Newsletter Vol. 1 # 19 – July 15, 2001

Dear Guitar Player,

Welcome to Guitar Noise News, the weekly update for Guitar Noise. This newsletter will keep you up to date with the latest news and developments on our site, including all our new lessons, advice, and links added within the past week. Subscribers to this newsletter are warmly invited to be active in our growing guitar community.

Every week we receive countless questions dealing with different areas of guitar study and musicianship. We have a pretty effective system of dealing with these questions but from time to time we get stumped. At the moment one area we are having difficulty with is amps and effects processors. We are having trouble finding someone who can answer these questions effectively. So this week I would like to put the call out to all of you. If you feel you are knowledgeable in one or both of these areas and you are willing to answer questions for our readers from time to time please contact me.

This week I’d like to tell you about a new downloadable song from our friends at Acoustic Guitar Workshop. They have a tribute song to John Lee Hooker called “John Lee” for free download. The proceeds from the royalties this song generates are being donated to Cancer Research. You can download or listen to the song on the MP3 page.

Remember, July is “How to Buy Equipment Month” at Guitar Noise. Look for lots of articles and advice about buying guitar equipment. New articles will be posted throughout the month and we have a complete list of articles below. This week David shares some thoughts about buying a guitar online.

Guitar Columns by David Hodge

On the Guitar Column page, we try to cover a lot of ground for guitarists of all levels. Topics, most suggested by emails from our readers, range from theory (basic and intermediate) and technique to soloing to song writing and arrangement to alternate tunings to coping with the emtional ups and downs of guitar playing itself.

Some Musings On Online Instrument Buying
(or “Sittin’ On The Dock Of ‘eBay”)
by David Hodge (15 Jul 2001)
In this article I’d like to do is offer up some observations and advice to those of you who are thinking about getting your next guitar online. Even for someone such as myself, who much prefers dealing with a real person, the lure of the Internet is a siren’s call. And I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to someone who is thinking about getting his or her first guitar. Please remember that these are my own opinions based upon my own experiences and those of the people who have been kind enough to share their experiences with me. There will always be better stories and there will be worse ones.

The Other Side

Have you ever noticed that most of the people playing and talking about playing guitar are guys? Most of the authors (ok, all of the other authors) on this website are guys. Many of the artists talked about are guys. Not to say that guys aren’t great guitar players, writers and composers. But what about the Other Side??? Don’t think of guitar as a male sport; it’s for anyone with a love of music.

Finding Your Rhythm
by Laura Lasley(15 Jul 2001)
I’ve played with and heard so many amazing lead guitar players that I do despair of ever sounding as polished as they are. But every mountain climbed began with a thought and the desire to achieve that particular summit. I know that there is a lot of natural and raw talent out there, but with some hard work, I can make my guitar “cry and sing”.

Guitar Noise Interviews

Guitar Picks features interviews with guitarists and other musicians about their songwriting techniques and experiences with independant or major record labels. These frank answers by people who have already made it often deal with songwriting, inspiration, working within the limits of record companies’ wishes, and guitar techniques.

Metaphor
Guitar Pick by A-J Charron (13 Jul 2001)

“If nothing else about our music, I can say that it’s done without compromise and consequently there is virtually no chance we’ll get commercial radio play or hit the big (or even medium!) time” – Malcolm Smith

And that’s the way music should be done. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t work with a major label. But the result is one incredible album, in all fairness, one of the best ones I’ve ever heard. I absolutely wanted to talk to someone from the band to find out more about it and about them. Also to find out what their future plans were. So I had an interesting phone conversation with Malcolm Smith, the band’s guitarist. Also, I contacted vocalist and lyricist, John Mabry, to find out more about the album’s interesting concept.

New Reviews

Over the next few weeks and months Guitar Noise will be presenting you many CD reviews from Independent labels. Why Independents? Essentially because Major labels think we are not important enough for them, while Indies are more than happy to be seen within our pages. We hope you will like this segment. Get ready to be introduced to some of the best music around!

Scott Holt – Angels In Exile
At the age of 19, after hearing Jimi Hendrix for the very first time, Scott Hold started playing guitar, and soon found the blues. A year later, after seeing legendary bluesman Buddy Guy, his life was forever changed. A friendship developed between Guy and Holt. At 23, Scott joined the Buddy Guy Band. He also played with such artists as Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer – King Biscuit
If you’ve ever seen ELP live, you know what sort of ambience these three virtuosos create. Recognized as one of the best live bands ever, even by all those critics who loved to hate them, an ELP show is an event one doesn’t forget. So, a live album from ELP is always a treat. Contrary to many other bands (I won’t mention names such as Yes), their live albums don’t all feature the same songs. This double live CD features songs from two shows. One at The Coliseum, Wheeling, WV in 1977 during the Works tour and the other at the Civic Center in Tulsa Oklahoma in 1974 during the Brain Salad Surgery tour.

How to Buy Equipment – July Topic of the Month

New articles and information about buying equipment will be posted throughout the month.

Here are some of our older articles about buying equipment. You will find some brand new articles in each newsletter this month.

How To Buy A Bass Guitar
by Dan Lasley (08 Jul 2001)
This column will review some of the numerous things that go into the design of a bass guitar. Some matter more than others, and different people have different tastes. Hopefully, when you are done, you’ll have an idea of what to look for the next time you’re in the mood for a new bass. Please note that this is geared toward the novice bassist. If you are an experienced bassist recording your third studio album, you will undoubtedly have your own opinions on these matters.

Shopping
by Laura Lasley (01 Jul 2001)
I find that shopping for a guitar is much like shopping for anything else. The available information can be overwhelming, especially on the internet. There are a million web sites about every kind of guitar and every style. I have a few simple shopping rules that I like to follow which apply to clothing, TV’s, cameras, cars, houses and yes, guitars and guitar accessories.

The Rites of Spring
by David Hodge (28 Mar 2000)
Buying a new or used guitar can be an emotional ordeal, especially if you haven’t the faintest idea of what you are looking for. This is why it’s important to do a bit of thinking and investigating before even setting foot inside a music shop. It doesn’t matter if it’s going to be your first or fortieth guitar, take a moment to gather your thoughts.

Reaching The Limits
by Abel Petneki (22 Aug 2000)
Tried everything but still can’t play that solo no matter how much you practice? This seems to be a common problem for beginners – let’s try a different approach. The problem might not be you; it could actually be your guitar.

The Little Things
by David Hodge (29 Nov 2000)
If you are considering buying something for a musician you know and are a bit worried about buying the “wrong” thing, have no fear – there are no wrong things! You may not know this, but there are a lot of things that guitarists always need, but rarely purchase. Guitar players go through stuff that needs to be replaced fairly often. While there is still time left before the holidays let us go through some of the things you can buy for the guitar player on your list.

Building a digital studio
by A-J Charron (06 Jun 2000)
The digital recording environment, although not the best, offers some cheap solutions for musicians. Digital is the conversion of naturally occurring phenomena into a series of electrical pulses, i.e. 0’s and 1’s. In this article A-J shows you how to use your PC as a home digital studio. Topics include what you need to do and how much it will cost.

Email of the Week

Hello! I am looking for info on live sound reinforcement for “Big Band” purposes in a sizable ballroom setting. The high school I am affiliated with puts on an annual “Jazz/Big Band Swing Dance” and I’m getting better info for next years’ show. We feature our two Jazz Bands, both of approximately 14-17 pieces including rhythm sections. The stage is medium sized, but the dance floor is about the same size as basketball court! The stage is on one side of the floor and there are 3 sizable seating areas on the other 3 sides of the floor. Plenty of room all the way around! We feature a few vocalists as well as play a lot of great swing instrumental music.

The main problem, as can be usual to these types of bands, is getting a good mix between the horn sections & the rhythm section. Then blending in the occasional singer without losing them to the horns is a close second! After that, voice-over sections by our MC pale in comparison to the band when giving between-song announcements, etc.

We have not used stage monitors due to area constrictions and have run a simple setup through 2 combo type PA speakers. We use 2 coverage mics on the 3 horn rows with a solo mic for the trumpets & saxes. The bass & guitar run solely through amps as does the piano. We’ve been restricted to using maybe 3 mics for the drum set.

I know we should probably run the bass, guitar & piano through the mix and use the amps more for monitors but what do you recommend for the drums, horns & vocalist ?

Overall, the horns sound good, but overall balance is a chore to maintain. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

Response:

The gig sounds like fun. You haven’t mentioned who is too loud and who is too soft, so it’s a little hard to give suggestions. Usually with those types of bands, the overall balance is handled by the band leader. He should be making it sound really good where he is standing. You seem to have the mikes in the right place. Certainly turning the guitar amps in toward the stage and miking each of them will give you better control, but adding mikes can also raise your minimum volume level. Is the stage big enough to give you good separation between the rhythm section and the horns?

I’m not sure what else to suggest without being there. Can you ask a local pro?

Good Luck;
Dan Lasley

Thank you to everyone who writes to us on a regular basis. Those of you who frequently correspond with us are giving us a lot of fresh ideas for new topics to write about.

Peace,

Paul Hackett
Executive Producer