Search Results for Guitar

Logic Pro X updated with Smart Tempo, new plug-ins

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Apple on Thursday updated its professional music software, Logic Pro X, adding some new features and plug-ins. Apple told me that this is the 20th free update Apple has released since the launch of Logic Pro X. […]

Jimmy Page tells the story of “Kashmir”

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One of the best music documentaries I’ve ever seen is “It Might Get Loud” – Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge just sitting around, talking about playing guitar – and this segment of Page talking about one of the most distinctive riffs in music is a great example of it.

AC/DC’s Malcolm Young dies

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Today it is with deep heartfelt sadness that AC/DC has to announce the passing of Malcolm Young.

I’m just so sad about Malcolm. He was the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time and wrote some of the most recognizable riffs in Rock. You will be missed, Malcolm.

Prevent click track bleeding when recording

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We have all, at some point, recorded the perfect vocal, acoustic guitar or drum track only to discover an audible click has split into the microphone from the performer’s headphones.

This is one of the most annoying things ever when recording. There are a few decent tips here to help solve the problem.

Apple releases GarageBand 2.3 for iOS

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Apple on Wednesday released a major update for GarageBand, bringing compatibility with the iPhone X, new instruments, sounds, and a brand-new Sound Library. […]

Eric Clapton: “Wonderful Tonight”

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People often ask me why I love Eric’s guitar playing so much—this song sums it up. Clapton doesn’t need to play 100 notes a second to make you appreciate his playing. The opening riff is so heartfelt and meaningful, it makes you listen.

Universal Audio: KORG SDD-3000 Digital Delay plug-in

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Introduced in 1982, the KORG SDD-3000 Digital Delay was popularized by U2 guitarist, The Edge, to forge one of the most identifiable guitar sounds in the history of rock. Far from a one-instrument-pony, however, the SDD-3000 also found a home in early new wave and 80’s synth music. Fully endorsed by KORG, the KORG SDD-3000 Digital Delay plug-in for UAD and Apollo interfaces exactly captures the original unit’s colorful analog circuitry, and burnished-sounding 13-bit delays.

There is no company that does better emulations than Universal Audio. Take a listen to the sounds on the company’s page.

Gibson appoints Slash as Global Brand Ambassador

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As part of his new role, the legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist is currently developing new products with three of Gibson’s guitar brands, Gibson Custom, Gibson and Epiphone. Details of the new products will be announced beginning later this month.

Cheers, Slash.

Universal Audio releases four new plugins

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My favorite audio company is back at it, releasing four new plugins in their latest update. Universal Audio released the KORG SDD-3000 Digital Delay, Dytronics Cyclosonic Panner, ENGL Savage 120 Guitar Amplifier, AMS RMX16 Expanded, and the Sonnox Oxford Dynamic EQ. There are videos on the update page for each plugin, so you can get an idea of what they do.

“Doom Side of the Moon”

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From Revolver:

It all started as a joke. The Sword guitarist Kyle Shutt was smoking weed and talking with his bandmates about how absurd it is that every group that plays slow riffs or evokes feelings of dread get labeled “doom,” even if they sound nothing like pioneers of the genre: Black Sabbath, Pentagram Saint Vitus, Cathedral.

“Man, what if we did a heavy metal Pink Floyd cover band, called it Doom Side of the Moon, and did doom versions of Floyd songs!” he quipped.

Great idea and it turned out really good. You can listen to the album on Apple Music.

The most popular drum beat in the world

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[VIDEO] Dave here. I’ve been playing music since I was a kid. I started with an out-of-tune, broken down, flea-market guitar, then moved on to pretty much any instrument I could get my hands on. Master of none, tryer of all. But the one instrument I could never quite get going with is the drums.

I always felt awkward trying to make my feet do one thing while each hand did something completely different. Part of it was not understanding the rules. Then came the video embedded in the main Loop post. For some reason, watching this video, it all just clicked for me. And so I thought I’d share it with you.

To me, the best part of this video is the look on the drummers face. The thousand yard stare. Enjoy.

Postive Grid announces new amps, pedals

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The BIAS Mini is a compact and portable size amplifier that comes in two versions, Guitar and Bass—each one specially designed to be the most versatile amplifier on the planet for the gigging musician.

And

The BIAS Twin Delay, Modulation, and Distortion pedals are Positive Grid’s new line of professional effects stompboxes designed for maximum tone versatility. All three pedals feature the same incredible tone of the award-winning BIAS Pro pedals in a compact 2-button pedal format.

I love Positive Grid’s software, but I haven’t tried their hardware gear yet. From what I’ve seen, it’s great sounding though.

The slow, secret death of the six-string electric. And why you should care.

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Washington Post:

In the past decade, electric guitar sales have plummeted, from about 1.5 million sold annually to just over 1 million. The two biggest companies, Gibson and Fender, are in debt, and a third, PRS Guitars, had to cut staff and expand production of cheaper guitars. In April, Moody’s downgraded Guitar Center, the largest chain retailer, as it faces $1.6 billion in debt. And at Sweetwater.com, the online retailer, a brand-new, interest-free Fender can be had for as little as $8 a month.

And:

Guitar heroes. They arrived with the first wave of rock-and-roll. Chuck Berry duckwalking across the big screen. Scotty Moore’s reverb-soaked Gibson on Elvis’s Sun records. Link Wray, with his biker cool, blasting through “Rumble” in 1958.

And:

McCartney saw Hendrix play at the Bag O’Nails club in London in 1967. He thinks back on those days fondly and, in his sets today, picks up a left-handed Les Paul to jam through Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.”

And:

“Now, it’s more electronic music and kids listen differently,” McCartney says. “They don’t have guitar heroes like you and I did.”

That does sound a bit like a grumpy old person complaint, but read the article. The comment reflects the reality of the current trend in popular music, more about programming beats than emulating a specific riff.

Fascinating read.

Listening to HomePod

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While at WWDC this week I had a chance to listen to Apple’s new HomePod and compare it to some of the competing products on the market. The results were somewhat surprising.

James Dempsey and the Breakpoints show tonight at WWDC

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Join the women@wwdc and James Dempsey and the Breakpoints for an evening of mingling and music to benefit App Camp For Girls!

I’ll be there tonight with my guitar to help support James and App Camp for Girls. There’s still time to grab a ticket!

Zakk Wylde is back in Ozzy’s band

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Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde have reunited! The guitarist has rejoined the Prince of Darkness’ band and they’ll be together onstage for Ozzy’s upcoming 2017 shows!

For fans of Zakk and Ozzy, there could be no better news than this. Ozzy has always had great guitarists in his bands throughout his career, but for me, Zakk is the man.

History of metal, all in one song

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[VIDEO] Guitarist Ben Higgins does a masterful job moving from one metal sub-genre to another. If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between say, speed metal and grindcore, this video (embedded in the main Loop post) is for you.

The hot new Hip Hop producer that does everything on his iPhone

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Wired, talking about Steve Lacy:

Last year, he was nominated for a Grammy for executive-producing and performing on the 2015 funk-R&B-soul album Ego Death, the third release from The Internet and Lacy’s first with the band. He’s a sought-after producer, featured on albums like J. Cole’s “4 Your Eyez Only” and Kendrick Lamar’s new “Damn.” Earlier in 2017, he released his first solo material, which he’s playing as part of the setlist for The Internet’s worldwide tour. (Somewhere in there he also graduated high school.) The only connection between his many projects? All that music is stored on his iPhone.

And on his process:

He paged through the drum presets in GarageBand for a while before picking a messy-sounding kit. With two thumbs, he tapped out a simple beat, maybe 30 seconds long. Then he went back to the Rickenbacker. He played a riff he’d stumbled on while tuning, recording it on a separate GarageBand track over top of the drums. Without even playing it back, Lacy then reached down and deleted it. It took three taps: stop, delete, back to the beginning. He played the riff again, subtly differently. Deleted it again. For the next half hour, that’s all Lacy did: play, tap-tap-tap, play again. He experimented wildly for a while, then settled on a loose structure and began subtly tweaking it. Eventually satisfied with that bit, he plugged in his Fender bass and started improvising a bassline. A few hours later, he began laying vocals, a breathy, wordless melody he sang directly into the iPhone’s microphone. He didn’t know quite what he was making, but he was feeling it.

All night, Lacy goofed around. He found a sword in the studio, and made up a shockingly catchy song called “Sword in the Studio” that’s still rattling around in my brain.

This really resonated with me, a terrific read. Steve Lacy sounds like a bunch of people I know, kicking around in GarageBand, laying down a base track, then layering in guitar, vocals, what have you. But while most of this work ends up in a far corner of some hard drive or SoundCloud, Lacy’s efforts got him nominated for a Grammy and a bunch of high profile gigs.

And much of it done on an iPhone. Amazing.

J. Geils dead at 71

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John Warren Geils Jr., better known as J. Geils, the guitarist of the the J. Geils Band, was found dead in his home in Groton, Massachusetts Tuesday. He was 71. Rolling Stone has confirmed Geils’ death. According to Groton Police, “a preliminary investigation indicates that Geils died of natural causes.”

R.I.P.

Korn recruit Metallica bassist’s 12-year-old son

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What were you doing when you were 12? Getting quite good at Guitar Hero? Clumsily finding your way around a real instrument? Maybe even attempting a jam session with some of your mates?

Let’s face it, you weren’t going on tour through South America with a Grammy award-winning, platinum-selling metal band, were you? Not unless you’re Tye Trujillo, who has just signed up to play for Korn while their bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu is unable to tour with them.

Robert Trujillo is one of my favorite bassists of all time and there’s no doubt that his son is very talented too. This is pretty amazing.

The Eric Clapton Stratocaster

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Experience the peerless Strat style of Slowhand himself with the Eric Clapton Stratocaster, one of our most acclaimed and enduring artist signature models. With classic design and special features that give it exceptional tonal versatility and effortless feel worthy of one of the world’s greatest names in rock and blues, it puts pure Clapton Stratocaster tone and feel straight into your hands.

What a beautiful guitar.

A musical walk through the impact of Chuck Berry

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If you are a fan of music, take a few minutes to dig through this multimedia piece by the New York Times. Year by year, you’ll make your way through the critical work in Chuck Berry’s catalog, focused on the beat and guitar licks he introduced to the world, each accompanied by covers of his songs, as well as songs that influenced his evolution and songs derived from his work.

Great job by Guilbert Gates and the Times multimedia team. The songs load instantly, stop on a dime, making it easy to quickly shift gears, control the pace. I love this.

Transform your acoustic’s piezo pickup into a multi-miked acoustic

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The Wood Works plug-in for UAD-2 and Apollo interfaces gives you exceptional studio microphone sound from any piezo-equipped acoustic guitar. Now you can easily track multi-dimensional acoustic tones in real time — even in situations that would challenge physical microphones.

Oh my, this looks incredible.

Les Paul or Stratocaster?

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It’s an age old question for guitarists. My answer is that it depends on what sound you’re looking for, and what feels good in your hands.