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Why do older guitars sound better?

Shayne Jacopian for redOrbit.com

Whether or not you’re a guitarist, you’ve probably at least once found yourself wondering why a musician who’s freakin’ loaded would play a beat-up old guitar that’s falling apart when they could easily afford 100 new ones.

We’re looking at you, Willie Nelson.

Aside from aesthetics (some people think beat-up stuff looks cool) and familiarity—every guitar is different, and players grow attached to them almost like family members—there’s another reason: instruments sound better as the wood they’re made from ages.

Well, technically, just “different”, but just about any guitarist you ask will say it’s “better”.

What happens when wood ages?

According to luthier (instrument builder) Alan Carruth, wood consists mainly of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose, and all wood gradually loses hemicellulose—a soluble polysaccharide—to evaporation over a long period of time.

As this happens, the wood loses some weight, but remains just as stiff, allowing it to continue to support the weight of strings. With less mass to have to vibrate, the guitar’s woods vibrate more freely, making the instrument louder and allowing previously dampened frequencies to resonate.

The crystallization of sap inside the wood over time also contributes to the wood’s stiffness.

Likewise, lignin degrades as spruce (the wood most commonly used for a guitar’s top) is exposed to sunlight. Most notably, this results in a usually white wood taking on a yellow or orange hue that tends to be considered more aesthetically pleasing. Of course, degradation of lignin means a change in the wood’s physical structure as well, meaning that it contributes to the sonic side effects of aging.

Can this be done artificially?

While guitar manufacturers have long been selling guitars with aging toners to make their instruments look like they’ve seen more years than they really have, these only affect a guitar’s aesthetics. More recently, however, manufacturers have begun to treat woods with a process called torrefaction.

Wood destined to be used in guitar building is usually kiln-dried to a moisture level of about 6-10%. Usually, that is all that’s done, but torrefied wood is subsequently “cooked” at even higher temperatures in an oxygen-controlled environment until the wood’s moisture level reaches zero percent. Then, it’s removed from the kiln and brought back up to 3-6% humidity.

All of this makes for a lighter, stiffer, more resonant piece of lumber, with a bit of a darkened, amber hue—the rapid heating of the wood and evaporation of moisture causes the sap to crystalize and hemicellulose to degrade more quickly.

Whether accomplished artificially or naturally, the aging of wood affects the sound of an instrument, and most musicians hear it as a good effect.

Just don’t expect this guitar to improve with age.

Credit: Thinkstock

3 Innovative Revenue Streams for Musicians

revenue streams for musicians

This article originally appeared on Sonicbids

With album sales nowhere near what they used to be (unless your name is Taylor Swift, who probably doesn’t frequent indie artist advice columns), and streaming not yet a truly viable source of income for musicians, a lot of artists are looking for new ways to distribute their work that will both reach their fans and result in some remuneration.

Three such methods that are gaining in popularity are the new fan-funding site Patreon, the concept of artist-run subscriptions, and going old school with special cassette releases. What all three of these methods of distribution have in common is that they give fans something exclusive, and they create a unique connection between the artist and the fan. Here’s what else you need to know about distro’s newest stars.

1. Patreon

Do you use Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or PledgeMusic but hate having to constantly launch new campaigns, and re-ask all your fans for support? Patreon has found a way to streamline the process.

Patreon was created by Jack Conte, who is one half of the musical duo Pomplamoose, when he noticed his YouTube views weren’t doing as much for his bottom line as he’d hoped. Rather than a one-time campaign, Patreon is a platform where fans contribute a set amount per project. For example, a fan can decide to pledge $1 per song for an artist, and that artist will get $1 every time he or she creates a song.

According to Patreon’s Head of Marketing and Special Projects, Erica Costello, this cuts out quite a few, oftentimes unnecessary, people. “Literal middlemen have come between artists and their supporters for way too long,” she explains. “Artists and supporters belong together!”

revenue streams for musiciansA few big names have been using Patreon, including the queen of crowdfunding Amanda Palmer and Ryan Leslie. That said, Costello notes artists of that notoriety aren’t necessarily who Patreon is focused on. “We’re super stoked to host Amanda Palmer and Ryan [Leslie],” she says, “but we take pride in serving the creative middle class. Patreon is the primary source of income for so many singer-songwriters who were struggling to pay rent and eat food, even though millions of people watched and loved their creations on ad-based platforms like YouTube.”

Patreon, at its essence, is a modern day, more advanced version of a fan club. Pentatonix, the a cappella supergroup known for their tight relationship with their fans, uses the service, and according to the group’s Scott Hoying, “A fan club is a perfect title for it. There’s more of a sense of a community, though, because it’s all digital.”

Ari Herstand, who’s a musician but uses Patreon to support his music business blog, adds, “Fans crave a closer engagement and exclusive content from their favorite artists.” He notes Patreon “gives fans a [nearly] direct line to support their favorite independent artists more than just paying for a download, which has turned into a cold, detached, digital transaction, quite different from the feeling fans would get visiting a record store and buying their favorite artist’s record.”

With constant access to your fans’ bank accounts, however, how does an artist make sure that their relationship with their fans stays a happy one? According to Hoying, “Putting out good content and staying interactive with the patrons will keep all parties happy.” Herstand seconds this, saying, “If the artist continues to show their fans that they actually care about them, and continues to be authentic and honest, the fans will stay loyal.”

2. Artist-run subscriptions

Magazines have been published for hundreds of years, and for hundreds of years people have subscribed to the magazines which featured topics in which they were interested. Some indie musicians are looking to use that ideology as a way to sell their music.

Coole High, a hip-hop and smooth jazz artist, remembers first hearing about the artist subscription concept in 2009, when he met Tim Sweeney, who ran a music strategy conference in LA. “He had this brilliant idea of independent artists having their own subscription models to sell their music, merch, etc.” The comparison made at the time was Netflix versus Blockbuster.

In 2009, however, the tech wasn’t quite there yet to make it happen. Now it is, which is why Coole High recently launched a way for fans to subscribe to his work for $20 a year. That subscription includes his extensive back catalog, any new releases that come out in the next year, discounts on tickets and merch, and subscription exclusives in the form of videos and concert streams.

Dance pop artist HoneyChrome has also launched a subscription format, noting “it’s like the fan pays the artist to be an artist, not pay the record label to manufacture one release.”

They key to making this form of distribution work, according to Coole High, is in the connection an artist has with his or her fans. “It’s really about creating a new and more intimate but effective way to connect with the people who really appreciate what you do, who you are, and what you’re about.” He adds, “A lot of my fans can’t make it from France to see me do a gig in NYC, so now with the subscription they’d have access to live streaming of select concerts or performances from virtually any location I can access WiFi.”

Both Coole High and HoneyChrome also love the fact that this form of distribution discards the traditional way of how artists release albums. With a subscription format, much like how Beyonce and Drake have dropped albums out of the blue, artists can release music whenever they want to. “Typical album/EP/single release schedules are fading,” HoneyChrome explains. “Artists like myself are creating more and more music faster than ever, and we want it to be heard. This answers our call.”

alternative revenue streams for musicians

3. Cassette tapes

Yes, you read that right. There are artists and labels going back in time and releasing albums via cassette tape. Some artists are doing cassette-only exclusives, while indie labels like Burger Records boast a giant catalog of cassette releases. (And when we say “giant,” we mean it. Their site features over 200 albums available on cassette.)

Most music fans aren’t about to add a tape deck to their lives, but many still have them in their cars and others have older boomboxes that have the ability to play tapes. You’re definitely targeting a very specific audience with a release on cassette, but when done correctly, it can reap some pretty impressive rewards.

For his most recent tour, Stones Throw Records artist Homeboy Sandman had a tour-exclusive cassette release, meaning the only way to get it was to buy it at one of his tour dates. “Everybody’s hyped over it,” he says of the cassette release, which he credits Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf for coming up with. “I sell it more than any other piece of merch. More than vinyl, hats, or CDs.

Homeboy Sandman feels that the exclusive nature of the release, which makes the album a collectible, is partly what inspires so many people to purchase it. “Nobody’s like, ‘Oh, I’ll just get it online, so I don’t have to carry it home.’”

From an artist’s standpoint, he notes that the cassette tape is a format that is more challenging to rip and put online, so a cassette release will likely have to be bought if someone wants to hear it.

The positive reaction he’s received from his first cassette release has Homeboy Sandman thinking of future uses for the format. As he says, “If I had some of my actual albums available on cassette, it seems like they would sell, too.”

Which one of these burgeoning forms of distribution is right for you? We don’t know, but we can give you three words of advice regarding this: know your audience. If you have an older crowd that grew up in the ’80s and ’90s and is prone to long car trips, a cassette release may be right up their alley. If your fans have fervently supported every one of your releases, perhaps you may want to try one of the subscription ideas.

There are a lot of ways to get your music out there, and as HoneyChrome notes, they all have the same ultimate goal. “I think we are just trying to get back to making everyone happy, fans and artists.”

Adam Bernard is a music industry veteran who has been working in media since 2000. If you live in the NYC area, you’ve probably seen him at a show. He prefers his venues intimate, his whiskey on the rocks, and his baseball played without the DH. Follow him at @adamsworldblog.

David Gilmour Concert Dates

David Gilmour Tour 2015 Europe

David Gilmour 2015 Tour and Album Officially Announced

It is with great pleasure we announce that David Gilmour’s 2015 European tour dates have been officially announced!

The new David Gilmour solo album 2015 will also be released in September, so plenty to look forward to. It is yet untitled.

Although we have to wait all the way until September 2015, he will be performing at 6 venues across Croatia, Italy, France, Germany and the UK.

It is not known at this stage whether or not there will be any further dates announced – it says on David Gilmour’s blog that there are no other planned concerts, the site is currently down though.

Tickets go on sale at 10am on 6th March 2015 – David Gilmour’s birthday of course! See more about ordering tickets below and look at UK tickets here.

David Gilmour Album 2015!

David Gilmour’s yet untitled 2015 album will be released in September 2015 to coincide with his tour which will be much to the pleasure of fans the world over. Don’t miss out on news regarding David Gilmour’s new album 2015 and tour in 2015. Make sure you get our free email newsletter, or follow us on Social Media via Facebook or Twitter.

Ordering Tickets

You can order tickets from David Gilmour’s tour page for links and details and get UK tickets from Ticketmaster.

The Venues

David Gilmour has said in interviews that he does not want the inconvenience of a massive stadium tour and the thought of anything on the scale of the old Pink Floyd sends him in to a cold shiver. It sure must be stressful putting on such huge concerts and could potentially take some of the enjoyment away – tell that to Roger Waters though with his massive Wall tour!

David will be playing at 6 separate venues across Europe – for the dates announced so far on the European Leg – and are all smaller intimate venues compared to some of the massive places out there. The venues for the David Gilmour 2015 tour are absolutely beautiful except for two! This makes for a much more intimate concert and can greatly increase the pleasure of the audience because you are not sat half a mile away up in the top of the stands! Saying that, there will be a lot of demand for tickets so get in there quick on March 6th which is, of course, David Gilmour’s birthday!

Concert Database Exploration…

Here are the links to the concerts, click on them to explore where else he has played in those cities/countries and whether he has played that venue before. For example, David Gilmour has only ever played concert dates at the Royal Albert Hall (three times in May 2006 on his On An Island Tour) and has never played at any of the other venues announced so far!

September 2015

2015-09-12 – David Gilmour – Arena Pula – Pula – Croatia (Tickets)
2015-09-14 – David Gilmour – Verona Arena – Verona – Italy (Tickets)
2015-09-15 – David Gilmour – TEATRO LE MULINA – Florence – Italy (Tickets)
2015-09-17 – David Gilmour – Theatre Antique – Orange – France (Tickets)
2015-09-19 – David Gilmour – Konig Pilsner Arena – Oberhausen – Germany (Tickets)
2015-09-23 – David Gilmour – Royal Albert Hall – London – England (Tickets)
2015-09-24 – David Gilmour – Royal Albert Hall – London – England (Tickets)
2015-09-25 – David Gilmour – Royal Albert Hall – London – England (Tickets)

October 2015

2015-10-02 – David Gilmour – Royal Albert Hall – London – England (Tickets)
2015-10-03 – David Gilmour – Royal Albert Hall – London – England (Tickets)