Alessandro Cortini From Nine Inch Nails Creates His Own Clara IEMs With Campfire Audio
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 27: Alessandro Cortin, guitarist for Nine Inch Nails, performs during ... More Boston Calling Music Festival on May 27, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by)
Celebrity endorsements of products are nothing new. Ever since the boom in teenage culture, back in the 1950s, companies selling musical instruments, sporting equipment and fashion have drafted in well-known names to sell their wares. In these modern times, endorsement even extends to the consumer electronics with signature editions of products bearing the names of celebrities on the packaging.
Normally, I would shun anything that's been endorsed by a celebrity because in many cases the famous person has just exchanged an endorsement for a bundle of cash. However, in the case of the new Clara In-Ear Monitors made by the highly respected boutique earphone brand of Campfire Audio, things were different. These high-end IEMs were not just endorsed by but actively developed and tuned with the help of Alessandro Cortini, guitarist and member of U.S. band Nine Inch Nails.
I caught up with Alessandro Cortini at his home on the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal's capital city, where the synth-loving musician and all-round nice guy lives with his family and a herd of 20 cats. In my book, anyone who loves cats that much must be a good person and worth listening to.
Cortini's Clara IEMs have detachable cables and a whole host of ear tip options.
Cortini has the honor of being the first Italian to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 2020, when he was included as a member of the band Nine Inch Nails. As well as playing instruments, Cortini also makes them. He created a patchable synthesizer called Strega produced by Make Noise.
It was during the crazy times of the global pandemic in 2020, during those long months of lockdowns, that bands like Nine Inch Nails found themselves grounded. The band was founded by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio, back in 1988, and were unable to tour during that time. It was then that Cortini developed a bug and it wasn't Covid 19. Instead, he contacted the audiophile bug and developed a love and fascination with everything audio, especially high-end hi-fi.
Alessandro Cortini was bitten by the audiophile bug during the pandemic.
Cortini takes up the story: 'I'd been using IEMs for performances for some time and developed a connection with Ken Ball and the guys at Campfire Audio, in Portland Oregon. Ken and I share the same kind of passion for music and we even use the same brand of digital player. One day, Ken offered me the chance to design my own IEMs and with his help and experience, I was able to produce something that captured the way I enjoy music.'
'During lockdown, I had the opportunity to learn about dynamic drivers and balanced armatures, the two main types of transducers used in IEMs. Ken knows everything there is to know about how the technologies used in IEMs sound and he was able to guide me towards selecting the units that would bring out the kind of signature sound I was looking for.'
Although Cortini is a member of Nine Inch Nails, his tastes and passions for music range far and wide. Originally from Italy, Cortini lived in the States for many years and it's impossible to avoid soaking up the amazing musical diversity of that country. During our conversation, we chatted about music ranging from Gregorian chant to the best of Blue Tone jazz and classic numbers from the Great American Songbook. I asked Cortini what he was looking to get out of the Clara IEMs.
Ken Ball is founder and lead acoustic engineer at Campfire Audio and helped Alessandro Cortini ... More develop the unique sound of the Clara IEMs.
'I love lots of different music but I wanted to create IEMs that had enough definition at the top end to create a dynamic and focused soundstage, but I didn't want them to be harsh or give the listener a headache. Nice and smooth with a silky treble was what I was looking for' he adds.
'I was also wanted a bass with a certain warmth and definition. I wanted it to feel a bit like putting on a woolly jacket on a chilly day; warm but not so heavy as to be thick and overpowering.'
'With Ken Ball's help, we managed to narrow things down to a dual magnet dynamic driver with a bio-cellulose diaphragm that takes care of those low frequencies. For the mids, we used the latest technology with a dual-diaphragm balanced armature. For the treble or higher end, we chose two dedicated super-tweeters with exceptional precision.'
"For me, making music is an equal measure of creating and listening. What I listen to will sometimes inform my next compositional move. Clara IEMs are not only a sonic manifestation of my preferences in terms of their tuning and spatial portrayal, but Clara IEMs are also a reflection of the deep bond between Ken and me, both musically and philosophically.'
The earpieces of Clara IEMs are unmistakable with their Campfire Audio housings.
'I've been a fan of Campfire Audio for a long time and having the chance to share in the process of making a new pair of IEMs with someone like Ken has made this a fantastic journey. I'm very proud of what the Campfire Audio team and I have managed to produce with Clara. I think it combines emotion with accuracy, letting audiophiles enjoy the precision as well as the music. For musicians, they amplify the creativity through the vibrant and physical emotional transfer the IEMs provide.'
Ken Ball, the founder and lead acoustic engineer at Campfire Audio, agrees with Cortini and adds: "Working with such an accomplished and creative artist like Alessandro has been an honor and a privilege. Our shared passion and personal taste in music, and a love for electronic music specifically, forged a bond that led to the pursuit of Clara.'
'Science, art, and music have been the three pillars of my life, adds Ball. 'Bringing decades of pursuing these pillars to a project alongside Alessandro, who shares these values and brings his unique creative vision and expertise, has been a highlight of my career. I think we have designed something very special that will resonate with fans of Campfire and the audiophile community.'
The frequency response of Alessandro Cortini's Clara IEMs isn't dead flat.
Both men aren't wrong. For anyone who listens to Clara IEMs, there is an instant and unmistakable completeness about their sound that would pair well with almost any musical genre. The IEMs don't have a dead flat response but neither do they display the classic U-shaped EQ or coloration that so many manufacturers seem to settle for today. The Clara IEMs have a warm bass, a forward midrange and a silky treble that's just sharp enough to bring the soundstage into perfect focus without making the listener's brain work overtime top descramble distortion.
The sign of a good pair of speakers, earphones or IEMs is how they help the listener forget they are listening to an audio system by thoroughly immersing the listener in the emotion of the music. That was Cortini's aim for Clara and it's fair to say he and Ken Ball hit the target with 100% accuracy. Despite the use of some well-matched multiple drivers, Clara sounds like it's been tuned to sound more like the very best of dynamic IEMs but with the precision of balanced armature technology. Clara offers the best of both worlds.
Alessandro Cortini is a member of the U.S> band Nine Inch Nails. As well as playing the guitar, he ... More also has an interest in synthesisers and even made his own Strega patchable synth with Make Noise.
Chatting with Cortini is almost as infectious as listening to Clara IEMs. His viral enthusiasm is more contagious than Covid. In the sometimes-sterile world of digital music, we often miss out on the passion and joy of music as we listen for details. Cortini has managed to distil his passion into the sonic signature of these unique IEMs. It's a rare achievement and perhaps only something a musician could have achieved with the technical guidance of someone as experienced as Campfire Audio's Ken Ball.
The Alessandro Cortini Clara IEMs are available now from Campfire Audio and are priced at $1,999. The Clara IEMs ship with two cables, one with a single-ended 3.5mm jack plug and the other with a balanced 4.4mm jack plug. The package also includes Campfire Audio's Pilot portable DAC dongle for use with devices like smartphones that may not have an analog jack. The IEMs also have a hardshell touring case for life on the road and a new mini dimensional folding IEM wallet, Breezy Bag Jr mesh zipper case in charcoal, Breezy Bag Micro two-pocket IEM pouch in charcoal, microfiber cleaning cloth, assorted ear tips In foam, silicone, Final Type-E plus an IEM cleaning tool.
The Clara IEMs ship with two cables, one with a single-ended 3.5mm jack plug and the other with a ... More balanced 4.4mm jack plug. The package also includes Campfire Audio's Pilot portable DAC dongle for use with devices like smartphones that may not have an analog jack. The IEMs also have a hardshell touring case for life on the road and a new mini dimensional folding IEM wallet, Breezy Bag Jr mesh zipper case in charcoal, Breezy Bag Micro two-pocket IEM pouch in charcoal, microfiber cleaning cloth, assorted ear tips In foam, silicone, Final Type-E plus an IEM cleaning tool.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Jeff Bezos & Lauren Sanchez's Prenup Expected to Survive Any ‘Legal Challenge'
As Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's wedding date nears, the businessman gears up with a watertight prenup. The couple will tie the knot in Venice in a lavish three-day ceremony from June 24 to 26. However, a recent report suggested that the businessman refuses to gamble with his fortune. Prominent California lawyer Alphonse Provinziano reportedly claimed that the robust agreement is more complex than business mergers and will survive any 'legal challenge.' RadarOnline exclusively learned from Alphonse Provinziano about Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's prenup weeks before their wedding. Provinziano, who regularly works alongside celebrities and wealthy A-listers, compared the complexity of the agreement to some business mergers. He claimed Bezos' intention wasn't just to devise any prenup, but one that would 'survive any legal challenge.' The lawyer further explained that certain states mandatorily require prenups to be 'conscionable.' This allows fairness to both parties and proves essential to the side with fewer resources, which is Sanchez in this instance. Provinziano made it clear that Bezos was under an obligation to maintain full disclosure with his fiancée. Additionally, he offered her facilities such as her own team of lawyers and more than enough time to review and analyze the agreement. Alphonse Provinziano disclosed more details about what Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's prenup and other documentation entail. 'For someone as rich as Bezos, that means preparing documentation of the complex accounting arrangements and business deals he's involved in,' the lawyer announced. He further elaborated that this would prevent the journalist from claiming 'that he hid certain assets from her' if things go south in their marriage. Provinziano said it has been 'a lot of work for teams of lawyers.' The couple is ramping up to say their vows in one of the most extravagant wedding ceremonies. A source aware of the preparations claimed, 'People are almost hysterical with excitement – from water taxis to the hotel concierges.' Reportedly, the nuptials will happen at a centuries-old Italian villa, with guests including the Kardashian-Jenners and other Hollywood A-listers attending. The post Jeff Bezos & Lauren Sanchez's Prenup Expected to Survive Any 'Legal Challenge' appeared first on Reality Tea.
San Francisco Chronicle
14 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
One of Napa Valley's oldest winemaking families debuts a major tasting room transformation
It's a story made for Hallmark Channel: Tired of the hustle in Hollywood, a screenwriter returns to his sleepy hometown, realizes the story of his career was right in front of him all along and decides to tell it through the revitalization of his family's historic wine business. It sounds scripted, but that's exactly what Greg Pestoni has spent the past decade doing. Now, the transformation of St. Helena's charming Pestoni Family Estate Winery is ready for its premiere. Pestoni credits famed director and winery owner Francis Ford Coppola for inspiring his move from his native Napa Valley to Hollywood after high school in the 1980s. Since the third grade, he was friends with Coppola's son, Roman, and recalls watching rough cuts of 'Apocalypse Now' on a Betamax before it was released. Napa was a quiet agricultural valley, and he was anxious to get out. 'You didn't idolize (your friends) who worked in the vineyard,' said Pestoni.'It was as sexy as picking walnuts.' But after 27 years in the film industry and two discouraging Guild strikes, the screenwriter, who worked on 'The Godfather' movies, returned to a very different Napa Valley, one that felt a lot more like Hollywood than when he left it. There, he found a story he desperately wanted to tell: His family's 130-year-old wine journey. 'This was an unsung period of winemaking,' Pestoni said. 'When you think of the 1890s and the bunch that was making wine, who is still here doing it? Just a few.' In the 1880s, the Swiss-Italian Pestonis arrived in Napa Valley. In 1892, Greg Pestoni's great-grandfather, Albino Pestoni, planted vineyards and built a winery in the Eastern hills on Howell Mountain. The winery shut down due to Prohibition and was sold in the early 1920s; a few years later, Greg Pestoni's grandfather, Henry Pestoni, purchased a property on Whitehall Lane in the Rutherford wine region, now the home of Pestoni's Sauvignon Blanc vineyard. Like many wine families, the Pestonis picked up other agricultural pursuits during Prohibition. Over the years, the family raised chickens, hogs and dairy cows, but it also grew grapes and made bootleg brandy. Henry Pestoni allegedly sold his brandy to staff at the Napa County courthouse and, in return, they'd tip him off about upcoming federal raids. Greg Pestoni's uncles also owned a Napa Valley winery and bootlegged alcohol; the original stone building is now the home of Ehlers Estate. In the early 1960s, Greg Pestoni's father, composting pioneer Bob Pestoni, founded the Upper Valley Disposal Service, revolutionizing winery waste recycling. He went on to own a second operation, the Clover Flat Landfill just south of Calistoga. (The family sold both companies in 2023; last month, federal prosecutors closed an investigation into environmental crimes and obstruction of justice related to both properties, now owned by a company called Waste Connections.) The family went decades without commercially producing wine, but they continued to grow and sell grapes. Then, in 1994, the winery next door came up for sale. Bob Pestoni bought it, and Greg Pestoni's brother, Andy Pestoni, became the winemaker. They named the winery Rutherford Grove after a eucalyptus grove on the property, but it created confusion with two other local businesses, the Rutherford Grill restaurant and Rutherford Hill Winery. 'Someone would ask if we served the duck burger,' joked Greg Pestoni, adding that he felt the name 'sounded like a big operation,' when the winery only makes a few thousand cases of wine a year. Shortly after Greg Pestoni returned home in 2014, he convinced his father to change the name to Pestoni Family Estate Winery. He called relatives to compile old family photos and wrote up the family's history for the website. 'It helped make it a much more personal experience,' Greg Pestoni said. 'I think what's really missing in Napa these days is the people behind something and the story behind something.' The winery has been one of the last remaining embodiments of a down-home era in Napa Valley, before luxury resorts, Michelin-starred restaurants and multi-million-dollar tasting rooms, like its flashy new neighbor, Bella Union. 'You get the feeling of going to somebody's house or being in somebody's yard,' said Greg Pestoni. 'People would say, 'You're like a Sonoma winery in Napa.' They don't want the secret to get out of this place, they don't want to tell anybody.' But remaining a secret isn't good for business, especially during a global downturn in wine sales. Despite Pestoni's prime positioning off Napa Valley's busy Highway 29, the winery has remained under the radar, and like many of the region's older wineries, the family decided to renovate. 'We're in Napa,' Greg Pestoni said. 'We needed to step up.' They started with the large, grassy picnic area surrounded by eucalyptus and redwood trees, which became a COVID-19 pandemic hot spot. 'Saturdays and Sundays were bananas. We were serving on picnic tables and our staff were crossing the lawn in 100-degree heat,' recalled Aimee Pestoni, Greg Pestoni's wife. 'People wanted to be outside, and they still do.' Pestoni kept its picnic lawn — one of the few kid-friendly spots in Napa Valley — but built a new pavilion for more formal tastings. The striking cedar pavilion, featuring a bar, tables and heaters, was designed by the same architect behind San Francisco's Rolex boutiques. Yet a much more significant transformation took place inside the 1995 tasting room. 'There were no seats, you'd slam (the wine) down and go on your way,' said Aimee Pestoni. While the lawn maintains Pestoni's classic, old Napa feel, the new tasting room interior catapults visitors to the present: It's moody, sophisticated and edgy, designed like a cozy study found within a luxurious mountain escape. The space features dark wood, a stone fireplace, velvet bar stools and leather armchairs with fur throws. Geometric fur rugs look like tile from a distance, while custom wallpaper features layers of burlap, hand-painted and then fringed, by an Alaskan artist. The change is a jarring departure from the family's humble roots, but upon closer observation, visitors will find ties to the Pestoni story in every nook and cranny. There's a wall of black and white family photos, including a 1919 capture of Henry Pestoni at his coming home party from World War I, taken at the William Tell Hotel in St. Helena. Historic documents sit underneath the glass top of a coffee table, including the assessment taxes for the original 1892 winery ($2 for four gallons of wine) and a corn sales ledger. A bookshelf displays an antique winemaking tool and remnants of a wooden backpack, which Albino Pestoni made and used while herding in the Swiss Alps in the 1870s. Noted Napa Valley designer Erin Martin also incorporated eclectic homages to the family's history, like an ornate, hand-carved cuckoo clock that nods to their Swiss-Italian heritage. The centerpiece is a massive chandelier constructed from a round, wooden form, which was used to make wine casks in the 19th century. A black crow sculpture sits on the chandelier, a quirky tribute to Joe, Greg Pestoni's pet crow that the family rescued and fed when he was growing up. Andy Pestoni recently retired, so his brother hired renowned consulting winemaker Aaron Pott to help craft the wines, which include classic Napa grapes like Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and Barbera. Fancier tasting experiences ($50-$125) launched with the renovation, but the winery can still accommodate walk-ins and kids. Those looking for something casual can opt for a self-guided tasting at a picnic table ($45) and bring their own provisions, which most Napa Valley wineries don't allow. 'We want to keep that vibe,' said Aimee Pestoni.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
'I Don't Understand You': Nick Kroll, Andrew Rannells movie inspired by adoption fraud story from filmmakers
While Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells voice some pretty hysterical characters in Big Mouth, they're now sharing the screen in the horror-comedy I Don't Understand You (now in theatres). Written and directed by married filmmakers David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano, the movie had a particularly interesting starting point. In I Don't Understand You Kroll and Rannells play a couple, Dom and Cole, who have just fallen victim to adoption fraud, but things are looking up. A pregnant woman named Candace (Amanda Seyfried) thinks they're the right fit for the family to adopt her child. But just before that happens, Dom and Cole take a romantic Italian vacation. Things take a turn when they get lost outside of Rome, trying to find a restaurant. As their stranded in an unknown location, the trip turns to bloody Italian chaos. As Craig and Crano identified, the first portion of the movie, up until the couple gets stuck going to the restaurant, is quite close to the real experience the filmmakers had. "We were adopting a child. We had been through an adoption scam, which was heartbreaking, and then had a completely different experience when we matched with the birth mother of our son," Crano told Yahoo. "But we found out that we were going to have him literally like two days before we were going on our 10th anniversary trip." "And we were like, 'Shit, should we not go?' But we decided to do it, and you're so emotionally opened up and vulnerable in that moment that it felt like a very similar experience to being in a horror movie, even though it's a joyful kind of situation." A key element of I Don't Understand You is that feeling of shock once the story turns from a romance-comedy to something much bloodier. It feels abrupt, but it's that jolt of the contrast that also makes that moment feel particularly impactful to watch. "Our sense of filmmaking is so ... based on surprise," Craig said. "As a cinephile, my main decade to go to are outlandish '90s movies, because they just take you to a different space, and as long as you have a reality to the characters that are already at hand, you can kind of take them wherever." "Personally, the situation of adoption was a constant jolt [from] one emotion to another that we felt like that was the right way to tell a story like this, which was literally, fall in love with a couple and then send them into a complete nightmare. And I think you can only get that if you do it abruptly, and kind of manically." While Rannells and Kroll have that funny and sweet chemistry the story needs, these were roles that weren't written for them. But it works because Crano and Craig know how to write in each other's voices so well, that's where a lot of the dialogue is pulled from. Additionally, the filmmakers had the "creative trust" in each other to pitch any idea, as random as it may have seemed, to see if it could work for the film. "When you're with somebody you've lived with for 15 years, there is very little that I can do that would embarrass me in front of David," Crano said. "So that level of creative freedom is very generative." "We were able to screw up in front of each other a lot without it affecting the rest of our day," Craig added. Of course, with the language barrier between the filmmakers and the Italian cast, it was a real collaboration to help make the script feel authentic for those characters. "All of the Italian actors and crew were very helpful in terms of being like, 'Well I feel like my character is from the south and wouldn't say it in this way.' And helped us build the language," Crano said. "And it was just a very trusting process, because neither of us are fluent enough to have that kind of dialectical specificity that you would in English." "It was super cool to just be watching an actor perform a scene that you've written in English that has been translated a couple of times, but you still completely understand it, just by the generosity of their performance." For Craig, he has an extensive resume of acting roles, including projects like Boy Erased and episodes of Dropout. Among the esteemed alumni of the Upright Citizens Brigade, he had a writing "itch" for a long time, and was "in awe" of Crano's work as a director. "Truthfully, in a weird way, it felt like such a far off, distant job, because everything felt really difficult, and I think with this project it just made me understand that it was just something I truly love and truly wanted to do," Craig said. "I love the idea of creative control and being in a really collaborative situation. Acting allows you to do that momentarily, but I think like every other job that you can do on a film is much longer lasting, and I think that's something I was truly seeking." For Crano, he also grew up as a theatre kid, moving on to writing plays in college. "The first time I got laughs for jokes I was like, 'Oh, this is it. Let's figure out how to do this,'" he said. "I was playwriting in London, my mom got sick in the States, so I came back, and I started writing a movie, because I was living in [Los Angeles] and I thought, well there are no playwrights in L.A., I better write a movie.'" That's when Crano found a mentor in Peter Friedlander, who's currently the head of scripted series, U.S. and Canada, at Netflix. "I had written this feature and ... we met with a bunch of directors, great directors, directors I truly admire, and they would be like, 'It should be like this.' And I'd be like, 'Yeah, that's fine, but maybe it's more like this.' And after about five of those Peter was like, 'You're going to direct it. We'll make some shorts. We'll see if you can do it.' He just sort of saw it," Crano recalled. "It's nice to be seen in any capacity for your ability, but [I started to realize] this is not so different from writing, it's just sort of writing and physical space and storytelling, and I love to do it. ... It is a very difficult job, because it requires so much money to test the theory, to even see if you can." But being able to work together on I Don't Understand You, the couple were able to learn things about and from each other through the filmmaking process. "David is lovely to everyone," Crano said. "He is much nicer than I am at a sort of base level, and makes everyone feel that they can perform at the best of their ability. And that's a really good lesson." "Brian literally doesn't take anything personally," Craig added. "Almost to a fault." "And it's very helpful in an environment where you're getting a lot of no's, to have a partner who's literally like, 'Oh, it's just no for now. Great, let's move on. Let's find somebody who's going to say yes, maybe we'll come back to that no later.' I'm the pessimist who's sitting in the corner going, 'Somebody just rejected me, I don't know what to do.' ... It just makes you move, and that's that's very helpful for me."
