In November of 2011 Adrian Belew performed and spoke at the Chicago Humanities Festival series on the history and future of guitar sound. Great stuff here including midi instrumentation, layering and combining effects such as echo lengths with pitch shifts, loop pedals, compound rhythm structures, and time signatures.

 

I...

A commission from the Performa Festival in NYC to take part in Tarek Atoui's project "Visiting Tarab" brought me to Beirut in August 2011 to do research at a private archive of Arabic classical music run by Kamal Kassar. This opportunity came right in the middle of the overdubbing sessions for the new Terraplane CD for Enja, Sky Road Songs, but I could not turn down this incredible opportunity.

I've noticed lately that there is a trend toward odd voices. I think perhaps it grew out of Macy Gray’s colossal impact. Once something hits that big, everyone gets in line to follow. Like anything else, there is a good and a bad side to this “I want to sign someone like her” approach.The upside is that singers with truly interesting voices actually get a chance to be heard, and deservedly so. Gray’s voice is inimitable, and she is a pleasure to listen to. If her success allows other equally interesting singers a modicum of success, that is a great thing. Who wants to hear the same type of voice over and over again? Singers like Gray bring the excitement and passion back to music that can become too predicable.However, the downside to this search for the next ‘most interesting voice’ is that many artists begin to sing in quirky, odd voices that are not in any way natural. I’ve heard (mostly) guys sing with a dark, covered tone, which won’t hurt the voice, but it just doesn’t sound right. I know what they are going...

 If you haven't yet checked out the fabulously informative blog  called "Tone Fiend," which is hosted by guitarist, producer, journalist, pedal builder, and tireless tech head Joe Gore, now is great time to do so as Joe delves into one of the heaviest guitar mods of all time. It's called The Pagey Project, and it recreates the original wiring scheme in Jimmy Page's Les Paul. In this first installment you can see the full DIY article by Duncan's wiring whiz Scott Miller, which he did for GP in 2008. You can also  watch a video of Joe demoing some of the sounds on a Les Paul and read his detailed notes on  doing the procedure. And even if you decide not to attempt the surgery yourself, you will learn a ton about adding some serious sonic flexibility to your Les Paul (or other dual-humbucker guitar), and you may well find yourself  a devotee of Tone Fiend, which is loaded to the gunwales with great info on  guitars, basses, pickups, pedals, mods, and more . . .

 

Check it out at www.seymourduncan.com/tonefiend/pickups/join-the-pagey-project-if-you-dare/...

I had the honor of attending and performing at the Thanks Jimi Festival in historic Wroclaw, Poland. The festival—which celebrated its 10th Anniversary this year—takes place every May 1st in the beautiful Old Town Market Square. It was founded by Leszek Cichoński both to honor Jimi Hendrix, and to break the Guinness World Record for Largest Guitar Orchestra, which it has done several times over. This year, the festival topped its own previously set record when more than 7, 300 guitarists played "Hey Joe" with ecstatic abandon. It is impossible to convey the feeling of looking out over thousands of mostly young guitarists playing Hendrix classics such as "Little Wing" and "Red House," and participating in the eruption of cheers when the official count was announced. Congratulations to all!

I recently reviewed the i2M audio MIDI interface, which works amazingly well in a monophonic capacity. But if you need polyphony with perfect tracking all the time. The best solution is still a fretboard controller.Perhaps you remember the SynthAxe: a synthesizer controller constructed roughly in the shape of a guitar, where notes were triggered by pushing down rows of buttons arranged like frets on a fingerboard? Between the average guitarist’s lack of interest in all things synthesizer and a price tag of $8-$13,000 dollars, it is no wonder it never caught on—Allan Holdsworth notwithstanding. But for the last couple of Winter NAMM shows, two companies have been showing products that recall this relic of the Eighties. Misa Digital and You Rock Digital are betting that the increased interest of guitarists in all things digital, combined with a lower price point can revive the concept.Read the rest of this blog and check out more of Michael's musings here:www.guitarmoderne.com/gear-2/guitar-style-midi-controllers-synthaxe-redux