I’d like you to think about small but powerful things. Okay, keep that train of thought going while I tell you what we’ll be doing in this space. We’ll be talking about products, the musical instrument industry and how those subjects may relate to you and Daddy’s Junky Music Stores. We all know the ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.â€Â Well, these are interesting times in our business and while this scenario presents more challenges for Daddy’s, it could be very good for consumers. This year has not been kind to retailing generally and more specifically for musical instrument retailing. When business softens, there is more pressure on price levels and that’s when it gets good for you. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be letting you know when and where the prices are falling as many of our suppliers are trying to save their years by making the deals better than ever during the holiday season.   This should be fun and exciting for all of us, so stay tuned.
Still thinking about small but powerful? Let me tell you about a small but powerful part of our business at Daddy’s Junky Music Stores. Recording. Small in numbers compared to the major categories like guitars, amplifiers, percussion and PA but very powerful because of the tremendous growth Daddy’s has realized in the last couple of years. A quick look of the evolution of these products over the last 10 years, from the Roland VS-880, Alesis ADAT and the Tascam DA-88 to today’s tabletop units and computer interfaces tells you why there’s lots of excitement in this category; tumbling prices and new powerful features. Add to that the presence of the personal computer in almost every home and you know the time is right for recording. There are two brand new, highly anticipated recording machines that have, each in their own ways, pushed at the boundaries of this category. Are these products right for you? Well, let’s find out.
 
The Boss Micro BR is truly small but powerful (it measures 5 3/8â€x3 3/16â€x7/8â€) only slightly larger than an IPod. Boss has made a 4-track recorder with four simultaneous playback tracks and each track has eight companion virtual tracks, for a total of 32 tracks (for those of you scoring at home). That’s a lot of recording power. Add to that an internal drum machine with nearly 300 drum patterns and a multi-effects processor that includes a time stretch algorithm, well, you’ve got a complete package. The time stretch algorithm allows you to change tempo without changing pitch and is perfect for audio editing and learning those hard to master licks at a more reasonable speed. The Micro BR can load and play MP3 files through the USB port. All data is stored on SD media, a 128MB card is included. Over the years as technology allowed for smaller units, Daddy’s has sold many recording “sketchpads†but the Boss Micro BR has established new standards in this category for features, ease of use and portability. Coming soon to all Daddy’s stores at a small price, $229.99.
 
Here’s a triple threat unit that has been selling briskly at Daddy’s. The Zoom H-4 Handy Recorder (how Japanese) does three jobs very well. First, as an on-location digital recorder for meetings, classes, interviews, pod casts and seminars, it’s very good. However, it really shines for live music reproduction because the H-4 has two built-in studio-quality, electret condenser microphones mounted in an XY pattern for true stereo recording. How easy would that be to capture your favorite bands alive and sounding good!
Secondly, the Zoom H-4 has a four- track recording mode for a convenient mobile multi-track recording experience. There are two XLR/1/4-inch high impedance inputs for vocals, guitars, bass or keyboards. Included in the H-4 are Zoom’s famous guitar and bass amp modeling effects plus onboard studio effects such as compression, limiting and mic modeling.
Thirdly, the H-4 is the only portable digital recorder that will work as a USB audio interface. Zoom has bundled the H-4 with Cubase LE to give you a 48 track DAW that will let you easily edit, mix and master your recordings whether you’re in Mac or Windows.
Wow, that’s a lot of features, this is beginning to feel like one of those Kinsu knife commercials they used to run on late-night TV, it slices, it dices! Now how much would you pay? $400? $500? Currently available at all Daddy’s stores at only $299.99
See, I told you this would be exciting. Watch this space, there’s more great stuff coming through the Daddy’s warehouse. You’ll be the first to know.
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