The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothe Chalamet, focuses on Dylans early 1960s transition from idiosyncratic singer of folk songs to internationally renowned singer-songwriter.As a music historian, Ive always respected one decision of Dylans in particularone that kicked off the young artists most turbulent and significant period of creative activity.Sixty years ago, on Halloween Night 1964, a 23-year-old Dylan took the stage at New York Citys Philharmonic Hall. He had become a star within the niche genre of revivalist folk music. But by 1964, Dylan was building a much larger fan base through performing and recording his own songs.Columbia Records was on hand to turn Dylans October 31, 1964, performance into a live album. [Photo: GAB Archive/Redferns/Getty Images]Dylan presented a solo set, mixing material he had previously recorded with some new songs. Representatives from his label, Columbia Records, were on hand to record the concert, with the intent to release the live show as his fifth official album.It would have been a logical successor to Dylans four other Columbia albums. With the exception of one track, Corrina, Corrina, those albums, taken together, featured exclusively solo acoustic performances.But at the end of 1964, Columbia shelved the recording of the Philharmonic Hall concert. Dylan had decided that he wanted to make a different kind of music.From Minnesota to ManhattanTwo-and-a-half years earlier, Dylan, then just 20 years old, started earning acclaim within New York Citys folk music community. At the time, the folk music revival was taking place in cities across the country, but Manhattans Greenwich Village was the movements beating heart.Mingling with and drawing inspiration from other folk musicians, Dylan, who had recently moved to Manhattan from Minnesota, secured his first gig at Gerdes Folk City on April 11, 1961. Dylan appeared in various other Greenwich Village music clubs, performing folk songs, ballads, and blues. He aspired to become, like his hero Woody Guthrie, a self-contained artist who could employ vocals, guitar, and harmonica to interpret the musical heritage of the old, weird Americaan adage coined by critic Greil Marcus to describe Dylans early repertoire, which was composed of material learned from prewar songbooks, records, and musicians.While Dylans versions of older songs were undeniably captivating, he later acknowledged that some of his peers in the early 1960s folk music scenespecifically, Mike Seegerwere better at replicating traditional instrumental and vocal styles.Dylan, however, realized he had an unrivaled facility for writing and performing new songs.In October 1961, veteran talent scout John Hammond signed Dylan to record for Columbia. His eponymous debut, released in March 1962, featured interpretations of traditional ballads and blues, with just two original compositions. That album sold only 5,000 copies, leading some Columbia officials to refer to the Dylan contract as Hammonds Folly.Full steam aheadFlipping the formula of its predecessor, Dylans 1963 follow-up album, The Freewheelin Bob Dylan, offered 11 originals by Dylan and just two traditional songs. The powerful collection combined songs about relationships with original protest songs, including his breakthrough Blowin in the Wind.The Times They Are A-Changin, his third release, exclusively showcased Dylans own compositions.Dylans creative output continued. As he testified in Restless Farewell, the closing track for The Times They Are A-Changin: My feet are now fast / and point away from the past.Released just six months after The Times, Dylans fourth Columbia album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, featured solo acoustic recordings of original songs that were lyrically adventurous and less focused on current events. As suggested in his song My Back Pages, he was now rejecting the notion that he couldor shouldspeak for his generation.Bringing it all togetherBy the end of 1964, Dylan yearned to break away permanently from the constraints of the folk genreand from the notion of genre altogether. He wanted to subvert the expectations of audiences and to rebel against music industry forces intent on pigeonholing him and his work.The Philharmonic Hall concert went off without a hitch, but Dylan refused to let Columbia turn it into an album. The recording wouldnt generate an official release for another four decades.Instead, in January 1965, Dylan entered Columbias Studio A to record his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. But this time, he embraced the electric rock sound that had energized America in the wake of Beatlemania. That album introduced songs with stream-of-consciousness lyrics featuring surreal imagery, and on many of the songs Dylan performed with the accompaniment of a rock band.Bringing It All Back Home, released in March 1965, set the tone for Dylans next two albums: Highway 61 Revisited, in August 1965, and Blonde and Blonde, in June 1966. Critics and fans have long considered these latter three albumspulsing with what the singer-songwriter himself called that thin, that wild mercury soundas among the greatest albums of the rock era.On July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, Dylan invited members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band on stage to accompany three songs. Since the genre expectations for folk music during that era involved acoustic instrumentation, the audience was unprepared for Dylans loud performances. Some critics deemed the set an act of heresy, an affront to folk music propriety. The next year, Dylan embarked on a tour of the U.K., and an audience member at the Manchester stop infamously heckled him for abandoning folk music, crying out, Judas!Yet the creative risks undertaken by Dylan during this period inspired countless other musicians: rock acts such as the Beatles, the Animals, and the Byrds; pop acts such as Stevie Wonder, Johnny Rivers, and Sonny and Cher; and country singers such as Johnny Cash.Acknowledging the bar that Dylans songwriting set, Cash, in his liner notes to Dylans 1969 album Nashville Skyline, wrote, Here-in is a hell of a poet.Enlivened by Dylans example, many musicians went on to experiment with their own sound and style, while artists across a range of genres would pay homage to Dylan through performing and recording his songs.In 2016, Dylan received the Nobel Prize in literature for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition. His early exploration of this tradition can be heard on his first four Columbia albums records that laid the groundwork for Dylans august career.Back in 1964, Dylan was the talk of Greenwich Village.But now, because he never rested on his laurels, hes the toast of the world. Ted Olson is a professor of Appalachian studies and bluegrass, old-time, and roots music studies at East Tennessee State University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

In 2024, the singer Sade released her first song in six years, Andre 3000 debuted a 26-minute flute song, and Sam Smith covered Sylvesters You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)and it was all for the same project. They are three of the more than 100 artists who contributed original songs and covers to Transa, a nearly four-hour epic of a compilation album from longstanding advocacy-through-music organization Red Hot.Co-produced by Red Hot executive director Dust Reid and artist/activist Massima Bell, Transa is an effort to center trans people and the gifts we bring to the world, Bell says. The albums mix of music and spoken word tracks is separated into eight chaptersstarting with awakening and survival, ultimately arriving at liberation and reinvention. Many of songs pair trans and cisgender artistsEzra Furman and Sharon Van Etten cover Sinead OConnor, trans singer Lauren Auder teams up with Wendy & Lisa of Princes Revolution to cover I would Die 4 U.[Photos: courtesy Red Hot]When Red Hot debuted in 1990 with its AIDS-benefit album Red Hot + Blue, the compilation of Cole Porter songs from the likes of U2, Neneh Cherry, and Sinead OConnor was this watershed moment of having musicians who werent necessarily gay stand up with gay people and really turn the tides against the cultural stigma of HIV/AIDS, Bell says.Inspired in part by the 2021 death of artist/producer Sophie, Bell and Reid see Transa as having potential to play a similar role as Red Hots first release. Like Red Hot + Blue, Transa arrives at a time when the trans community is under attack. The ACLU is currently tracking 574 anti-LGBTQ bills in the United States, and the Anti-Trans Bill Tracker has logged 48 anti-trans measures that have passed state legislatures. President-elect Donald Trump spent $19 million on a swing-state attack ad that cast gender-affirming care provided to California inmates under then-Attorney General Kamala Harris as a drain on taxpayer money. The ad and its zingerKamala is for they/them, President Trump is for youhelped shift the race 2.7 points to Trump in swing states.Part of why these attack ads succeed is thatsimilar to only 15% of Americans personally knowing someone with AIDS in 1990a majority of Americans dont know a trans person. Polling firm Data for Progress in 2023 found that only 30% of likely voters said they personally knew a trans person, with only 21% saying they personally knew a nonbinary person. Singer/songwriter Teddy Geiger, who has a song on Transa with DJ and artist Yaeji, says albums like Transa can help combat that unfamiliarity.Sam Smith & Beverly Glenn-Copeland [Photo: Eleanor Petry]When people have personal experiences with trans people and you really get to know someone that has been on that journey, it just clicks, says Geiger, who came out as trans in 2017. There are so many people who havent had that opportunity, and projects like this allow people [that experience].Transa is aimed at providing that example for a new generation at a critical time for the trans community, but doing so has required the organization to undergo its own transformation while confronting a music industry thats worlds apart from the one that helped Red Hot make an impact in its early years.Frankie Cosmos and Soft Rnin [Photo: Alex Tepper]Building a New LegacyWhile Transa fits well into Red Hots longstanding ability to bring musicians together for a cause and change some minds in the process, its also the first effort of what Reid hopes will be a new legacy he is charting for the organization.When Red Hot marked its 30th anniversary in 2020, Reid pushed the organization to adopt a new, formalized mission statement that encompassed its legacy of fighting AIDS while broadening its efforts to raise awareness of broader LGBT issues. I believe Red Hots primary mission is in promoting diversity, and thats through equal access to healthcare, they say.Ahya Simone [Photo: Kenny Laubbacher]Reid says the new focus opened the door to projects, like Transa, that are designed to showcase trans talent and solidarity from the broader industry rather than entirely focus on AIDS. Obviously we still care about that cause, too, Reid says. But this project is a way of suggesting that all of our issues are interconnected. We cant solve HIV and AIDS if we cant solve the issues within ourselves first.[Photos: courtesy Red Hot]Island in the StreamRed Hot is releasing Transa into a music industry thats starkly different from the one Red Hot + Blue launched into. That compilation sold more than a million copies and sprouted a TV special,helping bankroll a nearly $1 million donation to AIDS advocacy group Act Up.Streamings dominance and physical medias decline have completely changed howand ifprojects like Transa make money that can be donated. When I started at Red Hot, Spotify didnt even exist yet, Reid says. Its radically shifted the way the org has operatedthere were even some dormant years where we just didnt know how to bring projects to fruition.With Transa, Reid says Red Hot has acted as its own label, rather than partnering with a label that would fund recording and marketing budgets, as it has for past compilations. While it means that all revenue comes back to Red Hot, it also means sales have to make up for the costs of creating the recordpart of why Transa isnt positioned as a benefit album.Hunter Schafer [Photo: Elia Einhorn]In the 90s and 2000s, you could have a release that sold like, 500,000 [physical] units without any promotion, and then that would bankroll a huge gift to Act Up, Bell says, adding that with Transa, We havent wanted to promise something to the orgs wed want to support. She notes that the organizations Transa could benefit, if possible, include the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, the New York Trans Oral History Project, and housing-focused organizations Dallas Hope Charities in Texas and GLITS in New York.As part of the release, Red Hot is taking pre-orders for a six-LP box set that will ship in Spring 2025. Our main mission is to raise awarenesswe think this album is a historical document that will help lead people back to themselves, Reid says. Hopefully streaming, sync, and licensing will help raise funds. He adds that Spotify has helped boost Transas profile, with Transa tracks populating personalized playlists for users, and the album getting some Times Square billboard time as the album of the month for Spotifys Glow LGBT equity program.Its been a struggle to get on Spotifys radar for Red Hot releases to date, but Transa is unlocking a lot of doors, Reid says. It was industry people at MTV back in the 90s that really helped platform those early Red Hot projects. We need places like Spotify and Apple to step up and do the same today.

French architect Philippe Starck has created a red cube to house the LA Almaraza olive oil mill, museum and restaurant in Andalusia, decorated with symbols referencing the area's heritage.Surrounded by groves on a 25-hectare estate near Rona, the building was designed for oil producer LA Organic as part of a wider project to boost oleotourism tourism based on olive oil production in the region.Starck finished the otherwise plain building in large symbols celebrating the "magic and poetry" of the area, including a bull's horn in Corten steel and a carved eye referencing the area's historic connection with the surrealist movement.Philippe Starck has completed a mill, museum and restaurant in Andalusia"LA Almazara itself is surrounded by acres of olive groves, bathed in powerful and warm lights of Andalusia," Starck told Dezeen."This gives a kind of sense of the radicality I had to come up with for the project," he continued. "Everything had to be out of the ordinary, out-of-scale, a little strange and surrealist. The place is full of fertile surprises that reflect Andalusian symbols.""On the outside, it is a huge monolithic red block, as if fallen from the sky," added Starck. "An enormous eye at the facade illustrates the vigilance of the great Andalusian surrealist artists, the smoke that emanates from it is totally surrealist and reflects mystery."Sculptural symbols are used throughout the centreThe interior of LA Almaraza is designed as an "inhabitable work of art", continuing the oversized, sculptural symbols found on the exterior.Its restaurant area sits beneath a suspended metal pipe and funnel that allude to the production of oil and a wing-like form that references the Andalusian scientist thought to be the first human to fly.Read: Philippe Starck reinterprets Brazilian modernism in So Paulo penthouseA small seating area around a fireplace is positioned beneath an oversized bullfighting sword leaning against the wall, while the horn and half-olive forms on the exterior also project inwards below a large mural that covers the entire ceiling.This space opens onto a terrace that cantilevers out from one side of the building, appearing to be supported by large metal chains. It has views of the landscape that provide a dramatic contrast to LA Almaraza's dark interior.A bull's horn punctures a wall of the restaurant"As soon as you enter, you are struck by the contrast in lights. In the building, it is dark and cool, to respect and enhance the delicate process of olive oil production," said Starck."Yet the inside shadows hold strong symbols as well, such as monumental half-olive embedded in the rusty steel wall, a metal pipe penetrating the building without ever coming out," he added.A museum and production space are hosted on the other floorsAcross the other two floors of the centre are a museum space and facilities for the production of extra virgin olive oil. Outside, the building is surrounded by a wider programme of walking trails, sculptures by Starck and other visitor facilities.Other architectural projects recently completed by Starck include the renovation of a hotel in Saint-Tropez that draws on mid-century references and a So Paulo penthouse inside a tower by architect Jean Nouvel.The photography is by Alfonso Quiroga Ferro.The post Philippe Starck creates "strange and surrealist" olive oil mill and museum appeared first on Dezeen.

The strange name defies explanation.

Wherever astronomers look, they see lifes raw materialsand hints at answers to one of the great mysteries of science.

A software update was supposed to free up the PS Portal from its reliance on the PS5 and add a world of streamable games to its appeal. In practice, it does nothing of the sort.

Engraving of General Sherman's "March to the Sea" Library of CongressAs General William Tecumseh Sherman sauntered into Savannah, Georgia, the city at the end of his infamous March to the Sea, , he gave new meaning to the old saying that to the victor go the spoils.To His Excellency President Lincoln, Sherman wrote in a telegram, sent on December 22, 1864, I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. It was not always evident, especially to Confederates, that Savannah would be the endpoint of Shermans maneuvers through Georgia, according to Noah Andre Trudeau in Southern Storm: Shermans March to the Sea. Before he left Atlanta on November 15, Sherman considered Macon or Augusta, railway hubs and centers of Confederate military production.But newspapers in the North like the Chicago Tribune began to report Shermans plants sweep with the irresistible power of a tornado down into the heart of Georgia and South Carolina early in November.The fall of Charleston and Savannah, the Tribune continued, would constitute a far more disastrous blow to the rebellion than the fall of Richmond.With this crucial goal in mind, Shermans troops left Atlanta and lit out for the next phase of battle on November 15.The troops were noisy and cheerful; full of hope and excitement, wrote David Power Conyngham, an embedded war correspondent in his 1865 book Sherman's March Through The South. For the next 36 days, Shermans troops followed a scorched earth policy as they moved through Georgia.In most instances they burned down houses to cover their depredations, Conyngham wrote of the troops, and in some cases took the lives of their victims, as they would not reveal concealed treasures. These gangs spread like locusts over the country.The plundering en route to Savannah was immense. Sherman estimated $100 million (around $1.5 billion today) in damages to the Southern economy. Economists have measured the effects of agricultural destruction lasting as late as the 1920s. The psychological terror along his 300-mile march was harder to measure.Savannah suffered, too, but not nearly as much. Once it was clear that Shermans men were marching to the sea, freebooters, as Conyngham described the Confederate troops of Joseph Wheeler, a general, had a reign of terror before the Union troops arrived.When we entered the city we found few of the citizens in the streets, Conyngham reported. The poor classes were grouped around, apparently well pleased with the change, for they had nothing to lose, and had suffered much during the war.Savannah surrendered easily. No siege was necessary, and it was spared from Shermans fiery destruction, left as an offering for Lincoln, a sign of the wars coming end.On Boxing Day, fivedays after Savannah fell, Lincoln finally made his reply. Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift, the capture of Savannah, Lincoln wrote. When you were about leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you were the better judge, and remembering that nothing risked, nothing gained, I did not interfere. Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours.Now that Sherman and his troops had taken Savannah, the March to the Sea was necessarily over. The war was still more than three months from its conclusion, however, and Sherman was restless.But what next? the president asked. I suppose it will be safer if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Confederacy, On This Day in History, US Military

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Tech Food tracking just got lazy in the best way possible with this wearable Seamlessly monitor your diet with cutting-edge AI and computer vision technology Published December 22, 2024 6:00am EST close Food tracking just got lazy in the best way possible with this wearable Counting calories just got easier. Are you tired of the endless hassle of counting calories and manually logging every meal?Say goodbye to the frustration with The Drop, the world's first fully automated nutrition tracker.This groundbreaking wearable device is designed to revolutionize how you monitor your diet, making nutrition tracking effortless and intuitive. Man wearing The Drop (Kickstarter)What is The Drop?The Drop is a wearable nutrition tracker powered by innovative Nutri Track technology.It automatically records everything you eat throughout the day and syncs seamlessly with its companion app, eliminating the need for tedious manual food logging. Whether you're tracking calories, macronutrients or overall dietary habits, The Drop does it all for you. The Drop (Kickstarter)How The Drop worksThe Drop uses advanced computer vision and artificial intelligence to detect meals with remarkable precision. When you start eating, the smart AI chip activates, and a 4K camera takes a cropped image of your meal. This image is sent to the cloud, where sophisticated algorithms analyze it to calculate calories, protein, carbs, fats and micronutrients. The nutritional breakdown is then instantly displayed in the companion app, giving you actionable insights into your diet. The Drop (Kickstarter)Say goodbye to manual logging with The DropTraditional nutrition tracking tools often rely on you manually logging every meal or snack, which can feel overwhelming and unsustainable. The Drop eliminates these challenges by providing:Automatic tracking: No more forgetting to log meals or snacks.Accurate insights: Advanced algorithms ensure precise nutritional data.Effortless use: Simply wear it and let it do the work for you.By acting as a personal nutritionist in your pocket, The Drop empowers you to understand your eating habits and make informed dietary decisions without stress or effort. The Drops companion app (Kickstarter)The companion app: Rex PremiumIncluded with The Drop is lifetime access to Rex Premium, an AI-powered nutrition app that enhances your tracking experience. The app offers personalized meal plans tailored to your specific dietary goals and seamlessly integrates with Apple Fitness and Google Fit to provide a holistic approach to health tracking.You will have access to a curated collection of recipes that match your individual preferences and dietary needs. The comprehensive dashboard allows for seamless monitoring of nutrition, workouts, sleep and overall wellness, all consolidated into a single, user-friendly interface. While the official release of the Rex app is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025, early beta testers will be granted privileged access to explore and utilize the app's features before the the general public launch. The Drops companion app (Kickstarter)The Drop: Where style meets functionalityThe Drop is designed for both functionality and style. It can be worn as a pin or pendant using a magnetic clasp or premium leather band. Weighing just 27.6 grams, its lightweight and comfortable enough for all-day wear. Available in three colors metallic blue, matte black and gold its as sleek as it is practical. The Drop in three colors (Kickstarter)Technical specificationsThe Drop packs impressive technology into its small frame. Its dual-core 32-bit processor operates at an efficient 240 MHz, providing robust performance for advanced nutrition tracking. The device features comprehensive wireless connectivity, including a complete 2.4GHz Wi-Fi subsystem and Bluetooth 5.0 for seamless data transmission and device integration.WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?A high-resolution 4K camera serves as the primary sensor for capturing meal images, complemented by an integrated microphone for additional functionality. The memory configuration includes 8MB of PSRAM and Flash storage with an onboard SD card slot supporting up to 32GB of expandable memory, ensuring ample space for data storage and processing. The Drop (Kickstarter)Kickstarter campaign and rewardsThe Drop is launching through aKickstarter campaign that offers exclusive rewards to early backers. For a pledge of $199, supporters will receive The Drop device, which comes with a lifetime subscription to Rex Premium, the companion app valued at $19.99 per month.This subscription provides access to advanced features and personalized nutrition insights. Early backers will also enjoy the privilege of beta testing, gaining access to The Drop and its features before the general public release. Each backer's package will include The Drop device, a premium leather band, a magnetic pin clasp and a USB-C charging cable. The campaign anticipates shipping the Drop to backers by the fourth quarter of 2025.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE A woman wearing The Drop (Kickstarter)Kurt's key takeawaysWith its advanced AI-powered technology and seamless integration with Rex Premium, The Drop eliminates the stress of manual logging while providing accurate insights into your diet. Whether you're looking to optimize your health or develop better eating habits, The Drop offers an effortless solution tailored to modern lifestyles. By supporting itsKickstarter campaign, you'll not only gain access to this cutting-edge device but also join a community dedicated to transforming how we understand and manage our nutrition. With its official release planned for the fourth quarter of 2025, The Drop promises to redefine the future of health technology one meal at a time.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPWould you be willing to try a device like The Drop to simplify your nutrition tracking or do you prefer sticking with traditional methods? What factors influence your decision? Let us know by writing us atCyberguy.com/ContactFor more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading toCyberguy.com/NewsletterAsk Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to coverFollow Kurt on his social channelsAnswers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2024 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurts free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Although the Lewitt MTP W950 was designed as the ultimate stage mic, its large condenser capsule is ... [+] refined enough to make it a star in the recording studio too.Lewitt AudioHave you ever been to a live performance of a favorite band or artist and been left a bit disappointed with the gap between their recordings that you know so well and the live sound that has plenty of energy but lacks a certain finesse or clarity? If you have experienced that, then you are not alone. Its just as frustrating for the artists who want to produce the best live performance they can.One of the problems with live sound is the microphones that are used on stage often capture far less nuance than the large capsule condenser microphones used in most recording studios. However, the problem with studio condenser microphones is they are far too sensitive to use on stage and they are delicate instruments. A condenser mic would pick up far too much sound and probably blow the amplifiers with an endless howling loop of feedback. So, whats the answer?Lots of live acts will use the trusty old Shure SM58, a microphone thats been around for more than half a century. Its not very subtle but its built like a tank that will take a lot of punishment. But is there a way to get the subtlety and nuance of a large-capsule condenser microphone in a design that can reject bleed from other instruments but still pick up and convey the nuances in the singers vocals?The MTP W950 microphone consists of the W9 condenser capsule which can unscrew and be mounted on a ... [+] wireless unit for untethered singing.Lewitt AudioLewitt thinks its possible and it has made a microphone to do just that. The Lewitt MTP W950. This flagship condenser microphone has the benefits of a dynamic microphone and it can be used wired or wirelessly. If you can only afford one good microphone that has to work for live shows but still has the sophistication and sensitivity for recording, then the Lewitt MTP W950 could be the one for you. Stevie Wonder certainly thinks so and he has an W9 capsule (the capsule is designated W9 while the mics handle is an MTP50) on his wireless mic and three MTP W950 wired microphones at his separate keyboard stations. Great praise indeed.MORE FOR YOULewitt was founded in 2009 by Roman Perschon. His aim was to shake up microphone design using the latest innovations to create audio gear that would make life easier for beginners and music professionals alike, so they could reach the best audio quality, whether performing live or recording in a studio.The Lewitt range is extensive and underscored with a series of industry awards for its innovation. As a microphone brand, Lewitt claims to be one of the fastest-growing companies in the market. The companys design HQ is based in Vienna, Austria, with manufacturing centered in China, where Lewitt takes an unusual approach to making microphones. Instead of shipping components halfway around the globe, the company sources what it needs where its products are made, enabling an outstanding price-to-performance ratio.The MTP W950 comes in two parts. There is the capsule itself with its wire guard and the handle with ... [+] XLR connector.Lewitt AudioWith teams in Europe, China and the U.S., the company has built an international network that enables it to be close to users but still able to take advantage of advanced and cost-efficient manufacturing processes. To ensure the highest quality levels, Lewitt investeda lot of effort into an automated quality control system, which can be used to measure and test every single microphone that comes off the production line. The system enables sensitivities to be adjusted to produce microphones and other audio equipment that are consistent and reliable.The Lewitt MTP W950 answers the prayers of artists and engineers. What they want is the best sound quality while solving common issues in a live microphone that would be easy for vocalists to use and able to withstand the punishment of life on tour. The company employs some experienced live sound engineers, so it has the knowledge to tackle those issues from experience. In a rehearsal room, there often isnt the space for setting up a full wireless mic system so a wired setup is often used instead, but that could mean using a different microphone to the one that will be used on stage. That can destroy much of the effort thats been put into the rehearsal.For this reason, Lewitt decided the MTP W950 should be able to be used wired and wirelessly, enabling artists to seamlessly transition from the rehearsal room to the stage. The MTP W950 uses a 1-inch, true condenser capsule that is capable of studio-quality sound beyond the kind of performance that most stage mics can reproduce.A big fan of the Lewitt range is Stevie Wonder who uses a W9 capsule with a wireless transmitter and ... [+] three MTP W950 mics at each of his three keyboard stations.Lewitt AudioThe aim of the microphones design is to let the audience hear every detail in a singers voice, just as you would in a recording studio. Because artists move around on stage or might get too close to the drum kit or guitar amplifiers, that noise can spill over into the vocal mix, totally messing up the overall sound balance. To eliminate this possibility, Lewitt designed the MTP W950 to reduce the sonic bleed and spills to a minimum thanks to an industry-leading 90% rear rejection.Another common performance issue the MTP W950addresses iscupping. The more a singer cups a mic in their hand, the more the initial cardioid pattern will turn into an omnidirectional one which can quickly create feedback problems. Lewitt uses acupping-safedesign so the artist can hold the microphone very high on the basket before it begins to change tone. In addition, a natural barrier is added to the head basket to resist the tendency for the artist to grip further up, which is something rappers often tend to do.The designers of the MTP W950 put a lot of work into drop testing the micbecause the last thing you need during a live performance is for a microphone to slip out of the vocalists hand.The MTP W950 is designed to withstandat least sixfalls from a height of two meters on each side, rotated 45 degrees each time, plus two more falls against the front and back.Sounds more like it was made for a wrestling match.The MTP W950 is switchable between cardioid and super-cardioid. Lewitt AudioThe output of MTP W950 is relatively high compared to many dynamic stage microphones because of the use of studio condenser technology; therefore, it doesnt need huge amounts of gain to produce a great sound, unlike a lot of dynamic microphones.The MTP W950 has already gained some big-name followers. Caleb James is a professional audio engineer and CEO of Stay Faded LLC, a corporation taking care of the sound engineering for many big names in the music industry.For a recent Victorias Secret fashion show, says James, Rapper Lalisa Manobal of Blackpink planned to perform using her usual custom microphone. However, when she stepped on stage, the mic proved unusable due to poor vocal isolation. The venue, which resembled an old and abandoned warehouse is notorious for problematic audio reflections which aggravated the issue. The sound quality was simply not up to par.Fortunately, I had the Lewitt W9 capsule on hand. We quickly swapped it in and adjusted the polar pattern to super-cardioid under the grille to enhance vocal isolation. The difference was remarkableLisas vocals stood out in the mix and delivered exceptional clarity. Despite the challenging acoustics of the room, the Lewitt W9 truly saved the day.Lisa using a Lewitt MTP W950 on the runway of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show held at the ... [+] Brooklyn Navy Yard on October 15, 2024 in New York.WWD via Getty ImagesAnother name that James works with is Stevie Wonder. The great man has an MTP W9 capsule on his wireless mic and uses three MTP W950 wired microphones at his separate keyboard stations. Then there are six W9 capsules for his background singers wireless mics.I love the many built-in switchable options under the grille of all these Lewitt capsules, which includes a 12db pad, low-cut filter and cardioid/super-cardioid polar patterns. All the capsules on stage are set to super cardioid with low-cut and the 12db pad engaged. This allowed us to lower the noise floor from the stage bleed into the capsules, which provided optimal vocal isolation. The setup worked flawlessly and delivered exceptional audio clarity even with Stevies full band, choir and a 12-piece orchestra performing together on stage, says James.Switching gears a little with the artist Lil Yachty, the Lewitt W9 shines once again. I use the 12dB pad to handle the extreme SPL levels coming from his excited rap vocals. The capsule performs exceptionally well with its mic-handling technique as well. He tends to cup the mic a bit and even while doing so the response curve of the vocal isnt drastically degraded as it would from most other microphone capsules.Rapper Lil Yachty is another user of the Lewitt W9 capsule in wireless mode for his stage show. Getty ImagesVerdict: The Lewitt MTP W950 is truly a mic for all reasons. Its unusual to see a condenser microphone on stage that can also shine in the studio. And yet, because it is priced competitively, artists dont have to pay a fortune to get the best of both worlds. The combination of Austrian design an engineering, along with cost-effective manufacturing and a workforce that seems fanatically dedicated to music making, suggest the MTP W950 has a long and bright future ahead which could see it become as ubiquitous as the evergreen Shure SM58, albeit with a bit more nuance as well as the benefits and subtleties of a classic condenser microphone.Pricing & Availability: The Lewitt Audio MTP W950 is available now from the Lewitt website priced at $689 / 689 / 689.Tech Specs:Type: Condenser, externally polarized.Acoustical operating principle: Pressure gradient transducer.Transducer : 25.4 mm, 1 inch.Polar pattern: Cardioid, Super-cardioid.Sensitivity: 8.1 mV/Pa, -41.8dBV/Pa.Self-noise: 21dB (A).Max SPL: 140dB SPL (0.5% THD).Dynamic range: 119dB (A).Signal-to-noise ratio: 73dB (A).Attenuation: 0dB / -12dB.Low-cut filter: lin, 120Hz.Internal impedance: 217.Supply voltage: 48V 4V.Current consumption: 7.5mA.Connector: Gold plated 3-pin XLR, Capsule thread: 1-28UN-2A.Microphone dimensions: 51 x 183mm.Weight: 397g.