On March 9, 2010 I ordered an Electro-Voice RE20 microphone from Sweetwater.com, my favorite pro music store. I’ve always known RE20′s to be silver and the product photo on both the Sweetwater site and Electro-Voice site both clearly show the silver RE20. Much to my surprise, the RE20 microphone I received from Sweetwater.com is green — very green! Above is a photo taken of the microphone with a few common objects for color reference next to it. Both the metal microphone body and grill are painted green. A bit confused, I searched the web and found only a few threads talking about the mysterious olive/army green RE20′s (i.e. – Epinions, Gearslutz, etc.)

My initial reaction was to return the microphone to Sweetwater but after reading that a few people liked the unusual green color and speculated that the mic might be from an Electro-Voice military contract overrun, etc., I too decided I somewhat like the green color, but I will certainly return the microphone if Electro-Voice states they did not manufacturer it, as this Epinions article states.

So, Electro-Voice and Sweetwater — what’s the official word on this and the other green Electro-Voice RE20 microphones people have received?

March 19, 2010: Update 1…
Trying to get to the bottom of it, the buyer from Sweetwater.com talked to Electro-Voice and the parent company Bosch regarding the green RE20′s. Sweetwater purchased the microphones directly from EV/Bosch so there is no question about the microphones being legit. Sweetwater was told the microphones in question ARE Bosch EV RE20 military overrun microphones that made it into normal stock. I received the following voicemails from Andy Bitler at Sweetwater.com, the first from 3/17/2010, the second from 3/19/2010 stating this.

March 24, 2010: Update 2…
In response to Update 1, today I received the following email and photo from Ryan May, Key Account Manager at Bosch Security Systems, Inc. I will take this as the final, authoritative response on the subject. When it comes to RE20′s, it seems green is the new silver…

Hi Brian,

My name is Ryan and I am with Electro-Voice. I’m writing to hopefully resolve your questions regarding your recent RE20 purchase.

If I understand correctly, your concerns are two-fold:

• Is this microphone authentic (not counterfeit)?
• Why does it have a green tint when the image on Electro-Voice.com and Sweetwater.com is more grey?

The microphone you purchased from Sweetwater is undoubtedly authentic. Sweetwater is the fourth largest music retail in the US, they are highly respected for their expansive selection, highly educated sales professionals, sophisticated warehouse and shipping capabilities and are authorized Electro-Voice dealers. There is no question you received a brand new microphone manufactured by Electro-Voice in Lincoln, NE.

The question of color is slightly more complex because of a bit of mis-information. I’ve attached a photo of a new RE20 we had available to take a photo of. As you can see, the tint of this microphone is more green and less beige. One can be misled by the name of the paint used on this mic (fawn beige). Approximately 10 years ago the paint color was modified slightly and has likely morphed over the years to the color we both see today. The image on our website was taken at least 10 years ago, explaining the beige tint and inconsistency in color to yours. Please remember, these mics are hand made in Lincoln, NE, from time to time, slight variations in finish are possible depending on when the paint was mixed, how it was applied, etc.

There is no military contract for green RE20′s and even if there were, it would be near impossible for this type of product to enter daily inventory. I have NEVER seen this type of thing happen since I’ve been with the company. From the bit of detective work I’ve done on this subject, it seems someone at Electro-Voice suggested the military option as one possible solution and this was the piece of info that made it to you. This statement was incorrect but possible as we do make products for military use.

The attached image has a grey card as well as a fluorescent yellow “Major Accent” highlighter as in your image for reference points. I had a fluorescent highlighter, looks like your is the regular yellow.

The image on our website is being replaced today and a new version will be sent to Sweetwater to replace their image.

Thanks for bringing this error to our attention. You can rest assured that your mic is authentic and the color it is supposed to be. Please feel free to call me directly at the number below should you have any further questions.

Thanks,

Ryan May
Key Account Manager (ST-CO/SAM1.6)
Bosch Security Systems, Inc
Communications Systems

12000 Portland Ave South
Burnsville, Minnesota 55337
USA
www.boschcommunications.com

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, from the June 12, 2009 World Science Festival event “Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus“. Also on stage are panelists Jamshed Bharucha, Provost and Senior Vice President of Tufts University; the James McGill Professor of Psychology and Neurosciences at McGill University, Daniel Levitin; Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Sheffield, Lawrence Parsons; and host of WNYC’s music/talk show Soundcheck, John Schaefer.

A viral video spreading across the social networks, Prop 8 – The Musical was created by award-winning composer Marc Shaiman (Hairspray) and stars Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and more. Shaiman’s video lampoons California’s controversial Proposition 8.

(Credit goes to Max Kiesler on Twitter for the initial discovery.)

Don your polyester pants and John Deere hat and saunter over to the Great American Music Hall this Sunday at 7:30 PM for a little Southern Culture on the Skids (“SCOTS”). For those “undst-familiar”, the SCOTS sound is best described as surf-a-billy, a mix of rock, surf guitar, and “y’all guessed it”…hillbilly. Always a zany lowbrow time, tickets are still available. $18 total — a true surfabilly bargain. View videos from recent concerts, the Conan O’Brien Show, or sample SCOTS music online (more on iTunes).

Interview on the “Express” show (ABC TV, Australia)…

Hope to see y’all Sunday.

[tags]scots,southern culture on the skids,gamh,san francisco,music,events,mcnitt[/tags]

B-b-b-brilliant.

Scott Beale posted this on Laughing Squid back in September and it’s been stuck in my head ever since — Devo covers “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones on Saturday Night Live (1978). Full credit to Scott for the find.

I finally checked out Amazon’s new MP3 music store today and have to say that I was pretty impressed. The main attraction of Amazon’s MP3 store is that all music, much like regular CDs, is DRM-free which means you can copy and share the music without technical restriction. (Of course, traditional music copyright and use laws still apply.) Another advantage is that most songs are $.89 per download, compared to the industry standard $.99, and most albums are $1-2 dollars cheaper as well.

Amazon’s audio interface has also improved. Gone are the old Windows Media Player and Real Audio “listen now” links replaced with Flash audio playback which improves performance on all browsers without the need for extra plugins.

The Amazon MP3 music selection is still small compared to iTunes due to the fact that the four largest record labels have yet to agree to release their catalogs without DRM but it’s a great start. And in fairness to iTunes, Apple has openly stated that they want to offer DRM-free music but it’s the major record labels that are blocking them from doing so.

I enjoy the convenience of iTunes but from now on when it comes to buying music my approach will be to check Amazon first, then only buy from iTunes if what I am looking for is not available in a cheaper, downloadable, DRM-free format.

PS – I’m still unable to buy “Crash” by Matt Willis from any legal source.

(Sorry for the blurry image. Seems my Cannon digital camera decided to go bad today.)

UPDATE: People with hacked iPhones beware. There is a lot of chatter about hacked iPhones bricking under the update. Steve Jobs promised to crack down on the hacks. As they say about messing with a bull…

[tags]apple,iphone,music,itunes,trendmedia,mcnitt[/tags]

Here’s evidence that music licensing laws are completely outdated. The movie Mr. Bean’s Holiday currently playing in theaters probably won’t win any Oscars but I believe that one of the title music tracks, “Crash” by Matt Willis is pretty good. I learned about it through a Mr. Bean video released on YouTube earlier this year and figured that I would purchase the song. Unfortunately, due to botched licensing agreements, there is no legal way to buy the song if you live in the United States. In the era of iPods, iPhones, and music enabled mobile devices, it’s absolutely absurd that these archaic geographic-based licensing agreements continue to exist.

Matt Willis on YouTube…

Apple has suggested to major record labels that similar restrictions and DRM be dropped from future offerings, and Amazon has decided to offer digital music downloads, but only from record companies who agree to offer DRM-free music. This week NBC announced that they are pulling television content from iTunes because Apple would not support raising the price of downloads from $1.99 to $4.99 per television episode. Clearly, the old media providers are failing to adapt to the times, are attempting to assert their force on technology companies like Apple, and the consumers and artists are losing.

Today, I tried to purchase “Crash” from iTunes, Amazon, Wippit, and Mercury Records (Matt Willis’ own record label!), and none would sell it to me. (And you wonder why illegal file sharing has a bright future?) The following are screenshots from my stymied shopping experience.

Can’t buy from Amazon…

Can’t buy from iTunes…

Can’t buy from Matt Willis’ own record label, Mercury Records!

Sorry, Matt Willis — I tried to buy your music but no one representing your interests would sell it to me. Bummer.

[tags]mr. bean,matt willis,crash,apple,itunes,mercury records,mcnitt[/tags]