Author: Live Musician Central

Behringer Eurorack UB2442FX-PRO Mixer Review

Behringer Eurorack UB2442FX-PRO Mixer

The most important component in your live band’s P.A. system is the mixing console. Without a mixer you’re not going to be able to mix your live sound properly when playing a gig. I’ve written a couple posts such as “You Need A P.A. System To Play A Gig” detailing how important having a good P.A. system is to the success of your band.

Today I’m going to talk about a budget mixer made by Behringer called the Eurorack UB2442FX-PRO. I know that many of you that have experience with Behringer equipment are rolling your eyes right now and I don’t blame you. Behringer has a reputation for cheap equipment that doesn’t always come with the best build quality. I know I’ve had my share of problems with Behringer equipment but at the same time I’ve been able to use Behringer products quite successfully in my studio and with my live band.
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The Who Superbowl Halftime Show Review

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who

I would certainly be remiss in my duties if I didn’t give a post to review the Superbowl halftime performance of one of the most legendary live bands of all time, The Who. First of all let me tell you that I am a huge Who fan and I have been since the very first time I heard them. The Who are actually one of the biggest influences on my playing and songwriting. Still, I’ll try to be objective about their Superbowl halftime performance. (more…)
Sunday Funnies – Monty Python Lumberjack Song

For todays Sunday Funnies we’ve got a good old Monty Python classic, the Lumberjack Song. This song has brought many a laugh over the years and it’s always good for a chuckle. I hope you enjoy it just one more time. (more…)
Microsoft Zune HD vs. Apple iPod Touch Review

Microsoft Zune HD

A good portable music player is not only a great personal entertainment device, it’s also essential to have one to use with your live band. You can use it for learning songs while your practice as well as using it to play break music at gigs. Today we’re going to take a look at the Microsoft Zune HD and how it compares to the Apple iPod Touch.

The overall capacity of the two music players is relatively the same. The Zune HD is available in a 16GB and a 32GB model while the Ipod touch is available in an 8GB model, a 32GB model and a 64G model. Apple offers the Ipod in both smaller and larger models than the Zune, but I feel like the Zune hits a good midpoint. 16GB and 32GB both let you have a fair amount of music and video on your device. Apples 8GB model will only let you hold a few hours of music along with one or two full length videos. To be fair, I was somewhat disappointed that Microsoft didn’t have a larger size of the Zune HD available. (more…)
Jeff Beck – Les Paul Tribute 2010 Grammy Awards Video

In my review of the 2010 Grammy Awards I talked about an excellent live performance by Jeff Beck and Imelda May. Here is the video of Jeff Beck and Imelda May performing the Les Paul/Mary Ford classic “How High The Moon” at the 2010 Grammy Awards. I really think it’s cool that Jeff picked up a Les Paul guitar to play this tribute since he is such a genius on the Fender Stratocaster. Jeff also does a great job copping some classic Les Paul licks during the song. Imelda May simply has a beautiful voice and she nails the vocal on this song.

I do believe that Les Paul deserved about four times as much time for a tribute than he got on the Grammy’s. I don’t think the recording industry would be what it is today without Les Paul’s amazing innovations in recording technology as well as guitar craft. I hope you enjoy watching this performance as much as I did. (more…)
2010 Grammy Awards Review

Pink Performs At 2010 Grammy Awards

The 2010 Grammy Awards were a very interesting spectacle this year. At times it was entertaining, at times it was boring and predictable. The live performances overall were actually quite good and there were some great ones as well as some real duds. Since this is Live Musician Central, we’ll be reviewing the live performances more than the actual winners.

One of the best performances of the night for me was the Les Paul tribute by Jeff Beck and Imelda May. Their performance of the Les Paul/Mary Ford classic “How High The Moon” was simply excellent. Jeff’s guitar was one of the few lead guitars that was actually properly mixed for the evening. Another of my favorite performances was Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige singing Bridge Over Troubled Water. Andrea Bocelli’s voice was simply amazing. (more…)
Sunday Funnies – Horrible Guitar Players On YouTube

I know everyone has to start someplace when they learn to play the guitar. Let’s face it, we were all pretty horrible when we started playing. I’m just glad that nobody had a video camera around when I was learning to play guitar. I really feel sorry for these poor saps that video themselves playing horrible guitar and then have the “great idea” to put it up on YouTube.

I hope you enjoy this short clip of some of YouTube’s worst guitar playing. (more…)

Weekend Setlist For Your Live Band To Play – Classic Rock 4

We’re posting up another great Classic Rock setlist for your live band to learn. The songs in this set list are timeless rock-n-roll that will get any crowd up and having a good time. That’s what it’s all about when you’re playing live music, keeping the crowd engaged. If you learn this setlist you’ll have an entire set of quality classic rock for your audience.

Even if you decide not to learn all of these songs it’s a good idea to have them loaded on your portable music player to play during your band breaks. The songs in this setlist get requested a lot and if you have them on your MP3 player you can at least fulfill some requests during your break.

These songs are available for direct download served by Amazon.com MP3 service. They are encoded at a high quality 256kbps rate and they sound fantastic. All MP3’s from Amazon are DRM free so you can load them on any MP3 player including iPods and iPhones. You don’t need any special software, just download and load them onto your player using any interface you want.

Amazon.com Widgets

Included Songs:

Take It Easy – Eagles
Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith
Burnin’ For You – Blue Oyster Cult
Crazy On You – Heart
Fire – Jimi Hendrix
Tush – ZZ Top
Feel Like Makin’ Love – Bad Company
Runnin’ With The Devil – Van Halen
Touch Me – Doors
Cocaine – Eric Clapton
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – BTO
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – Rolling Stones

Grammy Awards 2010 Preview

Shakira Performs At The 2007 Grammy Awards

The Grammy awards are coming up this Sunday January 31, 2010. They’ll be shown on CBS at 8PM ET/PT and just like last year, I’m sure they’ll disappoint. Every year I watch the Grammy’s and then vow that I’ll never watch them again. Let’s face it, since music distribution has gone so heavily digital and hit songs are basically just hits in a certain niche, the Grammy’s just don’t hold the same allure as they used to have. I guess an indication of all the niche markets is the fact that there are over 100 categories for for Grammy awards. So if you’re into rock and roll, you should get about 10 minutes of enjoyment out of the Grammy awards.

I guess it’s just how the music industry is that everything is categorized and marketed to a certain audience. The Grammy’s, after all, is as much a celebration of targeted marketing as it is a celebration of musical creativity. The Record Of The Year category is loaded with the top sellers for 2010. But great albums like “It’s Blitz!” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are crammed into their own niche. So congratulations Lady Gaga, you have been marketed very well this year. Good luck winning the Grammy for your silly song “Poker Face”. (more…)
Danelectro FAB Chorus Pedal Review

Danelectro FAB Chorus – Excellent Sound, Incredible Price

I’ve been playing guitar in a live band for a lot of years now and I’ve come to rely on some basic guitar effects to help shape my sound. One of the most important effects you can add to your guitar effects collection is the Chorus effect. If you don’t know how a chorus works its quite simple. Chorusing makes your guitar sound like multiple guitars being played, hence the name Chorus. It accomplishes this effect by putting a slight delay and modulating the original signal then mixing the modulated signal with the original.

Today I’m going to talk about an incredibly affordable chorus pedal called the FAB Chorus by Danelectro. The FAB Chorus is a colored a metallic blue, has an on/off indicator light, an on/off button and 3 knobs that control Mix, Speed and Depth. The FAB Chorus is a mono chorus as opposed to more expensive stereo chorus effects. As you know, a stereo chorus effect will yield a wider and more ambient chorus effect split between two stereo channels. The FAB Chorus is made to be used with a mono guitar amplifier. (more…)