Live Musician Central

Author: Live Musician Central

Preserving Your Musical Legacy

Archive Those Tapes With Mass Storage

As a musician I’ve wondered what my legacy will be. Will anyone remember or care that I worked so hard at music for so many years after I’ve gone? I’m hoping that at least my kids will remember and care about my musical legacy after I’m gone. So what is something concrete that you can leave behind? I believe that the recordings that you should be making over the course of your career will be the biggest evidence that you really gave music your best shot. A good body of recorded work will document your life as a musician in a way that nothing else will. It will show your progression from beginner to being the best you could possibly be. A good body of recorded work will bring you a lot of enjoyment as you get older and want to take a trip down memory lane to see where you’ve come from as well. I know listening to my old recordings makes me feel really good about where I am now.

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Back To School For Drummers

Remo Practice Pad

   My son is a drummer and every year we have to replenish his supply of back-to-school drumming items. If you have any kids in a percussion program I figured I’d save you some time searching for those essential back-to-school items that your student may need.

   Our list for this year included SD1 General Sticks, SD2 General Sticks, Stick Bag and a Practice Pad. Here are some links to the essentials for your percussion student.

   I have found all the links to buy the above products… (more…)
Big Bends Guitar Care Products

Matt With Les Paul Custom

I’ve written before about how much I use and love Big Bends Nut Sauce Tuning Lubricant. My Stratocaster and Les Paul guitars stay in tune so much better when I use Big Bends Nut Sauce that I just can’t live without it. Big Bends also makes a great line of guitar care products I’d like to turn you on to.

My Les Paul Custom has a nitrocellulose finish on it that looks fantastic but is also quite fragile. I used to grab a terry cloth towel and some polish to clean it up but it was always a lot of work using terry cloth. Then I tried a Big Bends AXS Wipe Microfiber Polish Cloth and I was amazed at how quickly and how well my nitrocellulose finish cleaned up. The Microfiber Polish Cloth is just fantastic at picking up dirt and grime with a minimum of rubbing. If you’ve never tried a Big Bends AXS Wipe Microfiber Polish Cloth you gotta get one and try it. (more…)
Get A Good Music Recorder

Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder

   There are a lot of incredibly good audio recorders on the market right now. They are compact and handheld with built-in stereo microphones. Having one in your gear arsenal is very important for a number of reasons.

   I’ve written before about how important it is to record your live performances. You can learn so much from hearing your gigs back on a recording. Having a recorder like the
Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder can make recording your live shows as easy as setting the recorder up in the back of the room and letting it record. Since it’s all digital you can edit out dead spaces later. Making a back of the room recording is a good idea because it really lets you hear what the audience is hearing. You can also capture the audience reaction to your performance. If you get good at placing the recorder where it picks up well, you could end up with an excellent live recording that you could use as a demo in your bands marketing kit.      (more…)
Sunday Funnies – Eric Clapton Shreds with Carlos Santana

For todays Sunday Funnies I’m putting up another great “Shreds” video. This one features a guitar duel by Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana. It’s really funny because BluesMK (the author of the vid) took the time to replicate Carlos and Eric’s different guitar tones.

I think it’s a funny example of their contrasting guitar tones. The PRS with the tube screamer is definitely a nice contrast to Claptons mid-boosted Strat. At one point Carlos throws down “Crazy Train” then gives Clapton the “Let’s see you do it!” stare as Clapton tosses off a standard blues lick in response. Nice to see Carlos give Randy Rhodes a little nod there. The 2/4 country style jam at the end is hilarious too. The playing is, of course, aweful… (more…)
Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 8-2-08

Every weekend Live Musician Central picks some of the best new releases along with some “must have” albums. I pick music that is very popular since there will be a better chance of more people being familiar with it. When your band plays a gig it’s always best to play music that as many people that are there will be familiar with. The music I pick is geared toward dance and dance rock bands. These albums are also a great example of music industry marketing. So here are the Live Musician Central weekend album picks for the week of 8-2-2008.

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To Be A Great Musician, Be A Fan Of Music

Ringo Listening To Some New Music

I have people ask me all the time who my biggest influences are in music. I always just keep it simple and say “The Beatles, The Who and Pink Floyd”. While that’s true to a large degree they’re obviously not my only influence. When I first started to get really excited about music those three bands really turned me on to a lot of great things. But then naturally I wanted to hear more new and exciting music. Which brings me to my topic today. I can honestly say that I’m a huge fan of all music and that every piece of music I hear influences me in some way or another.

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The Importance Of Stage Lighting

Complete Lighting Package

I’ve played in all types of places from basements and living rooms to concert halls and stadiums. I’ve experienced all types of lighting along the way. I’ve played under a single lightbulb as well as rooms using only a lava lamp for lighting. I’ve also played on huge stages that had individual spotlights for each member of the band and full concert lighting. I’ll tell you, the concert lighting was a lot nicer.

Most clubs that bands regularly play in have woefully inadequate lighting. They usually have a few dedicated stage lights and you’re lucky if more than half of them work. There are exceptions to that rule and I’ve played in some clubs with incredible stage and dance floor lighting. But like I said, those are exceptions and you’ll usually find yourself playing in dim light.

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Standard Practice, Dress Rehearsal and Live Show Setups

Bill Likes Pepsi At Rehearsal

I’ve been playing in bands for 27 years now and have been to lots of band practices and rehearsals. Today I’m going to talk a bit about how your band sets up for practice and gigs. I want you to think about how your band sets up during a standard band practice. I’ll bet you that you stand in some kind of circle or oval facing each other with all the amplifiers and speakers pointing at you. That’s really the standard setup for a regular band practice.

Now think of your setup at your gigs and live shows. I’ll bet your backs are to the drummer and all your speakers and amplifiers are pointing forward. (more…)
Hal Leonard Gig Guide Book With CD – The Performance Guide For Bands

Hal Leonard Gig Guide

I’m always checking out new and interesting products to help make my life in a band easier. I was looking at some guitar tablature books and stumbled onto the Gig Guide series published by Hal Leonard. The Gig Guide series is designed to provide musicians with a blueprint for building bands.

What Hal Leonard has done in the Gig Guide series is to pick a musical genre, say Classic Rock, and compile a 12-song setlist. It’s the same thing I’ve done for you with the Live Musician Central Set List series. You get several tools to use to learn the songs with the Hal Leonard Gig Guide series. Along with the list of songs are a Lead Sheet with the basic essential parts you’ll need to know to play the songs. This could be as simple as chords and melody. You also get a demo CD with a full band playing the song so you can hear how you should sound. (more…)