Showing posts with label Roland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roland. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
3:59 PM | Posted by
Donovan Banks |
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I used to always have my amp standing on the floor when I played. I battled to get my sound right for ages.
What was happening was that the majority of the sound was hanging out on the floor, and what was coming to my ears was only certain frequencies, mainly higher tones.
So I got an amp stand and now I aim the amp at me, much like a monitor.
What was happening was that the majority of the sound was hanging out on the floor, and what was coming to my ears was only certain frequencies, mainly higher tones.
So I got an amp stand and now I aim the amp at me, much like a monitor.
Now I am hearing the full effect of the amp, all the tones of my guitar and if I mic it up right, so should the audience. See my Vox on the left.
The next problem comes in with what I had to deal with this week. I played on someone else's amp twice this week, once on Sunday and then again this morning, 19 May 2010. The difference it made as to where the amp was placed is huge.
Sunday I played on a small Fender combo amp. It was placed on a chair right behind me. The stage was small and tight and I was battling to stop any feedback. The amp and guitar were way too close together and as soon as I added any gain for lead sounds, it was uncontrollable. But, because I was in a rush and it wasn't my stage I couldn't change it around. Without gain it was fine, but very loud and it made me uncomfortable. When you sound good, your attitude comes right and then you play better. When you sound bad you focus too much on it and try to fix your sound instead of actually playing.
This morning I played on a Roland JC120. The stage was much bigger and the amp was far away from me, pointing up at me again. When I added the lead patch on my GT8, no feedback, no uncomfortable noise, just pure goodness.
It is very important to take time and find your position for your amp and you. You don't want the amp pointing at the guitar, you will just get feedback. You don't want it aimed parallel to the floor, unless you have ears in your ankles. You want the amp aimed at your head so you can hear it clearly, sound good, and rock out properly.
Labels:
advice,
Boss GT8,
Gear,
How to,
live,
performance,
Roland,
Sound engineer,
technical
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Monday, April 26, 2010
8:57 AM | Posted by
Donovan Banks |
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Not too long ago I purchased myself a keyboard to use for MIDI purposes in my music creation. It turns out I am not a keys player. I never have been and in the time it will take me to learn a whole new instrument I can make the money and hire someone to do it for me.
Then I heard about the Roland GR20
guitar synthesizer and figured this is a much better way to get the sounds I want, without having to hire a session musician.
It wasn't the cheapest of options but it certainly works well. But the toughest part is trying to play a guitar like you would a piano, or organ or trumpet etc.
Some of the sounds are very cheesy, others just don't live up to what they should be, but if I want a violin in the background of my piece, you won't know the difference between the real deal, and the synthesized take.
The pickup isn't very hard to mount and can be fitted on all types of guitars. As long as it has steel strings, or steel core strings then it will work.
One of the coolest things you can do is split the guitar and synth signal. You can split it after the pedal unit as well so you can send the guitar signal to a guitar amp/processor, and the synth signal to a PA or another amp.I have used this in a band situation, we didn't have a bass player so I split a bass signal to a bass amp, and my guitar to the guitar amp.
One can set the sensitivity of each string. In this case I had the top two strings on higher sensitivity and the bottom four on much lower. This prevented all my chords and general guitar work, from coming out of the synth and not sounding like a bass should. It would work wonderfully to use strings or other full sounding additions to really beef up your sound.
Here is part 1 of a 4 part video demo I put together.
Here are the rest, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
Please feel free to leave a comment or ask questions. Have fun for now...
Then I heard about the Roland GR20
guitar synthesizer and figured this is a much better way to get the sounds I want, without having to hire a session musician.
Some of the sounds are very cheesy, others just don't live up to what they should be, but if I want a violin in the background of my piece, you won't know the difference between the real deal, and the synthesized take.
The pickup isn't very hard to mount and can be fitted on all types of guitars. As long as it has steel strings, or steel core strings then it will work.One of the coolest things you can do is split the guitar and synth signal. You can split it after the pedal unit as well so you can send the guitar signal to a guitar amp/processor, and the synth signal to a PA or another amp.I have used this in a band situation, we didn't have a bass player so I split a bass signal to a bass amp, and my guitar to the guitar amp.
One can set the sensitivity of each string. In this case I had the top two strings on higher sensitivity and the bottom four on much lower. This prevented all my chords and general guitar work, from coming out of the synth and not sounding like a bass should. It would work wonderfully to use strings or other full sounding additions to really beef up your sound.
Here is part 1 of a 4 part video demo I put together.
Here are the rest, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.
Please feel free to leave a comment or ask questions. Have fun for now...
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About Me
- Donovan Banks
- Durban, KZN, South Africa
- I am a musician who does anything and everything else. I write about what I do and how I do it. Enjoy and feel free to comment.
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