Amplification Challenges
One of the challenges in playing small bodied instruments is figuring out how best to amplify them in a live gig setting. Different musicians have different takes on this, but my personal view is to simply amplify the natural sound of the instrument in a straightforward manner. This is far easier said than done of course. Many of the standard amps for acoustic instruments makes by Marshall, AER, Fishman etc are “ok” to my ears but really not great sonically. I previously used Schertler amps which were expensive and heavy, but did a good job. The top end Unico Deluxe did the best job.
Then along came Henriksen with The Bud and now The Blu and it was game over. Both these units are so far ahead sonically that there really is no contest. Yes, they are more of a financial investment, but its like night and day sonically. I’m currently exploring a stereo amp setup option with Henriksens and I used the new lighter Blu at the New York gigs to great effect. Both the Henriksen Blu and the Bud are 120w output and can be used as stand alon amps or as monitors with a line out to a PA system. The superb Fire Eye Red preamps are great for boosting signal and of course Mogami cables unsure the best sound connection.
Sound Recording in the Studio
One of the benefits of sitting in on mastering and mixing sessions is that I am able to better understand and appreciate “music production” I have previously blogged about UAD plugins and how these are real game changers for the recording musician. UAD like Henriksen have achieved a new level of sonic quality that previously didn'[t exist and I use UAD in my home studio as well as the big studio for all final recordings.
Creating a great sound is like baking, you need to balance all the ingredients and in this case ensure that playback works equally well on a range of playback systems from a laptop to a really high end system. Having an experienced producer is the difference between an ok album and a great album.
Pet Hates – The Dreaded Reverb done to excess…
My previous pet hate for album production was engineers mastering everything so it was sonically as loud as possible and in this pursuit, really destroyed any subtlety in the music. My current pet hate is excessive reverb on recordings which make the singers sound like they are performing at the bottom of a well. When I hear the phrase “ethereal sounds” all too often this means a wash of reverb that kills any dynamics in the music. Check out any Grace VanderWaal videos and you’ll hear this. Some newer aspiring uke artists have also gone down this max the reverb route and of course many folks love it, but personally I’d rather push bamboo shoots through my fingers than be subjected to such a sonic onslaught.
Great sound engineers knew how to use reverb and even engineers with a reputation for enthusiastically adding reverb such as Daniel Lanois, knew exactly how to make it work with the artist. Lanois’s work with Dylan and Emmylou Harris is outstanding, but he has mad skills when it comes to production and always ensured that the reverb didn’t totally kill the expression in the vocals.
Final Thoughts
I fully admit that I am not in the majority when it comes to musical taste. These dayes I’d far rather see an act in the small venue playing original material than attending a stadium gig. I love writing with the ukulele, but most ukulele based music is really not great and the quirky cover versions are almost as bad as the excessive use of reverb. That said I applaud anyone creating and performing music even if its not to my personal taste. These days although I still write on the uke, I am far more interested in incorporating other instruments to ensure there is much better sonic range for an audience.
