Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans, it was at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish settlers appear to have been the cause of its demise. One of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites . Recent excavations unearthed perfectly preserved Electro-Harmonix gear used by the Maya at religious rituals.
Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans, it was at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico. Old World diseases brought by the Spanish settlers appear to have been the cause of its demise. One of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites . Recent excavations unearthed perfectly preserved Electro-Harmonix gear used by the Maya at religious rituals.
Becoming a professional musician is a long, hard road. However this is not to say it is impossible. Anyone with a desire to become successful at something can do it. This applies to music and any other field that you could want to apply yourself to. When I first decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to music many people questioned my decision. However in my mind I knew that I had a passion to become a successful artist and that nothing was going to stop me. This is the most important part of becoming a professional. The simple fact is the entertainment industry is the most fickle industry out there, it’s hard and there are ton of people trying to ‘make it’.
I was born in a small town and grew up playing the bars and clubs there, making a small amount each week, but I wanted more. I initially thought that the only way that I would make a ‘decent’ living would be to become a famous musician and to be able to tour the world in my private jet (well I never quite got a private jet but I did manage to tour extensively overseas).
Most people, like myself initially, think the only money in the industry is with being a famous musician and many people overlook the other options that are out there to make money from your guitar. Here are a few ideas:
- Teaching guitar (once you have mastered the skills share them with others for a fee)
- Making/designing guitars or amps (if you are handy with tools or electrical knowledge this could be an option)
- Playing covers in café’s/bars (there is a large market for playing songs that everyone knows and loves)
The most important thing, however, is to DECIDE you’re going to succeed and don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Like anything, just stick at it and you will succeed. Well, that’s about it for this newsletter. Next week I’ll talk about the Star Spangled Banner, and in our Tech Tips section I’ll answer a question about getting a “metal” sound on your guitar.
Guitarists have been experimenting with sound possibilities for as long as they have been around. Many recognize the voice as the most expressive of instruments and many guitar FX pedals have tried to emulate that expressiveness through various talk-box like effects.
Electro Harmonix (EHX) have produced a very versatile pedal in the Stereo Talking Machine. It not only has great presets right out of the box, it’s also highly programmable giving you even greater control over the way the pedal alters your notes. With 9 selectable voice types, you too could be AH-OOing and OW-EEing in no time at all.
Like the sounds created by a mouth harp, where the metal reed is plucked and the vibrations altered by changing the shape of the players mouth, a Talk-box takes the sounds/notes you put in to it and alters them according to the volume you’ve played them and the shape of the specific filter you have chosen.
Because the sweeping effect is driven by how hard or soft you play the strings there is a massive scope of what sonic sounds can be achieved using the EHX Stereo Talking Machine. And because each sound choice responds so differently, it’s worth spending time experimenting with each to get a good grasp on what is possible.
The unit is a rectangle box affair, with the 6 control knobs across the top: Blend, Voice, Attack, Decay, Sensivitiy, and Preset. The preset knobs gives access to auxiliary functions for each knob including Volume, Fuzz tone, Fuzz Gain, LFO Rate and LFO Shape. A Low frequency Oscillator or LFO is a filter that responds over time rather than to playing dynamics and creates a more regular filter sweep.
You won’t find any lose of your guitar tone, but instead applies the different tonal colors of the ‘voices’ available from the unit. From the dark and smooth/soft tone of the EE-ER voicing to the midrange-heavy and rather resonant sound of the I-A voicing.
For each voicing, you can reverse the voicing for example EE-ER to ER-EE or I-A to A-I which gives you further options with the flick of the Preset/Sweep knob. You can also control this function via the expression pedal option.
The Stereo Talking Machine is an extremely versatile pedal with a wide variety of voicings and multiple control options of those voicings. Add to that access to a distortion circuit and sensitivity control and the tonal possibilities really grow. If you’re not familiar with talk-box effects sitting down and having a chat with the Stereo Talking Machine may result in a new found friendship.
Dunlop Artists Rodrigo y Gabriela have released Area 52, their first album collaboration with C.U.B.A., a thirteen piece Cuban orchestra composed of some of Havana’s finest young players.
“The album is called Area 52 because we felt like Mulder and Scully approaching this — it was just a crazy idea, to see if a big Cuban band could play our music, a step in the dark. We knew it was out there, everyone has heard of Area 51, but we wanted to take it a little further,” Rodrigo says. “We saw it as a trip into the unknown, an experiment,” he continues. “Okay, we knew the producer, and had spoken to the arranger on Skype; we didn’t know the musicians or the studio, or Cuba for that matter.”
Rodrigo y Gabriela will bring C.U.B.A. on the road to showcase the thrilling and dynamic hybrid of metal, latin and jazz featured on their new album in a live setting. The tour will mark the first time in their careers that Rodrigo y Gabriela have toured and performed with a backing band.
The European leg of their tour begins February 19 in Dublin, Ireland, and the North American leg begins April 3 in Seattle, Washington.
Check out our Dunlop TV interview with Rodrigo from last year.
When it comes to hooking up your jam or practice room with inspiration art is a great way to go. We`ve already had a look at Michael Babyak and today its the turn of Paul Chase.
Paul Chase is an internationally known artist, author, innovator, visionary and guitarist. He is the founder and CEO of Graphicguitars Inc., fine art guitar paintings, prints and posters. He received a Bachelors degree in Art and a Masters in Communications. He has taught art in high schools, vocational/technical school, and at the college level for over 30 years. Paul is a distant relative of the “other” famous American artist Georgia O’Keeffe (and they are both developed their art “roots” in hometown Sun Prairie, WI) and his large close up guitar images reflect her large close up flower series. Pauls art is available for purchase online here at Rock N Roll Vintage.
After the last post on listening and guitar it’s time to focus upon one of the world’s greatest listeners, Evelyn Glennie, the Scottish virtuoso percussionist who has been profoundly deaf since age 12.
This does not inhibit her ability to perform at the international level. She regularly plays barefoot for both live performances and studio recordings, to better “feel” the music. Glennie contends that deafness is largely misunderstood by the public. She claims to have taught herself to hear with parts of her body other than her ears.
In the photograph at top we can see Evelyn with English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith who uses some highly unusual and enlightening techniques. Here is Evelyn discussing how to listen with your whole body rather than simply using your ears.
Indeed, this is a highly valuable lecture for any musician and the reason I’ve included it here on the Jamorama guitar blog is because of the highly tactile nature of the guitar – especially the electric guitar – and how the guitar as an instrument makes such a tight connection possible between physical approach (strumming, fretting, vibrato etcetera), the intellectual (musicality) and the emotional. Remember there are no rules and no right or wrong – we all hear differently, we all play differently! Groove to the beat of your own drum.
This week’s Friday giveaway item comes from the MXR Custom Shop line — the Custom Comp!
The MXR Custom Comp is built from the finest components available and designed with a blend of modern and classic compressor technology. At the heart of the pedal resides the legendary and rare CA3080 “metal can” IC that delivers increased dynamic range, greater transparency, and quieter operation. In addition, the MXR Custom Shop design team included RF suppression components for interference-free operation, and an internal Attack control that allows fine tuning of the speed of the note’s initial attack. Combined with a TPDT (Triple Pole Double Throw) switch for true bypass and heavy duty pots, the MXR Custom Comp will provide years of high performance live and in the studio.
Enter to win this modern take on a classic compressor, use the comments section below to tell us how you plan to use it…
|
Subscribe | Comments Off 
