Priority Music

Archive for May, 2010

Buying a new guitar is always an exciting process for the beginner or experienced guitarist. A basic knowledge of the instrument and an assessment of your musical goals will help you make a wise purchase, a purchase you can enjoy for years, perhaps even a lifetime All guitars produce sound through the vibration of the strings. Classical guitars transmit the vibration of the string to the soundboard via the saddle and bridge. The combined resonance of the strings, saddle, bridge and soundboard are, in turn, amplified in the sound-box or body of the guitar. The design and quality of the, saddle, bridge and soundboard have a major impact on the guitar’s sound.

Have in mind before buying…

Nylon produces a round, mellow sound and is the preferred sound for classical, Low, medium, normal and hard tension strings create a tension up 75-90 pounds. Less string tension makes a classic guitar easier to play. The fingerboard, 50-52 mm at the nut, provides room for intricate finger picking. The longer string, 650-655mm length from saddle to nut enhances the bass response and sustain. The classical guitar body style is smaller than most other acoustic designs which make the instrument easy to handle and feel. Always remember, when buying a handmade guitar, you are buying a live instrument. Temperature and humidity are the main factors to ruptures and instrument deterioration if not cared according to the maker’s instructions.

See” taking care of your guitar” below.

Setting Goals

What are your goals? Are you anticipating a serious hobby or majoring in music? If so, buy the best solid top guitar you can afford. An inexpensive guitar is a good choice if your goal is merely casual enjoyment for a semester or so (or if you’re really poor!). Do you need to be amplified for church or stage? If so, an acoustic-electric classical will afford maximize versatility. Before shopping, decide on a budget so the dealer can show you guitars in your price range.

Trying Out a Guitar – Action

Each guitar is unique in feel due to variations in neck thickness and shape. If the neck is comfortable, the guitar will be easier to play. The string height above the fingerboard–the action–also influences playing ease. The action may vary according to personal taste and playing style. High action is difficult to play but allows buzz-free high volume playing. Low

action is easy to play but buzzes during aggressive playing. A compromise between the two is best for most players. Fortunately, the action can be adjusted to suit your needs. If you are a steel-string player, remember that classical action is higher than steel-string action due to nylon’s lower tension. Listen carefully to the timbre (tone color) of the guitar. A balance between dark and bright is the most versatile. However, timbre preference is subject to taste and playing style. If your right hand technique is on the bright side, a dark sounding guitar will help balance your tone. If you play without

nails, a brighter guitar will help bring out the upper frequencies. Play single notes throughout the guitar’s range and listen to how they sustain. Listen to the relationship of the bass notes to the treble. The bass should be firm with a long sustain. However, the treble notes must be able to stand out in relation to the bass so you can project the melody. Finally, have someone play the instrument so you can judge the projection. What’s the difference in sound between a $300 guitar and a $3000 one? Budget guitars are less resonate and have a smaller tonal and dynamic range than expensive guitars.

Workmanship

Whether you are a beginning or advanced player, a quality guitar is crucial to your success and enjoyment. A fine instrument is easy to play, exudes workmanship, and sounds resonant and responsive. A quality instrument inspires you to practice and excel as a musician. Buy the best guitar you can afford and it will greatly enhance your learning and enjoyment. Note the quality of workmanship in the seating and polish of the frets, the binding between the top and sides, and in the finish. However, in all fairness, you normally get what you pay for. Budget guitars cost less because cheap materials and lesser workmanship are used to trim costs. Budget guitars should be playable but will have numerous finish defects, unpolished frets, messy glue joints, unsanded bracing and poorly adjusted action (a good dealer will adjust the action if needed). Premium quality guitars will have a near perfect fit and finish of all components. Even the interior bracing will be neatly glued and sanded smooth! Before purchasing a guitar, confirm that the tuning heads turn smoothly and allow reasonable pitch control. Fortunately, cheap or broken turning heads are relatively easy and inexpensive to replace.

Price Ranges

Professional classical guitarists play instruments handcrafted by individual makers, e.g., Fleta, Hauser or Gilbert. Depending on the maker’s reputation, these guitars cost $3,000 to $20,000. Guitars made by a specialized group of builders in a small shop cost from $1000 to $10,000 e.g., Ramírez, Hirade or Asturias. For most people these instruments are out of each.

Most beginners are looking for an inexpensive guitar. Buyer beware: most guitars retailing for under $100 are disappointing junk. Don’t throw your money away on a cheap toy, pay a little more and get a real guitar. Really cheap guitars have

unacceptable compromises in design, materials and construction quality. Fortunately, there are many factory-made guitars costing from $150 to $300 that make fine beginning instruments.

Recommended Classic Guitars

These models are excellent values in their respective price ranges. Granada guitars from Sevilla- Spain range form $299- $499, Prudencio Saez – guitars form Torrent – Spain. range from $380 -$1,800. Amalio Burguet guitars- Catarroja- Spain, range fro, $999- $4,500.

Have you ever wondered if it was possible to write your own music at home?  If you would like to compose and listen to your own songs or pieces, you can.  There is software that enables you to write your own music: it’s called Finale, and is created by the MakeMusic company.

Finale has been in existence for almost a decade, and has numerous versions still in print.  The latest version is Finale 2010.

There is a bit of a learning curve for write your own music software.  For example, with Finale, you have to:

Learn the various tools such as the speedy entry vs. regular entry tools
Decide if you want to hook up an external midi device or keyboard
Understand the different types of slurs, articulations, and other notations

While it takes a while to learn how to use Finale, once you get the hang of it, you can start writing your own songs very quickly.  Finale is good for any genre of music, but ideal if you want to compose music that other people will actually read on paper.

Write your own music software is sometimes expensive; in the case of Finale 2010, you’ll be looking at roughly $200-300 for the software itself.  That doesn’t include keyboards or any hardware you want to hook up.

If Finale 2010 isn’t your cup of tea, you can also try programs like Digital Performer or Pro Tools.  These also take a bit of time to learn, but you have more options with music production software like the two listed above.  Finale is a little more limited when it comes to actually creating your own mp3s.

On the other hand, if you want something simple or for notation purposes only, Finale is great.  You can have your own songs written in just a night or two, and then export them to mp3 format for quick listening and sharing.

Bluetooth headphones and accessories are one of the fastest growing trends in electronic technology today. Those little gadgets that fit snugly to the ear are fast becoming the hot piece of electronic equipment to own if you want to compete. This hands-free opportunity to communicate with other headphones, PDAs, laptops, and now, iPod technology makes it one of the fastest growing consumer purchases. Bluetooth headphones come in a variety of model and price ranges. For a moderate $40 dollars, you can purchase basic Bluetooth headphones with a standby time of up to 120 hours. This model is able to also receive calls while not attached to your ear, and has voice dial and regular dialing options.

For a little more, consumers can try the BlueTake GT400 G3 Bluetooth headphones. This one incorporates a sleek style in a nice shade of blue that offers an attractive alternative to other headsets. This one also offers a full line of accessories. Fans of Bluetooth headphones might also want to check out the VR-3 wireless cell phone speakerphone designed for a Bluetooth headphones set. For less than $50, this handy gadget can be used in your car. Another, larger speakerphone is also available for less than $75.

Moderately priced between $50 and $100 dollars, consumers may also opt to purchase Scosche wireless Bluetooth headphones, still less than $100. These Bluetooth headphones are a little more stylish than other models and come with a docking base system that can plug into your cigarette lighter. When you dock the Bluetooth headphones into the docking system, they immediately go to speakerphone mode. Moving on up the Bluetooth headphones models and price ranges, any fan of Bluetooth headphones may want to take a look at the I-Phono Plus Bluetooth headphones and Transmitter kit. This model enables wireless music listening capabilities. For less than $200, users are able to control play lists and listen to either music or incoming telephone calls with the easy flick of a switch. The kit does contain the Bluetooth headphones and a Bluetooth transmitter that will work with any stereo or audio equipment. Another choice for Bluetooth headphones, and one that still ranges below the $200 mark, is the Scosche Bluetooth headphones. These nifty gadgets have a flip down microphone and come with a full range of options and accessories as well.

Besides being the hottest selling item on many consumer electronic favorites listings, Bluetooth headphones and accessories will continue to ride the popularity wave. Newer models boasting additional options and capabilities continue to hit the market every few months. As prices come down, more and more people will be able to afford and enjoy such convenient technology. Be advised however, that bugs are still being worked out on several Bluetooth models, so make sure to do your research before you buy. Check out forums and feedback on various websites selling Bluetooth technology to learn more about particular models of Bluetooth headphones to make sure you purchase the one that best suits your wants and needs.

DJ’ing has become very popular in the last few years especially since technology has allowed a non-technical person to become a Pro DJ in a few weeks when equipped with the right Digital Scratching Tools available on laptops. This article will teach a person to DJ and what equipment they will need after the purchase of a laptop to start mixing beats like a pro.

Purchase a laptop. Look for a good brand Laptop that you know will not crash during a gig. If you are looking for a PC, I would recommend closely looking at customer reviews, talk to electronic store sales people, and even ask your friends what laptops they may recommend. The great thing about a PC is that a consumer can get a phenomenal computer with all the bells and whistles for a very affordable price. The problems PC’s face are viruses that infiltrate that operating systems and crash the hard drives erasure program, music, and important data.

Consider a Macbook. They are absolutely more money and don’t offer all the bells and whistles the new PC’s are coming out with, but they do offer stability, consistency, optimal performance, and are not nearly as susceptible to the viruses a PC can get.

Demo (trial) DJ Software before you buy it. You can get a bunch of free DJ programs to start with BUT these programs do not offer what the paid programs do. There are so many free programs that they are unnameable at this point but the ones that you should look into are Virtual DJ, Traktor, etc. These are programs that must be bought but offer things like, playlist controls, beat mixing features, sync mixing features, skins that look like real mixers, etc. The free programs will not do what you really need to do as a laptop DJ.

You can stop here if you just want to practice before getting into the equipment you’ll need to start DJ’ing gigs. You can even DJ smaller partied with good laptop speakers any time you want. To become an advance DJ with good sound equipment, move on to the next section.

You have your laptop and DJ Software, now you need a mixer. You have to plug your laptop into a mixer of some sort. You will output the speakers from your mixer. Mixers are fairly inexpensive and can be bought at your local music store. A 4 channel mixer would be fine. Some DJ Software Programs offer an USB external sound card. These sound boxes allow for separation of the Left and Right Channels. If you do purchase a usb external sound box you would run a 1/4″ cable out from the LEFT channel to channel 1 on the mixer. You would run a 1/4″ cable out from the RIGHT channel on the box to Channel 2 on the mixer.

IF you DO NOT have an USB external sound card, then you will be using the “OUT” or “Headphone” jack and run an 1/8″ out of the computer to 1/4″ into Channel 1 on the mixer.

You have your laptop, DJ program, Mixer, now you need speakers.To keep you set-up simple but still powerful, invest in POWERED (Active) speakers. (Speaker that you need to plug in to get to work). If you get passive (non-powered speakers) you will need separate amplifiers connected to you mixer. Powered speakers are more expensive but will punch/kick your music better and your dj set-up will be much simpler.

You have your laptop, DJ program, Mixer, now you need speakers. To keep you set-up simple but still powerful, invest in POWERED (Active) speakers. (Speaker that you need to plug in to get to work). If you get passive (non-powered speakers) you will need separate amplifiers connected to you mixer. Powered speakers are more expensive but will punch/kick your music better and your dj set-up will be much simpler. You will need 2 XLR cables. The female end will get plugged out from the mixer and into the speakers (Left/Right outputs). Buy 2 Speaker stands if possible.

You have your laptop, dj software, mixer (optional usb external sound card box), 1 1/’4 – 1/8″ cable, powered speakers, 2 xlr cables, and speaker stands. You just need your favorite music and you are ready to start practicing to become a pro DJ on a laptop.