Tips Archive
January, 2008
Another new year's resolution to to re-direct my music practice focus for 2008. I think I could have learned more new songs, learning and then recalling songs from memory is critical. I spent the last year working diligently on breaking my position playing and in developing better right hand technique. Practice time was slanted more toward guitar than to music. This can become a deficiency. Position playing is hard to break and will always be a fallback for me. Playing by spanning 6 frets, playing melodies in key rotations and all string combinations of note enclosures without position changes has helped. My right hand has come along by practicing slow, smooth sweep picking, by 'burst speed' exercises, and catagorized practice of up/down sweep movements. Recently, I have been working onf hybrid picking single-note lines (pick and fingers)and corss-picking (using open strings mixed with fretted notes, both more of a country thing). Lastly, I have started playing slide again. All of this seems to be due to my interest in the Trainwreck band and where the sound is going with this group. I guess I should also say I have been working on singing and harmonizing, nothing fancy. I just don't want dogs to howl (which almost happened the other night!).This year, my approach will be to write down my goals and then align a group of practice patterns that get me there. Last year, most of my reading and playing by ear was done on the bandstand, with practice focusing more on technique. I will reverse this practice in 2008; to improve my reading and my transcribing skills. A second change will be "press record" - do more recording and to also use recorded material for transcribing, arranging, and harmonizing. There is a $12 book by Jerry Coker that describes the concept of selecting practicing content and then most importantly, time management control to reach individual goals. This book appeals to the engineer in me (need for order) and helps keep me focused, at least I think it does! I'm not saying this works for everyone; the approach risks just playing and having fun! For me, having clear objectives and goals moves the needle.
August 15 and September 4, 2007
I bought two amps; a new Epiphone Jr. head, and then a modified Epiphone Jr.combo amp on Ebay. OK, this amp is"The Sound" for me. Why? easy to control (2 knobs, 1 switch), good tone at low volume, lots of 2nd order distortion, and lightwieght (34# combo). The amplifier is also inexpensive. I'm merely tweeking things now.This amp is a single-ended two tube design, 12AX7 and EL84, 6 watts and diode driven. It is similar to the Galaxy amp I have but the EL84 has a brighter, more British sound. The modified amp has Bitmo TRIO mods installed. Simply installing a 3-way switch to change voicing (Fender-Vox-Marshall) and a pull-boost on the single tone control addes HUGE flexibility. The amp actually needs a brake as it can be too loud!. Combined with a microphone or driect box and PA, I can use this amp for any gig and probably for a more vintage jazz sound as well (but I'm working on this, the amp likes single coil pickups better than humbuckers right now).
I purchased two amps because I want to be able to compare various changes to the amp and setup as I make them. I have been experimenting with tube selections and will try sealed 12" and 15" cabinets with the head. Over time, I may change the output transformer (if more bass is needed) and experiment with the supply capacitors (more bit and less sag in sustained notes).
December, 2006
Update - playing from a single 'position' on the guitar. I continue to develop exercises spanning six frets as maintaining this position for any key. A couple approaches that work for me: modulate triads, digital shapes, and runs in minor and major thirds (again, from a single position. Both ideas work directly to alter a dominant but can be used for modal playing as well. For modal settings, alternate from the pentatonic pattern on the I with V or the II. Both will be heard as extensions on the I chord. The point - learn to play any key from a single position and not to 'move with the chord center'. This builds one's ability to hear the intervals instead of 'playing the patterns.January, 2005
I am a position player. By that, I mean I reference most of my single note lines from chords and positions. This technique is good and bad: Good - I can find a "lick" around any chord, Bad - I have to find a chord (and sometimes look at the neck) to play a lick! Position playing is a distinct disadvantage for very fast parts that modulate and for sight-reading. I have been working on breaking this habit with a trick I learned from Jack Grassel. OK, I am still learning...OK, OK, OK...habits are hard to break! The concept is to play in one position but to span six frets so that one can span 3-1/2 octave of chromatic notes without moving one's hand. Checkout Jack's link above. For me, starting from Giant Steps is almost too much (but it does get the point across). I started to learn this technique by repeating patterns chromatically, first with scales, then storter quartals (patterns of four notes, try 1,2,3,5 for a major and 1, b3,4,5 for a minor, see Cory Christiansen for more info). Diminished paterns/scales and whole note scales are good exercise as well. I am now practicing modulating song melodies while maintaining a single position. For some reason, this exercise has also helped me translate octave jumps and other intervals more quickly. I wonder - did this approach come from Tal Farlow? Jack played briefly with Tal, who (I think) used his big hands (and a shorter scale guitar) to grab chromatic notes on adjacent strings. Tal was so musical - he had overcome the technical difficulties associated with playing what he heard.....I got to get there.Anyway, I have been working on this technique now for 3 years. It's difficult to break old habits but I think my reading of incidentals has gotten better (try "Twisted") and I am more accurate on the bandstand picking out melodies to new songs. Thanks Jack!
December 28, 2005
I wish PG music would stop running specials on their Band-in-a-Box at Christmas. I never have much money left! The recent updates allow for use of sampled sounds instead of the prior soft-synth. The ForteDxi sampler sounds a lot better, though it does cost another $40 to activate (there is a free 30 day trial.Jamstix Virtual Drummer - I have been trying to improve drum sounds and came across a VST plug-in from Razoon that I highly recommend. From their site - "Rayzoon's ground-breaking virtual drummer VSTi runs synchronized with your sequencer and jams with your MIDI play (or even audio-in signal) using its innovative free jam mode where rhythms are created on-the-fly. It also offers jamming based on an extensive rhythm library as well as creating professional drum tracks complete with intro, fills and ending with its easy-to-use built-in arranger". The program was s cinch to get up and running - documentation is very good and the company has been very helpful via eamil. This product uses sampled drum sounds and actually generates variation in the drum patterns. Additionally, the program interacts with either analog volume from your instrument or midi signals. The program will run as a stand-alone program, the trick is to scale the input signal sensitivity to your instrument. I got some usable drums sounds in pretty short order. The brush-set is most useful for jazz, the rest of the sounds are more rock oriented (and a hoot to play along with!).
March 13, 2005
I found a rock/country voice for my strat - I got an Epiphone Galaxy 10 and a Vision Route 66 stomp box. The amp is just two tubes - a 12AT7 feeding a 6L6 with a single-ended output. This design is unique to smaller amps (Fender Champ and others) and is charactoristic in that there is no distortion cancellation as is found in more powerful push-pull output stage designs. The resulting harmonics are a strong octave above the fundamental, tending to soften the sound out. I can dial in the amount of distoriton using the master volume. The sound by itself, coming from a Celestian 10" is a little thin, but with a mike on it the sound is huge with plenty of bottom end. The Route 66 is icing - giving added compression (for sustain) and a tube overdrive to bring up the energy level (sounds like SRV). The amp design downsides are with volume and background hiss. It is possible to parallel the output and double the power from 10 to upt to 20Watts (THD bi-valve design, lower-cost options are some interesting kits from Weber VST and Angela) . The hiss is the downside of no noise cancellation in the output stage - though this can be reduced with better power supply filtering and perhaps a DC filement supply. Regardless, this is the best rock sound I've had and yet still offering a bit of flexibility for a cleaner sound when desired. PS - the Epiphone does need a little modification - swap the 12AX7 for a 12AT7 (less output so the 6L6 distortion is more pronounced) and use JJ Tesla tubes. I also liked the 6V6 sound (less power) and plan to try out some Tung-Sol tubes in the future.November 15, 2004
I bought a Mel Bay publication "Jazz Intros and Endings" by Ron Eschete and worked through the first 15 of 60 examples. I listened to the CD in my car a few times. Some examples are very simple but one thing I really like - Ron provides each example presented in multiple keys. The melodies are slightly modified to fit but picking keys separated by a third or a fourth really open up each example to be used in ANY key. I recommend this book to anyone looking to add interest to their song presentation. I am providing most (if not all) intro/endings now in our combo so this book is very useful to me.October 2, 2004
I upgraded the studio, adding eight additional inputs for a total of sixteen input channels. We had run out of input channels only a few times but I want to get a consistant approach to miking the drums with four channels and know I would have to continue to revise the mike setup as we change other miking needs. I also got a second headphone amp that allows individual mixes, the lack of individual mixes has been a problem is past sessions and now this problem is solved. I now have a patchbay setup for input conditioning which should make it handy for changing pre-amps, effects, etc.July 29, 2004
Recording - I finally upgraded the studio PC and operating system to XP. I got the PC custom built at Milwaukee PC. I got almost what I wanted, I reworked the cooling system after the purchase with temperature control, larger CPU heatsink, and quieter fans. I upgraded to Cubase SX and now have plenty of headroom for VST effects. Additionally, I finally "engineered" an on-going drive backup plan that is I can live with. The first recording I completed was a demo for a wedding ceremony, my daughter Rachel is featured on the vocals. I can hardly wait to get the gang over for a recording session.July 29, 2004
Gear - I picked up a Godin Multiac ACS-SA solid-body classical guitar. This is a very interesting instrument as it is a nylon string guitar with wider string spacing for fingerpicking but also has a built-in Roland synthesizer pickup. The guitar has a very smooth and consistant jazz tone, it works extremely well for Latin songs. I have also now used this guitar multiple times on the job to play bass! Some tricks the guitar synth will do - open string tunings on demand, doubled bass lines with the lower strings of the guitar, string pad backups to traditional guitar sounds. I am still learning all the possibilities using the synth as many traditional instruments can be emulated. No doubt, there are limits to how much one can emulate the expressiveness of wind and brass instruments, but there are ways to work around these deficiencies and provide a versitility not found in a traditional guitar. Many of the keyboard sounds are very useful, organ and vibes are two favorites.May, 2004
I recently upgraded the studio PC and operating system. This thankless job required that I replace my Cubase software with the latest XP version. Of course it also meant reloading all previous software. I took the opportunity to get everything organized and also to develop a more comprehesive drive-drive backup plan by use of additional hard drives. The new PC is very fast! I have recorded and played back eight channels of Audio (it will handle more) along with 12 channels of Sampletank midi channels and at least 3 VST effects as well. This is more than enough power since most mixes involve some pre-mastering mixdowns. The only issue I ran into - the new PC case has six fans! To quiet this beast down, I replaced all fans with low-noise versions, upgraded the CPU heat sink, and added a fan controller with temperature monitoring. The hightest temperature this setup has measured at the case discharge is 90 degrees F., and on a hot day! I can now safely close my PC desk door on this unit for very quiet (acoustic guitar) recordings. By the way, the folks at Milwaukee PC just didn't get my request for a quiet PC. I engineered the reduced sound level myself, consequently voiding my warranty as well. Hey, it's that important!May 7, 2003
Recording - I ran out of inputs for recording the other day. To solve the problem, I used a small 4-input Behringer mixer as a sub-mixer to the board. This gave me a stereo drum signal that I added to the remaining inputs. Why did I run out of inputs? Well, I was recording our country band which has three singers, three guitars, bass and drums. One of those singers is me!Guitar & Music - I have been playing a classical guitar quite a bit lately. I like the sound of the classical for latin tunes. I think it helps to play without a pick as well. I normally play with a pick but pluck strings with my other fingers as well. On a classical, one should play single line melodies by alternating the first and second fingers. I just don't do that very often, it is a good exercise.
Gear. I borrowed a small KORG amp modeler when I went on vacation to Florida last month. The unit was about the size of a cigarette pack, fitting easily into the storage compartment on a strat case. There is a built in drumm machine as well as an aux input where one can connect a portable CD player. The sounds are very good. In fact, I liked the jazz chorus sound better than the Behringer V-amp that I have! (Now I'm hunting around for a good chorus to add to my gizmo collection, looking at the old MXR units.) Portability is the big plus with this unit. I could literally take this thing to the beach (uses 2 AA bateries) and jam along with my Jamey Aebersold Backing tracks, etc. Cool stuff!
February 20, 2003
Recording - Question: What can I do to improve my studio? Answer: Press "RECORD!" (Greg Ondo quote) It is really easy to put off recording while waiting or worrying about getting some new piece of gear. Don't worry, press record!Guitar & Music - Want a good exercise in modulation? Try the 'Coltrane Changes.' Some say this chord change sequence was inspired by the bridge to the song 'Have You Met Miss Jones.' The key centers move in major thirds from G to B to Eb. Of course, the song 'Giant Steps' demonstrates how to play this sequence forward, backward, and at different timings! A great exercise for a guitarist is to attempt this modulation 'in position.' I have my favorite positions for keys but this song goes entirely too fast to make bold position moves. Try ascending and descending scales that change to the above key centers 'on the fly.' A good reference to this exercise was published in "Just Jazz Guitar" magazine by Jack Grassell (from Milwaukee way).
Gear. I am just sold on the sounds I am getting from my Behringer V-AMP 2. This unit sells for around $150 or less and models all amps I have ever used, many I never used due to cost. Behringer's web site offers editing software that runs on your PC, connecting to your soundcard, one can upload and download 'patches.' I erased all the factory stuff and use very basic amp emulations: great Marshalls, Mesa-Boogies, Fenders, etc. The reverb level has a dedicated volume control, all other effects are easily modified while performing.