Archive for 2016 - Page 111

Technical death metal outfit Archspire recently filled out their lineup with the addition of bassist Jared Smith. The Vancouver-based group made the announcement on Facebook. “We are pleased to finally complete our lineup with the addition of Jared Smith on bass,” the band said in a statement. “He’s a monster musician with a killer writing style. We have already started...

Drummer Peter Erskine, known for his work with a variety of artists and his days in the great fusion band Weather Report, has released a new album, Dr. Um, that takes him back to the kind of drumming he did as a fusion player. Erskine calls it, “the kind of record that I’ve wanted to make for years, the kind...

An iOS app can now meet the needs of musicians who use backing tracks during live performances. ShowOne (formerly called SideStage) has a variety of features, including automatic click tracks; the ability to edit tempo, pitch, and voice counts from within the app; compatibility with Apogee Duet and Native Instruments Traktor Audio 2; fast import of audio via cloud services...

In this lesson we’ll cover an effective concept of superimposing melodic lines over multiple chord types. We’ll then develop this idea through the introduction of a technique called “framing,” which will enable you to hear the chord you are playing over with more harmonic clarity. This concept will enable you to expand your ideas and end up with more mileage...

Adam Ben Ezra recorded a tribute to David Bowie, with this solo bass and vocal arrangement of “The Man Who Sold The World”. RIP, Mr. Bowie.

Longtime bass transcriptionist Peter Croppier has created the mother lode of bass transcriptions for The Beatles, in his “The Beatles — The Definitive Bass Collection” series. The series covers all Paul McCartney’s famed bass lines with the band, as found on both studio and compilation albums, with a book available for each record through Guitar Music Publishing’s store. All the...

Tim Lefebvre has a knack for bringing his voice to any musical situation, and it’s a skill that has brought him tons of incredible opportunities. He’s played with the world’s top artists from Elvis Costello to Donald Fagen to Wayne Krantz and more. He’s played in the house band for Saturday Night Live and a host of TV and movie...

Last year, Kevin featured a video of Esperanza Spalding “Good Lava” at Skype Live Studio. The song is one that is on Spalding’s upcoming Emily’s D+Evolution album, scheduled for release March 4th. Now there’s an official video for the track. Can’t wait for the album!

Want to know more about classic compressors and need to learn with a quick course? AudioSchoolOnline is offering an 82-minute course covering 11 classic compressors and five compression types, with examples given on bass, drums and vocals. The course was created by Audio School Online’s Ken Lewis, a producer/songwriter/engineer/musician who owns his own analog SSL Mix Studio and regularly works...

Finland’s Darkglass Electronics will be kicking things into overdrive at NAMM this year with the new Microtubes B7K Ultra. Based on their B7K, the Ultra expands the pedal’s flexibility with a dedicated footswitch to engage the overdrive section, a Master volume knob, and switches for the mid control frequencies. “Whereas the Level Knob controls the output of the overdrive section...

Q: I have days where I feel like I’m the worst player on the planet, and I have no drive to practice even though I should be. Do you have any tips for practicing/motivation on off-days? A: I’ve written about this in one form or another in past columns. I’ve often recommended finding something (that you really like) to transcribe...

Time to get funky, thanks to Doug Johns. Here’s Doug and his band performing “Summer Song”, which appeared on Doug’s third album, Stank. This one grooves.