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.

If you are looking for someone else’s point of view, check out this great review made by Unboxtherapy.

Posted by Dan Orr.

How do I find musical ideas? How do I write music?
Not an easy question to answer I would say!

One of the challenges all musicians have is finding ideas for music. When you are creating original music it is important to have steady stream of inspiration. It is important to note that people can find inspiration from many differing things depending on their personality.

Living your life is the best source of material for songs. Try and be aware of everything around you. Take notes about people and situations you experience, documenting your reactions to them. Your own reactions are important because personal songs are often the best and easiest to write for many musicians.

Another tool that can be very useful when writing a song is to put yourself in someone else’s shoes or situation. If you find yourself stuck in a rut then this can also be a good way to change your style of writing.

When it comes to writing music it is important to try and develop you musicianship. New skills are like doorways to new songs. Many times you will learn a new technique and a whole song can be built around that. For this reason it is important to always be on the lookout for new skills and ideas.

One of the best ways to pick up the new skills is to learn other musician’s techniques. When you see one of your musician friends playing something interesting try and learn it. This does not mean you should rip off another person’s song, however use those musical ideas to inspire you.

Becoming proficient at your instrument will make it a lot simpler to think of good ideas for your songs.

Melodies are all inside you and they don’t have to be complex. When you are singing to yourself in the shower remember that even the simplest three note melodies have the potential to become songs.

You can find ideas for music and lyrics all around you. Don’t be afraid to open your mind and come up with new and interesting concepts. Experiment with your song and music writing until you create something that you believe in and that is fun to play. And be sure to let me know how your writing is going!

Posted by Dan Orr

Founded in 1996 and operating in four countries (Italy, UK, US and Japan), IK Multimedia has been busy developing software for anyone with a musical bent. Leveraging the exponential growth of the personal computer and advancing technologies they’re enabling musicians of all walks of live play, product and listen to music like never before.

Throughout this time, they’ve partnered with the likes of DigiDesign, Intel, Mackie, EMU, Roland, Apple and many others and it’s their partnership with Apple where the iRig comes in.

A simple download from the iTunes App store effectively turns your iPhone into a complete multi-effects processor, recording studio and learning tool that’s always in your pocket. All effects are tweak-able at the slightest touch and swipe. Not only that but you can easily upgrade your ‘rig’ from the Amplitube iRig app Custom Shop with up to 11 stomps, 5 amps, 5 cabinets and 2 microphones.

With plug n play technology It’s as easy as plugging in the iRig interface to your iPhone, plugging your guitar into the right input and then plugging in your amp, powered speakers or headphones to start playing or recording..

They really have thought of everything. You can even import a track so you can jam along with it, providing your own lead lick or sharpening up your strum. For Jamorama users out there, this is a very usual feature that can easily be used with our Jamtracks. Simply import a jamtrack, print out or bring up the tab on your computer screen and jam away.

It also comes loaded with a metronome to keep yourself in time, and a chromatic tuner so you’re always in tune.

I took a few minutes out of my work day to give Dave’s iRig a go with his iPhone and have to say it is a really simple app to navigate. I dug out a pair of headphones and a lead to plug in my acoustic mini Maton, clicked on the Amplitube App and I was away.

The free app had enough for me to have a bit of fun with. It comes with a Noise filter, Delay and Distortion effects. Tweaking the effects is as easy as selecting it and dragging the slider up or down depending the desired effect. I even had time to record a quick track, which again was as easy as pressing record. The paid version does give you more recording capabilities but to quickly get an idea down, it’s a good option.

All in all the IK Multimedia Amplitube iRig for iPhone app is a neat little app with a multitude of uses. Being able to record your playing to hear how your it’s progressing or quickly get a copy of a musical idea before you forget it, is a really useful thing to always have in your pocket.

If you’re like me and iPhone-less, IK Multimedia have not forgotten us. They also have a USB audio interface in the form of Steath Plug so you too can download the Amplitube software, plug your guitar into your computer and experience all the great features your iPhone friends can access.

Check out the video below to hear and see how easy the iRig is to use.

Posted by Dan Orr

Yesterday we took in our final day at the NAMM show. Being Saturday, it was the day where the big crowds turned out to see the big name artists and the big changes taking place in the world of music gear.

After seeing pretty much everything that’s being exhibited this year we thought it would be cool to share a couple of new developments here that we think you are going to like and that maybe, will change the way we interact with music in the future.

The first thing that really got us buzzing is the new Eleven Amp from Avid (the guys behind Pro Tools).

They call it the killer rack because it puts professional recording and signal processing in the hands of every guitarist. Eleven has been an amp-cab-mic modeling software plug-in for pro-tools for some time now, but recently the avid team have developed the idea and turned it into a stand alone piece of hardware.

Taking Cool Processing technology from their Pro equipment TDM HD systems (big $$) and adding that to the software, Avid have produced a box that completes all the intensive algorithms that drive the complex software and delivers the audio to your speakers, amp setup and or via USB to your computer and pro tools environment with no latency.

The Eleven rack will suit the guitarist that is at the level where studio and stage is becoming part of their musicianship experience. This is a tool that will allow you to record your guitar straight into the digital world and have the end signal sounding very nice indeed. The quest for analog tone in the digital world drives these development teams project by project and the reality is that one day a cheap $100 guitar will sound like a rare 70′s telecaster through a 60′s fender combo.

The well trained ears have previous said, these emulation plug-in sounds are good, but they don’t sound like the real thing being mic’d up with the old 60′s combo.

James Michael – Producer, engineer,songwriter; motley crue, meatloaf, scorpions said, ” I’ve seen the potential for years with small preamps and amp emulation plug-ins, but Eleven is the first plug-in that can honestly replace the guitar amp.” Very exciting future for production.

Another interesting development is the new partnership between Fender Guitars and eJamming. We all know what Fender are famous for, but you may not have heard of the eJamming crew before. eJamming have been around for a few years now but it’s only recently that they have partnered with Fender and gained more exposure.

Basically, eJamming is just that – jamming online. eJamming’s online platform allows you to connect and jam out with your friends and other musicians no matter where both parties are in the world. The Fender representatives we spoke to said the partnership was a natural progression for Fender and that they chose eJamming as it offers the lowest amount of delay in signal.

This is definitely worth checking out and it’s free to try, so you can test it out with your friends before signing on. Check it out here.

If you do get a chance to try these things out then please leave a comment on this post so others can read your thoughts about them.

So, that is it from us at the show for now. While we’ve shared only a few interesting highlights here on the blog, we’ve taken a lot more information away from the show that will help us develop a better service for all of you in 2010. Also, look forward to to more NAMM related posts in the next couple of weeks.

Cheers
Jon

If you’re laying those chords down on cassette right now, then skip this post, ’cause you’re probably still busy playing PAC MAN, buying hair gel and listening to Huey Lewis and the News.

Just HOW are you going to master the idiosyncracies  of the modes in relation to all those far out jazz chords you’ve been inventing of late? Well, it`s easy in a digital world and Ovation have had the bright iDEA of building a digital MP3 recorder straight into their new iDEA guitar – FRESH!

A digital recorder is part of the on-board Ovation preamp as well as an inbuilt microphone. A simple and direct recording control makes it easy to record entire songs, riffs, fragments, vocals and commentary. The iDea is also a learning tool, with audio lessons pre-installed in the memory.

The Idea also connects via USB to your computer so you can edit, rearrange, move, rename right on your desktop. Mixes from recording software, rhythm tracks, even songs can be played back through the headphones or the guitar itself.

What makes this guitar so invaluable as a learning tool is probably the fact that the recording ability allows the player to self accompany and therefore to focus upon building an innate understanding of how a guitar actually works in terms  of scales, chords and their interrelationships.

If you were learning the JAMORAMA LEAD course this machine would really help you in understanding how the CAGED system works and prove ultimately beneficial in unlocking some of the musical mysteries of the guitar’s neck. Simply being able to record chord sequences and then play back over the top of them anywhere and at anytime means your practice could reach a whole new level of focus and put you on the fast track to becoming a more competent guitarist.

Well, That`s all folks,
Cheers…

Jake Edwards

Back in `81 Alvin Lee of the rock band Ten Years After released a studio solo album called RX5 featuring a gold robot playing an electric guitar in deep space. At the time album cover art was still hand painted and the notion of robots and guitars were simply an excerpt from the vivid imaginations of artists and science fiction afficionados. The hallowed album artist Roger Dean had created a trend of bio-cybernetics in his artwork fusing animal and machine in several of his pieces and perhaps this cover was an extension of this idea. If you want to hear some great Alvin Lee guitar playing it’s probably best to have a look at some of the Ten Years After material from the late 60`s.

Although a formidable live presence (see their legendary performance at Woodstock here) Ten Years After began as a jazz & blues, rock and roll fusion band that really made the most of Alvin Lee`s talented, energetic and idiosyncratic guitar style. I recommend the 1967 eponymous album Ten Years After, and Ssssh – if you can get the live at Steve Paul`s scene gig then even better.

What’s great about Alvin Lee is his swinging fusion of jazz and blues. I saw Lee live in London in the early 90`s and he was smoking. He played a scorching slide piece using a harmonica as a slide and he also used a drumstick in place of his right hand whilst burning through some ultra fast licks.

Anyway, the meeting of modern digital technology and the tradition of guitar manufacturing is continuing to blossom with plenty of new products that bring the two together and one of these is the inclusion of USB connectivity into guitars. IN SHORT what this means is that you can plug your guitar straight into your computer without the need for any interface. This allows you to jam directly alongside you Tube videos, or any other music source on your computer.

Hell, why would anyone wanna play through an ear bleedingly huge stack anyway?

OF course, this probably wont give you the ear splitting god like ultra-harmonics of Jeff Beck or Joe Satriani
but if you`re a composer on the move or you are a parent sick of listening to Johnny`s atonal guitar noodling then have a look at the JAM MATE UG1 because it`ll certainly take the headache out of the learning curve for everyone.

The Jam Mate has a discretely placed USB socket on the back, enabling a digital connection to the USB port of virtually any modern computer. The supplied software gives access to a huge range of presets  so you can create huge sounds without resorting to a stadium sized guitar rig. HOwever, if you still like the idea ofan interface have alook at the Line 6 Guitar Port.

If you happen to be the sickly offspring of an oil millionaire there`s no need to worry either – that 1954 Stratocaster isn`t going to waste either – there are plenty of other USB adapters that you can beg for to plug into your shiny new platinum laptop or home studio. Have alook at the LEXICON OMEGA studio or the DIGIDESIGN Mbox2 mini. I use an mbox mini myself and its a great interface for cleanly capturing song ideas quickly and what your microphones and instruments really sound like.

Next year I`ll be looking at robot guitars that completely remove the need for any player at all. BRILLIANT!
No bad haircut required.

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

• Are Radiohead the new Bob Dylan…what?
• Is Banksy the New Dali?
• Are there Space Invaders in my cereal?
• How can this happen?

If you were born after about 1975 bad luck. You really have missed out on alot.

But good luck too – we live in a almost completely free world. So keep rockin’ in it!

We live in an increasingly hyperconnected yet somehow fragmented world but what makes it interesting are the AGGREGATORS that momentarily break the surface, the magnets around which information clusters; furthermore…as Mike D says :

…there are  only 24 hours in a day and only twelve notes a man can play!

Thirty years ago this task was performed by the sharp media intelligences of  svengali producers such as Malcolm Maclaren who brought us the innovation that were the filthy kings of punk destruction The Sex Pistols,  the mad-genius of Stuart Goddard in Adam and the Ants, the hybrid hip-hop African American Duck Rock (plus the Art of Noise),  Maclaren was truly a man with his finger on the pulse and the uncanny ability to take previously underground and street level phenomenon and recycle them for a mass audience.

Buffalo Girls took ELECTRO,  a genre borne of the plagiarism of cutting breaks on the tables, and put it on the world map – Maclaren had his hands on all the greatest breaks, cuts and beats….he stole `em from DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash….I digress…

These days everything is already connected for us – the advent of  digital has allowed music to inhabit topologically deviant forms with an increasingly loose attention to genre, style, content and delivery mechanism with a kind of twisted cross-fertilisation of genres, artists and materials. The visual nature of the medium allows time to be mixed through the Z axis too….Just consider the interrelation of  the videos below. We are all producers these days – just ask Kutiman.

“What the hell has all this got to do with guitars?” I hear people yelling….Everything.

In the same way that guitar players like Beck and Hendrix began ustilising the guitar as a control surface for a feedback system between amp and pick-ups similarly reflexive loops have been set up in the formerly more linear metrices of the media mechanism itself. The internet and digital technology with its egalitarian focus upon content production rights for all means that everyone is, or can be a content producer.

Ask Nile Rogers…. Anyway, if you`d like further elucidation please click here to read Ethan Hein`s post upon mash-ups…

If you’ve been following the progress and adventures of my recordings on the Elijah Few blog then you`ll know that thus far I’ ve had to do battle with some extremely unversatile firewood. Yes, I`m talking about acoustic guitars and I`m going to try and outline what you should be looking for in your search for acoustic guitar satisfaction and it applies to any guitar, whatever your price range. Dan receives alot of questions in customer support regarding these matters so I`m going to outline a strategy to help make the right selection.

Apparently “a bad workman blames his tools” and to some extent this is true, but a good workman will select his tools wisely. If all you have available is a plank then that’s what you have to use, and I’ve been there myself and still managed to muster a half decent sound…In the picture below one of these guitars is an old plank, the other a mellifluous heaven of tone:

The kind of tone you are looking for should be along these lines -  smooth, rich and highly natural; bright, lively and warm with an entirely even response across the strings. A breeze to play, with a low action,  and when simply strumming an E chord resonates with rich, manuka, gently oscillating overtones.

If this kind of language baffles you some, then here is my strategy for discovering exactly what I mean and finding the right guitar for you. Begin at your local retailer by selecting guitars that fall somewhere near the most expensive available in the store – these will be guitar brands such as Martin, Taylor, Gibson or Guild.

Don’t be shy, because it`s all about sound. Play them and get a good feel for the different sounds that each produce. You will notice that different materials used for the soundboard, upon which the bridge sits, will produce different sounds. Simply try strumming an E chord on each model and place your ear on the top of the body.

Also pay close attention to the high, mid and low tones that each model produces – in an expensive model these should harmoniously blend together and there will be no noticeable loss of volume, attack or tone from string to string.

Consider the feel of the neck profiles as well, and how they sit within your hand. The action of the strings, the gap between the fretboard surface and the strings, should be low, but with no abolutely buzzing anywhere. Play up and down the neck and spend a bit of time getting to know each instrument. It`s a good idea to give each guitar a name that relates to how it sounds – molasses, coffee, warm, bright, hollow, rich, liqourice, etcetera. It`s all about the sound and the feel of the guitar – you should know which one you prefer almost intuitively – trust your instincts and use your HANDS and YOUR EARS – never use your eyes.

Narrow it down to your favourite one…Next start comparing and playing the guitars from your price range against the expensive guitar you most liked. Try and find one that most nearly matches the qualities you had admired in the more expensive model. You will have to make a compromise somewhere but hopefully you`ll be on your way. Better still sleep on it and go back the next day and spend some time playing the model you chose the day before just to see if it sill sounds good to your ear.

Best regards,

Jake Edwards

I recently wrote on my recording blog about perfectionism. My recent day long recording session with a plank of a guitar, a boiling hot studio, a strange routing to the desk, lack of sleep, the pressure of fast, fast decision making regarding choosing and recording guitar parts, the arrangement of these plus the vocals and the lyrics, the tempo of the song and the need to get on a plane at the end of the day, (which meant not using a Martin acoustic) all added up to a situation which was not ideal. Ideally I wanted Dave`s Martin acoustic (after all we were using top end Schoeps microphones & digidesign hardware), plus my Strat into two Award Session amplifiers for a great stereo mix.

The point is that looking for perfection can often become a barrier to achievement and it applies to learning the guitar, or any other instrument for that matter, or anything….Here is the simple version from the Rock Star Recipes discussion room window:

Perfect takes forever, Good takes time, S*** takes just 5 minutes.