TapperMike

It's funny, at KVRaudio there are literally thousands of "non-musicians" who do nothing but load plugins into a daw and test them with a midi file. For a time when plugins were new to me I'd endlessly search for free plugins spending more time in the pursuit of them then actually enjoying them. Mostly I was disappointed and all they would do is collect on my harddrive. I'd forget what worked and what didn't or which one I was going to come back to for further testing. It took me a long time weeding the free ones out. That abruptly changed when I started purchasing plugins. If I invested money first I'd take a long time checking reviews, watching videos and thinking before I bought. The "all in one" library has yet to happen for me, where I find something complete enough or satisfying enough that I don't have need/want of others. Onw aspect has changed for me in regards to virtual instruments. I know that I'll never be satisfied with rompler sounds. for conventional instruments. modelling synthesis. And yet the modelled instruments I have are not the instruments I first load. Usually I'll load whatever I've loaded last into my host and start playing with that. Perhaps it's because I'm guided by desire to perform music as opposed to searching and tweaking.

Rudi, If you like tracker's. Abelton Live, Get the lite version. It's usually free with many hardware devices such as external sound cards. Yes it is frustrating at first.

Reminiscing - Little River Band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYgh_Irk46M

Handy Man - James Taylor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69M1HXS2Vk8

Fit and feel come first. There is no point in having a guitar that you don't feel comfortable playing. I've tried some guitars that others have loved the feel while I couldn't tolerate it. Some people can adapt better to different instruments better then other but there is no one size fits all. Sound comes second. An old man once told me if you find the gal of our dreams. You'd better like the sound of her voice because you'll be hearing it till the day you die. Most Short scale guitars sound "brittle" to me even though I like the feel., Brittle isn't something that goes away with lots of eq. Don't be afraid of the used market. A well cared for and well built guitar can last a lifetime. Granted a refret job can be expensive. Most guitars have nickel frets. The higher end ones use stainless hardened steel frets. Granted used guitars don't come with a manufactuers warranty. However most of the issues that could arise during the first year are generally resolved in the first year. When an acoustic steel string guitar is well played over the years (not hidden in a closet or tucked under a bed) The sound mellows Layaway Many ma and pa stores are happy to do 90 days same as cash some may even go as far as 180 days. You don't need a credit card to do a layaway. I've done layaway in the past and it was...well like waiting for christmas. It gave me something to look foreward to.

Hi Josie, I think this is the first post I've seen of yours. It's nice to meet you. I had a very big diatribe about your approach but I'll need to save it for later. Tom is 100% correct about timing for his music. If you play the straight ahead rock anywhere close to his personal approach you can appreciate the dedication he offers to his craft. I am a fan of his work. All music isn't cut from the same cloth as much as we might like to believe. Everyone can't be everything or play everything all at once. Humans are not universal. We choose our direction and then our direction shapes us into the musicians we are. I can appriciate his dedication because I've done the straight ahead rock thing and found many a musician with less then the commitment to make the most of who/what they are. Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I'm recording myself I'll generally do a two measure count in and then keep it up for the first four measures. Up untill the rave of drum machines entered the market, timing was more elastic. Over the entire piece of the song as well as inherant within the measures as welI. If you listen very long to Wes Mongomery or Red Garland you'll notice how they don't simply play notes in time of swing they swing hard with a bounce. Bounce type timing is more often realized away from the constant chain of a metronome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDSVbUI7abE Bill Evans was a master of rhythmic displacement. Don't take my word for it Marian McPartland explore this to great depths. Guys who caught "Bill Evans" time keeping sensibilites from him directly include Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shorter_discography Keith Richards is the timekeeper of the rolling stones he directs the rest of the band, not Charlie Watts. Ever since Exile on Main Street Richards produces a delayed response off the beat to give it that "Swagger" which sets the Stones apart from their contemporaries. There are a lot of "high energy" songs that aren't especially fast or have extreme note divisions. This is often handled by playing ahead or infront of the beat. Some people can do this naturally alone, some require a band or very nervous sitialtion to create and still others have to force themselves into slowing down the metronome and trying to catch the beat before it happens. And some people never fully realize the technique or principle. There is a long standing tradition of learning to play by ear passed down through the gospel community in regards to "feeling" the rhythm. Which give the music a sense of pulse and vibrancy which would not be attainable being lock-strapped to a metromone. Concepts such as Rubato which literally translates to stealing or Stealing time. Is not limited to classical performance. Jimmy Hendrix and John Mayer are but a few who use this sense of "free" time to displace the melody in a more "organic" way. Bands from the classic rock era through today often still operate in "Band time" One will often hear songs start at one tempo change to another and then to a third or back again over the duration of the song. "Catchy" is an over used term. In order to get a record contract in days of old you had to have something "Catchy" Meaning catches the listeners ear immediately. Having something uptempo at the begining is fine. However if a song remained at that tempo what was originally catchy becomes trite before the first chorus. As a result many a persistant songwriter would have a separate tempo for the intro to catch the ear then "settle" into something different as the song progressed. Usually a chorus, a verse and the bridge where at slightly different tempo's the bridge being the slowest with a graduated rit/acc. This is something that a band works out as a band not as an appendage to a metronome. Quite often I think that people because they can record immediately think that means they have to record immediately rather then develop the concept of the song over time. So in summary. While metronomes do fulfill certain needs for developing technique they are not the end all of a musical journey. Of which is about personal expression not mechanical enslavement. And so long as there are those who believe only one path is available they are better served by knowing about other options should they decide for themselves to travel that path.

I used to always be losing my picks when I first started playing and I couldn't play to save my life without one. I'd tear up match books and fold the cover into a triangle. As well as cut up plastic milk jugs and play with dimes. The thing about playing with a dime is that because it's so small and has that ridged surface your attack has to be parallel with the string. Finally one day I said enough is enough it's past time to learn how to fingerpick. I couldn't get that classical right hand posture down to save my life (I still fight with it) but I did get a lot of methods via trial and error including thumbing with the side of the thumb down.

Trains and Boats and Planes - Burt Bacharach (Dione Warwick, Billy Kramer) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XKZQrTtocU

First....Tune your instrument. Play the root of a scale in a range you can sing it. Sing the note and play the note so you can tune your voice to the instrument. Go through one octave of the scale first playing then playing and singing. Next Play the note and stop. Try to hold the note in your head. Then sing the note without playing it. While you are holding the note with your voice play the note with your instrument. This will be a little rough at first. The big thing is to hold a note in your mind. With practice this will become easier. Try the same thing with basic primary arpeggios. If you can try to play the chord and sing one of the notes of the chord. Finally try to sing and play scalar sequences. 1-2-3, 2-3-4, 3-4-5 etc. Don't try this with every scale every day. Focus on a particular key for two to four days until you get comfortable with it then move to a different key.

If I had a Martin I'd have a hard time taking it out for live performances. I've played three, each time I was so overwhelmed I thought they were too good for the likes of me.

This is an odd thing. While some "claim" that not having much music theory allows them to create more fully because they aren't bound by it I often find the opposite with them in practice. They usually have little command of the instrument and very little creativity because they don't see the options in front of them. Then... As pointed out above it's hell when you try to get a group together and right a song as a band let alone perform it.- As a musician you don't "need to be great" but you do need to be solid if you expect anyone to listen to your music. I too had the "Blondie" moment when a producer dropped a band into my lap as an engineer and he said "fix them" I did the whole arrangement thing and taught them how to perform the song that they wrote. They hated me for it and fired me. No skin off my nose because I was paid whether they succeeded or not. The blondie moment I speak of is expressed here http://youtu.be/RAPvlTuN4wA?t=27m53s Fast foreward to the 27 minute mark. If you are off by yourself and think it's all a freeform no boundires performance art thing they stay away from real musicians. They may be polite and simply say things like "that's interesting but it's not where we are coming from" They may offer advice which some can take the wrong way and they may be intolerable as they have dedicated thier lives to making music and see your lack of abilities as a slap in the face. In my many lives I (well to be specific my band) hosted a blues jam. It was a rough bar in a rough town (Detroit) and the crowd were biker types. They loved us but they didn't share that love with some of the "performers" who graced the stage. The lines went out the door and down the street on jam night. Everyone looking for an early sign up and a shot of playing life on our stage with us or with thier own band. When you are performing the audience is constantly staring at your hands. It can be really really scary. A good blues man can easlily feel slighted if someone with less blues experience/abilities goes on before them. I've seen a lot of guys who have bombed quite badly and took it as a learning experience gone back to the shed and come back a better blues musician. Each time they got knocked off the horse they picked themselves up and dedicated themselves to being better. I also saw a lot of performers who were asked not ever to return for thier personal saftey. Early in my guitar playing years I too had that moment of being totally unprepared for the playing environment (bluegrass) Guys where playing circles around me. I was extremely frustrated by the whole affarr. Fortunatey a banjo player sat me down and spelled some things out for me. I went back to the shed never played bluegrass again but it made me work harder at being a dedicated musician.

If you go with the egg flats make sure that they are the pulp (paper) based ones and not tne styrofoam ones. stack them about 3 or 4 deep. Another on the cheap side thing is to get a couple of cardboard guitar (preferably electric bass because they are bigger) boxes (the kind they ship the instruments in) Cut out one face of the box while keeping it intact. reinforce the sides and fill it with foam. then cover the exposed face with a mesh cloth (something that breaths so the air can pass through it easily) If you use ceiling acoustic tiles you want the unpainted fiberglass side facing out to the cloth not the painted side. I'll also want to somehow elevate then so that the top of the baffle is above your head.

Marakesh Express - Crosby and Nash (no Stills or Young) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17UEiGuPoBo

Mahesh, When I was young and money was tight. i lived in an unfinished basement with concrete walls and floor. . I went around to local restaraunts and asked them for their old egg flats. They thought I was strange but the cooks were good guys and instead of throwing the things out they put em off to the side for me to collect. Ideally I wanted to hang them on the walls as baffles but my landlord wouldn't let me. . So I found some 4''x 6' (ft) panelling glued the flats to the back of the panelling and made some stands for the panels. I created a small not fully enclused room within a room. It worked. My girlfriend came over and painted some hippy artwork on the front side of the panels. When it wasn't being used for sound proofing I could the panels as a partition so when people came over to my "studio" apartment they were'nt staring at my bed. Today, I'd prolly do things a little different even working on a budget. This is a nice idea. I don't know where you live. thick comforters may be hard to come by.a simple blanket isn't enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCpwGgxmCaU I can't find it now but there was another do it your self video where the guy used foam rubber (seat cushion) to create baffles

Completely off topic. It's okay to invest in wall art like pictures and stuff. I don't have any in my place either. The guitar is a little quiet and the room is quite boomy. There are several do it yourself for dirt cheap to nothing videos on sound proofing. on youtube. A little investment in time and energy can make a huge difference in the sound quality of your recordings be they direct to a video camera or through some type of mixer/recording environment.

And that's all that matters. In some ways I wish I could love an instrument so much I forgoe all others and just pour myself into it. In other ways I'm glad for the variety I have now.

That's what I want. I want a bass. or maybe not. or maybe so long as no one finds out I play bass. Back before it all I played with a couple of friends who all played guitar. One day I brought a bass to our jam night. Said I'd play it on a few of the songs so long as I didn't have to play it on all the songs because I'm a guitarist first. i didn't mind playing the bass on occasion but I didn't like being the designated bass player. I also didn't like the wieght or the action or how bass strings would tear up my fingers ( i've got short small fingers and they'd be ripped to shreads playing a real electric bass) So decades pass. It's the 90's and I had a Ibanez X-ing IMG 2010 and the MC1 box as well as rack synths. The delay was about as good as current GR55's however the output was more stable. No ghost notes no missed notes and no cutoff notes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMqqVxETe0I Anyway I was in a 4 man blues band and the bassist called off for a gig. I feared and dreaded playing this thing that still looked way to furturistic for a blues gig but I bought it under the condition that half the show my fellow guitarist and band leader would play bass and I'd do the other half as the bassist. It was a good gig and I enjoyed playing bass live but I didn't want it to be my career....There were a number of band scouts in the audenece. Our band leader (the other guitarist) gave both me and the instrument high praise for the show. I handed him the guitar and said. It's your's so long as I never have to play bass live again. I like playing bass but I never want to have to give up the guitar to do so. And midi based instruments will always be a poor second to the real deal in the hands of a competent musician. Sure I play virtual basses and have a lot of fun but it's not the same as the real deal. I think I've come past the point where my bass playing would interfer with my first love (the guitar)

All guitars have to be set up. Even big name guitars often get the finishing touches at a guitar shop. It's a shame really but it keeps the tech busy between repairs and mods. This is why even though I know how to do basic setup I prefer buying a guitar from a brick and mortar store as opposed to online. My three online guitar purchases.. Rondo, SX Tele. The body looks outstanding. the wiring was correct. The setup was hell.The frets were neither polished nor dressed. (scrapy feel frets extend past the fretboard) The nut wasn't correctly aligned, the intonation and action was off. and the frets were (are) uneven and now.... the neck is warped (not just bowed) I know how to do the gutter basics but nothing fixes a warped neck. the most one can do is replace it or raise the action. About the only thing I really still like is the body. If I ever have the money I'll turn it into a partscaster at a guitar store because I lack the patience to do what I want done. My Raven West 450 The frets needed a little polishing and that was it. This was a direct from factory purchase. It was set up and... In tune when I pulled it out of the box. All I had to do was play it a little to polish up the frets. The Parker. My God this thing was perfect out of the box. I have never played a new or used guitar with the attention to detail inside or out like it. It's absolutely stunning for a guitar made anywhere in the universe. Now here's the odd part. No matter how well a no brand or lesser brand guitar is fixed up it will not increase in value. And if you buy guitars as an investment you cannot change the pickups/wiring or any other features of the guitar. As soon as you do it loses any resell value.

I currently have 8 "regular" guitars and 5 'guitar like' midi instruments. Parker P44 Fender Stratocaster Godn ACM (shallow nylon AE) Godin LR Baggs (predessor to the acoustcaster) Godin Freeway SA Samick Fastback (Les Paul Copy) Raven West 450 (it's a cross betwen a 335 and a prs type body) Rondo SX (tele copy) I've thinned the herd considerablly over the years. I've had about 150 guitars in my life 100 of them at the same time. Oh to be young and succesfull with lots of disposible income. I used to be a collector of sorts. Some were prized instruments that increased in value, some were studio instruments and some were "yeah this one needs a good home" guitars.

I don't think you've explored either the PC3K or the Korg Kronos very far. Kronos has not just one but several synth engines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korg_Kronos#Sound_Engines

I've owned two Les Pauls, A 57 Deluxe and a 78 custom. Both were fine instruments and so far above the quality of copies at the time it wasn't even funny. Neither are with me anymore because they were just to heavy for a guy like me. Between them and my bass I started to develop tendonitis. I've got a Samick Greg Bennet fastback (predecessor of the avion) It's great but it's no LP. Gibson has had many crap years of overpriced guitars that were just shipped without any quality control. Quality in Gibson seems to change as they go through CEO's Fender went through a rough cycle as well during the CBS years. Eric Claptons first Blackie was a combination of three strats because he couldn't find a decent single strat. It was a partscaster. Fender makes Guitars in China, Mexico and the US now. They can't pull a decent strat out of china to save thier lives so most of those are not released to Europe or the US. My Fender Stratocaster has been right as rain since I bought it in the mid 80's. I've treated it like no guitar should be treated and it still plays like heaven. My knock off chinese made Telecaster copy is another story. The string trees aren't roller so when tuning the instruments you hear a creak/squeak/scraping sound as the string passes under the tree. It actually shaves the string. The nut was improperly glued. I've had to re glue it in so the strings are properly aligned along the fretboard. The fretboard is slightly warped and the frets come up unevenly. So I have to raise the action to compensate. The binding on the neck is all cracked up as a result of the neck twisting. The neck isn't worth saving though I know several guitar techs who can do miracles. The pickups are mediocre, I've thought about replacing them with Fender brand Tex Mex or Seymour Duncans. The body looks stunningly good. If anything it has made me want a Fender Brand Telecaster even more. Current mass production tooling (cnc machines) means that the same qualtiy of an instrument can be manufactuered anywhere in the world. However the quality of the raw materials and the finishing touches still matter. Which is why it's hard to get high quality guitars out of China. Korea is a different story although that's changing as many Korean manufactuers are farming out various stages of production to indonesia then stamping "Made in Korea" after the fact. Most notably Cort and to a lesser extent Samick who produce guitars not only in their name but for other brand names as well. I've owned quite a few samick guitars through the years and my prize guitar is a "Cort" made in Korea Parker P44. As much as I hold affection for parker guitars (especially before the company was sold to washburn) the latest "P" series (korea/indonesia) are vastly inferior to the previous korean made parker models. I'm actually not as impressed by the Washburn American Parkers (made in Illinois ) as I was the original Parker's made in Pennsylvania when Ken Parker owned the company.

It's a beautiful song. You have a wonderful voice and you understand how to arrange the "energy" of a piece over time. I promised myself not to be overly critical of the recording environment. It's worthy of re-recording in an optimal environment. and a polished mix.

Thanks Rudi, After reading your response I started doing just that. Ztars are hard to notate for as they allow for more then one note per string. While band in a box does have a heads up fretboad display that can display more then one note per string. it doesn't allow for the custom tuning I use,. Consequently I've been simply charting the fretboard in Open Office,

Oddly I have a to-do list. I need to commit it to paper and build from there. In many ways I wish I still had a teacher. Teachers were more like coaches to me. They'd ask me what I was doing and then they'd ask me to perform the concept, work on it for a week or two and come back and demonstrate it again.