the 1940’s the AFM worked with the record companies and created what
In the mid 1880s musicians in the United States began exploring ways to
we know as the Recording Industries Music Performance Funds which continues
improve their professional lives. They formed Mutual Aid Societies to provide
to promote music appreciation and music education through sponsorship of free
members with loans and financial assistance during illness or extended unemploypublic performances throughout the US and Canada. The AFM obtained its first
ment, and death benefits. A number of these organizations became early unions
written collective bargaining agreement with the motion picture industry. In the
serving various constituencies, however, problems arose between them due to
1960’s record sales increased as the landscape for the listener became abundant
competition. In 1896, delegates from these organizations gathered at the invitation
with numerous styles of music including “Rock & Roll” and “Folk Music”.
of The American Federation of Labor (AFL) President to organize and charter a
The U.S. Congress cut the Cabaret Tax to 10% and nightclub bookings
musician’s trade union. A majority of the delegates voted to form the American
rose. In 1972 the Congress passed a law making music piracy subject to criminal
Federation of Musicians (AFM), representing 3000 musicians nationally. They
prosecution. Serious. In the 1980’s the union worked to make the Digital Audio
resolved: “That any musician who receives pay for his musical services, shall be
Recorder Act a reality. The union established the “ROADGIG” Emergency
considered a professional musician.” Within the first 10 years, the AMF expanded
Traveling Assistance Program, which provides aid and emergency cash relief when
to serve the US and Canada, organized 424 Locals, and represented 45,000 musimembers experience a contract default while on the road. The AFM then follows
cians throughout North America.
up with the enforcement of the terms of the contract. With new technologies
Musicians Union Local 99 was formed in 1899 in Portland, Oregon. Operarriving almost everyday, the 1990’s proved to be huge for the whole industry.
ated by musicians, “for” musicians. A lot has happened in the realm of music and
Multimedia technologies and sound sampling on the internet were just some of
entertainment business since 1899. Fair wage scales (minimum prices) for travelthe issues facing the musicians. The AFM has been involved with the protection
ing orchestras, comic operas, musical comedies and similar shows and attractions
of the musician’s rights on a national level to a local level for over 100 years.
were set in 1904. With the production of Thomas Edison’s voice recording on tin
Recently, I had a chance to sit down and chat with Portland’s Musician Union
foil in 1877, a revolution began with the way music was heard and sold. By the
President, Bruce Fife. Fife was a veteran musician himself performing full time
early 20th century, the recording of everything from vaudeville sketches to the
for over 25 years. Moving to Portland, he became a Musicians Union Local 99
classical repertoire was under way. Unemployment for musicians increased with
member and became highly involved in union activities. His enthusiasm leads
the growing success of the commercial recordings. When the US congress passed
to his election as Portland’s Union President in 2001, and is currently serving his
the 18th amendment in 1918 and adopted a 20% “Cabaret Tax” on admissions to
3rd term. Portland’s Local 99 is one of the most active musician’s unions in the
various entertainment establishments, to support the war, it also lead to decreased
U.S. and Canada. By active, I mean involved in issues that affect the well being
employment for musicians. Radio broadcasts of musical performances began to
of not only the national, but also the local musician. Fife’s demeanor was one of
reduce the number of job opportunities for live performers. Within three years of
passion for his work. His excitement and pride was evident as he spoke of the
the release of the first “Talkie” (film with sound), 22,000 theater jobs for musicians
new radio station license issued in May 2008. This station’s (91.1 FM) broadcast
who accompanied silent movies where lost. With this new technology however
signal will reach most of the East Metro area, as well as much of Portland east of the
only a few hundred jobs were created for musicians performing on sound tracks.
Willamette. The license was granted as part of a rare opening of non-commercial
The AFM got to work and in 1928 set minimum wage scales with Vitaphone,
radio licenses available to non-profit organizations. As a non-commercial sta-
“Local 99 advocates for
labor and human rights, as
well as on issues of arts and
free speech.”
photo by Buko
tion, 91.1 FM will run no advertising and will be supported by its listeners and
underwriting. As the format of the station’s airplay is yet to be determined, all
indications are that 91.1 FM is going to put its emphasis on the local music community. With the announcement of the license in May, Fife said, “We are hopeful
that Portland’s diverse and vibrant local music scene will be well represented on
this new station. It’s long past due for these talented musicians to share valuable
space on the airwaves.”
Another recent issue the Musicians Union Local 99 had been involved in
was a unanimous vote by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to
changes in the Minor Posting rules. The new Minor Posting, #VI, makes it possible
for minors to be present at a show if the venue has an approved (by the OLCC)
control plan, to keep alcohol out of the hands of minors. This has been allowed
under certain conditions already such as Blazer games and the Crystal Ballroom,
but the new ruling formalizes the process and opens up the all age potential for
more mixed-use facilities.
In the end of the 1990’s, with declining presence of music education in the
local schools, the Musicians Union Local 99, along with private donations, created a non-profit organization titled: The Music Education Assistance Project
(MEAP). The focus of MEAP is to provide funds for private lesson instruction
to talented and needy students from late elementary to high school. The Music
Education Assistance Project extends its benefits to students in Northern Oregon
and Southwest Washington.
The Portland Musicians Union Local 99, which services an area from Albany,
Oregon to Centralia, Washington, has close to 700 members, which range from
classical players to club and casual performers. Local 99 maintains offices and
a meeting hall facility at 325 N.E. 20th Ave in Portland, Oregon. Meeting hall
rentals are available for small to medium-sized private events. Members have
free use of the hall for rehearsal space. As a local musician the scale of benefits
the Musician Union has to offer is vast to say the least. Some offering include:
Union Plus benefits, political advocacy, federation contracts, legal services, group
insurance rates, referral hotline, toll free road help, national and international
recording contracts, pension plan, payroll service, music performance and film
trust funds (RIMPTF), business guidance and seminars. Here are few samplings
from the Portland Musicians Union’s website which explain some of the current
issues at hand:
“Local 99 advocates for labor and human rights, as well as on issues of arts
and free speech. Local 99, as part of the American Federation of Musicians, is part
of a coalition working to bring sound performance royalties to terrestrial radio.
This group, the musicFirst coalition is a partnership of artists and organizations
in the music community who support compensating performers for their work
when it’s played over the air. Corporate radio has had a free pass for too long.
It’s time to level the playing field and promote fairness among all types of radio.”
This is from the musicFirst Mission Statement. “People who love music
understand that creativity, talent and hard work are required to bring it to life.
The goal of musicFirst (Fairness in Radio Starting Today) is to ensure that
struggling performers, local musicians and well-known artists are compensated
for their music when it is played both today and in the future. Of all the ways we
listen to music, corporate radio is the only one that receives special treatment.
Big radio has a free pass to play music, refusing to pay even a fraction of a penny
to the performers that brought it to life. musicFirst (Fairness in Radio Starting
Today) is committed to making sure everyone, from up-and-coming artists to our
favorites from years-ago, is guaranteed Fair Pay for Air Play.”
The work of the Musicians Union Local 99 is constantly changing, as is the
landscape of the world of music itself. These folks are on the cutting edge of protecting you and your rights as a musician. Their knowledge base is deep, however
the technologies of the day always make it a challenge to protect the rights of the
musician. The motto: Unity, Strength and Power, and how that exactly translates
to you, the local musician, is up to you! Get the word out to unite fellow musicians to rally around what’s important to them. Together, you can achieve the
strength necessary to elevate the rights of a musician to a higher standard, along
with building power by joining forces to be a proud, professional, musician. If
you would like more information about Portland’s Musicians Union Local 99,
you can find them on the web at: www.afm99.org.
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“Studio or live, musicians are my specialty.”
D
espite the level of notoriety she received during the Jackson’ years,
and despite her collaborative relationship with Jeff Beck, Jennifer
Batten, in 2008, remains humble and directed, thoughtful and
relaxed. Confidently spoken and calm, with a disarming smile and sharp intellect
visible through a pair of mindful blue eyes, Batten is quite a contradiction to the
prowling guitar wielding, leather and feather clad stage vixen of the Jackson days,
by Anne Steiner
For an accomplished rock
guitarist who shared her talents
as lead guitarist with Michael
Jackson for three album tours; who
wrote, played and toured with the
legendary guitarist Jeff Beck; and
who worked elbow to elbow in the
production room with respected
guitarist, songwriter and producer,
Michael Sembello, one could say
Jennifer Batten has been to the
mountain-top, or at least, has
gotten as close as most guitarists
have ever been to it.
“Four or five days after her audition, she
According to Batten, ‘I was never really
I just kept getting called to rehearsals and
ticket to Tokyo where I was rooming
was called back to play with the band.
officially informed that I was on the tour,
then the next thing I knew, I had a plane
with Sheryl Crow.’ ”
remembered primarily for her snarl, shred and strut. Batten even allowed herself
to be covered with over 100,000 live bees for her MTV Europe video, Flight of the
Bumblebee in the early 90’s. From the period of late ‘80’s and into the 90’s, Batten
worked hard and rocked hard, and found herself in the right place at the right time.
With guitar in hands, however, the word “understated” as a descriptor has to
be thrown out. Perhaps replaced with more fitting descriptions, something like Thriller – a prophetic description given by Michael Jackson, who auditioned and
selected Batten from among hundreds of guitarists in 1987 for his 3.5 year BAD
tour and subsequently employed her for his two following tours, DANGEROUS
and HISTORY. In that time, Jackson provided Batten a platform for recognition
and credentials unreached by many touring guitarists, which Batten will be the
first to tell you was the single most profound opportunity of her lifetime. Not
only did she get to play on stage to millions of audiences with a world-famous
superstar, but she also landed the cover of Guitar Player magazine in1989, gave
interviews to international press, and was afforded the opportunity to meet her
life-long guitar idol, Jeff Beck, resulting in a collaborative musical relationship
which was the gift of a lifetime for Batten.
And it’s right about now, one has to ask – How does something like this
happen anyway?
On her next attempt, she was accepted into GIT’s one-year program,
recounting the sense that it was odd that she was the only female enrolled in
the program. It was there that she developed her technical foundation, gaining
musical chops and experience studying with prominent guitarists and musicians
in the industry. The school, heavy into improvisation, required Batten to step out
of her comfort zone of “songs” and start stretching her abilities in improvising.
After one year, and upon graduation, Batten says that she learned just enough to
realize she knew almost nothing.
On Her Way
After graduating, she returned home to San Diego, began teaching during
days, held a security job in evenings and began living the life of a struggling musician looking for gigs. “There’s no money beyond the third fret,” she remembers
reading on a sign at GIT. As things moved slowly, Batten became discouraged
about her musical career. Enlisting Buddhist prayers for 30 days and asking for
work in the music industry, things began to pick up for Batten. She headed back
up to L.A. to teach and play.
A fortuitous connection giving lessons to Michael Sembello’s engineer’s
girlfriend landed Jennifer an opportunity to meet with Sembello, who had just
had a big hit with “Maniac” from the movie Flashdance. Sembello was impressed
with Jennifer’s playing and the two started working on a three-song instrumental,
which ultimately became a full album, Above, Below & Beyond, released in 1992.
aroun
e cloc
th
12
9
photo by Buko
6
A Big Surprise
In mid 1987, While Batten and Sembello had begun work in the studio;
Michael Jackson was putting together the BAD tour. His reps contacted GIT’s
musician referral service for names of guitarists who might fit the bill, and Batten
was one of the guitarists recommended for audition. When Batten got the call, she
was shocked and nervous. “At this time, Michael was on every T.V. channel and in
every storefront window,” she recalls. She asked for the latest possible audition slot
so she could have as much time as possible to learn the songs. When she finally
did audition, she said she didn’t believe she had much of a chance because there
udios
t
S
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n
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n
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rd
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Early Beginnings
Batten was eight when she got her first guitar. According to Jennifer, “My
sister got a guitar and I was pissed.” And so, what started out as pure sibling rivalry
turned into a life-long passion for Batten. Listening to the pop bands of the 60’s
and lots of Beatles tunes, Batten plucked away at her electric guitar, learning the
tunes in rudimentary ways, but getting enough out of them to propel her interest
forward. As a teenager, she took lessons, studying folk finger picking and blues,
and listened to a lot of jazz records at home. Dedicatedly, she’d take her earnings from her job at Burger King and head straight to the store to pick up Guitar
Player Magazine, never knowing she would one day grace the cover of that very
same magazine.
While still in high school in San Diego, Batten drove North to L.A. to attend
a 3-day workshop at the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT), where, she says, “I
had my mind blown” by the information provided and the caliber of talent. The
workshop convinced Batten that GIT was the place to be, so she took the entrance
exam, which she failed, due to her lack of knowledge in “tools and scales.” She
returned to San Diego disheartened but not discouraged, studied Jazz and worked
on developing her musical abilities, learning scales and theory.
rockaroundtheclockpdx.com
[email protected]
were a lot of hot players auditioning as well. Four or five days after her audition,
she was called back to play with the band. According to Batten, “I was never really
officially informed that I was on the tour, I just kept getting called to rehearsals
and then the next thing I knew, I had a plane ticket to Tokyo where I was rooming
with Sheryl Crow (who was one of Jackson’s backup singers on the same tour).”
Jennifer says that touring with Jackson was like a big Las Vegas party – lots
of costuming, wardrobe, and stage glamour – a giant production. She says it never
really felt like she was playing music, but rather, felt like she was part of a big time
floorshow – entertainment done the same way, night after night. But during the
tour, due to Jackson’s unwillingness to give interviews, the international press
sought out Batten to give interviews about the tour, about insights to Jackson
and the upcoming shows. Jennifer used this opportunity to promote her music
and put her name out the world market of Jackson fans. As the BAD tour ended
in 1989, Jennifer was the cover story on Guitar Player magazine, which she says
“felt premature” but admits she hard worked very hard to get noticed.
In between the time of Jackson’s BAD tour which ended in 1989 and the
DANGEROUS tour which began in 1992, Batten, worked on her musical development, refining and perfecting her technical ability, composing new material and
paving the road for independent projects.
It Keeps Getting Better
When the DANGEROUS tour was underway in Europe, Jennifer contacted
one of her guitar idol’s, Jeff Beck, management and invited him to join her at
the show at Wembley Stadium. Although Jackson canceled the show at the last
minute, Beck kept Batten’s calling card. Following her second album, Momentum
by Jennifer Batten’s Tribal Rage, and a few years after that initial invitation to the
Wembley show, Beck contacted Jennifer and said, “Let’s work on some music.”
Batten was awestruck at the chance to work with her guitar idol on You
Had it Coming & Who Else? over a three-year period. It was a marked contrast
to her playing with Jackson. The scene with Beck was intimate, musically. Instead
of being around Jackson’s entourage of 100, there were probably only 10 or 12
around Jeff Beck. She humbly recounts what a great privilege it was when Beck
asked her to write songs for him and to realize that she shared a similar sense of
humor and musical appreciation as her musical icon. “Hearing Jeff Beck play
casually, putting together songs, was an awesome experience that few get to
hear.” Batten describes him as “kind and very appreciative.” It was surprising to
her when she found herself being placed as the de facto musical director of his
band, since there was no keyboard player and she was doing guitar synth work.
Playing to small venues in Europe with less than 500 audience members, Batten
smiles when she recalls, “It was always raw – he’d change his mind a lot during
sets. He was always keeping the band on its toes, prepared for anything.” This was
in marked contrast to her experience working with Jackson, where every move,
every note, was pre-calculated. The only problems Batten encountered during
the time was resentment she felt from other band members, who didn’t like the
fact that she was given implied leadership by Beck. Batten says that experience
crystallized her need for musical independence and leadership. “Now, I won’t be
a band if I’m not in charge of it,” she says emphatically.
Then and Now
When Batten finished working with Jeff Beck, she took time to write, listen
to new music and to develop new musical goals. Batten gained a strong musical
influence from working with Beck from 1998 to 2001. “A lot of my listening at
that time was prompted by things Jeff Beck had shared with me, songs he was
listening to at the time, he turned me on to a lot of electronic and world beat
music. During that time, she opted to leave Los Angeles and chose Portland as
her new home. With a renewed burst of creativity, which manifested in her idea
for an interactive musical - visual performance, Batten decided, “It’s time for me
to fly. ” Realizing she needed to make things happen for herself, she engaged a life
coach, who helped her to develop and direct her creative momentum. Excited
and motivated, Batten started work on Whatever, a musical and visual collage.
photo by Buko
Kevin Rankin, Jennifer’s drummer for some of her Tribal Rage shows, hosted her first in-home concert.
The production, utilizing video, images and showcasing Batten’s use of electronic
tools and distorted guitar, was released this Spring with a national tour getting
underway this August.
Whatever
Whatever showcases Batten’s production abilities as well as her straightahead guitar playing, incorporating a variety of musical elements: synthesizers,
drum pads, loops, new age elements – dubbed/looped voices, sound effects,
noises as well as a lot of diverse ethnic elements - tribal percussion/ vocal work/
rhythms/instrumentation/melodies, while still maintaining a very rock-oriented
style of guitar, with pentatonic playing, tapping, hammer-ons, sustaining and bending notes, whammy bar & distortion. Batten adds lots of volume and dynamic
changes to her playing and solos. Batten’s work on the song “Fearless” showcases
a different side to her playing - an acoustic rock style and showcases her ability
to chime notes, making rhythmic motifs by slapping strings and using the guitar
body for percussion. In addition to small venues on the tour, Batten will perform some in-home
concerts as well, which she enjoys doing very much. “People are very invested in
the in-home concerts. The hosts are really invested in getting a full audience for
the performances. It’s a big deal for them to host a show and it provides me with
a really appreciative audience.”
Jennifer Batten will be performing Whatever on August 22nd at the Tonic
Lounge, with opening act Lynn Frances Anderson.

“Skip Vonkuske and his electric chello performs with
Jennifer Batten May 15th at Mississippi Studios. ”
photo by Buko
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Just off Division
T
ry googling the name, Ron Rogers. You might find Ron Rogers, a
realtor from Klamath Falls selling homes in places like Chiloquin,
Merrill, and Bonanza. There is also Ron Rogers, a California Republican Chief Deputy State Treasurer from the late nineties. Or how about Ron
Rogers, a 240-lb inside linebacker from Georgia Tech football …
Actually, there is only one Ron Rogers that is google-worthy. No one is
buying a house in Central Oregon, California is non-existent to Portlanders, and
who cares about football? It’s all about Ron Rogers, the artist and musician currently residing in our
beloved bridgetown. It is very likely you have been in the same room as Ron’s art,
especially if you’ve ever stepped foot in Music Millenium or Jon Bon Jovi’s house.
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Musicians Union
www.afm99.org
Artistry Advocacy Unity
This years A&E cover for the Blues Fest.
His original work is dispersed over Portland, the Northwest, the U.S., and the
Internet. Currently, you can find some of Ron’s pieces at Cannibals, an art gallery
on NW 21st that features artists who use recyclable materials. His work was also
recently on display at the RiverSea Gallery in the coastal historic town of Astoria. Ron pays tribute and expresses his love and admiration for musicians via his
indubitable talent for creating art. Ron refers to many of his visual pieces as shrines. It all began in Wichita Falls, TX, where Ron was born. However, at an early
age, Ron migrated a few miles east to the big city of Fort Worth. Ron’s love for
music blossomed as a youth when he sang and played guitar in a small band in
his friend’s living room. Ron recalls starting out as a singer and then eventually
picked up the guitar after playing with the band for a while. He also mentions
that his band mate’s mom and sister were pretty nice for putting up with it. They
played with two guitars, drums, and no bass. As kids, they were playing music of
the Animals, Rolling Stones, and The Yardbirds. These were the high times of
the sixties. Ron remembers such places as the Cellar Club in Fort Worth where
under age patrons could get in if they agreed not to consume alcohol. Ron and
his friends took advantage of the policy and also didn’t mind the female wait
staff who happened to be running around in only panties and bras. However, the
Cokes were as expensive as the mixed drinks. Bands such as Cellars Dwellers,
The Geeks, and The Dream also played covers of bands such as The Beatles, The
Stones … and The Byrds, of course. Ron says he remembers The Dream doing
Cream with Buggs Henderson on guitar. And of course, no one ever stays in the same place for very long ... Ron: “I went to Austin in 74 after 9 months in Nashville. I was really green
and young. Austin was all Cosmic cowboy, so I played a lot of hippie country
music. I actually made a living playing live music, but back then rent was cheap
ou
y
g
n
i
h
t
y
r
e
v
e
t
e
ys g
“You don’t alwa the way it is. Steve
should, it’s justt of the money in the
Jobs makes mos oday. He really took
music business then he got the labels
‘em for a ride w s.”
to go for I-Tune
by Stacy Brockett
photo by Buko
www.buko.net
poster-board frame and pour silicone around them. When the silicone dries, the
skulls pop out. Then I mix up a batch of hydastone, kinda like plaster of Paris,
but lighter ... pour into molds. And in 20 minutes ... pop ‘em out. I then paint
them by hand.”
It is obvious Ron has a special talent for combining his love of music with
art. It should be of no surprise that he has been involved with Portland’s Blues
Festival since he moved to the Northwest in 2004. He did the cover of the A&E
section of the Oregonian for the Blues Festival Guide for the past two years. This
year’s cover featured Isaac Hayes.
And just because the man is still paying his bills by selling art and taking the
occasional songwriting gigs, it doesn’t mean he is not playing in a band. As a matter
of fact, Ron has a band called Ron Rogers and the Outside Agitators. The lineup
““I had always wanted
to paint, but never
tried, guess I thought
I couldn’t ... but lo and
behold, I did it.”
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and longnecks were 75 cents. Chicken fried steak and fries was $1.25.”
Cosmic cowboys, longnecks, and chicken fried steak? Who wouldn’t want
to go to Austin?
This cosmic cowboy actually took a dive into the business. He happened to
take a paid gig as a songwriter for Island Records and later as studio engineer at
A&M. Ron was asked about the difference between these two jobs ...
Ron: “Island vs. A&M.... well quite a different experience at Island and at
A&M. I was a staff writer at Island and it was long distance between Austin and
London. The guy that signed me was only there a little while and then he was
gone. Nobody really knew me and I was a long ways away. Some phone calls and
some money to do demos but not much else. I was not experienced enough to
know how to make it work. I should have taken some of the money and gone there
Ron in his studio with his earthquake proof Tascam.
to build some relationships, or I should have gone to LA and tried to work that
office. When I worked at A&M I was an engineer in the studio-different thing.
A&M was really cool when I got there and for the next 4 years it was great. Herb
Alpert was a very charismatic guy and it was kinda like a big family. After they
sold to Polygram it spiraled right down the toilet. A lot of good people left and
the new guard didn’t get it. I stayed on a few more years. When Herb and Jerry
Moss owned it was not corporate, but after Polygram came in ... it got stupid.”
In the 80’s Ron played music with his wife, Deborah, in a pop-rock band
called Private Lives. After making their own self-produced album, Ron & Deborah
scored a Billboard Album Pick of the Week. Ron recalls one of his best musical
experiences ever ...
Ron: “The band we had was one of my best musical experiences. She
[Deborah] and I had a solid relationship and still do respect each other. We both
worked hard at it,
She was the vocalist and did the PR work ... she was really good at it. We
went to radio stations with our single and got it played, went to radio events, and
did all that hard stuff. The rest of the band really admired her
for the effort she put out. We did a lot of openers for national
acts at Club Foot and played regularly at an outdoor venue
called the Meadows ... usually about 3000 to 5000 people,
so we got good at being on the big stages. It was always fun.”
Ron was asked about the current Austin music community, but he has left the scene. He is out of the loop. As a
matter of fact, Ron says he would never move back to Texas.
Long after the Cosmic cowboy days and after an extensive tour of the Soviet Union, Ron ended up moving to Los
Angeles in 1989 to take the job at A&M. In 1996 Ron started
his visual art career. He built his first shrines in 1996 and was
able to sell them a few years later. The first ones created were
made of used postcards and pictures from cds. When he
started selling the shrines he thought after a while he should
actually start painting them instead of using the materials he
had been using.
Ron: “I had always wanted to paint, but never tried, guess
I thought I couldn’t ... but lo and behold, I did it.”
photo by Buko
Since Ron feels a permanent celebratory sense of Day of
the Dead, he often incorporates skulls with his shrines. He has
big love for these little skulls ... and it is obvious why. They are simply awesome
and happen to add character to each piece. Ron has his own special skull recipe
that he has been kind enough to share with Buko …
Ron: “Skulls ... I make the originals from clay, Then I stick them down in a
“Repair work
without
the hassle”
photo by Buko
consists of Ron on guitar, Emery Wilson on bass, Marty Henninger on drums,
and Dennis Mitchell also on guitar. Ron calls his current music simply Rock n’
Roll with 90% original material. You can always hear a sample on myspace. Ron
and his Outside Agitators will debut their live material to the public in August.
They will be performing at the IPO Festival at the East End on Sat the 23rd of
August - 8pm. They are also in the process of recording their first album.
One common question in Portland that people will often ask is how you
can make money by playing music ... especially in a town that is flooded with
musicians. Ron offers some advice ...
Ron: “Try to get music placed in TV and movies. It pays good, and through
organizations like BMI, ASCAP and SESAC, you can get fairly decent accounting.
The business always tries to screw you out of money and most of us are too poor
to afford an audit. Having BMI collect performance royalties is easier than doing
it yourself. Still you don’t always get everything you should, it’s just the way it is.
Steve Jobs makes most of the money in the music business today. He really took
‘em for a ride when he got the labels to go for I-Tunes.”
Portland should be proud to have such a bundle of talent in one man. Ron
has contributed quite a bit to the music scene over the years and has expressed
it not only by playing Rock n’ Roll, but reminding us of our core influences and
the great musicians that have passed on. Make sure to check out Ron’s work by
visiting his own website, “ronrogersart.com”.
by SP Clarke
Hearts & Daggers - Miss Murgatroid and Petra Haden
File Under: Music
licia Rose is one talented woman. Besides being
a noted photographer and photographic artist
of some repute (her stunning, candy-colored promotional
photos of the Decemberists, especially, stand out), Rose
finds time to book the bands at Doug Fir- and in her spare
time, occasionally along with Petra Haden, puts out records
under the name Miss Murgatroid. Rose first blew into town
in the ‘90s, discomforting numerous audiences, unfamiliar
with her brand of strangely unconventional accordion work
(the first time I saw her, she played Jimi Hendrix tunes on her
instrument through and array of effects pedals).
Violinist Petra Haden, one third of a set of triplet girls
(whom along with one of her sisters- Rachel- were members
of the ‘90s LA band That Dog), is the daughter of the great
jazz bassist Charlie Haden. The Murgatroid/Haden duo
released a well-received album, “Bella Neurox” in 1999though subsequently Ms. Haden was in a serious car accident,
which prevented her from performing for many years. In
2003 a “benefactor” contributed enough cash for the duo
to continue their very special work. This recording was long
delayed- even it’s release date was pushed back several times
over the past year.
But it was worth the wait. Look up “ethereal” in the dictionary. Look up ‘mesmerize.” You’ll find Miss Murgatroid and
Petra Haden pictured in the captions. Clocking in at around
thirty-seven minutes in length, the nine cuts presented here
run by so quickly, one would think they were dreamt, rather than actually heard.
The pieces create a decided mood. Eclectically celestial. Both Haden and Rose
contribute mostly speechless vocals to each track- ala Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth
Fraser- with much the same effect- invoking all languages, rather than none at all.
“We Formulate,” the first track, is a great example- over a slightly Middleeastern setting, Haden chants the line “we formulate” along with numerous
other non-verbal syllables. Ms. Rose provides an Astor Piazzola-like accordion
background, over which Haden layers exotic violin and viola washes.
Oddly Rose’s introductory accordion on “Hummingbird” is vaguely reminiscent of that of Forere Motloheloa, found on Paul Simon’s “Boy In A Bubble,”
from his Graceland album. However, the layered contrapuntal vocal tracks and
Haden’s symphonic string-work take the work in an altogether different direction.
“Fade Away” calls to mind something Kate Bush might have recorded for her
Sensual World album of 1989. “Baroque Lullaby” could be a soundtrack for an,
A
as yet, unmade film- sprightly, evocative and happily dreamy.
“See Me, See Me” is something Dead Can Dance might have
put together- although they never would have thought of this
unusual instrumentation. Not in a million years. Portland’s own
Kaitlyn Ni Donovan is called to mind, as well. Very nice.
The beautiful (mostly) instrumental chamber piece “Sleeper”
shimmers with the sort of arpeggiated majesty one would expect from
a composition by Arvo Part- with a hint of George Gershwin’s “Summertime”
occasionally creeping into the melody line, from time to time. The instrumental
“Ballad for Anne Bonney” consorts with a certain piratey milieu- in keeping with
its subject matter. Can an ode to Cap’n Jack Rackham and the good ship Vanity
be far behind? Pirates of the Carribean, indeed!
Loreena McKnight’s (as well as Elizabeth Fraser’s) work is reflected in the
beautifully evocative “Another Day,” a charmingly bittersweet number, with
beats provided by “Kraqr” (possible a machine and not a person). Because of
the presence of a “drum,“ this song has more forward motion than many of the
others. Haden’s soaring, moaning violin squeals are an especial pleasure- while
Rose consistently lays down what often sound like artful organ passages on her
meager accordion.
All of the above and more. Much more. This is cerebral music for impassioned
hearts. It is smartly constructed, with a certain ardent emotional zeal. Mellow,
but striking. Unusual. Otherworldly. One can only hope that it is not another
nine years before Miss Murgatroid/Alicia Rose and Petra Haden put together
another album. This is music to think by. Music to dream by. Contemplative music
by which to contemplate both the heart of the universe and the soul of a flower.
Colin Meloy Sings Live! - Colin Meloy
Kill Rock Stars
olin Meloy is everywhere these days. His band, The Decemberists, are
the toast of the literate and literary, college music scene, buoyed by
Meloy’s penchant for dictionarial language, coupled with catchy melodies. Here,
he goes it alone. Just Colin and his various acoustic guitars. As was evidenced in
May at the Wonder Ballroom, such sparsity of arrangement in no way deters the
ardor of his loyal fans.
Also clearly in evidence is Meloy’s past, as a singer of original folk songs,
before the Decemberists were ever formed, when he played to mostly empty
rooms here in Portland; before he was discovered by his adoring fans. Meloy
demonstrates a good sense of humor, setting up numerous songs with easy
anecdotes and affable asides. An enjoyable evening of entertainment. Here he
mostly selects songs from middle-period Decemberists albums: Castaways and
Cutouts, Her Majesty and Picaresque. There are no songs pulled from the latest
Decemberists release- Crane Wife- ostensibly because this album was recorded
before the release of that album. Also missing is “Shiny” from Five Songs, a version
which he performed so well at the Wonder Ballroom in May. In fact his set-list
was quite a bit different for that show.
Highlights include a version of “Devil’s Elbow” which was a song he
performed back home in Montana with his band Takiro. Impassioned takes on
“We Both Go Down Together“ from Picaresque, “The Gymnast High Above
the Ground” from Her Majesty and “Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect” from
Castaways. The latter track features a brief singalong portion of “dreams” from
Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album.
C
photo Lesley Lathrop
Little Beirut’s; Hamilton Sims (left) and Edwin Paroissien (right). Live at Berbatti’s.
Two new cuts follow, “Dracula’s Daughter’ (which Meloy rightfully cites as
Back in the ‘90s, there was a band called Silkenseed who played around
the worst song he ever wrote) and “Wonder,” a pleasing ballad, which sounds as if
town, having migrated to Portland from their roots at Tulane University in New
it might be an out-take from the Crane Wife sessions. From there he launches into
Orleans, where they were known as Geraldine Fischer. Lyricist and lead vocalist
“Barbara Allen” a traditional song culled by renowned folksinger Shirley Collins,
Hamilton Sims were joined by guitarist Edwin Paroissien (and whom penned
which appears on an EP Meloy recorded at home for his fans.
most of the band’s music) along with guitarist Carlos Marcelin and drummerTwo songs from Picaresque follow: a sterling version of “The Engine Driver”
extraordinaire Eric Flint.
and a workmanlike version of “On The Bus Mall.” From there, he cites Castaways’
Around the year 2000 the band broke up- with Sims and Paroissien exploring
“California One/Youth And Beauty Brigade” with a nice bit of the Smiths’ “Ask”
professional careers, while Marcelin and Flint migrated to the unusual trio- Sally
tagged at the end. A piquant reading of “The Bachelor and the Bride” from Her
Tomato. Sally Tomato recently concluding a short run of an ambitious self-penned
Majesty follows.
rock opera, “Toy Room,” a DVD release of which is expected this Fall.
“A Cautionary Song” from Castaways is given a light treatment, with neither
Sims and Parossien re-grouped as Little Beirut in 2004 with release of their
Meloy nor the crowd taking it particularly seriously- the audience sings the last
first album, Permanent Kiss. They released their second album, High Dive in April
lines without Meloy even moving his lips. Colin engages the crowd again to join
of this year. Comparisons to Nada Surf or French Kicks are fair. The band has a
in on “Red Right Ankle” from Her Majesty- which he alludes to as a “country”
knack for a pop hook, with solid instrumental execution.
song (which country is not specified). He throws in a very satisfying version of
The group proved themselves to be far more than a studio outfit, delivering
Nick Drake’s “Blues Run The Game” (on the vinyl version), before launching
a tight set of songs drawn mostly from the new album. Sims is no novice around
into a campfire sing-along version of “Bandit Queen,” which was ostensibly left
the microphone. As a singer, he is smooth and purposeful- with a warm crooning
off Picaresque.
voice, reminiscent of the Killers’ Brandon Flowers or Matthew Caws of Nada Surf.
As a solo performer, Colin Meloy exudes a certain charm that is not always
While all ten songs in their hourlong set were tight and well-performed,
found in his performances with the Decembrists- a little more low-key. A little
standouts included “She’s A Martyr, with Paroissien’s guitar calling to mind the
more subdued. This allows the songs to stand out- to stand on their own merit.
work of Editors’ Chris Urbanowicz, coupled with stalwart bass by John Trause.
He delivers them in an off-handed manner, not unlike the way a singer such as
“Acid Wash Soul” benefited greatly from Alex Inman’s hard-hitting drums; and
Donovan delivers his songs.
from solid backing vocal harmonies from Trause and Paroissien.
In some ways, this is almost preferable to having a band to back him. The
“Belle de Jour,” a beautiful song, had a Roxie Music feel, slow and deep, with
songs are naked and the stories are far more in focus. This is a wonderful album
Sims divining a wonderful vocal worthy of Brandon Flowers. Paroissien added a
which lovers of Colin Meloy and the Decemberists (as well as newcomers to the
striking guitar section near the end of the song. Passionate and powerful. Equally
works) are certain to enjoy.
great was the love song to Condoleeza Rice, “Love During Wartime,” with its
slightly reggae feel and great hook of a chorus.
Live Review
Little Beirut are a very professional pop band. There are no dull edges- every
Little Beirut - Berbati’s Pan - July 18th, 2008
angle sharpened to a shard, every song hewn into a fine sonic sculpture. They are
few months back I gave Little Beirut high marks for their wonderful
well worth catching whenever the opportunity is afforded the erudite Portland
new album, High Dive- a tuneful match of clever songwriting and solid
club-goer.
performance. Their live show was easily equal to the recorded version.
A
lyrical content is uttered in a matter-of-fact inflection as if he’s saying alot. “its
four a.m. I check my email,” “I think about you so so so much I forget to eat.”, “I’m
40,000 ft. high, flying thru the dead of night, so I took an ambien.” He’s really just
smattering on about trivialities in a usual day, but there’s this urgency, as if some
reticent admission of Jason Bourne checking off his hit list for the day, called up
readily by the well placed staccatto of surfy guitar. The madness of its simplicity
is the absolute key to its expression of the genre.
“Tiger Phone Card” has a doorsian sound. It has a completely classic feel
to it. The vocal delivery has Jim Morrison all over it, albeit with a Will Farrell
insincerety to it.
Its important to mention an apparent genius these musicians generate by
combining sincere whilst affable songwriting skills and command
of their instruments.
I have forever coveted my Sergio Mendez and Ray Conniff
records since growing up because my parents had stacks of them.
They were uncool then, because really, it was the non- rock and roll
soft set easy- listening mom and dad crowd who played spun them.
This was the stuff to put on at a 70’s cocktail party because you really
had no particular taste in music. But there is a certain atmospheric
charm that drizzles from the seeming schlock of that era, adding
really smokin’ guitar lead work.
by Ty Hitzmann
ther-- That’s just Jarvis, carrying on deep traditions that the likes of ol’ Keith, the
Flying Burrito Brothers or Charlie Rich. He saves the best rocker for last “Happy
Town” attests to Jarvis’ well traveled boots in the roadhouse arena. Just listen to
the last guitar refrains to confirm
Duane Jarvis is a musician within who is contained all the ingredients essential to perseverance. A great package of top notch self-written songs, and a group of
top notch musicians to help him out. This CD attests to his extraordinary talents.
Linda Hornbuckle / Janis Scroggins
Sista
Psychedelta Records
DENGUE FEVER
Venus On Earth
M80 Music
With one listen, its no wonder this L.A.
based six member band is fast becoming popular.
This is their sophomore effort, but screams like its
the 10th by leaps and bounds.
Brothers Adam (vocals, guitar) and Zac
(Farfisa organ) Holtzman, share a penchant for
cambodian pop music and assembled their band
accordingly. Finding a female lead singer named
Chhom Nimol who could sing in Khmer proved
to be a great find since she sounds so authentic and
well...poppy. Rounding out the band include bass,
drum and brass.
Aside from their asian, indie and psychedelic
description, each listen brings more and arrangements and modes to the fore. The opening chords
are more of a discordal foray of separate instruments.
“Seeing Hands” is a striking piece. Its got an experimental combination of seagul-like saxiphone and
spacial keyboard fluxes, carried under a haunting flank of electric guitar with just
the right amount of reverberation to give a light surf-vibe. Listen for the tripped
out keyboards, sax punches and surf-laden reverberate guitar chords...in all the
right places...screams that these people are TALENTED.
“Clipped Wings” haunts the listener while inducing an amiable sense for
watching a James Bond film where the scene calls in the beautiful foreign chick who
then seduces agent 007. Cooling surf guitar lines blend hypnotically with smokey
saxiphone musings. At last,with its 60’s induced sound, the culmination of retro
becomes fully realized here, and confirming that it was always good. Chhom’s
voice is distant, while hauntingly familiar... minimalism can speak volumes, thus
David Ralickes’ sax work keeps the mood flustering about like a hungry ghost
throughout the entire CD.
Zak has a vocal style that can at once be interpreted as slickly intelligent,
and comedically contrived. his delivery is smooth and unadulterated, while his
DUANE JARVIS:
Delicious
Slewfoot Records
The odds have long broken up, but reunited for a special evening for Duane
Jarvis last month. They had very little trouble stirring up the flame from their colorful and prolific tenure in the northwest’s prolific new wave past at the Wonder
Ballroom where he slipped me a copy of his newest effort.
Its amazing how the the recording just screams, “Relax” in his signature
traditional style. DJ writes in an urgent but quietus fashion. He’s got this laid back
style about him. His song writing and instrumental talents waiver somewhere
between any number of John Prine songs and Foghat’s “Slowride.
Throughout the years Duane has been as pro-active and busy musician as any.
He’s played along side key levels of top notched song-writing based musicians-Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakum,Prine and Dave Alvin have all summoned his
help and expertise. Duane has a history of important collaborations and for his
co-writing skills. This CD is fiercely melodious, and instrumentally infectious,He’s
a song writing force to be reckoned with.
Jarvis delivers a ‘Stones’-style version of Ross Wilson’s “Come Back Again”
with a Ray Davies style of delivery , and a banjo to boot.
Mandolin Moon has an Irish- Campfire style to it, and might recall melancholy feelings like Neil Young. Spread my Soul too Thin and “Beyond Beautiful” carry solemn tempers to them. Hey, who would’nt like a ballad leaving out
unnecessary syrup?
I Miss you Already reminds me of what little I actually appreciate about
country music. Actually, its a lot closer to western or “cowboy” than country.
Did Keith Richards lend his infectious riff capabilities to the title track, or
has Duane been posthumously hangin’ with the ghost of Graham Parsons? Nei-
Linda is nothing short of a NW legend as much as she is an international
treasure. She is at once kind personality and a non-stop perseverance of vocal
creativity, along with a sonic vocal talent.
Linda is a rock-solid performer who brings confirmation of what two strong
musicians can accomplish together and have little need for accompany. There are
only a few duo's who are worth their salt, but these women have a tried and true
sound forged strong throughout the years.
Janis Scroggins is Linda's reference to "Sista". The two fit together like a favorite puzzle that has just the right complexity to it, yet perfectly fits together with
out any trouble... they ring as synonymous. Janis' piano soloing during the title
track is stellar, and Linda lays down a playful vocal style that modulates wonderfully. Janis has a delivery that combines gospel tone, ragtime and Vince Guaraldi
"Linus-from-Charlie Brown" piano style. Together they are solid sister-act.
“St. Lewis Blues” reminds me of the wild west with its player piano feel, yet
is really a blues song.
"If You Want Me To Stay" has a boogie-woogie funk appeal to it, makes me
think of Stevie Wonder, Scott Joplin and Ray Charles all at the same time. Other
tracks lay down a continuum of great era's gone by, but not forgotten. Both "Thirties Interlude(written by Scroggins)" and "Miss Otis Regrets" carry antiquitous
feel to them making them come across as classic. Linda is no stranger to gospel,
having grown up singing in her church. "I Can Hear My Savior Calling", along
with the following Medley track delivers with redemptive insight.
Not many can be successful at covering such a song as Paul McCartney's
"Yesterday". This is the first version I've heard that comes across original, yet
sensitive to keep the authentic feel to the song in mind. Here, Linda succeeds
and twists out a compelling rendition of her own. This is one of the reasons why
so many have continued to enjoy Linda Hornbuckle's performances and recordings over the years.
Her continued efforts in her own music, along with many collaborations
with and for other musicians no-doubt has deepened her will and desire to narrow
down and feel the music with her best friend Janis for this release.
Here they deliver something that lays both of their talents out bare with no
filler, and I believe this is to become a classic record of its type and genre.
Breakneck
Betties
Rhea
DeRange
Breakneck Betties
Next Game
August 9th
Guitar from
225 SW 1 st
Portland, OR 97204
503-226-0036
Applemusicrow.com
Hair
Stephanie Ponso
Make Up
Briana Faris
Guitar - Jet glo Rickenbacker 350V63
NEW MUSIC
NOW AVAILABLE!
See Jennifer Batten
Friday Aug 22 at the Tonic Lounge, 3100 NE Sandy Blvd.
with Lynn Frances Anderson
HEAR AND BUY “KILL THESE BLUES” TODAY AT
KOLVANE.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/KOLVANEMUSIC
FORMERLY ROSE CITY KINGS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 29th at 9: 30 pm
Rendezvous Rhythm & Blues Festival
Shores of Lake Osoyoos • Oroville, WA
www.rendezvousbluesfestival.com

Jennifer Batten

Transcription

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