In the 21st century, intellectual property (IP) has become a hot-button issue for musicians and composers, specifically as it pertains to the distribution of music … Read More “Gearhead: Spotlight on the Sarrusophone”
In the 1980s, as synthesizers and drum machines threatened to take over popular music, electric guitar manufacturers tried to come up with instruments that were … Read More “Gearhead: The Bond Electraglide”
These days, if you’ve got the right apps, you can recreate the sound of just about any instrument on earth. In the early 1970s, when … Read More “Gearhead: Appreciating The Optigan 50 Years Later”
It was the peak of the Roaring Twenties, and a great time to sell saxophones. More than a million of the instruments were already in … Read More “Gearhead: The Conn-O-Sax”
As veteran JazzTimes followers know, every year around now we present a report on the annual National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show in Anaheim, … Read More “Gearhead: NAMM 2021 Goes Virtual”
The Roland corporation of Japan only manufactured its TR-808 Rhythm Composer drum machine for three years, from 1980 to 1983, but that short time was … Read More “Gearhead: The Roland TR-808 at 40”
The world has seen quite a few peculiar electronic keyboard instruments over the years, especially from the era before digital technology. Some, like the Mellotron, … Read More “Gearhead: Baldwin’s Fun Machine, and Others”
The American composer and inventor Harry Partch (1901-1974) had lots of unusual ideas. Dissatisfied with the sounds that Western music could offer, he became interested … Read More “Gearhead: Harry Partch and the Quadrangularis Reversum”
In the Artist’s Choice section of our September issue, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Georgia Anne Muldrow made a comment that kicked my nostalgia circuits into high gear. She … Read More “Gearhead: Memories of the Guitorgan”
Music technology changed a lot after World War II. Postwar introductions included the solidbody electric guitar, electric bass, seven-inch single, multitrack tape, transistors, and much … Read More “Gearhead: A Brief History of the Grafton Saxophone”
