Author Archives: admin

How can I make money playing my guitar?

Written by admin on February 8, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Becoming a professional musician is a long, hard road. However this is not to say it is impossible. Anyone with a desire to become successful at something can do it. This applies to music and any other field that you could want to apply yourself to. When I first decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to music many people questioned my decision. However in my mind I knew that I had a passion to become a successful artist and that nothing was going to stop me. This is the most important part of becoming a professional. The simple fact is the entertainment industry is the most fickle industry out there, it’s hard and there are ton of people trying to ‘make it’.

I was born in a small town and grew up playing the bars and clubs there, making a small amount each week, but I wanted more. I initially thought that the only way that I would make a ‘decent’ living would be to become a famous musician and to be able to tour the world in my private jet (well I never quite got a private jet but I did manage to tour extensively overseas).

Most people, like myself initially, think the only money in the industry is with being a famous musician and many people overlook the other options that are out there to make money from your guitar. Here are a few ideas:

- Teaching guitar (once you have mastered the skills share them with others for a fee)
- Making/designing guitars or amps (if you are handy with tools or electrical knowledge this could be an option)
- Playing covers in café’s/bars (there is a large market for playing songs that everyone knows and loves)

The most important thing, however, is to DECIDE you’re going to succeed and don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Like anything, just stick at it and you will succeed. Well, that’s about it for this newsletter. Next week I’ll talk about the Star Spangled Banner, and in our Tech Tips section I’ll answer a question about getting a “metal” sound on your guitar.

Good luck with your practice.

Posted by Ben Edwards.

Posted in Artists, learning, music | Tagged earn, make money, play guitar, rockstar

Electro Harmonix Stereo Talking Machine

Written by admin on February 8, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Guitarists have been experimenting with sound possibilities for as long as they have been around. Many recognize the voice as the most expressive of instruments and many guitar FX pedals have tried to emulate that expressiveness through various talk-box like effects.

Electro Harmonix (EHX) have produced a very versatile pedal in the Stereo Talking Machine. It not only has great presets right out of the box, it’s also highly programmable giving you even greater control over the way the pedal alters your notes. With 9 selectable voice types, you too could be AH-OOing and OW-EEing in no time at all.

Like the sounds created by a mouth harp, where the metal reed is plucked and the vibrations altered by changing the shape of the players mouth, a Talk-box takes the sounds/notes you put in to it and alters them according to the volume you’ve played them and the shape of the specific filter you have chosen.

Because the sweeping effect is driven by how hard or soft you play the strings there is a massive scope of what sonic sounds can be achieved using the EHX Stereo Talking Machine. And because each sound choice responds so differently, it’s worth spending time experimenting with each to get a good grasp on what is possible.

The unit is a rectangle box affair, with the 6 control knobs across the top: Blend, Voice, Attack, Decay, Sensivitiy, and Preset. The preset knobs gives access to auxiliary functions for each knob including Volume, Fuzz tone, Fuzz Gain, LFO Rate and LFO Shape. A Low frequency Oscillator or LFO is a filter that responds over time rather than to playing dynamics and creates a more regular filter sweep.

You won’t find any lose of your guitar tone, but instead applies the different tonal colors of the ‘voices’ available from the unit. From the dark and smooth/soft tone of the EE-ER voicing to the midrange-heavy and rather resonant sound of the I-A voicing.

For each voicing, you can reverse the voicing for example EE-ER to ER-EE or I-A to A-I which gives you further options with the flick of the Preset/Sweep knob. You can also control this function via the expression pedal option.

The Stereo Talking Machine is an extremely versatile pedal with a wide variety of voicings and multiple control options of those voicings. Add to that access to a distortion circuit and sensitivity control and the tonal possibilities really grow. If you’re not familiar with talk-box effects sitting down and having a chat with the Stereo Talking Machine may result in a new found friendship.

Posted by Dan Orr.

Posted in Electric Guitars, gear, guitar effects / pedals, music, Rock | Tagged electro harmonix, guitar pedals, pedal effecs, talking machine

Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar Guitar

Written by admin on February 3, 2012 — Leave a Comment

Fender has struck again. This time at the hearts of early-90s, Nirvana loving guitarists with a penchant for hard rock…the way rock ought to be.

Carefully crafted to exacting precision, they’ve reproduced Kirk Cobain’s “battle-hardened left-handed Jaguar” including all the unusual details and the unique electronics that were on-board when Cobain first acquired the guitar in 1991.

Just some of the unique features included is the Stratocaster® Headstock, the Volume, Volume, Tone Control configuration, Adjusto-matic™ Bridge and Road worn aged finish. All this adds up to a very authentic copy of the axe used by Cobain, the left handed guitarist who “led a musically stunning and culturally subversive movement.”

newsletter28 gear kcjaguar Fender Kurt Cobain Jaguar Guitar

So why would you want a copy of something like this if you want to do more than merely emulate a bygone musical era? I think the reason is two fold. First, inspiration. We take our inspiration from people that have been successful in the past. Perhaps secretly, hoping that some of their magic will rub off on us. Inspiration is quite different to taking something old and making it new. It’s about taking the essence of something old and creating something new with it.

And second, tone. Every guitar ever made has a unique tone because of the natural qualities of wood. A tree, when cut down, continues to ‘live’ as it changes with age. And while each Kurt Cobain Jaguar will have its own unique tone, unable to be replicated by the next one, each one will have within it an aspect of the tone that Cobain made famous.

Yes, there are guitar effects that color a guitars sound, but switch them all off and what you have is something raw. Something stripped back and complete. Something…unique.

Check out the sound of this beauty with BrewersArcade video:

Posted by Dan Orr.

Posted in Artists, buying guitars, Electric Guitars, gear, Rock

IK Multimedia VocaLive App

Written by admin on February 3, 2012 — Leave a Comment

We’ve written about IK Multimedia products in the past and they just continue to set the bar for portable recording software for iOS as well as breaking new ground for DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software.

As previously mentioned, the iRig interface adapter enables guitarists to plug their guitar into their iPhone and not only apply great sounding effects to their guitar via the FREE Amplitube application, but also record those great sounds.

The VocaLive app for iPad is yet another release, following on from the success of the iPhone version and provides a one stop shop for singers or songwriters. Touted as being the “first professional performing and recording vocal processor for iOS”, the app just oozes ease of use and is packed with essential effects to bring to life your next performance.

newsletter30 gear ik vocalive IK Multimedia VocaLive App

It comes with a suite of 5 dedicated vocal effects (pitch correction, choir hamonizer, voice doubler, vocal morpher and de-esser) that can be applied to your voice in real-time along with a further 7 effects specific to vocal processing (reverb, EQ, compressor, delay, envelope filter, chorus, phazer) that can be combined in a 4 processor chain.

The single-track recorder is expandable to a full 8-track recording studio through an in-app purchase which will give song writers plenty of scope to record new and interesting tracks.

For the novice vocalist, there are enough preset functions to enable you to get up and running quickly leaving plenty of room for more advanced features and effects as you become more familiar with the application and confident with your recording.

VocaLive can be used with the iPads in-built microphone, headphones with a built-in mic or IK Media’s very own iRig mic – the first quality hand-held condenser mic for iOS.

As you will see in the following videos, using VocaLive is both easy and fun to use as well as producing really professional sounding recordings.

With the continuing development of technology and the ability for users to create their own music, VocaLive and applications like it place the tools firmly in the hands of the user to capture their own creativity. There’s little wonder that the internet is bursting with quality user content and there are no signs it will slow down. Have you got yours?

object style=”height: 390px; width: 550px”>

Posted by Dan Orr.

Posted in computing, gear, guitar effects / pedals, music

Marshall Headphones

Written by admin on February 1, 2012 — 1 Comment

If you’ve had your headphones for as long as I have and they’re only just hanging on by a thread, it might be time for a new pair. Now you have a new problem – having to choose a new pair. Well, for the musically minded, Marshall (yes, the same company that make great amps) has come to the party with their own line of ‘cans’ to keep your music moving when you are.

Taking their style inspiration from their amp selection, the Marshall Major Headphones (in a variety of colors – including eye-popping white) are a stylish set of cans that reproduce your music with pronounced bass and crisp treble.

The earcups are soft, comfortable and fit snugly over most ears letting very little, if any sound out, for less disturbance when in the company of strangers. The head band has the same rugged good looks and bears the same Marshall Texture.

True to vintage stylings, they come with a stretch cord which helps considerably with the portability factor, eliminating the need for the unwieldy, tangle prone alternatives. When it comes time to take them, they’ve been designed to be fully collapsible for easy storage and safe travel.

They also come equipped with an in-line microphone and remote for use with cell phones or Skype calls incorporating the 3.4mm standard. A 6.3 mm adapter comes with the Majors for use with your amplifier, stereo or any sound source requiring a 6.3 mm jack.

Admittedly, you are paying a little extra for the Marshall name on the headphones which doesn’t necessarily correspond to much better sound for your dollar, but if you’re willing to shell out a little extra for great looks, you won’t be disappointed.