Gigbag: May 2004

Computer Courses in Music: Ear Training

If you can read music, and if your computer runs Windows, you can use this CD-ROM to practice recognizing musical elements like intervals, scales, rhythms, chords, cadences and melodies-by ear. Easily used for individual and group learning, the exercises in this course are interactive and adjust automatically to personal skill levels. warnerbrospublications.com

AKG K&M Mike Stands

Each of AKG’s latest mike stands features an ergonomic handhold that’s soft to the touch. That’s great for singers who love to hold a mike stand while they sing, but the handhold on these German-made mike stands is really a quick-release mechanism that makes height adjustment quicker than ever. It comes in three flavors: the KM256/80 model has a tripod base, the KM260/80 sports a classic, round cast-iron base and the KM260/85 has a compact, light-weight round base. akg.com

Mapex Janus Ergo Hat

For drummers who often find themselves in cramped stage spaces, the Janus Ergo Hat allows a hi-hat to move into hundreds of positions. The head tilts and swivels to put the cymbals where you want them and the legs can be removed, allowing the stand to be clamped to other hardware. The base plate is stably built and includes a Velcro plate for stability on any surface. mapexdrums.com

Pearl Natural Hide Maracas

Each pair of these maracas is mated at the Pearl factory, a kind of Noah’s Ark of percussion products, where able factory workers listen closely to each maraca produced in order to wed two like-sounding shakers together, forever and till the end of time, granted you don’t lose one. Made from real hide-though we wonder from what animal-these maracas help create the classic sound of traditional Latin music. pearldrum.com

Rico Reed Revitalizer

A bone-dry reed is no good, so Rico has created a humidity-controlled pouch that keeps reeds at just the right level of wet. And the Revitalizer’s moistness control is three-way variable-refillable humidity packs come in degrees of dampness from “stable storage” to “requires minimal wetting” to “ready to play.” ricoreeds.com

Hartke Bass Attack Pedal

This tone-shaping bass preamp stompbox comes loaded with features that belie its size. In addition to a three-band EQ that can make your bass sound crisp and articulate or thick and boomy, the Bass Attack also has a harmonic control that digitally emulates tube warmth, and the pedal doubles as a direct box (it has XLR and phono outputs). The unit can run off 9-volt DC or phantom power. hartke.com