Contemporary Latin Jazz Guitar (Sher Music) by Neff Irizarry is a comprehensive, 196-page book that traces the roots of Afro-Cuban music to the great contemporary masters. It includes traditional lines from the tres, cuatro and requinto adapted to the guitar; piano adaptations and solutions for the guitar patterned after Bebo Valdés, Clare Fischer and Eddie Palmieri; step-by-step instruction on how to play guajeos, montunos and other Afro-Cuban styles on guitar; stylistic analysis of highly influential guitarists such as Juanito Marquez, Paul Alicea, Sonny Henry, Edgardo Miranda, Carlos Emilio Morales, Bobby Redfield, Carlos Santana and Steve Khan; and transcriptions and analysis of key players, composers and arrangers such as George Benson, Chico O’Farrill, Clare Fischer, Stan Appelbaum, Cal Tjader and La Playa sextet. More than 250 audio files of the author playing each exercise are included.
Audix has released its latest large-diaphragm studio vocal microphone, the A231. Suitable for lead and backing vocals, spoken word and voiceover applications, as well as acoustic instrument miking, the A231 features a gold-plated brass band around its circumference, and its 33mm true condenser boasts a precision-tensioned diaphragm with gold deposition all the way to its far edges. This produces an effective diaphragm area approximately 25 percent larger than that of a typical large-diaphragm condenser mic and results in a sound that’s neutral and rich at the same time. An exacting cardioid pickup pattern offers a predictable proximity effect and exceptional off-axis rejection.