I don't usually use a wah, but my buddies really like this one: I think you can get the Fulltone pedals at Guitar Center now, worth checking out and comparing to the Crybaby line of wahs.. This one has been getting lots of buzz too:
Sorry to get back to the "check this guy out" thing, but Charlie Hunter is pretty unique. He plays a combination bass/electric guitar with three bass strings and five guitar strings--and he's awesome. He's also perfected the overbite and "I'm crapping myself" look as he plays.
This is an embarrassingly entry level question, but I was wondering how someone figures out how to apply the beat of a song to a genre/dance. In other words, what are some characteristics of songs that would allow it to be danced to with say, East Coast Swing or Cha Cha?
Hey, I'm looking for advice on starting some home recording. I've only ever used a usb mic to my computer and Audacity for recording so I'm looking to upgrade. Basically, I don't know what I should be looking for online. I'm not looking for super duper CD quality finished product to come through, more just being able to have a solid product to present to people so that I can get people interested in jamming with me. I want a multi-track recorder but don't really know the differences in anything, and also what does MIDI do/mean? All explanations online are a lot of mumbo jumbo that aren't really making any sense to me. Another big thing is the drums. This will be fairly important to the finished product for me, but I won't have a drum kit to record on, nor am I good enough to play anyway. How easy are drum machines to use and how good is the finished product? Thanks in advance for anybody that can help.
I posted this waaaay earlier in the thread, answers your question I'm pretty sure. As for MIDI, it's pretty simple. All MIDI data is is numbers, and the numbers correspond to notes. The usual input device is a keyboard, So if you plug a MIDI keyboard into your computer and hit middle C, the keyboard will transmit the numbers corresponding. Let's say for simplicity's sake, middle C= 1. So you hit C, the computer reads "1." But that doesn't do anything, because there isn't a sound associated with "1." That's where the samples or synths come in. Samples are individual recordings of notes (from an acoustic instrument or drums or the like), while synths are, well, synthesized. The sounds are generated, not pre-recorded. Say you fire up a sample library of a violin. When you hit C, the computer reads 1, and it plays the sample that is linked to 1. In this case, it'll play middle C on the violin. With drum kits, obviously they don't play notes, so usually middle C is the kick drum, D is the snare, etc etc. All MIDI data is just numbers. It doesn't make any sounds by itself, it needs to be paired with something else. Hope that helps.
I just bought a Doyle Dikes signature acoustic/electric guitar. Man is this thing nice. Now only if I could play like that...
I could probably post this in a woodworking thread, too, but . . . for that matter, I could post it as a Rant, too. I got a new Epiphone LP Std a few months ago. I love it, and have started playing more because of it. (Uh, which still isn't much . . .) Anyway, dammit, I dropped it yesterday, and the neck landed on the iron base of a mic stand. It chipped off some of the laquer just behind where the fretboard transitions to the curve of the neck. (at the arrow in the photo) I can't feel it as I play, and you can't see it unless you look underneath. It's about 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser, but it's pretty deep. Also, it's peeled a little bit at the edge of the crack. Is there a laquer filler or some such thing I could use? I don't want it to get worse, or have the little peeled part snag on something. I want to just fill it with something, and then kind buff it out. As I wrote all that out, it kinda seems like a dumb question. Oh well.
Having just started learning the bass guitar over the past 3 months and seeing as how there are quite a few bass players on here, I hope some of you can steer me to some answers to the following questions. 1. When browsing around forums or websites I hear a lot of lingo being thrown around, that extracted, sounds a lot like the nonsense people talk about electronics. Things like, "Oh the sound of this bass has some punchy lows with a crunchy high and really wails during transitions." Can someone run down what some of the actual differences there are between the tones a bass can make and if there is actual meaning behind the differences outside of preference? 2. I have smallish hands. They aren't tiny, but I'm having a mildly difficult time stretching between frets and not hearing a buzz because I can't put enough pressure on the strings to get a consistent sound. As a reference, I can stretch between the 2nd and 5th frets consistently (first finger and pinkie), but making the stretch to the 6th fret is almost near impossible to get enough pressure on the string to get it to ring out clearly. My teacher has been giving me some exercises to help get more comfortable making that stretch, but is there any tips you've picked up along the way that might help? 3. My teacher is trying to keep me away from tabs to begin with. Teaching me more how to read music and understanding why I'm playing what I'm playing (music theory?) instead of teaching me songs. On my own I've been searching through tabs to find music I actually want to learn how to play and I've been sticking learning some songs onto the end of my practice times. The biggest question I have is, my lessons are SLLLLOOOOWWWW moving. I understand that learning to read music fluently and then play it is probably along the lines of learning a new spoken language, but what is a good timetable as far as progress goes? 4. I've only played with other people once and that was for a concert the school I'm taking lessons with puts on twice a year. I practiced with other people for maybe 3 or 4 hours in total before we played and it was definitely beneficial to play as a group instead of just playing alone. I have two friends who play an instrument, but both are in actual gig playing bands and are miles ahead of anywhere I'll be in the next year or so. Any suggestions as to where I can look to find like experienced people to play with and not have to hang posters "looking for bandmates"? 5. As far as the actual bass goes, any suggestions as to what a good beginner/intermediate bass would be to be playing on? $300-500 range. Musically, not into metal at all. I like 60's rock, funk, 90's alternative and some of the more modern alternative bands. (Muse, Phoenix, Modest Mouse, Silversun Pickups, Spoon etc) In addition to that, I want something smaller in size. I really like the feel of the MM Stingray/Rickenbacker, but those are thoroughly out of my price range. Something similar more in my ballpark?
This might be a fairly elementary question, but I'm not finding anything with Google. NSFW What exactly is meant by that "swoop" from 4th string open to 5th string 4th fret, or 3rd string 1st fret to 2nd string open? How is that played?
Yeah, open string isn't an effective method to play but I think they're doing this so the player stays in one position and isn't moving all around the neck of their guitar. It's easier to play in second position and go 5-4 than 0-4 on the second bar of that song; it's the same just 5-4 keeps you on the same string and is easier. For the part that goes 2-4 and changes strings, you can also move to the third position and do 6-4; it'll teach you position movements and where your hand is in relation to the notes on the neck of your guitar. Pull offs can be a bit tricky, check out this shitty youtube clip - they're also a fairly integral/necessary part of playing guitar. He's especially just taking the finger he's pulling off (it's a 5-4, he's pulling the 5 off); the trick is to drag your finger off making the string ring; you're almost strumming the string while taking your finger off.
That part I've figured out, the confusing bit was having that done on two separate strings. Thanks for the info, though.
For people with more chord/ theory knowledge than me: How in God's name does Uptown Girl work as a song? I never realized how competely weird the chord and key changes were until it got stuck in my head and I sat down to learn it quick. The first part starts easy, just an ascending D Maj- Emin- F#min- G Maj- A Maj. Fair enough. Then in the next part, with no sort of lead in, it pops to Bb Maj- Gmin- Cmin- F. Then in a little break back into the chorus, it hits G Maj- Emin- C Maj- AMaj. WHAT THE FUCK WHY Then the Wooahoohohohoho part is F Maj- G-Maj- E Maj-A Min- A Maj. Derp. Why does this flow together? Unless you're listening, you don't notice the key changes, but they're ridiculous. Is it just essentially "why not these chords now?" or is there more to it?
I don't post here much (obviously), but you're right, Ssyco, the changes are pretty weird. As far as I can figure, it's just modal borrowing: The switch to Bb maj is just a bVI maj, which is common in minor key. So you've basically just directly tonicized to D minor, which we're all totally fine with by now, so it sounds innocuous. The A maj, instead of A min is just another direct modulation to a closely related key from G->D, major II chords are uncommon, but not unheard of (think Mood Indigo minus the 7ths). I suspect the Wooahoohoo part is also just modal borrowing as well, Fmaj - Gmaj- E maj- Amin is a perfectly nice progression in A minor (dVI - bVII - V - i), then it just does another pivot between the major and minor again. And the transition into this part is justified since the verse ends on an A maj (in fact G maj to A maj), so it's just a pivot modulation. Anyhow, that's about as best as I can make it out, but I suspect that most of what makes it work is good voice leading, which tends to be easier to do with a vocal harmonies (in my experience). That all being said, those changes are totally fucked.
Within taste, yup. That's the thing about music theory; you can explain away pretty much any harmonic/melodic/rhythmic motion, but whether it sounds good or not is more dictated by whether it's stylistically appropriate or not than whether you can justify it. I tend to find that theory lends itself well to giving you you cool ideas to try out in your composing, and helps even more in breaking down songs and understanding what it is you're hearing, so you can remember the song better, and so you can incorporate the things you like into your own playing better, but even if it's "theoretically ok" to play a 9th chord aver any V chord, doesn't me that Rihanna tune you're jamming on will sound right with it. Know what I mean? But yeah, modal borrowing is awesome. That being said, I actually just sat down and mucked this out on my guitar, and what I wrote before doesn't necessarily apply (or, it's not the only justification, I guess). From the D major to Bb major part you *are* treating the Bb major as a bVI maj, but you pivot on it, so the key actually changes there, and you hear I-vi-ii-V (rhythm changes). So it's a pivot modulation, with a pretty nifty pivot. In terms of the seamlessness of the transition, it's also eased by the fact that you're doing "parallel major chords" (you're also allowed to just play any chords that have the same quality, one after another, so long as they have the same voicing). And I'm done music geeking out now...
My experience with music theory is helping to write the opposite of what you started with, like you come up with a cool verse riff and need a chorus to balance it out, etc. Easy to get trapped in "it doesn't work in theory!" land though. Can you go a little more into what you said about the pivot modulation here? In my experience, it's used a common chord, not one that's off the map like the bVI is here. Or is that going through the modal borrowing, like it borrows the bVI and then uses it to change keys?
Double_Stop: I haven't actually sat down and figured out the changes by ear as you did, but that analysis looks pretty spot on to me; makes sense and minimizes "weird stuff". Doesn't look like you're too rusty, to me. I'd also add that there are a few more cool things to take away from this: note that the ii-V that modulates to Bb from Db has the minor vii (in Db) as its ii. This helps the change be less noticeable than if it were coming off the IV, V or I, since we tend to hear diminished chords (which the vii ought to be) as "more minor" than major chords, so it's less jarring to use. Long story short: if you want to modulate up a minor 3rd in a sneaky way, a ii-V off the minor vii is a good way to go. Then you can use the same melody, as double_stop said, and suddenly it harmonizes differently, since you just changed the key by a 3rd, most of your chord tones will still fall on chord tones. Nifty as fuck. It also bears pointing out that the whole "set up for a minor chord, then play a major chord" or vice versa trick is amazingly common, and totally worth putting in your bag of composing tricks. Pivot modulations are exactly that "using a common chord". I suppose you *could* hear it as a direct modulation, but I don't, and I suspect most people don't either. This kind of brings me back to the point that theory is a lot of justification; it's a narrative that we use to explain why stuff works, and it's generally pretty effective. But it's not actually why things work. Certain harmonies and melodies sound good because we've heard them before. There's no intrinsic "rightness" too them; they work because we've learned to accept that specific interplay of dissonance and consonance, which has evolved throughout the history of Western music (in fact, the reason we like 3rds and make chords in triads has nothing to with the actual sound, but more to do with the fact that the Church controlled the making of music all throughout its formation in the Western world, and loves the number 3). All that digression is to say, is that, when you're analysing music, it's always best to try to take the path of least resistance, in a sense; the thing that happens most commonly is normally the best explanation. In my experience, we're completely accustomed to a IV-V-bVI progression, in fact, bVI-bVII-I was used as far back as the 1600's, justified by the fact that this is just a Picardy 3rd in an otherwise standard progression. We've long since then started using IV-V-bVI-bVII-I as pretty standard major progression (try it! It doesn't really sound dissonant at all, right?) In any case, that's what justifies (to my mind, anyhow) the use of a bVI as a pivot chord; when coming off a IV-V, it's just not jarring enough for us to immediately register it as a key change (at least, I don't). Although, I'm sure if you went back in time a couple hundred years, people would register it as a modulation to the minor key. So yeah, it depends on context, but generally, if a key change that should be jarring (modulations of a major 3rd are pretty "out there") isn't, it's likely because a pivot is happening somewhere. Sorry to be so long winded all this. Music is fun.
Does your store have a website? My local mom/pop shop has crap for inventory(guitars, amps, cabinets, petals, and such) as they focus more on the school band type shit and something deep down in my bowels tells my Guitar Center is the devil. If it does can you PM me the address? I just would like to look and if I decide to buy I'll PM you.
My dreams of being a rockstar are long past. My electric guitar and bass have sat for many years unloved with no future prospects of being really used again. My wife made a great suggestion to move them and get an acoustic which I can play while camping, or just play for my daughter. So, this has two parts. What could I realistically get for the few pieces I have and the best places to go about selling them? Also, I'm a lefty and my choices have always been a little limited. I'm looking for a sub-$1000 acoustic. I have a guitar, a bass, a bass amp and two pedals. The guitar is a 1995 American Standard Stratacaster, verified by Made in U.S.A. on the headstock and serial number dating it and verifying it to be made in Corona California. It's gloss black, nothing too special but in perfect condition with a fender lefty hardshell case. It looks like MIA strats from this time period seem to go for between $650 and $1000. Spoiler The bass is nothing special. It's a lefty Ibanez TR50. I know I won't get much, but anything is better than nothing. Spoiler The amp was the hardest to identify. It's an early 90's Fender Bassman 60 amp. Part of their sidekick line. 1 15" speaker, solid state amp. List in early 90's was $370. I paid $250 or so in 94. Any idea on this would be great. Craigslist, ebay, local shop. Where's the best way to move a heavy monster like this. Still works great. Spoiler Last are the two pedals. An Ibanez tubescreamer TS9 and a Dunlop Bass Crybaby GDB-100. Prices seem to range from $50 to $90 or so each. Again, any suggestions are welcome. Spoiler I'd like to sell all of these and use the proceeds to buy a decent acoustic, sub $1000. I've been told by many that for the price a Seagull S6 can't be beat. I've seen Taylor and Martin have a couple models under $1000 but I'm not sure how good they will be as at least the Martins in the sub-1000 aren't full solid wood. This is where I'll take any and all suggestions. Either here or by PM. Do you know of any other brands that make lefty acoustics that I should look at. I'm very much a novice, but I'd like something that would last a long time and have good enough sound. Thanks.