Buyers beware. Woodwind and Brasswind is now in Chapter 11.
Guitar Center, the country’s largest retailer of musical instruments, filed for bankruptcy protection late Saturday night.
The company, which was struggling to compete against online rivals even before the pandemic, was hit hard when it was forced to temporarily close most of its stores earlier this year.
Kandinsky never heard Coltrane, but if he had, and had access to 3D rendering software, he might have made something very much like the short animation above from Israeli artist Michal Levy. “Roughly 3 per cent of people experience synaesthesia,” writes Aeon, “a neurological condition in which people have a recurring sensory overlap, such as … envisioning letters and numbers each with their own inherent colour.”
With the plethora of new “EWIs” out, which I would say fail to really capture what the instrument is, we now have this. Which looks like it is coming soon!
The Woodwind & Brasswind posted a video of Ben Wendel showing his pedal board.
One of my “quarantine” projects has been figuring out a good performance pedal board for if/when it is safe to go out and perform again. Let’s dive a little deeper and figure out what exactly his setup is.
First off, it is a mess. Seriously Ben, you shoot this video in a room that is clean, and looks great. But the cables for your pedals? Maddening……a disaster Ben. FEMA has been notified. 1/2 a Beard if it was on Riffs, Beards and Gear. You need a board, and clean cables. How can you show up with that mess? Yikes.
Ok, so, the actual gear. Ben pretty much spells out what he has except for two KEY items. The microphones. Which is sort of important. The best I can tell he is using a AEA N8 Ribbon Microphone as his “dry” saxophone mic. Which is awesome. But…..it needs phantom power. So where is the phantom power for the mic? I don’t see it on the board. The “effects mic” seems to be a Sennheiser e908b microphone, another mic that needs phantom power.
“The YDS-150 effectively emulates an authentic saxophone experience digitally—from the sound and key layout to feedback from the instrument—while maintaining the sense of unity between the saxophone and musician. The Digital Saxophone breaks the barrier to entry for new or returning musicians providing the ability to quickly express themselves creatively and musically.Unlike MIDI Wind Controllers, the YDS-150 incorporates a key structure that replicates that of a traditional saxophone, offering players the natural feel to which they are accustomed. A genuine brass bell enhances the acoustic presence of the instrument thanks to the company’s new proprietary Integrated Bell Acoustic System technology. The sound and vibration of the speaker unit at the top of the instrument are transmitted to the bell through the sound pipe, and in turn, the instrument itself vibrates similarly to a traditional saxophone. Vibrations are carried to the mouth and fingertips through the mouthpiece and keys to give players authentic instrumental feedback. What’s more, the Digital Saxophone sings with longer reverberation thanks to the brass bell, making it possible for musicians to play in a naturally expressive way.“