Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?

On CNN, singer-songwriter Don MacLean tells the story of "American Pie."

I've always loved Buddy Holly. He exuded a sort of cool geekiness. One of my favorite quotes of Eddie Van Halen concerned himself. He called himself a "geek." In Rock 'n' Roll, geeks such as Eddie Van Halen could transcend their lowly local social status and achieve star status. The first god of this geeky art was Buddy Holly of Lubbock, Texas.

Holly was a lyricist, a composer, a guitarist, a singer. The coming landslide of Rock 'n' Roll that followed him came about through John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan who saw in Buddy Holly an inspirational figure who wrote and performed his own songs. The Beatles recognized Holly in their name, which was a nod to Holly's band, The Crickets.

Many know the story of Holly's death. How he booked a plane to fly ahead to the next tour stop. How his band members, Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup, gave up their seats on the plane to the Big Bopper and Richie Valens. How Holly's young, pregnant bride, Maria Elena Holly, miscarried their child. We might have heard the story of Tommy Allsup flipping a coin with Richie Valens so Valens got the seat. We might know the story of Buddy Holly teasing Waylon Jennings, saying, "Well, I hope your old bus freezes up." And, Jennings reportedly responding, "Well, I hope your plane crashes."

In our geeky thing of Rock 'n' Roll, new gods appear to replace those of the past. Yet, it seems that when it comes to the greats who make it out alive, there will always be a Buddy Holly, a Richie Valens, a Jimi Hendrix, a Janis Joplin, a Jim Morrison or a Kurt Cobain who seem to die too young.

I remember sitting on Harvey Gerst's porch a few years ago around sunset on hot summer's day in Sanger, Texas. He told me of the friends he'd lost when younger, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix. He told me about the night that Janis Joplin died. She'd been working on an album and asked Harvey to come hear it in the studio. The producer and Joplin did not know whether they had a finished album and wanted the opinion of their friend. He said that the night before he was to go listen at the studio that Joplin came into a bar where Harvey was drinking. She came in the door and yelled, "Have no fear, Janis is here."

Joplin came over and talked to Harvey and got his promise that he was going to be at the studio the next day to listen to the recording. The next morning Harvey got a phone call from the producer.

The producer said, "Harvey, don't come to the studio."

Harvey said, "What do you mean? I just talked to Janis..."

The producer said, "She's gone, Harvey."

Harvey replied, "Where'd she go?"

The producer repeated, "Harvey, she's gone."

Harvey stated that he just saw her the night before. Then, after a few minutes, somewhere in their argument, he realized that his friend, Janis Joplins, had not left town but had left the planet. She was gone forever. The sudden loss sort of made it all unbelievable to Harvey. I listened to Harvey tell his story and realized that he still mourned for his friend these many years later.

While "American Pie" is an incredible song, there are many days when music died. While not as personal as my friend's story regarding Janis Joplin, my day the music died was December 8, 1980, when John Lennon was murdered. I was a junior in high school. My mother woke me the following morning with news that John Lennon was dead. And, like my friend, I took a long time to realize that Lennon was indeed gone and never coming back.

I think since youth culture became a real thing in the 1950s that part of that experience is a personal day where music died. For everyone, an "American Pie" experience is a rite of passage where we learn that it seems that the things of childhood whether it be innocence, youth or idealism all meet their end. And, if you did not experience such a day, then it's such part of the American experience to borrow one from your elders, which is one of the reasons that Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison seem greater than most all of their contemporaries who lived.

House concerts are the new live music scene

More musicians playing in homes to smaller audiences

House concerts have been around for years but with the internet creating "fractional audiences" they might be the new live music scene.

The live music scene for local, regional and even small appeal acts of national and international importance has been a dwindling thing since the 1970s. Down the street from my home is a club that on one night featured the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More before their rise to stardom. The club used to feature a lot of acts in that "on the rise" circumstance. Somewhere along the way the club's management realized the profits turned on alcohol sales rather than featuring worthy recording artists. The bar sales tend to be the same regardless. In essence, the club tends to feature a lot of club level bands rather than the up and coming national acts it used to feature.

On the other hand, I know of more than a couple recording artists who have quit performing due to objections to alcohol and tobacco smoke.

The internet has created more opportunities for recording artists and for fans to find each other. House concerts will be the thing that brings these new artists and these new fans face to face.

--Steven Langer

MXL 990 and MXL 991

The perennial cheap mic combo offered by that big music gear store

Here it goes: The cubic zirconia in the rough of these two mics is the MXL 991. It's a small diaphragm condenser microphone.

It's on the bright side of things. For comparison, we recorded tracks with the 991 and several other mics ranging in price from $19 to $1,000. How did the MXL 991 fare? Not bad at all. The MXL 991 is a cardiod pattern mic. We liked it in two places: Acoustic guitar and over a drum kit.

It's too bright for my tastes to use it in a solo instrument setting but in the context of multiple tracks I thought I wouldn't mind using an MXL 991. My favorite acoustic guitar mics range in price from $200 to $300 and I even got one that I use a lot that costs $800, which is the Blue Dragonfly. In the context of the MXL 990 and 991 package deal, the MXL 991 costs about $50. One of my friends who owns a commercial recording studio uses the 991 and owns several of them. I now know why. Yes, it doesn't as good as my fave $800 go to acoustic guitar mic but it's pretty good nonetheless. And, if someone craters the 991 while here on a session, then I'm only out $50 rather than $800. The MXL 991 possesses a little sizzle that you don't get with the Blue Dragonfly, which possesses a complex high end that normally only comes in more expensive microphones. Still, the 991's sizzle comes across as a smidge musical and it's not grating (on acoustic guitar anyway).

On a session, my friend, Steve Beckett, used the MXL 991 over a drum kit. Interestingly, he also used the Blue Dragonfly (yes, it's a great mic for this use as well). He liked the 991 on the floor tom side of the kit.

The MXL 990 is a small diaphragm cardiod pattern condenser as is the 991 but the 990 is in a different body in a side address configuration. The 990 did not do much for me on most things. Steve Beckett pointed out he liked it on toms. I'd heard from Harvey Gerst about his son Alex Gerst using the 990 on toms at recording sessions at Indian Trail Studios in Sanger, Texas. Steve played me some of his tracks with the MXL 990 on toms. I listened. I found myself reassessing my distrust of low cost mics. Yes, it did one thing that did not suck.

The Bottom Line: I would limit the use of the "cubic zirconia" 991 to acoustic guitar and to over a drum kit. I would limit the use of the "it did one thing that did not suck" 990 to toms. Street price for the pair including carrying case is $99 approximately at that big music gear store.

--Steven Langer

MXL

Lame excuses

Recording artists go with the 'L' when the need a way out

My fave from this Yahoo! blog posting:

BO BICE
Excuse: "Has to immediately return to the studio to complete album"

The American Idol runner-up had been dropped from his label and was playing the House of Blues circuit last year when he cancelled three gigs to "immediately return to the studio" to record a follow-up album. Really? You have no label deal, you're playing HOB gigs, and you have to rush into the studio? Who's waiting for the record? No one, apparently. See The Light peaked at #150 on the Billboard 200.

Bo needs to watch "Gimme Shelter" and pay attention to the Muscle Shoals sequence. You can make some great recordings in the midst of a tour.

AES Nashville to hold two day workshop in February 2009

Great talent, very reasonable conference fee

The AES Nashville Section has developed a two-day recording workshop and gear expo focused on getting the most from your studio environment. With multiple Grammy Award winner, musician and studio owner Ricky Skaggs as the keynote address speaker, the AES Nashville section, in conjunction with Audio Engineering Society, Inc., is offering this two-day program on Friday to Saturday, February 20 to 21, 2009, at the Musician's Hall of Fame and Museum. Whether you are a recording musician, a songwriter laying down demos, or a professional engineer working in a personal production space, the Nashville Recording Workshop and Expo will provide essential insight and information geared to boost your career.

Affordable and more powerful technology has made for a burgeoning market in recording equipment as songwriters, musicians and engineers create their own personal production spaces. Nashville has long been touted to have more personal studios per capita than anywhere in the country, and never has this been truer than in today's DAW-centric recording environment. NRW+E presents a unique opportunity for personal studio owners to learn from the pros who put the Music in Music City, to check out the latest tools of the trade in the exhibition space and to network with their peers.

NRW+E presenters will include leading producer/engineers Ricky Skaggs, Jeff Balding, Russ Long, Pat McMakin and Gary Paczosa, and Lynn Fuston of 3D Audio, to name but a few of the high-profile participants. Subjects planned for the two-day event include vocal and acoustic instrument mic'ing, a singer/songwriter production roundtable, producing a dynamite demo, arrangement and recording for better mixes, adding rhythm and spice with virtual tracks, collaboration across time and space, work environments that enhance creativity, practical acoustic and room treatment, when to call in a pro, a beats and loops workshop, and many more.

Mike Porter, Chairman of the Nashville section of AES states, "The Nashville community has long hoped to host an AES event, with enthusiastic support from many outside our area. While this isn't as big an event as New York or San Francisco, it will certainly be a mini AES for area people to attend. AES conventions usually are geared more toward engineers; this workshop will have much more to offer songwriters, musicians, home and small studio owners and recording enthusiasts, as well as the studio professionals."

Early Bird registration for AES members and members of participating professional songwriter, performance, musician and engineering organizations is $79, non-members is $99, student members is $39, and non-member students is $59. Early registration is open through January 12, 2009. For the full program listings, information on registering or to book an exhibition space visit Nashville Recording Workshop.