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NAMM Show Part II

January 18, 2010 — Leave a Comment

Hello, Jamorama Students and fellow Rockstars,

Yesterday we took in our final day at the NAMM show. Being Saturday, it was the day where the big crowds turned out to see the big name artists and the big changes taking place in the world of music gear.

After seeing pretty much everything that’s being exhibited this year we thought it would be cool to share a couple of new developments here that we think you are going to like and that maybe, will change the way we interact with music in the future.

The first thing that really got us buzzing is the new Eleven Amp from Avid (the guys behind Pro Tools).

IMG 0026 300x225 NAMM Show Part II

They call it the killer rack because it puts professional recording and signal processing in the hands of every guitarist. Eleven has been an amp-cab-mic modeling software plug-in for pro-tools for some time now, but recently the avid team have developed the idea and turned it into a stand alone piece of hardware.

Taking Cool Processing technology from their Pro equipment TDM HD systems (big $$) and adding that to the software, Avid have produced a box that completes all the intensive algorithms that drive the complex software and delivers the audio to your speakers, amp setup and or via USB to your computer and pro tools environment with no latency.

The Eleven rack will suit the guitarist that is at the level where studio and stage is becoming part of their musicianship experience. This is a tool that will allow you to record your guitar straight into the digital world and have the end signal sounding very nice indeed. The quest for analog tone in the digital world drives these development teams project by project and the reality is that one day a cheap $100 guitar will sound like a rare 70’s telecaster through a 60’s fender combo.

The well trained ears have previous said, these emulation plug-in sounds are good, but they don’t sound like the real thing being mic’d up with the old 60’s combo.

James Michael – Producer, engineer,songwriter; motley crue, meatloaf, scorpions said, ” I’ve seen the potential for years with small preamps and amp emulation plug-ins, but Eleven is the first plug-in that can honestly replace the guitar amp.” Very exciting future for production.

You can find out more about Eleven here.

Another interesting development is the new partnership between Fender Guitars and eJamming. We all know what Fender are famous for, but you may not have heard of the eJamming crew before. eJamming have been around for a few years now but it’s only recently that they have partnered with Fender and gained more exposure.

Fender show room level 3 namm show

Basically, eJamming is just that – jamming online. eJamming’s online platform allows you to connect and jam out with your friends and other musicians no matter where both parties are in the world. The Fender representatives we spoke to said the partnership was a natural progression for Fender and that they chose eJamming as it offers the lowest amount of delay in signal.

This is definitely worth checking out and it’s free to try, so you can test it out with your friends before signing on. Check it out here.

If you do get a chance to try these things out then please leave a comment on this post so others can read your thoughts about them.

So, that is it from us at the show for now. While we’ve shared only a few interesting highlights here on the blog, we’ve taken a lot more information away from the show that will help us develop a better service for all of you in 2010. Also, look forward to to more NAMM related posts in the next couple of weeks.

Cheers
Jon

Posted in guitar effects / pedals, recording

Jamorama at NAMM ‘10

January 14, 2010 — Leave a Comment

We’ve landed in NAMM!

No not the Nam of the 1960’s – NAMM the music trade show.

NAMM is short for National Association of Music Merchants and their annual show is one of largest music product trade shows in the world. It’s held every January in Anaheim, California, and sees thousands of exhibitors and tens of thousands of attendees through it’s doors.

NAMM Music Show

A couple of days ago, David and I (Jon) left Rockstar HQ for LA to come to see what the show is all about. Two Rockstar boys in the big city. Basically, our objective is to find out what’s going on in the world of music products and to get some ideas from within the music industry for how we can improve what we do so you the student gets a better learning experience with Jamorama.

The NAMM Show is not open to the general public, so we thought we would share some of the interesting things we see at the show here so you can get idea of what it’s like.

Today was the opening day and we spent the morning getting our bearings and checking out some of the major exhibitors. NAMM is the premier music trade show in North America and all the big boys come to exhibit their latest toys. Martin, PRS, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Marshall, Orange, you name it, it’s there and then another 200+ boutique guitar, amp, piano, drums and audio gear manufacturers.

Some highlights from the day were seeing some of the new developments making electronic drum kits more visually appealing, new technology from digi design that enables guitarists to play directly into the protools environment and a coffee that was so hot it that it was still burny an hour later.

The best part of the day however was catching up with Andy McKee of Youtube fame. Andy’s a monster on guitar by any man’s standard. His percussive acoustic tapping style is truly unique and a joy to watch. Check him out playing his most famous piece, ‘Drifting’, in the video below.

Tomorrow we continue our research at the show. We’ll be posting regularly throughout so keep your eyes open for that!

Cheers
Jon

Posted in Andy Mckee, Artists, acoustic guitars, fingerpicking

Learn like a Real guitar Hero

December 2, 2009 — 2 Comments

BK mockup small1 300x122 Learn like a Real guitar Hero

Last week I had a quick look at some custom guitar hero controllers as well as the YAMAHA EZAG stringless guitar, a “guitar” that falls half way in between a stringless controller and a learning tool with l.e.d.’s  to illustrate where you place your fingers upon the neck.

Guitar Rising is a music video game where the player plays a real guitar as cued by the game’s visuals. Following rock music sequences and streaming notes, players play guitar melodies and rhythms. Beginner difficulty levels are designed for non-guitar players and hard difficulties will challenge experienced guitarists.

The great news is Guitar Rising from Game Tank allows you to play a real guitar in a game that combines the Guitar Hero format with guitar tablature. There are six lines on the screen that represent the six strings just like the neck of your guitar. The color-coordinated notes have been replaced with numbers that tell you which fret to finger.

So a number seven moving across the third line or string from the top, means you’ll play a D note on your 3rd string. Guitar players who have spent any time with standard tablature will find this to be like second nature. If you haven’t then this game will help you move away from the stringless controller format into the territory of REAL guitar playing whilst still having fun.

At this point, GameTank is still unsure whether to implement full chords and polyphony in the final game (that is playing more than one note at a time) – right now the game recognizes notes only one-at-a-time basis and neither can it recognise slides, bends, rakes, triplets, diads etcetera.

This could develop into a really useful and versatile learning tool for those of you who enjoy the Guitar hero format but want to move above and beyond the unrealistic paddle switch clicking of the guitar hero controllers.

You will need a USB interface for your guitar such as the Line 6 guitar port – click here to find out more!

So if it’s time to ditch that amateurish controller toy guitar machine then here is the suggested method, but make sure you listen to Pet Sounds first; and why not?

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

Posted in computing, gaming guitar hero rockband | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Relics

November 2, 2009 — 1 Comment

Sheep3 Relics

It’s a funny old world that’s for sure. While some of the population seems hell bent on preserving their youthful good looks, brainwashed by the shallow whimsies of Hollywood`s plastic people, or even their own vanity; the world of the guitar is steadfastly running in the opposite direction. There is currently no botox available for guitar – but Keith Richard’s dermatologist is down at Gibson and Fender charging big bucks to mess up your axe with an old flask of tea, an ashtray of fag-ends, a rusty chisel and a dirty old palm sander!

keith.preview Relics

Let’s face it,  guitar design remains predominantly trapped back in the 1950’s -and in this world change is a suspicious and malignant blight that the the guitar stoic must resist!

We’ve had a look at modern materials here, but accepted wisdom holds that concepts such as old, vintage, traditional and classic are the foundations upon which tone, sound and greatness are built.

Indeed, the Fender custom sheep, sorry shop, have taken it upon themselves to introduce the Road Worn(tm) series – guitars that come pre-loved, pre-stressed or what have you!

You can of course do it yourself, but in reality there is no substitute for time tested, genuine, cut your teeth, on the ciricuit wear and tear.

Some fellers on ebay have been pre-loving their guitars and putting them up for sale but the results are often a little over cooked. One guy even dragged his Strat’  body behind his  I-roc – man he must just hate guitars.

These, on the other hand, are in fact rather tastefully replete with all the realistic accoutrements of a life spent gigging out on the road.

Gibson have also released a series of worn and aged pseudo-vintage guitars but at some seriously high price levels – you’ve got to ask yourself is it worth it when you could just wait 20 years, become a great player, save the money and gain your wear and tear the real and the hard way.

The interesting thing about the world of guitar is the way in which the old and the new harmonise, where difference and innovation fuse with tradition.

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

strat Relics

gibson 300x121 Relics
Bloomfield Les Paul approx $14,100
gibson2 300x121 Relics

Gibson citation custom approx $33,000

gibson3 300x121 Relics

Gibson Jeff Beck `54 oxblood approx $8,200

Posted in | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Smokin’ Guitars with Daddy Mojo Smojo

October 27, 2009 — Leave a Comment

cuba cigar 350 Smokin Guitars with Daddy Mojo Smojo

smoking kills

Gangstaz…..they`re getting older by the minute!

After last weeks biscuit tin expose today’s magnificent “homewares” based guitar art comes courtesy of the fine, fine craftsmen at Daddy Mojo!

DMheader Smokin Guitars with Daddy Mojo Smojo

If you have a penchant for the ostentatious and chocolaty flavours of the Republic of Cuba’s most famous export, hand rolled upon the thighs of young Cuban virgins then light up another top ranking stogie because when you’ve finished that box the fellas at Daddy Mojo can turn it into a world of acoustic delight worthy of any bluegrass, cotton-pickin’, square dancin’, chicken pickin` jamboree!

Just in case you’re wondering, the cigar box guitar is a primitive chordophone whose resonator is an empty cigar box. Because the instrument is (more traditionally) homemade, there is no standard for dimensions, string types or construction techniques.

14 cigars reg cigars Dec2006 300x182 Smokin Guitars with Daddy Mojo Smojo

Many early cigar box guitars consisted of only one or two strings that were attached to the ends of a broomstick that was inserted into the cigar box. Other cigar box guitars were more complex, with the builder attempting to simulate a traditional string instrument such as a guitar, banjo, or fiddle.

Cigar boxes in their current form did not exist exist prior to the 1840s when cigar manufacturers started using smaller, more portable boxes with 20-50 cigars per box.

The cigar box guitars and fiddles were also important in the rise of jug bands and blues. As most of these performers were black Americans living in poverty, many could not afford a “real” instrument. Using these, along with the washtub bass, jugs, washboards, and harmonica, black musicians performed the blues.

blueswashtub bass Smokin Guitars with Daddy Mojo Smojo

Each Daddy Mojo Cigar Box Guitar has it’s own unique sound and personality; they are made by hand one at a time in our small workshop in Montreal, Canada. They’re small, portable and almost indestructible…and let’s face it, they look cool as hell and attract major attention!

Daddy Mojo is proud to offer Paypal as an easy way of purchasing your custom cigar box guitar online — you do not need a Paypal account to take advantage of this new feature.

The Daddy Mojo Blog is here and the website is here.

Just to whet your appetite here are a couple of you tube videos from the Daddy Mojo website and they’re as strange as a fish!

hobos Smokin Guitars with Daddy Mojo Smojo

Now,
if you’re a road rebel, a rouseabout and a rollingstone or just a good old fashioned hobo riding the rails then get your laughing gear around these sweet babies…

Smokin Guitars with Daddy Mojo Smojo

That`s right, when you wanna throw down The Chew Tobacco Rag around the old campfire, these smoking weed tins are ‘jes’ what you need! Smokin Guitars with Daddy Mojo Smojo

SMOJO,

who are based in the U.K., make a a great range of smoke tin amplifiers just for the blackteeth connoisseur.

And they also make a few cigar box guitars too for that fashionable black lung look! These things sound absolutely SMOKIN’…like an egg fryin on a hot rail !

Well Folks, that’s just about all for now, I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and it has inspired you to consider
looking into some more unusual guitars or instruments as well as given a little insight into the early history of the jugband blues phenomenon. There are some amazing modern day jugbands on you tube so check them out.

Even better though, I recommend looking out for an old gramophone player and getting yourself a collection of 78`s – they offer some of the hottest jazz and blues on the planet. As well as Doo-wop, Rockabilly and the humour of big band leaders such as Phil Harris, Spike Jones,

Here are Benny Goodman and Lightnin Hopkins cookin’ up on the shellac!!

Cheers,

Jake Edwards.
Posted in amplifiers / pickups | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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