Walking into the Metro is always a nostalgic treat, so many great rock shows took place there and it is the epitomy of the term “rock club.” I made my way up the stairs and caught the band setting up and preparing for a sound check. Jeff Neuberger, the band’s monitor engineer greeted me and walked me around the stage, pointing out all of the Shure gear responsible for Cults’ sound. On vocals, KSM9 was the favorite. Guitar cabinets were captured with SM57s. The drum kit featured Beta 52A and Beta 91A on kick and SM57 and Beta 181/C on snare. A Beta 52A was also the complement to the bass cabinet. Finally, the band took a mix from Jeff in monitor world through the PSM 900 personal monitor systems.

As the band ran through a few tunes and the lighting tech set the mood, I ran down to the legendary green room to set up for my interview with the band. In about an hour or so, the venue went quiet, letting me know that it would soon be time to sit down with Brian and Madeline and learn a little more about Cults. Looking back on it now, it was a pretty good conversation. We’ll be posting this soon, so stay tuned.

Leaving the band to their own devices, I met up with legendary photographer Paul Natkin for some dinner at Uncommon Ground, one of the sites for our National Open Mic Night. This place is always packed, but Paul knows everyone, so the 10 -15 minute wait turned into, “Please follow this gentlemen to your table.” This is a great place if you ever make it to Chicago, very organic and green-minded. The acoustic music that takes place there is pretty incredible, too. I have to make a note to show up in mid-November for the Jeff Buckley Tribute Show. I’m a big fan, but never got around to going. After listening to Paul talk about it, I’m making my plans already.

After milking our dinner time for every minute we could, we made our way back to the venue… two hours to show time and nothing to do but check out the opener and people watch.

Finally, 11 PM rolled around and Cults took the stage to a screaming crowd. It’s always interesting to see how a band is going to pull off certain elements of songs from their album, and I have to say, they pulled it off effortlessly. The sound on stage was a little more aggressive than the album, making it a little more lively for an onlooking crowd. All in all, a great show and a great band. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Cults. This evening also ended with a stop at White Castle.

-Cory

A series of shows was being recorded during a residency at Grocery on Home in Atlanta, GA… audio in a small venue is always a challenge. Ben and company reached out to us and put us up to the challenge of capturing Ben’s vocals, cello and overall vibe of the room. Sounded like a job for the KSM9 on vocals and Beta 181 on cello and ultimate room vibe. The Beta 98AMP made an appearance on the toms and snare, KSM32 was on overheads duty and employed to mic the big bass drum, Beta 91A in the cajon, KSM9 on the box and the standard SM57 on amp. The captivating results are evident on Ben’s latest recording, Live At The Grocery On Home. Ben Sollee was joined by fellow musicians Casey Driessen (fiddle and mandocaster) and Jordon Ellis (drums, cajon and samples) and the vibe is certainly captured, it feels like you’re there, really. Here’s a link to the CNN story… http://bit.ly/xJToh3

Ben will be coming to Chicago soon and I will definitely be there. In the meantime, I will keep this CD on repeat, picking up on every nuance our trusty Shure microphones captured. Thanks to Grayson Hunter for the great photos and thanks to Mr. Ben Sollee for making us a part of this very cool project.

- Cory

A whole lotta rock, that’s what.

Shure Europe set out to find the best amateur drummer in Europe and the Middle East. Several rounds of competition produced five finalists, each with his own style. They duked it out at the Gamli Gaukaurinn Club in Reykjavik, Iceland. The winner was determined by Tom Colman of Shure UK and a jury led by seasoned pro drummer Darren Ashford.

Congratulations to Antonio de Marianis of Italy, who carried the day, and to the other finalists. Their skill and enthusiasm wowed us to the end.

Enjoy the killer beats in the competition video!

Watch more videos at http://www.drum-mastery.eu/.

There are so many elements that contribute to putting on an awards show like the GRAMMYs.  To list every aspect would take too long so we’re going to focus on our side of this trip.

As everything usually comes together at the last minute for this show, we sent out a nice compliment of Shure mics to supplement what sound company ATK Audiotek already had in stock. Appearing for the first time on this show was the Beta 181/C condenser mic. We sent 20 of those and saw several get used on tympani (The Beach Boys) and occasionally on drum overheads. We also sent a few of the KSM313 ribbon mics, one of which prominently appeared on John Paul White’s guitar amp during The Civil Wars short but very effective performance in the show.

We were also very pleased to learn early on that the PSM1000 ear monitor systems would be the exclusive system for the show this year. There were plenty of bodypacks on hand for the performers and many of the crew people made a point to let us know how well the system was working for them.

Watching the rehearsal and then the performances over the course of 4 days, there were many highlights for us that sounded amazing in the house, thanks to both Jeff Peterson who finely tuned the PA and Ron Reeves who mixes the acts so well.  The Beach Boys segment featuring Maroon 5 and Foster The People was quite a thrill to hear live in the house. Each group nailed the original harmonies, it was one of the highlights of the evening. The other was seeing The Civil Wars perform on this broadcast. They have quickly become a respected group that continues to impress well-established artists like Adele, Taylor Swift and now Coldplay, who Tweeted that they are now fans of the group.

The Glen Campbell tribute featured newly signed artists The Band Perry who sang “Gentle On My Mind.” It was great to see Glen having so much fun on stage in light of his ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s.

It was especially gratifying to have the industry standard SM58 open this years’ show in front of Bruce Springsteen and then have Sir Paul McCartney close the show on a wired Beta 58A. You can’t get more Rock and Roll than that!

Seeing the same crew that has been doing this successfully for so many years is always a wonderful part of this trip. Maintaining those relationships and letting them know we are there for support is a vital part of attending this show as well as talking with them about our products. There were a lot of people who have not had the opportunity to try the PSM1000’s out. Thanks to ATK Audiotek and the monitor engineers for this show, Mike Parker and Tom Pesa, over 20 acts were exposed to the new standard in monitoring.

Special thanks go out to Michael Abbott who is the audio coordinator for the show, John  Harris and Joel Singer with Music Mix Moblie, who take care of the music mix that goes out to television and Eric Schilling who shares music mix duties with John Harris. This years’ show was monumental in size and every year, it just keeps getting better and better!

- Ryan, Cory and Jenn

Upon arriving to the Congress Theatre on a cold Saturday in late January for the Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival, I encountered the Drive-By Truckers and their faithful crew, all set-up and ready to try out a few “special” KSM9 microphones I brought specifically for their live stage. Once I opened the case of mics I brought along, it was like that scene in Pulp Fiction, when Vincent and Jules open Mr. Wallace’s briefcase and the characters are captivated by what’s inside and giving off a soft, angelic, golden glow. Soon Colin (monitor engineer) and Matt (front-of-house engineer), were asking what I had for guitar cabinets, pedal steel, cymbals, overheads… Shure mics were soon everywhere on stage and ready for critique by the band and the engineers. KSM9s were on the vocals, KSM313, KSM32, SM7B and SM57s were on guitar cabinets, Beta 181C on pedal steel, KSM141 on cymbals, Beta 98AMP/C on toms, and VP88 on overheads.

I proceeded to the front of the stage and listened as the band ran through a few tunes. I could tell the focus was very heavily focused on guitars and vocals as Matt and Colin made their adjustments. Once everything seemed finely blended and at an ample decibel level, I made my way back to the stage to get some initial feedback on the recent microphone placements. Colin was completely floored by the “special” KSM9s I brought along, pointing out the frequency response and rejection. Matt kept it simple and said, “I like it.” When asked which one, he replied, “All of it!” This could have gone a completely different way, it’s not often that a band will change that many mics in one soundcheck and use those same mics for a show later that evening. There was certainly an element of trust; in me and moreover in Shure’s product line.

Once the Truckers made their way back to tour bus world, Dawes showed up for load-in, traveling light as this was a fly date for the quartet from LA. Yours truly was on microphone duty for this visit as well, but Wes Delk (front of house engineer) and I sorted through the mics and where they would end up on stage weeks prior to this show. I handed out a few mics to Wes and soon enough the guys were ready for soundcheck as well. Watching the guys run through a few tunes, some gawkers on the side of the stage started to marvel a bit and made a note to check out the Dawes set later that evening.

So with everything in its right place, there wasn’t much left to do besides have dinner and maybe catch a few bands on the extensive bill. There was certainly a lot of down time and this is where life on the road gets a little mundane. Somehow, we found ways to make the time pass and soon enough Dawes was making their way to the stage.

This whole “festival” started at around 4 pm that day. There were bands in the lobby of the venue, in the balcony of the venue and bands sharing the main stage as well. At around 10 pm, Dawes launched into their first tune. Again, as I mentioned in my earlier post about Dawes, this is a band you have to check out and get to a live show the next time they’re in own. There’s something there that a lot of us feel will be there for quite some time.

With Dawes off the stage and their dressing room filling with fans new and old, the stage is readied for the Drive-By Truckers set. It was now about 11 pm and the Congress Theatre was still filled with eager fans. Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and company proceeded to play for the next two and a half hours. They certainly have the musical catalog to support more than that, but a strict curfew made them complete their set by 1:30 am… making it officially Sunday morning. They sounded fantastic that night, maybe it was that microphone selection from earlier that day? Of course, Shure can’t take all the credit, the Truckers are a great live band; masters of life on the road.

As I packed up my last mic, letting Colin keep the vocal mics for their next gig (he wasn’t gonna let me leave with them anyway), I made my way back to the southside. Of course, no late night venture for a southsider is complete without a trip to White Castle, and at around 2:30 am, that’s where I officially ended my evening. Love this life.

 -Cory

Indianapolis, IN

The Percussive Artist Society International Convention (PASIC) is one of those events I look forward to every year. Being a drummer myself, this event is close to my heart.  So are a lot of people that attend from many other great companies like Pearl, DW, Zildjian, Remo, Vic Firth, Vater, Istanbul and so many other individuals.  I have been fortunate enough to have not missed one of these events for the past 15+ years.  Everyone pitches in to help make each event happen and it’s such a great feeling to see all of the same people each year.

The convention has been in Indianapolis for the past 3 years so the drive up from Nashville is not too bad, when you’re rockin’ the iPod.  Like the trip 2 years ago, I was in Nashville handling duties at the Country Music Awards and directly after the show finished, I loaded up the gear and headed North for Indy.  I arrived at about 5 AM eastern time, grabbed about an hour of sleep and then brought all of the gear I had in the PT Cruiser into the convention center so it could be passed out for the various events starting around 9 am.  After passing that out, I passed out in the hotel room for another 4 hours.  After that, I went back to the Convention Center and caught a few clinics and chatted with some of the aforementioned manufacturers.

Later that evening, I was invited to 2 special events.  The first was a short party for Pearl artists and employees.  Shure Artist Horcio “El Negro” Hernandez was there as well as a drummer from Australia named Grant Collins.  It was great to catch up with Horacio as he is always gigging somewhere in the world.  He was happy to have a DVD from the Modern Drummer festival from earlier this year.  His performance there was pretty amazing.  Go pick up a copy and see for yourself!  A 12 piece band complete with a Flamenco tap dancer.  I’ve never seen a performance like this before where a drummer was trading 8′s with a dancer.  It was very cool!

The next day, Friday, I arrived early in the morning as Jim Riley’s Clinic was coming up at 1 pm.  I was able to catch drummer Rich Redmond’s clinic at 11 am, which was very informative.  Rich is not only a great studio drummer but also tours with country star Jason Aldean.  He had plenty of great advice to offer attendees about how to succeed in the music business and  a lot of it has to do with having a positive attitude.

The first time I saw Jim Riley’s clinic, I was taken a bit by surprise by his ability to play other genres besides the gig that pays his bills – Rascal Flatts.  He mentioned during his clinic that the last time he played at PASIC a few years ago served as his launchpad for doing drum clinics. He is very well spoken and a solid groove player.  He has been with Rascal Flatts from the beginning and it’s great to see his success, not only as their drummer but as their Musical Director. I put up some Beta 98AMP’s on his toms and used the Beta 181/C for overheads.

AT 5 pm, Grant Collins, a Pearl drum endorser had an enormous kit but chose to not have us close mic it.  Instead, we put up 6 condensers around the front of his kit about 3-4 feet off the ground to capture his toms and his cymbals, put a Beta 91A on each of his  front 2 kick drums and Beta 52′s on the rest and his gong drum.  It sounded pretty amazing!

Friday night after dinner with the Pearl guys, I stopped by the Army Jazz Blues Band concert up in the Sagamore Ballroom.  Special guest drummers Peter Erskine, Simon Phillips, Keith Carlock, John Riley, and Ed Soph all joined the band for a few numbers each.  It was great to see each drummers style shine through with this group.  At the end of the evening, Jim Riley was side stage and I introduced him to Peter Erskine for the first time. Peter had noticed an article in the most recent Modern Drummer magazine about Jim’s studio.

Closing out the clinic events on Saturday for PASIC was Simon Phillips.  His Tama kit was placed on stage and he had already brought his mic set which consisted of KSM137′s in shock mounts on all of this toms, 2 SM27′s for overheads, SM57′s in his Octobons and 2 Beta 52′s permanently mounted in his kick drums.  Simon was interested in hearing how the new Beta 181/C might sound on a few of his toms.  We listened to his stock mics then switch out 4 of the 137′s for 4 of the Beta 181′s.  He liked them just enough to want to go with them for the clinic.  Simon did a long drum solo and then took questions at the end of the clinic while also mentioning all his supporting companies and their gear.

Once Simon was done, I packed up a few more things and headed to go see  a great new band Shure just started working with called Mona.  I will talk about them in a separate blog.

Thus ends another successful PASIC and planning will begin soon for next years’ event in Austin, Texas.  Looking forward to that trip – come join us, wont you?

Ryan

Montclair State University – Montclair, NJ

This was the first time in about 3-4 years that I’ve been back at the Modern Drummer Fest and back to MSU.  It was great to see this campus again and it has been growing and rebuilding ever since.

Last year, Shure sent a boatload of mics to the event.  This year, due to the fact that 2 Shure artists were on the bill, I decided it would be good to come out and support.  I arrived Friday afternoon and went over to the hall to see how set-up was progressing……quite nicely actually!  Shure Endorser Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez was setting up his group first as they would be closing the show.  He had 12 musicians and a flamenco tap dancer to top it all off.   Among these musicians was an amazing vocal singer from Spain that Horacio has been telling me about for years: Concha Buika.  Along a percussion player, 3 background singers (one being Horacio’s daughter) a couple of horn players, Keys, guitar, and bass, this would turn out to be one of the most interesting and musically complex performances I had ever seen at this show.  My compliments to Negro’s manager, Margaret Sterlacci for organizing all of these artists, literally from around the globe to come in and perform.  Of course,  I made sure that we had plenty of the new mics along for the ride.  On his Toms, we put up the Beta 98AMP and for his ride, the Beta 181/C.  On overheads, a pair of KSM32‘s.  On the guitar amp, the KSM313 ribbon mic always delivers amazing tone. On the Kick, the popular Beta 52A and the new Beta 91A combination.

The next morning, I arrived at the University around 9 am to catch the show opening with endorser Jim Riley (Rascal Flatts).  Jim was invited to do a Master Class for about 125 people.  Jim is also a fantastic player and a great clinician.  His focus was on using rudiments to enhance your playing on the kit musically.  He played along with several tracks that he had composed.  He also mentioned that as musical director for Rascal Flatts, he is allowed a lot of flexibility in arranging for them.  Jim also used the Beta 98AMP’s and the Beta 181′s for his clinic. A special Congratulations goes out to Jim for being voted the Modern Drummer 2011 Country Drummer of the Year.

Other artists invited this year included Gil Sharone, Trevor Lawrence Jr., Jeff “Tain” Watts, John Riley and Aquiles Priester.  It was a great show and there were plenty of great comments on the new Beta drum mics.

Shure Endorser Billy Ward also showed up.  It was wonderful catching up with him.

Special Thanks to the staff at Modern Drummer magazine for always putting together an exciting show.  Thanks to HB Group and Bill Dest for handling the sound needs and the crew for taking such good care of all of the mics.

I play drums and my drum kit of choice is Pearl.  I have a Reference series kit with a 22 inch kick drum and 4 toms – 10, 12, 14, 16 inches.  I switch between an all brass reference series snare and the Steve Ferrone signature snare.  For my mics selection, I would put both the Beta 52A and the Beta 91A in my kick drum.  This is a standard technique used both live and in the studio to capture the low end and the attack of a kick drum and to blend between the two sounds as appropriate.  For toms, I would use the new Beta 98AMP on my 10 and 12 toms because I like the clarity of tone they provide. The Beta 27 on the floor toms provides a nice, full low end and the super cardioid pattern give them great separation.  The SM57 on the snare is a must as it always naturally reproduces the acoustic sound of the snare drum. I use Remo drum heads – Clear Emperors on the top and Clear Ambassadors on the  bottom. The Reference snare has a coated Ambassador head on top.  I like to tune the toms so there is no tonal drop-off and the pitch is nice and long, not muted.  No gates please!

For cymbals, I choose Zildjian.  I would use a KSM137 on the Hi-hat as it is not to bright in the high end.  On Overheads, I would use the Beta 181/C.  My first experience with these was last Fall 2010 at the Percussive Artist Society International Convention in Indianapolis.  I was very pleased with the clarity and the tonality that came through these mics.  I heard various tones from the cymbals that I was only used to hearing when I listened to cymbals up close acoustically.  Like the SM57 on the snare, these seemed to truly represent what was in  front of me.

I am very comfortable with this set-up both live and in the studio.  Many drummers have used both similar and different set-up to track their drums.  You can find a some  examples from the Pro’s in our Microphone Techniques for Drums publication.

So there you have it!

Now it’s YOUR turn.  Please comment and tell everyone about your kit and what  Shure mics help you achieve YOUR sound.

Thanks !

Ryan

The Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN

This evening’s event has been an annual concert for over 13 years and Vince always brings in some wonderful artists to participate.  Benefiting the Mental Health Association, Vince and his many guests performed 2 sets of music, lasting over 2 and half hours.  FOH Engineer Hugh Johnson had a stage full of Shure wired mics as well as couple channels of wireless KSM9’s. Other Mics on stage included a pair of Beta 181/c on Leslie high, the Beta 98AMP on toms, and the KSM313 on Vince’s guitar amps.

Vince kicked off the first set with a couple of his hits and then got right to the business of bringing out the first of many guests.  Claiming comically that she wanted to go on first and head home, Vince’s wife Amy Grant joined him on stage for a couple songs.  The night continued with several songwriters and known singers from other groups.  At one point during the Del McCoury Band’s set, Hugh turned to me with a smile on his face and said “The KSM9 is the best microphone ever made.”    Hugh was there in the beginning of the development of that mic and has been using it on Vince and Amy’s vocals ever since.

Other guest artists included Keb’ Mo’, Taylor Hicks, Lynn Marie, and Larry Stewart of Restless Heart.