Live Musician Central

Author: Live Musician Central

  • How To Save And Load Presets On Your Fender Cyber-Twin SE With MIDI Sysex

    Fender Cyber-Twin SE Front
    Fender Cyber-Twin SE Front

       I use the Fender Cyber-Twin SE Amplifier as my main amplifier and have programmed many custom patches for it. It would be catastrophic to say the least if I lost all my presets before or during a show. That’s why I have backed up all my presets in MIDI System Exclusive format and I keep a copy on our computer that we use at all shows. The best and easiest way to load patch presets onto your Fender Cyber-Twin SE Amplifier is by using MIDI System Exclusive data. The Cyber-Twin SE creates and communicates this type of MIDI data natively and it works flawlessly for backing up, sharing and loading your patches. It’s much easier than tediously entering in all the parameters by hand which would be very difficult at a gig. The beauty of using MIDI Sysex data is that it will save all your front panel EQ settings as well as all expression pedal settings and assignments for each preset as well.

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  • Sunday Funnies – Nightmare Before Christmas\Christmas Time In Hell Mashup

       Being a big fan of South Park I often enjoy Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics around the holidays. I always get a chuckle out of Satan singing Christmas Time In Hell. I couldn’t find the actual South Park clip on YouTube but I did find a very fine video\audio mashup of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Christmas Time In Hell. The creator of this video did a great job cutting in relevant video clips from Nightmare Before Christmas to the song. It’s surprisingly funny to watch it. I hope you enjoy a little Christmas humor today.   (more…)

  • Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 12-13-2008

       Every week at Live Musician Central I pick some of the top new releases available for you to download from both iTunes and Amazon.com music service.  These new release choices reflect the heaviest music industry marketing. There are two reasons I post up the most heavily music industry marketed albums. First, by checking out these releases you’ll be able to keep a finger on the pulse of the mainstream music industry. It’s still a very powerful business that heavily influences peoples buying choices. The second reason is that a large number of people are going to know these albums. So if your band is looking for new music to put in your bands setlist these would be good choices simply because your chance of people knowing the songs at your shows will be very high. You’ll also look very on top of things and current with your knowledge of music. So these albums are a great resource for your song selection. I will also post up links to top selling albums of all time for the reason of song selection as well.

       I use links to both iTunes and Amazon.com. iTunes is now the top music retailer in the U.S. so it goes without saying that people are going to be downloading their recommended new releases. I put links up from Amazon.com because their music service is an incredible bargain and their MP3’s are DRM free. You can save a bundle downloading entire albums from Amazon.com over iTunes. Amazon.com MP3’s are also ripped at an excellent sounding 256kbps and since they’re DRM free you can play them on multiple MP3 players including iPods and iPhones.

       This week we’re also featuring some great gift idea’s from iTunes!
    Apple iTunes
    Apple iTunes
    Apple iTunes (more…)

  • Get Your Band Focused By Scheduling A Gig

    In Stereo Gigging The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City
    In Stereo Gigging The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City

       Nothing, and I mean nothing, will have your live band working together like having a gig scheduled. When you have a deadline for a performance the whole band will suddenly become more focused on creating a great final product to present at the show. The constant tweaking of parts will stop, songs that just aren’t coming together will be dropped and the songs you do well will really start to get tight. Having an upcoming gig will give your band a sense of urgency that really will help you to polish things up and make them presentable.    (more…)

  • Save Money With Great Christmas Deals On Music Equipment

       There are still some excellent deals on music equipment for the live musician on your shopping list. The best online music equipment retailers are really giving out some great deals that can save you a bunch of money. Another thing to remember is if you buy your equipment before the end of 2008, you can deduct your equipment expenses on your tax return this tax season. (Which reminds me, I have some cash from gigs that I still need to spend…) Anyway, check out the great deals going on right now at Musician’s Friend, Music123, ZZounds and iTunes.

    Apple iTunes





    Apple iTunes

  • Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert – Bass and Guitar Duel

    Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert
    Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert

       This clip is of bass playing genius Billy Sheehan and guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert. These two great live musicians played together in their band, Mr. Big. One of the highlights of the show is when the two players took center stage and solo’d on their respective instruments.

       This clip is a great example of two extreme players going back and forth and doing some truly incredible stuff. It’s long, but worth the watch.  (more…)

  • The Guitar Player Repair Guide Review

    Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine
    Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine

       The most beloved possession any live musician will own and take care of is their instrument. Playing in a live band over the years I’ve seen guys play on the most beat up and improperly setup instruments you could imagine. They still loved them but they loved them even more when they were setup correctly. I’ve been setting my own guitars up now for about 20 years and I have become extremely good at it. My guitars really play silky smooth. I take the time to properly set up the string height, pickup height, neck relief and intonation as well as maintain my guitars very methodically. I set my students guitars up for them and they often say “I didn’t know my guitar could be so easy to play!”.

       Today I want to tell you about one of the most valuable books in my collection. It is by legendary guitar builder and repairman, Dan Erlewine. I bought his book “The Guitar Player Repair Guide” when I was about 19 years old and it has been very well used over the years. This book is packed with information about setting up, maintaining and repairing electric and acoustic guitars. It covers Fender style bridges, Floyd Rose style bridges and Les Paul style bridges. It goes in depth about how to setup each type of guitar as well.   (more…)

  • Playing Christmas Gigs: Good Times, Good Pay, Good Marketing

    Playing A Christmas Gig

       For live performing musicians, Christmas gigs can be the most lucrative and funnest gigs of the entire year. There’s just something about the season that brings out the best in people. Some of the best times I’ve had at gigs are the ones I’ve played right around Christmas. The celebratory and giving spirit of the season seems to really affect the club owners and especially the audiences at this time of year.

       A good show is really the coming together of the performer and the audience. Around the holidays people are just ready to relax and have a good time. This really becomes evident as you play gigs around the holidays. The audience is so eager to celebrate that our jobs as entertainers become much easier. You can really draw on the audience for that extra push of energy to take your show to the next level. Having a successful gig at Christmas is as easy as keeping things light and happy onstage. You don’t even have to play exceptionally well as long as you’re having a good time. It’s a great time to market your band because people will remember you if they have had a really good time. Associating your band with good memories is fantastic marketing.    (more…)

  • Sunday Funnies – Bad Singing At Its Worst

       I feel like you should never label anyone as the worlds worst singer. I believe that since every voice is unique that labeling and categorizing voices is simply a lame practice. That being said, singing skill level is definitely something that we can rate. So Robert Conway here gives it a good try, but his skill level is quite low. Thank heaven this young man has a good paying job at a chicken factory. His cover of Aqua’s Barbie Girl is hilarious though and I do think some background music and echo would have helped his performance immensely. Enjoy!   (more…)