Nate Sipe, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in Twin Cities string band Pert Near Sandstone, told us about his love for his Audio Technica Wireless A/B System 10 Stompbox...
Nate Sipe: In a typical performance I will alternate between mandolin and fiddle several times. My wireless A/B system is possibly the most important piece of gear that I use. I’m not sure how I went so long without it! This is one saga of an acoustic musician.
Pert Near started with a traditional string band presentation, fully acoustic around a single microphone. It’s an easy solution for amplification but is also an improvised dance that visually works well for our music. Consisting of multiple singers and soloists, I would step in for my parts and step back to let others in, usually swapping places during songs. When we began to play bigger rooms it was necessary to retrofit our instruments with pickups. Our simple approach became a tangled mess of cables, D.I. boxes and other pedals. It was a challenge to keep my own cables straight while avoiding getting twisted up with others while we moved around the stage. It was a complicated but seemingly unavoidable headache.
Then came the revelation! During one of the first years of our annual Blue Ox Music Festival I discovered another mandolin-fiddle player using this wireless a/b switch. Their band had the same DI and single mic approach as us, but without any stage tangles. I was stunned to witness this and promptly purchased the same wireless system, which took a bit of hunting since it had been discontinued. This was a total game changer for me. An even greater freedom to move around the stage was regained. Not only beyond the confines of microphone or cable length, but the first time I jumped off stage and into the audience to shred a fiddle solo I knew that I wouldn't perform without it or an equivalent again!
Pert Near Sandstone's album Side By Side is out February 27.
