Music

Velvet Revolver: Slither

I always thought that the Slash/Scott Weiland was one of the best in rock. They wrote some amazing songs.

Converting audio to MIDI

It’s been years since I’ve used Ableton’s Live, but this looks like a really great feature to have at your disposal.

Court says you can’t resell digital music files

In a judgment filed Saturday, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan sided with Universal Music Group’s Capitol Records, which had sued ReDigi for copyright violation.

Sullivan’s argument, in a nutshell: Unless the copyright owner gives you explicit permission to do so, you can’t resell a digital media file.

That doesn’t make sense to me.

R.I.P. Phil Ramone

Bobby Owsinski:

By now you’ve all heard that the legendary producer Phil Ramone has passed. If you read any of the obituaries, you’ll notice that they all quote his many Grammys and the superstars he worked with, which indeed placed him above the majority of his contemporaries. Phil was more than that though. He was a behind-the-scenes mover and shaker on the technical side as well, always eager to embrace new technology.

Les Paul Custom Lite

The beauty of this gorgeous black Les Paul Custom Lite is more than skin deep, and Gibson USA has also packed added versatility into the traditional formula. Two of Gibson’s most popular humbucking pickups from the Modern Classics series offer all the tone that made the Les Paul legendary in the first place, plus added single-coil sounds thanks to the coil-splitting mini-toggle switch added in place of the second tone control.

Voodoo Chile on the gayageum

Luna Lee performs Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile on the gayageum, a traditional Korean instrument. Amazing.

Tabular: Tablature editor for the Mac

Tabular is a brand new tablature editor that lets you read and write music for guitar, bass, drums and much more. It’s the best way to learn new songs, write your own songs and run through practice exercises for nearly any kind of stringed instrument or drum kit.

It’s a nice looking app. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks well done.

Analyzing the chords of 1300 popular songs

First we’ll look at the relative popularity of different chords based on the frequency that they appear in the chord progressions of popular music. Then we’ll begin to look at the relationship that different chords have with one another. For example, if a chord is found in a song, what can we say about the probability for what the next chord will be that comes after it?

This is a three part series and is very interesting. I can’t imagine what must have gone into analyzing so many songs.

A special guitar story

More than two decades later he found out a dark, but compelling secret about the guitar. It had been stolen and once belonged to a well-known artist in the Austin, Texas, music scene.

It had been handmade by Ted Newman of Austin for alternative country artist Joe Ely, who has toured with The Clash, Lyle Lovett and Guy Clark, among others.

What a great story.

Beatles guitar goes up for auction

The rare offering of a VOX guitar played by both John Lennon and George Harrison is what rock n’ roll legends are made of. The striking custom guitar built by Mike Bennett and Dickey Denney was gifted to “Magic Alex” Mardas by John Lennon in 1967. Harrison played the guitar while practicing “I am the Walrus” during The Magical Mystery Tour and by Lennon while recording a video session for “Hello, Goodbye.”

iZotope Nectar Elements vocal plug-in

Getting a great vocal sound doesn’t need to be hard. Whether you’re recording or you’re mixing, Nectar Elements makes vocal treatment a snap.

There are a couple of videos on the page that are worth watching.

Dave Grohl’s SXSW 2013 keynote

Dave Grohl has become the unofficial Mayor of Rock ‘n’ Roll: a gregarious ambassador who wins armloads of Grammys and even directs a music documentary. Watch Grohl’s keynote address at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

Riffstation: Great looking app for guitarists

I’m downloading this today and giving it a try. You can slowdown a song to make it easier to learn how to play, which a lot of apps do, but the app will also show you the chords and when to change when you load an MP3 file into the app. I also like the feature for solos where you can isolate and mute the solo, which means you can play along with the song.

Korg Legacy Collection synths updated

Since 2004, Korg’s Legacy Collection plugins have helped thousands of users to incorporate the unique sounds of some of Korg’s most coveted synths into their productions and performances. Korg’s proprietary CMT (Component Modeling Technology) method literally models each component of the signal chain within the original synth for unparalleled realism.

Gibson ES-335

Launched 55 years ago, in 1958, the ES-335 is undoubtedly a classic, not only of Gibson’s but of all electric guitar designs. What the Les Paul model is to solidbodies, the ES-335 is to semis – beautiful, versatile and coveted by players across all genres.

Some history on one of the great guitars.

AmpliTube Orange

If you like the sound of Orange amplifiers, this collection is a must-have.