It’s becoming increasingly rare these days to see a guitarist without a pedalboard at his feet – but what about us bassists?

Traditionally bassists have played clean, but it’s becoming more and more common to use effects. You may be familiar with effects used on guitar, but which ones work well on bass?

Here are the top 5 effects I’ve seen and used most often in my many years as a bass player.

1. Fuzz

A fuzz pedal is a great way to give your basslines that extra bite. A lot of pedals lose the low-end signal, so you’ll want to make sure you get one that retains it. Several fuzz pedals include a blend knob, so you can blend the fuzz effect in with your clean signal to keep the low end. The EHX Bass Big Muff is a popular choice in this category.

2. Envelope Filter

An envelope filter is a an effect that adds a wah type sound to your playing. Unlike a wah pedal though, it reacts to the volume of your plucking (which is why it’s often referred to as an auto-wah). This is great for funky sounding basslines, and sounds especially good if you do a lot of slap & pop. The MXR M82 Bass Envelope Filter and Digitech Bass Synth Wah are popular envelop filters.

3. Chorus

A chorus effect doubles up the signal, offsetting and processing it slightly. It sounds similar to two basses playing in unison. This gives you a shimmery and dreamy sound that’s a very popular effect on bass. The Boss CEB-3 is a mainstay in this category.

4. Octave

An octave pedal reproduces your notes at a different octave. Usually they are one or two octaves below, but there are many pedals that will give you octaves up as well. You can layer the octaves to produce a nice fat sound on your bass. The Boss OC-2 and MXR M288 are popular octave pedals, while the EHX POG 2 is the grandaddy of them all, offering a myriad of octave down/up settings.

5. Compression

This last effect is one that isn’t as “in your face” as the others, but one that is extremely popular amongst bassists. Compression evens out your signal – essentially limiting the volume of the louder notes and boosting the quieter ones. This allows your signal to sound more uniform, smoother and stick out in the mix more. The EBS MultiComp is a popular pedal, but there are many choices here.

Are there any great effects I’ve missed? What are you favorite pedals for each category? Let us know in the comments!

Guest Post: Jeff Van is a musician from Detroit, MI. He runs the website Soundue, which features unique musical gear and instruments.

 photo credit: motorpsykhos

Related posts:

1. Analogue vs Digital in Music Production – What’s the Beef?

 photo credit: neate photos

Vocal Warm Up by Musicopoulos turns your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into the most powerful and versatile tool for your voice!

Create as many warm up playlists as you like! Each warm up can be created for whatever range you like, included any exercises you like, play them in any order you like.

This isn’t just a bunch of MP3′s for you to sing along to, the app actually creates the music based on your preferences. You can really make this app your own and make it work for you! There is nothing out there with this kind of power and flexibility!

See it in action in this YouTube Video.

Guest post: SpartanApps is a young company that is creating amazing apps for musicians. We are currently focused on delivering apps dedicated for musicians. Whether you are new to music or a seasoned veteran, we have you covered. Check out our website at www.spartanapps.com

No related posts.

One of the most common things I hear from fellow guitar players when I ask them if they’ve been playing at all is “man I just don’t have the time”. I totally understand since I’ve been there before myself so I usually throw out this simple guitar playing  tip.

It’s real simple….make sure you see your guitar at all times. Just set that sucker next to the TV, computer or somewhere else where you will be able to see it alot. If it is there you will pick it up, trust me. It will call to you. I started doing it with my PRS Guitar all the time and it worked like a charm.

Hell, even if you pick it up for just two minutes and it doesn’t do anything for you that time, that’s fine, I guarantee there will be that time where a quick pick-up turns into a stress relieving marathon or an inspiring journey of learning and discovery (how’s that for cheesy?).

But seriously, go right now and dig that sucker out from under the mounds of crap in your basement and set it up. If it doesn’t pull a few chords out of you right then and there, just find a good spot to put it and go about your business. It will call to you sooner or later.

Oh and before I let you go, a few words of caution. Wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfreinds, or all of the above, may not find the instrument visually appealing as it relates to your home decor (which is hard to understand if you’ve ever seen my PRS Guitar and now my Taylor). You’ll just have to figure that part out by yourself. I suggest learning or writing a ballad or two (wink, wink).

Happy jamming!

Related posts:

1. Three Ways to Learn Guitar Online
2. Have You Heard About the Self-Tuning Guitar
3. 8 Plus Guitar Tools Every Player Should Have

This is a guest post from Nick Lewis, chief engineer and MD of online mastering studio Brighton Mastering. Find out more at www.brightonmastering.co.uk.

Image by James F Clay via Flickr

One of the most commonly asked questions I’m asked as a mastering engineer is whether analogue or digital equipment is better. There tends to be a latent assumption amongst musicians that analogue equipment is inherently nicer. This assumption often comes with enthusiastic fetishisation of unattainable vintage gear and its mythical ‘musical’ quality.

It is true that a lot of analogue equipment can do magical things to sound that digital, with its cold, hard precision, can’t replicate. However, as Paul White, editor-in-chief of Sound on Sound magazine points out in his recent leader column, obsession with this is often the result of rosey eyed nostalgia rather than empirical evidence. Vintage gear did funny things to sound because it was cobbled together out of whatever components were available. The technology has moved on a great deal since then, and what digital does is what the equipment was actually always supposed to do.

On a different, more technical note, digital processing degrades the signal far less. Most plug-ins operate at an internally higher bit rate than the source material, meaning the original signal is barely touched by the processing. Sending it out to analogue gear will degrade the audio every time, particularly if you’re bringing it back to digital (which most modern studios will). Unless you have extremely good analogue to digital (and vice versa) converters, you’re losing the integrity of your recording every time you do anything to it.

Moreover, due to the fethishisation of vintage equipment and the reality of their mythically ‘musical’ results a great deal of digital technology is geared towards emulating otherwise unobtainable or impractical analogue technology, but with all the convenience that digital brings with it. The success of these emulations are getting ever better, particularly with impulse response technology like that used in Focusrite’s excellent Liquid Mix, where the developers sampled the effects of sending audio through classic gear to digitally recreate the same effect on whatever you send through it.

This type of technology provides the best of both worlds – the analogue sound with the flexibility and signal integrity of digital. It’s this same technology that is rendering the argument a moot point, and leaving racks of equipment unused in modern recording studios, left only to impress clients.

Perhaps most important of all, is that as long as you’re happy with the sound, it really doesn’t matter. And as I told a client recently, that’s at least as much how you use it as what you use.

Related posts:

1. 4 Awesome Beginner Music ProductionTips
2. 5 Popular Effects for Bassists

C.G.’s Tips of the Week – Advice From The Certified Genius

How’s everyone doing? Good I hope. Happy new year everyone, here’s some new advice for the new year from your favorite producer.

Tips for life: Be thankful. The only thing guaranteed to us in life is death so I’ve come to realize that a lot of things that we take for granted like food, shelter, health and clothing really are blessings. If you look at any third world countries there are people starving to death and dying of malnutrition. Be grateful for what you do have and try not to focus on what you do not have.

Tips for producing/beat making: Diversify. Try new things musically. Don’t be afraid to go out of your element and make a pop or hip-hop beat. Even try some R&B or cross genre tracks. I used to strictly do more rugged and grimey east coast hip-hop. Over the past two years though I really worked on creating my own style and just doing my own thing musically and I have been getting a lot of great feedback. For an example, check out my new remix/cover song to G-Unit’s “Stunt 101″ here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFF1CsN4ZQU or here C.G. Productionz \”Stunt 101\” Remix/Cover Song (same link)

Tips for song writers/artists: Promote. However you want to do it is up to you but you need to promote yourself. Whether you want to use Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc. is your choice but you need to get your music out there. People need to know and hear what you’re doing. In most cases a label doesn’t sign artists that don’t already have somewhat of a fan base (not in all cases but generally speaking). Even if you don’t want to end up with a major label you still need to promote because independent artists need a fan base to. Once you have the music or the movement that catches people’s attention you’re halfway there; now you just need to keep their attention.

Tips for finance: Buy assets, not liabilities. Keep this in mind especially when you start making excess money or get a raise or nice bonus. Even if you’re an artist, producer or song writer. Don’t blow your big check on a brand new Benz or big mansion (liabilities: items that depreciate in value and don’t make you any money). Instead, buy some real estate or talk to a stock broker and invest in some stock (assets: items that can make you money, if done correctly). Before investing in anything or buying any real estate it’s very important to educate yourself and make sure you’re working reliable and professional people on your investments. There’s no sense in blowing a few thousand dollars on new designer clothing and then struggling when the money dries up. The truth is, you never know when you might be out of a job or when your music won’t be the center of attention anymore. For these reasons, I believe it’s very important to purchase assets rather than liabilities. Suggested reading: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel.

I hope this advice helps to bring in the new year on a positive note for everyone and I wish everyone much love and success for 2011. Ending on that note, I’ll talk to you guys in another two weeks. Don’t forget to leave some comments and feedback too!

Thanks,

Posted by Christopher “C.G.” Gallucci of C.G. Productionz

P.S. My second mixtape Payback: Certified Genius Volume 2 will be released on Monday, February 28th. Stay tuned for that, especially if you like the remix that I posted!

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on ‘Success Strategies for Musicians in the Digital Era’
2. This Internet Music Marketing Plan Is Working
3. Your Internet Music Marketing Plan Should Include This Powerful Force

Guest post: Treadmarkz is my brother-in-law, a Human Beatles Encyclopedia and the author of the weblog Treadmarkz.wordpress.com.

I am sure you have heard all the hubbub, but maybe you never quite knew what it was all about, this thing, this MANIA called the Beatles. If you have been thinking of getting into the Beatles (and I mean really into the Beatles, not just buying their latest Greatest hits compilation) this is not the Beatles’ Top 12 Best Albums, and I am not reviewing each album. This is just the order you need to buy them in, in order to feel the full effect of what they did.

The chronological order in which they were originally released seems like the most sensible way to do it. But this isn’t sensible. If you get into the Beatles you have to be prepared for a little disjointedness and things that come out of left field. You don’t have to follow this guide exactly, and as you will see, I give you opportunities to make your own choice. Also, this is just the original Beatles Music we are talking about here, not Let It Be…Naked, or the Love Album. Having said that, I give you…The List:

1. Rubber Soul, 1965: This is the album that really showed the progression starting to happen. The two previous albums showed a little bit of experimentation, but it was more superficial, whereas the progress the Beatles made on Rubber Soul had some substance. Better lyrics and more interesting innovations musically. But the main reason why this is the first Beatles album you need to get is that this shows where they had been and where they were going, musically.

NOTE: If you are going to get the Beatles Past Masters I & II albums (compilations of songs that are not on their albums), and I recommend you do, I think you should get them at this point. They will help guide you through.

2./3. A Hard Day’s Night, 1964/Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, 1967: Okay here is where you get to make a decision on your own. No matter which of these two you choose first, these are the next two albums you need. You will find out quickly from Rubber Soul what you like about the Beatles. So if you liked the poppy, peppy, happy songs from Rubber Soul (mostly Paul’s) then your next move would have to be A Hard Day’s Night. It is the first Beatles album which was composed entirely by the Beatles themselves. No cover tunes. A big step for the Beatles and mankind.

If you found that in Rubber Soul you got more from the down-tempo, more thoughtful songs (mostly John’s) then I would move forward and make your second pick Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band. This is where the progress they were making on Rubber Soul completely came into fruition. Though John did not do as much on Pepper’s as on Rubber Soul, it was his infusion of Bob Dylan-like lyrics into the Beatles repertoire which strongly affected the music on Pepper’s.

4. Revolver, 1966: If your last pick was Pepper’s, you will want to know how they got from Rubber Soul to Pepper’s. It was a hell of a jump, musically, but with Revolver you get to fill in the blank, while still getting a taste of pre-Rubber Soul moptop from Paul. However, if A Hard Day’s Night was your last pick, then Revolver will serve the purpose of blowing your mind. Get ready.

5. Abbey Road, 1969: Simply the Beatles final recorded album giving generations of rockers something to strive for. This is the benchmark.

It was important that you get a taste of every era of the Beatles music before we move on. Now that you have, with the core of the band’s progressive era covered, you need an album that can show you everything that the Beatles were capable of. And I think from country, to reggae to hard rock to classical, we can only find the answer in….

6. The Beatles, aka The White Album, 1968: The Beatles was an album that, like Rubber Soul, gives listeners a chance to decide what they really like about the Beatles. Did you like the straight up rock songs, or did you like it when they tried something unusual for pop/rock? Well the White Album gives you a little bit of both with a splash of something new…Heavy Metal! This is the album that brought us “Helter Skelter” but it also has a few other head-bangers like “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey”, “Birthday” and “Yer Blues” which is really metal-blues. So if you are hooked on the Beatles, and at this point you should be, then you are probably ready for a double album. Go for it. You will not be disappointed.

7. Help!, 1965: Time to cool it down again. Time for something a little more predictable yet captivating. Help! came out just months before Rubber Soul, where we started. This one is just full of great songs, and I think that is what we need right now. “Yesterday”, “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” “Help!” and “Ticket To Ride” are all essentials and they are all here. This album will prove that song after song about love can still be interesting! And if you like it, then…

8. Beatles For Sale, 1964: Now we are really getting back to the moptop days. But this one is interesting because, just like Help!, it shows of the Beatles country/folk chops, without losing that pop flair. There are a lot of cover songs on here as there will be for the remainder. But the Beatles self-penned songs are introspective, and you are able to put yourself in the story. For the first time the Beatles really “take you there” on Beatles For Sale.

9. Let It Be, 1969: We don’t want you to delve too far back into the catalogue. You should probably now pick up Let It Be. Though it is often considered the Beatles most disappointing album, that is only because of what they had done in the few years leading up to Let It Be. They had changed the entire definition of rock music with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper!! So of course it was disappointing for fans to hear them going back to their roots, which is exactly what this is. But you will still get a little taste of psychedelia from “Across the Universe” and “I Me Mine”.

And if that is what you liked…

10. Magical Mystery Tour, 1967: It is kind of like the Beatles trying to expand on the concept of Sgt. Pepper’s but not quite getting there, but it is chock full of great singles, much like the Help! album, but much weirder. “All You Need Is Love” and “I am The Walrus” are on this one, and it is the only place you will get “Strawberry Fields Forever” or “Penny Lane” unless you’ve already got the “1″ album. And if you do, I hope this list has helped you take your Beatles listening further.

11./12. Please Please Me/With the Beatles, both from 1963: The beginning of the Fab Four. These albums show you where the Beatles came from. On these two albums, which really could be considered Vol. 1 and 2 of the same album, they bring you covers of the music that they loved when they were a struggling bar band, and they bring you their hand-written songs in which they use what they learned from the music they loved. To me, it really doesn’t matter which of these two you get first.

13. Yellow Submarine Songtrack, 1999 or the Yellow Submarine Soundtrack: It is up to you which one you get, but there is a huge difference. Either way you are only getting four songs that you haven’t already heard before. But the difference is this: The Soundtrack has the four songs you have never heard before, along with the song “Yellow Submarine” and “All You Need Is Love”, and rest is instrumentals by the George Martin Orchestra, if you are into that. The Songtrack on the other hand, has the aforementioned four “new” songs, and 11 other random songs taken from Rubber Soul to Magical Mystery Tour which appear in the film. It is a nice mix and you can get your fix of a couple of different eras in Beatles music without having to switch CDs.

Welcome to Beatledom, my friends. Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. The Beatles and the Beach Boys Race to the Toppermost of the Poppermost
2. The Beatles’ Studio Revolution of 1962
3. Beatles Rock Band Set To Go British Invasion on Your Video Game Console in September!

I recently received a question from a musician who is having more than her fair share of problems obtaining print media coverage in areas where her band is touring.

Hopefully, my advice and ideas that I gave her can benefit you and your band as well should you experience similar difficulties with obtaining print media support for your gigs/tours.

________________________________________________

FROM: Megan

I started touring with my band last fall (we were in New York City before that…), and we are about to leave on another tour for our debut ep. Booking is going as well as can be expected

starting out, but we’re having a hell of a time getting any press…we have a kit and an epk, and a press release, and we send off everywhere, but we’re in that limbo spot where honestly, not many people care about our music enough yet…any suggestions?

________________________________________________

[---MY RESPONSE---]

What has been occurring for several years (if not longer) and, particularly, with local and regional print publications, is a little thing called “nepotism.”

I utilize this phrase to describe print papers that will only devote “ink” (press coverage) to their local/regional up-and-coming musical artists, with the only exceptions being granted for mega superstars or outside artists who are coming into the media sources’ area for performances, of which the latter describes Megan your situation.

And, since you and your band are, indeed, touring and “qualify” for coverage in your performance areas, you should conduct an in-depth search on the web (using Google) for print media in each of your tour stops.

As an example, if you are playing Richmond, Virginia, you should simply use Google to search phrases such as:

* “richmond, virginia print media”

* “richmond, virginia print publications”

* “richmond, virginia music magazines”

* “richmond, virginia arts and entertainment magazines”

* “richmond, virginia daily newspapers”

* “richmond, virginia weekly newspapers”

or similar key phrases.

You should then contact the print editors or music editors in each area where you will appear and inform them on your upcoming performance location, i.e., name of venue, date, time, etc. and also request if the editor would be interested in interviewing you/your band in advance of your performance.

At this time, you should also direct the media to your website for advance review of your music, biography, etc. With print publications, you can do interviews via telephone, or if the media prefers “in person” interviews, you could simply schedule the interview earlier in the day, prior to your performance, which will mean you will need to get into town a bit earlier than

normal set-up time.

You should also bear in mind that, with print publications, “lead time” (the amount of advance time publications require to review projects before writing about them) is very crucial in order to ensure media coverage.

Daily newspapers, generally, demand a minimum of 2-3 weeks “lead time” and, possibly, longer depending on the publication. The “trick” is to stay anywhere from 3-4 weeks ahead with the (“lead time”) of each tour appearance.

Example: For an upcoming May 3, 2008 appearance, daily print media contacts should be initiated around April 10th at the *latest*.

Likewise, you should also contact radio station talk shows, television morning shows, prime time talk/interview shows, television newscasts, and cable music and entertainment shows at *each* station in each of your tour cities.

Should you secure any media interviews, you should then notify other media contacts in the same area that you will be interviewing with the particular source, in an effort to influence other area media to consider you as well, in addition to requesting their reviewing your already-scheduled interview. This can (sometimes) serve to foster a bit of competition between local media, with all being good for the musical group.

To add even better “fuel to the fire,” you should invite all media contacts in *each* area out to your performances. This can, potentially, serve as background media coverage *after* you have performed, and the opportunity to get TWO bits of media coverage, thus, prolonging your exposure in any single given area.

Be sure to provide complementary media passes for all local media contacts that have agreed to come out to the show, as well as inform the venue owners of the media contact names. This should be tightly coordinated and confirmed with venue owners or managers prior to the show.

While this seems a bit more work, as you can see, there are definite advantages as well as “extra” opportunities for media coverage within a single tour location if conducted well.

Now, multiply this degree of opportunity within *each* tour area, and you are likely to create quite a buzz on your tour route as well as have a degree of successful results through implementing this proactive process.

________________________________________________

Editor’s Note: Kenny Love is a radio/video promoter and media publicist, as well as co-owner and Director of Marketing for Eartastic Records. Get more information regarding him from his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/jazzman795

Related posts:

1. Wanna Know Who’s Gonna Be Rockin’ in Your City?
2. Music Marketing Strategies: Where You Can Send Your Music Demos
3. Oblivious Signal sign booking contract with C&A Media, release John Tovar from management contract and re-sign with Static Management.

This stuff comes right out the “I wish they had this stuff when I was a kid” category. Check out these sites and develop, or start learning, your guitar chops.

Pick your medium. I’ve only found three but I just bet there are quite a bit more

Via video – GuitarTricks.com

Via email – GuitarTips.com.au

Via blog – GuitarMX.com

Like I said, I just bet there are a ton more out there. Come on…share the love brothas and sistas! Show us what you got in the comments below.

Related posts:

1. Guitar Playing Tip: One Simple Way To Find More Time For Your Guitar
2. Things You Should Know About Guitar Strings
3. 8 Plus Guitar Tools Every Player Should Have

Are you thinking about learning an instrument or maybe just sharpening your skills? Check out this cool site. A week or so ago I came across this cool site. The good people over at the Berklee School of Music are offering some free music lessons.

They have a little something for everyone. You can get great instruction from these professionals on instruments like guitar, horns, keyboards and drums as well as tips on being a DJ and using turntables. You can also let them help you develop your singing voice.

Check it out. Very cool.

Related posts:

1. Three Ways to Learn Guitar Online