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Sunday Funnies – DJ Spock

Live Musician Central presents the sunday funnies!

I believe this is from one of the outtakes from the Season 3 Star Trek episode “The Way To Eden”. By season 3 Star Trek was living on borrowed time and the budget was tight so scenes from previous episodes were often re-used. But they were still trying to break new ground by giving us a glimpse of the future. This scene was eventually replaced with the scene where Spock plays the Vulcan Harp. I think they should re-insert this original “DJ Spock” scene which was filmed long before DJ’ing became so popular.

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Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 9-13-08

Every weekend I pick several albums to post on Live Musician Central. The albums I put up are determined by a couple factors. I usually put up a couple that are being heavily promoted by the music industry. These may not be albums that I particularly like but they are albums that are going to be prominent in the public conscience. It’s good for us as musicians to stay current with what’s being promoted by the industry. We can gauge what we’re doing with what is being pushed out there. It’s also a good source to choose new music for your band to learn and play live or to have on the iPod to play during band breaks. The reasoning here is that you want to play music that people will know and since the albums I post on Live Musician Central are being so heavily promoted, your chances of people knowing the music at your shows is very high.

The rest of the albums that I post are either personal favorites or they are certified classic albums that have sold millions of copies and are familiar to a lot of people. I also like to post a few links to iTunes and a few links to Amazon’s music service. Amazon has DRM free MP3’s that are ripped at 256kbps which is excellent quality at a killer price. So make sure you check them out!
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How To Approach A Cover Song

Elvis Presley Covers Blue Suede Shoes

A cover song is a song that has been recorded by another artist and that your band will be playing. Some famous artists that have played cover songs are Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Van Halen, The Rolling Stones. A lot of current artists will play cover songs as well and go on to have big hits playing them. The good thing about playing cover songs is that the song has already been marketed to the masses and has been proven to be a well loved hit. So your chances of having success playing the song is very high. There are a couple ways you can approach playing a cover song.

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Talent And Skill On The Ukulele – Jake Shimabukuro

   I have to admit that I never really considered the Ukulele a very serious instrument. It seems so limited with only four strings and a two octave range. Of course, whenever an instrument can make music, it seems like someone comes along and masters it.

   I gained a new appreciation for the Ukulele when I saw an amazing YouTube video by Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. His skill on the instrument is truly amazing and he has a rare talent for creating very moving arrangements of well loved songs. The video I have added to this post is of Jake playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” written by George Harrison of The Beatles. It’s an amazing video to watch and Jake performed this same version on the Conan O’Brien show. His performance of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” was a huge hit on the Conan O’Brien show and prompted Conan to get up out of his chair and declare the performance as one of the best things he’s ever seen on the show.

   So enjoy the video of Jake Shimabukuro, I’ve also included a link to his website.

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Choosing A Band Name

Butthole Surfers – Maybe not the best name

One of the funnest but most difficult things you’ll have to do as a band is decide on a band name. It can be extremely frustrating deciding on a name that everyone in the band agrees on. Instead of agreeing on a name that everyone loves, it almost always comes down to a name that everyone doesn’t hate. So how can you pick a name for your band?

The first thing you need to do is come up with a list of potential band names. How do you choose band names? There is really no rule as anything could be used as a band name. I would suggest looking at the type of music the band is playing, or the type of people in the band. Is there something that stands out about your band that you want to point out? In my band Shufflin’ Noah we had written a song called 40 Days And 40 Nights so one of the names suggested was Noah. We felt that was too generic so we decided to add the word Shufflin’ to the front of it. That was on a list that included names like Spoon Playin’ Noah, Street Rappin’ Noah as well as a bunch of others. We finally decided on Shufflin’ Noah because we wanted people to dance to our music. (more…)
The Digitech Whammy Pedal

Digitech Whammy Pedal

One of the coolest effects I have purchased for my collection of guitar effects is the Whammy Pedal by Digitech. The Whammy Pedal was revolutionary when it was first released in 1991 and the new updated version can do even more than the original. It can be heard on recordings by The White Stripes, Buckethead, Radiohead, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, David Gilmour and Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page and many more. So what is it that this pedal does that has such famous and great guitarists using it?

What this pedal does is change the pitch of the note that you play on guitar. You can play a note and then either raise the pitch up to 2 full octaves or drop the pitch down 3 full octaves. It’s quite a broad range of pitch bending. It’s very simple in theory and when you start using it you begin to understand the possibilities that the Whammy Pedal opens up. Have you ever been playing a guitar solo and wished you could play even higher notes? (more…)
Play To Your Strengths With Your Song Selection

Click For Set Lists

Every band has it’s own unique talent level that comes from each individual band member’s personal skill level. I’ve played with guitarists that are just amazing with Jazz music but couldn’t play even the simplest of Rock-N-Roll music. I’ve played with bass players that could hold down a perfectly steady beat, until they had to play a funk bass line and then they struggled like crazy. I’ve had the same thing happen with bands as whole that I’ve been in. I’ve been in bands that could play classic Rock-N-Roll flawlessly but couldn’t even start to play any heavy metal. I’ve seen bands that play Country like nobody’s business but can’t rock at all.

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Sunday Funnies – Indian Thriller

This is a music video from India and it’s a take on Michael Jacksons “Thriller” video. The song is an Indian song with Indian lyrics. What makes it funny is Buffalax has taken the time to translate the video into english. It’s not a literal translation though, he has just written what the Indian words sound like in English. It’s really funny! Just so you can see what it sounds like without the translation I’ve posted the original first, followed by the “translated” version. Enjoy!

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Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 9-6-08

Every weekend I pick several albums to post on Live Musician Central. The albums I put up are determined by a couple factors. I usually put up a couple that are being heavily promoted by the music industry. These may not be albums that I particularly like but they are albums that are going to be prominent in the public conscience. It’s good for us as musicians to stay current with what’s being promoted by the industry. We can gauge what we’re doing with what is being pushed out there. It’s also a good source to choose new music for your band to learn and play live or to have on the iPod to play during band breaks. The reasoning here is that you want to play music that people will know and since the albums I post on Live Musician Central are being so heavily promoted, your chances of people knowing the music at your shows is very high.

The rest of the albums that I post are either personal favorites or they are certified classic albums that have sold millions of copies and are familiar to a lot of people. I also like to post a few links to iTunes and a few links to Amazon’s music service. Amazon has DRM free MP3’s that are ripped at 256kbps which is excellent quality at a killer price. So make sure you check them out!
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The Delicate Art Of Playing Keyboards

Richard Wright or Elton John?

I love playing keyboard instruments. The first instrument I learned to play was the trumpet but the first instrument I learned to love was the piano. The piano offers so much in the way of musical satisfaction when compared to other instruments. On what other instrument can you so richly play all the bass, harmony, melody and rhythm? Not to mention the technical complexity you can achieve on the piano. It’s a very satisfying instrument to play. Like most piano students I learned to play it as a solo instrument.

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