Ibason

Tonelab USB Recording

2012-02-09T18:26:00.000+05:30

The USB based recording in the Tonelab ST, is something that helps you achieve true clarity from home and gives almost studio like quality. I bought my VOX a little more than a year ago. When I bought it i was not quite satisfied as I was unable to use it to it's true potential. Learning more about my processor I have started using the USB interface given with it. I use it only for recording though. I have not yet made patches on my computer using it.

The sound that I get is very pleasing and the best part is that you can hear yourself play almost without any lag. It would be better if you could get a firewire interface. The good part about this is that it does not expect you to have even a decent system. I mean even with an atom processor one could record on softwares such as Audition or FL Studio. Even if you have something like Cubase or any of the other Steinberg products I do not think it should cause much of a problem.Even though people do underestimate the power of the atom, I say otherwise after having a first hand experience working on one. Initially even I happened to be hesitant in using the system for recording. Later I noticed if you are not synthesizing many effect then it should not be much of a problem.

One more important thing to be noted is that if the sound card driver on your system is not very good then you can utilise the USB interface to access your VOX which will act as a temporary card and can handle way more loads than your basic driver. Basically, reduces the load of your processor by focusing the sound card issues to your processor. Another advantage of this is that the quality of sound is enhanced and it can be easily understood. So please do take undue advantage of your processor and record without any issues!

Touching the Indian Note & Epiphany

2012-01-11T09:25:00.000+05:30

I have finally decided to organize my work and hence have created a page on facebook to store most of my work .I have started off by making a fusion like song namely 'Touching the Indian Note'. The name of the page is Epiphany.
Here is the link to the page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Epiphany/328158763870860?sk=wall

Sanguine Sunrise

2011-11-19T10:02:00.001+05:30

A new piece i came up with. I have uploaded it on my soundcloud profile. It's a piece played on guitar trying to make it sound like a veena. Hope you enjoy. The link is given below:

http://soundcloud.com/v_arvind/sanguine-sunrise

Top 10 Bassists of all time

2011-11-09T20:29:00.000+05:30

Of late UG(Ultimate Guitar) came out with this list of bassist which they said were the viewers top 10 bassists of all time. I was taken aback when I saw the list as it did not contain most of the people that I considered the Gods of the bass. The list given below is the list of bassists who I think deserve to be in the top 10 of all time.

10)Cliff Burton(Metallica)
He played for the heavy metal band Metallica for a few years.He played for the albums kill em' all,ride the lightning and master of puppets. He died when his tour bus met with an accident in 1986. In the short span of time that he played for metallica he and the band gained a lot of attention due to their attractive riffs and bass lines. He was also very well known for his bass solos.He also played for a few other lesser known bands.

9)Chris Wolstenholme (Muse)
Bass,vocals,guitar and keyboards are the parts that he plays in the band Muse. Muse is a rock band and chris' basslines play a prominent part in most of their songs.

8)Les Claypool(Primus)
A bassist at Primus and many other bands Les Claypool is an established bassist with insane bass techniques. He had auditioned for metallica after they lost their bassist but was not chosen as he was thought to be too good for the band!! This was a good decision as claypool's inclusion in the band would have made them redefine their genre as a bassist is often considered to be the backbone of a band.

7)Geddy Lee(Rush)
He is the lead vocalist and is also a keyboardist in the band Rush. Rush is a well renowned canadian rock band and has been a source of inspiration for bands like dream theater and other bands that originated at that time.

6)Victor Wooten(The Dave Matthews Band)
An american bassist who has won the bass player of the year award three times in a year. He has played for many bands like steve bailey,Béla Fleck and the Flecktones ,SMV, Greg Howe, Dave Matthews Band, Chick Corea Elektric Band.

5)Flea(Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
The bassist at RHCP is considered by some as the best bassist in the world and definitely deserves a spot in the top ten. He makes really cattchy riffs like danni california and by the way.

4)Matt Bissonette(Joe Satriani)
This man is one who is much more than a musician and a bassist. He plays for joe satriani and has several solo albums himself. He is also an engineer and a producer. He has also played with david roth lee and several others.

3)John Myung(Dream Theater)
The man behind as i am and several other legendary Dream Theater song bass lines.He is also known for using the chapman sticks and generally uses a 6 string bass. He has made amazing basslines for many songs like octavarium,dance of eternity,a change of seasons.

2)Steve DiGiorgio(Death)
He is the bassist of the band that is considered to be the father of death metal. He like many others has featured in many other bands too.

1)Billy Sheehnan(Steve Vai)
This man is a legend amongst legends. His bass skill are far superior to anyone that i hae heard of till date. He is known for tapping and using harmonic notes and other insane techniques. He plays for steve vai and keeps the crowd entertained with his stage presence. He also sings at times. He has sung songs at G3 concerts which vai features at almost always!

If you have a different list of bassists or any inclusion to the existing list do comment.

Lou Reed & Metallica-"Lulu"

2011-11-01T18:02:00.000+05:30

When Metallica announced that they would be making an album with Lou Reed, there was a great amount of aversion coming from the metal community. I, for one, did not even know who Lou Reed was. Considering what they did with their previous album, people like me thought the inclusion of another guy in the band was'nt going to stop their newly found momentum. Infact, there was a great amount of hope among the Metal community that Metallica were going back to their roots and that the new album would be atleast half as good as their previous one. Death Magnetic was, by far, the best thing Metallica produced since the Black album. It nearly took 2 decades for James Hetfield to understand that he was'nt going to become Lynrd Skynrd by making blues guitar solos. Death Magnetic was the answer to the countless number of insults they had been enduring for more than half of their carrier. And just when they seemed to be getting back their lost respect, Lulu came. And before Lulu came, the single, The View came. When I first heard the song, I knew, this guy, Lou Reed was just enough to shatter the hopes of Metallica becoming a credible metal band. But still, there was a tiny glimmer of hope that the rest of the album would turn out to be better. It was announced that the album had 10 songs which is normal for a standard metallica record. But the running time being close to an hour and a half swept everyone off their feet. Who would have expected Metallica, supposedly a thrash metal band, would make songs that last for 20 minutes. The song lenghts drove everyone crazy and the resulting hype was too much. We expected too much off them even after hearing the single.

But today, after hearing to the album in its entirety, it would be safe to say that, without any doubt this is the worst album Metallica ever made. The first song, Brandenburg Gate promises something to be expected of the album when James sings "Small town girl...". But after listening to a couple of songs, you will find that it was the only thing good about the album. Search the entire album, hear to the songs a thousand times, your efforts to stumble upon a line that James actually sings would be futile. Lou Reed has literally replaced James Hetfield as the lead singer. For fuck's sake, is this even a Metallica album? I dont know what was in James' mind when he let Lou Reed sing all the verses, but seriously, he does'nt do any better than reciting the lines. And more than anything else, the biggest flop in this album is the much anticipated 20 minute song. There is no riff, no solos, no James, no nothing. Nothing at all, except Lou Reed "talking" about his junior dad throughout the length of the song.

Reviewing each and every song would be awfully difficult because, no one has ever seen anything like this before. Lulu is not thrash metal. Lulu is not hard rock. Lulu is not even music. If the rolling stones ever makes a list of the 500 greatest flops in the history of music, Lulu should be just beating Justin Beiber to top the list. But, being the fanboys of Metallica that we are, we can convince ourselves understanding that, this was'nt entirely made by Metallica.

Most of what is seen in this album are essentially Lou Reed. Coming to think of it, there is not even a single trace of Metallica in the record, except the occasional guest appearances by James Hetfield that makes us realize that he is still alive.

It's nearly time that James Hetfield should stop making albums trying to "reinvent" the music in him that even make the system of a down guys laugh. If he still does'nt get the point, he should call it a day. Atleast for the legacy of the first four albums.

Review By Adarsh

A Dramatic change of Events: Dream Theater (2011)

2011-10-23T20:03:00.001+05:30

The all star band which recently lost its renowned drummer mike portnoy released an album titled 'A Dramatic change of events'. The album as such has all amazing songs which are a pleasure to listen to like any other DT song. I think that the album is a letdown for hardcore fans.

The band has been as it is criticized for losing out on their star drummer and the new drummer has been under scrutiny. Talking about drummers if you listen to the album we notice that in almost all the songs there is no sign of the drummer trying to dominate or make his presence felt in comparison to what mike portnoy has done. In one or two songs its visible like maybe bridges in the sky. That is the only song which has can be classified as a DT like song as there is a perfect fusion of all instruments.

In most of the songs the keyboards have been used extensively and the others have not been given much of the spotlight. If you listen to any other song by them we will notice that there is an equilibrium maintained in which all the musicians are given proper importance.

Another letdown can be said to be that of the role of john petrucci. Being a hardcore fan of him myself I felt bad when I did not come across any solo with crazy shreds and the odd really fast sweep which makes the songs almost impossible to cover exactly.

One of my favourite songs from this album has been breaking all illusions. The song has a metalcore touch to it and reminds me of bands like killswitch engage and as i lay dying. The main riff itself sounds very much like the metal core riff. The vocals in that song and the bass lines have been outstanding there. The solo in this song was a let down for me. It was played on a US Blues sort of patch. Though the solo had some parts which sounded very bluesy on the whole the petrucci tried to bring in his feel and sounded more like malmsteen's solo's. The slight delay in the patch made the solo sound sexy. Though there is a good bit of shredding towards the end of the solo on the whole it was a disappointment to me.

The last song titled Beneath the Surface is such a beautiful song that anyone who listens to music will fall in love with it. Its a beautiful soft melody based song with not much complexities and intricacies. I was hoping for a beautiful guitar solo to top it off instead of the keyboard fill. Nonetheless the song is still amazing.

The song build me up, break me down has a real cool guitar riff but the starting and the beat in that song is kind of upsetting. The way the effects had been put in initially shook me for a minute. I suppose they were experimenting with the album as the drummer is gone now new ideas might be flowing in leading to change in Dream Theater. This is my interpretation of the album.

Optimism

2011-10-23T09:25:00.000+05:30

Another jam session over a chord prog i found interesting. Though this progression reminds me of something. I can't place it though. Hope you enjoy!

Solitude

2011-10-22T10:51:00.004+05:30

This is a video i made over a chord progression that i liked.I came with the title solitude as my friend thinks that's what the theme is. I would like to put some lyrics over this chord progression. If any of you have some ideas mail me or leave a comment here and let me know what you think.
I came with the title solitude as my friend thinks that's what the theme is.
Hope you enjoy.

ESP LTD SC208, 8-String

2011-10-17T22:08:00.002+05:30

I haven't been writing much of late as i haven't come across many interesting things. Today i was searching for 7 strings and i came across this 8 string guitar which is really amazing for its price range. ESP LTD sc208 is a stephen carpenter electric guitar. The specs are pretty much okay and good for a guitarist who has just gotten into djent or is not very keen on spending too much for his 8 string.

- Construction: Bolt-On
- Scale: 25.5 inches
- Body: Basswood
- Neck: Maple
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Frets: 24 XJ
- Hardware: Chrome
- Tuners: ESP
- Bridge: Fixed
- Pickups: ESP LH-308 (B and N)
- Controls:
- Master Volume
- Master Tone
- 3-Way Switch

The Body isn't very impressive yet as i said before for a beginner its definitely great. Heavy sounds can be produced with the help of the 7th and 8th strings hence i suppose the basswood shouldn't bother you too much. The neck and the fretboard are good and has the other specs which are pretty much standard.

Its priced at $449. Check out this link for further details.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ESPSC208

Sweet child of mine on sitar

2011-10-03T17:16:00.001+05:30

I recently came across this interesting ad of channel v. The song has been played by two sitarist's and has been sung by a Indian classical vocalist, it has about a minute of the song. The vocalist hums the tune which axl rose sings. It shows the versatility of Indian musicians and the Indian instruments.At the end of the song there is a note which says V are all rockstars!

Ibanez Fireman!

2011-09-27T17:43:00.001+05:30

Paul Gilbert's Ibanez fireman is going to be out this october! The guitar as shown in the demo video by gilbert is just out of the world. Designed by gilbert himself the fireman is the opposite of an iceman in terms of body shape. It has dimarzio pickups and has amazing tone and sounds brilliant for all genres of music. Check out the video!

Guitar Chords Crash Course

2011-09-25T23:34:00.000+05:30

G3C or guitar chords crash course is a multipurpose software with which serves to the needs of both beginners and the professionals. The basic chords and the scales are all available there. To add to this there are quite a few advanced level chords and scales too. The software has over a 1000 chords in its database and 48 scale which would be more than enough for anyone to become a master of the instrument!

It has a guitar tuner with the help of which you can tune your guitar and has an option with which we can change the tunings. So we can tune the guitar in different tunings. It's kind of like how it is in guitar pro. You can print the tabulature as it is in the software so its really cool for musicians on the go and those who don't like carrying laptops along with them all the time.

This is the best part about it according to me . It has a drum machine which gives a variety of beats and we can tweak around with it and make our own patterns so that one can stay on time.

It's a free software and you can check out more details at:
http://www.bincsoft.com/g3c/

Experimentations with Guitar

2011-09-23T07:07:00.002+05:30

After a long time i managed to come up with something that i think sounds where similar to hindustani music. Though my idea could be completely wrong as i am completely illiterate in that field.It's more of a jam session and I havent really structured it. So please feel free to let me know as to what you think about it. Hope you enjoy.

Flight of the Bumblebee @600BPM!!

2011-09-18T19:48:00.002+05:30

Most of us have seen the video with a guy playing flight of the bumblebee at 320 bpm and that was supposed to be a world record. That was fast. Now check this video out. This guy starts at 250 bpm which is pretty fast by itself and then goes up to the likes of 500 bpm and then finally 600 bpm. See it for yourself!

Hot Rod Design Acoustics

2011-09-12T12:53:00.002+05:30

This limited edition T-Bucket Bass, is the first acoustic bass guitar to join the ever-increasing popular Hot Rod Design series and is made by Fender. This grand concert body-style bass has a beautiful flame maple top with scalloped X bracing and mahogany back and sides, gloss-finish mahogany neck, Ivory body and neck binding, and a Fishman IsysTM III pickup system with on board active preamp and tuner. To add to this it has the classic Fender Three-color Sunburst finish. It is priced at $549.99 which is actually a good price for the product being offered.

For more information, visit http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0968009032

iGuitar Magazine

2011-09-05T22:06:00.000+05:30

Here's a really nice magazine that everyone can take look at and every guitarist should take a look at iGuitar.

It's a really awesome digital magazine with videos and reviews and interviews. You can subscribe for FREE and download the magazine.

http://www.iguitarmag.com/

Megadeth and Anthrax are expected as well!

2011-09-02T15:39:00.000+05:30

In the last post i said that this year there would be releases by metallica, dream theater and opeth. Now if you thought that was legendary hear this out. Megadeth is releasing one this year too! Thirte3n is what they are naming their album which consists of thirteen songs and will be released just a day after metallica's lulu!

Not only them another member of the big4 Anthrax is releasing an album soon. Expected on the september 13th they are releasing an album called 'worship music'.

Metallica,Dream Theater and Opeth!

2011-09-01T10:43:00.001+05:30

The second half of 2011 is surely going to be a hell lot of fun for a lot of music fans and especially for the Metallica, DT and opeth fans. Why so??

Well Metallica plans to release their next album named 'Lulu' which is in collaboration with the singer and song-writer Lou Reed. They have already completed their recording sessions and are planning to release it worldwide on the 31st of october!They are yet to get their album artwork done.

As for DT they are planning to release their album in which the new drummer mike mangini will be featured for the first time. A Dramatic turn of events it is and the UK and European folks are allowed to pre-order the album which is due to be released on the 13th of sept.Their album has 9 songs.

Opeth are also releasing their album in the same month as DT. Infact the release is scheduled just 7 days after DT's new album. Their new album is called heritage and a deluxe edition collecter's box set of this is also available!

images:
http://www.skullsnbones.com/

Sonic the Hedgehog by ESP!

2011-08-30T00:12:00.001+05:30

There have been a variety of guitars that have been realeased with an array of designs. This one though is more different than the others and is a definite eye catcher. All you sonic fans out there check this out. The guitar is being made by ESP Japan and the pre orders are on now. It has stunning looks and is a good guitar by itself. The ideal one for a sonic fan and a guitarist.The guitar's model name is STH-130 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG GUITAR and is in honour of the game.

The Specs of the guitar are pretty good too. There is a floyd rose tremelo,22 frets ,powered by Seymour Duncan pickups,an alder body and hard maple neck.

The downside of this is the price. It is 136,500 yen inclusive of all taxes which works out to be Rs.250,000. If you have the money then it is definite worthwhile buy.

Images:
http://www.espguitars.co.jp/sonic-the-hedgehog-guitar/

http://greatguitarsound.blogspot.com/2010/12/game-music-knight-of-wind-acoustic.html

Lesson 2: c major chords

2011-08-25T14:37:00.000+05:30

In this video there are a couple of chords and struming patterns on the c major.hope you enjoy. leave your comments below here.

A guitar tuner has been added to the blog. Incase you think you are out of tune try to compare the sound with that of the tuner.

You can follow me on twitter at @v_arvind20

human hand like guitar holders!!

2011-08-23T17:16:00.000+05:30

As the name suggests there are guitar holders which are slightly different from the conventinal wall mounting ones.These are made by Grip Studios. Some of them are hand carved and there are a variety of them. These hangers are strong and come with a lifetime craftsmanship warranty. They are very reliable and can be used even for heavier guitars like the gibson's.

Image: GS2 series

A range of series such as the GS1, GS2 , the airbrush series(custom series) are available. There is another artist series which is coming out now. All these holders come along with a screw for wall mounting. You can check out the site http://guitargrip.com/ for more details.

Other than the fact that it's reliable and all its really cool to look at. I mean how many people have a helping hand to hold their guitars??!

Reference:http://www.guitarnoize.com/grip-studios-monster-hand-guitar-hangers/

You can follow me on Twitter @v_arvind20

Walk with me in hell cover

2011-08-23T00:20:00.000+05:30

This is the "walk with me in hell" cover by me. I have played both the guitarists parts with the solo. Hope you enjoy it. Leave your comments below.

Guitaring Basics: Chromatics

2011-08-21T23:36:00.002+05:30

Hey this is my first video tutorial and its on the basics of guitaring. This will be helpful who is starting or has just started playing the guitar. Leave your comments here.Enjoy. :-)

Forest long Xylophone used to play Bach's piece!!

2011-08-13T14:27:00.000+05:30

This is an advertisement for a touch wood phone by the japanese mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo. They have built a forest long xylophone in order to play Bach’s ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ by dropping a wee wooden ball down the staircase. After the song is played the ball falls on the phone. They have implemented the same concept as they use to build traditional xylophones unlike the xylophones with resonators they use nowadays. Watch the video, the amount of work that might have taken to build the pieces of wood to perfection to get get the exact sound and then ensuring that the ball doesn't fall off is unimaginable!

There's a New Standard Tuning!!

2011-08-05T21:52:00.000+05:30

All of us have been taught that the standard tuning for a guitar is EBGDAE. Seldom does anyone teach you something known as the new standard tuning (NST)which had been developed by the King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. This was done near about the year 1983!It isn't that new now is it?

The NST is a variation of the classical theme. CGDAEB, that's the NST, and it goes well with metal & classical stuff.

it's from highest to lowest:
G4(<-- like the high G alternative on some 8 and 7 string guitar tunings)
E4(<-- originally this would be your highest string on a normal tuned guitar)
A3(<-- raise your G string's tuning by a whole step... obviously!!)
D3(<-- just leave your D string alone basically)
G2(<-- Lower your A string one whole step)
C2(<-- Drop your E string two whole steps..yeah now its fun..)

As you can see from the above tuning that its totally weird. Try it out,the fifths progression of the tuning is the same as that on a violin, cello, or other classical stringed instrument . It becomes really hard to try out thirds and sixths on this tuning, hence you are forced to try out some new

stuff and get some nice sounds out.