DREWCIFER'S TONE ZONE HAS MOVED!

Click HERE to get to the new improved Tone Zone!

Blondie's "Heart of Glass" Broke New Ground in Studio Craftsmanship

Blondie combined both pop AND art.

I was one of those teenagers that actually had heard of Blondie before the Parallel Lines LP. I had heard X-Offender on the radio, and had read about Debbie Harry, New York's platinum-headed punk bombshell who wore clingy t-shirts and knee-pads. Knowing she had been a Playboy bunny certainly got the attention of this 17-year-old.

Then they hit it big with "Heart of Glass" in '78. A lot of people said, "Blondie has gone disco," "Blondie has sold-out!" Well that may have been true and I may have even said that myself (to nobody there). However, I didn't know anybody who actually didn't like the song. I mean, I loved the song and went out and bought the album. The whole LP was great, with it's other, much more rock/punk/power-pop offerings. I realized that, no matter what genre they dabbled in -- and they dipped their pens in all colors of musical ink -- Blondie was at its core a great rock-band with excellent musicians. Those cats could play the phonebook and it would sound good. Add to that Blondie's hip image and one of the most beautiful singers ever to ever pout with a microphone, and you have a sure-fire formula for success in 1978.

With that said, I found this neat video on YouTube, a short little rockumentary on the making of "Heart of Glass". It's really interesting. I especially like how the narrator mentions how this session was during the peak of analog recording, and I couldn't agree more. As a recording engineer I love learning how they built this million-selling crossover hit. As a music-lover with a rose-tinted rear view mirror, It stirs up a nostalgic affection for the song, the band, and the time.

Death of The Dreamer

Sandman All Lit Up...

Like a lot of people, I've always wondered what caused Mark Sandman's sudden and untimely death back in '99. There has been rumor, speculation, myth and mystery surrounding the tragedy. Was it drugs? Heroin? Coke?

As you know, a documentary film on the Sandman story will be released in the coming year. Apparently, and disappointingly, the film chooses not to delve in to an explanation for his death. Maybe because it wasn't mysterious? Maybe because it was just a rare and unfortunate event where a middle-aged heavy smoker dropped dead. These things happen.

Apparently, here's the real story about the day Morphine's frontman passed in to the dreamworld: You and What Army Blog

Drewcifer Joins Vintage King Audio!

El Rey!

It's official! Drewcifer is now Ridin' with The King -- VINTAGE KING that is! I'm excited to join the sales-team on the biggest baddest gear-shop in the world. New, used, vintage, analog, digital - VK has it all! And now they have me! WoooHooo!

Can't wait to start blogging about some of the awesome new gear we offer, like the Retro Power-strip and the Lisson Grove R-124, an enhanced reissue of the vari-mu comp used on Beatles records at Abbey Road.


Fab Gear!

VK's main site, here.

VK on Facebook

AES 2010 a Big Candy-Dish of Exciting New Gear!

Exciting exciting exciting! Read all about the eye-poopping and ear-bending new gear at AES 2010. We're especially wowed by new gear from Audient, SSL and Universal Audio. Bazooo!!


Nuclear power from SSL

Read all about the yummy eye and ear-candy here:
Sonicscoop AES wrap

Mojave MA-101 Goes Stellar with Everything Audio!

Rockets to the Stars!
http://mojaveaudio.com/MA-101fet.html

Mojave Mic's MA-101 small-cap condenser gets a stellar review from the Everything Audio Network, who went so far as to give the mic their coveted "Stellar Sound" award. Nicey nice!

A Perfect Home Studio Mic For Instrument Recording
by Dr. Fred Bashour
David Royer, noted microphone designer and creator of the made-in-USA, high-end Royer ribbon microphone line, has created a line of home-studio priced microphones with professional-grade specifications — Mojave Audio. And from the Mojave line, the new MA-101fet is one of the most remarkable instrument microphones I have used in the past forty-five years!
In all those years, my mic cabinet has included numerous high-end, small-diaphragm microphone — and many of the large diaphragm microphones as well. These new Mojave mics, however, defy the “small diaphragm vs. large diaphragm” microphone character paradigms.

Read the rest of this review here.

The Sky Still Cries

Stevie Ray Gone...

Twenty years have gone by since that helicopter crash in 1990. Wow. I still remember getting the news in a room surrounded by boxes and piles all my things, as I prepared to move to a new apartment. I was lucky enough to have a chance to meet Stevie a couple of times, as well as seeing him perform about ten times. He was a nice man; really a gentle soul. Right before he died I had engineered a blues record that had a couple of Austin-based players on it who were close to Stevie. I called one of those guys in Austin the day after it happened. He was shell-shocked, and from the conversation I gathered that Austin was devastated -- a city draped in black. Shortly thereafter I wrote a requiem for SRV, which was published in Metronome Magazine.

Here's a short vid piece and article from Austin 360.