� FX for vocalists � Clips to your mic stand � Instant harmonies Check out the VE-5 in action at BossUS.com. 16 November 2012 www.musicconnection.com � Pitch correction � Hard tune � Built-in looper 3306_<strong>Music</strong><strong>Connection</strong>_VE-5_FINAL.indd 1 9/24/12 2:34 PM UP-CLOSE By Jonathan Widran As a product development manager at Bose, Steve Skillings enjoyed a career that included working automotive sound systems and being part of the team that brought the company’s renowned L1 portable speaker systems to market. As the founder and CEO of JamHub, he has found an even more dynamic way to apply his dual backgrounds in music (he’s played guitar since he was 16) and mechanical engineering to help musicians of all ages and levels of experience. Driven by his mission to foster “More <strong>Music</strong> Making,” the Massachusettsbased company has, since its founding in 2009, developed products that “end the volume wars” between musicians while allowing each member of a band to experience his or her own personalized mix, both in rehearsals and in live settings. JamHub allows consumers to turn up the volume without the sound bleeding outside the group’s immediate environment, overriding the common need for a songwriting, jam or rehearsal space with decent acoustics and the worry about expensive sonic treatments. Plugging their instruments and headphones into the small �oor-bound hub, users can play as loud as they want while maintaining perfect sound and clarity. The company’s three �agship product models: BedRoom, GreenRoom and TourBus, are perfect for bands that have limited rehearsal time; that live in an apartment or space surrounded by neighbors who get annoyed by the volume of the music; are spending too much on rehearsal spaces; have amps, cables, PA gear, wall treatments, etc. that take up too much space; who have to rehearse vocals separately to be heard above the other instruments; and whose practice session recordings come out sounding muddy and unclear. While bass great Victor Wooten is an official endorser —and popular artists from Herbie Hancock and Gretchen Wilson to Faith Evans and Jordan Sparks use JamHub—Skillings is excited to note that schools in the UK, Australia and Thailand are investing in the company’s products as a way to foster students’ musical development in “jam rooms” that allow numerous bands to play at once without disturbing one another. Explaining his original concept for JamHub, Skillings says, “I was talking to a buddy of mine whose son played bass and had his band coming over to their apartment to jam. The band could only play there for an hour, with the neighbors agreeing to leave for that period, once a week. This seemed wrong to me, that there must be millions of musicians who have the same time and space and noise issues. I thought, I use individual headphones when I practice alone, so why not plug the band into a different kind of mixer, one with individualized mixes, so they could jam together, all day (and night) long. These mixes would make them play and sing better because they wouldn’t be competing with the volume of the other instruments or have to play over anyone else. “I drew out the basic circuits and worked with my electrical engineering friends to help me design and develop the JamHub,” he says. “I wanted it to be easy to use, so you could put it in front of a 12 year old musician just starting out, a 35 year old pro or a retiree just making music for fun—and they could �gure out how to plug in and use it quickly. We’ve found that people buy it for the silence but love it for the sound. One unexpected development was that people starting using it in live performances. Using the JamHub as the center of their in-ear monitor will not only save money but save their hearing. We can out�t a whole band with wired inner ear monitors for less than the cost of a traditional wireless system for one player.” JamHub’s BedRoom is an affordable product perfect for jamming in a small space. It allows for up to �ve musicians to plug in their instruments, mics and headphones, with analog output for recording and 24-bit effects. GreenRoom is for more serious musicians, adding two more “slices” to accommodate up to seven musicians. It includes USB and analog output, a SoleMix remote, phantom power and 24-bit effects—perfect for users who want to rehearse more often without “volume wars.” TourBus is essentially the same as GreenRoom but adds a built-in recorder to catch what Skillings calls “those happy musical accidents that lead to great songs and performances.” It also features seven sections with 21 total audio channels. Contact JamHub, 877-JAM-HUBS
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