Guitar players who are looking to record live sound for the first time will inevitably see a large amount of mistakes and errors along the way. Most beginners are simply satisfied with propping up a cheap microphone headset against the amplifier speaker and jamming away. Once the initial “cool” factor of being able to record music dies, guitarists looking to record their favorite riffs or songs will realize that a little more thought needs to go into the recording process.
Read User's CommentsDistortion is absolutely necessary if a guitar player is to play any type of rock or metal. Basic distortion seeks to “dirty up” a signal, and to make it sound more dynamic or “crunchy.” Out of the basic distortion family, there is overdriven, fuzz, crunch, high gain types of distortion.
Figure 1 - There are several basic types of distortion that guitar players should explore. Fuzz crunch, overdrive, and high-gain will be the most common.
Not everyone has the time or patience to learn how to read and write music with standard notation. Tablature, also called tabulature or tabs, is the world-renown solution that proves to be much faster in terms of learning, writing, or reading a song in standard notation. In fact, it is much more likely that a guitarist seeking to learn a song will find tablature long before standard notation is found.
Figure 1 - The top shows standard notation, while the bottom shows tablature. Notice how there is no rhythm or timing for tablature, as compared to standard notation.
Guitar FX Box claims to be a “real-time guitar/voice processor” with plenty of features. In this review, the voice processing feature wasn’t used, but the guitar distortion and recording features were taken complete advantage of. This small program surprises a lot of people with its cheap price of $20- and the wide range of features. This is well worth looking into if vocal or guitar recording is necessary for soloists or small bands.
Music theory is vital to any guitar player that is looking forward to a long-term hobby or even profession. The majority of young guitarists decide to skip music theory, and instead start learning tablature of idolized bands. This is often a bad idea for a number of reasons, and is usually better to learn music theory first- however “less fun” it might be, since it will be a phenomenal help in the long run.
Figure 1 - It might not look like a fretboard, but it is! Don’t worry if it looks confusing- it’s actually quite simple. Learning music theory is vital to the avid guitarist!
Alternate tuning might not seem like an easy task, but “Drop D” tuning is both easy and widely used. Modern rock, metal, and even jazz has used this tuning to make an easier playing method that gives a darker tone to music. A large number of songs, such as “Spoonman” by Soundgarden, take full advantage of the Drop D tuning method- allowing all power chords to be played with one finger!
Figure 1 - Drop D tuning is popular among many music types- such as grunge. Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box” used Drop D Tuning.
There are many myths floating around in the guitar community about amplifiers. Many myths claim that better tone can be achieved by certain “tricks of the trade”. Surprisingly, there are a great number of these myths that even the experts themselves sometimes believe- so it can often be hard to separate amplifier fact from fiction.
Figure 1 - The wealth of amplifier types, models, and effects have created a great deal of myths as to which particular way to go is best.
“Best of Rage Against the Machine” by Troy Stetina is one of the best guides to Rage Against the Machine tablature there is. Instead of following a certain album, it features the best hits of RATM such as “Bulls on Parade” or “Killing in the Name.” There are a total of 12 hits, as well as a handy CD that lets players hear the music while learning to play it.
Figure 1 - “The Best of Rage Against the Machine” by Troy Stetina
Elixir strings were made to increase the life span of guitar strings, and prevent rust. All types of acoustic, bass, and electric guitar strings suffer from rust and buildup of dirt and grime. This buildup dampens tone and reduces overall sound quality- and this is what a new set of Elixir strings intend to fix through a revolutionary process.
Figure 1 - Dirty or corroded strings give poor tone and sound quality- and music will sound increasingly dull until they are replaced.
At some point, it is very likely everyone has encountered that ringing noise in the ear that is apparent after a hard rock concert, or even after mowing the lawn. Imagine if this temporary annoyance was permanent- and painful. Guitar players are at risk for what is called tinnitus, and may very well be doomed to hear this ringing noise indefinitely, without prevention.
Figure 1 - Having wax build-up can lead to temporary tinnitus. Permanent damage can easily come from excessively loud amplifiers.
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