themusiciansite.com

Hey there, Blogsville. So, I figured because of all the various Acoustic V. Electric cases being presented to the board, I'd round out the Rock Band setup with the age-old question:

Labels: acoustic, acoustic basses, vocoder, vs

If you are interested in rocking out or playing guitar in a band, the electric guitar is the right choice. Today I will attempt to detail the pros of an electric guitar when compared to an acoustic. First of all, the electric is much nicer to your arms and fingers. You don’t have to strum or pluck hard at all in order to get a loud sound from your amplifier. It has been said before that the acoustic guitar is more difficult to play than the electric. Reasoning is that the electric has lighter strings which are easier to press down. Also it can be safely said that you can do more to manipulate the sound of your guitar with an electric than an acoustic. Electric guitars were made to be played with an amplifier whereas many acoustics where made to be played without any assistance. There are more knobs and buttons associated with an Electric guitar but I assure you it is worth it. If you take some time in the beginning to become properly acquainted with all your guitar and amplifier has to offer, it will make learning down the road far easier.

If you think of your favorite rock song, there is a good chance that your favorite part of the song is one of the guitar solos. Guitar solos are generally kept to electric guitars. If you would like to one-day rock one of those solos, then the electric is the right choice for you. Keep in mind that acoustics tend to be strummed more and you tend to play chords more on acoustics whereas electrics you tend to play guitar leads and chords.

Labels: acoustic, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, guitars, shopping, vs

I’d like to throw in my 2 cents in regard to the battle between acoustic and electronic drums. I have almost 20 years experience with both of them so I consider myself qualified to make the following assessment. Keep in mind this is merely my own opinion.

It is not like comparing apples to apples, more like comparing a fresh, ripe fruit basket to a fruit cake. Not the best analogy, but it’ll do. The fruit cake or acoustic drum set is a one trick pony so to speak. It definitely does sound amazing when played alone, in a band situation, amplified in a live bands performance type scenario and in the studio, there is no doubt about that. But, and this might get long, that is the one sound you will get, forever. Based on the number of plies the shell has, the shell composition, (whether it be Basswood, Birch, Maple, or a hybrid of some sort) not to mention the tuning of the head and head type, are the few tone determining factors. Granted, you can get quite a few sounds out of a standard acoustic drum set by simply changing these variables, but still not nearly the arsenal of sounds available to the player when using an electronic set. I’ll break it down for ya. Tune your toms tighter on the batter side and tighter on the resonant side and you have more of a jazz sound to them. Same goes for the kick drum, tighten it up a bit on the batter side and remove some head dampening, you will get a more distinctive jazz sound, which has a lot more throat and mid-range head resonance to it. The snare drum is no exception, loosen the tension rods a bit on the batter and resonant head as well as the actual snare wires and you get a mellower, jazzier sound. Now, with all that said, think about how much time it would take to make your “Rock Tuned” drum set sound like a “Jazz” kit. Not your typical 15-20 minute drum tuning tweak-up, no, it will literally take you more like 1-2 hours and possibly more if you are as picky as I am regarding drum sound. It may even take a major drum head replacement. Just something to think about.

Enter the Electronic Drum Set! Now, if I used an electronic drum set or even a standard drum set with dampened heads and a full trigger setup triggering a decent sound module, I can play live gigs and completely change the sound of my kit with merely the turn of a knob. I know what you’re thinking, it really is NOT that easy, and you are correct, it isn’t that easy. But once you go through some initial setup with your module to find the sound you want, it becomes that easy. Here is a little background about myself. I am the type of drummer that has a vision or an ideal sound in mind and I will tweak the settings for as long as I have to until they are right and sit well in the mix of whatever band I am tailoring my drum sound to fit. An example of a “decent” drum module would be the Roland TD12. It has an incredible library of sounds ready to be sculpted to your taste and Roland makes it very simple to modify to your liking. Select the drum you want to edit, and start tweaking. You can change the shell material, thickness, depth, diameter, as well as tune the heads by changing the tension and add or remove effects or dynamics processors. Very intuitive. In the case of a drummer wanting to actually play the electronic set in a live situation… that is easily done too since they are typically quite compact and portable. I do hear numerous folks that have played electronics and/or own them and I hear a common issue, the feeling is not there. It does not feel like an acoustic drum set and all I can say to that is, “Darn right, it isn’t an acoustic drum set!” It is a drawback to even myself but that is exactly why I am the type of player to add triggers to my acoustic set. I want the feel and rebound of acoustic drums with the sound versatility of an electronic kit but not for all applications. I will still use my electronic setup for rehearsal rather than my full acoustic drum set that would need to be mic’d in order to have a nice mix sent to my in-ear monitors, the electronics just make that aspect and many others so much easier. So there you have it. Any comments?
-Ryan

Labels: acoustic, acoustic drums, drum head, drum module, drum set, Drum Triggers, drums, Electronic drums, In-Ear Monitors, kick drum, music, Roland TD12, snare drum, tom tom drum

Lets start out with a simple question: Which is better, the acoustic guitar or the electric? In your mind I’m sure you have already chosen your answer if you have had experience practicing and playing both types of guitar. However for those of you who are not sure whether they should take up acoustic or electric, read on. There are several benefits to both types of guitar. The only guitar I have ever owned has been an acoustic guitar. Right off the bat there are a few distinct advantages to an acoustic. First of all, the only thing you have to buy is the guitar itself as opposed to an electric guitar where you have to buy the guitar and amplifier etc. Also when you are bringing your guitar anywhere, it is much more convenient to simply be able to play your guitar without having to plug into a power source somewhere. Acoustic guitars are great for playing at the beach or anywhere for that matter. It is also quite nice to be able to pluck the strings of an acoustic guitar and to hear the beautiful harmonious sounds and the vibration that comes from nothing more than your hand stroking across the strings. I personally enjoyed the soothing feel of an acoustic guitar compared to an electric. In the end, it really comes down to what kind of music you want to play. If you want soothing relaxation or romance music, the acoustic is right for you. However if you want to rock out with some metal, then you have no choice but to purchase the electric.

Labels: acoustic, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, guitars, shopping, vs

Yesterday I discussed a decision that every drummer in the twenty-first century must face – whether to rock with the traditional drum set or embrace technology for all its worth with electronic drums. I must admit that I was slightly biased towards an electronic drum set in my article yesterday. However I will try to list a few of the cons of an electronic set in the hopes of evening things out to give a balanced perspective.
In all honesty, there is no substitute for a good old-fashioned acoustic drum set. If we are being sincere, you and I both know that electronic drum sets have a lot of capabilities but reproducing acoustic drum sounds perfectly is not among their skill set. There is also the issue of dependency when you operate on an electronic drum set. You are dependent on a power supply as well as whatever speaker system you own for your drums. Fred Fishburne said it best when he said, “Have you ever seen a marching band with an electronic drum line?” He continued to say that with electronic sounds, it is not really the artist that is creating the sound but rather a machine. Whereas if you play the acoustic drums, there is no one to share the glory with when you deliver a stellar performance.
In the end, every musician must make up their mind for themselves about this rather controversial issue. For those of you who have experience with the acoustic or electronic drums, feel free to share your sentiments. I will leave you with this question: Which is better, acoustic drums or electric?

Labels: acoustic, drums, electric drums, music, review, shopping, supplies, technology, vs

If you are considering taking up drumming, you might want to weigh a few variables to determine whether you want to rock it the good old fashion way or whether you want to roll with all technology has to offer. First and foremost you need to determine whether a traditional drum set will be disruptive to you, your family, and the people who live near you. If you live in an apartment, acoustic drums are pretty much out. Even when you live in your own house and the neighbors live 20-30 yards away, they might still complain about the noise. Also you won’t be able to practice during your own hours if you have to worry about waking up family/neighbors. However if you go with an electric drum set, you can play till the wee hours of the morning even if there is nothing more that a thin wall separating you from your neighbor’s apartment. With electric drums, you can put on the headphones and listen to your drumming as loud as you would like. This is also beneficial for your ears because sometimes consistently beating on a drum set can damage your hearing. Whenever you would like to play a little louder, or if you would like to perform for an audience or with a band, you simply hook your electric drum set up to a speaker system and you can churn out some pretty sweet tunes.

Labels: acoustic, acoustic drums, drums, electric drums, shopping, vs

I am a hobby musician. I’ve been "playing" guitar for several years on an old acoustic guitar, but I know the electric guitar would suit my style better. So, I jumped online and began shopping around.

First of all; there are too many choices to make when it comes to buying an electric guitar. What brand, what kind of pickups, the wattage on your future amplifier, how many add –ons do you need, and on and on… That being said; finding someone who can help, someone who wants to help, can be very important. You don’t want to spend $1000 as a beginner, when you may find that the setup you got into isn’t the one you’re really into (especially as a hobby player). That’s where the help comes in.

You go to your local guitar shop and start with some basic questions. The sales people there are willing to help as long as it suits them. Very rarely will you find someone who’s willing to say, "I think you want this, but it’s not something that we carry: check these guys out." Usually the sales person is trying to convince you to buy something that the shop has in stock or will earn them a nice commission. This can lead to buying more than you need or the guitar that they want… Not good at all.

Shopping online has its own pitfalls. The information on any guitar can be too limited and sometimes online research is too time consuming. Great; the guitar I’m looking into has EMG 85 and Gibson Dirty Fingers Pickups, but what does that even mean to me? So, you want to talk to someone, right? Well, call those 1-800 numbers and get your fingers ready to do some talking because in most cases you’ll be pushing button for several minutes before you speak with a human being. After you get through you’ll be speaking with a salesman again who may not know how to help you.

All of this adds up and can deter the hobby player from buying a guitar at all. I found my own solution which I can describe in one sentence. Guitar Packages at American Musical Supply. Ok, so I wasn’t sure what I wanted or needed yet, so I called that dreaded 800 number and guess what? A person answered the phone (there are PEOPLE there 24/7)! It was a sales person, but a very knowledgeable one. Furthermore, when I asked some questions about the sound of a specific guitar I was put in touch with a real musician who had experience with that guitar!

I ended up with an Epiphone Les Paul Special II Players Electric Guitar Package that just rules! I knew I liked the Les Paul Body style, but sound is a bit more important to me. I explained just what I was looking for and that’s what I got. Even more; I got a guitar with the sound AND looks I was after! The package came with everything I needed to get going; the guitar (of course), amp, gig bag, tuner, picks, strap, and even an instructional DVD (which my friends tell me I should get around to checking out). All that and I had the choice of buying on the phone (great for questions that come up on the fly) or online. I can keep gushing: their easy pay plans are awesome (check it out, really – most musicians can’t find two pennies to rub together).

For a beginner or a hobby player the guitar packages are the way to go and for my business American Musical Supply has some of the best customer service around!

Labels: acoustic, acoustic guitars, amplifier, electric guitars, emg 85, Ephiphone Les Paul Gibson, ephipone les paul special performance pack, gibson, gibson dirty fingers pickups, guitar packages, guitars

For the beginning guitarist, a guitar package is a wise investment. Guitar packages come with everything one could need when learning to play the guitar. The main choice when looking for one of these packages is between an electric and an acoustic package. When making this decision, consider what type of music you want to learn. The future rock-and-roll star may want to focus on an electric guitar package because of the included amplifier, making it easier to play along with a band or add effects such as overdrive. If you are striving to become the next singer/songwriter or play traditional tunes, an acoustic guitar package maybe what you are looking for.

You may notice that there are many electric guitar packages to choose from and the differences tend to be personal preference. The guitars themselves really depend on the look of the guitar and the pickup configuration. Two of the most popular styles of electric guitar would be the Squier Stratocaster (Fender) and the Epiphone Les Paul (Gibson). The Stratocaster displays three single coil pickups that provide a smooth mid-range type of sound and the Les Paul features two humbucker pickups that exhibit a hotter, edgier sound. It is really hard to go wrong with any electric guitar package choice.

Acoustic guitar packages tend to be a little easier to decipher because of their what you see is what you get contents. The acoustic guitar usually comes in two choices: Acoustic and Acoustic Electric. The acoustic electric guitar is just like the standard acoustic guitar but includes an electronic pickup system that allows you to plug the guitar into an amplifier.

Both of these package types usually include a wealth of accessories including picks, straps, cables, amplifiers (with electric packages), tuners and more. Some great online stores provide quality choices of each type of package including American Musical Supply and Electricguitar.com.

Labels: acoustic, acoustic electric guitars, electric guitars, Ephiphone Les Paul Gibson, fender, gibson, guitar packages, guitars, humbucker pickups, les paul, shopping, single coil pickup, Squier Stratocaster Fender, wish list