HairyScaryMark

MKII - what sound module do you have?

There is basicly 4 ways to go with the guitar synth idea

divided pickup - pitch to midi converter - midi synth

divided pickup - guitar midi system with built in midi converter

divided pickup - fancy effects unit system such as Roland V Guitar system

all in guitar sollution such as Roland Variax of Gibson Magic.

You also need a special cable to go with the divided pickup

Now my life story...............

I drilled holes in my Ibanez GRX70 to install a Roalnd GK2 kit pickup. Did quite a nice job but never properly finished it. Also need to attach the volume controls back on as they fell off.

Might get pictures if I actulaly get round to finishing off the loose ends (just visual things)

I also don't use my guitar midi system any more. Dosen't seem any point if I can play keyboards without the delay you get in converting low notes to midi etc. I am also a piano player.

My knowledge extends as far as.......

The note-midi idea has the problem that the sums involved in converting a low frequency to midi mean that there is a noticable delay. Some of the more modern unit such as Axxon and the new rolands apparently try to use tricks to make faster tracking. Harmony Central will tell you how sucessfull they are. I suspect the delay is still noticable though.

If you want to simulate the sound of other guitars you want a roland v-guitar system such as VG-8 and VG-88, it can do some synth sounds but it specalises in simulating other guitar-like instruments. The v-guitar system is really an advanced effects unit and does not convert notes to midi so there is no delay with 'tracking'.

The line 6 variax guitars are quite good also. I tried out my friend's Variax 600, the acoustic sounds aren't brilliant, the 12 string sounds awful though and the telecaster was the most impressive sound i heard from it. The electric guitar sounds were mostly good but the telecaster was the only truely exceptional one. I am also told you need the POD XT live to upgrade the guitar which is a tie you could do without (please correct me if i am wrong). It is a nice guitar but I think the next line might be conciderably better. It also uses a fairly standard output cable (stereo jack, i think) which dosen't allow you to switch any sound from a remote controller such as a midi floorboard.

Also note, the roland v-guitar system dosen't let you send more than one external program change through midi. This was another thing that put me off as my thinking was v-guitar + pre amp + effects unit = too many things.

I would have prefferred it if Roland brought out these units with a rack version to be controled through a floorboard, capable of controlling a rig of any size.

I am not bought over by any of these things. 500 (price of axxon) gets you an ENGL Thunder on special offer or a Peavey Classic 30 (i.e a very nice amp) or a very nice guitar. 500 can also get you a fairly good keyboard on ebay. The Roland V Guitar system costs even more than this.

Might be helpful if you stated what day of the week and at what time your weekly practice is? Some soundmen would have other commitments.

I am not going to make claims about being the best guitar teacher in the world becuase that would be untrue and nobody would believe it.

I try to put across a balanced view so the reader can form their own opinions. I am not a professional writer, just a music student.

Also thought this was quite interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/musc/parents/features/starting_young.shtml

and this

http://www.suzukimusic.org.au/phil.htm

I don't have any pupils so far. I have a fairly clear idea of the sort of things to teach older players but I am not so sure about very young ones. I plan to research this. They will essentially have to learn the same things but the ways in which they are presented will probably have to be differnet.

Teaching young has advantages and disadvantages. It often means you remember how you learnt many of the things you teach, as they will have entered your brain recently. This can have benefits while explaining things to pupils, the disadvantage will be my lack of experience and it goes without saying that I will have to get some pupils before I will have any experience.

There is no legal requirements for private instrumental tutors to be of any age of have any qualifications. I however am going to do the course 'teaching diploma' after summer. This course is largely made up of exams from external bodies such as London College Guitar Teaching Diploma and accociated board of music grade 8 music theory. Grade 5 music theory and grade 8 performing (a step below teaching diploma) is what is required for entry for the top music colleges in the UK. They usually also require an audition. I believe I am qualified enough to teach beginners.

Mozart and Beethoven are examples of people who were exceptional musicians at early ages. There are many modern examples but I can only provide one as an example (in video below).

Mozart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart

Beethoven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven

8 year old playing racer X tunes http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4628046460703829608&q=8+year+old+racer+x&pl=true

No age is really too young to start (within reason). Some people will be spectacularly good by the time they reach 8 and J.S Bach composed relatively complex music at the age of 5. I am told Mozart did as well.

Most kids who get lessons don't really achieve a high level of playing, but some do. I believe studying music is generally a positive thing. It is not just about being a great player but most people improve much faster when they are older, concentration spans can also be an issue. I will have to ask other music teachers what they teach young children. I already have plenty of ideas but I think it may have to be presented as a sort of game.

I started playing piano when I was about 6 years old. I didn't have a particularly good teacher so I stopped for a while and started with a new one who was much better, unfortunately I wasn't motivated to practice, not because the teacher didn't try to motivate me but because I wasn't really that interested in music then. I now am perusing a career in music and this would have never happened for me if I didn't take lessons from a relatively early age. This is just coincidence though.

I regret not practicing when I was younger. Everyone told me they regretted not practicing piano when they were younger but this meant nothing to me other than I didn't give it up completely.

Also, could you make it out to Westhill?

What sort of metal is it?

What is the situation with writing, other members etc.?

OK great - provided nobody from any of the bands has any objections... after all it's their money!

The good news is that you'll get in for free (obviously)' date=' and benefit from special cheaps drinks prices too [/quote']

Cheers Flash. This sounds great. Moorings is my favourite bar.

I have my own little studio and I am planning to make backing tracks to help my pupils to learn specific techniques and skills.

I shall deffiantely be attending this.

Would anyone be willing to work the ticket hatch? If so then perhaps we can reach some sort of arrangement' date=' so please get in touch.[/quote']

I will do it. Anything at the moorings is always good fun and I go to college with Stuart from Onion Terror.

This better not be an april fool though. I will not be chuft.

Are you starting out with guitar and want a lesson?

I am looking for guitar pupils in the Aberdeen area. I am based in Westhill but I could teach in town (this may alter price if I have to pay for room hire). Some teaching studios also have standard rates.

My Musical Background

I am an 18 year old music student (on the Access to Music Degree Course) at Aberdeen College. I will sit my Grade 8 guitar exam in June along with Grade 6 theory. I am going to start the Teaching Diploma after summer and plan to sit the diploma exam in 14 months time.

I also have a knowledge of popular and jazz theory and have attended a Jamie Abersold Jazzwise Summer School. I have also been attending Guitar lessons with George Norval for over 4 years and Piano Lessons with Ian Milne for about 9 years (although I only started practicing piano seriously a couple of years a go).

I play a range of styles but specialise in rock lead playing and jazz. I also play some classical and jazz piano.

I would like to start teaching beginners and intermediate players.

I am planning to study at Leeds College of Music in a couple of years time.

Cost

First lesson is free. Subsequent lessons will be around 10 per hour lesson. You are under no obligation to have more than one lesson and 1/2 hour lessons are also available. If you require a lesson in town this may alter the price as a teaching studio will have to be hired. (I am based in Westhill).

I will make sure to do plenty of preperation work for all my pupils. Some tasks can be taken from books but a large proportion will be my own material.

Contact Information

mobile: 07950 289222

email: mark@mark-chalmers.com

or send me a message here.

--Mark--

My friend has that guitar. I have tried it out. Very nice indeed. It is fairly similar to a Japanese made Ibanez RG except it comes with higher quality pickups. I wouldn't pay more than 400 for it though. 350 sounds about right. If you want the Basswood/DiMarzio sound it would be ideal. If not, don't get it.

I don't see any reason why a government should apologise for the actions of it's citizens.

An Independent columnist wrote an opinion article titled 'Isn't it enough that blapshemers will rot in hell?'. Followers of most religions will believe that people will be punished for their sins in hell, that should be enough for them.

Keyboards

Korg Oasys - 76 key version

Kurzweil K2600

Roland RD700SX

Yamaha Grand Piano (for home use only unless I get super rich and can afford a team of goons to carry it around for me)

guitars

Ernie Ball Musicman John Petrucci 6 and 7 string.

Ibanez RG7620 (currently owned)

Ibanez JEM7V with ebony fretboard.

Chris McIntyre custom Strat - swamp ash, bartolini pickups? etc. http://www.mcintyreguitars.com/

Various strats with various pickups.

Yngwine Strat (i want to try out the scalloped fretboard etc.)

Some mahogony guitar for fusion and/or shredding.

Martin Acoustics

Custom made classical guitar (not sure by who)

Shetcher Jazz Elite (currently owned).

Amps, effects etc..

2 Mesa Boogie Roadkings (stereo)

4 x 4x12" cabinets with vintage 30s

TC electronics M4000

Eventide DSP7500

TC electronics G-system

other

Sennheiser SR in ear monitoring system

2 x Sennheiser evolution G2 500 series wireless transmiter/reciever

SM 58's for vocals

Something 'better' than SM57's for guitar amp.

Flight cases for absolutely everything.

A spair of everything that is to be used live incase it breaks suddenly.

Practice/small gig Gear

Peavey Classic 30 combo

a few Roland Microcubes for lessons

Boss DS-2 and OD-2

Some delay pedal

Some chorus pedal

Yamaha P1xx digital piano.

Peavey KBA50 combo?

Jenell's book is hilarious. I wish it was available to read properly. Mo Jangle, hahahaa.

And what has that got to do with Murdoch? Other forms of media are doing exactly the same - but are you now blaming the London attacks on the Goverment too? And if you are' date=' I would tread very carefully. [/quote']

The significance is that Murdoch's publications are the single biggest and most widespread source of sensationalism in the UK and probably the US also.

No other media group has such a high share of market circulation in the UK. The Times deffinately has gone majorly downhill and bias has swung significantly to the authoritarian and xeonophobic right since Murdoch took it over.

It is no coincidence that The Times also tends to put across 'the Murdoch line' these days and the sorts of views on political issues put across by the editing tend to vary ltitle from The Sun.

Iraq was a prime example of this where both Murdoch publications appeared to act as cheerleaders for the war. Of course, you will get anti war journalists working for The Times but their articles don't tend to appear on the front page or somewhere that people are particualrly likely to read it.

The Sun blatetly prints outright lies and often gets sued over them. This dosen't seem to deter them though. When it is not printing outright lies it tends to resort to sensationlism or something similar to the rant in the orignal topic.

Such views as those expressed in the original topic have became mainstream after The Sun and Daily Mail have fet it their duty to moan about; Asylum, Immigration and Political Correctness as if they were the biggest threats facing the human race. Incidently Asylum and Immigration topped pols before the last election as the single biggest issue people were concerned about. This is because of the influence of such papers The Sun and Daily Mail. The fact that Murdoch owns a broadsheet means that these views can be put across by people who appear to have had some form of education and therefore appear credible.

..............

The reason I stated that I felt the influence of The Sun is often overstated is because few people buy it for the political news and therefore people who buy it are not particularly likely to vote over things they read there. It certainly did a lot of damage to the likes of Neil Kinnock but even he admits it didn't cost him the election in itself.

The solid state pre amp is there so you can get a trace elliot style sound. My experience has been that a mixture of both valve and solid state is good.

I have heard some very nice bass tones through marshall valve bass amps. Think of the late Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix experience. My understanding is also that there was little difference between the marshall bass and guitar amps until sometime in the late 70s or thereabout.

I have seen a bass amp being mic'ed up in the lemon tree. If a bass speaker isn't mic'ed there is little point on caring about your speaker cabinet more than for your own ears onstage. My point remains that I believe the significance of backline speaker cabinets if highly over-rated.

Obviously, if you play in a pub covers band the likelihood of using only a vocal PA is increased greatly. In which case you ought to think of the volume levels that a backline can produce, otherwise it is simply for shaping your tone. If you plan to send your bass signal through a D.I box before it goes into your amp, you might as well use a keyboard amp.

Also, remember that sound levels are measured in dB and not watts. A 100W valve amp may well be significantly louder than a 200W solidstate amp or this may even be true when comparing two solid state amps.

Why is everyone obsessed with Church Norris, all of a sudden? Has he been in the papers or something?

He doesn't really own much of the UK market - even once you factor in Sky News' date=' Murdoch only has control over a small portion of the UK market.

[url']http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation

This website puts his share of British newspaper circulation at around 37%. No other single company or individual has such a large share of the British media.

http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/media/mediaown.html

I believe Viacom are currently placed as the worlds largest media company.

I wouldn't exactly call it a 'small proportion'. Atlhough I think his power is often overstated and he probably dosen't have the ability to determine the outcome of an election by himself. I think News Coporation are a huge threat to democract in Britain and around the world. There is also a strong case to be made that says he usaully gets a special favour from the British prime minister, in return of his support. In the case of Thatcher it was bypassing the monopolies commission so he could own The Times, in the Blair era Murdoch was able to monopolise digital TV market.

Personally. I would recommend Ashdown over Ampeg. This is my personal preference. I hear nice sounds from Ampegs but Ashdown do a wider range of sounds. I guess for punk the Ampeg compressed fuzz might be what you would prefer but my preference would be for Ashdown.

You should be able to get an nice Ashdown for 600. Make sure you get one with a valve pre amp. The one I have experience with has a dial that you can select the mix between the valve and solid state pre amp.

No point on huge speaker cabinets in my opinion, if it is going to go through a PA. If you put a mic infront of an speaker, it picks up the signal from only one speaker, all speakers have exactly the same signal coming out of it. Few engineers are going to mic up every speaker in your cabinet. I have not seen it been done anywhere.

It is rare that people will play a gig these days where the bass dosen't go through a PA. I would think an Ashdown combo would still be capable of providing all the bass you could want for any venue you could possibly play without a PA.

There are many many other good amps around but Ashdown are my favourite.

After hearing that the Birmingham council changed its opinion and let

a Muslim woman have her picture on her driver's license with her face covered.

This claim is absurd. Birmingham city council has absolutely no baring in anything to do with driving licences. To the best of my knowledge, driving licences are given out by the Driving Standards Agencym a national body.

The 2nd link in the above post shows the extent to which Craig's article is falsified and has no grounds for the claims made. It is simply copied from an American website with key words such as 'the State of Florda' replaced with 'Birmingham City Council'

I dismiss all claims made in the original topic post as urban legends and I agree with Daveofficer that political correctness does not exist to the extent which is suggested in our right wing tabloids, such as The Sun and Daily Mail.

Personally, I would much rather have a multi cultural Britain than racist thugs.

www.loudspeaker.co.uk

www.soundcontrol.co.uk

www.guitarampkeyboard.com

I have one. I assure you that it can be used on bass well.

You can make interesting sounds that have been compared wtih 'whale noises' before. Usually sounds best combined with other effects. Sounds a bit pointless when used with distortion.

Note, the output is very high when using an ebow with the neck pickup. If you use a digital pre amp or effects unit, it may clip and sound horrible. You will have to turn the gain control on your guitar down to almost nothing.

I have used it in a band on a song that we no longer play.

I think 70+ can be spent more wisely for most people. That sort of money can get you a Boss pedal or a nice tuner.

An ebow would be particularly good for a solo artist who uses two handed tapping, loops and plays lots of stuff by themselves in a slightly avante garde style. For a rock band, I have seen them being used before but it usually comes across as little more than a gimick.

If whale noises are already your thing, an ebow would be a great way to expand on it but if you play in a conventional rock band, your money could probably be spent more wisely.

Most synths come with "adequate" patches' date=' but ultimatelyif u are a musician it's worth spending the extra cash on a proper editable synth, and even once you understand how to get the best out of it, most of them benefit from some external processing, because the built in effects are usually crap. The default patches which come with synths are really just starting points, using them in a song is a bit naff.[/quote']

There is the ability to change paramaters but I feel it could do with more samples and more combi presets as well.

I was lucky enough be able to borrow a friend's Korg Triton Extreme for a few days. There is many differnet types of choir available and significantly differnet string types. I would really like to get one of these eventaully but I am making do with what I have at the moment. I still think there is a few patches on the XD5 which the triton extreme didn't really manage to beat. The main one is the pipe organ, the triton has more realistic sounds but I like the over the top XD5 sound.

The Motif is probably really good. The Triton Extreme is possibly marjinally better for certain things such as hammond organ becuase of the valveforce (built in valve). As they are both in the same price range people often do have trouble deciding which one to go for. The valveforce sounds like a gimic to some but i can testify that it really does give you some immsense sounds. Personally, that would be one of the main deciding factors for me if I was to decide between the two. I do strongly suspect (and a harmony central review suggested) that the piano action on the weighted key motif is better than on the triton. Yamaha make some very nice grand pianos so possibly have a bit more experience in this field.

Still, for the price and the sort of useage it is likely to get... , for under 100. The Korg XD5 is still possibly your best bet. If you are willing to spend 500 or so then there is many more posibilites but you migh regret spending more if you don't end up using it enough to justify the cost. I don't know much about roland modules but you might want to concider them also.