Designed and constructed in Auckland, the Qualified
Sound Mic Shield, lovingly dubbed “The Reflection
Killer” offers an affordable,
homegrown alternative to some of the major brands available,
but with extremely comparable results!
As a recording musician, or as a recording engineer, it's important that
nothing gets in the way of the perfect take. We never
know when it's going to present itself, so it's our responsibility to do
whatever we can to enable the ever illusive perfect take come out to
play whenever it feels like it.
Despite the name, this glorious device brought to us by the team at
Qualified Sound will not make you invisible in a mirror, like
some kind of internet shopping vampire. It will, however, enable you to
record vocals of all kinds without having to worry about being in the perfect
room for it!
For us Home Studio guys, while being at home and not having
to worry about forking out for studio time, being at home is also the
biggest challenge we face – a pro studio will have acoustic treating to be
rid of any of the extra noises that would otherwise potentially slip into the
recording.
Continue reading...
The good people at Korg
have been on the forefront of MIDI innovation for many years and have recently
turned their attention to the rapidly expanding Home-Recording market.
Most recently with the nanoSeries 2, which comprises three units. All are
USB-powered class-compliant MIDI devices, meaning that you just plug them in and
off you go – no need for drivers or external power supplies!
The three devices all share some common traits, but are fundamentally
different from one another and would work well as KOMPLETE set.
First we have the nanoKontrol2.
Perfect for the Kontrol Freak and designed to make mixing a
breeeeze. Almost every single control is configurable via the
Korg Editor software, making it a flexible general-purpose
knobs, faders ‘n’ buttons MIDI controller. This gives you direct and manual
control of your DAW's transport and mixer channels, with minimal setup
required.
Second up is the Korg
nanoKey2 . This takes the place of an actual keyboard –
ideal for travel if you can't take your real one with you, or if you simply
don't have room for one, but want the added Kontrol! The action is
really light, and it takes a little getting used to if you're accustomed to
playing on a traditional keyboard. Again – can be mapped using the
Korg Editor software.
Continue reading...
For decades Shure has
been known and respected for their microphones. The SM58
for vocal applications and SM57
for instruments – which over the years have become an industry
standard, to be found all over the world, in both live and recording
situations.
More recently, however, after developing their reputation further with their
incredible in-ear-monitors
they have started becoming more prominent in the pro and consumer
headphones, earning them another industry standard accolade in the
process with the SRH840.
The Shure SRH840 are one rung down from the top tier SRH940
closed back headphones. Although the SRH840 are regarded as professional-grade
headphones, and will do a fantastic job in the studio, they would well suit a
music fan who wants to get the most out of their tunes!
- You'll hear something new every time with the SRH840's extra clarity
- Added “warmth” to the overall tone will make your music sound that much
“fuller”
- The closed back design ensures that exterior noise will be reduced to a
minimum, allowing for maximum immersion and enhancing critical listening.
Continue reading...
Ernie
Ball announced their Cobalt
strings at NAMM 2012. And since then they have grown massively in
popularity, in no small part due to endorsement from some of the guitar worlds
most idolized rockstars – the likes of John Petrucci, Paul
Gilbert, Steve Morse and Steve Vai.
Cobalt is more than just a cool name though –
it's actually got a spot on the Periodic Table! Symbol “Co”.
It's described as “a silvery-white, hard, brittle metallic
element…” not to mention it's got an atomic number of 27 and a
melting point of 1495°C… METAL! Literally. \m/
When combined with iron to form the composition of the string, a stronger
magnetic pull against guitar pickups occurs, which yields two important benefits
over standard steel strings: They are louder and clearer.
If those two things alone aren't enough to appeal to your inner rockstar, how
about the fact that they last longer than Ernie's Trademark
Slinkys, have a “tighter” yet “fatter” sound and come in this
snazzy packaging ?
Continue reading...
As Mighty Ape grows we are continuing to add new product categories. For all
the ♪♫musical monkeys♫♪ out there we've been working hard
recently to compile a great range and selection of brands and at long last we
are pleased to announce that we now have a new category that will cater to your
needs. Introducing Musical
Instruments!
Whether you like to jam out in your bedroom or rock stages worldwide we've
got something for you. Check out our range of Guitars, Keyboards, DJ gear
and more.
Over the next few weeks you can expect to see expect to see gear reviews,
tips and tricks videos, and even a competition or two! Our lists are
growing as product adding continues so keep checking back for more new
products.
Swing by our
Musical Instruments section now and start making some sweet music.
Continue reading...
Want to show some love for your favourite bands?
We've got selected Mens
and Womens
music t-shirts now only $19.99 each.
There are t-shirts from The Doors, Metallica, Marshall Amp, Misfits,
Rolling Stones, Slipnot and Trivium.
Get in quick as sizes and stock of these great tees are limited!
Love music? Like wearing your favourite band's t-shirts?
We've just kicked off an awesome Music T-Shirt Sale. For TODAY ONLY grab a
cool Music
T-Shirt for just $15! Save up to 75% off the
normal price.
We've got t-shirts from Flight of the Conchords, Guns N' Roses, Korn,
Metallica, Michael Jackson, Misfits, Motorhead, The Ramones, Slipknot, The
Doors, The Rolling Stones, and Trivium.
Swing
by our Music T-Shirt Sale now. Get in quick as sizes and stock are
limited!
We have received word that The
Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria is being released on DVD and
Blu-ray on November 1st. For those that don't know, the title
The Big 4 refers to the four big bands of thrash metal: Metallica,
Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. They perfomed together in a series
of dates in Europe for the Sonisphere tour earlier this year.
Their show in Sofia, Bulgaria on June 22nd was recorded and broadcast in
1000 cinemas around the world. The DVD and Blu-ray releases take this live
recording and give you the opportunity to experience The Big 4 at home. While
not quite as exciting as being there it is still awesome!
I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on metal (because I'm not) but
I can recognise an epic line up when I see it. I'm familiar with bits and
pieces of each of these bands catalogues and I know that each of these four
bands are massive in their own right, so having two of them together would have
been epic… but all four of them together is just insane! I also know
just enough to be impressed that the Metallica boys and Dave Mustaine from
Megadeth happily shared a stage together considering that Mustaine got the boot
from Metallica back in the 80s.
Continue reading...
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the 2010 VNZMAs (the NZ music
awards). It's always fun catching up with other musos and industry people. The
music awards are a great night out, and last night was no exception.
I was there to support David
Dallas, a good friend of mine and a talented hip hop artist whom I have
managed for the past four years. Dave was nominated for the Best Urban/Hip
Hop award for his album Something
Awesome and also performed at the awards. Dave was up against tough
competition in the form of Young Sid
and J.
Williams but I'm happy to say that Dave won the Best Urban/Hip Hop Album
award. I'm so proud of him :)
Something Awesome was Dave's first solo album since his duo Frontline
ended, and it was a project that we'd been working towards since late 2006. It
was an interesting time for the music industry, the way that people discover and
consume music changed vastly during that period. The importance of traditional
media (print, TV, radio) declined as online media gained more relevance. So we
utilised blogging and social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace,
YouTube etc. to market David Dallas and his music. This was partly out of
neccesity (we had little money to spend on marketing) and also because we
recognised the growing importance the internet for marketing music.
Continue reading...
