Jennifer Batten’s Amp Weighs Less than 2kg!
Michael Jackson & Jeff Beck guitarist and prolific creative Jennifer Batten has seen it all. Propelled to international status after landing the gig with MJ in the late ’80s, she’s performed and collaborated with some of the most respected artists in the industry over the years. Nowadays she tours her own material, accompanied by a self-made audio-visual live experience. But for a guitarist with such a decorated career and a massive sound, she boasts a pretty compact rig…
Jennifer’s setup (at the time of writing) revolves around four crucial elements: a BluGuitar Amp1, a BluBox Speaker emulator, a BluBox 1×12″ cab and a Digitech RP1000. All of these elements (minus the cab) sit comfortably at her feet, awaiting a regular stomping. The Amp1 and BluBox offer total control over the shape of her sound, while the Digitech unit provides all of her necessary effects and expression. The BluGuitar Amp1 (designed by Thomas Blug, previously of Hughes & Kettner) offers 100 watts of single-nanotube power; Batten calls it a vintage Marshall Plexi that weights under 3 pounds. The BluBox speaker, also designed by Blug, provides a dazzling array of speaker emulations, including mic positioning and numerous ins and outs.
So why does a guitarist of her calibre use such a stripped-back setup? Jennifer has repeatedly pointed out that travelling with heaps of gear is a genuine health hazard, and that having total control over your sound everywhere you go is a big bonus.
Regardless of what you request in your rider, you get what you get when you arrive, so I like to take control as much as I can to have consistency.
– Jennifer Batten
If it works for her, it works for us!
Imogen Heap Makes Music With Gloves
UK-based singer-songwriter Imogen Heap has never been one to shy away from technology and experimentation. Classically trained from a young age, she began exploring the use of technology in the early ’90s as a teenager. Fast-forward to now, and she’s among the most respected musicians in the UK, with a dedicated fanbase and reputation for thinking outside the box.
Her experimentation with music technology spans a whole lot of instruments and techniques. She recorded one of her most popular tracks, ‘Hide and Seek’, using just a keyboard synth and a vocoder, giving a futuristic a cappella effect. At one point her live setup was housed entirely in a Grand Piano shell – synths, mixer, Power Mac and all. But one of her most daring, unorthodox and mesmerising experiments to date is the Mi.Mu glove.
How does Imogen Heap use Mi.Mu gloves?
Heap set about finding a more natural, human way of interacting with her music in 2009, when she became aware of wearable tech. She collaborated with a number of pioneers in the business, including Ellie Jessop and Kelly Snook (MIT), Tom Mitchell and Seb Madgwick, all of whom were instrumental in making this dream a reality. With funding from the University of West England and years of exhaustive trial and error, Heap finally landed on a winner: the Mi.Mu gloves.
With one glove on each hand, Heap is able to control everything from arpeggiation, pitch, filter, patch changing, pan…the list of functions is endless. Each function is controlled by a unique gesture, whether it’s a point of a finger, a swing of her left arm, or a sweep of her hand from left to right. The motion is detected from the glove itself, and sent to a computer via WiFi, meaning minimal latency and maximum control. You can check out Heap’s in-depth TED Talk (including performances) by clicking here.
Heap has repeatedly stated that she feels restricted by pushing buttons, moving faders and being glued to an instrument, so this allows her to freely explore her music in real-time & in a 3D context. She also believes that it makes for a more interesting, interactive performance for her audience! The gloves have since been used by a number of artists worldwide, including Ariana Grande.
Conclusion
It goes without saying that you’ve got to break the rules in order to create something that hasn’t been heard before. Whether it be for simplicity like Jennifer Batten or to push music as we know it to the edge like Bon Iver. Either way, I’m excited for the future of music as more and more artists collaborate, break genre-defining rules and continue to explore sonically. Onwards and upwards. The humble electric guitar will continue to adapt and continue to be relevant thanks to players that use it for what it is. An instrument to create music with.
As for the synths, well, it looks like the machines are taking over…
If you enjoyed this article, you may want to check out our other Industry or Learn features while you’re here!
Do you have any weird or outside-the-box elements in your setup? We want to know about them – drop a comment below!