Blogs - The Improvising Guitarist

Playing with other musicians in the same room

I am a closet musician. But I don't really want to be. I just lack some self confidence. Tomorrow, Friday July 3rd, I am playing some of my original material with a drummer I have played with for many years, but more importantly, a bassist and keyboardist that I have never met. They responded to an ad on Craigslist and LOVED my music!!! I don't want to enter into this with a ton of expectations, but my goal is to get a gigging group playing my originals, new originals, and some of my fusion favo… Continue

Added by YL West on July 2, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

A Word About "SonKist"

I was feeling kind of down yesterday morning and I took out my acoustic and started playing it. It was still in my favorite alternate tuning - D, A, D, F#, A, D. Before I knew it, I had a nice sounding little progression. So this morning I decided to try and record something, and this is what came out. Three guitar parts on this tune - one with chords, one is doing various harmonics and the other one is a classical guitar. Whenever I do something like this, I am reminded of Phil Keaggy who crea… Continue

Added by Paul Marossy on June 30, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

A Word About "Heaven's Light"

Let me start off saying that this is my first attempt at doing something with looping. This one is actually built around a loop I recorded off the cuff with my DigiTech Jam Man, with a clean guitar into an echo pedal. Everything is layered on top of that. After the initial loop was repeated a few times in my Yamaha AW16G digital multi-track recorder, I added the lead guitar part, then the bass line. The drums were actually done last, and I think what I did fit the best with the music as it is.… Continue

Added by Paul Marossy as "Looper Man" on June 26, 2009 at 6:00pm — No Comments

DigiTech Jam Man and A New Direction For The Future

I bought one of these things yesterday after thinking about getting one for a long time. I am really enjoying all of the things you can do with one, and as I suspected, it's right up my alley since it's an improviser's dream and a great tool for various reasons. Anyhow, I have formulated a pedalboard around my looper pedal. Here are the pedals on it: Top row, left to right - Dual power supply (9VDC & 13VAC), Wampler Pedals "Analog Echo" (made from an RTS PCB), Shaka Tube, master volume con… Continue

Added by Paul Marossy as "Looper Man" on June 22, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

The Rotovibe

Wow, very cool and rather difficult to master. I've got a long way to go. Picked up a used Rotovibe off eBay. The pedal acts as a variable phaser *or* a variable tremolo with the treadle (the "wah" part) acting as the speed control of the phasing or the tremolo, and with the side knob controlling the depth. Always a sucker to get a good eBay rating, I gave a good eBay rating des… Continue

Added by Zander on May 27, 2009 at 11:38pm — No Comments

Error uploading...

If anyone know what this means? Fatal error: Call to undefined function decodeSynchsafe32() in /apps/socialnetworkmain/widgets/music/lib/php-reader/ID3/ExtendedHeader.php on line 140 One (!) of my tracks refuses to upload. Oh well... Continue

Added by Michal Seta on May 22, 2009 at 9:31pm — No Comments

Intro and a couple of tracks

I am new here. Never knew that this network existed. I figured that the best intro is to put up some tracks. I usually work with a computer (who doesn't these days) and all of my music is released with a liberal license (creative commons, attribution share alike variety) so feel free to distribute and mashup if you feel inclined. The tracks provided today are not new (ca. 2007) but I will be uploading some new material soon. I am looking forward to some interesting exchanges. Continue

Added by Michal Seta on May 22, 2009 at 9:14pm — No Comments

Astrologeology Rough

This is a tune on my new CD (due out in the future!). At this point its still me, working out some ideas with my new Roland VG Synth. Three input sources- synth, lead sound, clean sound. Guitar- Carvin Fatboy with Custom pickup. This tune features Joel Taylor on Drums and David Hines on Bass. Continue

Added by YL West on May 20, 2009 at 10:09am — No Comments

Lost in Inner Space!

Where in the hell have I been!?!?!? Lots of life happening around me and to me. -I am 4 solos away from completing the recording of my CD. -I got into building guitars recently. Lots of fun and a great learning process, but time consuming. There are so many wonderful people, musicians, types of music, etc, out there! Get out and Experience Life! I sit in my office too much and its depressing. Recently saw the Scott Kinsey Group wtih Scott Henderson on guitar!!! Talk about improvising! These gu… Continue

Added by YL West on May 20, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

A Word About "The Journey"

This is something I initially recorded on 5/8/09, right before leaving on a short weekend vacation. When I returned, I added the keyboard part to it and then my friend in Texas added the drums to it. I like how it turned out, I like the feel of it and the tone of the guitar. This is another example of what I call "intervallic composition", where a lot of what I'm playing is strictly certain intervals between two strings. On this one, I'm using a vintage Colorsound wah circuit that I built mysel… Continue

Added by Paul Marossy on May 17, 2009 at 8:00pm — 2 Comments

Electric Amp Company

I've decided that while I build my hotrodded plexi-clone, I'm going to be socking away for a Master Volume model Electric Amp. After hearing these Matamp recreations, I'm absolutely drooling at the prospect of getting one. Click here for Electric Amps. If you check out Planet of the Amps, apparently the guy running Electric Amps, Joel Wheeler, was the exclusive dealer for Matamp in the USA. You may remember… Continue

Added by Zander on March 24, 2009 at 11:00pm — No Comments

How to record a heavy metal guitar tone

http://www.imperialmastering.com/guitartonevid/ Continue

Added by Zander on January 15, 2009 at 8:00pm — 2 Comments

home recording equiptment!

Hey can someone help me with some software home recording thats simple to use! I've shyed away from pro tools cause its pretty intimidating but its becoming a standard. I'm looking for a basic software recording and some hardware interface thats compatable with pro tools,but easy to use.. help! Continue

Added by Warren Barsana on January 15, 2009 at 4:40pm — No Comments

Silent Night

Well, I needed to have something to work on with the new Godin Multiac Nylon SA; thanks to Justinguitar.com for the excellent version of Silent Night that I just added to my page. This was recorded with a Zoom H4; one mic was directed at the guitar's top, the other at the Danelectro Dirty Thirty that I brought along over Christmas Vacation. I received the guitar the day that I left (the Tuesday prior to Christmas), and I wanted to be able to give folks a listen to the sound, so I brought along t… Continue

Added by Laughinglarry on January 13, 2009 at 6:22pm — No Comments

Six String Bliss - a great Podcast and online community

Sorry I haven't been around for a while. I've actually started taking my computer time and spending it practicing guitar! (I know, I know - about time!) Anyway, one of my rare computer indulgences is Six String Bliss. This is a really fun and lively Podcast done by a couple of college friends (now in their 30's). They're regular guys, and they talk about all things guitar. The web site is www.sixstringbliss.com, and you can subscribe thr… Continue

Added by Laughinglarry on January 13, 2009 at 6:12pm — No Comments

I can't believe I bought a Chorus

Heavy Metal and chorus effects are mutually exclusive! :) Continue

Added by Zander on January 10, 2009 at 6:32pm — No Comments

I've Been Remiss!

When ever I hear great music I always try and spread the word, especially if it's someone doing something really unique. French guitarist Yvan Le Gall is one of those people that combine melodic rock, jazz and Indian influences with compositional and improvisational sophistication, beautiful tone, electronics, and excellent recording techniques to create a style that is unique but always accessible. Check him out at http://www.myspace.com/yvanlegall Continue

Added by SkidMarkJohnson on December 1, 2008 at 3:57pm — No Comments

Glad To Be Here!

It's great to find a site with so many like minded guitar musicians. I've already heard some great music, I'm sure I'll hear a lot of music here that tickles my brain and grabs my heart! Continue

Added by SkidMarkJohnson on November 17, 2008 at 9:34am — No Comments

A Word About "Experiment #1"

"Experiment #1" is really just that, kind of an experiment - more so than my other tunes anyway. I was messing around with a chord progression idea I've been playing with for a little while and thought I'd also try doing that octave thing I hear so much these days (but I don't think that I really like it for my own tunes much, however). The rhythm guitar heard mostly on the left channel is the DiMarzio FRED pickup on the bridge of my SpankenStrat. The other guitar is my Mojo Nitefly using the ne… Continue

Added by Paul Marossy on August 19, 2008 at 8:30am — No Comments

Notes about "Somewhere" plus project update

This was my creation over the weekend. Not so much an improvising guitarist as an improvising engineer on this one. My friend wanted to sing this at her neice's wedding : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu5QPVD427o but there didn't seem to be a backing track in existence. Stupidly, I said I could do it. I used a strat copy with no electronics or finish or anything except the GK-3 synth pickup into the GR-20 synth. Tracked a few takes..made a few edits...added some delay...played bongos, clapped m… Continue

Added by YL West on July 30, 2008 at 8:47am — 1 Comment

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