Career Management

Gear

For my musician friends who invest so much in their gear, I am pleased to list here a few in­for­med and qua­li­fied re­com­men­da­tions. 

---

For the entire length of my career, al­most half a cen­tury, Dr. Amar G. Bose and his in­ter­na­tion­ally re­spec­ted re­search orien­ted cor­po­ra­tion, have con­tri­bu­ted almost every ma­jor ad­vance in loud­spea­ker tech­no­lo­gy.  The re­vo­lu­tio­nary Bose P.A.S. (Per­so­nal Am­pli­fi­ca­tion Sys­tem) really takes first prize. 

We have im­por­ted the P.A.S. into Canada, and tho­rough­ly field-tes­ted it with a range of artists.  We are pleased to report that intel­li­gi­bi­li­ty and clarity of sound are no­tice­ably superior.  Dis­tri­bu­tion of the sound is remar­ka­bly even across the audio spec­trum, and through­out the audience area, than we have ever be­fore ex­per­ien­ced.  Room equa­li­za­tion, which has become neces­sary pri­ma­rily to com­bat feed­back in con­cert sound sys­tems, rather than to equa­lize the liste­ning space, seems largely un­ne­ces­sary as feed­back is a negli­gible problem for the P.A.S. 

P.A.S. sound is gener­ally more com­for­table and richly na­tu­ral.  The sys­tem re­quires far less effort to set-up than any other, and ope­ra­tion is vir­tually idiot-proof.  You can ope­rate at lower in­ten­sity le­vels, and yet achieve im­pres­sive results.  For so many reasons the P.A.S. repre­sents a new begin­ning for live music per­for­mance, and will soon become the new stan­dard.  The P.A.S. is worth every pen­ny of its hefty price tag when you con­sider that it ren­ders con­ven­tional F.O.H., moni­tors, mixers, and room equa­lizers un­neces­sary. 

The Bose P.A.S. is distributed in Canada by Long & McQuade, the country's leading instrument retailer, though they would prefer to sell you their own Yorkville Sound product. 

---

Behringer of Germany produces an ex­ten­sive, al­most ex­haus­tive product line aimed squarely at satisfying all the com­plex tech­ni­cal needs of the professional musician at rea­son­able prices.  Uli Behringer's company has done more than any other manu­fac­tu­rer on earth to make pro­fes­sio­nal tech­no­logy for audio pro­ces­sing, recor­ding and public address price-ac­ces­sible to the entry-level mu­si­cian.  Sel­dom are Behringer's competitor's pro­ducts worth the price difference. 

Take a look for example, at Behringer's Ultra­curve Pro DEQ­2496, a powerful digital para­met­ric equa­li­zer.  Its built in real-time audio spectrum analyzer, and associated calibrated microphone, simplify and automate the usually time consuming and complex room equalization process.  With this tool you can achieve greater audio honesty and trans­pa­ren­cy at home in the audiophile listening room, and on the largest con­cert stage.  It is per­haps most useful in the recording studio, in dynamic track equa­li­za­tion, and in facilitating the final mastering of your CD pro­duct in house.  The Ultracurve Pro is versatile and powerful, yet sur­pri­sing­ly and uniquely in­ex­pen­sive!  Yea Behringer! 

---

There are many cheaper mi­cro­pho­nes, and many that are much more ex­pen­sive too.  I am pleased to re­com­mend the Røde model M3 mi­cro­phone for over­all pro­fes­sio­nal va­lue.  The re­cent­ly de­ve­lo­ped M3 Is the direct suc­ces­sor to the Røde model NT3.  It is completely machine manufactured, which results in greater product uni­for­m­ity and a sig­ni­fi­can­tly lower price. 

It is an all-around multi-pur­pose mi­cro­phone that will prove ad­van­ta­geous in many si­tua­tions.  You will find your­self elec­ting to use the M3 in the studio even where you have many al­ter­na­tives at your di­spo­sal.  On stage, it will de­li­ver the in­tel­li­gi­bi­li­ty, force, cha­rac­ter and cla­ri­ty of your vo­cals like few other stage mikes. 

The Røde M3 is an ho­nest and highly trans­pa­rent studio con­den­ser that is avail­able for a very rea­so­n­able price.  Its hyper-car­dioid pick-up pat­tern makes it re­si­stant to the feed­back pro­b­lems of­ten as­so­ci­ated with studio con­den­sers used on stage.  A small dia­phragm adds to its use­ful­ness on stage since it is not so large as to ob­scure fa­ces.  If your bud­get will only stretch to one mi­cro­phone, let that one be the Røde M3. 

---

Please note that I do not sell these pro­ducts, and I de­rive no be­ne­fit from these re­com­men­da­tions, other than the sa­tis­fac­tion of knowing that mu­si­cians who in­vest in them will achieve greater im­pact in their work, and ex­pe­rience greater per­sonal sa­tis­fac­tion from their well-ad­vi­sed choices. 

---

---

London: +44 (0) 20 8002 9511 • New York: +1 212 202 0324 • Toronto: +1 416 907 6555
Canada-U.S. toll-free: +1 888 382 4654 • U.K. National: 0871 720 6940
www.davekaymusic.com - Copyright © September 2010,  David A. Kay