Gear Reviews
STUDIO TEST: Enter to Win a Focusrite Clarett 8Pre for Your Studio
Looking to upgrade your interface or add more mic pres to your current setup? Performer just got a new Clarett 8Pre Thunderbolt interface from our friends at Focusrite, and we're gonna give it to one lucky winner to keep for their studio. Intrigued? We're searching...
Cakewalk Rapture Session REVIEW
Cakewalk Rapture Session REVIEW PROS: huge library, quality sounds, good search functionality, inexpensive, PC & Mac compatible. CONS: no standalone version for Mac. PRICE: $29.99 Cakewalks's new Rapture Session is a slimmed down version of their fully-loaded...
Peterson PitchGrabber Mobile Tuner Pickup REVIEW
Peterson PitchGrabber Mobile Tuner Pickup PROS: Inexpensive, simple. CONS: Would be nice if the cable was detachable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39jPshA7-_k For certain instruments a standard electronic tuner just won’t work. Installing a pickup, or even an...
How To
Live Review: Cut Copy
Coming to this show, I wasn't in the greatest of spirits. While I was impressed with Cut Copy's Zonoscope and would praise the songs on their latest album without even needing a breath to think about it, I did not know what to expect when walking into the House of...
Live Review: Toro y Moi
Leading the pack of buzzbands coming out of South by Southwest, Toro Y Moi has generated a buzz that won’t seem to dissipate. A critically-acclaimed leader of the chillwave movement, the band (founded and fronted by Chaz Bundick) released Causers of This to rave...
Live Review: Joy Formidable
My last interaction with Joy Formidable frontwoman Ritzy Bryan was last year when I met her shortly before her set at the Great Scott. She gave me a huge hug (I interviewed her for a preview for that show) and raved about reading the article over a delicious roast...
Buying Guide
ShowSlinger: The Next Killer App For Booking & Touring
ShowSlinger Takes Aim at a Better Live Music Experience There are plenty of apps that notify fans when their favorite artist is playing a show in town, and ones that display favorite venues and live music calendars, and even some cool apps just for artists to manage...
Focusrite Announces New Red 4Pre Interface
Focusrite is proud to announce the launch of Red 4Pre – the pinnacle of Focusrite’s interface range. The 58-in/64-out Red 4Pre combines four of Focusrite’s specially-developed digitally-controlled mic preamps, plus high-headroom instrument inputs, with dual...
IN-DEPTH REVIEW AND VIDEOS: YAMAHA Reface Series Keyboards
YAMAHA Reface Series Keyboards PROS: Fantastic design, functionality and sounds. CONS: Mini keys may turn off some users, price is at the upper limit. (price has been reduced since our initial review was published) PRICE: $499/each NOW $399/each...
Industry News
7 Reasons Why Your Band’s PR Campaign Didn’t Work
I've already discussed the not-always-obvious signs your PR campaign worked, and how its success is not measured in clips or record sales, but in conversations, buzz, social media growth, name recognition, a press kit, and further development. A PR campaign is...
Understanding Artist Management Agreements, Part 2: How Long Should the Contract Last?
This article was originally published at Sonicbids.com - it has been re-posted here with permission. In the first installment of our three-part series on the artist/manager relationship, we talked about managers' duties to their clients and what falls within that...
The Working Musician’s Perspective: Do Drugs Really Aid The Creative Process?
Since I am an artist, perhaps that’s why Performer Magazine asked if I would write a few words concerning the positive side of drugs. After all, nobody is going to ask an athlete, a politician or a soccer mom that question. It’s up to us artists to be the pioneers,...