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@mystudiolove-blog
Attakulla Performing "Cry Some Other Day". Video of my band, Attakulla, performing last weekend in Indianapolis. Recording music is great but if you can't also perform it then you're missing out on all the fun. Get out and play people!
What You Should Never Forget to Bring With You When Guitar Shopping. I recently stopped by a local Guitar Center to check out a Gibson I'd been eyeing. I made the ultimate mistake: walking into the store without my pedal board. Why is this a problem? First, nearly every guitar in the store will be out of tune. You're gonna want your tuner pedal. Plus, it's likely the store's guitars will have old, crappy strings on it. This makes it likely it'll go out of tune even faster. There's no way to determine how good a guitar will sound if the strings are always flat or sharp. Second, if you're buying a new guitar you need to know how it will sound through your gear, not the store's gear. So bring your pedals. Heck, bring your amp too. I've done this before and it makes a huge difference. I've trained my ears to the sound of my gear. But if I play a new guitar through a completely different amp how will I know if it's the guitar or the amp (or both) that sounds different? Finally, avoid the despair of coming home from the store with your shiny new instrument (and a sense of excitement) only to realize that it sounds completely dreadful through your gear. Please, if you go guitar shopping bring your own gear!
(Photo: Flickr - jjackson414)
Picks Make A Difference to Guitar Tone. I honestly didn't believe this until I noticed that over the years I steadily gone from using .88 mm picks all the way down to .50 mm. This change has occurred over the course of four years. Green, yellow, orange and now red. I've used nearly all of these Dunlop picks. Do my ears notice the difference? Yep. The heavier the pick, the darker the tone and vice-versa for the thinner picks. By the way, I normally play rhythm guitar. Those .50 mm picks might get a little flimsy for lead players.
Explosions In The Sky: If you ever have fans creating music videos for your band, I hope they look as good as this one. Inspirational. Amazing quality.
VibeDeck: I'm in love with this service! I found VibeDeck just the other day after seeing it on another artist's site. Immediately I created my own account and installed the widget on my band's homepage. Already we're getting more album downloads than we had through other platforms and we're adding several new email addresses to our distribution list. VibeDeck reminds me a lot of the Topspin widget I've seen on the sites of large national artists. It looks similar and has some of the same functionality but it's available for smaller, local artists like me. I highly recommend checking out VibeDeck. You can see how it looks on my site: attakulla.com
Toontrack EZkeys. Look, I'm not going to blame anyone that feels a need to use a MIDI tool like this to write and record songs, but if you can work with an actual pianist, please do so! Not because I want you to support local musicians (though that's good too), but because your songs will have some life to them. Just like with drum sampling software, your music can come across as lifeless if it's always locked into a grid. Real drummers and pianists add flavor with subtle touches. And sometimes those touches are actually slight imperfections. It's those imperfections that simply cannot be replicated by software. Again, if you don't have access to a decent keys player or a talented drummer, by all means, try your hand at these MIDI programs. But don't get your hopes up. Music is all about creating an emotion. Don't let perfection get in the way of a good piece of music.
Glen Phillips Guitar Pedals. The other week I went with my wife to a Toad The Wet Sprocket concert. Nice '90s nostalgia show. After the show I took a photo of Glen Phillips guitar pedal chain. From what I can see he's using a BOSS TU-2, BOSS OC-2, RAT distortion, Fulltone OCD, Line 6 MP Stompbox Modeler, plus a Line 6 Relay G30 Digital Wireless Guitar System. For his acoustic guitar he's got a Korg Pitch Black tuner through a Radial J48 DI box.
Native Instruments Premium Tube Series. Today Native Instruments announced a new set of plug-ins titled Premium Tube Series. I've used software that emulates the warmth of analog tape (for example, Waves' Kramer Master Tape) and been very pleased with the results on my mixes. But I haven't used anything that replicates tube EQ. Interested to try this soon and see if it makes a difference.
Guitar Rig - recording guitar with software. Video of me using Native Instruments' Guitar Rig to record some guitar parts into Pro Tools. You can hear the before and after effect of using this plug-in software to help shape the guitar's sound.
Saffire PRO 40. A few years ago I upgraded and bought this audio interface for one simple purpose: to record drums. At the time I was using an old Mbox 2 that had served me well for creating song demos. But when my band decided to record an album at my house instead of at a professional studio I needed an interface that had enough inputs to record my drummer's kit. With eight mic inputs the Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 had just enough to get the job done. At a price under $600 this firewire unit was ideal for my home studio. Though I wouldn't necessarily consider it a mobile interface, we did unplug it from my home setup and took it along with my computer to my drummer's house to record in a nice room with tall ceilings. The results were excellent. If you're looking for an interface with multiple inputs under $1,000 I would highly recommend the Saffire PRO 40. My band's entire album was recorded through it! Listen to album recorded with Saffire PRO 40
Rock 'n Roll Faces. Found a photo from 2009 of my old band, Nightjar, performing live. I'm guessing from the expressions on our faces, and the cans of PBR, that we were having a good time.
Toontrack EZ Drummer. Every time Toontrack sends me an email regarding an update to their drum sampling software (like they did today) I pause and consider buying it. It doesn't appear to be too expensive and the demos sound quite good. Then I have to remind myself of the times I've used similar software and the lack of joy I felt working with it. To be fair I've used BFD2, a similar product to Toontrack's software. I've never tried EZ Drummer or Superior Drummer. But it wasn't the software that was joyless. It was the lack of collaboration. I dreaded sitting in front of my computer and arranging the verse beats, drum fills, etc. It was a completely solo experience, completely unlike the journey you take when crafting music with other musicians. Plus, the final recorded results from my drum software didn't sound organic. I know that's not a great description but trying to create "feel" from a machine is nearly impossible. So, whenever possible work with a real drummer. Learn how to properly mic a drum kit. You'll likely find the experience much more enjoyable.
Ben Nichols guitar pedal chain. As a follow-up to my earlier post regarding the guitar tone of Ben Nichols of the band Lucero, here is the photo I took immediately after their show at The Vogue in Indianapolis. You can hear his tone in this video I took of him performing "Bruised Ribs", a cover of a Joey Kneiser song. Video: "Bruised Ribs" - Lucero. On a side note, I have no idea why he likes using those coiled guitar cords. He and Brian actually got their cords twisted at one point during the show. Looks annoying.
No one remembers the CD longbox debate? I received a prize at work today. A set of earbuds. The prize itself was fine. I actually needed a new pair. What surprised me was the amount of packaging some marketing exec decided was necessary to promote a product so small. It reminded me of the CD longbox issue back in 1992. Then, consumers seemed to care about the effects of wasteful packaging. Not so sure I can say the same today. Stop by any Costco and decide for yourself. Oh, and if you're too young to remember the CD longbox controversy, here's the MTV News clip from that year: MTV News Segment about CD Longbox Packaging (filmed inside Tower Records)
I hate it when this happens
Guaranteed to happen to me one out of three times I change my guitar strings.
Download Cards Instead of CDs. I went to a dinner party the other night and guests were asking me about my band. I told them a little about our style and sound but then realized I could simply give them a download card so they could hear the music for themselves. I handed them each a card. A few of us then got into a discussion about how very few people even want CDs anymore. In fact, I have a stack of CDs sitting at home that artists have given to me for free. They're still in the shrink wrap. So, if you're going to give away music you might as well provide them a download card that costs you less than a can of soda to produce. Plus, a card can fit easily into anyone's pants pocket. Try doing that with a CD. My band had ours printed by Dropcards. They have a great interface that allows us to see how many cards have been redeemed and which fans provided us with their email address.
A Lesson About Guitar Tone from Lucero. Are you obsessed with guitar tone? What guitarist with any sense of pride isn't? But you don't need to pay a small fortune to get the tone you desire. This week I went to see one of my all time favorite bands, Lucero. Ben Nichols is able to produce a growl from his setup that has an overdriven aggression to it but also comes across warm and clear. Pure heaven as far as I'm concerned. For Lucero's punk/country style, Ben's tone is perfect. So, as soon as the show was over I stepped up near the stage to see his gear. I expected to see an array of boutique pedals that helped him achieve tone nirvana through his Epiphone Sheraton II. I was surprised to see a tuner, a Holy Grail reverb pedal, and a Fulltone Fat-Boost. That was it. Outside of his amp (a small tube amp that I can't recognize) all of his gear, including the guitar, can be bought at a local music store for less than $1,000. The lesson: less is more. Use gear that helps you produce one signature, golden tone. And limit the toys you use to get there. Let the guitar and amp be the basis of your sound and only add pedals that add a hint of flavor to your tone.
