Brad's Tiny World » Music

What to Consider When Buying a Guitar

BradHart — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 02:53:24 +0000

Choosing a guitar can be a lot of fun but if you go guitar shopping without doing some research, you may not be getting the value for how much you spend. When you’re buying a guitar for yourself, it’s a good idea to consider how much experience you’ve had as a player. If you’re a very beginner, you probably haven’t built up much finger strength yet, and because you also don’t have fingertip callouses, it would much less painful to start with a guitar that has low action (distance between the fretboard and and the strings). Light gauge strings also facilitate getting those clear, non buzzing notes and chords. Another thing to think about is what kind of music you would like to play. For rock ‘n roll or blues, an electric guitar would most likely be the best choice, but then you’ll also have to shop for an amplifier as well. If you want to play classical, fiingerstyle, or flamenco, your best bet is a nylon string classical guitar. Acoustic or acoustic electric are the best guitar for folk music. Of course you’ll also have to think about how much you have to spend. If the guitar is for your child, you have to determine how serious he/she is: is it a passing ineterest or do you think he will stick with it?

There are many brands and styles of guitars to choose from. On the internet is a wealth of information about which brands get the best reviews. When you start looking at those brands you’re already starting with guitars that other people are happy with. When you’re at the music store, it’s best to not be in a rush to buy the first guitar you come across and like. Play many guitars and compare how each handles and sounds. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get all the warranty information. If you are buying online, make sure you know the return policy,

Gibsons and Martins are among the high end name brands although they usually come with a high end price. You can find a decent Yamaha, Fender, Takamine, or Epiphone at a low to mid range price. Most of these brand name acoustic guitars have a spruce top and mahogany back and sides. The Canadian made Seagull 56 has received rave reviews as an adult beginners guitar: it has a cedar top and mahogany sides and back. The cheapest child’s guitar i found that is a real bang for the buck is the Rogue starter acoustic guitar: it’s made of maplewood with a rosewood fretboard. The Hohner Hag – 250 1/2 size Parlor acoustic guitar is another well regarded child’s beginner guitar. Taylor and Martin also offer more expensive guitars designed for smaller hands, Personally I like my Jay Turser acoustic for its playability, tone, and the cost of it wasn’t to hard on the pocketbook. I hope this information helps the next prospective guitar buyer.

My name is Melinda Judy but I go by Lyndie Diamond. My website is globalsoundstream.com I’ve had an interest in guitars and other stringed instruments since age 7. I’ve played professionally most of my adult life and hope to make my music website as entertaining and educational as possible. Please stop by for a visit.
If you have any questions or comments, my email is lyndiediamond@globalsoundstream.com If there is a music topic you would like to find out about let me know. I enjoy doing research and writing.

Author: Melinda Judy
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Digital Camera News

My Vampire Weekend

Brad — Mon, 03 May 2010 04:14:06 +0000

[ad]After my first taste of the band Vampire Weekend, I bloody well don’t need a second one. There is more angst in their music than any ten vintage grunge bands combined could have come up with. On top of that there sound is like an over produced 1950′s Bobby Darin record. What is the use of pure digital sound when what you are listening to is pure crap?

I tried to clear my mind of Vampire Weekend with some quiet reading of another vampiric nature. I am rereading Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series before I read her latest in the Series, The Outlaw Demon Wails. For those unfamiliar with the series the first thing that drew me to it was the bad puns used for the titles, such as Dead Witch Walking, and Fist Full of Charms. The setting is modern day Cincinnati, assuming we really lived where vampires, witches, werewolves, pixies, and elves really live side by side with us.

The back story difference begins with an early genetic food modification tomatoes which kills a high percentage of the human population. It is quickly realized that a large number of people survive and it comes out that they aren’t exactly human, thus beginning forty plus years of learning to live in the public. Flash forward to modern times you have Rachel Morgan, a white witch, tired of her job as a supernatural cop. Sick of the lack of respect she gets from her superiors and coworkers, she strikes out on her own with the Pixie Jenks and her soon to become BFF Ivy, the vampire. With a host of problems from her old bosses and people she has just pissed off over the years the trio runs a fairly complicated PI service for the supernatural crowd.

The series has it all. I know what some of you are thinking, a book. Yes, before the internet, television and even movies there were books and it would do a lot of you good to read one once in a while. Yes I know that sounds preachy but damn it, I am an author and know I have to sell roughly 8900 paperback copies to clear my my $5k advance, so shut up and buy one, and help support us poor slobs. Okay it is a book, I know what your next question is, “are there sports in it”? Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles. Okay now your question has got to be is this a kissing book? Yeah there is some of the that too, and if we are lucky we will get to see a more than a taste of our bisexual Ivy in The Outlaw Demon Wails.

Dr Pepper to Make Good on Chinese Democracy Stunt

BradHart — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:48:54 +0000

The long awaited Guns N’ Roses Album Chinese Democracy is nearly here and there is something to drink in it for you. While I can’t say I am not impressed with free Dr Pepper, I really hope Chinese Democracy is more impressive than getting something for free.

As a long time GnR fan I have always been saddened by how little they sound like they did back in the ’93 Stadium Tour with Metallica. Axl still sounds great and looks stupid doing the Patience Shimmy, but the rest is too different. Different isn’t necessarily bad, but it just isn’t the same for those of us who remember that Appetite for Destruction was an album title long before it became the motto for George W Bush’s presidency.
Dr Pepper to Make Good on Chinese Democracy Stunt | Listening Post from Wired.com

Earlier this year, soda manufacturer Dr Pepper promised a free soft drink to everyone in America if Guns N’ Roses released its long-awaited Chinese Democracy album before the end of 2008. The offer excluded former GNR members Slash and Buckethead.

Now that Axl and company have set a release date of November 23, Dr Pepper says it will make good on the offer. Those who want to claim a free soda can go to the Dr. Pepper website on November 23, enter some personal information and get a coupon for one 20-ounce drink that should arrive within the following 4 to 6 weeks. They’ll expire in February 2009.

Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs

BradHart — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:26:35 +0000

[ad]

As a long time Death Cab for Cutie fan, I was ecstatic to find out they were releasing a new album and even more excited to get my hands on a promo. Narrow Stairs is by far the best album I have heard in a while. It is not my favorite Death Cab album, as a band that threw caution to the wind when they recorded it was a calculated risk. It paid off well in my opinion.

The early MTV review of the album had me worried.

“they had seemingly gone into the studio (or, more specifically, three studios) with the intention of, a) systematically destroying the fanbase they had built up over the course of a decade, or b) infuriating their major-label handlers at Atlantic.”

After listening to Narrow Stairs, I am not sure what I was worried about really. Death Cab loves their fans and fans love Death Cab because they are not a sausage grinder conglomeration of studio over-production and marketing hype that never lives up. Death Cab brings us a new sound which I am sure some are going to call butchered, but those of us who like a little variety in our lives and bands will call it special. They fact they seemed to go out of their way to piss of the studio people in favor of their own sound makes me cheer and realize the spirit of Rock and Roll is not dead. Take that and stuff it up your ass to those who didn’t vote for Michael Johns.

Annie Zaleski over at A to Z has a pretty good Song by song of the album and for the most part I agree with her. There are a few differencing opinions of the material, the one place she really hit home for me was with the opening track Bixby Canyon Bridge. I knew the song was reminding me of something put couldn’t put my finger on it until I read, “think: Out of Time-era R.E.M”. That hit the nail on the head and was good enough for me to tell you to go check out the whole thing. http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/atoz/2008/04/death_cab_for_cutie_narrow_sta.php

Dead Musicians and Old Choral Works

BradHart — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:06:57 +0000

It might seem a bit odd to put dead rock musicians on the same list as old choral pieces but that is exactly what I am doing today. At Zeenium they are pushing a list of The 10 Most Tragic Deaths in Rock and Roll History. I agree that these are ten tragic deaths but I am not sure I would have put Bob Marley and Patsy Cline on the list for the simple fact that rock music wasn’t their genre and their influence on the style was minimal. They are certainly important musicians don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t think they belong in the rock category. There are any number of people you could have put there that would have fit the bill.

Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens both had great influence on the style and the way the genre was thought by a diverse group of people. Not as iconic a Janis Joplin Momma Cass Elliot certainly had potential to be a great in the folk rock revival that was to hit a few in the later 1970′s. For that matter so Jim Croce and Harry Chapin both had careers cut too short. Back to the rock scene though We can include Keith Moon of The Who, incidentally he died in the same flat that Momma Cass did, just four years after her. We also have Brian Jones a founding member of the Rolling Stones whose sound was just as important to the band as the Keith Richards sound. Also noted stars such as John Bonham, Bon Scott, and Stevie Ray Vaughn are absent. If we wanted to add a more modern musician left off the list who had potential written all over them we could include Shannon Hoon.

As for why I include the choral works in this list post I do it for one reason, to tell you the more things change the more they stay the same. Twenty Great Choral Works Before 1750 has quite a few youtube videos of modern performances of the choral works, and is interesting if you are eclectic enough to appreciate that sort of music. Back to the point though, this is work that doesn’t get enough attention for what it is or what it could be, a lot of the time these pieces were considered cutting edge or often over the edge in the time they were produced just as many of the musicians on the other list are and were in their day. These pieces are also considered horrid screeching noise by a lot of people who think the same thing of most songs done by any of the other mentioned musicians in this post.

Songs of The Week

BradHart — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:27:03 +0000

[ad]In light of the fact idol is keep karaoke hacks on instead of great performers, it is time to bring you music that didn’t cost more than you will ever make to produce and twice that in marketing to tell you it is good. Every weekday NPR has a song of the day usually by some lesser known indie artist and this week packs a great variety of people into it.

I am starting with last Friday’s (4-4-08) since I somehow missed them. The Kill’s Last Day of Magic is an aggressive sound that reminds me of classic B52′s whose new album isn’t to be missed either.

Aly, Walk With Me, by the Danish duo Raveonettes, has some late sixties psychodelia mixed with grunge reverb and distortion. I will be downloading the rest of this in the very enar future and if the rest of the album is as good you can guarantee yourselves there will be a full review.

Hurricane by Britsh musician Ben Waters is Jerry Lee Lewis, meets The Stray Cats, meets We Didn’t Start the Fire, and would find itself just as at home at a political rally, piano bar, or on Dr. Demento.I feel another music purchase coming on with this one.

“Employing ethereally layered vocals and the ultimate girl-group qualifier, the tambourine, (Natasha) Khan and company describe the heartbreaking reality of extinguished love” in What’s a Girl to Do What’s a Girl to doby Bat For Lashes. They have made themselves into a modern day Shangrilas with a distinctly modern sound and if this song is anything to go by I will certainly be downloading some more tunes. I give the song a 4 out 5 with the only thing lacking is my connection to it as a guy.

Silver Moon by Blitzen Trapper is a song I have had to listent o a few times to get out of my system and is already making its way higher up on my ipod’s play list. There really isn’t anyone I can compare them too which would be accurate because every time I think I have the sound pinned down, I have to take a step back and say did I hear that right.

Am I Just Fooling Myself, by Eli “Paperboy” Reed is a great bluesy number with serious soul, that screams Wilson Picket, Percy Sledge or Brother James. Little more can be said better than Mark Silver already said whne he presented them this morning on Song of the Day. “NPR.org, April 11, 2008 – Just who does Eli “Paperboy” Reed think he is? The reincarnation of the wicked Wilson Pickett? A skillful James Brown imitator? Winner of the Austin Chronicle‘s award for “best Otis Redding impersonation by a 23-year-old Jewish boy from Massachusetts”?”

If you like this feature either my recap or NPR‘s coverage, please remember to donate to your local NPR station since programming is supported by its listeners.

I Fell In Love

BradHart — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:12:01 +0000

When I first heard James Blackshaw’s music several years ago I literally fell in love with his 12 string guitar. There are so few who really play the instrument well, even those that play it in the genres it developed in. James however pulls out the most beautiful music in a thoroughly modern tones and techniques. He may claim that his influences are classical European minimalists composers and other twelve stringers like
Jack Rose, Steffen Basho-Junghans, and Robbie Basho, but I hear the undertones of Clapton, Petty, and Beck through out many riffs. intentional or not, the music is still beautiful and can’t wait to have my copy of the new disc in a few days. Litany of Echoes. For the mean time, I am just enjoying the music on his MySpace page and what I already have.

Wynton and Willie: Two Men with the Blues

BradHart — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:28:29 +0000

Willie Nelson has been singing, and recording, the blues since the 1960s, as an integral part of his country sound. Wynton Marsalis, born into a musical family, has been playing and recording blues, jazz, and classical music since 1980. Between Nelson and Marsalis, you can hear dozens of albums’ worth of classic blues and long-loved standards. Finally, Willie and Wynton have come together and recorded “Two Men with the Blues“, released July 8, 2008 by Blue Note Jazz, Marsalis’s label.

Recorded January 12th and 13th, 2007 during a Jazz at Lincoln Center event, “Two Men with the Blues” highlights the best of the show’s performances, when both Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis were at their best. Back-up and other solos come from the Wynton Marsalis Quintet regulars, with Mickey Raphael, a long-time cohort of Nelson, on harmonica and Willie, of course, providing his own guitar solos.

While not every song on “Two Men with the Blues” works as well as Caldonia, every note of this album displays the joy that these two men take in playing classic New Orleans jazz together. Willie Nelson romps through tracks like My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It and Ain’t Nobody’s Business while Wynton Marsalis demonstrates how smooth and sassy combine to make the trumpet the instrument for this style of the blues. When people who share a passion and an deep enjoyment of music get together, you know that the results will be magic. Nelson and Marsalis are just such people, and this album proves the point.

Jack Johnson

BradHart — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:01:21 +0000

Jack Johnson is a plain ordinary name for a very complex voice. Stunning melodies compliments a heart pulling guitar. I stumbled onto Jack’s music through my Pandora feed and instantly was hooked with Traffic in the Sky off of On and On. I was taken with how his native Hawaiian sounds infiltrate his indie folk-rock tunes.

There is not a lot of online places you can hear Jack Johnson, but when you do his rich voice is worth pumping through full range speakers. You can hear a few songs and watch a couple of vids on his MySpace profile. The best place is on his website Jack Johnson Music. To hear Jack and similar artists you add my Pandora Radio for Jack Johnson.

Portishead's Third

BradHart — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:21:23 +0000

I am pleased to bring you another great pre-release review today that almost never happened. My friend Scott after seeing the exposure I got for Death Cab for Cutie, a band he doesn’t think is as good as Portishead, revealed he had an advance copy of Third from Portishead. After revealing my ignorance of the band the friendship was nearly ended, but some humble groveling and realizing I recognized Beth Gibbons from her solo album, he relented. I hope some of you appreciate what I have done for you.

I gave an honest listen to the album, then did it again and thought I liked it. Then I took a listen to some older Portishead I was able to find around the web and decided I still liked it, but I didn’t love it. Beth’s vocals still call out the emotion in me, and I thought I would give a listen to her solo album, Out of Season, then I decided I didn’t care for Third at all.

Third opens with a song called Silence, which I wish it had been for the first half of the song. It starts out with someone speaking Portuguese, which I pat myself on the back for recognizing. A search for the translation brought me to a comment on Matt Rutherford’s review.

“Be alert to the rules of 3.
What you give, will return to you.
That lesson, you have to learn.
You only earn what you deserve.”

Well after that little bit of pomposity it is a good thing they had it in a language few of their fans speak. Because what they gave was very little, and I fear if they earn what they deserve they will have to give back to the studio everything and then some. This album doesn’t live up to the nearly mythic reputation Portishead seems to have that I didn’t know about until yesterday. Thankfully Bristol, England has other bands soon to be releasing albums that might make up for this bit of tarnish.

In short, Beth is the highlight of the entire album. Beyond that I can’t say much positive about the experience, other than I now appreciate Dummy and Portishead their first two albums. Third is sulkingly moody and it will probably be a long time before I consider listening to it again. I hope it won’t be another ten years though, and they will learn from this mistake and go back to their roots.

Portishead – Official Site

Portishead – MySpace Site