Feature Product (Keyboards) - Kurzweil PC3X

PC3X Overview

Read the Review: Keyboard Magazine

Read the Review: EM Magazine

The Ultimate Performance Controller Keyboard

With a sleek new look on the outside, and an arsenal of Kurzweil's latest cutting edge chip technology under its hood, the 88-note PC3X delivers 128 voices of incredible sound quality along with a host of powerful, easy to use features. The PC3X is Kurzweil's ultimate performance controller keyboard, with an enormous collection of stunning sounds combined with comprehensive real-time controller functions.

In addition to our renowned Triple Strike Grand Piano, the PC3X features hundreds of new sounds; basses, drums, guitars, and synths suited for every style and taste, along with a collection of flawless vintage keyboard emulations, KB3 Mode and over 250 orchestral and string section programs.

The PC3X's new Dynamic V.A.S.T. architecture is a huge step forward in synthesis, the fruit of several major strides we've made in improving processing power, flexibility and user-friendliness. Good news for synth enthusiasts - we've seamlessly integrated our legendary VA-1 Virtual Analog Synthesizer into the new system!

For good measure we include an unlimited-track sequencer with 960 PPQ resolution and more effects processing power than our acclaimed KSP8 processor, making the PC3X a full blown music production workstation. Add in USB, flash xD card port, a newly designed keyboard action, and a new intuitive user interface, and you've got the next generation of Kurzweil instruments.

It's a performance controller. It's a synthesizer. It's a workstation.

Featured Product - Hamer Guitars

Hamer Guitars is a united states manufacturer of electric guitars. Founded in 1973 by vintage guitar shop owners, Jol Dantzig and his business partner Paul Hamer. Early instruments featured guitar designs based on the Gibson Explorer and Flying V. Hamer Guitars is generally considered to be the first "boutique" electric guitar brand that specifically catered to pro musicians.[citation needed]

The company was incorporated in Illinois in 1976, and acquired by Kaman Music Corporation in 1988. Kaman has since been purchased by Fender Musical Instruments Corp (2008). Hamer offers a wide array of electric guitars and electric basses, and, since its foundation placed an emphasis on producing high-quality instruments with vintage aesthetics as well as creative innovations. Hamer marketed a lower priced line of Asian-built instruments called the "XT Series". and "Slammer by Hamer" which were discontinued in 2009.

History

The first Hamer Guitar (a Flying V bass) was built at Northern Prairie Music, a vintage instrument shop owned by Hamer and Dantzig in Wilmette, Illinois. This shop catered to musicians who were interested in high-quality instruments. This first instrument served as the basis for a new company called Hamer Guitars.

Hamer began publicizing their instruments with small black and white ads in guitar magazines in 1974, and was incorporated in 1976. By 1977 the company employed up to seven workers. Most of the work up to this point had been one-off custom variations on the original "Standard" and "Flying V" guitars. During this period Hamer's customers were limited to big-name touring groups such as Bad Company, Wishbone Ash, Jethro Tull, and Savoy Brown. In order to appeal to a broader market, the first "production" Hamer called the "Sunburst" debuted in 1977. Production was reportedly set at around 10 guitars per week. During this time the company undoubtedly gained more popularity with the high-profile patronage of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen and the use of Hamer 8- and 12-string basses in their music. In 1978 Frank Untermyer joined the company, opening up the international market for Hamer Guitars.
In 1980, Hamer moved to larger quarters in Arlington Heights (a suburb of Chicago.) The staff had grown to 12 and Hamer Guitars continued to launch new models such as the Special, Cruisebass, Prototype, Blitz, and Phantom. Paul Hamer, who had primarily served as sales manager, left the company in 1987 to pursue his career in retail sales. Kaman Music was then approached to handle sales while the remaining owners concentrated on manufacturing. Kaman Music agreed to purchase Hamer in late 1988.

After five years with Kaman, Dantzig departed from the company in 1993, moving to California to begin a design and consulting business.

As the mid-priced guitar market became saturated, Hamer sought to improve sales and regain its former brand identity. In 1997 Kaman Music relocated the company to a small shop in New Hartford, Connecticut. The top ten builders were relocated to New Hartford along with Dantzig, who was re-hired as technical director. Hamer then began concentrating on a core of high-quality designs targeted at the burgeoning high-end and collector market.
Under its parent company Kaman Music, Hamer was acquired by guitar giant Fender Musical Instruments on December 31, 2007.
Jol Dantzig left Hamer/Fender in 2010 to concentrate on his guitar design business.

http://www.hamerguitars.com/

Featured Product - UFIP Cymbals

The origins of UFIP date back to the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The company was originally a commision based organisation adopting only a selling role. UFIP acted essentially as a commercial agent, aiming to place instruments on to the world market that were created by the small family companies who were producing cymbals in the Tuscan area between Pistoia and Florence. Over the years the structure of the company has evolved to meet different market needs and requests, being very influential in the production of Bronze B20 professional cymbals.

Today UFIP is a small dynamic company, producing instruments to satisfy the needs of both amateur and professional drummers alike – instruments of a superlative quality. “Rotocasting”® is what makes UFIP cymbals different from all the rest. While every other cymbal present on the market is the result of a process of rolling and subsequent pressing, UFIP professional lines cymbals are obtained through a procedure of centrifuge-casting. This process ensures in the first place the removal of all the impurities present in the alloy bronze, granting at the same time a greater thickness of the bell compared to those cymbals obtained by simple pressing. This allows for the best propagation of sound waves along the cymbal surface, ensuring an unmatched sound output. Fine examples of superior craftmanship in both structure and sound, UFIP Rotocast® cymbals are made using only the finest B20 Bell Bronze. No other alloy offers such purity of sound or wide dynamic range. A UFIP cymbal is a truly unique instrument, uncomparable in today’s modern market. From casting to tempering, hammering to finishing, every process is completed by hand, with machinery only ever used to support the skills of dedicated craftsmen, resulting in an instrument that is as individual as you. For your next cymbal, don’t choose by name...trust your ears.

http://www.ufip.it/index.html

Play the Difference

Featured Band : In Flames

Line-up
Björn Gelotte – Guitars
Niclas Engelin – Guitars
Anders Fridén – Vocals
Peter Iwers – Bass Guitar
Daniel Svensson – Drums

In Flames was formed by Jesper Strömblad back in 1990. The band as it was at the time consisted of Jesper, Johan Larsson and Glenn Ljungström. A demo was recorded and soon after the band got a record deal and released “Lunar Strain” and it did not take long before the album was a classic in the fast growing Scandinavian death metal scene.

With a new line up consisting of Jesper, Johan & Glenn along with two new additions: Anders Fridén on vocals and Björn Gelotte on drums, In Flames signed a license deal with Nuclear Blast Records and soon started recording the follow up: “The Jester Race”.

“The Jester Race” quickly became a big hit all across Europe and Japan.

After the recording of “Whoracle” in 1997 Johan and Glenn decided to leave the band and Peter Iwers (bass) joined. Niclas Engelin (Gardenian, Engel) was temporarily in the band filling in on guitars. With a fresh line up the band set sails and headed out on tour. Short after a very successful European tour Niclas had to focus on his other projects, and Björn switched from drums to guitar and Daniel Svensson joined the band, and this is the In Flames as we know it today. With the completion of the line up “Colony” was recorded and released in 1999.

“Colony” took In Flames to a new level and the band sold out venues across Europe, USA and Japan and quickly became one of the biggest and most popular Melodic Death Metal acts around.

“Clayman” which was released in 2000 even topped its predecessor and the awards started pouring in and the band kept growing in popularity. In 2001 “The Tokyo Showdown”, In Flames first live album was released, and gave the public and insight to the band’s live competence.

Modern and more mature “Reroute To Remain” (2002) again confirmed the status of In Flames and marked another milestone in their career. Two years later and it was time to take In Flames to a new level. “Soundtrack To Your Escape” did just that and was the logical continuation after “Reroute To Remain”.

In Flames continued to tour the world and documented these escapades, which resulted in the release of the phenomenal DVD/CD package “Used And Abused – In Live We Trust” in 2005. With an incredibly successful world tour behind them, In Flames recorded the masterpiece “Come Clarity” which was released in March 2006. The song “Take This Life” from the album is featured on the “Guitar Hero III” game. A game which has been deemed the bestselling video game of all times.

In September 2007 In Flames entered IF STUDIOS, in Gothenburg, Sweden, to record A Sense Of Purpose. The album was Recorded and produced by the band together with Daniel Bergstrand (vocals) and Roberto Laghi (Bass, guitar & drums) and mixed by Toby Wright in LA (Metallica, Slayer, Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss, Motley Crue etc) and mastered by Stephen Marcussen at Marcussen mastering studios in LA. In April 2008 A Sense Of Purpose entered charts all over the world incl # 1 in Sweden and the band’s highest ever entry on the American Billboard top 200 with an amazing #28. In Canada In Flames achieved the very same thing with a #7 on the Canadian Billboard top 200. “A Sense Of Purpose” was at the time of release the 7th most sold album in the whole of Europe!

2008 was spent touring, starting with a main support slot to Megadeth in North America, followed by breaking the attendance record at the famous Swedish Gröna Lund with 15.500 people in the audience. NO other Swedish artist has ever had that many people at a single show there. Moving on to 18 European summer festivals, in front of a total of 300 000 people. After that the band finished what became In Flames biggest ever European headline tour at the time attended by over 60 000 people ending with 4 completely sold out Swedish shows attracting 13 000 people. 2008 ended in style with the most successful North American Headline tour to date for the band.

2009 started off with IN FLAMES performing live at the Swedish Grammi Awards, the most prestigious of all Swedish awards. The band also won a Grammi for best metal band.

Award #2 for 2009 – P3 Gold award (Swedish National radio) for best Rock/Metal Other awards won to reflect on the amazing 2008 and the greatness of IN FLAMES are:

Sweden
P4 Dist Award
P3 Rock – Album of the year
Swedish Metal Awards – Best Death metal Band
Swedish Metal Awards – Best Video (Alias)
Bandit Rock Awards - Best Swedish Band
Bandit Rock Awards - Best Swedish Album
Bandit Rock Awards - Best Swedish Live Band

UK
Metal Hammer Awards - Golden God Award - Best International Act.

Russia
Russian Ramp Award – Best International Band


2009 continued where 2008 left off, with heavy touring: South America, Australia, Japan, Eastern Europe.

On May 21st 2009 “Disconnected” was released on Guitar Hero World Tour as a downloadable track. This is the second In Flames track featured on Guitar Hero. In Flames have previously been featured on Guitar Hero III – Legends Of Rock

The summer of 2009 saw In Flames conquer some of the biggest European festivals leading right into the third Canada/USA tour on this album (2nd Headline tour).

2009 ended in style with the hugely successful Rockstar Taste Of Chaos Tour, which the band headlined. In Sweden the band played their biggest ever headline gigs so far in their career. Over three shows more than 19 000 people attended and established In Flames as one of the biggest bands in Sweden, all categories.

In the beginning of 2010 the band took some well-deserved time off. Only three shows played over the summer. One of them was Metal Town in Gothenburg where over 25 000 people saw one of the biggest productions in the band’s career. It was well liked. In fact when all 50 000 feet jumped the pier on which the festival is set was set in motion and in its turn it set off the “earthquake alarm” to the nearby bridge because it was moving too much. Now THAT’S a crowd!

In September 2010 In Flames once again entered their own IF Studios together with Roberto Laghi, Daniel Bergstrand and Örjan Örnkloo to start the recording of the new album. The album “Sounds Of A Playground Fading” is planned for release sometime in the first half of 2011.

In 2010 founding member Jesper Strömblad left the band. Jesper who before officially leaving the band took some time off touring and was at the time replaced live by Niclas Engeling (the same Niclas who was temporarily in the band back in 1997). Now it’s 2011 and Niclas has become a full member of In Flames.

http://inflames.com/

Featured Guitarist - Andy Timmons

Andy Timmons

As guitarist for pop-metal band Danger Danger, he toured the world opening for Kiss and Alice Cooper, sold over a million records worldwide, and had two #1 videos on MTV, plus amassing a discography that includes 7 solo releases that range from blazing guitar instrumentals, to blues, and even a Beatles/Elvis Costello-inspired collection of pop tunes.

As a session player, he's been highly featured on CDs by drumming legend Simon Phillips, a live CD with Olivia Newton-John (Andy has been her music director/guitarist for several U.S. tours), two internationally acclaimed CDs by Kip Winger, recording sessions for Paula Abdul, Paul Stanley, and countless radio and television jingles. He has also played alongside many of his heroes such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani (as a regular guest on their G3 tours in Dallas), Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Mike Stern, Ace Frehley, Ted Nugent, and Pierre Bensusan, as well as some of his fave '60's singing stars such as the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, and Gordon Waller (of Peter and Gordon fame!)

Andy's musical career began in his hometown of Evansville, Indiana at the age of 13 with his first band, Taylor Bay. “Early on, I realized that making it in a rock band was such a long-shot, that I better figure out other ways of making a living playing guitar. I began reading about players like Steve Lukather and Larry Carlton who made their living as session musicians. This really appealed to me, since I really loved a wide variety of musical styles.”

The decision to pursue the studio scene led him to more serious music studies. He studied classical guitar for two years before moving to Miami to study jazz guitar at the University of Miami (largely because the Dixie Dregs, Pat Metheny, and Jaco Pastorius had all gone there). He eventually ended up in Dallas where he was very fortunate to get a foot in the door of a very good studio scene. In 1988, the Andy Timmons band was formed and he quickly gained a following in Texas. Around that time, Epic recording artists Danger Danger recruited him to finish their debut record, film several videos, and begin touring.

After 4 years in New York with Danger Danger, Andy returned to Dallas in 1993 to resume his studio career and the Andy Timmons Band. His first solo release, ear X-tacy, was released in 1994 to critical acclaim followed 1997's ear X-tacy 2. He then released Pawn Kings (1997), Orange Swirl (1998), The Spoken and the Unspoken (1999), and And-thology 1 & 2 (2000). In 2001 Andy signed with Favored Nations and released his first international record, That Was Then, This is Now, a compliation of the first two ear X-tacy records and and five new tracks. Resolution (2006) marks Andy's first full-length new release for Favored Nations.

Andy has been consistently voted a “Top 20 Favorite Guitarist” in most of Japan's rock music magazine's reader polls, as well as being voted “Musician of the Year” four years in a row in the acclaimed Dallas Observer Music Awards. He also has become one of the most respected and sought after clinicians representing Ibanez Guitars, touring the world on their behalf.

http://www.andytimmons.com/