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Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
New Releases, Products

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” and Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Released September 21
Reference Recordings

This Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra album was recorded in beautiful and historic Heinz Hall under the direction of Manfred Honeck. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians are members of Local 60-471 (Pittsburgh, PA).

Maestro Honeck’s included music notes give insight to the history of both pieces and describe how he conducts and interprets each. Principal Horn William Caballero gives a masterful performance as a soloist on Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1. The booklet notes include a question and answer session with Caballero and Honeck as Caballero discusses the history and performance of the piece.

This is the eighth release of the Pittsburgh Live! series of multi-channel hybrid SACD releases on the Fresh! series from Reference Recordings. The previous release Shostakovich 5! Barber Adagio won Grammy Awards in 2018 for Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Classical Album.

Sterling SHA4
Cool Tools, Products

Sterling SHA4 Amplifier

Sterling SHA4

The Sterling SHA4 is an easy to operate, four-channel, tabletop amplifier that provides clear, high-quality audio. It’s ideal for producers and recording engineers who need a quality amplifier with versatile input/output configurations and monitoring options. SHA4 accepts two discrete stereo sources via balanced or unbalanced 1/4-inch, line-level inputs. The four headphone channels are equipped with both 1/4-inch and 3.5 mm mini-connector TRS stereo outputs. Each channel can be switched between the two source mixes and has a dedicated output level control.

www.sterlingaudio.net

Cool Tools, Products

Washburn’s IDOL Style Body Guitars

Two new guitars revive Washburn’s IDOL style body pioneered in 1999. IDOL WIT16 VSK-D (pictured) features a vintage sunburst design, Duncan Stacked Tele pickups, a burled maple top, ash back, ebony fingerboard, and hard maple neck. IDOL WIS26 MRK-D is a metallic red copper guitar with the original IDOL body, USA ‘59/Cust5 Duncan pickups and is wired with award-winning Variable Contour Control allowing the player to sweep through an infinite number of tone colors between humbucking and single coil. The top, back and neck are mahogany, and the fingerboard is ebony. Both feature the original IDOL style body, Buzz Feiten tuning system, come with a gig bag, and have an MSRP of $1,426.

www.washburn.com

symphony no. 6
New Releases, Products

San Francisco Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Pathétique

symphony no. 6

Released June 29
SFS Media

This digital-only release from San Francisco Symphony, members of Local 6 (San Francisco, CA), and Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), a member of Locals 47 (Los Angeles, CA) and 9-535 (Boston, MA), was recorded during live performances at Davies Symphony Hall in March 2017. Symphony No. 6 is known as Tchaikovsky’s final, and arguably, greatest symphony. Thomas explains that the work requires delicacy and vulnerability, but also requires enormous power. “This symphony, an amazingly constructed piece, is an outpouring of elegant melodic invention,” he says. “I have put my whole soul into this work.” The release follows San Francisco Symphony’s release of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (May 2015) and the inaugural episode of the Keeping Score documentary series (2004), which explored Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

Quaverato Harmonic Tremolo
Cool Tools, Products

Quaverato Harmonic Tremolo Guitar Pedal

Quaverato Harmonic Tremolo

Zeppelin Design Labs’ Quaverato Harmonic Tremolo guitar pedal is a great sounding, versatile, and practical tremolo pedal at an attractive price. Among its features are: digital control for flexibility and tone; relay controlled true-bypass switch; harmonic or traditional tremolo modes; harmonic mix function; adjustable crossover frequencies; tempo multiplier; and adjustable LFO wave shape, rate, depth, and spacing. Its software is easy to update to include improvements and new features, and the open-source code can also be customized. Quaverato is available as a DIY kit ($89) or ready-to-play ($189).

www.zeppelindesignlabs.com

life after dark
New Releases, Products

Guthrie Trapp, Life After Dark

life after dark

Released March 30

Life After Dark is Local 257 (Nashville, TN) member Guthrie Trapp’s second album. The album was recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium, and pays tribute to Trapp’s musical influences throughout his career, from childhood to the present day. With six covers and seven originals, Life After Dark takes in a wide range of genres, from traditional country and bluegrass to jazz and blues to rock. Trapp says that the album represents his life story. The final track, “So Lonesome I Could Cry,” is dedicated to his mom. Trapp’s guitar mastery is showcased throughout the album with originals “Buckdancer’s Choice” and “Commodity.” His cover of George Jones’ “You’re Still on My Mind” features vocals by Local 257 (Nashville, TN) member Vince Gill and his cover of Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me” features Local 257 (Nashville, TN) member Charlie Worsham. Local 257 members Stuart Duncan and Jeff Coffin also appear on the album.

ghs strings fingerboard care kit
Cool Tools, Products

GHS Strings Fingerboard Care Kit

GHS Strings Fingerboard Care Kit makes it easy to maintain your instrument’s frets and fingerboard. Guitar maintenance is just as critical to an instrument’s sound and playability as a new set of strings. Clean, smooth frets allow for optimal contact of the strings to your instrument, improving sustain and tone. The kit is ideal for all instruments with natural, non-glossy, darker fingerboards and can be used on electric, acoustic, classical, and bass guitars, as well as mandolins, banjos, ukuleles, and more.

www.ghsstrings.com

lu'au concert ukulele
Cool Tools, Products

Breedlove Lu’au Concert Ukulele

For many years, Kim Breedlove left his workshop in the late afternoon, only to go home to his garage workshop and build ukuleles. Now retired, Breedlove has launched the Lu’au Concert ukuleles based on his custom shape and bracing. The instruments feature mahogany (nato) neck, solid Sitka spruce top, and myrtlewood back and sides. It has 18 frets and comes with nickel open gear tuners and a UK-T1 pickup. MSRP is $332.

www.breedlovemusic.com

jason mraz
New Releases, Products

Jason Mraz, Know

jason mraz

Released August 10
Atlantic Records

Jason Mraz of Local 325 (San Diego, CA) has just released his first full-length studio recording, Know, since his 2014 release of Yes!. This album draws on many parts of Mraz’s life, including songs entitled “Unlonely,” “Might as Well Dance,” “More than Friends” (featuring Meghan Trainor), and “Have It All.” His current hit single, “Have It All,” is moving up the Top 40 and has reached the Top 10 at Hot AC radio outlets all over the country. The official video for this track shows Mraz’s hometown of Richmond, Virginia, and features students from the community, as well as actors Katie Grober and Greg Grunberg. “Might as Well Dance” is also accompanied by a touching video featuring footage from Mraz’s wedding. Know has been highly celebrated by Mraz with set features on NBC’s Today Show Citi Concert Series, Live with Kelly and Ryan, and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!

sabian center hammered triangle
Cool Tools, Products

Sabian Center Hammered Triangles

Sabian Center Hammered Triangles are designed to boost projection and shimmer. Made from heavy gauge phosphor bronze, they allow for more clarity in any performance venue. The dense center hammering technique produces a rich timbre with overtones, rather than a single penetrating pitch. For occasions where a consistency of timbre is required, such as a sequence of notes, there are unhammered areas at the corners. And for a single rich sound, percussionists can play the multi-surfaced, center-hammered area.

www.sabian.com