Hammond Music

Archive for February, 2009

Branded merchandise has helped bands such as Megadeth, Metallica and Iron Maiden (Last nights winners of ‘best live band’ at the Brits -well done lads) gain exposure to the general public and more extreme band such as Cradle of Filth and Cannibal corpse gain notoriety because of their slogans and imagery across t-shirts, causing angry looks from your mother and giving your grandmother a shock.

Merchandise can gain your band some exposure, and also keep the band wheels from falling off. My own metal band (SYNBIOTE) went on a 9 date tour across the uk recently, and the only way we were only able to afford the rental van, petrol ,food and a drink or two was through merchandise sales. Getting our own t-shirts printed up has allowed us to generate income to pay towards us going out on tour, as you can charge more money for a t-shirt rather than a cd, and people might purchase two or three t-shirts, as opposed to just the one cd. Some of the t-shirt sales income has also gone towards paying for the recording of our ep and helped when it came to getting them pressed up. This means we dont have to dip into our own pockets as much, which can be a livesaver when you need to pay for a recording session and your rent and bills.

Other promotional merchandise that its worth thinking about putting your band logo onto:

Hats and basballs caps, jackets, underwear (yes, you did read that correctly), belts, backpacks, back patches, stickers- if your logo will go on it you need to get it on there and unleashed it on an unsuspecting public. More unusual items with attract attention, but will cost alittle more to get made -so check prices before buying 1000 customised zippo lighter, even if they do look damn cool.

Theres more than just Coasteering and cottages in Wales, they’ve actually produced some bands of worth over the years. Heres afew:

• The Stereophonics -from the village of Cwmaman, three boyhood friends (Kelly Jones, Stuart Cable and Richard Jones) formed a band that began playing in working men’s clubs in 1992 as a cover band know as ‘Tragic love company’, they changed thier name to Sterophonics, after the name of the manufacturer of then drummer Stuart Cable’s fathers record player. The band had great success with 25 singles go into the top 40 singles chart. Their single ‘Dakota’, was their biggest hit, reaching number one and was their fist song to chart in America at number 34 The new album is due out this year.
• Feeder. Formed by Grant Nicholas and Jon Lee, who are both from South Wales, they put together Feeder after playing together in ‘Temper Temper’ and later bought in Toyko born Taka Hirose on bass. Feeder gained media attention with their third album in 2001, ‘Echo park’ due to the single ‘Buck Rogers’ charting at number 5. In early 2002 drummer Jon Lee commited suicide, and as a tribute Grant and Taka wrote ‘Comfort in sound’ -Feeders best selling album to date. Filling in the drum stool is former Little angels and Skunk anasie drummer Mark Richardson. Echo, Feeders uk label, were recently restructured to a copyright company, which means the band dont have a record contract in the uk as they come to release theri next album later on this year.
• The Manic street preachers. From Blackwood, South Wales, The manics started out as a punk band at school in 1986 between James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire. Other guitarist Richey Edwards has been missing since feb 1995 and was recently declared ‘presumed dead’. Originally a punk band by the name of ‘Betty Blue’, after the movie of the same name. The band have achieved fourteen top ten singles, reaching the number one spot 3 times and six top ten albums. The ninth album is due out in May 2009

Also worthy of a mention: Tom Jones (yup), Thrash metal band Brabazon and Goldy looking chain (GLC). None of the bigger Welsh bands seem to come from North Wales, all of them seem to come from the South- anyone know of a famous North Wales band?

When most of us think about a piano, we think of a concert pianist playing a grand piano, but there are two or three types of piano, here we will discuss them, from the grand piano, to the upright piano to the digital keyboard.

Lets first look at the piano we’ve already mentioned-the grand piano. What helps to give the grand piano its huge sound are the longer strings, which help to reduce the lower frequencies and harmonics. The smaller grand pianos, such as the baby grand and the boudoir have thickers strings on them to allow for string tension, keeping clarity in the sound. Tension in the strings would be lowered if they used a concert grand’s strings, giving it an unplayable and muddy sound. The sizes of the grand piano range from 2-3 meteres for a concert piano, to 1-2 meteres for a boudoir grand piano to the baby grand piano, which is just slightly smaller than the boudoir.

An ‘upright’ piano is what most people mean when they say they own a piano. Called the upright because the frame and strings are packed in horizontally as opposed to vertically, allowing it to be smaller in size, but still can stand at 45 inches taller and more.

Often (and rather naively) mistaken for another keyboard, the electronic piano has the food pedals to control frequency and pitch that they piano has that the keyboard doesnt. But they honestly dont sound as good as an acoustic piano, even with the ‘wonders of modern technology’.

And as for those digital keyboards…..

Much smaller, cheaper, easier to carry around than a piano, the keyboard is the closest most of us will come to owning anything like a piano. Digital technology has allowed the keyboard to carry hundreds of different sound in it, from a church organ, to piano to steel drum, which gives it some versitility and humour factor that the piano lacks.

Thinking of taking a short break in Wales, but those cottage holidays not really your thing? Afew of the gigs we have coming up in 2009 that you need to see.

• 10/05/09-Albert lee and Hogan’s heroes at Caleri Caernarfon. Guitar player Eric Clapton called Blues guitarist Albert Lee ‘undoutedly one of the finest guitarists in the world’, and with praise like that coming from Clapton, people should start standing up and taking note. On the road for the best part of 40 years now, Albert lee arrives in Wales with his band ‘Hogans heroes’ for a show not to be missed by any Welsh blues fans.
• The Irish and Welsh country music festival in Gwalchmai -01/05/09 to 02/05/09. Because they werent born in Nashville, but thats not going to stop them delivering some of the best country music about. With Suzanne McCann, the Monairs and John C King playing on the first night and Mary Duff, Wil Tan and Frank McCaffrey on the second, its a night Country fans wont want to miss.
• The Hamsters play Jimi Hendrix at the Beaufort Theatre -07/03/09. One of the uk’s best interpreters of Jimi Hendrix’s music, the Hamsters deliver a show where they will play nothing but Hendrix songs. The Hamsters are still going strong, having played 4,000 shows in 21 years!
• 05/04/09 -Cardiff international arena- The Prodigy’s ‘Invaders must die’ tour. Shaking up dance music since 1990, the Prodigy wereat the forefront of the rave explosion, adding early techno fusion/trance/punk/dance into their sound to create something powerful and unique. Britains favourite rapper Dizzee Rascal supports them on this tour.
• 24/05/09 to 25/04/09 -’Hammerfest’ at Potins, Prestatyn Sands, North Wales. Welsh metallers ‘Bullet for my Valentine’ will be headlining the first ever Hammerfest to kick off the start of the festival season. Other bands confirmed are Sabbat, Alestorm, Trigger the bloodshed,Cathedral and Grand Magus, with more to still be announced.

Vocal techniques play a very important role when you use mainly your voice as a career. If you are either a public speaker, an instructor, an actor, o singer and a vocalist, getting the help of voice techniques are really crucial in order to maintain and even improve more the quality of your voice. There could have been times that you have been let down because your voice did not allow you as you would about to go up on stage and perform. Several times you wouldn’t be able to sing or perform because your voice is sore. And this is where vocal techniques come in. You must possess the knowledge in how to warm up your vocals chords the right way; otherwise it would only affect your voice in the long run, and the effect could even grow more, and worse, it would damage your voice and your career would come to an end. That is why it is needed for you to have vocal exercises and techniques in order for your voice to keep fit and on the battling condition always.
Bear in mind that there are times that vocal techniques such as warm up exercises can put a pressure on your voice, so you need to first find out the right pace and rhythm which your voice would be really comfortable to. It would only go useless if you are going to torture yourself by putting up pressure in which you cannot manage. In exercising your voice, try to start a slow speed, and then gradually increase if you think you can cope on it.
There are different types of exercises – Some are low level but there are also difficult ones. And there are few other vocal techniques that seem to be a little bit weird and will make you look like you have swallowed a whole pack of chili. Try not to take care of what you are looking like, try to sing in your way – guided by your heart.
Try to learn the right way of breathing techniques where you need to breathe out not using your mouth but using your nose. Refrain from taking thin breaths, instead take up deep breaths and fill your lungs and chest with air with care not to pressurize you. Lead the air deep in your stomach under the navel.
Try to keep a good phrasing, it is really important also in singing. You should say every word and syllable correctly and also to make sure that each word should pop out.
Another way to improve your voice through singing and vocal techniques is by singing to classical music – it would either be Western (like the classical opera or tenor performances) or Indian (like the Carnatic music or the Bollywood musicals). These kinds also pay by not just giving you vocal exercises but it can also expand your knowledge with music as well.

Pictures Of Vintage Les Paul Guitars

A lot of people that love Rock-N-Roll and love the music that comes from guitars would probably be surprised to know exactly where the solid body guitar originated from. A major inspiration for the creation of the electric guitar was the Hawaiian music that originated in the 1920s and the 1930s. Hawaiian guitars were played with a metal slide and were amplified acoustically and electrically. Partially inspired by these guitars, the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar and other electric guitars were created in the early 1950s.

The Les Paul guitar was invented by Les Paul (Lester William Polsfuss), the renown American jazz guitarist. Les Paul didn't like how the first electric guitars sounded so he experimented with different designs. As a result of his designs and the inspiration of the Hawaiian guitars, the Les Paul was born. The first prototype was nicknamed "The Log" and was built in 1941.

This innovative approach along with the expertise of Gibson guitar company resulted in the Les Paul. Les Paul signed a contract that he would always play a Gibson guitar and never be seen or photographed with any other type. The contract with Gibson only lasted up until '61 when the company decided to change the design to make it a lighter and thinner instrument with a little more style. Paul didn't like this and refused to allow his name to be used on the guitar which is now called the SG.

You can definitely tell the difference between the Gibson Les Paul and the SG guitar because you can see the history and the function within the original model versus the straight ahead style of the new version. They're both based on the same acoustic and electric standard. Many people appreciate the styles of both guitars but prefer the original because of their respect of the inovative work of Les Paul.

Usually people who love music (like myself) tend to like to write about music they love (in my case that would be musical legends like The Who, Oasis, & Pink Floyd.) But sometimes it’s fun to talk about bad music. In fact in some ways it’s more fun. And it’s certainly much easier to find. Just check out music on MySpace to see what I mean. It’s most disturbing to me that some of the worst music I’ve found on MySpace is also among the most popular.

Hollywood Undead has to be the greatest example of this. They are shockingly bad and even more shockingly popular. I mean I know it’s normal for “the kids” to be into awful music, but isn’t this just taking it a bit too far? At least most of the awful music of the past had at least some redeeming value. I mean Milli Vanilli may have been cheesey but it sure as hell was catchy at least. But with Hollywood Undead there is not even a hint of quality to be found.

But they are just one of many awful “artists” in the big wide world of awful music

How about Dierks Bentley? Have you heard this guy? He’s unbelievably awful. I had heard his name before but had never checked out his music before as I have absolutely no interest in country pop but one day I came across his latest single “Feel That Fire” and I was just floored because it was so much worse than I thought it would be. And that really is saying a lot because I thought it would be flat out horrendous. But no, it’s far worse than that.

It’s no big deal that people are recording awful music. There is absolutely nothing new about that. The big deal to me is that so many people actually think this is good music. Why is that? How can people be so amazingly clueless about music?

American Idol is the easy to blame culprit. And I’m sure that does have a part to play. It’s taught people that the only thing that matters in music is having a pretty voice. This means these are people who have no way of understanding music with any depth or any real artistic value.

But I’m sure it must go much deeper than that. Of course it’s not like people being into awful music is a new thing. The masses are always attracted to the easy to swallow formless pap that usually fills the top forty every week. And it’s the true music that real music lovers listen to and that lasts for years.

Obviously no one will be listening to anyone from American Idol or Dierks Bentley in 20 years (except out of pure nostalgia or as a joke) while people will still be listening the music of true musical artists like The Doors & Joni Mitchell.

When I first started learning the guitar my father taught me. However as my Dad always use to remind me, I kept wanting cut corners and thought I could learn the guitar without practicing. Well of course to my horror he was right.

Eventually I started to practice and became a confident guitar player in time. However thinking back I remember some of the things that I did wrong when I started that actually created bad habits which were a lot harded to break than I thought. So for all you new guitar players out there you may want to read this article and avoid the mistake that I made.

The first thing I did wrong was not tapping my foot while I played. Tapping your foot allows you to keep time and is very important if you want to feel the rythym. When I realised this, or should I say it was pointed out to me, I tried to just start tapping along, and found it really hard to keep playing. Eventually I got it, but it would have been alot easier if I had done this from the beginning.

Another mistake that I regretted was not learning to play with a pick. I use to just strum with my hand, and use my middle finger and thumb together like a pick. Sure I could make a good sound but no where near as nice as a pick. When I did eventually start playing with a pick I found it rather hard work, and it took me months to fix.

Mistake number three was not learning to play the guitar while standing up using a strap. I would mostly always play the guitar when I was sitting on the side of my bed, and so when I went to a friends house to have a jam one day and had to stand up, I could barely do it. My hand and arm just weren’t used to it and once again this took months to correct.

Finally another thing I would have done differently if I were learning is to have taken lessons a lot sooner and also taken them online. Now in my own defence they didn’t have the quality of the online guitar course that there are today, however if I did have that opportunity I would definitely had taken it.

The great thing about learning the guitar online is that you can take guitar lessons in Melbourne or guitar lessons in Los Angeles, or anywhere in the world, and the best part is that you only pay once. Plus you can take your lessons when and where you like. Had I had this opportunity I know I would have learned guitar a lot faster.

You will find more information about learning guitar here: Guitar Lessons Chicago

Air Guitar World Championship

The scenario is always the same. There is a party and everything seems to be going according to plan, but then the clock strikes around midnight. Something happens at parties, past a certain time, where people seem to let the alcohol completely take over their body as well as their personality. You think everyone is having a good time, until you look over in the corner and notice a guy, usually by himself, start to play the air guitar. You think to yourself that he must have suffered something traumatic during his childhood years. The guy is typically thought of as scary, imbalanced, and sad. However, you might want to curb your judgment, and take another look at the guy in the corner. He could just be practicing to enter the next air guitar championship.

As strange as the concept may sound, air guitar is considered an art. There is actually a competition that is held every year with rules and regulations that are taken very seriously. The competition is held in a “final four” like bracket system where there are several tiers that you must win in order to get to the big prize. First, you must win the regional competition. Regionals will win you a free trip, with airfare and lodging included, and they will allow you to continue on to the US finals where there is a massive competition between all regional finalists. Your next challenge is to win the US finals; from there you will again receive a free trip to the World Championship, which is held in Oulu, Finland. Unfortunately, this is where the party ends because, other than fame and glory, you don’t seem to receive any sort of monetary prize.

The rules are straightforward and self-explanatory. Each performer will play a song that they have chosen, and hopefully practiced, for sixty seconds. Then there is the compulsory round, which is where the judges pick a song for you, and you have to play their song for sixty seconds. The tricky part about the compulsory round is that the sixty seconds of the song can start from anywhere within the song. Therefore, you could be stuck playing the end of a song that you don’t even know.

The rules say that you must play an invisible instrument, and that instrument must be a guitar (drums are not allowed). Also, air roadies are allowed but they have to clear the stage before the performance can begin. There is a rule that prohibits back up bands, so if you were thinking of bringing your friends along for the ride, make sure that they stay in the audience and not on the stage. Performances are judged based on your technical ability, stage presence, and the “airness” of your performance.

Sometimes things like this cause one to be torn between art appreciation and craziness. Is there really a need for the air guitar championships? Should one just be thankful not to be entered in the competition or dating someone who is? However, one can also see how this art form, or expression, would be a fun, different, and exciting way to spend a weekend. The optimum way to enjoy something that involves pretend play as an adult, it would seem, is to tap into your inner child and – rock on!

If it’s your dream to be a truly great vocalist then I have some very good info for you: Singorama.com is the totally guaranteed online singing lessons program that will have you singing like a professional in just three months.

It’s a myth that only certain people are “born with” the ability to be a great singer. Being a singer is something that is inside of almost everyone (except for the people with serious issues such as being tone deaf but this is a rare.) Just like any other skill, it just takes practice.

With Singorama singing lessons you will greatly improve your voice. You will learn how to always sing in tune and you will also expand your singing range (you will be able to sing both lower and higher.) You will learn how to sing harmony parts as well as lead! If you are a big fan of groups like The Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, & Nash then you will greatly enjoy the ability to sing those beautiful harmony parts.

One of the really great things about singorama online singing lessons is that you’ll be downloading these lessons within minutes from right now. You can start practicing right away. You will start hearing an improvement in your vocal abilities within minutes.

These singing lessons are 100% guaranteed to work for you with a full 8 week money back refund period. Try to get that with private singing lessons! It’s really just not going to happen.

Yes, I actually think that Singorama is better than private singing lessons. Because you with private lessons you often get a sub par teacher who doesn’t really know what they are doing and you also often get someone with a really nasty attitude that  really impedes your progress. With these great online lessons you don’t have to worry about that.

You will also get some great free bonus materials like the mini recording studio and Jayde software for learning how to read music.

Don’t wait another minute! Why wait? Begin reaching for your goals! Maybe you will be the next American Idol?