Posts Tagged ‘Guitar’

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How To Be One With Your Acoustic Guitar

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

There is another side of acoustic guitar buying that I seldom hear discussed. This may be the mystical tendency.
I am one of those new age types that believes the life of the wood worker is crafted into the instrument.  Sometimes you can feel the vibe of an instrument while it is sitting on the stand, or hanging on the while even before you pick it up for the first time. An instrument made by a life in gloom and dispair will have that could of deppression hanging over it for ever!It would not be a bad thing if your specialty is the blues. A guitar born of the heart will live heartily.

Just because a guitar is not hand made does not meant it is lifeless. Each guitar is the result of an idea that someone had. The guitar was crafted from exotic woods grown in exotic lands. How many years of sunshine and rain are stored in that dreadnought or solid body? Think of all the different people from the various places around the world that participated in the making of that guitar? Be honest now, how many of us get more spiritual satisfaction out of looking at a Gibson exhibition than one by dead Van-whoever at the big city art museum. I sometimes like to look at dead.

There was this time I was shopping for a new acoustic guitar at the local establishment.This time I did not come to the store with an empty pocket and I wanted to buy a guitar. There had been an acoustic electric by Takamine that I was interested in. I picked it up and played it again, for the umpteenth time. It was a great looking guitar and it played as good as it looked but it left me feeling empty. I was feeling a bit dissatisfied with this guitar. the guitar was back on display as I moved towards the door with my money still in my pocket. I was almost out of the store when I had a feeling that I should return to the used guitar department. I had browsed that department only moments before. I had looked at an interesting electric guitar but had no intention of buying one.
On a whim I made my way to the used guitar section that I had been in earlier that evening but this time I saw the Crafter. I had always thought of Crafters as kind of cheap guitars. This guitar looked well made. I picked it up and it was love at first strum. I took that guitar home that night. that instrument sent a message to me.
I admit it, the guitar resonated with me before I saw it. I have exposed myself as one of those flakey types that haunt the new age section of the local book store.

Call it an accident if you want but I believe it was metaphysical. I am convinced that music can be a metaphysical experience that has no limit to its depths. Even while shopping for a fingerstyle  acoustic guitar.Good luck with your fingerstyle guitar search!

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How To Get The Most Out Of Your Acoustic Set List.

Friday, May 14th, 2010

If your band can perfect a powerful acoustic set list they will be perceived as more versatile and open minded. A lot of heartfelt emotion is generated from this type of music. Keep in mind the several concepts that will help you do it in the most affective fashion. Appropriate low tones, appropriate percussion and the right type of playing environment are all very important. The music should also be played and recording in a particular way as well.

Just as in electric music, low tones play a very central part in acoustic music. Electric rock bass lines, can often be way to powerful for this type of music. They just do not fit with the lightly strummed guitar. Several things can fix this very easily. The primary guitarist can either create low tones with his thumb while he plays the guitar arrangement or another guitarist can create this effect using a standard six string instrument. Having your choice of bassist play these tones on a special acoustic bass is another viable option.

The proper type of percussion will also help set the right type of mood for the acoustic music you are playing. Traditional drum kits do not sometimes fit, unless played softly. Keep in mind there are many types of hand percussion like bongo drums that compliment acoustic arrangements. A tambourine or bean shaker might also keep the beat appropriately.

Playing the proper environment is often overlooked. It is a very important part of the acoustic set however. It helps to accomplish the right type of sound. An environment with good projection and acoustics is very important. The tighter the better. Any audience members should always be moved in as close as possible. A guitar that produces loud clear tones is also preferred. The dreadnought acoustic guitar often works very well for such a thing. The best quality is achieved from this.

The musician must play acoustic music a very specific way to achieve the best type of sound from it. The person playing tends to be sitting in some kind of a chair. They also try to relax themselves as much as possible. It is very important that this type of music tend to run slower as well. Do not forget this when translating from an electric or rock set. Fingering is usually the choice although picks are also used. The alvarez acoustic guitar is a very good instrument for pickers.

Not only should this music be played in a certain way but it also has a certain way to be recorded. The best quality of recording is achieved through this. An acoustic guitar with an electric output is a very useful tool for recording. This gives the benefits of electrical recording but delivers an acoustic sound. Ibanez makes a lot of these and you cannot go wrong with an ibanez acoustic electric guitar. If traditional acoustic instruments are used simply use boom microphones. Strategically place them at the feet of the people playing. There are also some microphones that were designed to be attached onto the body of a guitar. Keep all these options in mind.

Learning to master the acoustic sets can help your act out for so many obvious reasons. The benefits are often great. The number one benefit is to display your band as a versatile one.

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What’s Important When Selecting A Guitar

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

Gaining an appreciation of a certain musical instrument — in this case, the guitar — is exceedingly easy, especially when one takes only a few minutes to begin to appreciate the beauty of the well-made instrument, no matter what one it is. In the case of a guitar, it’s doubly easy because it’s actually relatively simple to learn to play, along with being a beautiful instrument itself.

For example, think for a minute about how really popular a dreadnought acoustic guitar is among certain musicians. This is especially the case when it comes to any singer-songwriter, no matter his or her fame or popularity. Because the guitar is portable and can be carried anywhere, most any musician can pull one out and work out a chord progression that may have just popped in his or her head, for example.

This is actually the real beauty of just about any guitar, because that portability means that it is easily carried around in a case or a bag, on one’s back or at one’s side. And it’s generally one of the more portable instruments out there, and certainly more so than a grand piano or drums, though this isn’t a criticism of those two types of musical instruments. However, guitars have brought music to the masses for over a century now.

Nowadays, the list of guitar makers out on the marketplace is endless. They can be found in almost every music store — which may feature a really nice Alvarez acoustic guitar alongside three or four other different makes of the same kind of guitar — and at a variety of prices. Certainly, music stores carry many more guitars than they do traditional band instruments, partly because they are relatively easy to play.

It really matters little what the style of music that’s going to be played on a guitar, because just about any style — from classical all the way up to highbrow jazz — transfers over very easily to a guitar. Maybe somebody has been hit with a desire to learn to play music and is casting about for the right kind of instrument to play it on. Going with a guitar could be the solution.

Never forget that a better-made guitar always makes it easier to learn to play music, however. When one has the choice between a generic department store guitar sold for relatively little money and a Takamine acoustic guitar that may cost a little bit more but which will play 1000 times better, try to go with the brand-name guitar when possible.

Gaining the respect for what musical instruments can bring, therefore, begins to happen almost as soon as one looks at the instrument and then picks it up. Guitars, because they are relatively easy to learn to play, have been popular among the masses for going on a century now. And well-made ones really make the task of learning to play music much easier than almost any other instrument, and that’s a beautiful thing.

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Pick Up An Air Guitar And Let Your Imagination Soar!

Friday, March 19th, 2010

If you look at a human brain, you will see that it’s split right down the middle into a left half and a right half. The two halves only share slender connections and they operate independently of each other.

The left brain is the one that houses the speech and language centers. We have become so conditioned to rely on speech, logic and other left brain functions that many of us are not even able to easily access the right brain except in our dreams. We even think in words, constantly engaging in an inner dialog with nobody but oneself!

The right brain is where are emotions and imagination express themselves. We have been conditioned by our society to predominantly use only our left brains and many psychologists believe that it is important for us to break out of that habit by consciously learning to use our imagination. Learning to play air guitar is a great way to do that. Learning to use your right brain is like taking off a heavy black helmet that has been keeping you captive in your left brain’s speech and logic centers.

If air guitar does not appeal to you, then you can choose another media for your right brain imaginary journey. In this example, however, we are going to choose a Dreadnought acoustic guitar. Music is the ‘language’ through which the right brain expresses itself and so is the perfect choice.

If you like, go into an imaginary guitar store and choose another brand, like a Takamine acoustic guitar. We’re not trying to promote a particular brand, here. The idea is to choose an instrument that you can identify with to use as your air guitar. Once you have chosen it, feel it in your hands and look at how beautiful it is. Now start strumming on your imaginary guitar. See what comes into your head. It may be a favorite riff or you might even find yourself playing your very own original composition.

If you can hear the music playing in your mind, you are off to a great start. Your right brain is now activated. If you are new to this, your left brain will take over and try to get you to analyze what you are doing or something and the sounds and images will fade. If you concentrate and fill in the picture, imagining yourself playing in front of a crowd, it will help.

You will know that you have had a successful imaginary journey when you open your eyes and feel lighter and happier. The right brain is not restricted by time or space and you will feel the weight of the world fall off your shoulders. Go on, get to know your right brain. You will be happier for it!

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Looking for great guitar tone? Look no further!

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Guitar amp modelers are getting more and more popular and are finding it's ways from the smallest home studio setup to the largest arena stages. Guitar amp modeling is like an ocean of tone for the tone searching guitarist. Without the need to carry tons of equipment. You get the sounds from classic amps, stompboxes and cabinets at the tip of your finger.

www.ampmodeling.com is the website to go to if you would like to try the sounds that other guitarists has created with their gear or if you would like to share your own tone presets.

But just like with analog gear, the tone you get from plugging your guitar into your computer or desktop modeling gear depends on the gear (in this case, software) that you use to model the amps. There are a variety of applications available for computer-using musicians, and here, in alphabetical order, are a few of the best.

Amplitube
IK Multimedia has made it's range of Amplitube software into a complete franchise. Currently there's six different versions of the Amplitube software: Amplitube 2, Amplitube Jimi Hendrix, Amplitube 2 Live, Ampeg SVX, Amplitube Metal and the all new Amplitube Fender (in close co-operation with Fender).

Gearbox
Line 6’s Gearbox is a flexible piece of software that allows you to configure most aspects of your guitar tone. Using Gearbox you have access to a large number guitar amp models, guitar cab models, bass amp models, bass cab models, stompboxes and studio effects, six mic preamp models.

Gearbox works with Line6's different IO interfaces (such as the Toneport or Guitarport) as well as it's desktop and floor units (POD XT / X3 etc)

Guitar Rig
GuitarRig 3 has a very nice user interface that is split vertically between your presets on the left and your rig components on the right.

The brilliance of Guitar Rig is the ability to create so many different tones. This is in large part due to the variety of amps that are modeled in the software.

ReValver Mk II
ReValver is a valve modeling package with amps and stompboxes, but it also takes a somewhat different approach than it's competitors does.

In addition to changing amps and adding effects, ReValver allows you to dig into the power amp rectifiers and output transformers. You can configure basically every single bit of this guitar amp modeling software.

Tonelab
The VOX Tonelab is a desktop (or stage floor) unit but VOX is giving it's users access to a free piece of software that can be used to access all the tone possibilities of this unit and save as presetfiles. These presets can of course be shared at…yepp you guessed it: www.ampmodeling.com

Overloud TH 1
The Overloud TH 1 is often praised and loved by it’s users but is fairly unknown in some markets. But it's well worth to check out if you are looking for great tone!

Don't miss out on all the great sounds for your guitar. Check out: www.ampmodeling.com

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