Archive for the ‘electric guitars’ Category
TTK’s – Ampeg AMG100 Electric Guitar Review
A rockers perspective on the AMG100 Electric 
The Sound Effects Of The Electric Guitar
When the electric guitar was originally created back in the 1930s, the main intent was simply to create an instrument that could be heard over the increasingly large jazz orchestras. It is highly doubtful that the instrument’s inventors could ever have imagined the uses to which their creation would someday be put. The modern electric guitar is a source of an apparently unending array of tones, pitches and sounds. Artists have pushed the instrument’s limits in an attempt to find new and innovative noises, and they continue to do so. The sounds of the electric guitar have become an art form in and of them selves, so much so that specific devices have been invented to create them. Such devices are referred to as guitar effects, and they modify the tone, pitch and sound of the electric guitar to help create the sounds that define some modern music genres.
It would be almost impossible to cover the wide range of effects used by electric guitars, so only the most widely used will be covered herein. One group of very popular effects is distortion-related effects. Such effects are produced by distortion pedals, which distort, or “clip” the guitar signal’s waveform. Distortion effects fall into four main subcategories: overdrive/distortion, overdrive/crunch, fuzz and hi-gain. Some of these effects are often associated with specific genre or artists. Overdrive/crunch pedals, for example, produce sounds very similar to those in the music of Carlos Santana and Eddie Van Halen. Hi-gain pedals, on the other hand, create the sounds most often connected with the genre of heavy metal.
Then there are the volume-related effects. As with distortion effects, those related to volume are also created via a pedal. The guitarist is able to use this pedal to adjust an instrument’s volume during a performance; it can also be used to make a guitar’s notes or chords fade in and out. Such attributes are useful during human vocal sections, when the percussive plucking of strings needs to be softened or eliminated altogether. There are at least three different types of volume pedals, these being auto-volume/envelope volume, tremolo and compressor. Each type boasts specific attributes useful to different situations and musical genres.
Time-based effects include delay/echo, looping, and reverberation or “reverb.” The first, delay/echo, creates a copy of an incoming sound, delays it slightly and then repeats it either once for a “slap” effect or multiple times for an “echo” effect. Looping involves recording a phrase or passage and then accompanying that passage as it replays. This technique involves the use of extremely long time delays. Finally, reverb refers to the persistence of a sound in a particular space after the original sound is gone. In essence, it is a large and extended number of echoes.
Modulation-related effects include several devices, including the rotary speaker, the rotary speaker simulator, the vibrato pedal, the phase shifter and the flanger. The rotary speaker and its simulator offer something known as a Doppler effect, which is a change in a wave’s frequency and wavelength. A vibrato pedal reproduces the sound of the rotary speaker by synchronizing a standard speaker’s volume oscillation, frequency-specific volume oscillation, vibrato, phase shifting and chorusing. A phase shifter creates a complex frequency response that results in a “whooshing” noise, similar to that of a flying jet. And finally, if an artist wishes to simulate the sound originally created by slowing a tape down by holding something against the flange and then allowing the tape to speed up again, a flanger can produce such a sound.
Victor Epand
Electric Guitar Recording Techniques
A guitar is a type of musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It usually has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten and twelve string guitars also exist. An electric guitar is the kind of guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel cored string into electrical current, which is then amplified.
There are various ways to record an electric guitar. The traditional method is to connect to a really good amplifier. The latest option is to plug the guitar directly into the computer and use a software plug-in to handle the amp and the speaker modeling.
When recording an electric guitar, the amp is the important factor as far as the mic is concerned, and thus its position is important. The dynamic mic produces a solid sound with a smooth high end. However its position has just as much bearing on the tone as the mic itself.
One way to capture the sound of a large stack is to set up the stack in a large room, play it loud and put the microphone several feet away so that the combination of all the speakers can be recorded. Using this method, the mic captures the guitar sound as much as the audience would.
One of the microphones can be inverted though that does not produce the best result. Here using a capacitor microphone as the distant one often produces a sense of space, but the ultimate bottom line is that anything that sounds good goes with the guitar.
The biggest problem that many amateur guitarists face is poor tone. In order to solve this problem the recorder should check the amp and guitar combination on microphone level and then should decide where they would be placed. Tone should be adjusted but one thing should be kept in mind. The low end will increase if the microphone is placed close to the source. This is known as proximity effect.
The mic that is used for electric guitar recording is preferably a dynamic microphone because of its capability to endure high volumes. These are the technical things that one should keep in mind. But there are some simple points that will help while recording.
As a first and very basic rule, one should make sure that the guitar is in very good condition, that is, its strings are properly fitted. Tuning must be checked before every take as it is inclined to flow in warm studio.
Equipments containing transformers will tend to cause hum interference on electric guitar especially those of single coil pickups. Computer monitors in particular also cause serious interference problems with guitar pickups, so it is advisable to keep them as far away as possible.
While using different electric guitar types or sounds for recording, two or more overdrive guitar parts should be kept to keep the sounds separate in the mix. For example, using a single coil setting for one part and a humbucker for another.
Victor Epand
Canon with an Electric Guitar Orchestra
Beautiful cover of Pachelbel’s Canon in D played on a looped electric guitar and a whammy pedal in the solo. A funny friend of mine quoted “It’s like the sound of dozens of beautiful galactic fairies singing in unison” near the end of the solo. Enjoy
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Playing the Electric Guitar – 5 Tips to Quick Success Learning to Play the Electric Guitar
There are literally millions of different styles and methods that people use to learn how to play electric guitar. It is impossible to learn that just with one article but I will be giving you some of the best tips that anyone who wants to know how to play electric guitar will find useful.
1. Make sure the strings on your electric guitar are fitted properly. Playing electric guitar involves many string beings and if the string are not fitted properly it will cause major tuning problems. It’s very embarrassing to heard that “PING” sound as your guitar drops out of tune mid solo. Make sure your strings just right. Click Here
2. Get to know your electric guitar. Electric guitars have a broad range of different textures and sounds that can access by using the tone and volume controls that are on the guitar. Any great guitarist with great tone understands this and will work their guitar to get the very best sounds.
3. Learn to mute the strings. When played at high volume the sheer power of the sound from the amplifier will make the strings on the guitar vibrate and ring out. Unless you know how to mute the strings you don’t want to sound, this will ruin ANYTHING you try to play. This is mainly done by laying the palm of your strumming hand across the strings at the bridge.Click Here
4. Learn some easy licks and scales. You can add spice to anything by adding a few ad lib licks or notes, as long as you have the knowledge of scales to make it sound right. Some tasteful blues licks can really add depth to all kinds of songs, and will give your sound its own personality.
5. Learn to bend strings and apply vibrato. To most fans of guitar, the best sounds in the world are when someone is bending up to a high note and then applying some good vibrato. Both techniques are very difficult to master, but when you do, they will add even more personality to your sound. Using these techniques you can make the most mundane melodies sound interesting.
These guitar tips don’t even scratch the tip of the iceberg of how to play electric guitar, but hopefully they have given you an idea of what kinds of directions you can go with the instrument. Happy playing!
Lenny Gaiter
