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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

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

Yamaha PSRE413 61 Key Digital Keyboard is an innovative new way to play the music you love anywhere you want. Yamaha unveiled this new model to function as a replacement for the PSR-E403, which is clearly inferior to the new E413. This keyboard comes equipped with two educational programs called the Yamaha Education Suite and the Yamaha portable Grand. There is also increased ability to edit and digitalize all of the sounds you create while playing. The Arpeggiator on this new unit offers twice as many choices as the previous model. Most importantly, this new model includes a usb connection port which allows you to connect and save your music to your pc or mac. This is huge for any musician to be able to record their music from wherever they want when they desire. At just 399 msrp, the Yamaha PSR-E413 is a bargain for all the accessories and functionality that come in one package. Once your songs are downloaded onto your computer, you are free to edit those songs using any number of editing softwares that are currently available. Does anyone have a preferred program for editing their keyboard music? If you know of anything that works well, please let me know. Does anyone have any experience using a keyboard that connects by USB? I would like to know what you think about this new product. Please feel free to share your comments or experiences with this keyboard or any other for that matter.

Labels: arpeggiator, digital keyboard, keyboards, shopping, wish list, Yamaha

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

Labels: Musical Education, shopping, wish list

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

Man, I tell you. When it comes to music – and when it comes to cranking out your sound so everyone at your venue can hear you (and everyone within a mile of it) – it’s not just about your instrument, or your skill. Imagine sticking James Hetfield of Metallica or Geddy Lee of Rush on an Amplifier the size of your fist and running stripped, decade-old cable between them! You’d lose so much tone, and so much sound, that you might not even be able to tell a legend was behind the strings. When it comes to music, you can shred as hard as you want, but no one will notice if you don’t have some serious equipment screaming out that beastly new riff of yours for the masses to hear, or singing that smooth Bassline holding up your group.

I play a lot of instruments, and I understand that getting that sound out is different for each and every one. However, if I had to pick one musical label to attach to myself, it’d have to be the title of Bassist. I totally dig Basses, Bass products, Bass accessories, Bass Pedals… I try to give myself as many opportunities as I can to experience the low end every way it can be experienced. I've played on everything from a low-end Fender offshoot to a Bass I can hardly believe I got to run on, the extremely high-end (and may I say, totally sweet)
Tobias Growler 5 String Electric Bass Guitar. I’ve plugged into a wide range of Amplifiers from a wide range of Amp makers. So today, I’m going to talk Basses – and more importantly, the keys to their sound: Bass Amps.

I play a Fender Standard Jazz 5 String, myself. Not the most expensive of Basses in the world (And let me tell you, that Tobias Growler is incredible, despite it being ridiculously expensive), but it’s got a sound I love. The strings and especially the fingerboard feel just right on my hands, and it grooves like no other for me. And I don’t just play Bass, I’m all over the Rhythm section, and I play a lot of brass instruments, too. No coincidence – I’m a Jazz Bassist, and I know this baby sounds awesome from every part of the Jazz Combo. It backs you up and takes the lead seamlessly, and feels right the whole way through. I’m a big fan of Fender instruments in general because Leo Fender himself was intent on bringing the Electric Bass to the masses, but this instrument shows that the sound on their merchandise holds that ideal true.

However, my Five String J-Bass has also had many hookups in its time. It has seen quite a bit of the market: I got it with a low-end Ibanez amp, and as I felt more and more at home with my bass, I started to wonder why my sound wasn’t coming through like I thought it could. The Ibanez was great to start on, and I was getting a sound out and it was cool because I could play whatever I wanted and hear it, but it just wasn’t quite right...

Then it happened: I hooked up to my friend’s Eden Electronics Nemesis Bass Guitar Amp through some high-end Monster Cable, and realized my sound was going to the void of hookups that just weren’t there in my little home practice setup. The out-of-the-box programs are like no other when it comes to the need to just feel the frets, make the sound, get your technique down and understand the mechanics of the music. But once you’ve got that down and you feel like something’s just missing, well, you’re probably right. You’re missing the next step up in your equipment, be it your amplifier or your cables or even your instrument, and once you feel like there’s a ceiling that your sound is getting trapped under, it’s time to step up. I’d heartily recommend the Nemesis line for any next-step-up Bassists (they’re all mid-range pricing – not professional quality, but the equipment you need to break the barrier). However, the need to step up equipment occurs amongst all musicians! When you’re ready to step up, no matter what you’re playing, I encourage you to start looking, start asking, and find those amps and cables that will take your sound one step closer to perfection.

Labels: amplifier, bass guitars, bassist, bassline, Electronics Nemesis, fender, Fender Standard Jazz 5 String, fingerboard, gibson, Ibanez, Jazz Bassist, Leo Fender, monster cable, riff, shopping, tobias growler, wish list

I can't help but recognize that everyone likes to get a deal. Furthermore people tend to be ecstatic when they can find a quality product at a favorable price. Today I wanted to begin blogging by discussing the cheapest possible way to procure musical equipment, or anything else for that matter. The medium that I speak of is Ebay.com. Surely you have heard of the online sales giant but if your knowledge of Ebay is similar to most peoples, you might not realize that Ebay is a great place to get both new and used musical equipment alike. If you were in the market for a used Les Paul guitar you would probably go to Ebay right away. However people tend to forget about Ebay when they are considering purchasing something brand new. When I typed into the search on Ebay.com "new Les Paul" I was astonished to find 355 results from the search engine. This is where most people give up on Ebay and go to a brick and mortar storefront. With Ebay you will have to do a little more legwork yourself - you will have to comb through several auctions to find the best possible price. However if you can do so, you will pay significantly less than you would at prominent music supply shops and online venders.

For those of you reading, I urge you to take the Ebay test. If you have a musical item of interest, go browsing on Ebay. You will likely find that there are some great deals to be found on new and used equipment alike.

Labels: ebay, guitars, les paul, shopping, thrifty

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

Since I bought a Yamaha portable keyboard about 8 years ago, I was really in the dark when I started searching for a new one. I was amazed at the number of websites that sell keyboards and confused because there are so many options. Keyboards nowadays have a ton of sounds, touch screens and more! So to help cut down on the confusion, I figured out what I wanted in a keyboard. Then I was able to search the net and found some reliable websites. Most of the sites are very similar but some have excellent Bizrate comments and long term customers. In all my years of buying products, I discovered that anybody can sell you a keyboard but the customer service is what is nice before, during and after the sale. I am going to check out a Roland keyboard at American Musical Supply because I have read several good comments about them.

Labels: Bizrate, keyboards, portable keyboards, Roland, shopping, Yamaha