It’s Guitar Hero 3 online for your time-passing plesure. Sorry, no Explorer guitars with buttons on this version, but you can rock your keyboard pretty hard if you try. Enjoy!
One of the best tools I’ve been introduced to in the last few years turned out to be one of the best self guitar lessons I’ve ever had, and one of the best ways to remember a cool riff as it develops. Teach yourself guitar by learning how to play your favorite songs. And there’s a world of downloads to keep you entertained.
Guitar Pro is essentially a program that will bring a guitar tab to life. It’s powered by a MIDI engine that will read and playback the notes while you follow along with the tab. For those of us who don’t always practice with a metronome, it breaks down the tough runs for us. Although the backup band isn’t that fantastic (come on, it’s a basic MIDI engine), it will still keep you in time and involved in the song. With multiple instruments and tracks playing simultaneously, you can just focus on the leads or solidify the rhythm track. It’s even pretty neat to go see the vocal or keyboard parts transcribed for guitar. Stare in amazement as you see your favorite Dragon Force song being shredded out by a computer.Once you’ve acquired the software, head over to a reputable guitar tab site. I recommend Ultimate-Guitar.com for its accurate tabs, constantly updated tab list and lack of “payment required” access. In other words, the guitar tabs are free as of this posting. Run a search for your favorite song (and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself!) You’ll see Guitar Pro files listed with ratings on song accuracy. Download, rock.
Guitar Pro is also an excellent arrangement tool for songwriters. With a little to no knowledge of written music, you can quickly pick it up and compose that masterpiece that’s been begging to be unleashed upon the masses. Use Guitar Pro to mesh your riffs into songs rather than random thoughts, and add accompanying instruments behind it. You might be surprised at how well a part sounds on piano rather than electric guitar. Or a vocal line played on a trumpet. What ever it is, it’s worth the time spent experimenting and amusing yourself. You can even transpose your songs into different keys to see if down-tuning really is the way to go, or write a song out in an alternate guitar tuning a la Kashmir. It even has guitar tricks like whammy (take it 3 octaves up if you’d like), artificial harmonics, slides, hammer-on’s and even pick scrapes.
So stop making excuses not to practice, or take up that New Year’s resolution before it’s forgotten about. Either way, Guitar Pro is going to be the tool to get you to the next step.
An internal debate I’ve been having recently revolves around the constant options guitar players have with effects, analog or digital? To explain further, digital processor or traditional pedal board?
I’ve used my trusty traditional pedal board for years. It’s been a constant revolving door of Dunlop , BOSS, Electro Harmonix, DOD, (almost every kind of guitar pedal) wiring configurations and power supplies. With all the knobs and dials a guitar tone freak could hope for. The upsides have always been similar. Great tone and dependability (and the flexibility wasn’t bad either). The downside has become a bit more apparent recently. The more pedals I add to my pedal board also means more space required, and I’m currently the proud owner of 2 decommissioned pedal boards. The current two-tier pedal board I’m using is one of the pieces of gear I’m most proud of. Until it comes time to remove it from the rehearsal studio into the real world of gigging on tiny stages made for a drummer and maybe three other performers. My pedal board has become the fifth wheel in this relationship. Aside from the massive amounts of room required for it now, the weight of the pedal board and case is closely approaching that of my Mesa Boogie 4×12 cabinet.
*I know at this point you may be thinking I should just remove pedals and my problem is solved. You will meet this with as much resistance as taking a baby panda from her mother. It just doesn’t happen with a guitar tone obsessed player such as myself.
To help with the issues mentioned above, I recently purchased a Line 6 POD XT Live Guitar Multi Effects Pedal. The reviews I’ve read rant about the ease of use, and the above average sound quality. In my experiences, Line 6 gear has always been a great performer and continues to be. I sat down over two different nights and set all of my presets to the standard configurations I am used to. The next rehearsal was the testing ground for the new unit. The sound was right on par with my expectations. With some tweaking, I was able to achieve a lot of the sounds from my old pedal board with ease.
With all sound and testing aside, I felt incomplete. My over three feet by two feet pedal board of tangled wires and endless knobs was no longer there to provide the confidence boost it always had. But to the unknowing listener, nothing had changed in my guitar tone. It was almost awkward to only press one button and call a preset that normally took me three taps on pedals in a fancy tap dancer move. It wasn’t the usual eye sore on the floor everyone noticed, and it didn’t have any of the hum the old pedal board did. This new Line 6 unit had to be the obvious winner right?
Yet I never felt right. Almost like I was cheating.
Has anyone else dealt with this? Do the withdraws ever end?!
Has everyone been back to Guitar.com since it was redone? It’s a fairly smart new concept and I’m encouraging all the guitar player readers of this blog to go and sign up. It’s the new Myspace for guitarists :)
The new setup allows you to post recommendations on albums, guitars and gear and turn it into commision money (cash is always good right?) It’s also got blog capabilities, forums and all the usual stuff you’d expect.
Check out my profile and pick something up while you’re there.
One of the biggest factors that seperates band marketing on the internet and standard SEO/SEM is how the target audience is going to find you. Most sites have to worry about keyword density, relevant content and other factors to help rank in SE’s under their primary key phrases. As discussed in Internet Marketing for Bands Part 2, choosing a good band name can almost eliminate search engine competition for your keyword (band name). However, your biggest online challenge will always be marketing to viewers who aren’t looking exactly for you.
Social networking sites like Myspace, Tagged, Friendster, and Facebook have been a God-send for bands. With so many more sites popping up all over the internet offering free MP3 hosting, photos, profiles and even online merchandise stores everyday, it’s hard not to get your name out there. But so is every other band in existance, so be prepared to put some long hours in at first.
Start your online presense by creating your own website. It may cost a few bucks, but there are many template site builders for the DIY’s out there, or sites like Bandzoogle that will do all the work for you. Regardless where it comes from, having your own dedicated website is much more impressive than having to give out a Myspace address. This will even allow you to create your own landing page within your website dedicated to the traffic you generate from those other sites. Photoshop® up a nice live shot of the band (or have your drummer do it, and hang your head in shame haha) or take your most impressive shot and post it up with a few downloadable tracks and/or samples. Remember, your not going to sell thousands of song downloads when starting, so it doesn’t hurt to give out an entire song or two. Use this page when linking from any of the sites you start listing your band at. The last thing you want a potential fan to go through is the 5 minute loading time for your homepage Flash intro, and decide to go grab a drink instead. Get them where they need to be quick. If they want to find more about you, they’ll click around and find it.
From here out, add your band to any website willing to take it. The only way to ensure your going to be heard is by getting the music out there. Don’t be afraid to make small banners (25kb or less) of your band’s logo to spread out on blog or profile comments to help “piggyback” on someone else’s popularity. Just make sure you do it where it’s warranted. Spamming isn’t cool, so know your boundries.
Promotional websites for band:
Have you ever searched “guitar” on Myspace Videos? I’ll save you the effort by summarizing 99% of the captions.
Me playing guitar
In searching for new additions to my Guitar Videos page, I tried the forementioned search. Twenty five pages later I realized how much anyone with a guitar likes to record themselves playing. Unfortunately, the good videos are not worth finding due to the incredibly crappy ones inbetween. Why do I need to see you playing Green Day on your untuned acoustic guitar in your bedroom on your webcam? Does the world really need to hear you rehash Guns ‘N Roses riffs using the world-famous guitar rig…15 watt Crate practice amp into your built-in uncompressed camera mic? I will admit I was impressed by various clips of teens playing Van Halen’s “Eruption”, but I still snicker at the metalheads who are so “core” that they have to use Myspace to show what they do in their free time.
Where is Zakk Wylde when I need a good poser burn?!
But I did stumble across this old gem :)
After being wowed by Matt Bellamy and his incredible performance at the Muse concert in LA, I began reading up on Matt Bellamy’s guitar setup and continued my new-found fascination with the band. I’ve sometimes wonder if everything that can be done with the electric guitar is already avaliable. What if found was a bit inspiring.
I have to start with his guitars, as they are amazing pieces of work. Matt Bellamy has his guitars custom built by Hugh Manson of Manson Guitars. At first glance, they appear to be a cross breed of a Les Paul and a Telecaster, with some exaggerated looks. But the extra knobs and controls on the guitars serve various purposes depending on the guitar. The guitar I saw the most at the recent show was The Mirror Manson.
The Mirror Manson was a pretty incredible sight to see under the stage lights for it’s obvious reflective properties, because of how hard it is to look away from it. Combine it with their usual amazing light show and it’s going to be a blinding experience. Haha. The guitar is equipped with a pair of Mississippi Queens pickups from Bare Knuckle. But the really incredible part of this guitar is the MXR Phase 90 Roland GK2 MIDI internal pickup and the Fuzz Factory effects built right in, with the control knobs accessable on the guitar. (Check out how this thing is wired!)
He has multiple versions of these guitars with other features like Kaoss pads and MIDI control sliders buit in for contol over his Whammy pedal and other floor effects. Check out the Muse Wiki site for lots more info.
Here’s an overview video I found on youtube to see more…
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