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Cascade M39 Review

Cascade is a fairly new microphone company that is making some buzz around the recording industry.  With their high fashion designs, their microphones are definitely an eye catcher, leaving an impression of elegance. Having such classy looking microphones, at such a low costs, leaves one to wonder if they have sacrificed sound for show. I got my hands on a pair of M39s and was excited to try them out. 

Knowing that it is a shotgun style, large diameter, condenser microphone, it was meant to capture more in the high frequency range. The M39 comes with a 10db switchable pad and a -10 db attenuating low pass filter. It has standard unidirectional cardioid pickup pattern and requires 48v phantom power. Out of the box the M39s where ready for some symbol and overhead recordings. 

Our first pass we used a stereo set of M39s in a spaced pair capture technique, putting the microphone the same distance apart from the center of the snare. We recorded a full set of SabianAAX symbols and high hat to see how the M39s sound. Surprisingly for a set of fairly low priced microphone, cascade has preserved the classic large diaphragm sound with great clarity. The symbols sounded large and open, and the highs were crisp with minimal distortion. The high hat sounded a little too pingy and missed the 10k response that high hats need. Overall it sounded great and defiantly had me impressed. 

After recording several runs, the Cascade M39s performed amazing with great natural sound. Cascade has created a great product that can compare to the Shure SM81 and the AKG C430 with half the cost. A stereo set of the M39s cost $159.00 and can be purchased directly from cascades website. This is a great microphone and I would recommend it to anyone on a budget looking to capture some great overhead sound. I can't wait to test some more of the cascade lineup!

Choosing The Correct Tom Mic

When it comes to capturing the best sounds out of your tom drums the microphone options are endless. There are a few that are preferred and stand out from the pack, so I went ahead and compared their strengths and weaknesses. The models tested were the Sennheiser 421, Sennheiser e904, Shure Beta 56A and the Audix D2.

The first mics tested were the Sennheisers 421 and the e904. The 421 is the industry standard that has been used to mic toms for over 35 years. The tone was precise and the low end was full and warm. It lacked mid range pop but is overall a great sounding microphone. The e904 was not far off with similar fidelity in the high end and great response in the lower frequencies. The e904 performed greater under higher SPL delivering more precise sound.


One of the more affordable tom mics the Shure beta 56A is a standard in any small recording studio. The microphone has a nice warm sound with a good punch in the mid range. It lacks the low end that one looks for when capturing larger floor toms but makes up for it on the smaller toms with its high punch sound. The last mic tested was the Audix D2. The D2 instantly had a noticeable higher noise floor compared to the rest of the microphones. The low end was real large and thumpy with not to much accuracy. The mids were nice and warm but the high end lacked fidelity and clarity.

 Overall every microphone has its own personality and unique sound that can be used in different circumstances. If looking for the most precise clean sound I would pick the e904 or the 421. For dirty more grungy sound the beta 56A would suffice, and for muddy low end rumble the Audix D2 is a winner If you’re looking for the best sound and don’t want to sacrifice, I would recommend using either of the Sennheiser microphones.

How To Get More Fans Online

Since the transition to digital all kinds of music is widely available and it has become really hard to separate yourself from the pack. With how easy it is to find music on the Internet today how do you separate yourself from the rest?  One major game changer is to have a strong online presence and following.
You must create a site for your self, a blog where you can let people know what you think, and a fan page just to get started. It is very important to constantly stay on top, responding to people comments and questions. When people realize they can connect with you and get to know you a little better, it helps establish a stronger fan base.  If you have access to a camera it is greatly beneficial to record some video of yourself and place it on YouTube for promotional purposes. Make a short intro telling a little about your self and why you are in this industry. Let people know what your believes are and what you hope to achieve through your art. The more content that is out there for people to see the more likely it is for people to like something and connect with you.
 Keep your fans interested and up to date with information on upcoming events that they can attend or a twitter where they can follow your moves and know what you are up to.  If you keep persistent with your fans they will respond and your fan base will grow. Having links to your music on everything you do online is also a must. People can find your work from all kinds of different relocations on the internet and you want to make sure that no matter what site takes the consumer to you, there should always be a link to let the consumer access your work. Using these simple tips you can start building and connecting with your fans right away.

How To Distributing Your Music

The music industry is changing and is not what it was twenty years ago. In the traditional industry in order to get your music out to the public it was a long road of agents and labels.  You had to find a talent agent to shop your work to the major labels in hopes that they might like it and decide to market and distribute the work. The chances were far and few since not everyone knew an agent that had connections to get their work on the labels desk.
This has all changed since we transitioned into digital and it is now possible to completely bypass the major labels. Thanks to new technology like iTunes, amazonMP3, and Spotify to mention a few, the way consumers purchase their content is now mostly digital. This allows us to put our music on cloud hosting and make it widely available to anyone in the world. Instead of relying on major labels to distribute out music, it is now available on all major download sites and can be purchased by just about anyone. Site like cdbaby.com and tunecore.com are making it very easy for anyone to self-release their music with out the need of a major label.
If you have copyright protection on your work you can use one of these sites to help place your music in all the major distribution points across the Internet. Now all your fans can go online find your work and buy it with the ease of a click. The best part is that you get to keep almost all the money on sales of your work. Where in a deal with a major label you will only receive fractions of what your music is selling. The industry is changing for the better, and the sooner artist find out how to release and distribute their own work the better off the industry will be. 

Interview with Brad Schram

I had the pleasure of speaking with Bradley Schram whom is an attorney in the general Detroit area. During our conversation we spoke about zoning and running a small business out of a home. I started by asking Bradley if I wanted to run my business from home, what is best way to go about it? He first stated that in order to be able to have a home business you must first check in with the homeowners association to make sure you have permission to do so. Once you are clear from your HOA Bradley then mention you have to go to you local state office and register the type of business you are looking to open.
Those are the first two basic steps to securing a business at home. I then asked him if my HOA will not allow me to operate from home is there any way it is still possible? This can make or break some small businesses that do not know the law. You can create a business under another address and do operation out of your home. For instance if I purchased a office downtown and registered my business there, I could still keep inventory at my home. We then spoke about what is the next step once you have your business registered.
He advised once you know what you would like to call your company to apply for a federal trademark and have protection of your name. I asked him why not a state trademark to find out since my business will have heavy internet marketing and music sales across state lines it is important to have a federal mark to protect you. In all I learned almost anyone can open their own business with a little knowledge on trademarks and your local city law. Once your business is registered and trademarked you are ready to compete with any business in the nation and the possibilities are endless.

Label Liabilities

There are many branches and division that fall under a recording label. Recording, legal distribution, and marketing are just a few of the perks that a record label can help the artist out with. After reading several articles about liabilities a label can face, it leaves one to contemplate the legal team that works for these labels. The Wallace Collins article raises an excellent point about lost or stolen recordings, and who is liable for them. Once a master recording is made, it is the final copy of the artist work. Countless hours have been spent into the creation of the music so now that it printed down, it is imperative to have back-ups and to know where your master actually is. Placing a price on music that never hit the airwave can be complicated since you cannot prove that these tracks were not going to be the next hottest tracks. Major record labels have a system in place to prevent these events from occurring but smaller label do not. Another big liability that needs to be addressed is the actions of employees signed under the label. In Birdmans case a woman is suing for sexual assault in the studio. The owners of the label may not have committed the assault, but they are still liable for their employees action under their roof. This is a massive reputation buster and someone has to be held liable. Knowing you employees and having good insurance is a good start to protect yourself from incidents like this one.  One of the most important parts of having a label is the band or artist you will be signing. There are many places a label can be held liable and the artist are no exception. “One Direction” a boy band that was signed by Simon Cowell under his Syco Entertainment label is now being sued for using a bands name that already exists. Due to the nature of the beast a label is responsible for its artist and their image.  Research must be done to know that you are not infringing on others rights. These are just a few liabilities a label can face and if your thinking about starting a label, these situations should all be kept in mind.