Music Blogs (1,255)

Is Jon Bon Jovi quitting music? Rock star’s heartbreaking admission after vocal surgery

Did Kurt Cobain and Nirvana really change the landscape of music?? It's been 30 years since his death. Bassist Krist Novoselic's career faded and drummer Dave Grohl's career soared.
They still play Nirvana songs on classic radio.



Drugs, sex and grunge music...

Releasing her first country album called, Cowboy Carter, should bring some attention to that genre of music.

I wish I had a dollar for every video or story produced about getting your gear to sound EXACTLY like Jimi Hendrix.
Over the course of his career he used lots of different guitars and amplifiers but toward the end, it was a Fender Stratocaster guitar and several Marshall 100watt Plexi series amplifiers. He also popularized a VOX Wah-wah pedal and some effects pedals like fuzz and Octavia that produced high octaves and distortion.

Here are some essentials the guitarists often miss.
Hendrix was Left-handed and usually played a right-handed guitar with the strings reversed.
He tuned it a half step lower than standard and used mis-matched sets of strings where some of the middle strings had a thinner gauge, yielding a more 'twangy' sound and easier to do note bending.

Finally... (actually not) it was his 'feel' for the instrument as it was said he often carried his guitar to parties and nightclubs, rarely letting it out of his sight. Also important, Hendrix had long slender fingers and could wrap his thumb around the top of the neck playing the bass notes other guitarists couldn't reach. Most of the fast players (Steve Vai for example) have long fingers... it goes with the territory.

So, if you are trying to mimic Hendrix... I suggest 'keep at it' for the next 2 decades as there was only ONE Jimi.

In the music news, Eagles band co-founder Don Henley was in court this week over a case where he clams handwritten notes used to craft songs from the 1976 album HOTEL CALIFORNIA had been stolen and sold at auctions. Three collectibles dealers Glenn Horowitz, Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski are on trial in this case.

Valued at more than $1 million, the defendants knew the materials were stolen, manufactured false provenance, lied to auction houses, potential buyers and law enforcement about the origin of the manuscripts.

This all started with author Ed Sanders, who had been hired to write a biography of the Eagles, were he allegedly had stolen them in the late 1970's and is said to have sold the manuscripts to Horowitz in 2005, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski.
In this case, Sanders has not been charged with a crime. However, the means by which Sanders got the notes is essentially the question at the center of the case.

Henley testified that he gave Sanders access to his handwritten notes, but he never gave the writer permanent possession.

The attorney who is representing Kosinki, stated the defense rightfully owned the material and therefore were free to sell the papers. He claimed that Henley voluntarily provided the lyrics to Sanders.

The defendants opted to forgo a jury trial and the trial is expected to last for several weeks. The verdict will ultimately be decided by the judge. Obviously a lot at stake.



Hotel California is listed as the third-best-selling album of all time, certified platinum 26 times by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) having sold more than 32 million units worldwide.

Nice remix of a classic

In the late 60's and early 70's there was a popular venue where they held teen dances Saturday and Sunday nights. It was originally a grocery store that went bankrupt, not long after it became a gathering place where they projected surfing movies on the wall. A father and son bought the place, erected 2 stages and hired local bands to perform there. The pay wasn't great, but it was steady work where as many as 4 bands playing each night and sometimes we were booked 6 to 8 nights a month.

The venue (legally) had a capacity of 90, but there where nights where kids stood outside waiting to get in and it was mostly 'standing room only' as the owners packed the place.
Lots of places would stamp your hand as identification so you could leave and return later and more kids would pay to get in as soon as a few left... even if they were going for a hamburger with plans to be back in 30 minutes. So total paid attendance would easily be 250 to 300 in a 4 hour period.

Because it was so popular, bands as far as 50 miles away were booked to play there. I got to hear a good sampling of the music being played in South Florida. There were a few Latin (Cuban) bands playing and a few soul or blues groups, but mostly the mix was rock & roll and later changing to hard rock music.

Over the years, I had been in a few different groups and my father managed us which was great because he was friendly with the owners that helped us get more bookings.

One afternoon, we had solid rain for a few hours and the streets were flooded. Some of the groups were forced to cancel their appearances. We weren't booked that night, but a desperate last-minute call from the owner asked if we were available. No problem. Our drummer had a Volkswagen bus, so we loaded our gear and was able to go through the flooded streets to make it to the gig! That effort put us in 'solid' with the owners.

As always, it was important to have a good opening song at the beginning of each set.
There was a band we often shared a stage with called "The Body Shop" and they played a mixture of blues and rock & roll. They were located across town so none of us knew them from school or any other connection, but we got along great with no friction or band rivalry in any way, so it didn't matter if they opened the set first or we opened the set first.
The cool thing about this group was they often opened their set playing the high-energy song "Living in the USA" by the Steve Miller Band.
I heard this song on the radio today and it reminded me of the group.
Great song!



"Somebody get me a cheesburger..."

Now that I'm getting back to music as a profession, my tone and volume is more important as a trio performing in small venues than as a five piece rock band playing at outdoor concerts. My cousin did a gig at a patio bar of a local restaurant the other night and the first thing the manager said was "Keep the volume down."

I get that. I walked around the venue to listen to the loudness and levels of the piano, drum machine, guitar and vocals then came back to make suggestions. For now, all the music came through 2 speakers on stands near the band. Louder near the front and not loud enough in the back.

The manager said the volume near the band was okay. I suggested moving the speakers further apart so the coverage near the back would better without having to make things louder. My cousin mentioned he has 2 satellite speakers not being used. That's perfect and all we need to do is make some extension cords for power and sound and we can place them on opposite sides of the venue for better coverage.

To keep levels under control, I'm thinking about some audio compression. It's something that gets used in nearly all processed media we listen to. I've been researching audio compression recently for where and how it gets used, also what benefits it will give in a live performance. Basically... it makes the sound more uniform where the peaks don't exceed a preset level and the lower sounds are raised making the music program sound fuller. The music is literally compressed into a volume range.

For me, it will even out my volume so finger picking style is the same volume as slap style. I bought an inexpensive compressor and will experiment with that.

Some videos on compression are 20 to 50 minutes long... too much for an example. I found a good example that takes less than 3 minutes to make the point.



A good explanation is a singer getting very close to the microphone and then backing away a foot or two. The compressor will compensate for both conditions so he/she will have the same level.

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