Category Archives: gear

Crosley CR49 Traveler Portable Turntable

Featured, gear, , , ,

crosley-cr49-traveler-portable-turntable

I knew about Crosley turntables, but I never spotted anyone using them until I paid a visit to my friends in Hyperbubble. There, perched on the bathroom counter next to a pile of great old vinyl was a Crosley, clearly intended to be used for bathtub chillout time after a long day of recording and producing new music. 

Not this particular Crosley, mind you, but this Crosley CR49 Traveler is perfect for bath time anywhere you care to roam; hotels, guest houses, crashing at a fellow DJ’s house…anywhere you might want to bring the vinyl equivalent of a boom box. Aspiring rappers and sound system-ers, here’s a concept for you—take your turntabling on the busking circuit! This is uber-portable and only requires a power supply. The built-in speakers make this the ultimate retro accessory. Buy two of em and do the world’s most lo-tech portable DJ set. What’s that, you say? Crazy? Not if you’re playing small intimate spaces like a tiny art gallery or somebody’s front room. Hell, I’m tempted!

DJ Essentials Tools and Tricks of the Trade

Featured, gear, snark, , , , , , ,

Becoming a DJ isn’t easy, but fortunately for newcomers there are a lot of books available that can help you learn exactly what it takes to be a professional DJ. You can learn everything from the art of remixing to buying the right gear thanks to the books on sale right this very second. I was VERY AMUSED to see what was on just such a list recently..apparently buying the right gear and spinning those tracks to please the crowds ain’t enough. I found a collection of books on DJ culture while doing a search on Amazon.com. What does Amazon reccomend for those seeking tomes on how to become a paid DJ professional? Behold:


the-moble-dj-handbook-get-paid-to-party

The DJ Sales and Marketing Handbook starts off the list. So far, so good, right? Learn how to set up and get paid to party! That’s what author Stacy Zemon wants you to do. Why the hell not? Now granted, being a club DJ is alot different than being a MOBILE DJ, but a lot of people find the party DJ route easier to get into and they transition to clubs later. Not a bad career path if you ask me…

remixing-how-to-guide

The Complete Guide To Remixing is probably a good bet, as long as you’re buying DJ how to books. After all, what good’s a DJ who can’t remix on the fly?

Then, there’s THIS little entry in the Amazon list of books, which surprised me on one hand, but on the other, I thought “Well damn, I guess I have some book ordering to do.” Apparently, the Amazon people understand DJ culture better than you might think:

how-to-grow-exceptional-cannabis

And yes, How To Grow Exceptional Cannabis is STILL FOR SALE. Hurry, now.

How Vinyl Records Are Made

album, gear, , ,

record-labels

This picture, courtesy of a great article about how albums are physically made clears up one of the great mysteries of creating LPs, 12-inch singles and other records.

For YEARS I have always wondered how albums get those labels pressed on the album with absolutely no warping or other physical problems–even years after the pressing, the labels stay put in most cases. Now I know why.

My original theory was that it was some kind of super glue that held the record label in place, but it turns out that good pressing plants BAKE their labels before applying them to the record album. Baking the labels removes excess moisture that would cause warping or other problems. No water, no goofy labels.

Ingenious!

AKG K240 Headphones

gear, , , , ,

akg-k240-headphones1

I almost purchased these AKG K240 headphones on a whim at a not-to-be-mentioned retail musical instruments shop we all know. I wanted to experiment with a semi-open headphone configuration since I have tinnitus issues and don’t want to go stone cold deaf.

While I was looking at them I wondered if I could do better shopping online–the price was about $150 in the store and at the last second decided that there was probably a nice little markup in that notorious store. Yes, indeed. Priced at $99 online, I have placed my order and am excited to compare the AKG K240 headphones to Sony and Sennheiser. Which headsets give the best sound reproduction while giving me the least amount of hearing damage caused by extended headphone wear? We shall see.

The moral of this story is basically “shop around”. Especially in this economy! I did some research on the AKG K240s, and there’s a mixed bag but the positive reviews say what I need to know–good audio quality in spite of some issues with slippy wear. I can deal with that…

If you have any experience in this area, I’d love to get some feedback.Hearing damage vs. audio quality…the eternal tradeoff.