Musicological banter

i fully realize this because of the very sad state of affairs and increasing authoritarian border crackdowns, but under normal circumstances this is quite Punk.

Three Members of UK Subs with the correct paperwork were traveling here for a show  were detained upon entering for 24 hours and sent back to London.  The speculation of course being less than flattering statements were made… The singer Charlie Harper was allowed in

I also enjoyed the statement by the Dropkick Murphys as to why they weren't actually on the dumpster fire

“We broke up with him first. We quit Twitter in 2022 when he was only half a Nazi,” Casey says. “Then someone else took our handle, pretending to be our official account, so we filed a legal complaint to put a stop to that — which is why @dropkickmurphys shows as suspended.”

the speculation at first was the account had been suspended as a result of statements made at a recent concert…

Not that we'll ever get a chance to see them on this side of the pond… but Gene has reformed and doing a show in London.

Now that’s real britpop

why yes i am in fact a Qobuz fanboy so this is great to see

Qobuz Releases Its Per-Stream Royalty Rate, a First for a Streaming Platform
The French music streaming service paid out an average of $0.018732 per stream in the year ended March 31, 2024.

In a first for a music streaming company, Paris-based Qobuz has publicly released the per-stream royalty rate it pays to rights holders. Qobuz tells Billboard it paid out an average per-stream royalty rate of $0.018732, or 1.8732 cents, in the 12 months ended March 31, 2024. That all-in rate, which covers both recorded music and publishing, works out to $18.73 for every 1,000 streams

https://www.billboard.com/pro/qobuz-releases-per-stream-royalty-rate-streaming-platform/

OK so serious question that I should probably have already known the answer to:

I noticed for the last 2 bands I’ve seen that the drummer’s kit is mic’d to the wazoo. Like between 7 and 10 microphones, pointed at each drum, each cymbal and some “overhead” flying mics.

Are these for recording or just for the house mix? If just for the PA, do they really use 7+ channels and adjust each individually? That seems like overkill, but I tend to lean on the stage instead of glowering by the soundboard.

TIA!

Why subject the universe to this ???


https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/us-celebrity-news/imagine-dragons-star-reveals-nerve-34921207

I know of no song more reclaimed by someone covering it than "Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah)" by Joan Jett. As far as I'm concerned, she wrote it.

grateful wrote:
OK so serious question that I should probably have already known the answer to:

I noticed for the last 2 bands I’ve seen that the drummer’s kit is mic’d to the wazoo. Like between 7 and 10 microphones, pointed at each drum, each cymbal and some “overhead” flying mics.

Are these for recording or just for the house mix?

musicians are lazy and roadies need to be efficient, so you can rest assured that 99% of the time if a mic is set up on stage it's going to be used.

multiple mics are needed for drums for the live sound.  the individual components of a drum kit need to be balanced - the snare is (relatively) too loud, the bass drum could needs a boost, the cymbals might need some EQ, etc.  to get all those parts under control you need them separated so you can deal with them individually.

in addition, if they're recording the performance then yes, it'll be used for recording also.  the best way to record a live show is to split every mic signal: one side/split goes to monitoring and front-of-house (AKA the PA), i.e. what always happens; while the second side/split goes to a multi-track recorder for later mixing, overdubbing, etc. 

grateful wrote:
If just for the PA, do they really use 7+ channels and adjust each individually? That seems like overkill

yes, they adjust individually - during sound check.  once they've got the drum set sounding good and balanced, ideally the sound tech(s) won't have to adjust the drum mics again save for a tweak here or there. 

bonus content: those 7+ mics are typically mixed down to a sub-mix called a bus.  so if the band is really hyped when they hit the stage and the drummer is bashing the drums much harder than he was during sound check (which is rather unprofessional), instead of adjusting 7+ faders the sound tech can simply pull down the drum bus which lowers all the drum mics at once, thus preserving the relative balance between the parts of the drum kit.

Excellent! Thank you!

one of my pet peeves is "What is a no skip album" 

apparently it's Bass Week, so why not have a gander at 20 funk bass legends who took low-end groove to new heights?

Many nuggets in this review of a recent Ryan Adams show in Belfast but this rises to the top

This did at least spark a moment of levity, albeit not one the singer appreciated. After another bored fan implored him to “sing one of your songs”, Adams screeched “Who said that? What’s your name?”.

A defiant voice from the other side of the auditorium then shouted: “I am Spartacus!”, causing a welcome outbreak of laughter to ripple through the crowd.


Ryan Adams Belfast gig was a horror show and one folks won't want to see again
"He performed with a mixture of petulance and self-pity that was unpleasant and uncomfortable to witness"

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-opinion/ryan-adams-belfast-gig-horror-31371698

will have to make a Spartacus tshirt

how is that loser still out and about making music and touring… hasn't put out a decent record in approaching 20 years… he's a complete lunatic.

edit: space saw him at Iota

Yada wrote:
edit: space saw him at Iota

actually I don't think he did, but I did


and you are not wrong about the 24 albums he's released in the last two decades, there are a few gems…but very few
why can't he just do like ween or billy Joel

Macalester College is pleased to announce that Robert A. (Bob) Mould, the trailblazing guitarist, singer, songwriter, and activist, will be the keynote speaker for the 2025 Commencement ceremony. Mould will also receive an honorary degree.

Chris Stein
The ad that we put in the @villagevoice that Clem answered. Mid March 1975. This took a lot of true detective work to dig out; hours, days, of looking through files.

Phish for the win!

https://consequence.net/2025/04/phish-win-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-fan-vote/