Artist: a&e

Between Amanda Palmer and Veronica Mars, crowdfunding has proven its worth beyond the shadow of a doubt. In one year alone, global crowdfunding initiatives grew 81% to generate a reported $2.7 BILLION. Of that, music-related projects represented a very respectable $202.5 million, i.e. 7.5% of all raised funds and 4th most ...

Who knew a geeky chamber music quartet could make some of my favourite tunes of the last year? Meet Clean Bandit , the self-proclaimed "electronic chamber music" quartet with a revolving door of vocalists and collaborators. They manage to fuse electronica, chamber music, dub, hip-hop and R&B without their sound becoming completely convoluted. I accidentally fell upon their recent single "A&E" , inspired by a trip to the accidents and emergency wing of Whittington Hospital, and was instantly hooked. Strings and electronica don't always go together, but the band has managed to [...]

Filed under: News Mike Pont, Getty Images LOS ANGELES (AP) - The TV series "Duck Dynasty" is coming between Morrissey and Jimmy Kimmel. The singer and animal rights activist says he canceled his appearance Tuesday on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" because "Duck Dynasty" cast members will be on the talk show.

I first heard about Trash from iZotope many years ago when Digidesign (now Avid) included a lite version of the distortion plug-in as part of it's Ignition Pack bundled with Pro Tools. Although I played around with it back then, I was more focused on learning about the DAW. Last October at AES in San Francisco, iZotope announced Trash 2. You can view the demo we shot here . After seeing (and hearing) Trash 2 at AES, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. iZotope describes Trash 2 as the ultimate distortion and audio mangling toolbox. [...]

I'm a snake, I'm a tricky little freak, I'm a killer, you won't see me as I slither down the street I make noise and I'm poised like a train as you please, I make heat when I tweet, I am the real McCoy." This song is a slap to the metaphorical face in the best way possible. The kind that wakes you up, shakes you out. After a moment, you nod and smile, mutter something that sounds like [...]

• Clean Bandit - A&E

It's party season, we've got our party headgear on and we've got a boppin' party track for ya. The opening of Johnny 2 Laptop's remix of Clean Bandit 'A+E' reminds us of a 902s garage track. It's nice and catchy with pretty vocals that treat us to an extra little tune at the end. Likey. Classic-electronic collective Clean Bandit are playing live at the Black Butter & i-D Online Christmas Special at XOYO next Friday along with some other hot young things. Check it awt 'ere.

• Clean Bandit - A+E

Many years ago Sound Forge was my go to application for editing audio files. At that time I was mainly recording my band's rehearsals along with other bands live shows using two microphones into a DAT recorder. I was also using Windows-based PCs. I would use Sound Forge to trim and separate the WAV files into songs, EQ them to my liking, and make any other adjustments that were needed. As I moved my audio production to the Mac and started doing multi-track recording, Sound Forge didn't fit in to my work flow. That may change now that Sony has [...]

This is the final video in my series from AES 2012 in San Francisco. In this video we have Noelle Duncan telling us a bit about the Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) along with Laura Dean, Madalyn Fernandez and Kelley Coyne. WAM was formed in 2003 in direct response to the economic and social inequity that women face in music production and the recording arts. From The Women's Audio Mission Website: Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the advancement of women [...]

I recently did a review of the iTrack Solo from Focusrite , their new iPad audio interface. The product worked great for the iPad but I wanted a bit more when using an I/O with my laptop. The new Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 seems to have all of the features that I'm looking for in a portable interface. In this video, Adrian Hogg (Focusrite Novation Global Product Specialist) demos the Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 Audio Interface. From The Focusrite Website: Focusrite are pleased to announce yet another [...]

IsoAcoustics demonstrated their speaker stands at AES in San Francisco. They placed one set of studio monitors on their speaker stands and another set of monitors sat directly on the desktop surface. Using music that people are familiar with, it was very easy to hear the difference between the two sets of speakers. In this video, Dave Morrison shows us his speaker stands and describes what makes them sound so good. From the IsoAcoustics Website: IsoAcoustics speaker stands are built with a unique, patented isolation technology that allows [...]

Audix Microphones have been around since 1984 and are recognized for their innovative design, performance, quality, durability and value. While I personally don't own any Audix mics, I did get a chance to explore the company's products at AES 2012 in San Francisco. In this video, Cliff Castle shows us the SCX25A studio condenser microphone From the Audix Website: The SCX25A is a professional studio condenser microphone with an elegant design and a patented capsule suspension system. Uniquely shock-mounted within an intricate machined brass ring, the capsule is [...]

I've been a fan of Studio Projects Microphones for years. I have a pair of C32s in my studio and have recorded most of the vocals for my band Needle with these mics. In this video, Brent Casey shows us the Studio Projects CS1 along with the CS1000 Recording Bundle. The package has almost everything you need to start your next recording session including a CS1 mic, an XLR cable, a windscreen, a shock mount, a handy pouch, and the CS1 manual. From Studio Projects' Website: [...]

As I mentioned in my other posts, there were a number of microphones being introduced, displayed, and demonstrated at AES 2012 in San Francisco. In this video, we have Ken Levy from Cascade Microphones talking about the company's new FAT HEAD II Active/Passive ribbon microphone. From Cascade Microphone's Website: The FAT HEAD II Active/Passive ribbon microphone is a first for this type of design. This unique feature allows the user to have the option to switch between either mode with a simple flick of an internal [...]

Like chocolate and peanut butter, two great tastes that taste great together, M-Audio's new Axiom A.I.R. Mini 32 keyboard controller will be packaged with Ignite, a new music ideation and creation software from AIR Music Technology. In this video, Hiro Shimozato from M-Audio and Samara Winterfeld from AIR show off the features of each product at AES 2012 in San Francisco. When M-Audio first announced its new Axiom A.I.R. Mini 32 keyboard controller, I was excited. It fit in with two themes that I’ve been covering over the past year. The first is my [...]

As I mentioned in my previous posts, there were a number of microphones on display at AES in San Francisco. We've shown some from Telefunken , Audio-Technica , and MXL . I will have a couple more videos in the next few days showing mics from Cascade and Audix as well. In this video, John Born from Shure shows off the features of the Shure KSM9HS Dual-Diaphragm Vocal Condenser Microphone. From the Shure Website: Shure Incorporated has introduced a new variant of its [...]

When attending AES, you have an opportunity to demo and try out new software and products being released over the next few months. The Noise Room will be previewing some of this gear with numerous videos that we shot at AES. I was impressed by the number of microphones that were on display. In this video, Kevin Weiss from MXL Microphones talks about their new CR30 condenser mic that will be available towards the end of the year. From MXL Microphones: MXL, a leading manufacturer of consumer and [...]

iZotope has been busy lately. They have just announced Trash 2, the ultimate distortion and audio mangling toolbox and Insight, an essential metering suite at AES 2012 in San Francisco. They've also licensed a suite of audio repair and restoration tools for the debut of Sound Forge™ Pro Mac, Sony’s Professional Digital Audio Editor. In this video TJ Jordan of iZotope gives us a quick demo of Trash 2. The new plug-in will be released in mid-November and we hope to do a hands-on review at that time. From iZotope's Website: [...]

The Noise Room attended AES in San Francisco this weekend. We shot a bunch of videos and talked to a number of companies who launched new products. We'll be posting them over the next week. Here we have Gary Boss from Audio-Technica showing the new AT5040 Cardioid Condenser Microphone that was just announced this weekend. From Audio-Technica's Website: Audio-Technica is launching its flagship 50 Series of elite studio microphones with the AT5040 Cardioid Condenser Microphone at the AES Convention in San Francisco today. Audio-Technica’s [...]

Jason Scheuner from TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik hits one out of the park as he shows some of the company's mics and products at AES 2012 in San Francisco. TELEFUNKEN introduced a number of items at AES this year including the M81 Reggae Mic, the M80 Solid Color Line, and the new R-F-T Stereo Sets. From TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik's Website: Built to a standard, not to a price, TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik™ microphones are the world's finest microphones. Ranging from meticulously engineered, handcrafted historic replicas of classic [...]

The 133rd Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention runs from October 26th to the 29th in San Francisco and The Noise Room will be there. While we plan on attending the keynote speech by Steve Lillywhite (pictured), a number of workshops including the Project Studio Expo, and exploring the trade show, we will dive further into our iPad Music Creation series by talking with companies that provide products and services geared towards the iPad. If you will be at AES and would like to hook up, show us your products, or just chat about the industry, please contact [...]