Gemini9

I'm a vocalist. I sing karaoke, record my own sings, and just joined a band so I'm going to be putting in some pretty long hours on stage. I'm a decent lead vocalist for the most part, but I do have some issues I need to deal with since I'm going to be gigging. I don't smoke. Never have. But it seems I'm always battling phlegm in my throat/chest and this hampers my ability to sing. It decreases my range, decreases wind capacity and the constant clearing of my throat can even sometimes raw out my voicebox, making things even worse. I'm not sure what the problem is, if it's something I'm eating drinking, or just that I'm not drinking enough. I don't think it's allergies, because it's an all the time thing. Not just seasonal. And it doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing. I've tried robitussin chest decongestant before, but it doesn't seem to help much. Any tips on trying to rid of this annoying problem?

Before taking your dog out for a walk, be sure to feed him/her a handful of rubberbands. That way, when your dog does his number, it's easy to clean up because there's always piece of rubberband that sticks out. Just grab one of the loops and fling it into the neighbors yard.

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." - Aesops The Lion and the Mouse

Anything cheaper than a $500-$600 x3 live or gt pro? Maybe, say 50 bucks? for $500 I could buy an amp I have a sm58, though I don't know much about mics yet. what to you mean by "top end"? are you referring to the highs/treble?

I've been wondering the same thing. I also want to record some electric guitar sounds into my mix, but I lack and amp as well. I actually plug in directly into my PA and from what I've discovered, that's a bad idea because it screws up the sound. Somebody told me I need some sort of amp simulation device to plug the guitar into before the amp and that the same applies to recording through the line-in on a computer. You need some sort of amp simulation pedal or box or soemthing. Was hoping somebody in here could provide some more details about it and where I can get one of these amp simulator things.

Hmm.... running my guitar straight into the PA is my only option now. Just bought the guitar and can't afford an amp, so I just run it through my PA and use effects pedals. It sounds pretty darn good from the speakers, but when I tried to record through the tape out, it was really gross. I thought of putting a mic in front of the speaker, but figured that wouldn't work that it would just be too loud and cause major clipping issues. I've never heard of a software amp sim. I am might have to look that up for more info. Definitely on a budget though. I just spent $400 on the guitar (A used RG4EX1 with hardshell case) and a few accessories. Picks, strap, strings, cheap distortion pedal and stuff. On a min wage income, that really burned a hole in my pocket. I'll have to research the preamps and x3.... not sure what they are. This is my first electric guitar, so I'm still learning the ropes of setting it up.

Well I just bought a new electric guitar and today I tried to record something and it sounded terrible. Just terrible. the sound was really ... just... bland. boring. flat. no treble at all. No crisp. Just plain blaaaaah. Even when I hit my distortion pedal. Still.. blaaaah. I was going from the Tape Out on my PA head into the input jack on my computer, recording it with CoolEdit. Sounded awful. Just... yeah you get the point. What's the best way to record an electric guitar?

Dang am I in over my head lol everything needs set up and adjusted. haha. I need to set up and adjust my guitar strings, adjust the tone, adjust my distortion pedal (sounds god awful right now) and my PA EQ, gain, effects, level (half the stuff on there I don't even understand) lol wow. It's a bit overwhelming. Adjust this, tone that, increase these, ad those

Hi John The strings are brand new. When I visited the dealer, they had just received the guitar as a trade in and he had just put new strings on it. He hadn't gotten to fine tune it though, because I bought it right away. haha they hadn't even put it on the racks yet. I've been reading up on the buzzing though and something about there's a way to raise the strings from the fretboard. Hmm. wonder if that would help? duno how to do it though haha I guess I need to research more huh? As for my PA and speakers, The speakers I'm using now just have mid ranges. It's actually a pair of speakers from a big floor model stereo system, though I DO have a pair of 1000w karaoke speakers and those have horns at the top. Should I be using the speakers with the horns?

Hmm. Since I just got my guitar I don't have much of a budget left to spend. The Cool Cats are affordable and has some decent reviews. Are they decent pedals? Maybe match that up with my Fab Distortion? I actually don't really like my Fab distortion. It sounds kinda bland to me. Maybe I just have the settings wrong I duno. Anybody ever try any of those Cool Cats?

I'll upgrade the soundcard sometime. Right now I'm broke. I spent all my money on a guitar lol and to be honest I think I got ripped off. I paid $350 for an Ibanez RG 4 EX 1. I found the same guitar online that was sold for $250 so I probably got ripped. And I noticed the a few of the strings buzz against the frets, especially the A string. Might just need some sort of adjustment though, but I don't have a clue how to do that stuff lol but it's cool looking grey with some kinda cloud or fire like pattern.

Well I bought a guitar today. An Ibanez RG4EX1 and paid $350 (plus tax) for it (used). Came with a hardshell case (also used), strap, Fad brand distortion pedal, couple picks and a cheap guitar cable. I've seen this same guitar for sale on the internet for under $300 so I'm wondering if I got ripped off. Anyway, a few issues with it maybe somebody can help me work out. Issue 1: The A string buzzes against the 1st fret when plucked. Doesn't buzz when it's played open, just when I'm playing a chord or something. How can I correct that? CanI adjust something? Issue 2: The trem is slightly worn. where you stick the whammy bar down into the hole, there's some plastic in there and it's really cracked up and worn out so the whammy bar pops out REALLY easily. can that be fixed easily? I could also use some help getting the best sound possible out of it. I don't know much about the pick up switch, tone knob or pedals. All I know is that it does sound kinda muddy when i play it. The pedal I'm using is a cheap Fad distortion pedal. Should I be using something else? Should I be using a better pedal? Or a chorus pedal along with it? How can I get this guitar to sound pro?

This computer doesn't have any software on it except what I use for the recording and mixing. I put it together specifically for that purpose. The processor and memory are sufficient. computer repair and networking was my major in college, so i know a thing or two about computers. actually, quite a bit lol. It's most likely a memory issue. When I get the motivation I'll try putting some different memory sticks in it. Might even help to hook it up to the internet and update it. But anyway, I'll mess with it someday and see if I can figure out what's up.

HA! Found a dealer! Keyboard World. Genius man, pure genius.

This would be awesome to check out if I had a decent internet speed. Dial up sucks

Ok I'm looking at two guitars online here. Thinking about ordering one. There are two I can't decide between. There's an Ibanez RG350MDX http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-RG350MDX-Electric-Guitar-104070412-i1167862.gc?source=4WFRWXX&CAWELAID=439934097 And then there's this one. Ibanez RG370DX http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--IBARG370DX The only difference I see between the two is that one has a pick guard and one doesn't. The necks are different colors. The kind of sound I'm looking for is more of a bassy tone than a treble sounding instrument. Something I can pick clean with a nice smooth sound, but can really rock it out when I flip on the distortion pedal. I do really like the appearance of these Ibanez guitars, I just don't know the difference between the two.

Everybody seems to know this Cool Edit program pretty well so I assume it's what many of you use to mix your music. Seems to be problematic for me, but it's cool when it works right lol. I'll be recording a track of music and it will freeze up. Usually about 2 or 3 times throughout a track the music drops out or skips for a second. But I guess it'll do okay for me until I can get some better equipment to use. Was going o get a better soundcard for the computer and a few other little things, but when I was in the music store and was playing the guitars, I decided I want one haha. You know, I never really realized how difficult my acoustic really is to play. I could play the ones in the shop so much easier! All the struggling I've done on this guitar trying to play a simple chord. No matter how hard I press on the frets, I just can't get a clean sound, but the guitars in the shop were so incredibly easier to play. I never realized how crappy this guitar really is until I played a different one Anyway, about this Cool Edit. What other programs out there are good with mixing and editing?

Nick, Hey man thanks for the info. You had suggested that I go to the local music shop and try some out and I actually did, but the bad thing was that the shop only carried fender guitars, with the exception of one used jackson that was out of my price range. I really liked the way the jackson sounded tho. Another bad thing about this local shop is that the guy didn't know beans about guitars. He is a retired school band teacher and every time I asked him a question, he didn't know. "So what's the difference between humbucker and single coil pickups?" his reply: "Oh, they are all about the same. They pick up the sound from the strings." Then I tried, "Well, what about these pedals? What's the difference between this fuzz pedal, overdrive and distortion pedal? What about this chorus pedal?" His reply: "It's just a matter of preference. You'll have to try them out." "Well I have about a $400 limit. What's a good guitar for that price range?" "Well look around the shop and see if you can find something you like." Well ok then. What's worse, is that it's the only music shop nearby and even that one is 40 min away lol. So I'm pretty much stuck with researching on my own, purchasing online and hoping it's something I'll like.

I actually have Nero, but I've never used it for burning CDs. Just for backing up data. The wav files seem to play fine on Media player, Media Monkey, Aimp and Winamp lol it just won't burn correctly for some reason. WMP wouldn't burn at all and Media Monkey burned, but had major distortion and clipping problems when playing back in the CD player. But I never thought to try 16-bit wav. I'll see if I can figure out how to do that and hopefully it works.

hehe! Glad you saw my comment.

Awesome. I'll see if the nero works any better. Went to your myspace. Very nice. Thanks again for helping me out. I'm really starting to get into this. lol I was in the local music shop today and almost walked out with a new guitar haha.

Hey all. Kinda new here, but so far I've enjoyed these forums! I'm learning alot here. Just started recording music and I have so many questions. This one is about an electric guitar. Or should I say, my first electric guitar. I have an acoustic, but now I'm looking for something a little more exciting and easier to play. My acoustic is old, worn out and pretty difficult to work with. Well ok I lied. I have an electric guitar. An old Squier II that was given to me when I was 13 and I hardly even played the thing. When I finally decided to get it out and play it, it doesn't work anymore. So this might as well be my first guitar purchase. Since I've messed around with my acoustic a bit and have some experience, I don't want to get a real cheap beginners guitar. Looking to spend no more than $400 on one. I was looking at a Ibanez RG350 online to order (local music store only has fenders and I don't really like any of them). So what's your opinion? Ibanez RG350? Good guitar? I'm not real good with my lead yet, mostly just rhythm and basic chords, but starting to play with lead a little. Saw a few RG370 guitars that I liked and for the same price but I don't know hwat the difference is between the 350 and 370. But anyway, any thoughts or advice? OH, and I don't know jack about pedals, but I'll need to buy one. Maybe a cheap 20 or 30 dollar pedal. What say you?

oh hey... this thread is a few months old. lol sorry I didn't notice that. But in any case, still pretty good artwork.

Hey that's pretty nifty! I like