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jam session
Guitar Tips, How-To

5 Ways You Improve by Playing with Other People

Playing an instrument is tons of fun and every one of us loves our instruments and we enjoy playing them. Whether we practice or just jam and improvise it is always a fun thing to do.

What’s more important, while we have fun with our instruments, we also improve our skills, which is a very rewarding experience. Now, we all know that the key to a successful improvement is practice, practice, practice! But sometimes, practicing alone in your room is just not enough.

Almost immediately as you start playing you will encounter other players and a good thing to do is to exchange experience and maybe sometimes play with your fellow musicians.

Whether you play in a band or just jam with some friends, you will notice that the experience is completely different than playing alone in your room.

First of all, it’s a lot more fun than playing alone. Trust me. Other than fun, it is also a great way to learn some new stuff and improve your skill and technique. Besides playing, this experience can additionally improve your communication skills and tolerance towards others which can only be useful in your everyday life.

Now, let’s see what are some of the ways you can improve by playing with other people.

You’ll learn the makeup of the band

Even if playing with a large group of people was never your intention, playing with a band is a good experience for every musician. It is a very good thing to know the basic division of a band.

Learning how the band works will help you later when you try to learn the songs from your favorite popular bands and it will help you improve your knowledge of general music theory.

Also, once you learn how to associate the rhythm guitar with drum and bass and lead guitar with vocals and melodic instrument it will be much easier for you to compose your music.

Furthermore, whenever two guitar players that had an experience in playing with others try to play together, just two of them, one of them will provide the rhythm and the other one will play the melody. This will create much more beautiful sound to listen to.

Playing attitude

Every single member of the band is important! One thing you’ll learn if you play with other people is not to overplay and not to be arrogant. No one likes the arrogant and self-loving guitarists who think that they are the most important member of the group.

Especially when it comes to jamming. You need to let everyone do their thing. This way you will learn to be patient and tolerant. And if you don’t learn these things and you overplay and think that you are the most important person there, others will let you know and it won’t be very pleasant.

Dynamics and tempo

Yes, you can practice with a metronome. But sometimes you get carried away and you start improvising and you stop carrying about the tempo. This is something you can’t really do when you lay with other people because everyone is playing at a certain tempo and if you start changing it without warning, everything will sound completely wrong.

No metronome can help you learn how to follow others like playing with other people can.

Improvising

Ah yes, improvising and soloing… who doesn’t like that? Of course, you can always program some drum beats and rhythm guitars and improvise over it. Today’s technology enables us to do whatever we want. But what happens when you want to change the key or tempo?

If you stop your solo to change it on your computer program you will lose the heat of the moment. That’s why it is much better to play with a band. When you start shredding your solo your colleagues will almost certainly feel when to change the key or tempo.

No computer program can follow you as good as your fellow musicians.

Creative process and learning

Sometimes when you compose your music you get stuck. It happens to all of us. This is nothing strange but it can be quite frustrating and sometimes you can’t get over that one part for weeks.

When you create your music with your band mates, there is always someone who can throw in some ideas and help you with the song. The songs are composed much faster if you have the help of your friends and you can always learn some new tricks or techniques in the process.

This article was contributed by Raphael Taylor of MusicSkanner.

drummer
How-To

How to Mic a Drum Set for Live Performance

The drum set—or drum kit—is one of the most difficult instruments to mic up for a live performance. The principal reason for this difficulty is that a drum set is a multi-faceted piece of equipment, with each piece delivering its own distinctive sound.  As such, it is crucial you use the correct microphone for every part of the drum set, and position them in a way that ensures the most desired sound, without conflicting with the other band instruments on stage.  In the following article we will outline the several steps required to mic up each part of the drum set for a live performance.

How to Mic a Drum Set for Live Performance

The Overhead Mic

Before you begin to mic each individual drum and the cymbals, you will want to place a fairly large dynamic microphone about 1 foot to 18 inches directly over the seat in which the drummer will sit.  This is the most important mic in the entire setup.

Kick Drum

The kick drum creates an enormous amount of sound pressure.  Because of this, it’s important you select a mic with a high SPL rating, preferably a “wide-diaphragm dynamic microphone.”  There are three placement options for the kick drum mic:

  • Directly inside the drum, pointed about 2-3 inches from where the beater makes contact with the batter head
  • One to two inches outside the hole in the resonant head
  • Below the drum throne

The Snare Drum

The best mic for the snare drum is a cardioid (heart-shaped) or hypercardioid dynamic microphone.  When placing this dynamic mic, you will get the best results if you locate it just marginally above—about one inch—and inside the rim of the drum itself, with the mic pointed at the drum head at an angle of roughly 30-60 degrees.  Take care that you place the mic at an angle where it will not be accidentally hit, and perhaps even dislodged, by the drumsticks.

The Toms

Just like the snare drum, you will receive the best sound from the toms when you use a dynamic mic, either heart-shaped or hypercardioid. With larger toms, be sure to select a mic which is fairly sensitive in low frequencies.  When placing the microphones for the tom drums, aim for about one to two inches from the skins, again at an angle aimed to avoid accidental contact with the drumsticks.

The Hi-Hat Drum

As the Hi-Hat drum can usually be picked up by the overhead mic, it is often unnecessary to mic this drum at all. If you do choose to mic the Hi-Hat, use a small pencil-shaped condenser microphone, placed about 3-4 inches above the drum.

The Cymbals

The cymbals, like the Hi-Hat drum, are usually present enough to be picked up nicely by the overhead mic.  However, if you do choose to mic the cymbals individually, a good choice is a (very) small condenser microphone.  These should be placed a good 3-4 inches above each cymbal, and angled out to avoid contact with the drumsticks.

As you can see, the process for microphoning a drum set is pretty easy and straightforward.  Of course, if you’re just a beginner, it is not absolutely necessary to mic up each individual drum.  Instead, start with a good dynamic overhead microphone, as well as two dynamic microphones for the kick and snare drum, respectively.

This article was written by our friends over at ZingInstruments.com.

guitar maintenance
Guitar Tips

Maintenance Tips for your Guitar

Whether you bought your guitar for fun or you are using it professionally, you need to take care of it. Guitar manufacturers these days are exerting extra effort to provide quality instruments, so you should do your part by taking care of it properly.

These maintenance tips for your guitar to help you keep it in top condition longer.

Taking Care of the Guitar Strings

Do you remember the last time you changed your guitar strings? If not, then maybe it’s time for you to change them. While changing the strings, you can clean the whole guitar as well. Here are some helpful tips:

  • Remove the strings only two or three at a time. This will minimize any unexpected change to next tension.
  • Even if you are not changing the strings, you need to wipe them using a dry lint-free cloth after every session. Keeping the strings clean can extend their lifespan.
  • Loose the spring slightly if you will clean the strings while still on your guitar and pinch the cloth around the string to remove fretboard and finger dirt.

Taking Care of the Fretboards

You don’t have to give too much attention to your fretboards. You can do the maintenance two or three times a year. The most important thing is not to alter the natural moisture that the fretboard collects from oils on your fingers.

For a simple rubdown, take the strings off and use a soft, damp (not wet!) cloth. It is not good to have water droplets on your fretboards. Clean as you go down the board and keep the cloth turning so you will not transfer the dirt from one fret to another.

  • For a very grimy fretboard finish off using a light rub over with extra fine #000 or #0000 steel wool.
  • When removing grime, cover your guitar’s pickups using another cloth. The steel wool’s tiny particles will be attracted to the pickup magnets. You definitely do not want that to happen. To avoid this, cover your pickups when cleaning the fret using a steel wool.
  • Use an old toothbrush to clean up the frets. Use one with a soft bristle.
  • You may notice some hairline cracks on a dried-out fretboard. You can use a guitar conditioner to remove it. Or you can use one to two drops of oil into the fretboard to condition the parts with cracks. Make sure not to overdo it, and also use a soft, dry cloth to remove excess oil.
  • You can use special guitar oil, no wax, no silicone and with fewer chemicals. You can use it to oil the board lightly, do this once a year.

Maintaining the Look of your Guitar Finish

There is no need to be too abrasive on your guitar’s neck and body. You can do some polishing using a dry cloth, or if it is really dirty, a slightly damp cloth is enough.

  • You can clean your guitar using specialized products like nitrocellulose lacquer.
  • Squirt the product on a clean cloth and not directly on the guitar.
  • Use different cloth for guitar’s body and fretboard. This will prevent you from transferring dirt from one part to another.
  • Never use furniture polish on your guitar. The polished used for furniture will likely seep into the wood and can affect the density and sound.

Taking Care of the Other Hardware

For bridges, tuners, nuts, and pickups, you do not have to do that much.

  • You can use a slightly damp cloth in cleaning the bridge, but in the case of hard to remove grime you can use a soft toothbrush.
  • To polish the metal tuners, you can dab a cloth with glass cleaner.
  • Pickups may become a bit mucky. Never put moisture near them. Use dry, clean cloth to polish pickup covers.
  • For blowing away dust, use compressed air spray.
  • You can also use a quality, soft clean paintbrush to remove the dust before cleaning your guitar.
  • Never expose the guitar into direct sunlight longer. It can damage and crack your guitar’s finish. Wipe it before putting it back in its case.

Keep on top of your guitar’s maintenance needs and you’ll find it lasting for many years!

This post was written by Alex Frank in association with Music Instruments Center.

marshall amp
How-To

Unconventional Ways to Become More Musical

Everyone knows practice makes perfect. But is becoming a great musician really just a matter of rehearsing more? The truth is a great musical mind requires a lot more than just hours of music practice. Becoming a great musician is not just about cramming in theory and playing your instrument until your fingers bleed. Indeed, some strategies can help you improve your music skills in rather unconventional – and fun – ways.

Setting more goals

Who would have thought that being good at setting goals could help you be more musical? It might sound odd but it is true. The process of setting goals requires you to be logical and set strategies that are simple and effective. In order to achieve your goals, you first need to know what it is that you want to achieve and how you can get there. You need a plan – which is crucial when it comes to learning faster.

Therefore, by thinking about music more through goal-setting, you will improve your ability to learn. You’ll accomplish tasks quicker and you focus more on the essential.

Talking to like-minded people

Great minds do think alike and if you want to absorb music and learn more about it, you need to surround yourself with other musicians. This isn’t difficult in the modern era of online chat rooms and Snapchat. So, join a music community of people who share your passion and get talking about your common interest.

Playing games

You should occasionally swap your guitar or saxophone to a game controller and play games to boost your musical abilities. Now, while Guitar Hero is certainly not going to teach you how to play the guitar, games like that can hone your musical instincts. You will be able to listen to the rhythm and pitch – especially if you don’t just mindlessly slam the buttons.

Guitar Hero and others are undoubtedly fun games but more ‘serious’ games are available as well. You could train your ear with RelativePitch or improve your rhythm with Steve Reich’s Clapping Music.

Explore and listen new music

Listening to music can help you make you a better musician. But it’s not about any kind of listening; you must listen actively. This means paying all of your attention to the music and exploring music you wouldn’t normally listen to. You want to focus on finding new genres and listen to bands that sing your favourite song differently than what you’re used to – it will help you notice intricate differences and opportunities in music. So, book a tribute act for your summer party or treat concerts like blind dating – the less you know before you listen to it, the better.

These strategies can actually help you become more musical. If you utilise these, you will make playing by ear more natural and you can start improving your improvisation skill. Of course, these strategies don’t mean practice and playing aren’t important. They just show that in order to enhance the impact of your saxophone or guitar lessons, you also need to implement other, less conventional methods.