You’ve got to give George Harrison credit for financing the wacked out move ‘Time Bandits’. This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie and I always get a good laugh out of it. There’s just something charming about the “little people” and Napoleon feels it too. Watch this clip and you’ll be singing “Me And My Shadow” all day long!
(more…)Author: Live Musician Central
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Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 4-18-09
Live Musician Central brings you the weeks most heavily marketed new album releases. Each week we pick new releases based solely on the amount of music industry marketing hype they generate. Because these may not necessarily be the best albums out there, we do throw in a couple of certified classics for you to download and add to your personal music collection. We pick these albums so you can build your band’s setlist and break music selection. Like it or not, people in the clubs are going to know these songs because they’re going to be pushed hard on the Internet, Radio and in the clubs.
There’s no better way to start your weekend than by downloading some brand new MP3’s from iTunes or even better, Amazon.com. Since iTunes has raised the prices on their music downloads you can save a bunch of money by downloading Amazon.com’s high quality MP3’s. The Amazon.com MP3’s are encoded at 256kbps and they sound extremely good! They’re DRM free and you can play them on every MP3 player in your house, car or portable.
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Live Musician Central One Year Anniversary Of Everyday Blogging
Live Musician Central Author – Matt Rushton At The "Imagine" Mosaic, Central Park, New York City This week marks the one year anniversary of Live Musician Central going live online. It’s been a really fun year writing and producing Live Musician Central and I’ve learned more about Blogging and web development than ever imagined that I would. I’m giving myself a pat on the back here because the only outside help I’ve had is from friends and family who have done some graphics work for me. It’s been very challenging at times trying to get things to work the way I want them to on the site and I think Live Musician Central is improving all the time. (more…)
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Fender Frontman 212R 2×12 Guitar Combo Amp Review
Fender Frontman 212R Guitar Amplifier I get asked all the time for guitar amplifier recommendations from guitarists that want to have a good amp to use in their live band. The amp I use and love is the Fender Cyber-Twin SE and I highly recommend that guitar amplifier. The Cyber-Twin SE is a professional quality amp which is also fairly expensive but I believe it’s worth every penny. That being said, many guitarists who are just starting out in their first live band are looking for quality guitar amplification and they don’t have a lot of cash to spend on an amplifier. That’s why today I’m going to talk about the extremely affordable Fender Frontman 212R guitar amplifier. (more…)
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Eddie Van Halen Live Guitar Solo Circa 1983
There are very few live guitarists that can compete with Eddie Van Halen. He is truly a master of the electric guitar. This video is from a live DVD made around 1983 and features Eddie doing his live solo at one of the high points of his career. It’s just plain fun to watch him go crazy on his Frankenstein Strat. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Eddie Van Halen!! (more…)
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How A Handy Pocket Metronome Can Increase Your Playing Speed And Accuracy
Seiko DM70 Pocket Metronome Playing in a live band can be very challenging rhythmically because the thing that really makes a live band sound great is keeping the rhythm and groove happening. It’s so important to practice to some sort of rhythm when you work on your instrument whether it be keyboards, guitar, bass or drums. I’ve written about practicing to a beat and not a metronome and I still feel that practicing to a beat is the best way to get good at playing rhythmically. Practicing to different types of beats will teach you to play in a musical groove. With that being said, there are times when you want to practice with a plain old metronome.
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How To Deal With An Emergency That Threatens To Cancel A Band Gig
In Stereo with Frank Lee A couple weeks ago my live band , In Stereo, was faced with a situation that you hope you never have to deal with. We had an important gig scheduled and one day before the gig our drummer, Ted, came down with a life threatening staff infection in his ankle. It was very obvious as soon as he was admitted into the hospital that there was no way he would be able to play the gig. That left us with a commitment to fulfill with the club that had us booked and as you know, the show must go on. So what are your options in a live band when one of your core members goes down? (more…)
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Sunday Funnies – John Petrucci With Sterling Ball Doing Guitar Center Session
This week on Live Musician Central Sunday Funnies I found this clip from the Guitar Center Sessions. Guitar Center brings in world class guitarists and they get them up there with an interviewer, or sidekick and have them put on a demo of their particular instrument showing off their guitar technique. This clip features John Petrucci, the guitarist from Dream Theater who is truly a master of the instrument. He is demo’ing his custom Music Man guitar made by the Ernie Ball company. Up there on stage with him is Sterling Ball, who is the president and CEO of Ernie Ball. Now, Sterling is not a bad guitar player but I don’t think he realizes the caliber of guitarist that John Petrucci is. Most guitarists wouldn’t dare get up there and try to trade licks with John Petrucci. So it’s hilarious to watch Sterling Ball trying to do and say things that are relevant to what John is doing. I think it’s funny because it really comes off as a big sales pitch to buy Music Man guitars. I got some good laughs at Sterling’s expense. In all fairness, Sterling Ball runs a fantastic company with excellent products, but he may want to think twice about trading guitar licks with John Petrucci.
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Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 4-11-09
Live Musician Central presents this weeks most heavily marketed new album releases. Every week we pick new releases based solely on the amount of music industry marketing hype they generate. Because these may not necessarily be the best albums out there, we do throw in a couple of certified classics for you to download and add to your personal music collection. We pick these albums so you can build your band’s setlist and break music selection. Like it or not, people in the clubs are going to know these songs because they’re going to be pushed hard on the Internet, Radio and in the clubs.
It’s a great way to start out your weekend, by downloading some brand new MP3’s from Amazon.com or if you prefer to pay more, from iTunes. Which brings us to the fact that iTunes is raising prices for their MP3 downloads. We’re fighting the iTunes price increase by offering high quality MP3 downloads from Amazon.com MP3 service. The Amazon.com MP3’s are encoded at 256kbps and they sound top notch! Plus, you can save a lot of money by downloading from Amazon.com. So start downloading some music just for you!
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Download Free Fender Cyber-Twin SE Preset Patch “LMC Stack Hot”
Fender Cyber-Twin SE Amplifier Today on Live Musician Central I’m posting another one of my custom programmed sound preset patches for the Fender Cyber-Twin SE guitar amplifier. This one is called “LMC Stack Hot” and it is a more powerful version of my “LMC Stack Chorus” preset that I posted last week. I actually use “LMC Stack Chorus” and “LMC Stack Hot” together on a lot of songs. The basic sound is that of a classic Marshall amplifier which I wanted to thicken up with stereo chorus and create the illusion of having a 2nd guitar. On “LMC Stack Hot” I used the same basic tone as “LMC Stack Chorus” but I switched to Sine Chorus insted of Triangle Chorus for a smoother, more focused chorus sound. I also switched to HMB Tube 2 drive circuitry, added compressor and cranked the gain up a bit to increase the sustain. I use “LMC Stack Hot” as a boost for solo’s or to add more sustain in songs that I’m using “LMC Stack Chorus” as the main sound. I switch between both sounds in the same song a lot of the time but they do get used on their own in different songs as well. (more…)
