PreSonus Blog

Monthly Archives: August 2014


Nimbit Artist of the Week: Drum Corp International!

unnamedWell, this is a refreshing a change of pace from the typical Artist-of-the-Week. Up this time around is Drum Corp International, AKA DCI to those in-the-know, which now includes you.

Were this the usual singer/songwriter or rock band, this is the part where I would talk about where they are from, or their musical influences, or key band members. But how do I write about an organization made up of multiple bands, comprised of talented folks from all over the world?

I can’t, except to say that contemporary drum corp is the torchbearer for a richly storied tradition with origins in American and Canadian military history that goes back to the first world war, with competitive circuits really coming into their own by the 1960s.

Drum Corps International formed in 1972, and is the non-profit governing body for junior (under-21) drum and bugle corps in the US and Canada.

Over at the DCI Nimbit store, once can download a metric tonne of live competition performances from prestigious venues like the Alamodome and University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium. Recordings contain championship performances from some of DCIs brightest and boldest. You can also grab a DCI hoodie or a DCI SNOWFLAKE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT, just in time for… September?

Last but not least, you can get DVD and Blu-ray recordings of the 2013 and 2012 world championships, as well as the cutting-edge DCI Essentials collection, which includes top performances from DCI performances of yesteryear; up-converted to HD with a 5.1 audio mix. DVD is a great way to go, as drum corp is a highly visual medium.

Incidentally, PreSonus is a proud sponsor of DCI wunderkind The Blue Devils, who recently took first place at the DCI annual championship. Not only did they win, but they got the highest score ever in the history of DCI competition—a 99.65. They’ve been using PreSonus StudioLive AI Mixers and Loudspeakers in their performances for a little under a year, now, and we’re proud to have been a part of their prestigious victory. Check out a detailed overview of their set up at: musiced.presonus.com/fieldaudio

Click here to visit DCI’s Nimbit profile and get some epic recordings!

Interested in Nimbit? Sign up for free here.

 

PreSonus LIVE Airs Today! Learn about the Music Creation Suite, 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST / Noon PST

PreSonus-Live-MCS-FBJoin Justin Spence, John Jones, Donyea Goodman, and John Mlynczak as we take you on a full tour of the PreSonus Music Creation Suite. This hardware/software package includes everything you need to get your creative vision out into the world!

Click here to watch the show, 2 p.m. CST / 3 p.m. EST / Noon PST:

http://www.presonus.com/videos/presonuslive

Fonz Wins an RC-500 at Potluck Recording Conference

Fonz 2[This just in from Fonz, who recently lucked out and took home a PreSonus RC 500 from the Potluck Recording Conference (formerly Tape Op Con) giveaway! We’ve had a little hand in Potluck since 2004 or so, and this year a lucky winner got an RC 500!]
Hey guys, let me start by thanking you for your generosity! The PreSonus RC 500 will be cared for like a family member, but worked like a mule!
Potluck Audio Conference is a meeting of the minds where vendors, musicians, engineers, producers, fans of audio, and/or anyone else with a set of ears can travel to Tucson, Arizona in 100+ degree weather to share ideas, techniques, and many other valuable aspects of their respective industries. Craig Schumacher from WaveLab Studios is the guy to thank for this amazing event. Craig Schumacher is also an instructor at Scottsdale Community College, which happens to be two hours away from his residence and studio in Tucson. How and where he finds time to teach us is still a mystery, as he is constantly pulled in at least three directions at any given time. The guy is a blessing to us all!
This year Craig asked me to attend the event as a participant in a panel sponsored and engineered by Sweetwater’s very own Mike Pinotte and Austin Moss. The guys used one of the songs I created and had me track a verse to use in their Vocal Recording panel. It was a great experience, needless to say.
Currently I am a student at Scottsdale Community College. The degrees I’m acquiring are in Supply Chain Management and another in Audio Production. This doesn’t leave me much time for work, so the last year was a little rough as I had to quit my job and focus on school. As a result of the sacrifice, something VERY cool happened; my mixes started to get better, and people started to give me money to make their recording sound better.
Once again, I’d like to thank you for your kindness. Your company and the awesome gear you create are now a part of our collective efforts to keep the music alive!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Alfonso Gutierrez (my Mama and my friends call me Fonz)

Great PreSonus Deals available on Amazon; Piranhas Notably Absent

You’ve proven your status as my target demographic by clicking the link that got you to this blog.

How did I know that? Well, you’re here, and that means you’re an online sort of musician. As such, I thought you’d like to know that Carl recently set up one heckuva handsome PreSonus-branded online storefront over on Amazon.com, where you can shop for all things PreSonus, and no things anybody else.

Click around. Read reviews. Get yourself some new Eris monitors—they, in particular, are killin‘ it over there, with a review score average of 5/5 from no less than 27 reviews.

Of course, if you’re of the old-skool mindset to hear/play with something before you buy it, you can always haul your true-analog butt to a local dealer that won’t deliver your new FireStudio Mobile via drone.

Video Series: How To Step Up Your Music Practice

John Mlynczak, PreSonus Education Market Manager, is is the kind of guy who leads by example. He recently produced this incredible nine-part video series focusing on using the AudioBox Studio, AudioBox Stereo, or AudioBox Music Creation Suite with a pair of Eris studio monitors to make practicing at home more efficient. Consider these tips “best practices” for your practices. Feel free to share your success or any new ideas!

While John’s videos were designed for music educators, fact is these tips are applicable to darn near anyone who wants to get some music made. If you’re a kid just starting out, or a home-recording vet just looking to dust off the rudiments, chances are you’ll find something of value here.

For more in PreSonus in music education, visit http://musiced.presonus.com

 

Nimbit Artist of the Week: Ellis Paul!

In the film “Lemmy,” a wonderful biopic of Motörhead’s iconic frontman, Slash (of Guns’n’Roses fame) paints an abrupt picture of reverence when describing the film’s namesake. It goes something like this:

“I’ve known a lot of ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ personalities, and the ones that I admire, and the ones that I’m drawn towards, are the guys that are… f***in’… the real deal. People who live, sleep, and breathe rock ‘n’ roll.”

Compare that to this quote from a guy who’s not in Motörhead or Guns’n’Roses, and doesn’t play rock ‘n’ roll so much as folk: Ellis Paul.

“I’ve got a car with over 4​75​,000 miles on it, and it’s my third road vehicle,​” Paul declares. “I’ve been doing 200 shows a year for over twenty years. There isn’t a town in the country where I won’t find a friend. I’m a nomad. And I’m gonna write and play until I’m gone.”

 

Real-deal? Well, if that doesn’t sound like the real-deal lifestyle of someone who puts the “true” in “troubadour,” than I don’t know what to tell you. While Ellis claims to live in Charlottesville, VA., it seems pretty clear to me that he lives on the road.

Ellis was rather inadvertently introduced to the guitar when a sports injury knocked him out of commission and he needed something else to do. He took to songwriting almost immediately, and was soon playing Boston-area gigs, and turning Boston-area heads. Over time his songwriting matured through a healthy twin-obsession with both Woody Guthrie and musical narrative, garnering a couple of local songwriting contest wins, releasing his first record, Say Something, in 1993. And somehow, when not on the road (and when is that again?) Paul finds the time to record, and at the time of this writing has released EIGHTEEN more albums—including two volumes of his childrens’ album series, The Hero in You—and culminating in his latest, Chasing Beauty. He’s also landed placements in some A-list Hollywood films, including some Farrelly brothers hits.

If you appreciate the earnestness of Cash and like your guitar served up with a side order of great story, you owe it to yourself to listen to Ellis Paul.

Closely.

Click here to visit Ellis Paul’s Nimbit profile and get his latest, NINETEENTH album, Chasing Beauty.

Interested in Nimbit? Sign up for free here.

PreSonus AudioBox iOne / iTwo Quick Start Guides [Video]

Ready to get rolling with your new iOne / iTwo interface? Learn everything you need to know in this six-part video Quick Start Guide!

Unboxing and Registering Online:

Interface Overview:

Mac Computers:

Windows Computers:

iPad Connectivity:

Introduction to Studio One Artist:

 

Interested in learning more about the iOne and iTwo? Click here.

iOne and iTwo Interface Video

They’re here! the iOne / iTwo interfaces allow you to record multi-track audio to your iPad, and then WIRELESSLY beam your tracks over to your laptop or workstation directly into Studio One via Wifi! How cool is that?

For more on iOne / iTwo, click here.