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Archive for January, 2012

Electric Guitar Effects Pedals: Five Popular Effects Pedals To Enhance Your Playing

January 31st, 2012 No comments

If you are a guitarist and budding superstar, then you will eventually need Electric Guitar Effects Pedals to enhance your performance, and to develop your sound and style. Of all the pedals available this article shows five which are most commonly used, with a brief description of each.

1. Compressor Pedal

Due to the extreme usefulness of this pedal, no self respecting guitarist would be seen without one. However, despite this the Compressor is thought to be the most difficult pedal to use effectively, and it is generally understood the least. Simply put, use of this pedal enables the guitarist to perform over a wide dynamic range e.g. loud solo to background rhythmic playing, yet the output of the amplifier remains at a constant volume level. The result is that the listener can hear all the nuances of the guitarists performance, without the softer passages being drowned out by the band, or conversely, everyone being deafened by the solos.

This pedal is also used to produce those long sustained notes, made popular by the likes of Gary Moore. One drawback to the Compressor is that incorrect use may cause unwanted noise to be introduced, or at the other extreme the performance can become rather bland.

2. Tremolo Pedal

Initially becoming very popular in the 1960′s, this pedal is still in wide use today. The Tremolo produces a vibrato effect by rapidly changing the volume of the sound at a rate determined by the user.

The signal for the guitar is altered by feeding a separate sine wave through a Voltage Controlled Amplifier, within the pedal. By adjusting the gain of the VCA, plus the frequency of the sine wave, the resultant output rate and depth of the signal is modified, producing the Tremolo effect.

3. Overdrive and Distortion

The role of the Overdrive/Distortion pedal is to alter the Gain of the guitar signal to the Amplifier, to the point where the sound is anything between a dirty or gritty sound, to a warm heavily clipped tone. Compressor pedals vary in complexity – from just a few simple controls like Tone, Gain and Drive – to more complex configurations which incorporate tone shaping facilities.

4. The Wah Wah Pedal

The Wah pedal produces a similar sound as a human voice saying – you guessed it – Wah. Again this is a very commonly used pedal which is brilliant at enhancing your lead or rhythmic performances. Control over the Wah effect is carried out via a foot treadle, enabling the performer to instantly change the wah effect to suit the style and performance.

The Wah effect is produced by passing the guitar signal through a low pass filter, the amount of which is controlled by the floor pedal. This effect is now also used extensively in modern dance or trance music where the high frequencies are gradually filtered out to a muffled beat, and then restored again.

5. Phaser Pedal

Finally, there is the Phaser. This is an extremely well known effect where, basically, the guitar signal is doubled up then mixed together again at the output, but slightly out of phase. Easy as that.

Configuring the Pedals

If you are wondering about the best way to configure your effects arsenal, there are two ways available. Firstly, you could buy a Multi-effects Unit, which has a varying number of guitar effects built into the one unit. This is quite a nice way of doing things and is easy to set up at a gig. Prices vary, but the quality difference between them is very small, mostly due to the fact that they all utilise microprocessor controlled technology.

If your on a budget and can only afford one pedal at a time, then another way of assembling your effects arsenal, is by daisy chaining the pedals together with cables, as you buy more. Some guitarists even prefer this method as many have favourite pedals which they know very well, and prefer the sounds or effects they produce. The order in which they are connected is a subject I will not go into, as this is debated often amongst musicians who have their own preferences.

Looking to find the best deal on Electric Guitar Effects Pedals, then visit www.ElectricGuitarEffectsPedals.com to find the best Advice, Information and Videos on Guitar Effects Pedals to enhance your playing experience.

The Advantages Of Boss GT-10 Guitar Effects

January 30th, 2012 No comments

In prior times, the guitar was a very popular instrument to entertain people. After electricity in homes became very common the electric guitar was created. Currently, quite a few musicians use the electric guitar since it has a number of benefits compared to the acoustic guitar, for example the various special effects.

The electric guitar may be played anywhere given there is electricity present. The electric guitars now are smaller, thinner and lighter in comparison with acoustic guitars and they are preferred by a lot of performers. There are many popular manufacturers readily available in the market right now and one of them is Roland Corporation.

What is Boss?

Boss is a widely recognized manufacturer and seller of effects pedals for electric guitars and bass guitars. Boss is actually a division of the Roland Corporation from Japan. Roland Corporation is a manufacturer and seller of electric musical instruments, electronic equipment and also other products. Roland Corporation gained popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s for providing high quality musical equipment.

Exactly what are Boss GT-10 Guitar Effects?

Boss not too long ago unveiled its latest product which is the Boss GT-10 guitar effects. They belong to the BOSS multi-effects family. This floorboard powerhouse provides a natural and musical response. In comparison with guitar effects pedals being sold on the market at this time this system demonstrates a noticeable improvement in sound quality.

Why Should A Person Use Boss GT-10 Guitar Effects?

There are numerous good reasons why a person might want to purchase this product. Several of the reasons are the following:

1. It has a brand new and unique user interface that’s extremely easy to work with. It includes graphic icons which can help a person quickly understand exactly how the floorboard is worked.

2. It has an EZ Tone so that musicians can very easily obtain the exact sound they desire. It can create natural tones and many other special effects which are only limited by the user’s imagination.

3. It consists of a lot of tones and advanced effects.

4. It has a Phrase Loop function so a person will be able to produce a sound-on-sound loop.

5. This floorboard features a large liquid crystal display and vivid light emitting diodes. This makes the board noticeable in really dark areas like studios and really bright places like the outdoors.

6. A person is able to use and connect the USB flash drive on this floorboard to stream audio and MIDI files in real time.

7. It offers a parallel effects chain that has two separate effects paths.

With all of the revolutionary designs and features of the product a person will be able to produce extremely distinctive music. With this product, you are only restricted by your imagination in the music you can create.

Are you looking for electric guitar effects? Be sure to visit Best Guitar FX Pedals to read the Pod HD500 review and Line 6 M13 review.

The Joys of Music Lessons

January 30th, 2012 No comments

Learning music is amongst the most fun and rewarding ways a child can learn how hard work pays off. How many adults in conversation admit to regretting never taking up an instrument as a child? Who can look at a piano, a guitar, or some other instrument and honestly say “I’m glad I don’t play that”? While the parent’s dreams shouldn’t be hoisted onto their children, most kids love to play music, and even if there is some resistance at first to practicing it’s common for this to diminish as they become accustomed to the instrument and begin to partake in the joys of music.

When you’re starting your child out in music it’s important to consider what they want out of it. If they show a strong inclination to music and a will to learn, it’s reasonable to enroll them into serious classes. But many students are satisfied just learning fun, basic pop tunes. It was a more common practice some decades ago to have kids playing classical pieces from the Western canon of music. This is great music, it hopefully everyone can play it one day, but if your child is happy playing songs from the radio that should be enough. Chopin isn’t going anywhere! The thing to do is make sure the teacher understands that the lessons are primarily about fun, but to pass along proper techniques and skills wherever possible. For this kind of student, at this stage of development, fun should win out where it collides with dense and dull music theory.

This is not a manifesto for watering down the talent pool of young musicians, but recognition that not everyone is Glenn Gould and some people take time to really delve into the instrument, and pushing too hard too soon turns them off. This is needless and tragic. Besides, the heights of great music are unaffected by young students having harmless fun at the entry level.

If your child has a serious desire to learn music you must decide what level is appropriate. You may still very much want him to have fun and relax, but perhaps he needs a challenge. If the latter is the case, matching him with the right teacher is very important. It may be the rare case where there’s no fun without hard work, and schmoozing and playing easy tunes is a boring waste of time. If this is the case, it may not be evident right away.

Pay attention to how quickly your child advances, what they can play, and how they respond to the teacher outside of their presence. If they insist on doing more, find a teacher who can challenge them. At the other end, your child might have ability but might care more about enjoying himself. It’s important to make this distinction and find music lessons Nanaimo that put them on the best track for their needs. A musical life is its own reward, and the most important thing is to make sure they continue.

Trying to learn how to play an instrument? Then be sure to visit Long & McQuade – one of Canada’s largest music stores offering a wide selection of piano lessons Ottawa and piano lessons Mississauga see if there are lessons in your area today!