TENOR Productions

New Off The Van Special Vlog! Learn how to record your computer...

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 10:12:00 -0500

New Off The Van Special Vlog! Learn how to record your computer screen if you have the same computer I do! SO MUCH EXCITE

New Off The Van Vlog! See episode 02 - The Codying

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 10:11:00 -0500

New Off The Van Vlog! See episode 02 - The Codying

See episode 01 of the Off The Van Vlog here!

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 10:09:00 -0500

See episode 01 of the Off The Van Vlog here!

New Off The Van Special Vlog! Learn the absolute bare basics of...

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 10:02:00 -0500

New Off The Van Special Vlog! Learn the absolute bare basics of Audacity! I HAVE SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE I CAN SHARE

New Podcast Episode!

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 00:17:00 -0500

New Podcast Episode!:

Click the link for episode 03 of Off The Van, this episodes guest is Cody Wansedel

New Podcast Episode!

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 00:14:00 -0500

New Podcast Episode!:

Click the link for episode 02 of Off The Van, this episodes guest is Nicholas Strubbe of the a cappella group Detroit Voice

Thunderstruck: AC/DC's Difficult Year

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 10:45:00 -0500

The world of monumental rock group AC/DC and their legions of worldwide followers are no strangers to turbulence. Deaths, rehabilitation stints, there have been plenty of obstacles for the group to overcome throughout the years. That, however, has not made 2014 any less impactful to their group or their fans.

And as you can probably guess, not in a positive way.

Throughout the last calendar year we have slowly received news that built up to a grim picture for rhythm guitarist and co-founder Malcolm Young. In April it was announced that he had fallen ill and would not be working with the group until he became better. The band made it very clear that rumors of retiring the band altogether were false. To prove his point, singer Brian Johnson announced that the band would take some time later that spring to write and possibly record new material.

Then on September 24, the band broke some sudden and saddening news to their fans: Malcolm Young would never perform again. The news came with the explanation that he had actually been suffering from dementia. The announcement also described the future of AC/DC. They would still be putting out a new album, Rock Or Bust, by the end of the year, and they were still planning to tour in 2015. Both the new album and the world tour would feature Stevie Young, Malcolm and Angus Young’s (the lead guitarist) nephew. This was the perfect choice, and definitely an easy one to make; in 1988, their “Blow Up Your Video World Tour” featured the same line-up while Malcolm sought rehabilitation treatment for his alcoholism.

-Malcolm Young (left) and nephew Stevie Young-

But the bad news just wouldn’t stop for still reeling group. November 6^th, 2014 saw the arrest of on/off drummer Phil Rudd. The charges included possession of methamphetamine and marijuana, as well as threatening to kill and attempt to procure a murder. During a police raid of his home, they found the illicit substances and evidence that Rudd was trying to contract a hitman (cue Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap joke), however those charges were dropped the following day as the evidence was not definitive enough to base any sort of case on. It was, however, the only charge dropped. Rudd is still facing legal consequences for possession and threatening to kill.

Angus Young has been quoted to say that Rudd caused issues during the recording of their Rock Or Bust by being ten entire days late to the session. He also says Rudd seemed off, “I’ve seen him in better shape. It was not the Phil we had known, after we had finished the last tour. He’d let himself go.” The question also remains of Rudd’s participation in next year’s tour. “Phil’s absence will not affect the release of our new album, Rock or Bust, and upcoming tour next year. The drum situation is a question mark. But we will definitely be out there.”

Download Episode 1 of 'Off The Van'

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 19:56:00 -0500

Download Episode 1 of 'Off The Van':

It’s here! Well, this run of it anyway

Podcast!

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 10:42:00 -0500

So this week features the launch of a little project we here at Tenor Productions have long wanted to do, with people we have long wanted to work with. As some of you may know, we are very interested in the local scene and, when possible, try to feature small “local” bands both native and foreign to the Metro-Detroit area. Short of gushing about artists that we think are good or need to be heard, there wasn’t much we could do to convince the masses of the under the radar talent walking our streets each day (cue cheesy infomercial music) unTIL NOW!

We are proud to announce the launch of our new podcast: Off The Van! The idea is that we meet up with these busy musicians and have a short, simple interview with them about any number of things: gear, gigs, upcoming projects, band drama, road stories, whatever we and the band feel like you’d want to hear. At first we will be hitting up some of the area bands, but eventually we will start working in the bands that are gracing the mitten with short tours or visits. For the most part, we will record the interviews in a small studio-like setting but when it feels right (or alternatively we have no other option) we will record out at these folks’ shows and maybe get them when they are more in their element.

Yours truly will be tackling the engineering and publishing aspects, but we decided to bring somebody else in to lend their voice and conduct the interviews as the host of Off The Van. Ladies and gentlemen, the voice of Off The Van: John Prieto!

John has long wanted to do a radio show where he would be in control of the content, and I have always been interested enough to want to one day work on that with him. Whether this ends up fulfilling his dream or if that is down a different avenue in his life, we intend on giving this our all.

That’s the thing about podcasting: it is as cheap to create as you are willing to let it be. I have been on the consumer end of the podcast scene for a few years now. And my inspiration to finally enter the supply side of things is the first podcast I ever subscribed to: The Nerdist. The way the host Chris Hardwick is able to take people he may have never met before the interview and get them into such a relaxed attitude while still having such an informative and fun interview- I have yet to hear anything else like it.

Hopefully two things will come of this podcast: we will have fun and the listeners will enjoy it. Honestly those are all that I really, really want out of this experience. And it is entirely possible that only one or God forbid neither of these will happen (if it comes down to it, hopefully just the first part haha) but it is a chance to try something new, and to put forth a creative effort meant to enhance the lives of people who may not realize all of the hidden talent surrounding them in their everyday lives.

Local Shows

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:48:00 -0500

Local bands. At one point, they were the performers that we saw more than any others. They played at our bars, our weddings, our parties, or just because. But over time bigger shows with more grand performers became much more accessible to the everyday John and Jane Doe. This has put the squeeze on the multitudes of local acts over the last 30-40 years.

You might think given the rapid increase in population over the last century that cheap, affordable outings such as these may be seeing higher turnouts. But with advancements in audio technology making many professional rigs cheap, easy to set up and use, and compact enough to fit in more venues, several problems have arisen.

1) Saturation of venues. Go to any major city and look around at the bulletin boards and streetlights. You will see flyers on top of flyers on top of flyers on top of flyers. It is not that a few places are cranking out shows. (Although, this is a small factor as many venues will run shows 5-7 nights out of the week) Rather, every bar or abandoned disco club seems to be a local music venue these days.

Even places that still function as a separate business during the day turn the lights down and the music up at sundown. A good example of this is a venue that I myself frequent, the Phoenix Café in Hazel Park, MI. During the day it is a gallery for local visual artists to show and try to sell their creations, usually with some rotating common theme. But at night the local rockers of all ages come to put on some sort of show almost nightly.

2) Quality of venues. Yeah, every block or two you can spot another dive rock joint. But it is (usually) all entry-level stuff. Between the shape of the building or unit and the very basic equipment they are utilizing, even a good band can sound anywhere from “total rubbish” to “eh”.
Then you have the more prestigious venues; maybe these places have been around for a while, have a catchy name, good location, awesome street team, the list of possibilities could go on. But the important thing is that they have money and they know how to invest it in themselves. Regular updates to their equipment, money to hire higher bill artists, or even better refreshments if they serve food and/or drink.

And of course are the stadiums, arenas, etc. The last few decades have shown a large shift towards top-bill acts performing at venues such as sports stadiums. And it makes sense: most bigger cities don’t have room to construct any sort of amphitheater. And to fit the crowds that these superstars would pull, most of the even more successful halls and stages wouldn’t suffice. But many major cities already had some sort of sports arena either for hockey, basketball, baseball, or football. These sports only tend to play during certain times of the year (baseball runs from early spring to fall) and those vacant buildings are generating zero income for the rest of the year. So with the shows they host off-season basically being extra revenue (the tickets for their sport’s games tend to pay for any expenses the building has) they have a multitude of money to invest back into the show-goer’s experience. Which leads to my third point-

3) Change in consumer attitude. At this point, artists hit a point where they almost exclusively do “arena tours” which, as the name implies, means they perform at arenas around the country/world. So to see these superstar, GENERALLY superior acts (bold italic caps still won’t save me from the hatemail) you almost HAVE to go to a sports arena. Which as I mentioned, has the best equipment and usually the best sound. Unfortunately, other than die hard lovers of the local scene or friends of local artists most people don’t want to go from a $30 entry for the rock spectacle of the year to a $15 dollar entry for some bands trying out their newest two songs and trying to sell the only album they have featuring their ex-frontman.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that… *ahem*

4) Saturation of talent. As opposed to 40, 30, or even as little as 20 years ago, I can’t even imagine how many more people own and play an instrument. As I mentioned, when technology advances it tends to become more accessible to the masses. Even though the final product of an electric guitar hasn’t changed all too much in the last few decades, the process of making one has. From more efficient processes to cheaper electronics, which themselves are cheaper for all of the same reasons, it all adds up.
Statistics like these are collected privately and therefore cost money to obtain. Money I don’t have. So here are some figures that I was able to obtain for free:

So in only eight years we saw an increase of over 230% spent on guitars annually even though consumers were paying less for them. The numbers of guitars being sold had more than doubled, and keep in mind these are just the figures for brand new models. (Mind you, this was right before the U.S. recession, so these figures more than likely dropped)

The bad news: I don’t see these trends changing any time soon. Technology will get better. And the recent increase over the last decade of underground EDM should also be taken into consideration. But I hope that this whole pattern of bands feeling overpowered or irrelevant will force one of my favorite things about the music scene as a whole: its ability to adapt and change. We changed with the Internet. We changed with digital workstations. We can change with this.

Smartwatches

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 11:17:00 -0500

For years, cellphones took over as the way most folks who had one would check the time and/or date. And why not? When you compare them to watches they can be far more ideal: rechargeable, multi-purpose, not as easy to damage since they are usually in your pocket or purse, the list goes one.

But over the last few years watches have been making a comeback, more as an accessory than as an actual tool. But with that, people began utilizing the watches they were wearing more, and they have once again become a legitimate everyday item. Gone are the days where a person who checks their watch would get hit from all sides with “Why are you wearing that? Why don’t you just check your phone?”

As a watch lover and salesman, this of course pleases me to no end.

But then there is the new smartwatch market. You may have heard of it. The basic idea, in it’s current form, is that it is a watch with a touchscreen that communicates with your phone or some wireless network to integrate things like texting, email, GPS directions, and other features that you would find on your smartphone.

I say “in it’s current form” because ‘smartwatches’ have existed for over half a century. Let that sink in. The Mimo Loga, the first calculator watch, is older than the music of the King himself, Elvis Presley. Obviously we have come a long way from using physical dials for simple mathematical calculations. In the 70’s we were met with the digital calculator watch. Then a bigger step towards today’s smartwatch came in the form of the Timex data link in 1994, and a bigger step yet with Fossil’s Wrist PDA in 2002.

Now with powerful products like the Samsung Gear Live, Moto 360, and LG G Watch R, smartwatches have the constitution to run real software that you would see on smartphones. For a good example, watch this video that originally convinced me that I might need to invest in a smartwatch myself.

Most AndroidWear OS devices have to ability to store and play music without the need to tether it to a phone or tablet. With future models gaining hardware to handle things like stand alone 4G LTE service and mobile technology playing an ever increasing role in in our audio lives, how long until you could remotely adjust your EQ or gain on your digital mixer? And considering the hundreds of peripherials that already support Apple products, their upcomingtake on the smartwatch will quite possibly see features like this sooner than the Android side of the smarttech market. And as a freelance assistant live sound engineer, I can assure you that this technology cannot arrive soon enough.

We have a new logo!

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 11:58:00 -0500

We have a new logo!

Betabrand

backsaj@gmail.com (Jeffrey Alan Strubbe) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:46:00 -0400

Crowdfunding.

The way of the future? We’ll have to wait till then to find out. But at this point in time it seems to be an easy and efficient way to do the following:

1) ascertain necessary funds for the creation of your product

2) communicate directly with your demographic: let them know what you want your product to be, while they let you know what they want it to be

3) advertise your product and build hype for it

Now this still leaves a lot of work on your part, of course. You have to find materials, and depending on the product you’ll need people to help produce and fulfill the (hopefully) massive amount of items ordered.

But one issue that a good deal of crowdfund start-up companies face is what to do after the campaign is over and the “backers” have their purchase in hand. Do they continue to make and sell these somewhere else? Should they do it through a website of their own? Find a retailer that would pick it up?

Now, however, there is a website that will help you along every step of the process: Betabrand. Betabrand, at it’s core, functions similarly to other sites such as gofundme and Kickstarter. You take this idea for a project, create a detailed explanation of what the product is and how it could benefit the customer, then ask for and hopefully receive enough pledge money to fund your endeavors.

But that is about as far as the similarities reach. Betabrand is also a thinktank service. Creators submit the layout for their project and, if Betabrand sees promise, they will advertise it themselves during your campaign.

Once an idea gets funded, Betabrand then communicates with the item’s developer and shortly after begin manufacturing the product.

Yes, you read that right: they are also a manufacturer! And even after that they will continue to stock, sell, and advertise your product while you reap the benefits of your successful idea.

Now at the moment they are limited in supply and experience to only working on what you’d call “fashion” items, but the audio market is alive and well in them. Recently they successfully funded an acoustically transparent hoodie, with sound engineers (such as yours truly) in mind.

They also keep in mind the consumer side of the audio industry. Another fully funded item is the Wholester: a sort of unisex crossbody satchel meant to be perfect for festival goers of any kind, but stylish enough to use it in your everyday life as well. And might I add, it does look pretty slick.

Obviously this is not the best service to market say the high-end audio electronic product you’ve been thinking up. But with the recent trend of the fashion and audio worlds colliding as seen by companies like Beats©, or half of today pop stars owning some sort of clothing line, there is room for some creativity. As with anything else, there are ideas out their for things we didn’t even know that we wanted, let alone how bad.

I mean come on, a hoodie specifically made for audio engineers!

Check out Betabrand at betabrand.com

To visit the funding page for the Audio Engineer’s Hoodie:

betabrand.com/mens-audio-engineer-hoodie.html

To visit the page for the Wholester:

betabrand.com/three-pocket-wholester-belt-pack.html