BandSuccess

Spectrum - The new band in Southern Ontario

2009-05-06T22:48:00.008+01:00

Spectrum's the Name and Rock is Our Game!

Well, it's spring and everything is sputtering to life again. If you're a Canadian, you definitely appreciate when the weather starts to get better. The smell of barbecues in peoples backyards, the speakers on the front porch blaring out your favorite tunes and, of course, who could forget, the coolies! Just suck 'em back & enjoy the fact that nature is awakening and summer's on the way! It's a beautiful feeling and there's no better time to start up a new band with some good old friends.

After over 20 years of living in Spain and playing with many good musicians from all walks of life, I've recently moved back to Canada. I'm now living in Toronto, Ontario. As soon as I arrived, I got in touch with my dear friend John Vice, who played bass with my brother Bill (Cardos) and I when we were living in Kitchener, Ontario until 1987.

But Bill is still in Spain, though, with his own project that he has been in for at least 6 years now called The BBC Band, where he plays drums and does some lead & backup vocals, too. This has made John & I have to look for a new drummer.

As it turns out, John Vice had the perfect drummer in mind for the job. Keith, a fellow musician who was also part of the Kitchener Collegiate Institute alumni way back in the early '80's. He was pretty good back then, but now he's even better and wanting to do some serious Rock.

Therefore, John Vice on bass guitar, Keith on drums and Ruben Cardos have come together to form a new Rock Trio called SPECTRUM. We specialize in Rock Classics and, more importantly, having a good time on stage and making sure our audiences can enjoy and participate in a fun show that is sure to entertain.

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Why Not Check Out zZounds Blowouts First for Gear?

2008-06-26T12:02:00.015+01:00

Looking for the best one time offers (OTO's) on musical gear?

The people at zZounds are professionals with a long track record selling musical equipment online. They are always willing to answer any questions you may have before buying to save you disappointments later. I for one have already experienced their readiness and efficiency on several occasions.

Real Help from Real Musicians
The professionals you deal with at zZounds are real musicians and not someone out to make a sale. As a matter of fact, the staff attending your queries are not paid on a commission basis, which guarantees customer satisfaction as a top priority. This way they ensure you'll stop by time and time again and even refer others to their top-notch service. Any doubts? Check out their policies.

Best Price Policy
The zZounds warehouse is filled with all kinds of products for musicians and they are willing to beat any price you can find on musical gear, so you're guaranteed the lowest possible price on whatever you are looking for. Their lowest price guarantee assures you that you will be refunded the difference if you have found the product cheaper anywhere else within 30 days after purchase!

What Can You Find at zZounds?
You can find Everything from guitars, basses, keyboards, drums, recording/live sound equipment, DJ stuff ...you name it! ...they probably have it in stock and ready for shipment today!

What Are Blowouts?
Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for you, some products get blemished and/or need to be re-packaged at the warehouse, or they are b-stock (products that are often not new, but are in excellent condition and/or have been returned opened but not damaged), so they cannot be sold at the regular price. In the case of re-packaged and b-stock products, you will see that they are perfect, whereas other products have small blemishes, but other than that they are in A-1 condition. This is a great advantage for those looking for even better offers on all kinds of musical gear!

If you're looking for musical gear, why not check out the Blowouts at zZounds first? If you're lucky, you just might find what you're looking for at an outrageously cheap price!

Blowouts Categories:

Guitar, Amps & Effects
Bass, Amps & Effects
Keyboards
Drums & Percussion
Live Sound/PA
Recording Gear
DJ Gear
Computer Music
Accessories

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Recording Tips - We Can Fix it in the Mix ...Yeah!

2008-05-29T13:19:00.016+01:00

(...If not, we'll just do it over again ...sometime.)

It's very difficult to fix something that was done completely wrong in the first place. If a part was played improperly or with a horrible sound, the person doing the mix can do very little or nothing to fix it. They will end up spending more time doing repairs than doing a mix, and the overall quality of the work WILL suffer. If you want a serious recording, go to a serious recording studio to get it done. But if you want to learn what recording is all about, you may want to try it yourself. Just don't expect professional results ...yet.

Microphone selection and placement is fundamental to recording success. Whether you're going to record everything on two tracks or 24 and then do a mixdown, make sure that the sound technition is listening and recording in a proper control room where they can't hear the sound from anywhere else but the studio monitors.

The bass drum and bass guitar sound is the governing fundamental factor for the overall sound of the song. If this is done properly the rest of the mix has better chances of sounding good. Make sure the bass drum is sounding good right from the start, then place the microphone inside. Play with its position on a flat EQ at the mixer until you get the best possible sound. If there are 'funny noises', investigate until you have found the cause and do what you can to eliminate them ...a little oil on a bass drum pedal axle, or tuning it properly can do wonders, for example.

The bass guitar can be put through a DI box, picked up through a microphone, or plugged straight into the mixer. Experiment until you've achieved the best sound. The playing style or the instrument itself could be at fault, so make sure you get a professional opinion on the matter and resolve it accordingly.

Saturated Ears

I know you're all really wanting to finish the job in the quickest possible time, but it's important to note that after a certain time, your ears will become saturated and your (subjective) opinion will make you think that a certain sound or mix is just right when it's not.

When you get back to listening to it a day or week later, you'll notice things that you didn't notice earlier, or it might even sound horrible. In this case, my advice would be to do things one step at a time with breaks in between to give your hearing some time to reset. Try listening to some professional recordings of the style you're doing after taking a coffee/lunch break then get back to work. Hurried work is worried work! With experience, you'll notice that this process goes much quicker and you'll be able to do it well in a shorter period of time.

Stay Focused

Before recording, take out a notebook, make a game plan and stick to it. Take note of what was done right and what was done wrong during the recording process, so you have a reference for your next project. This notebook will be your companion during the process, so always have it within arms length. Do exactly what you intended to do in the first place. You will realize what you did wrong (thanks to your notes) and find a way to better it (through careful research). If you work haphazardly, you will get haphazard results. Knowing a specific problem is half the solution.

Recording All at the Same Time

I highly recommend this for beginner bands doing their first recording. It goes quicker than track recording and once you've got it set up, you can record all the songs you want in one day, or two.

Make sure you've got all the mics and inputs you need (absolute minimum requirements):

-bass drum
-snare drum
-hi-hat (optional, but recommended)
-2 overheads
-bass guitar input (mic, line in to mixer or DI box)
-guitar(s)
-keyboard inputs
-other instruments
-vocals

Make sure you control the gain on every microphone, as you will regret having a distorted sounding instrument on an otherwise well played version of your song. You want to avoid having to record it all over again because you didn't control the input gains.

As a general rule, condenser mics are best for hi-hats, overheads, acoustic instruments and vocals. The bass drum should be recorded with a large, hard membrane mic, intended for the job (click on "bass drum" above for examples of these). A typical choice of microphone for the snare drum, and also the guitar and bass amps is the Shure SM57. If you choose to mic the toms also, you can also use the SM57, or use a set of mics intended for the job -this will give you greater control over your end result.

You can use your PC, a digital recording station, or even a reel to reel tape recorder to record, but if you intend to master the recording, it's a good idea to get it on a digital medium, unless you have the equipment to master analog recordings.

If you can, separate the drummer and the amplifiers from the rest of the group and record using headphones, as you can gain better control of the recording process. There should be a sound proof control room with monitors and headphones for the recording technitian. Put everything through a good mixer and only tweak the EQ's if you find it totally necessary to do so. Make sure the sound is right at the source first, then check mic placement then (if necessary) equalize.

Spend some time experimenting with microphone positioning and do some test recordings as you go. When you've achieved the best possible sound, start recording.

The next day, listen to what you did and, if necessary, you can do some mastering. But I'll leave that for another day.

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Speaker Trouble?

2008-04-11T17:10:00.010+01:00

How do I know if my speaker needs to be repaired or replaced?

Sometimes the answer to this question is quite obvious just by examining it. Is the paper torn? Is the cone damaged? Is it bent out of shape?
These are sure indicators that the speaker needs replacement or repair.

If this is not the case, try this simple test:

If there's no sound at all and you want to see whether it's the amp or the speaker's fault, open your hand and apply a little pressure on it (but not on the cone) to make it move in and out. If it makes a scratching sound, it has been submitted to exess heat.

If too much power has been sent to the speaker in one great surge, or if it has been in operation for a long period of time at high volume, the coil will overheat causing it to deform and/or burn out. The reason you are hearing this scratching is because the coil is rubbing against the magnet. This should not happen and you'll know for sure that the speaker is at fault.

Another speaker test:

Step 1 (optional)
If you have an ohmmeter, switch it to its finest setting and check the resistance of the coil. Depending on the speaker this measurement can vary, but anything under about 10 ohms (but not exactly zero) means the coil is OK. Hopefully you'll notice that the speaker makes a ticking sound when you touch both terminals. This means that it works. If there's no ticking or the ohmmeter reads exactly zero (i.e. short circuit) or infinite resistance (i.e. open circuit) you can try step two, but chances are, it's blown and you'll need a new one.

Step 2
Take a 6 or 9 volt battery and connect it directly to the speaker (positive and negative does not matter here), as you do so, the speaker should make a ticking sound. If it doesn't make any sound it's not working.

One last check:
Although this is not so common, check to see if the wires on the underside of the speaker terminals are making contact or have been disconnected or broken off for any reason (while handling a screwdriver or another tool or object that fell into the back of the speaker itself, for example). This can sometimes happen with combo amplifiers because the back of the speaker is not protected from things falling inside it. If this is the case, just solder it back into place and away you go!

By the way, I would really like to know if any of this info is helping you guys get some insight into the wonderful world of DIY repairs! If you have any comments or suggestions, please make a post here or email me at rubencardos2@hotmail.com.

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An inside Look at Different Tone Controls and What They Do

2008-04-06T15:18:00.018+01:00

There many gadgets on amplifiers and effects units which can help you taper the sound to your liking. Here's a brief description of tone control circuits you can find on your rig and how they affect your sound:

The Simple Tone Control:

This is the simplest and most limited form of equalizer. You can even find one on your guitar and on most effects pedals. It just makes the sound brighter or duller. It consists of a capacitor and a potentiometer (or 'pot'). The more you turn it to the left, the more the sound goes through the capacitor before leaving the guitar.

The Tone Stack:

Most guitar amplifiers nowadays come with at least the traditional highs, mids and lows tone stack. This is simple enough and you don't have to bust your head to realize what happens when you boost or cut each frequency. Good guitar amplifiers don't usually need to be equalized and a zero gain setting for these knobs (in the middle) should be good for most purposes because the manufacturer took the time to design it properly for musical instrument applications and maybe just a slight boost or cut is necessary to get YOUR personal sound.

Highs: This depends on the manufacturer and model, but your highs on a guitar amp are probably a shelving (or slope) filter anchored at about 3KHz if you need to brighten your sound or make it a little duller.

Mids: The mids are a bow shape filter whose anchor point is about 800Hz and can affect everything between about 100 Hz to 2 KHz. Obviously the control affects the 800 Hz frequency most and the more you boost or cut the the mids, the more the surrounding frequencies will be affected. These are very important for your sound because they control how much presence you want. If you turn the mids down too low, you're sacrificing important frequencies needed to be able to hear yourself. If you turn them up too high, you get a very irritating sound (1 KHz at high volume is unbearable for most people)

Lows: Another shelving or slope filter that cuts or boosts anything under 300 Hz although it's weak at this point, it exponentially affects the lower frequencies to a greater extent. It's usually anchored at about 100 Hz. This knob controls how much body you want in your sound. When your playing in a hall with lots of reverb, you may want to bring it down just slightly and if your playing outdoors you may need to turn it up a bit so your sound projects further.

For guitar sound, you usually have to just equalize it in the practic hall and keep it the same for most purposes whereas Bass players have a more difficult time with sound because they work with frequencies that behave very differently in different places depending on the acoustics.

The Graphic Equalizer

These became popular in home entertainment systems in the late 70's and for guitar and bass players in the early 80's. It's a complex filter composed of sliders. You don't usually see them on a guitar amp, but a lot of guitarists have a 5 or 7 band graphic equalizer as one of their pedals.

As it's name suggests, the sliders are laid out as if you were looking at a graph and each slider affects the labeled frequency. Each one of these sliders is a high 'Q' filter (very sharp curve), but as you go to the extremes (plus or minus 12 or 15dB), it will affect the other surrounding frequencies also.

One of the first things I did when I bought mine about 20 years ago was to give it the good ol' 'V' shape, cause I wanted to make my guitar sound 'heavy'. Well, I don't know if I'm getting old or what, but for the last 15 years I only been using it flat with just a tad more volume for when I'm playing solos. For me, these gadgets are more useful for bass players and sound reinforcement systems like PA's and monitoring (PA system = public address system).

The Parametric EQ:

What the heck is a parametric EQ anyway?

A fully parametric equalizer is a filter composed of three knobs. One controls the gain of the selected frequency, another controls the frequency to be boosted or cut and the other knob adjusts the quality of the filter.

Gain: Controls the boost or cut of a certain frequency (usually plus or minus 12 or 15dB).

Frequency: Depending on whether it's for hi-mids or lo mids, it can select from about 100Hz to 8 KHz. Again, this will vary depending on whether there are one or two parametric equalizers for a mixer channel or just one. If there are two parametrics for mids on a channel, one may sweep from 100Hz to about 1 KHz (low mids) and the other from 1 to 8 KHz (high mids). You'll only have to deal with these in large recording studio and big concert consoles.

Quality or 'Q': This knob controls how fine the filter will be. A high Q filter affects the frequencies around it very little where a low Q filter affects the frequency selected, but also the surrounding frequencies a lot more. To understand this more easily, just imagine a high Q filter as a thin arrow and a low Q filter as a gentle bow across the frequency spectrum. Equalizers without this knob are considered semi perimetric EQ's, which are more practical for most situations.

A word of caution!
When using equalizers, you should always start from zero (no gain or cut on any frequency) when you start experimenting. It's important to remember that after a certain time your ears become saturated and what sounded good at home all by yourself may be useless in the practice hall or for a live performance. It's important to have some sort of reference for the sound you're looking to get (a good recording of that sound or an effects pedal you know sounds good).

My experience with the Boss Metal Zone about 10 years ago can help you understand this concept a little better:

I started working with it without a reference and thought I had a really good sound happening. Then, when I used it during a gig, it sounded like some insect buzzing around the stage. It was horrible! I immediately by-passed it and kept using my Korg OVD-1 for the rest of the show.

The Korg OVD-1 pedal (built like a tank! and discontinued) that I purchased in 1985 is MY favourite pedal. It's even better than the TS-9 (Tube Screamer) in my opinion, because it's got a tighter bottom end. If you can get your hands on one of these gems, you won't regret it. It's a good all-purpose overdrive!

As the story goes, I placed both the Korg OVD-1 and the Boss Metal Zone side by side, so as to compare their sound and use the Korg as a reference. It's not that I wanted them to sound the same (that's absurd!), but I was looking to give the Metal Zone similar tonal qualities. This is very important, because when you switch from one pedal to the other, you don't get an abysmal difference in sound.

First, I set the Metal Zone's EQ to zero and the distortion half way. I then switched back & forth (one 'on' while the other is by-passed). I first noticed that the highs were too loud and turned them down to 9 o'clock. This helped quite a bit.

After that I played with the lows. This knob also had to be turned down, but just enough to remove the boomey sound (If you overdo it you'll get that transistor radio effect). All this was done switching back and forth between the pedals (The Korg being my tonal reference).

Next it was time to play with the semi-parametric for the mids. The sound was not too bad already after fixing the highs & lows so I gave it a slight dB cut (no more than 11 o'clock) and started sweeping the mids very slightly around the center frequency until I thought the tone was acceptable. I took a break at that point and didn't get back to listening to it until the next day.

The next day, I realized that there was really no need to cut the mids for the desired tone, so I left both these knobs at zero (half-way) and then tried it in the practice hall. There, I just had to do some slight changes (reducing distortion to about 10 o'clock, adjusting the mids, highs & lows a bit, etc), but I got it sounding like a good compliment to my sound for when I needed something heavier than an overdrive.

A Common Mistake
Don't make the mistake of thinking that a sound you thought was great at home will sound the same when playing with other instruments. It's common for Heavy Metal guitarists to cut the mids producing a bassey/trebly sound and then wondering why they can't hear what they're playing at the practice when everybody's complaining about their volume.

The problem is that they cut out the frequencies necessary to distinguish notes and chords. The presence of an electric guitar is around 2KHz, if this is cut severely, you can't distinguish what you're playing, and when your guitar has to compete with other instruments, you'll be turning up your amp to hear yourself and you'll get complaints!

Final Words
Equalizers can be very useful when looking for that sound that you can't find any other way. But remember, 'Don't fix it if it ain't broke'. A lot of sound problems can be fixed just by setting all EQ knobs at zero gain. Equalizing usually works best cutting frequencies that are too loud instead of boosting what was never there to begin with.

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Why blame the bass player?

2008-04-05T00:42:00.006+01:00

One of the most frequent complaints about Rock bands is the guitarist's volume and how irritating it was at last night's concert. Although, I do agree that almost every amateur band does have this problem ...and when dealing with guitarists on an ego trip, it's hard to convince them that they're doing something wrong. It's amazing how it's never one's own fault when something doesn't sound right, but I guess it's just too easy to find faults elsewhere and not in one's own playing or sound.

All this said, let's take a look at just how important the bass player's sound and groove style is in a piece of music:

The bass player can make or break the sound of your band -it's that important!. It fills in all the fundamental tones necessary for the listener to feel the pressure of a chord so melodic instruments will sound 'pleasant' to the ear. Imagine an electric guitar playing a high note all by itself at high volume -if you're listening (not playing), you'll probably squint and turn away from this 'noise' -especially if it's insistant or repetitive, but when this same note is played in the context of a song at the same volume with the bass filling in the empty backround, it 'makes sense' and is no longer irritating to you.

A seasoned bass player will equalize his sound before a show so it doesn't sound out of place but 'fills in' what's missing in other instruments. The bass & bass drum combination is crucial for good sound and needs to be well squared up before you move to on to doing the sound for other instruments. If this is well done, it provides the foundation of your sound and you'll notice that all other instruments will fall into their place more easily.

As a matter of fact, when I do small venues, I place a mic in the bass drum only and work the bass and bass drum first in the PA system then add in the guitar and other instruments and leave the vocals for last. A good sound consists of at least 60% bass and bass drum and 40% of everything else. This gives you the power you need for good sound projection -the audience will definitely appreciate it because the sound will make them feel like dancing to the beat instead of reeling away from an irritating melodic instrument sound. Your overall sound should be warm (even if you're playing heavy metal!). Irritating noises cause hearing fatigue and cause the 'Honey, I'm bored. Let's go' syndrome and you'll lose your audience due to a deficient sound (sound familiar?)

So, how can I help my bass player to do his/her job getting the sound you're after? Get them to experiment with the EQ on their bass amplifiers and realize what each frequency band does to the overall sound of the group. Hopefully, they'll realize that frequencies below 60Hz, if over emphasized, will cause a boomey sound which is inadequate for most (if not all) playing styles. First, start with a flat EQ (all sliders and/or EQ knobs set to zero), remove any boomeyness in the sound, then move on to giving the sound some body, if necessary (the 60 to 100Hz region is where it's at for this).

Then, the 125 to 600Hz region needs to be experimented with to see which frequences may have to be brought up or down a bit (this depends on the acoustics of the hall and will vary). Then work on definition; the 800Hz region is the definition of the instrument and this is entirely up to the bass player to decide how much is necessary for them to define what note they're playing. Anything else the bass player does from there on up is not usually a concern for other band members.

OK, now the bass sounds nice and solid and combines beautifully with the bass drum ...what now? Well, let's talk about groove. A typical groove is eighth notes (even more typical for amateurs) ...yeah, the good ol' 'do-do-do-do', which is beautiful for a lot of accompaniments, but not for all.

If you're doing Reggae, for example, it's not what you're after. Have your bass player experiment and listen to songs in the style you're playing to find out what those bass players are actually doing to make certain songs sound the way they do. Turn up the bass and turn down the highs on your hi-fi system if you really need to hear it better. This is fundamental to make a song sound the way you want it to. If you take the time to analyse the bass & drum parts and get them right, you'll find it's easier to fit the rest of the instruments into their places.

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Your muscles remember what your brain forgot!

2008-03-23T13:35:00.007Z

Friday Mar 21,2008

Did you ever happen to see a (once) good guitar player that didn’t practice for a long time? I guess most of you did(probably in yourself too), because usually guitar playing, when not a profession or a serious hobby, happens in young age. Then life rolls over us. It happens! Or to put it an other way, “life’s a bitch and then you die”(well, that is the pessimistic point of view that does not define me, just that I like how it sounds).

So, if you look at this guitar player that now plays like a 14 year old, it’s quite embarrassing. For someone at 14, sounding flat works. For someone who’s supposed to have some experience and history in playing the guitar, it sucks!

I have seen such people. Damn, I have even seen myself! I have seen how some good player that I used to look up to when I was a teen, couldn’t solo anymore…

But, at one point this guitar player started to practice seriously, and man, what a learning curve he had! Soon, in only a few months he again became someone to look up to! What happened? Nobody really learns that fast, right?!

Dr J spoke on his guest article here a bit about muscle memory, and boy, he’s right:

“We musicians rely so much on muscle memory and I firmly believe that the most productive time you can spend teaching your brain to remember the movements is really only the first 15-20 minutes of a practice session. After this amount of time, the brain is no longer interested in storing muscle memory information and if you continue to practice without taking a break, all you are doing is exercising your muscles.Give your brain a rest and go do something else for a while, then get back to practicing.”

When learning to play the guitar, you actually store patterns in your brain and in your muscles. It happens in music practicing, but it also happens in domains that have less to do with skills, but with capabilities, like in lifting weights. Really! This is why you find yourself taking some automatic actions in some particular situations, without “thinking” about it before. Like if you practiced box, wrestling, etc, if attacked, you will find yourself reacting fast and precise without recent previous training. It’s in you, sleeping, people!

So, when starting again to practice, your muscles start to remember things they were used to before! And if you really enjoy what you do, it comes so fast to you that you will be amazed. What the 14 year old will need to fight and struggle for a few years in a row, you will get in only a few months with a good, relaxed but constant practice!

All it takes is will, because the skills, you have in you! Start practicing and you will see how fast you will learn it again.

I cannot tell you how I felt when after a longer period of not playing constantly. I started again and after only a few weeks, I gained that joy and feeling of knowing my way around the neck. In the first days I had the impression that my fingers were some kind of cucumbers, but after a while I started to feel the guitar neck as very comfortable and friendly.

Article by Ovidiu Oprescu at: Guitar Flame

BandSuccess Comments: Thanks Ovidiu for this incredible 'heads up' article and allowing me to publish it here!

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Hello and Welcome to BandSuccess!

2008-03-20T14:46:00.006Z

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My name is Ruben Cardos. I was born in 1965 and I have been an active musician since 1979, when my brother and I started to jam together. I tried to play guitar and Bill tried to play drums in our basement when we were living in Kitchener, Ontario. Yeah! That's in Canada.

We finally got a good sounding trio going from 1985-87 called 'Fusion' with our dear friend, John Vice, on bass. Yeah John, I know you should've been black! And we did some cover songs and a couple of original pieces, too. We even actually played for money, not beer or popcorn on some occasions!

I have come a long way since then, both musically and geographically, as I have been living in Spain for some time now. Although, we did get a couple bands together in Canada in the early eighties, it wasn't till I came here to Spain that I really started to get a good theoretical backing in music.

I am, have been and always will be a pop and rock musician mainly and I really had a hard time in the late 80's when I wanted to put a good rock band together here because the musicians we had to work with didn't know the basic concepts of Rock music, unlike in North America. So I had to learn the international language of music to be able to describe these concepts to them in their terms to get the groups sounding right. It was quite a challenge back in those days, unlike nowadays where many people here now know how to get a good sound.

I was obviously challenged musically, but also soundmen and PA systems were very deficient and I had to learn all about sound, too. I had to use the electronics skills I learned in Canada to repair my gear, because there were very few technitians who were specialized in musical gear, and replacement parts were scarce or too expensive to obtain. Ever since Spain became part of the European Economic Union in 1992, all this has changed considerably.

Experience (time to blow my own horn. Sorry!)I am and have been an active live and studio musician all these years in all types of bands and what not: working bands, Pop/Rock bands, gospel, choirs, and more. I have taught a few summer guitar courses and have also worked with many types of PA systems and repaired all types of musical gear. (At least that's what I can remember off hand right now.)

The articles you will find in this site are mainly based upon my experiences and studies, and to the best of my knowledge 100% true and proved through that experience. If something outlined here doesn't work for you, it's because the concept may not be clear to you ...my apologies.
You can email me personally at rubencardos2@hotmail.com writing 'BandSuccess Help' in the subject line and I will get back to you as soon as I can if you would like me to explain something you didn't quite understand, or if you have any suggestions for this site.

Please, feel free to post comments on articles or anything relevant to a certain topic as many others can benefit from it, also. Thank you. HERE'S TO GOOD MUSIC AND PLENTY OF IT!

Sincerely: Ruben Cardos

PS: I will be adding more articles as time goes by, whenever I feel inspired or due to suggestions, So drop by often and see what's new.

PPS: I do speak perfect Spanish, so if you prefer to address me in Spanish, feel free to do so.

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Acoustics - Making a Good Practice Hall

2008-02-26T02:24:00.008Z

This article is especially intended for beginner bands, but maybe some seasoned pros can pick up a few tips here and find an explanation for some reocurring problem in the practice hall that you just couldn't put your finger on.

Sound is a very 'naughty creature' and is entirely at the mercy of the acoustics of the environment where it's produced. Let's take a look at the most typical practice hall: the good ol' garage or tool shed. Take a look at the walls, floor and ceiling first. What materials were used to construct it? Are they hard flat surfaces? If so, you're going to feel like you're playing in a tiled bathroom. Yeah, lots of reverb, boomey bass and irritating highs -a nightmare for playing anything but chamber music or soft balads with little or no drums! Reverb makes vocals sound good -maybe that's why people love to sing in the shower! But this same reverb is no good for fundamental instruments like the bass and bass drum because the sound reflects and reflects off the walls causing uninteligibility and chaotic sound.

So, what can you do to make it sound more like a good practice hall?

First, let's look at how sound behaves. Low frequencies go out in all directions, and as you move up the frequency spectrum, you'll find that these frequencies become more and more directional. If you want to experiment what I'm saying, take a hi-fi speaker and place it outdoors where you're sure the sound won't reflect off of any wall nearby. Play your favourite music and stand in front of the speaker. If you're standing about five or six feet in front of it, you'll probably hear everything perfectly. as you slowly move around to the back of the speaker, you'll notice that the first thing that disappears is the high frequencies, then the high mids, then the low mids. When your behind the speaker, you'll notice that the only thing you can hear are the low frequencies, right?

Now place yourself in front of the speaker again, but this time get up close to it. Start walking backwards slowly in a straight line. You'll notice that the first frequencies to go are the lows, then the low mids, high mids and finally you're left with the highs.

What did you learn from all this? That's right! Low frequencies make a spherical pattern around their source, while high frequencies are very directional. And THAT'S the problem. Sound naturally behaves like this and we've got to work with it because we're musicians.

High frequencies can be easily absorbed by putting carpeting on the walls. Thicker, softer materials like fiberglass wool covered with cloth and stapled to the wall does wonders for your sound. You'll feel like you're playing in a recording studio! But here we might be killing the sound. You can try making a few panels like this (on the ceiling too) and using wood for the spaces in between because wood has a very musical sound to it -what are most instruments made of? Finding just the right balance of fiberglass wool and wood depends on how you want the room to sound like so experiment systematically. Maybe one panel on each wall and the ceiling to start and try it, etc.

Low frequencies are harder to control. The bass player needs to know how to equalize his sound to 'clean up' the working environment. In my article 'Why Blame the Bass Player', the bass player's job concerning sound is explained in a practical manner.

If you're trying to avoid sound getting out of the practice hall and into your neighbour's ears, you've got some more work to do. Ideally, what you want to design is a floating room inside the room. The floor is the most portant part to deal with. In the area where you set up all your instruments and amplifiers, throw about 3" thick upholstering foam or any spongy material evenly on the floor then cover it with a wood structure (you're designing a low stage for your practice hall), but don't let this structure touch the floor or the walls directly (it must be floating). If it lacks stability, you can use rubber spacers under the corners and in the middle. If you're hanging speakers from the roof, use bungy rope or something like that to hang them so they're 'floating' and not transmitting vibrations to the structure of the building and make sure all amplifier speakers are sitting on the 'stage'.

If all has been done well, you will have considerably reduced the thumping that gets out of the practice hall that makes the plates in your neighbour's house vibrate. If necessary, repeat the floor process and make a smaller platform on top of the stage to set the drums and amplifier speakers on -especially the bass amp.

Next, look for cracks and holes where sound can get out. Windows and doors should be doubled and ideally, though much more expensive, make an inside wall and ceiling and put fibreglass wool between the two. Or how about this... Do you really need your whole garage to practice? Probably not. So you can make a room just for practicing with a door and walls and a ceiling that are not making direct contact with the other walls the floor or the ceiling in your garage or shed (a room inside a room). That just saved us some money, didn't it? Your neighbours will definitely be grateful to you and you won't be talking to Mr policeman so often.

Speaker placement is another important factor. If your guitar amp is on the floor and facing to the front, don't expect to hear it well; your legs don't have ears! Either place it on a small table or place it monitor style on the floor so you get the sound directly and believe me, you won't want to turn it up so loud! Also, to listen to your amp properly get at least five feet away from it so you can hear the other musicians and find the right mix.

Oh and one last thing. If you control the sound inside the practice hall, you'll find that everything sounds good and there's no need to turn everything up so loud.

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Review: Online Electric Guitar Lessons

2008-02-24T00:35:00.059Z

Quick Links to:
Guitar Made Simple by Chris Standring
Play What You Hear by Chris Standring
Guitar Tricks by Jon Broderick
Jamorama Guitar Learning System By Ben Edwards
Guitar Burning Speed by Charlie Wallace
Jam Play

Quick Links to This Page:
Introduction:
About Guitar Methods
Set Realistic Goals for Yourself
Which Method Suits You Best
Organize Your Study Time
What a Good Guitar Method Consists of

Product Reviews:
Guitar Tricks - Review
Play What You Hear - Review
Guitar Made Simple - Review
Jamorama - Review
Guitar Burning Speed - Review
The Frank Gambale Technique Book I - Review
Improvization Made Easier - Review

Introduction
Simply buying a guitar method is no guarantee that you're going to become the world's greatest guitarist. This endeavour requires work and dicipline, and any method that hypes you into thinking that by buying their method you are going to magically know how to play like Joe Satriani is lying to you in the face. Good guitar playing takes dicipline, a good method and regular daily practice. Don't fool yourself!
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About Guitar Methods
There are, good guitar methods and not so good ones. An example of a not so good way to learn would be, for example, buying a book that gives you umpteen thousand chords on a few pages and then leaves you stranded. Are you really going to use that many? I don't -and I've been playing for almost 30 years! These types of books are like a dictionary. They are only good as a reference and should only be considered as such. They are good for what they were intended. A better approach would be to give you a series of chords, the harmony principles behind them, show you good examples of how they are used professionally and give you good excercises for practice.

Remember, theory is important, but too much theory and not enough practice will both saturate and frustrate a beginner guitarist. You need a method that takes you step by step, with one lesson flowing into another where possible and some good practice exercises to consolodate what you've learned.
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Set Realistic Goals for Yourself
Set long term and short term goals for yourself, make a checklist and celebrate the achievement of each goal, whether short or long term. Simple goals are easier to achieve. Complicated things are combinations of simple things. Don't start with the roof of your house, start at the foundation.

Long Term Goal example:
'master the tapping tecnique'

Short Term goals to achieve it:
1 knowing how to make your tapping sound clean and solid, not noisy or dinky! (your fingers will get tired and sore at first until they are hardened by practice)

2 understanding how the fingerboard is laid out and finding a way of knowing what every note is at a glance, so no played note takes you by surprize.

3 knowing chord theory and basic harmony to be able to tap out a chord, know which chord it is and where it will fit in a certain piece of music.
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Which Method Suits You Best?
Don't be fooled into thinking that you can ONLY make use of a Shred Guitar Method, for example, unless you have already learned the basics, which are common to ALL genres, because you won't be able to take advantage of it. As a matter of fact, it will probably even frustrate you to the point of throwing it away because you haven't yet mastered the concepts that the book takes for granted you already know (build the foundation first).

If you find that after buying a book, you look through it and don't understand what it's talking about from page 4 on, put the book away for when you do know it and look for something simpler. Don't punish yourself with a difficult book!
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Organize Your Study Time
Set a realistic, responsible and consistent time and duration for your lessons. If you go on a six hour binge the first day, I doubt your mind and fingers will resist doing it again the next day. But if you are systematic and take the lesson book out at the same time every day, 4 or 5 days a week for about 1 hour, I guarantee you'll soon start seeing results much faster than using the 'binge method'. And relax! Rome was not built in a day.

Have a notebook or agenda for your study time. Write down what you learned that day and plan what you need to do the next day. This way you can track your progress by looking back from time to time, seeing what you've learned, seeing what still needs consolidation and you'll know which direction you'll need to take to achieve your end goal.

One thing is practicing for pleasure and another thing is your study time. Don't confuse the two! As time goes by your attention span will improve for learning and you'll realize that 2 hours have gone by and you're still concentrated. This is like weight training. A little weight at first, then slowly build up. This is the secret to success!
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A good electric guitar method will consist of the following characteristics:

-Well outlined lessons with relevant excercises that you can put into practice right away. Not 80% theory and 20% practice. A higher percentage of practical excercises is always better for consolidation.

-A CD or downloadable material where you can hear the excercise being played and hopefully a backing track or two to be able to practice the excercise in context is very useful.

-Shy away from methods that don't teach you at least a little musical theory and reading practices. If you don't start to learn musical theory today, you're just putting it off for another day when you will need it and won't be able to get that high paying job on TV, etc. because you couldn't be bothered when you were younger.

-Tablature is nice, but it needs the written music above it. It's important to know how long a note or chord lasts exactly and you will also start getting used to how it looks in musical writing. Although having a good ear for music is important, you can't always rely on your ears -they are subjective. Get the best of both worlds: good musical theory and a good musical ear. This combination will wipe out most of your competitors when looking for high paying jobs, because I don't think you're going to be in your same garage band the rest of your life and you will eventually want to achieve higher goals (again, build your foundation).

-although it's not always possible, find a method that includes some kind of examination in your town or on the net. This means that it is a real method with a real school backing it and real teachers who you can talk to and ask questions. A good alternative is having a teacher online to explain concepts that you don't understand. I realize that these methods may be a little expensive for some, but having a mentor is a big advantage. Also, certificates from reputed schools are your passport to being taken more seriously.

-I will always trust a method more if the people selling it are willing to answer my questions before buying. Shy away from those that do not give you their contact info, because they are probably more worried about making a sale and couldn't give a flying f&?# whether you will actually benifit from it or not!

-Any online product should have a guarantee. Make sure anything you buy has one and you agree to it's terms. Don't buy now and worry later.
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Product Reviews:
If you have actually purchased a method found here, please post a comment on it so others can benefit from your experience. My email address is: rubencardos2@hotmail.com, if you need help making up your mind or have any suggestions for products that you believe should be here. Make sure to put 'BandSuccess Help' in the subject line and I will get back to you as soon as humanly possible.
Note:
The Bandsuccess rating is based upon whether all of the criteria in the online lessons review introduction are met or not. A 10/10 would ONLY be given to a method which fully features every characteristic discussed.

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1. Guitar Tricks - Online Guitar Lessons

Features:
-well over 3000 quality video lessons
-you choose the lesson you want to learn and when you want to learn it
-over 40 different teachers that specialize in different styles and techniques
BandSuccess Rating: 8/10
Level: All
Band Success Comments: One of the best comprehensive video courses available on the net.
Price: 10.95/month. Click Here! to visit the Guitar Tricks site.
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Guitar Courses from Chris Standring:

2. Jazz Guitar - Play What You Hear -The complete interactive home study jazz guitar course

You will be able to:
-play melodies anywhere on the guitar neck effortlessly
-recognize sounds against simple harmonies
-avoid wrong notes
-know fretboard harmony
-play melodic patterns in all keys
-use a simple system to learn and utilize advanced jazz chords

Course Learning Blocks:
Melody
Harmony
Playing Over Changes
Phrase Development

New Features for 2.0:
-over 300 rhythm section audio examples and play along files
-Jazz guitar audio examples played by Chris Standring
-Super fast streaming audio
-Quick & simple downloading
-Additional pdf files so you can print out the whole course
-guitar tab along with the music notation ...and more

BandSuccess Rating: 9/10
Level: Intermediate & Advanced
Band Success Comments: Highly recommended for jazz enthusiasts and any musician wanting to get out of the playing 'box'. Also, Chris is more than willing to answer your questions and give you full support via email. The course is fun, practical and easy going.
Price: $97.00 one time fee. Click Here! to visit the A & R website
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3. Guitar Made Simple
A complete beginner to intermediate home study guitar course
BandSuccess Rating: 9/10
Level: Beginner
Band Success Comments: One of the best comprehensive video courses available on the net!
Take advantage of the special discount for ordering from this site! Click Here! to visit the A & R website
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Guitar Courses from Jamorama:

4. Jamorama Complete, Multimedia Guitar Learning System
An all in one package at a very good price

Features:
-148 step-by-step video lessons
-lessons well explained and laid out
-multi-angle, animated videos
-26 exclusive, professionally recorded, quality jam tracks for practice
-teaches tablature reading
-comes with 1000's of lines of guitar tablature
-comes with 3 software bonuses for learning how to read traditional staff music and transcription for ear training
-thorough, comprehensive theory, lessons and drills
-Lifetime Online Updates

Try the 6 part FREE minicourse before you buy!

BandSuccess Rating: 8/10
Level: Beginner and Intermediate
BandSuccess Comments:
This is a comprehensive, down to earth course at a very good price.
Price: $69.95 one time fee. Click Here! to see the Jamorama site.
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5. Guitar Burning Speed -speed training course

Features:
-complete audio tracks of every single exercise-full color photos-easy to view diagrams to help you along this course.
-The 3-Step-System the PRO's use to learn any song fast
-How the PRO's quickly warm up for any performance
-How to improve your guitar tone
-How to build strength and speed in your picking wrist and fret hand
-How to increase your flexibility
-How to eliminate all wasted motions
-How to play sweep picking at burning speeds...and more

Bonuses:
*ebook -Learn every note on the fretboard in 15 minutes!
*ebook -Fretboard Warrior (similar to the above ebook)
*software -The Guitar Scale Tool (very useful for studying scales)
*software -Easy Chord Guitar Chord Dictionary (useful reference)
*ebook -How to read TAB (Uh! The name speaks for itself!)
*software -Metronome
*software -Guitar Tuner
*download -101 Midi Drum Tracks
*full email Support

BandSuccess Rating: 6/10
Level: intermediate - advanced
BandSuccess Comments:
'Hypey' would be considered an understatement for the sales page! Buy this only if you want to build up speed in your playing. This is not a comprehensive course!
Price: $19.99 one time fee. Click Here! to see the Guitar Burning Speed site.
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Top Selling Jazz/Fusion guitar methods books at Sheet Music Plus

The Frank Gambale Technique Book I By Frank Gambale. For Guitar. Guitar Method or Supplement. Manhattan Music Publications. Jazz. Book & CD. 92 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (MMBK0002CD)
Level: Intermediate
Rating: 7/10
Band Success Comments: Excellent Jazz guitar method by one of the best Jazz/Fusion guitarists in the world.
Price: $26.95 (+$2.99 shipping fee within US - others consult Sheet Music Plus)
Click Here! for mor information at the Sheet Music Plus website.
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Improvisation Made Easier Written by Frank Gambale. Instructional book and 2 examples CDs for electric guitar. 103 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing. (AP.0005B)

Level: Intermediate & Advanced
Rating: 7/10
BandSuccess Comments: This book is excellent for anyone wanting to enter into the world of jazz improvization.
price: 26.95 (+$2.99 shipping fee within US - others consult Sheet Music Plus)
Click Here! for more information at the Sheet Music Plus website.
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Speaker Cabinets and Impedance Issues

2008-02-24T00:03:00.008Z

4 ohms, 8 ohms, 16 ohms? What the heck are they talking about?

Your speaker is the final step of the amplification stage and affects the sound greatly. Let's look at the main variables:

When you connect a speaker to a guitar amp, or any amp for that matter, you are loading it. Impedence (load) is measured in ohms and it's the resistance that is produced when the speaker is in operation. Most speakers have their impedence rating labeled on the back, which is usually 8 ohms, but you can find other values like 4 ohms -I've even seen 3, 5 and 16 ohm speakers, but this is not so common.

According to Ohms Law, two equal resistances or impedances connected in parallel, i.e. positive from the amp to positive on both speakers and negative to both negatives will create a total impedance of half the value of one speaker. So if I connect my amplifier to two 8 ohm speakers connected in parallel the total impedance will be 4 ohms. If the back of my amplifier head states that it can take a 4 ohm load, there's no risk of blowing the power amp stage. Also, if I wish to use a cabinet with a single 8 ohm speaker there's no problem because the amp can take a minimum of 4 ohms - anything higher than that is no problem for a solid state amplifier. With tube amplifiers, if the impedance is too high you can cause damage to the output stage and power supply. The main point here is to read the manual and work within those parameters. If you don't know what your doing, don't do anything!

Parallel Connection = positive from the amp to both positives on the speakers and negative from the amp to both speaker negatives. If the speakers are both 8 ohm, you get a 4 ohm load.

Series Connection = positive from the amp to one speaker's positive the negative of that same speaker is connected to the other speaker's positive, and the negative of that second speaker is connected to the amp negative. The resulting impedance is 16 ohms with two 8 ohm speakers.

4 ohm, 8 ohm? What's the difference?

Quite simple really, an amp working with a 4 ohm load will deliver twice the power, i.e. if an amplifier working with an 8 ohm load can deliver 50W of power, the same amp with a 4 ohm load can deliver 100W of power -get the picture? What would it be able to deliver if it had a 2 ohm load on it? That's right... 200 Watts! Don't try it! Why? Because you'll be making the power amp stage work twice as hard and you'll be lucky if it lasts you 30 seconds in operation. There are some PA amplifiers that can do this but that's an uncommon exception to the rule. Study your guitar amp manual so you know what you can and cannot do as a mistake of this nature can be costly.

What about speaker size?
The basic rule is quite simple, a bigger sized speaker can deliver lower frequencies more easily and a smaller speaker can deliver higher frequencies more easily. Although equalization is very important factor which governs the sound of your rig, 10 inch speakers are very typical for a guitar amp and for a good reason: this size delivers a fair amount of body and definition naturally.

8 inch speakers also work quite well, but how many guitar amps have you seen with a tweeter in the cabinet? I can't remember having seen any unless we're talking about a amplifier for an electric-acoustic guitar. If you've ever put your guitar in distortion mode directly through a full range cabinet, you'll have noticed that a tweeter makes a fuzzy, undesirable sound -but who knows' You might even like the effect for some part of a song!

Bass guitar cabinets come in all shapes and sizes too. these rigs are more complex because the bass player's sound can make or break the sound of the band. Some combinations include 4 8 inch speakers, for definition and a 15 inch speaker for body. Others just have just one 12 or 15 inch speaker -and the variables go on...

When engineers are designing a speaker cabinet they carefully calculate how much loss in body needs to be compensated electronically and in cabinet design when using a smaller speaker to do a bigger speaker's job, for example. So don't be too surprized when you hear good bass sound from an eight inch speaker, thank the engineer.

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Soldering Tips

2008-02-23T23:49:00.010Z

1. Buy a good soldering iron
He who buys cheap, buys twice or more times. Cheap bargain soldering irons don't have quality tips, and these tips end up deforming and can end up making an apparently simple job a nightmare. Also, the temperature and wattage rating can vary considerably where, for example, a 40 Watt quality soldering iron will be very close to or exactly 40 watts.

2. Use the proper solder
Your local electronic components supplier will know what type of solder you need for the particular job you intend to do. Make sure that it has flux in the core.

3. Tin the tip
Especially when using your iron for the first time, you must tin the tip:

1. Using a bit of steel wool or very fine sandpaper, rub it on the tip so it will take solder.

2. Plug it in and wait for about 5 minutes until it can melt solder.

3. Apply solder to the tip and wipe it with a paper napkin or anything similar.

4. Repeat this process until the whole tip is shiny with solder.

5. Solder away!

*the next time you need to use your iron, you usually have to just wipe the tip before the job.

4. Heat the lead of the component, not the solder
The lead of the component and the land on the PCB will only take solder when it's hot. If necessary, melt some solder on the tip of the iron so it transmits heat to the lead and the land better.

5. Don't overdo it
Especially when soldering semiconductor devices, the more time you spend heating the lead, the more heat gets to the component and you'll blow it.

If you're a novice solderer, take some needle nose pliers, put an elastic band on the handle and grab the lead of the component on the component side of the PCB before soldering. This will dissipate the heat and protect the component. You can also buy heat sink clamps for this purpose at you're local electronic components dealer.

All this said, remember that with semiconductor devices, don't take more than about 5 seconds to solder a lead with a clamp on it. If you hear a 'click', you blew it!

6. Avoid draughts if possible (outdoors = not possible)
Gusts of air or draughts lower the temperature of the iron making it take longer for you to do a particlar job. This endangers the components you are soldering.

Additional Comments:
If you don't know what type of soldering iron to buy, I would strongly advise you to buy a 40 watt iron if you're going to do work on your guitar or amplifier and most jobs on effects pedals, and a 20 to 30 watt iron for more delicate work like on IC's, diodes and transistors.

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Problems with Combo Amplifiers

2008-02-23T23:37:00.006Z

AdsSpy: 5 sites by this GAnalytics ID

In a combo amplifier there is much more strain on the amp and preamp due to vibration as opposed to stack models and this may give you problems sooner or later because the speaker is in the same cabinet as the amplifer.

If this should happen, it is advisable to take it to an authorized repair service. But if you're a DIY type of person, you can try taking a look inside, and checking for cold solder joints. A cold solder joint is one that aparently looks good but if you move the component on the other side of the PCB while looking at the joint through a magnifying glass, you'll notice that the component lead moves in and out. These joints must be remelted or, if possible, remove the old solder and replace it with new solder. My advice would be to check the heavier components first like the electrolytic filter capacitors in the power supply section then move on according to component size.

Another problem you can run accross in these amps is a broken component lead. These are quite difficult to spot at first, even with a looking glass, and usually happen to components like output transistors or IC's which are mounted on a heatsink then directly soldered to the PCB.

The vibration of the speaker and the weight of the heatsink can cause the lead of the output device to break over time, but the crack is almost invisible. If your amp is making a garbling sound or there's a total malfunction at the output stage, this may well be the cause.

My advice would be to replace the component if you can get one or try your luck doing 'surgery', i.e. carefully soldering the lead together or soldering a piece of wire from what's left of the component lead (without blowing it) to the lead of the component it has to connect to -make sure you haven't short circuited the leads of the component, or anything else for that matter, before switching on the power! This is a very delicate operation not recommended for novice solderers.

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Does your guitar sound the way it should?

2008-02-23T23:14:00.006Z

If the answer is no and you can't seem to get a nice clean sound, even after equalizing, ask yourself how old your cable is and how well you've been looking after it.

Cables inevitably get old and twisted inside breaking hairs in the mesh or shield. This contributes to making your instrument sound dull and lifeless. Also, do the tips on your 1/4" jacks rotate easily? This is a sure indicator that they need to be replaced - these are usually at fault if you get excessive buzzing when using overdrive and distortion. If you want to be on the safe side, just replace the whole cable with a new one.

If you want to know if your cable is at fault or the problem lies elsewhere, you can buy a cable tester, Which is a very good item to have especially if you do a lot of gigging, and put all your cables 'to the test'.

If you've got a multi-tester with an ohmmeter, you can measure the resistance from one end to the other using the finest setting. Start with the ground or shield and take note of the measurement.

Depending on the length and quality of the cable this measurement can vary, but lets just say that 0.5 to 1 ohm is quite typical for a 10 foot lead. Now let's measure the resistance from tip to tip. If the tip to tip measurement is exactly equal to or lower than the ground or shield measurement, this will cause your sound to be muddy and lack brightness.

If you solder your own cables you may want to know if the jack is at fault or the cable itself. Remove the jack covers and measure the mesh to mesh and core to core directly on the wires. The solder joint may also be a problem so check the resistance before and after the joint. This will tell you what needs to be replaced.

Take your sound seriously! Don't buy a 700 dollar guitar and put it through bargain brand cable. Neutrik produce some of the best jacks I've seen so far and I earnestly recommend them. As for cables, before buying a length of cable for your new jacks, have the attendant strip a little section of the cable and make sure it's got a good amount of mesh around the core. Lately I've been seeing a lot of China-brand junk cable with very poor mesh (maybe that's why it was so cheap!).

A braided mesh is very good for signal transmission, but these cables are stiffer than conventional mesh cables and not so good for guitar leads because the core can get broken inside more easily over time from back and forth movement.

Make sure you put your best cable between the guitar jack and the first stomp box in your effects chain, especially if you don't have active pickups, and use good, shielded, short cables to chain all of your effects together.

IMPORTANT NOTE
If you can only get cable with 2 cores, i.e. stereo or microphone cables, and you want to use it to make a guitar lead, add the unused core to the mesh. Don't leave it unused because it may end up picking up your local radio station, and if you add it to the other core, you may end up with less resistance in the core than in the mesh (see above).

Moral of the story: The more mesh (or shielding), the better.

The Roadie Wrap:

If you want your cables to last you a long time in good condition, take some time and learn how to do the 'Roadie Wrap'. It will leave your cables perfectly wrapped with no strain on them. The process explained here is for right-handed people, if you're a lefty just change left for right and vice-versa:

First, hold one of the tips in your left hand (or right hand if you're a lefty) with the rest of the cable leading away from you.

Make the first loop about a foot (30 cm) in diameter like you would normally do to create a loop, making sure that the cable is not twisted but falls naturally into place.

Then, grab a spot about a foot and a half (45cm) from your left thumb with your right thumb and index finger and bring the cable towards your left hand, turning your right wrist to the left as you do so -you'll find that this loop is now covering your right forearm. Then take this loop you've made into your left hand. Make sure there's no strain in the loop (rotate the cable if nessary to remove any twisting -the loop should be natural and round, not an 8 shape) and make sure it's approximately the same size as the first.

Make the next loop like you did the first loop and repeat the process mentioned above on every second loop until the cable is perfectly wrapped in an 'O' shape in your left hand (right hand for lefties).

NOTE: The first loop strains the cable and the second relieves the strain.

The first time you wrap your cables you'll probably find it hard to make the nice 'O' shape due to kinks and bends in the cable, but if you consistently use this tecnique, you'll find that sooner or later the kinks and bends in your cables will actually go away.

ANOTHER SUGGESTION:
once you've carefully wrapped one cable, take a shoestring, tie it around the cable with a simple knot. Make sure the jacks are almost together with the knot between them.

Wrap the next cable like you did the first one and place it on top and then make another simple knot, then on to the next.

When you've tied up all your cables make a slip knot (just like you would tie your laces) and all your cables will be in one bunch and ready to be put in a sports bag (or whatever) until you need them again.

*This way you'll never forget to connect a cable before playing and it's a good way to take inventory and make sure you haven't forgot one before leaving after a show.

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Microphone Technique -part 2

2008-02-23T23:07:00.005Z

If you haven't read part 1 of 'Microphone Technique' read it first as this part assumes you have already read it.

In part 1 we talked about veering of the hand held mic about 30º. If you're holding it in your right hand, it's more natural to veer it off to the right. If you're holding it in your left hand, veer it off to the left. Remember, do not sing directly into the mic, but straight into the audience.

As you move your head, move the mic as if it were stuck in that position don't go changing the angle as your head moves. Your upper body should move in sync with your head. If you need proof, watch how most professional singers do it during live performances. You'll notice that the position of the mic only changes when they sing high notes; that's when they move it a little further from their mouths and maybe straighten it out a bit, then it's back to position one.

To be able to sing effectively, one must learn to listen first. Effective singing requires about 70% listening and 30% singing. You must learn to blend into the mix and not expect the sound man to do it for you (he's got a lot of other things to worry about). Listen to the instruments around you and make sure you're not too loud or soft in the mix. If necessary, bring the mic closer to get more body in your sound, or further away if your voice is lacking in brightness. If this does not get you a satisfactory result, then consider having yourself turned up or EQ'ed; although any competent sound man will have already done it for you during the vocal soundcheck.

Make sure you are not too loud on your monitor, because if you're hearing yourself too much, you can go of tune or not hear the beat properly. Make sure it's just enough to hear yourself over the other instruments.

Don't expect the microphone to substitute what you are not doing. Microphones only help to amplify the sound that you are producing. Singers are the primary cause of deficient vocals. If you're not doing your job right, who supposed to be doing it for you? Good singers adapt to the circumstances and don't spend their time blaming others for something they should be doing.

It is true that sound men can be to blame sometimes, but if you give them a good sound to work with, you make their job and yours a lot easier. Practice to get power in your voice. If you've got power and control over your voice (without screaming), the gain on the mic can be turned down a little and feedback won't be a problem for you.

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Microphone Technique -part 1

2008-02-23T22:51:00.007Z

When you're playing live or in the practice hall, the most popular and practical microphones used are the moving coil type. And as their name implies, they're composed of a coil which is floating around a magnet.

The diaphram is a very thin material which is fixed to the coil in a way that when you speak into the microphone, the diaphram vibrates making the coil go up and down around the magnet. This produces a tiny AC current which is amplified (made bigger) and makes the speaker move in and out to reproduce the sound. As a matter of fact, a speaker works like a microphone only backwards; the current in the speaker coil makes the diaphram move in and out producing sound instead of capturing it.

Depending on how you place the mic it will sound one way or another. Here are some things to keep in mind.

The Proximity Effect
As you come closer to the front of the microphone, you'll notice that your voice gains body. Proximity means closeness, so if you're speaking straight into the diaphram, you're making it vibrate a lot more and if you say 'Peter Peter Pumpkin eater' you'll notice a poping sound as you pronounce the 'P's'. This is very undesirable because it masks the rest of the word. The sound guy will have to turn down the lows on your microphone (80-100Hz) and you'll feel like you're singing through a transistor radio.

If, on the other hand, you step away from the mic, your voice sounds thinner and the sound guy has to give more gain to the mic channel and maybe compensate giving it some lows to gain some body at the risk of having the PA feedback.

Now, I can imagine what you're thinking: 'But almost all of my favorite stars look like they're almost eating the mic and it sounds good! Why doesn't it work for me?'

First: If you look closely they're not singing directly into the mic, so those obnoxious 'P's' are not going directly into the diaphram causing pops or explosions. They're either singing on a downward angle or veering it off to the left or right. If the mic is hand held, you'll probably notice that they veer it off about 30 degrees and sing straight at the audience.

Second: They're close to the mic so that it gives them body in their voice and the sound guy doesn't have to do it for them, therefore there's no danger of feedback due to giving it more gain or lows than necessary.

Third: (And this is important!) They're singing loud enough. If you have a weak voice, don't expect the sound guy to 'fix it in the mix' when you're playing a live show. If your voice is powerful, you can bring down the mic gain so there's no danger of feedback and it can be turned up.

Fourth: If they're singing that close to a microphone they might have to even exchange the 'p' sound for a 'b' sound on some words ('beable' instead of 'people'). Although this is not usually necessary if the mic is properly placed in front of your mouth.

Final Note: The more you turn up a mic, the greater it's range or capturing area. If the mic starts capturing what's coming out of the speaker, you get feedback.

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Are you using Your Diaphragm to Sing?

2008-02-23T22:37:00.006Z

Proper singing requires strength and resistance. This is achieved through practice. After a 2 hour concert I feel wiped out, as if I have been doing exercise. Why? Simply because I have been doing exercise.

If you notice that you are getting laryngitis after longer spells of singing, it's probably because you're not using your diaphragm to do it.

Your diaphragm is a muscle just below your ribs which contracts your abdomen and lower ribs when singing properly. The effect is similar to when you do situps.If you notice that this is not happening when you're trying to get volume or higher notes in your singing, your chances of blowing your voice are far greater than someone who sings properly.

Analyze the way you sing: If your shoulders are moving forward and you notice pressure just below your neck and consequently tilting your head back or moving it forward when you sing, you're doing it wrong. If, on the other hand, you notice that your shoulders and head are relaxed and you're feeling abdominal pressure inwards and upwards, chances are you're using your diaphragm to sing -this is very good.

Even though your voice sounds tuned when singing the 'wrong way', there's no real power in your voice and you end up screaming to get those high notes out and it's, 'Hello laryngitis'!

Make sure your abdomen is being contracted and your shoulders are relaxed when you sing. By tilting your head back, you're obstructing your throat. Your chin should be roughly at a 90º angle with your body (i.e. it's natural position) and open your throat to avoid obstructing the sound from coming out.

I realize that all this is easier said than done, but just as body builders train with weights to condition their muscles, you need to practice the right way to condition your diaphragm.

When you're doing it right, you'll realize that you can get real power in your voice and greater volume control.

I can still remember some years ago when Barry White (member of The Platters) was in town and I went to a friends house to see him practice. When he was warming up his voice, you could hear the roof shake on some notes! You can imagine how powerful his voice was, and yet he was able to sing soft parts beautifully, also. Now, that's control!

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Working with Backup Vocals

2008-02-23T21:33:00.011Z

Certain musical resources have always and will always work to make a song sound better if they're done right. A good example of this is the use of backing vocals. A song can sound quite blah with just the lead vocal. It's not that it's necessary to use them in every song, but if you're looking to stand out from the majority of bands in your neighbourhood or town, don't overlook the power this can give to your music. A good 80% of the songs you listen to use them because they work and your audience will love them. Good vocals and backups with a proper mix make the average listener say 'Hey,these guys sound good!'

How many members in your band have a microphone in front of them? If you as the band leader know anything about basic harmony and some of your members have a tuned voice. Place a mic in front of them, at first just to see what happens, then work with what you've got (who's got a high voice or who could do a lower voice?). If they're able to sing well in unison or maybe even harmonize, you'll be giving your band some uniqueness.

Singing harmony is a dicipline which needs to be practiced a lot, but when you get the gist you'll be able to sing and listen to the other vocals as well. And with enough practice, you'll even be able to improvise in the practice hall or even during live shows.

Basic Vocal Harmony - a two minute tour
Someone told me years ago when I was having some trouble finding a good harmony vocal for a song, that harmony vocals usually stick to the same note and don't usually change note as much as the melody line. Ever since that day, I've had no trouble at all making harmony parts for songs. If you ever have problems like this, try staying on the same note throughout the whole phrase or part and change the note only if and when needed. I'm sure you'll find that it works with at least 80% success, if not more!

When working with harmony, see what note the melody starts with then experiment with intervals from that starting note, for example a 3rd, 4th or a 5th above or below the note. In a three part harmony (melody + 2 backups), you can choose a note interval below the starting melody note to give body to the vocal mix and then perhaps a note interval above the melody. There are many combinations you could use, but this is a very good starting point.

How to learn a harmony part
I know it's difficult for a beginner to remember a harmony vocal at first but you can try this method if you're having trouble: Once you have a harmony part worked out, record the song (even with just the rhythm guitar) and record the melody part of the song with it. Now record the harmony part on top and make sure it's louder than the melody in the mix. Hand this to the member who's going to sing it for them to practice. This way they'll get used to hearing THEIR part in the song and not end up singing in unison with the melody or going off tune.

If you want to work with backup vocals, it's a good idea to just use one instrument at low volume as a reference like a keyboard or a guitar, and when the vocals are sounding right try them together with all the instruments. I strongly recommend using this method when working harmony parts because it's easier to hear who's off key or who needs help with their part.

Final Words
You'll find that it's rewarding to hear harmony vocals when you're the lead singer, you feel that you're backed up and not carrying the load all by yourself. Think of them as your 'helpers'. Also, this is a sure sign that everyone in the group is listening to each other, which is important to make the sound tight. Audiences also love to hear good vocals which produce the 'goose pimple' effect when they're sounding nice. Don't fool yourself into thinking that even a screaming Death Metal band couldn't use good harmony vocals in certain parts of their songs.

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Giving Your Band Some Uniqueness

2008-02-23T21:17:00.005Z

It's important to know how to identify certain music genres, especially if you're the leader of your group. This helps you to be able to get songs to sound right; and for the creative band, it's a good way to get away from typical material and give way to experimentation. Knowing what the bass and drums are doing in a certain piece of music and being able to do it yourself will open a lot of doors for you. Too many guitarists and keyboard players pay too much attention to what THEY are playing to be able to see the group as a whole and realize that the way THEY are going to sound in the band largely depends on the fundamental roles of these two members of your group.

A good bass player is one of the most important members of the band. I'm sure that those who have played with a good one agree. What's a good bass player? A good bass player is not a 'slap monster' or someone able to play 32nd note scales at 180 bpm in double 4 time. I have nothing against a person like that, but what they need to have first is a good musical ear to make this instrument sound right and to choose the right groove and play with the proper feel. Then, and only then, can they venture out and do any fancy stuff.

Are the bass and drums working together, or is the drummer playing one thing and the bass player doing something radically different? Are they paying attention to each other? Are YOU paying attention to what they're doing to be able to compliment it; or are you more worried about how you are going to look on stage? Remember that if everyone in the group gets into the habit of really listening to each other, your group has better chances of sounding good and tight, and I guarantee you'll notice it when you're on stage with that same tightness playing through a 5000 Watt system. You'll feel a sense of power and control over the pieces you play and I'm sure you'll end up doing stage antics naturally and effortlessly.

How many different musical genres can you think of? How can you identify that this song is Classic R & R and this song is Reggae or Blues, etc.? The more musical genres you're able to identify and play, the better you're chances are of really being effective and in control of the sound of your band. This is one of the best ways to make your band sound unique and stand out from all the other bands around you. Your chances of getting anywhere in the music business will definitely increase! People will either speak fondly of you orcriticize you. This is excellent! People talking about you, whether good or bad, sows the seeds of popularity! why are the Sex Pistols still being talked about even up to this day? Is it because they took drugs? No! Simply because they made people talk about them and this awakened curiosity in the minds of those who knew nothing about Punk Rock. They were different and very controversial. I'm not saying that being controversial is a must, but it definitely helps.

Final Note
Don't waste your time trying to get your band to play songs that you can't get to sound right. Focus on things that do sound right, it's more rewarding. As your band matures and gets up confidence, you'll find less and less problems getting any song to sound right.

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Doing Live shows

2008-02-23T20:31:00.009Z

In a live show, a band has to really win their audience over. This is where a lot of beginner bands fail. My advice to you is to start as soon as possible in a working band and get some experience backing you. You'll see what works and what doesn't. You'll also get to know human behaviour and what people demand of a band. After about a year or two of regular gigging, you'll know where it's at and you'll have met a lot of competent musicians along the way that you can maybe recruit for your own band.

In my case, I spent about 4 years in a sucessful working band and during that time I analyzed why it was so sucessful. The biggest reason was that the front man was very active and charasmatic on stage. The people 'wanted' to be entertained by him and his band. The sound of the band was very tight and everyone in the band contributed to making the show interesting. We would come up with ideas for things to do on stage, like dressing up the trombone player like a surgeon to sing a song and using wireless systems to be able to come down from the stage and dance with the crowd while doing a guitar solo, etc. Stage antics came naturally because rhythm section was tight and powerful. We had a total of 5 people doing backups that sounded pretty good. And, of course, last but not least, the sound man did his job very well and the 16.000 Watts of power were sounding very clean at almost every show.

*Why didn't this band get to the top 40? Simple, we were only doing cover songs.

Now, let's take a look at few of the best bands that have 'made the grade' and been able to reach the most amount of people, and why.

There are literally hundreds of reasons that we can think of, but there are a few important reasons why bands or soloists have been able to soar above the rest and remain in our CD collections for a long time.

Examples:

The Beatles

There has never since been a group that has influenced the world and people of all ages to the degree that these 4 mop-tops from Liverpool did. Why?

Charisma -They did a good job of winning the audience over. Not just one of them -they all participated to make the live show interesting and entertaining.

Originality -They ventured to do things that no band would dare to do. They set the trends that many others followed and broke molds.

Versatility -They didn't just stick to one style of music, they were in constant evolution.

Good vocal work -They all sang and did backups -so that makes at least 8 instruments in total in a live show (4 instruments + 4 vocals).

Queen

Charasmatic Front Man -Freddy Mercury knew how to get a crowd roaring and very often gave his audience a chance to sing along and participate.

Tight rhythm section -The shows had plenty of power when needed and a lot of contrasts which were well executed during live performances.

Originality -They ventured to do things that no band would dare to do. They set the trends that many others followed and broke molds.

Versatility -They didn't just stick to one style of music, they were in constant evolution.

Excellent Backing Vocals -These took the world by storm in the mid seventies and are still referred to today as a milestone in music.

Good guitar work-the first guitarist to make harmonizing guitar parts popular.-full guitar sound and good rhythm tecnique.-Use of interesting scales and harmony (unlike anything anyone else was doing at the time)

Van Halen

Charasmatic Front Man -David Lee Roth was wild and controversial. He knew how to get the crowd roaring.

Tight Rhythm Section

Excellent guitar work -The first guitarist to make everyone want to learn the tapping tecnique.-excellent rhythm tecnique which provided a full clean sound.

Good backing vocals -These make the audience want to sing along

Powerful Live Performance -Energetic live show that made the audience feel 'entertained'

*There's always a reason for a soloist or band's success. It's up to you to discover it and apply it to your own situation. If you see a local band doing very well, don't just sit there and criticize them -they must be doing something right to get where they are! Analyze and pinpoint what exactly makes them stand out from the other bands in your area. Is it the sound of the band? The charismatic singer? Their style and originality? The luck of friends ...or any other combination of elements?

Sure, there are some acts that have been very successful, but lasted a very short time (a flash in the pan, so to speak). But these have usually been a product that was backed by huge sums of money and good marketing tactics. Only the test of time can reveal if it was a really good product or not.

The Song List
I've seen many ways of going about preparing the order of songs and this depends on the crowd you're playing to. Yes! Put yourself in the spectator's shoes and think about what they want to hear. This is not easy to do if you're an inexperienced band, but make an effort.

I wouldn't choose the same order of songs in a nightclub as in a banquet, but something that has worked well for me in an 'all ages' gig is to work your songlist in an ascending order. Especially if you're doing cover songs. Start with something melodic like a ballad and as your show progresses move on to maybe R & R classics, and shuffles and leave the heavier stuff for the younger people who will last throughout the whole show. Middle-aged people usually leave earlier and you're left with the easier to influence crowd. Don't forget to leave little or no time between songs when you want to pickup the pace. Empty spaces bring down the pace that you've worked so hard to build up with the last song you played; and if you've got people up and dancing, it's a sure way to clear the dance floor!

For a nightclub gig it's a good idea to look and see what other bands are doing there and see what's working for them. A good band can keep the people entertained till the last minute. Look for the characteristics mentioned above. Are you being entertained or is it just another boring show? What made the people want to dance, etc.? Make a list of the songs that they played and the order they used. Don't plagerize, but apply what works best in that club. Don't think that Heavy Metal is going to go down well in a jazz club.

If the show was a complete success you'll have the crowd wanting an encore. If this is the case, do it and then maybe finish with a nice ballad if you want them to wind down and let you end the show.

Mistakes

I have yet to play a tecnically perfect show and I don't think even the biggest names in the business have. We are not machines, but people, and we do make mistakes. A good band will cover up most mistakes and it's all part of the show.

DON'T BLAME OR CRITICIZE A BAND MEMBER IN FRONT OF THE CROWD! This is very unprofessional, and if it's a reocurring mistake, fix it in the practice hall or fire him or her. When I see this happening in live performances, I start thinking that the person who does it has no consideration for the other band members and I don't think I'm alone in my way of thinking.

Music should be fun for everyone and especially for the members of the band. Don't just think of how YOU look on stage, think of how the group looks on stage. The time to judge the success or failure of a show is when it's over.

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Sift Out The Useless Members of Your Band

2008-02-23T19:46:00.003Z

My brother, Bill, and I put together our first real band back in 1981. I won't mention other names to protect the innocent (or guilty for that matter) It consisted of:

-Myself, still learning how to play guitar and doing primitive backup work

-My brother, still learning how to play drums

-a bass player who, more often than not, did not attend practices and only used two strings on the bass. The other two were an ornament,

-a guitarist who played even worse than me, but somehow conceived the notion that he was God's gift to music and no one could convince him of the opposite

-a ...singer? Well, at least that's the story they sold me.

...Sound familiar to any of you?

Now, the first band we put together that actually started sounding good in 1985 consisted of:
-Myself on guitar (playing much better) and doing lead vocals which I should have been doing in the first place

-My brother Bill (playing much better and even doing some backups)

-John Vice, an excellent bass player who did his homework, attended practices and became an excellent friend of ours even to this day

What can you conclude with this information? I don't think that I have to spell it out for you. Some people in your band make an effort and are good musicians and others are excess weight. The trio we put together, sounded ten times better and more powerful than the five member group ever did.

I'm not saying that you should only work with a trio. What I'm saying is that once we knocked off the excess weight, we were able to start flying. From then on I have insisted on finding constructive members for my bands. I have worked with trios, quartets, 10 member working bands and even gospel bands with a 40 voice choir, with everyone contributing to the project. The difference has to be heard to be believed when this happens.

Every member of your band should pull their own weight. They cannot expect to go for a free ride and take the credit for the band's success or (and this is a good one) criticize the band for it's failures -some or most of which are even his/her own fault. These people are always finding excuses for not attending practices, not working on stuff at home and not giving constructive suggestions.

Another problem might be that they were just not cut out to be musicians. If this is the situation with a member in your group or band, my advice is to get rid of them -diplomatically or straight in the face. You'll save time and hassles because a real musician doesn't need to to be told that he must practice, work on songs at home or pull their weight in the band and they're too busy working for the band to criticize it.

A few years ago, I was working in a trio that did shows 5 days a week and the drummer couldn't play with us any longer for personal reasons so we recruited a new one. This guy's playing was quite limited and would even stop in the middle of a song because he had screwed up. As the story goes, I was going on holiday the next month so I told him to get up to date and work on the songs he was having trouble with while I was gone. When I got back, we started up again and he hadn't done anything to better his playing. THIS WAS AN INSULT TO THE BASS PLAYER AND ME! So, we immediately looked for a new drummer and told him to GET LOST!

I don't mind amateurs if they're willing to do their job and put in the effort, but it is insulting to see someone who is not doing their job and wants their share of the earnings. That's exactly the way I see it. They're getting their cut of the money, popularity or whatever the band has to offer and giving the band NOTHING in return. Sound selfish? It definitely is.

Singers are often the most controversial element of a group unless they have a musical backing. A lot of these wannabes, come into the practice hall with their hands in their pockets and don't lift a finger to help with setting up anything, and when something goes wrong it's always someone else's fault. Don't waste your time putting up with useless members. You'll spend more time fighting than making music.

Look for hard working members with a musical backing, if possible, and a desire to make the group better. Don't feel sorry for those who are not musically inclined because it's not their place to be making music. They're probably better at other things. Don't limit the potential of your band by putting up with excess weight. If you don't do your job at work, your boss will fire you. Apply this principle to your band and it will start working better. I guarantee it.

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The Pickup Primer

2008-02-23T19:33:00.007Z

The Electric guitar is different from an acoustic or classical guitar in that it has one or more electromagnetic pickups installed on it. These convert the mechanical to and frow movement of the metal strings (usually nickle) into an electrical signal that can be amplified. They consist basically of a coil of very light gauge wire around metal posts resting on a powerful magnet.
The string movement produces a small alternating current which is reproduced in an in and out fashion by the speaker. As the speaker moves it causes vibrations in the air and 'voilà', sound is produced.

The more winding there is, the more current is produced by the pickup and the warmer your sound will be. If you like your guitar to produce a brighter sound, get a pickup with less winding, this will also produce less power. The choice of pickup is entirely up to you as to the sound you want to achieve.

Single Coil or Double Coil (Humbucker)
A single coil pickup consists of only one row of metal posts with a single winding around them, whereas a double coil pickup or humbucker consists of two rows of metal posts and a coil around each row.
These are usually hooked up in a way that the center tap of one of the coils is connected to the outer tap of the other. This cancels the hum or buzz which is frequently produced by single coil pickups especially at high gain.

A double coil pickup is 'two pickups in one'. Since they are side by side, besides having double the winding, they catch more string area. This results in a fatter more powerful sound.
If you're in a working band which does a wide array of musical genres, you may want to get the best of both worlds by getting a single coil tap switch installed on your instrument. You'll have to also adjust your effects pedals or amp to compensate the volume when you flick the switch as the double coil pickup produces twice the power of a single coil pickup and you'll definitely notice it.

The Piezo Electric Pickup

This type of pickup is a practical invention especially for live performances with acoustic instruments because the musician is not 'tied' to a mic while playing his part and has the freedom to move around the stage.

You can find Piezzo Electric Pickups on acoustic electric instruments or you can get them installed in a guitar, voilin, mandolin, stand up bass, etc. They work like a condenser microphone and consist of two metallic plates separated by a dielectric material. Being that they don't give out as much power as an electromagnetic pickup, they need to have a special preamp installed in the instrument, which tapers the sound and amplifies the signal enough to get through 10 or 20 feet of cable to the amplifier.

They pick up any vibration from the instrument: string movement, knocks on the instrument -even someone talking into the sound hole. On acoustic string instruments they are installed under the bridge -it's important to note that they must be well stuck to the under side of the bridge or you won't get a very good sound from them. A good luthier knows this and I would highly recommend handing your instrument over to one to do this job. Being that they work microphonically, these instruments tend to feedback easily if they are turned up too loud or improperly equalized.

This type of pickup is good for acoustic instruments because they are better for getting the natural sound of the instrument and the strings don't have to be metallic. All this said though, if you're doing serious studio recording, I recommend using a good mic intended for the job and finding the best placement for it. You'll find that it just sounds better.

You can also check out the assortment of piezzo electric and other pickups for acoustic instruments at zZounds.com

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