Buzz
BandLab App Aims to Make Music Creation Easier
A new free app called BandLab promises to allow musicians to collaborate and create music in the cloud. The recently launched app lets musicians capture, store and recall song ideas and synchronize all the info to all cloud-linked devices. In addition, you can work on multi-track projects with others using the app’s built-in mix editor. Then, once a piece is...
Alusonic Introduces Django Bass Guitar
Italy’s Alusonic Aluminum Instruments has introduced the Django bass guitar. The model aims to bring handmade quality to an affordable price point. The bolt-on bass is built with an alder body, a hard maple neck, and a grade A ebony fingerboard. It comes in matte black, high gloss black and high gloss white finishes, adorned with a PVC mirror or...
David Piggott: Unbroken
So much can be said with just a bass guitar. Here’s a great example of that with David Piggott’s “Unbroken,” a song he wrote for his wife. Piggott uses some crafty measures to create a beautiful flow of notes, with some strings backing him up for good measure.
Book on Playing Gives Lefties Their Due
A new book aims to help left-handers begin to play bass. Hal Leonard Left-Handed Bass Tab Method — Book 1 uses famous riffs to instruct beginning lefty players comfortable way. You’ll learn from the music of bands like The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, The Who, and The Police. The book covers everything from parts of the bass and...
BTPA Introduces Solderless Patch Cable Kit
If you’re looking to make your own cables for your pedalboard but haven’t gotten into soldering yet, this kit may be for you. BTPA has introduced a Solderless Patch Cable Kit that includes everything you need to put together your own cables. The kit comes with twelve feet of CA-0492 cable as well as twelve solder-free, ultra-low-profile G&H connectors. BTPA...
Markbass Announces New York 122 Ninja Richard Bona Signature Bass Cabinet
Markbass and Richard Bona have teamed up again to release the New York 122 Ninja Richard Bona Signature bass cabinet. Featuring a pair of 12-inch custom speakers and a new 1.25-inch compression driver, the cab is rated at 800 watts RMS for medium or large gigs. It differs from the company’s existing New York 122 cabinet by having an 8...
The Bottom 40: Firework
Adam Nitti sent me this video saying, “[Here’s] another project i’m involved with, called ‘The Bottom 40’. kind of on the Dirty Loops tip, but in a different style. (I even snuck in a sweep lick, LOL….) This band has been creating some heavy momentum online lately…” The tune is Katy Perry’s “Firework”, and also features Michael Whittaker on keys,...
Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” Released in Comprehensive Set
All the recordings made in two days worth of sessions for saxophonist/composer John Coltrane’s jazz classic A Love Supreme album have been released as A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters. The set features extensive takes from the sessions – including all six takes of the suite’s opener, “Acknowledgement” – as well as all overdubs and studio chatter. The album, recorded...
Cog Effects Introduces T-16 Analog Octave Pedal
Cog Effects has launched the T-16 Analog Octave, a pedal they say is “engineered to provide huge octave down tones in a tiny enclosure.” The UK-built stompbox offers level controls for clean and octave down signals as well as a variable Filter control to adjust the octave down signal voicing between synthy and subby. The compact T-16 is built in...
Groove – Episode #12: Stuart Hamm
Is there a better way to celebrate the one year anniversary of Groove – The No Treble Podcast than to dive into the amazingly, unconventional and beautiful playing of Stuart Hamm? Back in the late eighties, I made the mistake of thinking that Hamm was a full-on rocker, due to his work with Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Frank Gambale....
Mike Zabrin: Slice/What’s The Deal
After releasing Funktastic last year, bassist Mike Zabrin is back with a new single called “Slice”. Starting as a tender and introspective piece, the song morphs into a mid-tempo groove before kicking it up another notch into an upbeat jam. Check out this clip of Zabrin and his band throwing down on “Slice” as well as “What’s the Dea?” from...
Fare The Well Shows Released
Did you miss The Grateful Dead’s Fare The Well shows July 3-5 at Soldier Field in Chicago? No worries. There’s a “best of” live album documenting the best performances from the three-date stand by the band’s remaining members, including bassist Phil Lesh, augmented by musicians like Phish’s Trey Anastasio, in honor of the band’s 50th anniversary. It’s a great opportunity...