TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler may be “American Idol"-bound, but he’s taken another tumble on stage – this time in Toronto.

Aerosmith was performing at Toronto’s Air Canada Center on Tuesday when, according to media reports, guitarist Joe Perry backed into Tyler as they played “Love in an Elevator,” which sent the frontman off the catwalk and into the crowd.

 

CBC News said Tyler landed on his feet without injury, and was helped back on stage by fans and Perry.

 

The incident recalled a similar one last year when Tyler broke his shoulder after falling off the stage while singing the same song during a show in South Dakota. The band was forced to cancel the rest of its tour, and Tyler’s band mates threatened to replace him with a new singer.

 

The Globe and Mail newspapers added that Tyler, once back on the Toronto stage, told a smiling Perry and his cheering fans: “It ain’t gonna happen again, baby.” Aerosmith is making its way through a 42-date North American tour.

 

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The Enticer is based on an NOS RCA 12AU7A vacuum tube. 

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The R-101 brings the company’s renowned ribbon mic quality with Royer’s offset-ribbon design to a more affordable level.

Burbank, CA (August 18, 2010) – Royer Labs has introduced the new R-101 to their lineup of ribbon microphones. The R-101 brings the company’s renowned ribbon mic quality with Royer’s offset-ribbon design to a more affordable level. Here’s what Royer has to say about the new microphone:

A pioneering design with high SPL (sound pressure level) capabilities and extremely low residual noise, the R-101 is ideal for both studio and live sound reinforcement applications. It offers exemplary performance for a wide range of miking tasks—at a price point that makes this new microphone a most compelling choice.

The new R-101 offers numerous technological advancements pioneered by Royer Labs. Chief among them is the microphone’s multi-layered wind screening for superior protection from air blasts and plosives, providing excellent protection for the microphone’s ribbon element. This unique screening system also reduces proximity effect, facilitating closer miking with less bass buildup. The ribbon element’s smooth frequency response and phase linearity, coupled with sensitivity levels surpassing those of “classic” ribbon microphones, enable the new R-101 to provide an element of analog warmth so essential to today’s digital recording systems. The perfect choice for miking electric guitars, brass instruments, and drums, the R-101’s figure-8 pattern also conveys superb ambience and depth when used for room miking applications.

The R-101 incorporates Royer’s patented offset-ribbon technology and a low mass, 2.5-micron aluminum (99.9% pure) ribbon element. The ribbon transducer’s flux-frame and rare earth Neodymium magnets create a powerful magnetic field which increases sensitivity while reducing stray magnetic radiation.

The offset-ribbon design of the new R-101 positions the ribbon element towards the front of the microphone body, allowing for higher SPL handling on the front (logo) side of the microphone and the option of a brighter response when recording lower SPL sound sources on the microphone’s back side. This innovative approach results in the R-101’s ability to withstand 135dB SPL @ 30 Hz. The R-101 is a perfect choice for close miking, capturing the attack transients of percussion instruments, recording loud instruments such as brass and horn sections, or miking electric guitar cabinets. Equally notable, the R-101 is a great choice for miking strings, acoustic guitar, and piano.

It should also be noted that, with the new R-101, there are no internal electronics to overload or produce distortion up to the microphone’s maximum SPL rating and the ribbon element is not affected by heat or humidity. Equally significant, the extremely high quality of both the R-101’s manufacturing and its components results in an absence of high frequency peaks, “ringing,” and phase shifts and enables this new microphone to have extremely low residual noise.

Rick Perrotta, President of Royer Labs, commented on the company’s new R-101 Ribbon Microphone. “The R-101 has numerous benefits that make it a great choice for the audio professional,” says Perrotta. “This microphone employs some noteworthy manufacturing qualities, including the absence of nickel or black chrome plating. We decided to employ a high quality epoxy finish that is extremely durable and is environmentally friendly. We also incorporated an entirely new multi-layered wind screen design that provides better protection for the element, and we’ve included a shockmount, which can be a rather pricey accessory. Further, we designed the R-101 to exhibit less proximity effect—enabling people who may not be accustomed to using ribbon mics to achieve excellent results. All of these factors contribute to a very capable microphone that addresses those customers who may not be in a position to spend more than a thousand dollars.”

The Royer Labs R-101 Ribbon Microphone ships with a heavy-duty protective carrying case, a suspension-type shock mount, and a mic sock. The R-101 is expected to ship in early September, 2010 and carry an MSRP of $895.00.

For more information:
Royer Labs

Source: Press Release

 

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A simple-to-use analog delay with high-quality tones.

Among boutique and custom pedal lovers, Analog Man enjoys a reputation for building some of the world’s coolest high-end guitar effects, as well as doing expert repairs and mods on vintage and new stompboxes. As a fan of their gear and designs, I was excited to check out their new delay pedal, the ARDX20 Dual Analog Delay.

What it is
Co-designed by Analog Man’s Ohbayashi San and Analog Mike (who—full disclosure— contributes to our monthly Stomp School column along with his partner, Tom Hughes), the ARDX20 is a two-channel, handwired delay pedal that offers between 36 ms and 600 ms of delay time. Housed in a rugged, red metal case, the ARDX20 is powered by either a 9-volt battery or a Boss-style power supply. The pedal sports dual footswitches—a true-bypass on/off switch and a channel switch—six knobs, standard input and output jacks, an effects loop jack, and a delay time expression jack. The easy-to-access battery compartment is on the underside of the pedal.

The knobs are laid out in a very user-friendly fashion in two rows. The upper three knobs— delay time, feedback, and delay level— control the Yellow channel. The lower three knobs provide the same controls for the Red channel. Below the knobs are two small LEDs that alternately blink, speeding up or slowing down as you adjust the delay time.

The ARDX20 is designed to let you dial in two delay settings and then toggle between them with a footswitch. Nifty LEDs on either side of the pedal tell you which channel is in play at any given time. Conveniently, both the on/ off and channel switches sit higher than the knobs, so you won’t accidentally mess up your settings during a quick effects change.

Getting Down to Business
I plugged my ’78 Yamaha SG2000 into the ARDX20 and a ’66 Fender Pro Reverb and started exploring the unit’s sounds. My first thought was that it’s not a transparent delay. This may bother guitarists who want uncolored echo, but I stuck it out, determined to give the pedal a chance. The more I played with it, the more I began to appreciate how it smoothed out the high end and added a lush, organic warmth to my tones. I could see how this sonic coloration could become addictive, leading you to leave the pedal on most of the time.

Within the limitations of a 600 ms delay time, I found that the ARDX20 was flexible enough to deliver whatever I went after, from a short slapback to a trippy wash of recurring echoes. In all instances, the repeats sounded mellow and never spiky, and they didn’t obscure my attack when I’d pick a series of notes.

Having two channels is great for gigs, because you can set up two totally separate delay settings and access either one at the press of a button. I did notice a quick warbling sound when I switched between channels while a note was ringing, but I believe I could live with that, given the flexibility of this two-pedals-in-one design.

Expressionism
The ARDX20’s extra jacks provide even more flexibility. The effects loop—which carries the delay tone only, not the dry signal—lets you bring another pedal (perhaps a chorus or fl anger) into the mix. (You’ll need an optional TRS Y-cable, though. Analog Man suggests the Hosa STP-201.) Even cooler: Inserting an expression pedal into the effects loop lets you vary delay level and feedback on the fl y. Further, plugging an expression pedal into the delay time expression jack lets you control the delay time in the Red channel. In this configuration, I discovered the ARDX20 let me get pitch bends and Whammy pedal-type sounds, but with a more pleasing tone. If you like to experiment, you’ll really enjoy this feature.

The Final Mojo
Analog Man has whipped up a very cool delay pedal that doesn’t try to be all things to all guitarists. It’s simple to use and has a lush sound. Its shining features are the quality of tones, low power consumption, and channel switching. If you’re into going nuts with effects onstage, I recommend getting a Y-cable and an expression pedal. But even as a stand-alone delay, the ARDX20 is impressive.

Buy if…
a warm delay with options is what you crave.
Skip if…
you have no use for slapback.
Rating…

Street $265 - Analog Man - analogman.com

 

 

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PG gives you the opportunity to interview Gretsch!

Marion, IA (August 17, 2010) – Each month, Premier Guitar allows you, the Premier Guitar reader, to interview industry notables in a section we call “Go Ahead and Ask.” You to submit your questions for the interviewee of the month—a notable company, builder or artist—via our website, and then we’ll facilitate the interview. Our editorial staff will select 10 questions and then we’ll publish the answers in the next issue.

This month, you have the opportunity to pose a question to Fred Gretsch III. Check the October issue of Premier Guitar for Fred’s responses. Click here to submit your question!

 

 

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