Much grief about Whitney’s sad demise on FB, twitter, etc., and a few voices raised to ask the question “why?” Why does someone who has everything and has achieved their life’s ambition “throw it all away?” There are several reasons why this keeps happening: the first is beyond anyone’s control, while the second could be …
Category Archive: Jay Stapley Blog
Jay Stapley’s blog on music-related matters and anything else I think of.
Feb 01
Some things are always true
If the drums are right, everything else is easy: if the drums are wrong, nothing else is possible. Share this:
Jan 05
Dark Matter Audio’s DMA1: a game-changer!
I love gear! As long as it’s good, solid, stable, and does what it says it’s going to do, that is. Every now and again a new bit of gear appears that is a must-have and I’ve just found one. Dark Matter Audio are close to releasing the DMA1 and I’m going to camp outside …
Dec 22
A good year…
OK, what a year! Sessions for Robbie Boyd (banjo, acoustic), Mike Collins/Aurora Colson, Mike Collins/Da Paul, John Presley (U.S. film director), Marcus Valance (engineering), Paul Kirkham (production), George Frakes (production), The Cry Baby (production), Kelechi Inyanyi (production), Ronnie Harwood (guitar), Tony Hiller (guitar), Los & The Deadlines (production), Shane McGowan (remix), Simon Clarke (acoustic guitar), …
Dec 11
Memo to sound engineers
This for all the people out there on the London live scene calling themselves “sound engineers”: a few basic principles. If you have red peak lights flashing on a channel TURN DOWN THE INPUT GAIN!!!!!!!!! The red light means the channel is being overloaded and will sound distorted. Turning down the channel fader will not …
Dec 05
Rock stars in their underpants
As promised, a report on the backstage scene at David Garrett, Bill Wyman, and Bryan Adam’s gigs. (This is an ancient tradition started by Patrick Woodruffe and I on a Roger Waters tour in America: we were playing in an arena and discovered that 60′s folk legends Peter, Paul and Mary were playing in a …
Nov 30
The effects of digital recording technology on session musicians
A common question from young musicians: what difference has affordable and professional-standard recording equipment made to session musicians? The first comment I would offer is that it has effectively ended the session industry as it used to be. The session industry was based on a simple premise: if you wanted to make a professional-sounding recording, …
Nov 30
Social Networking for Musicians
The last few years have seen an explosion of social networking sites for musicians, all aiming to become the “default choice.” Myspace was the first, followed by Tunecore, Reverbnation, Bandcamp, and Facebook’s Artist page option. Myspace has faded away because it became too corporate, (I don’t want an advert for Rihanna on my shop window, …