Snark SN-2 Clip On Tuner Review

The Snark-SN2 chromatic tuner makes tuning any instrument quick and easy. Tune guitars, bass, saxophone, trumpets, oboes, violins and more!

Snark SN-2 Chromatic Clip-On Tuner
Snark SN-2 Chromatic Clip-On Tuner

I’m always looking for good pieces of music equipment that will make my life easier playing in my live band. I’ve never been a fan of having to plug a tuner into my signal chain with my guitar. I also get tired of unplugging my guitar and then plugging it into a tuner over and over through a gig. Enter the Snark SN-2 digital clip-on tuner. This convenient tuner solves both of these problems easily.

The Snark SN-2 tuner clips directly onto your electric guitar or bass and senses the vibrations from the strings to give it an accurate reading of your instruments tuning. The Snark SN-2 will also clip onto any acoustic instrument including guitars, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, oboe or anything that vibrates. The Snark SN-2 also has a built-in microphone so you can tune keyboards with it as well. It’s a chromatic tuner with extended frequency range so it will read any note on the scale and tell you whether you are in tune or not.   Continue reading “Snark SN-2 Clip On Tuner Review”

Cakewalk UM-2G 2×2 USB MIDI Interface For Mac And PC

The Cakewalk UM-2G MIDI interface allows you to plug your MIDI devices into your Mac or PC computer.

Cakewalk UM-2G 2X2 Midi Interface
Cakewalk UM-2G 2X2 Midi Interface

   When I’m not out playing in my live band I’m usually working on writing and recording music in my home studio. I use a lot of MIDI equipment and several computers so I’m always looking out for convenient MIDI interfaces. Today I’m going to tell you about the Cakewalk UM-2G 2×2 USB MIDI interface for the Mac and PC computer.   Continue reading “Cakewalk UM-2G 2×2 USB MIDI Interface For Mac And PC”

How To Tune Your Own Piano

Tuning your piano is easy with the right tools and a good guide book.

Piano Tuning
Tune Your Own Piano

   I’m a pianist as well as a guitarist and I have an old Kranich and Bach baby Grand Piano. I’ve had my piano tuned professionally only once since I’ve had it and naturally, over time it has gone out of tune. So I decided to tackle the job myself to see how well I could tune my own piano. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be and the results have been very good.    Continue reading “How To Tune Your Own Piano”

Line 6 POD Studio KB37 USB Audio Interface Review Update

Line 6 POD Studio KB37
Line 6 POD Studio KB37

   A while ago I wrote a review on the Line 6 Toneport KB37 Audio Interface and MIDI Controller. I really love this little audio interface and it’s been an invaluable tool for my music recordings. I have a larger setup in my main studio but the KB37 goes with me when I need to work on my recordings while on the road. That being said, I have to admit that I use the KB37 in my big studio a lot of the time because it’s so simple to use.

   When I got my KB37 it was called a Toneport and came with basic Line 6 amp simulation software. I had to purchase Reason 4.o and Sony Acid separately to get my portable recording setup running with the KB37. That added up to quite a few dollars to get a decent mobile audio workstation going.   Continue reading “Line 6 POD Studio KB37 USB Audio Interface Review Update”

Make Equipment Hauling A Breeze With A Mini Cart

The rock n roller mini cart makes loading your musical equipment in and out of a venue a breeze.

Rock n Roller R6 Mini Cart
Rock n Roller R6 Mini Cart

One of the biggest things I dread about playing in a live band is hauling equipment in and out of the gig venue. I have hauled more equipment up stairs and ramps than I care to remember. I always hoped I would get rich enough one day to afford my own roadies to haul my equipment. That’s only happened a couple of times so it’s usually me that has to carry my gear in.

That’s why today I’m recommending to you an excellent mini cart designed to fold extremely small for stowing in your vehicle yet is still strong enough to have a hauling capacity of 500 pounds. This cart is called the Rock n Roller R6 Mini Cart and it’s a real back saver for all you live musicians out there.   Continue reading “Make Equipment Hauling A Breeze With A Mini Cart”

How A Handy Pocket Metronome Can Increase Your Playing Speed And Accuracy

Every musician needs a handy pocket metronome for practicing to increase their accuracy and speed.

Seiko DM70 Pocket Metronome
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.

Continue reading “How A Handy Pocket Metronome Can Increase Your Playing Speed And Accuracy”

Reason 4 Power The Comprehensive Guide

Reason 4 Power is a comprehensive guide to getting the most out of your Reason 4.0 music production software.

Reason 4 Power
Reason 4 Power

   Last week on Live Musician Central I did a series of features on the incredibly powerful Propellerhead Reason 4.0 music production software. Reason 4.0 is an amazingly powerful music program that will let you fully explore your creative impulses. As I’m sure you’re aware, the documentation that comes with most of these great pieces of software is basic at best. There are so many devices available for you to use in Reason 4.0 that it can easily overwhelm you without some direction. That’s why today I’m going to point you to an excellent guide that will help you get up and running quickly with Reason 4.0. That guide is called Reason 4 Power and is written by Michael Prager, a 15 year veteran in the music technology industry. His credentials are too numerous to list but if you want to read them check out the Reason 4 Power product page. Needless to say, he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to using music production software.

Continue reading “Reason 4 Power The Comprehensive Guide”

M-Audio Keystation 88es MIDI Keyboard Controller Review

The M-Audio Keystation 88es is an excellent USB powered MIDI Keyboard controller solution for your computer audio needs.

M-Audio Keystation 88es
M-Audio Keystation 88es

   This week on Live Musician Central I’ve been talking about creating a keyboard setup built around the incredible Reason Music Production Software by Propellerhead. Obviously the most essential component to have in addition to the software is a MIDI Keyboard Controller. Today I’m going to tell you about an extremely affordable MIDI Keyboard Controller that is built specifically for interfacing with a computer and Reason music software. The keyboard I’m going to discuss today is the M-Audio Keystation 88es.      Continue reading “M-Audio Keystation 88es MIDI Keyboard Controller Review”

Propellerhead Reason 4 Introduction Video

Introductory videos for Reason 4.0 Music Production Software by Propellerhead.

   Yesterday on Live Musician Central I wrote about how much I love Reason 4.0 Music Production Software. It’s by far the easiest program I’ve found that will allow you to tap into your creative muse with keyboard based music. Today I’m going to post a couple videos from YouTube which will give you an introduction into the functionality of Reason 4.0 music production software. The demonstration is done on an apple Macintosh but Reason functions exactly the same way on a P.C. which is what I use. Reason really is worth every penny to add it to your software collection.     Continue reading “Propellerhead Reason 4 Introduction Video”

Propellerhead Reason 4 Music Production Software Review

Reason 4 music production software is a must have software for all modern keyboard players. It’s invaluable in your home studio as well.

Reason 4.0 Rack Front
Reason 4.0 Rack Front

   When I started playing in live bands the hottest synthesizer on the market was the Yamaha DX7. Back then it was great to have a keyboard that could play lots of notes simultaneously and do a decent job of sounding like the instrument it was emulating. Most keyboard players brought multiple keyboards to the gigs and there was a lot of setup time involved. I remember spending hours working on the perfect soundpatches for my Roland keyboards. The thing about playing keyboards is you can never have too many sound options. It was an expensive proposition to be a keyboard player as it would cost the player thousands of dollars to get the necessary equipment to play in a live band. The dream was to have racks of synthesizer modules at your disposal to create the incredible soundscapes that you could hear in your head. But only the top paid musicians could afford to live that dream. The rest of us had to make do with whatever synthesizer equipment we could afford. It’s amazing how times have changed with the development of incredibly powerful, software based synthesizers like those found in Reason 4.0.

   If you’ve never heard of Reason which is developed by Propellerhead it’s basically a virtual studio rack into which you can load mixers, effects and synthesizer modules. If the equipment that you have access to in Reason 4.0 was sitting in a rack in your studio it would cost you thousands and thousands of dollars. You can place multiple copies of the same equipment into the rack to work with for sound creation. So if you want 15 analog synthesizers to work with, you got it. The virtual rack is infinitely expandable as long as your computer is powerful enough to run all the devices you can load into it. What types of devices can you load? Reason 4.0 comes with synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, REX file loop player, mixers, vocoder, studio effects, mastering tools, pattern sequencers and more! It’s amazing how many devices come in this software package. If you have the urge to load 11 compressors and 10 samplers with 5 synthesizers, you can do it. You can chain as many mixers together as you wish to mix all of your devices. You can keep adding gear until your computer chokes but it will take a lot to do that as Reason 4.0 is quite conservative on your system.

Continue reading “Propellerhead Reason 4 Music Production Software Review”

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