Tag Archives: music

How to Be a Guitar Teacher

 

ZZZZ03

1) Determine whether you have the skill level instrumentally to teach others to play the guitar well and properly. Contact a teacher yourself to see if they think you are ready to teach guitar lessons to another.

2) Go to a few guitar lessons and make notes of how they teach. Think about which aspects of the lesson you like and which aspects you disliked. Then integrate the aspects you liked into your own lessons.

3) Begin gathering materials for lessons from music stands, music books, CDs of concerts or examples. Determine where you will have your lessons. Decide if you will rent a space at a music store, teach at a university or out of your garage.

4) Decide on a fair rate according to your years of experience playing and teaching. This rate can vary from city to city. Usually teaching fees range from $10-$200 a lesson, depending on your notoriety and skill.

5) Advertise your services through word of mouth, newspaper classified ads, magazine ads and school bulletin boards. Consider where you advertise and what type of student you want to work with. If you advertise on college boards, you can get anyone from experienced players to hobbyists.

6) Gather a few students and spread your good services through word of mouth. Hold recitals and opportunities for your students to display their talent and your good teaching abilities.

See Original Post At: http://www.ehow.com/how_2085453_be-guitar-teacher.html

 

MIDI Troubleshooting 101

midi

Original Post From http://forum.recordingreview.com

It’s sometimes difficult to started with MIDI. The communication between all the different components can get very confusing. This article is designed to help you through the process of solving your MIDI problems. The basic chain for MIDI is quite simple. The biggest problems occur in the understanding of what each piece of the puzzle does. In this first example, I’m going to assume we want to record a piano part within Cubase using Kontakt2.

#1) We need a way to enter the MIDI data. This sounds very unmusical, but it’s important for me to write in this fashion to make sure you understand what is really happening within your MIDI sequencer. You CAN enter your MIDI data with a mouse within Cubase and most other software based MIDI sequencers. However, most people prefer to have a little more human element in their MIDI productions and therefor using a MIDI controller (piano style keyboard) is the most popular way of entering MIDI data. You can also enter the data with an electronic drum kit, a MIDI guitar pickup, triggers, or using one of the keypad style gadgets out there. It needs to be said that any old keyboard with MIDI out can be used as a MIDI controller. Just to clear up the part, “entering the data” is the same thing as recording a performance or playing an instrument. In our first example, we are recording a piano part, so we will use the standard piano style MIDI controller.

#2) Now we need to hook our MIDI controller to our computer. The old standard was the 16-pin MIDI cable. Most computers do not have a MIDI cable input, but many audio interfaces do. You’ll need to plug this cable into an audio interface that has built in midi. (If you don’t have an audio interface with built in MIDI ports and your MIDI controller leaves no other options, like USB, you’ll need to obtain a MIDI interface. Most modern midi interfaces designed for working with computers use USB to connect to the computer. No special MIDI interface is required.

#3) Now it’s time to make sure the MIDI Sequencer / Recording software is picking up the MIDI signal. Most will have a meter that flashes when MIDI signal is received. So hit a few notes and see if anything lights up. If nothing lights up, there is probably a problem with your MIDI controller, the MIDI interface (if applicable), or the signal is not being routed properly within the recording software. You’ll want to check the manual for your recording software for specifics.

In our example, when we strike a key on our MIDI controller, we see a meter light up on the Cubase transport. This tell us that Cubase is getting the signal. If we do not see the meters on the Cubase transport lighting up, we have a problem. It’s possible that your operating system isn’t receiving the signal. Make sure your drivers are installed for your device(s). Also make sure that you have properly setup and set as the default MIDI device in Control Panels > Sound and Audio Devices if you are using Windows. Also make sure that you have the device setup in your recording software / sequencer as well.

Now we need to create a MIDI track to actually record the MIDI data and we may have to specific which MIDI input we want to use. (This is sometimes handled automatically). When we strike a key on the MIDI controller, a meter should light up on for that MIDI track. We have the data in the sequencer, but we still won’t hear any sound. Cubase (or any sequencer itself) doesn’t necessarily play sound. We need virtual instruments that utilize either synths or samples to actually create the sound based on the MIDI data we send to it.

So, in Cubase, we’ll open up the MIDI instruments section and load Kontakt 2 (our sampler software of choice) and then select a piano sound. Going back to our MIDI track, we need to send the MIDI signal to that piano sound by setting the output of the that MIDI track to Kontakt 2, on the appropriate channel.

READ MORE AT: http://forum.recordingreview.com/f18/midi-troubleshooting-101-a-5208/

History of the Guitar

Apollo kitharoidos (holding a kithara) and mus...

Apollo kitharoidos (holding a kithara) and musagetes (leading the Musas). Marble, Roman artwork, 2nd century CE. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HISTORY OF THE GUITAR

 

The guitar is an ancient and noble instrument, whose history can be traced back over 4000 years. Many theories have been advanced about the instrument’s ancestry. It has often been claimed that the guitar is a development of the lute, or even of the ancient Greek kithara. Research done by Dr. Michael Kasha in the 1960’s showed these claims to be without merit. He showed that the lute is a result of a separate line of development, sharing common ancestors with the guitar, but having had no influence on its evolution. The influence in the opposite direction is undeniable, however – the guitar’s immediate forefathers were a major influence on the development of the fretted lute from the fretless oud which the Moors brought with them to to Spain.


The sole “evidence” for the kithara theory is the similarity between the greek word “kithara” and the Spanish word “quitarra”. It is hard to imagine how the guitar could have evolved from the kithara, which was a completely different type of instrument – namely a square-framed lap harp, or “lyre”.

 

 


It would also be passing strange if a square-framed seven-string lap harp had given its name to the early Spanish 4-string “quitarra”. Dr. Kasha turns the question around and asks where the Greeks got the name “kithara”, and points out that the earliest Greek kitharas had only 4 strings when they were introduced from abroad. He surmises that the Greeks hellenified the old Persian name for a 4-stringed instrument, “chartar”.


The earliest stringed instruments known to archaeologists are bowl harps and tanburs. Since prehistory people have made bowl harps using tortoise shells and calabashes as resonators, with a bent stick for a neck and one or more gut or silk strings. The world’s museums contain many such “harps” from the ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, and Egyptian civilisations. Around 2500 – 2000 CE more advanced harps, such as the opulently carved 11-stringed instrument with gold decoration found in Queen Shub-Ad’s tomb, started to appear.

Original Post From http://www.guyguitars.com

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Overproduced? You Can’t Afford to be Overproduced!

 

Overproduced? You Can’t Afford to be Overproduced! 
 
 
 
Original Post From http://forum.recordingreview.com/content/overproduced-you-can-t-afford-overproduced-187/Quite a few bands have a HUGE fear of being over-produced. The idea is some sleazy producer is going to turn their Motorhead-esque sludge into something that could be played at praise and worship featuring Boyz To Men and Mariah Carey.
Watch Def Leppard’s Hysteria Classic Albums. If anyone is going to make an argument for or against big-time production, that album certainly has to be up there. They used two reels of analog tape for every single harmony and we are talking multiple harmonies. Very few bands imagine that they’ll be spending the entire day on one single harmony on one single song.


More importantly, who can afford this? The documentary says that Def Leppard had to sell 5,000,000 copies to break even. Obviously, they came out of this adventure alive (and then some) or there would be no article or documentary discussing it. What band has that kind of coin lying around? Adele is the biggest thing we’ve seen in some time (pun optional) and she sold 4.6 million copies in 2011. (Just a few years ago Disney On Ice was the best selling album of the year.) That means she would have been in the red if she used Def Leppard’s budget. Obviously times have changed. The point is very few people are moving enough units for the big time production treatment even if studio costs are plummeted.


With this fear of overproduction comes the disdain for new tools. There are tools out now that can save you time, money, or simply improve the intensity of your recordings. (This has always been the case, but a compressor from the 60s doesn’t scare as many people as snare drum replacement or Autotune.) Never advocate that an engineer automatically start meddling with the sound of a band, particularly if that band has a definable sound. However, there’s no reason to ignore technology that helps a band get THEIR sound when maybe the mics aren’t picking up the sound in their head.


Quite a few bands who are dead-set against Autotune and sample layering (but almost never against brickwall limiting). They’ll site how they, “Don’t want the T-pain sound”. Really? You don’t want your Iron Maiden-esque band to sound like a hip hop artist from 2009? I had no idea! These bands dig up examples of a tool being pushed to the extreme and then judge it.. “I don’t want to ride your children crusher. I think I’ll walk to the studio.” It doesn’t make sense to judge studio tools based on times when they’ve been intentionally abused.


The real issue here is trusting the engineer. If you are working with an engineer you don’t trust….WHY???? If you can’t listen to their previous work, sit down and have a chat, and not say to yourself, “Yeah, this is a guy we want on our team” then you shouldn’t be working with that engineer. It’s as simple as that. There are enough good recording guys out there who will do your music justice to settle for anyone who won’t.


When you tie an engineer’s hand behind his back, you are simply asking for trouble. Asking a handyman to ditch the screwdriver just because you read some whackjob article in Guitar World is absurd. What the hell do you care! You don’t tell him how to do his job. You just need to make sure the engineer knows exactly what you want. (They should be the most adamant about finding that!)

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History Of The “Steinberger GL Guitar”

Introducing a new twist on a legendary guitar. Over 20 years ago, Ned Steinberger revealed the Steinberger GL guitar, the first all graphite composite electric guitar. With its unusual headless design, it was quite a hit for years. The LBG guitar is the next generation of carbon graphite guitar, and at 4.5 pounds it is almost half the weight of the 8 pound Steinberger GL. As with the GL, the LBG’s body and neck is a single slab of carbon graphite, with a cover plate to keep the pickups from falling off.

The LBG guitar has a clear and airy resonance that is even on all notes across the fretboard. The sound of the GL is very “accurate” and “defined”, with lots of control over the vowel effect after the note is picked; the LBG guitar is more resonant, and sounds less “dense”. When holding chords, the notes seem to bloom over time. Put another way, if you blend a GL with a Parker, you will get an LBG, with the Parker adding the “ariness” to the GL sound. The neck profile is like a Moses but a tad wider, not like a Newburgh GL/GM.

The guitar has an ergonomic knee contour that helps angle the neck to a comfortable playing position when sitting. When standing, there is no neck hang: the guitar is very evenly balanced. It has similar edge contours as the GL so you don..t end up with any uncomfortable feeling with your right arm/hand.

Musician Dave Rowe had this to say about them:

When Jon first pulled out the guitars at my studio, I was immediately taken by the resemblance to the GL, but with the modified bottom bout—hey look mom, no leg rest! I’ll never forget the first time I picked up an L series Steinberger and was astonished by the heft of the instrument relative to its diminutive size. This experience was exactly the opposite of that! When Jon first handed the guitar to me, I believe the words out of my mouth were, “Holy-sh*t, what’s this thing made of?” The guitar is incredibly light, at 4.5 lbs. it really doesn’t seem like it could possibly be taken seriously…until you plug it in. From lightweight guitar to heavyweight tone. It can sparkle and growl. With a list of possible pickup configurations longer than my arm, Jon’s guitars will surely be a prized part of any guitar arsenal.

One of the buyers had this to say about the guitar:

Tonal quality of the guitar is excellent. I’m a mid and high person so the lighter low end of this guitar, even with a powerful JB, fits my taste. I once put a P-rail on my wooden-bodied headless but gave up after 30 minutes as it sounded unclear. The graphite body make this pickup sound surprisingly airy with clear contour even in the front. In fact P-90 setting of P-rail sounds so sweet on this guitar!

Click On “LBG Guitars On MySpace”

“It’s The Rain I Can’t Catch” – Poem By: Heather Whitley Gibson

Fuzhou Shoushan Sculpture of Song Dynasty

Fuzhou Shoushan Sculpture of Song Dynasty (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 It’s the rain I can’t catch

The song I never sang before,

has notes, I’ve never heard.

it’s a melody that

 screams

and a beat that drums.

don’t touch.

It’s a love far away

an imagined image

where I want to wear

that light surf, a crown

with springs.

Like a silver spoon

found at the bottom of

the ocean.

(the milk carton

floating still)

It’s the rain I can’t

 catch

the hand I can hold.

the way I watch you sleep.

It’t the place where dreams

and nightmeres

befriend.

XPO RADIO CHARTS: From Heather Whitley & Ronnie Gibson: with less than 5 hrs..

Outlet

Outlet (Photo credit: Angela de Março)

#2………………# 1   less than 5 hours!  We are in the number two spot. With less than 5 hrs, to go please go to register as fan, http://xporadio.com , go to the rock genre, click on “Outlets”, while song is playing, click on ( add to playlist)! Thanks! For All the support! H & R

Click On XPO RADIO

We have been on this internet radio site for a long time and just now gaining a following. At the end of each month the number one song in each genre,as well as the number one song in the top forty, receives a cash prize. As of right now we are number one in the rock genre, as well as the top forty. We are keeping our fingers crossed, getting the word out the best we can and keeping our eye on the prize.

XPO Radio Top 40 Charts

                                                                                                                                           

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2) Outlets
Ronnie&Heather Gibson
genre: Rock

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MUSIC: 200603-200803 Listening History Graph

MUSIC: 200603-200803 Listening History Graph (Photo credit: Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL))

Lyrics: I Am the Sea: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/I-am-the-Sea-lyrics-The-Wh.