Southeast Asia (June 22, 2011)–John Latartara has been traveling throughout Southeast Asia to document the music of the Tai Dam people with his Metric Halo ULN-2.
“Lack of fidelity in what are typically classified as ‘world music’ recordings is something that always bothers me,” said Latartara. He received his doctoral degree in Theoretical Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA and is currently an associate professor of music at the University of Mississippi. “When I was younger, I remember buying recordings of music from different parts of the world in which the music itself was fascinating, but the audio quality was completely lacking.” After much research and many comparisons, he determined that the Metric Halo ULN-2 would provide him with the utmost fidelity in a remarkably portable and robust build.
The Tai Dam people are an ethnic group with populations in Laos, Vietnam, Southern China, Thailand, and the United States. Despite their distance, the sub-populations of Tai Dam people share a common language, a common culture and a common music.
Latartara currently splits his time between duties at the University of Mississippi and fieldwork in Southeast Asia. He typically brings his recording equipment–which consists of an AKG C414 XLS microphone, the Metric Halo ULN-2, and a MacBook Pro–to a musician’s house, where he lets the musician choose what he or she wishes to perform. He uses the Metric Halo MIO console on his MacBook Pro so that he can set up in moments, ready to capture anything. “I just set up my mic, ULN-2, and computer, open MIO Console, and press record. That’s it,” he said.
Latartara also cited reliability and convenience as critical components of what makes the Metric Halo ULN-2 so valuable. “I’ve never had any problems with the unit, and I’ve never had any crashes while recording–not even a minor glitch.”
Metric Halo
www.mhlabs.com
