An Affordable Powered Speaker That Sounds Great!

Buying The Right Speaker For Your Purpose

Buying PA gear always a big venture, but understanding what you are buying for will help you save money in the long run. The speaker we are going to be looking at today is an excellent speaker - for what it is.

The speaker can be run as a main or monitor

And that is part of understanding PA gear. If you are making money on your performances, or if you are playing to big crowds of people, you do not want an entry level speaker (which this PowerWerks is). 

But, if you are playing or presenting to smaller crowds (such as small churches just getting off the ground or mobile ministries), or if your kid needs a speaker for his garage band and you are on a limited budget, this may be just the speaker for you!

PowerWerks PA used to be Kustom - this 15" speaker has a nice full sound, but only pushes about a peak of 200 watts internal power, so while it does sound good at lower volume levels, it would not be what you would want to look at if you were anticipating 200 - 300 person crowds.

This speaker is in the upright 'Main' position - it also has speaker mounts which allow you to mount it on a speaker stand

The volume levels it can attain though are good for garage bands and small business or worship applications. These are also great speakers to use as an acoustic guitar amp, the 15" woofer and the true horn give a great sound to any acoustic electric guitar!

For an inexpensive speaker it does have some very nice features, and it includes two inputs, both a line level 1/4" input and an XLR mic input. This makes it perfect for mobile applications where you just need a microphone and an input to play some music from your phone or computer.

One of the neat things about this speaker is the fact that it has a link out for each input. This gives you some flexibility in how you route signals.

For instance, if you are using the speaker as a stage monitor it allows you to plug your mic directly into the speaker then send it on to the mixing board, and allows you to plug a 1/4" so that you can be fed the rest of the monitor mix. that way, you can adjust your own voice thin the speaker, and then adjust the rest of the monitor mix so you can get a better mix on stage without relying on whether the sound guy is paying attention when you need a bit more of your vocals in the monitor!

These PowerWerks monitors can do a great job as monitors or mains if you are seeking a budget conscious speaker for small crowds and small areas, or as a stage monitor to a band that has normal stage volume levels. To see more of these speakers, and to find out your best price on them, go give them a listen at James House of Deals & Pawn, on of the newest music stores in Lincolnton - they carry more PA gear in Lincolnton than any of the stress in Gastonia, Hickory or Shelby, so if you need PA Gear come to James House of Deals for the best deals around!

Copyrights - Protecting Your Material

THE GUITARISTS GUIDE TO COPYRIGHTS – UNDERSTANDING YOUR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

There is an old trick when it comes to copyrights – mail yourself a copy of the song and don’t open it. That method won’t do any harm, but it probably won’t do any good either – except you will have (in my case) a cassette tape to remind you, if you can ever find something to play it on, how bad your first song really was.

Trust me, mine was bad!

The idea of this ‘poor man's’ copyright method comes from being able to prove the date that the song was created. Of course, nowadays posting your song to YouTube or any other online media will also fix the date (as well as many other methods available to us).

Whether it is a song or a written work, much or copyright law works the same!

HOW COPYRIGHTS WORK – SINGLE SONGS AND COLLECTIONS

The first copyright laws were put in place in the US in 1790 – the constitution itself gave congress the specific power of enacting copyright laws to protect many different types of speech, art, intellectual property and more. Of course, here we are concerned about music!

Copyright laws are very simple, but protecting yourself and your works is part of being in the business of music. The more you understand how these processes work, the better you will be able to navigate through the business side of the music industry, and the more of your money you will be able to keep in the long run!

A copyright lasts until 70 years after the death of the writer (in the case of multiple writers, it lasts until 70 years after the death of the longest living copyright holder), and a song is copyrighted as soon as it is affixed to any tangible medium.

This could be something as complex as an entire score, or as simple as a chord chart and a set of lyrics – or in some cases, a CD or digital download. What this means that as soon as you write down your song, or record it to any medium, it is copyrighted. The process of registering your copyrighted work simply affirms the copyright on a certain date, and is the best way to collect what may be owed to you if someone ever uses your work.

PUBLISHED V. UNPUBLISHED

First off, registering a copyright for your song or music collection is very easy – you can do it online at http://copyright.gov/ - click the ‘Register A Copyright’ button and it will guide you through the process of setting up an account and sending the necessary documentation/audio files to copyright your song. You can also perform this step by mail – the same Web address above will give you specific instructions for physical filing.

Many people want to copyright a song as soon as they get done writing it, or copyright a collection of songs as they are written, but it is also a wide practice to wait to register the copyright until you actually publish the song. The reason for this is that in the past, if you did not press the song to record, tape or CD not enough people would be exposed to the song to worry about copyright infringement. A song can be dispersed widely using modern technology without be ‘Published’, so it is becoming more important to take preemptive steps when it comes to your rights as a songwriter.

That is why even if you don’t publish the song according to the rules of the copyright office, you may still want the protection and the certification that copyrighting a work brings, especially if you are posting the song on any electronic platforms.

When you copyright, you will list the song as either ‘Published’ or ‘Unpublished’. Once a song has been published, anyone can make their own version of that song, but they must pay you a set royalty fee. Your music cannot, however, be used for any video performance, including commercials, TV shows, movies or unofficial YouTube videos without your express consent – more on this in the next section!

Copyrighting your songs online is the quickest and easiest way of copyrighting them, and the least expensive – just $35.00 for a single song, or $65.00 for a collection. The collection can be as many songs as you wish it to be.

If you are using the score or chart method, sending the document as a PDF is the normal way to transmit those documents. Many people file the song in both written and recorded form.

To register your songs as a collection, they must be contained in a single ‘Collection’ under one name, and the copyright holder must be the same for each song. For instance, if you had ten songs, and one of them shared co-writing credits with you you would only be able to register the nine songs in your name. The single song with your co-writer’s name included would have to be registered individually.

WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS – MECHANICAL RIGHTS AND SYNCHRONIZATION RIGHTS

Once a song has been published, anyone can cover it under the mechanical copyright laws, but they must pay you money. As well, if you copy someone else’s work you must pay them the current fees set by law for a mechanical license. They are at the moment 9.1 cents per unit (copy) sold, whether it is a physical CD or a download (or any other medium). For songs over 5 minutes there is an additional per minute charge of $1.75.

The Harry Fox agency is one of the largest agencies to use to either pay copyright fees you may owe to the copyright holder of a cover tune, or to make sure your song is registered and thus protected. Registering your song with the Harry Fox Agency or a different listing agency will guarantee you maximum payout if someone uses your material.

When you apply for a copyright, your song is not automatically registered, but the completed copyright paperwork does give you the power to list your song with the Harry Fox Agency, among other publishers, listing agents and others.

YOUTUBE AND SYNCHRONIZATION RIGHTS

This is one of the most asked questions most musicians have when it comes to copyrights – can I post my cover of that tune on YouTube? The answer is – sometimes you can, and sometimes you can’t. This depends on a couple of different factors. Remember, as we stated above, to use a person’s song in any video format, you must gain the copyright holder’s express permission and negotiate the fees that will be paid.

Any performance of a song on YouTube, even if the screen remains black throughout the performance, is synchronized to the video, and therefor does NOT fall under the normal mechanical copyright laws that allow any band to perform their own cover version of any published song.

Several factors come into play, and several things could happen. The copyright holder could demand that the video/song be removed entirely, or that the audio containing the song be removed. This holds true whether the song is being performed directly, or whether it is playing in the background of the video.

The copyright holder can also choose to monetize it through YouTube, and thus gain a percentage of the ads that are being sold around your video.

To find out if a publisher has a deal with YouTube to grant synchronization rights through YouTube, search ASCAP and BMI to see who holds the publishing rights. If they have a deal with YouTube, you can probably post your cover tunes without many worries (the revenues will be collected from the ad revenue on the video). If they do not, it would be best if you contact the publisher of the copyrighted work you want to cover and gain the rights to make a video performance of the work.

Remember, though, without express permission, even if the copyright holder and publisher have a deal with YouTube they can demand that your specific video be taken down or that the music portion be muted.

And of course, you have exactly the same rights as a songwriter when it comes to your own songs!

LIVE PERFORMANCES AND REPLAYING OF ORIGINAL MATERIAL

If you are a band, you may have run into this already – publishers and copyright holders can and do expect to be paid when you perform their song live. The rates for this type of performance are preset, and are usually part of a bulk payment made to a publisher that allows you to play any song in their library – once again, the largest publishers are BMI and ASCAP but there are more services and registration agencies available now.

Some venues and bars will have these rights covered as part of their business, but it is always up to the band to find out whether they need to pay royalties for any cover songs they perform.

Playing the original song over any medium (other than private consumer use) is also handled on a preset basis. Mostly, this means bars with Karaoke or pre-recorded music such as jukeboxes, radio stations, disk jockeys, DJ’s and more.

Buying the disk gives you the right to play the music in a private setting – if you are playing an artist’s own songs, contact BMI and ASCAP about bulk packages that will keep you covered regarding royalties owed to the publisher. Bands can do the same thing for cover tunes as well!

It is still illegal to use a song, whether it is an original recording or a cover done by another band, in any synchronized way – video, movie, TV show or other – without the express permission of the artist. The only exception to this are the Fair Use rules, which allow, for instance, news people or critics to use samples of the song in their coverage of that song.

COPYRIGHTS ARE AUTOMATIC – PROTECTING YOUR WORK ISN’T

While copyrights are granted automatically as soon as you set your song or music down on any medium, protecting that song is not automatic. That is why registering your song’s copyright, and then listing your song with the Harry Fox Agency can be important.

These simple steps make it easy to claim your rights as a songwriter/composer if someone should decide to cover your song, or play your song on the radio. If it is not registered, even if they hear the song or see it on YouTube they will not be able to find the information in order to make payments to you. So get out there and start writing more songs, and look deeper into the copyright laws to make a truly informed decision on whether you need to register your copyright!

James House of Deals takes its role as one the only music stores in Lincolnton seriously - we want to supply great advice and customer service as well as world class deals on music gear and guitars in Lincolnton.

Cort SFX-CEDNAT Acoustic Electric Solid Top Guitar

Cort Solid Top Acoustic Electric Hits A Home Run

I have played quite a few Cort guitars, and we recently got some Thin Body SFX-CED models in. These models come with a Solid Cedar Top and Solid Mahogany back and sides.

These guitars have a much fuller sound than most thin body acoustics usually do, thanks to the solid Cedar top and Mahogany back and sides. Cedar in particular gives a very warm sound, which helps make up for the fact that this is a thin bodied guitar. 

The solid mahogany back and sides are beautifully finished with a high, deep gloss that really brings out the wood grain, but the back of the neck has a satin finish to enhance quick movements and general playability.

The neck itself is quite nice - even on less expensive guitars the necks these days are very good, but this model has seen some very good design and quality control work. It is a Chinese guitar, but as we have mentioned before Chinese luthiers have come a long way in the last 10 - 15 years, and this guitar is another great example of that!

Note the satin finish on the back of the neck and headstock!

The Fishman pickups, the Abalone sound-hole accents and the advanced tuning machines with rubberized grips are just a few of the things which show the thought that was put into this instrument. If you are looking for a great thin body acoustic for yourself or a loved one, this guitar fits the bill, and James House of Deals has these acoustic guitars in Lincolnton on the floor and ready to sell now!

Come by or call for the price on these guitars at one of the newest music stores in Lincolnton, and remember that every time you practice you get a little better, even if it doesn't sound like it!

Basic Drum Maintenance - Get Your Head Together

Drum Maintenance Basics

This kit recently came to us in pretty bad shape. the maintenance of any instrument can be daunting if you are not used to the instrument, but for many people drums remain the most mysterious and difficult to work on.

But they are really not that hard to maintain; just take it one step at a time, and before you know it you can have your set looking and playing better than ever! 

Drums that are in need of some TLC at the newest music store in Lincolnton

As you can see, these drums were in pretty bad shape. Almost all drums, with some variations, are put together the same way. The tom drums (the smaller drums that attach to the kick drum or stand alone on the floor) usually attach to the kick drum by hardware poles that go through the kick, and then the tom slides onto the pole.

The Tom post is attached to the kick drum here; you can see the retaining ring at the bottom that sets the height of this post!

The other end of the tom, post inserts into the tom drum, and has the same type of ring.

Set the retaining rings on the posts so that the drums are in the position you want when everything is put together. There is no right or wrong position, it is however the drummer feels the most natural!

To begin with, take all of the pieces out of the drums. Once everything is taken apart, it is easier to clean the drums. A light duty cleaner such as Windex usually makes a good cleaner for the shells, and paper towels or a cotton cloth will work fine to [polish the drums.

The bottom heads on this kit are in pretty good shape, so we are just going to replace the top heads, which have seen a good amount of abuse.

when a head is broken, you have to replace it. But excessive dents or simply age can also make replacing the heads a necessity if you want to get the best tones out of the drums.

Using a drum key, loosen all of the hoop bolts to remove the top head. On this kit, we are replacing all the drums with coated heads. I am using Remo Ambassadors for the toms and kick and an Evans G2 for the snare drum.

Match the sizes, make sure the wooden rim of the drum is clean and free from debris, then set the drum head and place the hoop on top of the head, making sure that it is even on top of the drum shell.

Start by starting all the screws in the hoop - DO NOT TIGHTEN THEM YET, JUST START THE SCREWS!.

Once all the screws are started, screw them down until they are just touching the hoop. Once all the screws are tightened to this amount we will start using the drum wrench to do the final tightening and tuning of the head.

Just like the wheel on a car, you want to tighten the bolts on the drum head gradually using a cross pattern. Go in order of the numbers above, starting with just one turn to each head.

This will ensure that the head is seated and tightened so that it goes evenly onto the drum shell. Once everything is tightened, you want the head and the hoop to be seated squarely on top of the shell, otherwise the drums will not tune properly.

Tighten until all the wrinkles are out of the head, final adjustments will be made later!

The same drum as above after all bolts have been gradually tightened in the order shown. Keep going around the same order until all the wrinkles are out of the head and the head is seated squarely on the shell.

Follow the same procedure for all of the drums including the kick drum. many people place a pillow or some other material into the kick drum to get more of a thump from the kick; the Evans EMad heads are also an excellent product to give the kick drum a good thumpy and less resonant sound.

With this drum, a clean but old sleeping bag made the perfect muffle for the drum, giving it a solid deep kick sound with very little resonance.

Tuning and Resonance

Resonance is the amount of trail that your drum leaves after you hit it. The less resonance a drum has, the more the sound is a solid hit with no lasting trail. Sometimes, depending on the type of music, you will want some resonance on your drums. These help fill up space and make the sound warmer. 

Once again, there is no right or wrong answer, but generally the faster and more 'busy' a song is, the less resonance you will want on your drums. Resonance is decreased by the amount of muffle you put on the drums, whether it is like the sleeping bag pictured above, or Moon Gel or the Evans E-Rings do a great job at reducing to large amounts of resonance.

The E-Rings are plastic circles that fit on top of the tom and snare drums, giving them a more solid 'thunky' sound, or in the case of the snare a tighter POP!

Once all the heads are installed, you will begin tuning them. I personally like to start tuning my drums from the smallest tom. The tighter you make the head, the higher the 'Hit Tone' will be when the drum is struck. To be properly tuned, all of the drum screws should have equal tension. If you hit the head next to each bolt, they should all have the same tone. This is a great video by DW that is worth while to check out!

You will want the tom drums to have an even spacing in tone as you play from the highest to the lowest; some people tune their drums to specific notes, but most players do not go to that level of exactness. You do want a good, even change in tones throughout the drums though!

Snare Drums

Snare drums will usually be one of the tightest drums as you want a nice, solid snap from your snare drum with very little resonance. Make sure the snare itself (the strip of wires that goes along the bottom of the drum) is nice and tight, and add E-Rings or other muffles as needed to make the snare POP nice and tight!

Putting It Back Together!

Once all the drums are tuned, carefully reassemble the drums. If you set the retaining rings on the posts properly it is very easy to get the right formulation. If you didn't, take this chance to set the retaining rings so you can get the same drum position as you them up and tear them down.

Setting these retaining rings is essential for getting the drums in the right positions easily!

You can see  how the toms snug up tio the retaining ring, clicking in place!

it is the same with the kick drum - set the retaining ring so the Tom Mount Posts are always the right height! (this one still has to slide down to be seated properly, like in the pic below!

Back Together Again!

Now our drum kit is back together, with new heads and tuned for a nice solid drum sound!

If your drums need heads because they are damaged or just old and worn out, do not be to intimidated at the thought of putting them on yourself - it really is not that hard. But, if you do need help, feel free to come to the newest music store Lincolnton offers, James House of Deals, and we can help you get your drums back in shape, as well as repairing any minor problems which may need to be fixed! When you need drum heads in Lincolnton, or hardware, cymbals or parts come down to James House of Deals! 

Getting A Great PA For The Money

Getting the Right PA - 

And Realizing you Have To Pay For It!

PA Systems have come a long way since I first started in this business back in the 1980's. Speakers have gotten smaller, but have improved in sound quality, and the new powered speakers are making that shift in quality audio even easier for any person to use.

Some of the PA Gear at James House of Deals, a music store in Lincolnton

Understanding Volume Levels And Crowd Size 

Part of putting together any sound system is thinking about what you are going to be using it for, and what your own personal volume expectations are.

In the Eighties and early Nineties, most bands were at actual bars, some of which served some food, especially in this area of North Carolina. As the Nineties grew up and moved into the 2000's though, these bars started disappearing and the venues shifted to restaurants that had bars in them. Because of this, stages began disappearing and the volume levels of the bands and acts had to adjust volume levels downwards to accommodate the dining facility.

Of course, some bands and events are simply louder - a five piece band with drums and bass is going to be louder than a pair of acoustic guitars and vocals.

The second consideration after volume levels is crowd size, and this is directly related to the volume of your sound system. 

For a small act that has a few acoustics and perhaps some small percussion can often get good results from the new tower type speakers, like the Yorkville Excursion pictured here (just about everyone from Bose to JBL and many others are offering similar systems). 

But this system will only be good for a crowd size of about 60 - 70 people. If you are expecting 300 people, even with low volume music you will need a more substantial sound system. 

Remember that each system is designed to produce a certain amount of volume in a given physical area. Knowing the type of music that you play and what kind of crowds you expect to be performing in is essential to choosing the sound system that will fit your specific needs.

Subwoofers And The Crowd

The bass frequencies by far take up the most power in any sound system, whether it is using traditional power amps or the new generation of powered speakers.

Adding one or more subwoofers to a system drastically increases the volume levels and crowd sizes that you will be able to perform in front of no matter what type of music you are playing, and for some types of music subwoofers are essential. 

This is especially true of DJ's who are playing the latest pop, R&B and Rap hits. These styles in particular are beginning to use a lot of sub-harmonic frequencies that can't be adequately reproduced by a regular full range speaker. 

A rock or country band, on the other hand, in front of small crowds might not need much more than a set of small powered speakers on stands, and they will only send vocals through these speakers - the stage volume of the drums and other instruments can give a great audience mix in smaller venues and at small outdoor shows (50 - 100 people depending on volume expectations). Something like a 12" JBL or EV, or even some high quality smaller 10" powered speakers like the ones pictured below can do very well for this type of application.

But as the crowd size increases, stage volume from the instruments becomes inadequate to provide good sound.  Lets take a system that has 2 x 10" powered speakers like the one above. The band, DJ or Karaoke provider has been doing smaller 60-80 person crowds, but they are now going to start entertaining people in the 200 - 300 person range.

Adding one or two powered subwoofers to the powered mains allows the bass frequencies to be handled by the subwoofer, leaving the 10" speakers to handle the mid & high frequencies. This really frees up the 10" speakers, making the entire system much more efficient and allowing you to reach maximum clean volume levels, with all instruments and drums miked up in addition to the vocals.

This is achieved by running the system signal from the board into the subwoofer first (most subs have a left and right input in case you are running a stereo system, like the control panel pictured below).

So, from the board you would plug into the left and right inputs on the Subwoofer. On the right you will see the link out options; you will notice that on most subs one of these outputs is going to be listed as a 'High Pass' output. This means that the Subwoofer is automatically eliminating the sub frequencies below a certain level (usually 80 - 100 Hz) when it sends the signal on to the main speakers. 

If you are using 10" or 12" speakers, use the High Pass output - this will allow the speaker to work much more efficiently since all it is reproducing are the lower mid to high frequencies. 

The addition of one to two subwoofers (depending on your actual volume needs) will allow to increase your audience size to the 300 person range quite easily.

Powered speakers make these alterations to your sound system very easily. With traditional powered mixer or power amp systems, you would need to add one to two amplifiers when you added the subwoofers to the system, and any time you needed more speakers more amplificatiers would need to be added.

With powered speakers it is very easy to scale a system up and down. With our example system - a small mixer, 2 x 10" powered main speakers and one 18" powered subwoofer, like the one pictured below, you can take just the 'Top' or main speakers (the 10" speakers) for smaller more intimate gigs that are going to have a smaller audience size, and take the subwoofer when you want to bring the serious thump!

A close-up of the Subwoofer pictured above

This Yorkville system is very powerful but quite affordable, coming in at a regular sale price of just $1791.99 at the newest music store Lincolnton offers, James House of Deals. This system is suitable for full bands, high capacity Karaoke and light to medium DJ applications.

If your band played music that really needed to pack a lot of punch, like certain types of metal or dance music (or if you were playing crowds in the 500 - 600 person size), you would probably want to consider adding another subwoofer and upgrading the Main speakers to 12" or 15" speakers. 

The Price of Admission

Lets face it, cost is relative. Some people have a lot of money, and others have to scrape their resources together for major purchases. One thing is sure, even though sound systems have gotten less expensive (and much better) over the years, you will get what you pay for when it comes to sound systems. That $500 combo system might seem like a great deal at the time, but if it does not fit the music you are playing, or the audience size it will be money that could have gone to a more capable system and adaptable sound system.

So before you buy any system, think about the type of music you play, how loud you expect that music to be, and the size of the crowds you want to be able to play in front of. Then look for the best gear (not necessarily the cheapest) that will fulfill your sound system needs.

For advice on PA gear in Lincolnton, Charlotte, Gastonia, Hickory, Rock Hill or any of the surrounding towns, James House of Deals can give you the advice you need to build the right sound system for what you are trying to do whether you are a band, a church, a DJ or simply need a small system for business conferences!