Musical Instruments

Here’s the American Standard Stratocaster electric guitar by Fender. This beauty had the privilege of spending some time in my studio for a little routine check. And what a ride it was! For some rock chords, blues riffs, funky rhythms and lots of modern jazz, this Strat is a versatile, high-end guitar. The American Standard I personally tried is equipped with three single coil pickups, features a black body finish with a classic white pickguard. The sexy curves of this solid body (it has contours that fit the musician’s arms) makes this guitar a gem of modern electric instrument manufacturing. The Stratocaster model, with its two asymmetrical horns continues to be the most imitated guitar body amongst all lesser brands of electric guitars. Thousands of timeless albums feature the tones of this american musical giant. Hendrix, Clapton, Stevie (and many more) used the Strat as their main instrument. We shouldn’t take this lightly!

When my children were younger, I remember my wife and I contemplating questions like: when is my child ready for music? and How can I make sure they’ll like it? Even though we’re both classically trained pianists and I write and produce music for a living, we STILL grappled with these questions! Well I’m going to try to give all parents some answers. In addition to my own perspective on this subject, I bounced a few ideas off Jennifer Gasoi (2014 Grammy Award Winner- Best Children’s Album). She obviously has some fantastic insights and tips. You’ll see her perspective liberally peppered throughout this post.

Notions of vanity aside, if Shakespeare were alive today I believe that he’s be a guitar player and he’d agree with me that ESP makes some of the most aesthetically pleasing guitars in the world. That is only part of the equation, however, as the playability and tones produced are virtually unrivalled. In this blog I take a look at the ESP USA Eclipse and the ESP E-II M-II. Beauties indeed.

Roland's AeroCaster harnesses the power of your iPad to get you streaming wirelessly with multiple mobile devices in no time.

If, like most home or project studio owners, you’ve opted to use a computer as the center of your studio, then you’ll most likely be hearing a lot about audio interfaces.    For the typical home user, the sound card on your computer is just fine. Unfortunately, for a studio owner, you’ll very quickly find that the onboard sound system is inadequate for your needs. They’re typically noisy, they lack inputs and outputs you’ll most likely need and they can be inefficient in the way they translate analog and digital audio.   That’s where audio interfaces come into the picture. An audio interface is a piece of dedicated hardware that you connect to your computer. In the most basic sense, the interface is the audio middleman between you (the real world) and the computer. 

Blue Microphones has released the new Yeti X USB microphone and is providing the opportunity to have professional level audio without professional level costs.

An acoustic amplifier can help you get your sound heard over a busy band and reach your audience. This AC-20 by Joyo might be the tool you need.

The Shure SRH840A and SRH440A are revisions of classic monitor headphones that will interest audio creators, musicians and podcasters.

Best Buy is welcoming Godin to its lineup of stringed instruments.

Boss pedals and electric guitars go together like vanilla ice cream and hot apple pie … well, at least it seems that way to me.   Boss has released one new bass pedal and three interesting takes on classic guitar pedals they’re naming “Waza Craft” editions.