Didn’t get as much on here as I wanted to during the show, but that ok, all of the really good stuff was over on PG anyway. Here are some of the highlights for me:
Kemper Profiling Amplifier – This amp basically copies the “mojo” of any amp you can get mic’d up. Here is the video I shot where we demo how close the profiling actually is.
Vox Tony Bruno Combos – Vox teamed up with boutique amp guru to create a line of production model amps based on Tony’s designs.
65Amps Empire – This is a great 3-channel amp that covers some of the “greatest hits” of the classic British-voiced amps.
A lot of things have changed for me over the last year, including my commitment to music. It has grown by leaps and bounds. Recently, I was talking with a co-worker and we collectively decided that we had won the guitar lottery. Neither of us are ground-breaking, world-changing players, but we were in the right place at the right time with the right skills. Not only have I found the coolest job possible during the last year, but my musical vision has widened.
Therefore, I present you with a list of the albums that opened my eyes (and ears) over the last year.
Dirty Side Down – Widespread Panic. It took me a little time to fully get into this album. Once I spent some time listening to it and then going to see the band live, it all clicked. Now that Jimmy Herring has had some time to find his space in the band, I think WP is finally hitting their post-Mikey stride.
American Patchwork – Anders Osborne. From the opening de-tuned riff to “On the Road to Charlie Parker,” this album had me hooked. I had heard about Anders before this, but never really got into him until this album. In August, I went and did an interview with him in Chicago and he came across as genuine and frantic all at the same time. Two traits that true artists always have.
Orchestrion – Pat Metheny. To really get what this album is all about, you need to forget that it is a “solo” album. I think with Metheny’s last album, the need to create a long-form piece had been met. With Orchestrion you really hear how Metheny’s “sound” comes through. This is probably the tour I most regret missing this year.
Live at the Jazz Standard – Wolfgang Muthspiel & Mick Goodrick. I would consider this album on of the better modern jazz duo albums of all time. Both Muthspiel and Goodrick are intimately familiar with each others playing. This type of connection betweeen two musicians is rare and to have it translate to an album is somewhat of a musical unicorn.
Georgia Warhorse – JJ Grey and Mofro. Pure Georiga blue-eyed soul. JJ has been around for a while, but this album combines the swamp feel of his homeland with the uptown horns of New Orleans. Also, the songs are GREAT. Check out the documentary vid and dig the solo acoustic version of “Gotta Know.”
10/31/2010 – Phish. I didn’t get the chance to see the boys from Vermont this year, but from all the accounts I have read, Phish 3.0 have been melting faces and busting out some new jams. This Halloween show from Atlantic City found them paying tribute to one of their main influences by covering Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus from front to back. I think for anyone who wants to like Phish, but hasn’t found something they dig, give them the second set of this show.
Living Proof – Buddy Guy. The solo on the opening track “74 Years Young” will make you reconsider the direction of your life. Guy rips into an unbelievable solo that is bursting with fire, intensity, and nearly 3/4 of a century of being one of the most legendary blues-stringers to pick up an axe. Pay attention.
Sugarcoating – Martin Sexton. I am a huge MS fan, and this album continues where the last one left off with a groovy band sound and some great writing. The only downer is the title track where Sexton takes a political slant with his lyrics. Martin, please leave the political stuff at home.
Blues, Ballads, and Favorites – Jimmie Vaughan. For his first solo album in nearly a decade, Vaughan captures the ’50s vibe perfectly and lays claim to the title of MTP (most tasteful player). His trademarked capoed guitar is in full force with a tone that is less Albert Collins and more Gatemouth Brown.
Groove Alchemy – Stanton Moore Trio. If hearing Stanton Moore play drums doesn’t make you either dance or pick up a drumstick and want to hit something, then check your vitals. Here, Moore along with organist Robert Walter and guitarist Wil Bernard head up to Levon Helm’s barn to combine funky, organ dance grooves with some burning modern jazz.
Roadsongs – Derek Trucks Band. After listening to this album and seeing Derek at the Crossroads Festival this summer, I firmly believe we will one day (probably very soon) be speaking his name alongside Beck, Clapton and Page. The sound he gets on this album is equal parts Duane Allman and Aubrey Ghent. You can tell the band has been hitting it hard and luckily on this night in Chicago the tape was rolling.
I am sure by now you all have heard of this cool little device that Apple released recently. You can easily do a quick search to find out all the opinions that the tech pundits seem to put out on a daily basis. One angle I haven’t read about is how this device can improve the lives of musicians. We all know that Apple changed everything with the iTunes store, but what about those of us who actually create music?
What has Steve Jobs done for us?
Well, I think the iPad (horrible name) is the best thing to come out of Apple for musicians ever. Yes, even better than the iPod.
Here are a few areas where I see a huge amount of potential in this device for both amateur and professional musicians.
Sheet Music Publishing
The biggest and most obvious area the iPad could be used is publishing sheet music. With the advent of the e-reader (Kindle and Nook), digital books are becoming more and more accepted. The issue with sheet music is that the screen has to be large enough so that you can see it while you are playing your instrument. There are some instructional music books on the Kindle, but it just doesn’t work. The iPad’s screen is in full color and large enough to set on a music stand and play from.
There needs to be a Netflix type program for sheet music on the iPad. What if for 20 bucks a month you had access to the top 5,000 guitar tabs available? They would be updated and changed each month but only available on your device. The legit guitar tab market has yet to be effectively monetized due to the logisitical and legal issues. Now is the time for this market to expand.
Making Practice Time More Efficient
How many times have you been practicing and became inspired to work on a certain piece and you didn’t have it with you? This has happened to me countless times and it becomes hard to carry all the essential books with you every time you go to practice.
What if you had access to all your music and videos while in your practice room?
Lets say you were working on the latest Satriani tune. There was a part you were stuck on, so you fire up your iPad, buy the tab and even see a short video of Satch playing it himself. Of course this would never replace formal one-on-one instruction, but for intermediate to advanced players it could be invaluable.
Right about now all the musicians born before 1981 are saying “ Why do you need all this fancy tech stuff to learn how to play?”
At one time, records, cassettes and radio (all used to help musicians become better) were considered “high-tech.” If everything we had today was available to you then, I guarantee you would be using them.
Live Performance
I have seen a few more progressive musicians use a computer in addition to their traditional rig of amps and effects. Although to me this is the least revolutionary item on this list, it is an important one.
We have all seen the cool music-making apps on the iPhone. I would love to see a version of GarageBand on the iPad. It doesn’t have to have nearly the functionality of the standard version, but it could be the best musical notepad ever. This could easily relay into using samples and loops from you device in live performance. It would be much easier to carry an iPad to a gig and it would mean more access to different sounds. If you are a traditionalist when it comes to tone, I doubt you would be even considering this anyway.
Educational Benefits
Arguably, everything on this list serves to better educate you as a musician. As a guitar teacher, having video, sheet music and audio files at the touch of a screen would make my life SO much easier.
Here is a scenario:
A student comes in wanting to learn the latest tune by band X, that of course you have never heard of. You fire up your iPad, you student signs into Hal Leonard’s sheet music store, you buy the tab and then begin to work on the tune right there. No more late nights transcribing and no illegal photocopies from the tab book at the guitar store.
You can then fire up YouTube and see exactly where the guitarist plays a certain lick or see what type of gear they use to get that tone.
Combine an iPad with a Fender GDec3 with some kind of wi-fi magic and the possibilities grow exponentially.
One iPad Per Student
Giving iPads to every middle school student will make them better students. Allowing them to learn about technology and research from a young age will make them better informed and it will give them a more global perspective of society.
This item isn’t so much specifically for musicians, but everyone should listen to more music and at least try to play an instrument, right?
If we factor textbooks into the cost of the device, the publishers could subsidize the cost and get their materials into the hands of a much larger student body. Each device will come pre-loaded with textbooks, apps and even special media that can be customized for each class. No more excuses for not taking notes in class.
In the end, this device will change the way we create, develop and consume music. Much like the iPod, there will be use cases developed for the iPad that we haven’t even considered. This is all bleeding edge stuff, but with the right vision we can use technology to not only make this a better place, but make us better people.
I just came across a post on the Umphrey’s blog about some new events they are planning called “Stew Art Series”.
Here is the description of the events from the website:
An (S2) event is an experiment in crowd-sourced improvisation. One hundred percent of the music performed at a (S2) event will be improvised, and you are the ones who will serve as directors. Using several communication mediums - which could range from text messaging to prewritten cue cards to chalk boards - you will kick out ideas, descriptive words, phrases, pop culture references . . . pretty much whatever comes to mind. These will be presented to the band who will compose jams on the fly based around those ideas, and ideas will be added to, changed, and deleted as the event progresses. For instance, a fan might toss out the phrase “frightened rabbit,” causing the band the play a frantic, nimble jam and after a period of time, the word “rabbit” might get changed to “brontosaurus” which would take the jam in a heavy, slower direction (though the word “frightened” is still in play). Then perhaps the word “skydiving” morphs the “frightened brontosaurus” jam into a soaring, powerful piece of music that evokes the feeling of being airborne . . . until the phrase “without a parachute” gets tacked on which changes the jam into something else entirely. And so on. No one will have any idea where the music is headed, well, and that’s all part of the fun. The event will also include a Q&A session to provide an opportunity to ask about what you’re witnessing (or ask anything else for that matter). Fans will become a part of the music like never before.
To me this is a GREAT idea that I wish more bands and artists took part in. Obviously, UM is an incredibly forward thinking band that really looks to push the envelope in order to give their fans the best and most unique experience possible.
Do you think this type of event could apply to different genres of music?
Can you imagine a jazz group using the audience as a source for raw material for their improvisations? I think this would make the audiences feel more involved and make the live music experience more personable. If bands want to get people to their performances in this day and age of so many distractions, they need to offer something new.
Well done Umphrey’s. I look forward to seeing where you go from here.
Thinking About a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance? – Dr. John Pisano writes a fairly informative article aimed at younger musicians who are thinking about obtaining a performance degree in college. I don’t fully agree with some of the points Dr. Pisano makes, but all are worth considering.
Top Guitarists on Twitter – I wish I had the computer skills that Jon at Guitarnoize.com has. He has put a great list together (even better than mine) of some of the top guitarists on Twitter.
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