How-To Guides 5
Strike Pro SE: Alesis Brings Out the Big Drums
The biggest difference between acoustic and electronic drums is often the feel — sometimes even more so than the actual sound. Alesis has redefined what an electronic kit can feel like with their Strike Pro Special Edition. A 20-inch bass drum rounds out the realistic look and feel of this powerful electronic drum kit. Up […]
A Tour of the C.F. Martin Guitar Museum and Factory
There are not many companies that have been open since the 1830s. For their first six years, all Martin guitars were made on Hudson Street in New York City before moving to Nazareth, Pennsylvania. In 1839, C.F. Martin and his family moved to rural Pennsylvania because it reminded them of where they grew up in […]
A Journey to MIDI Guitar Land: Part I
Lions lying down with lambs. Hams being stuffed into turkeys. Keyboards being turned into keytars. Guitars being turned into MIDI controllers. There are many things that many people consider an aberration (if not an abomination). Once, I felt the same way. But then I tried to turn my electric guitar into a MIDI controller. It […]
Wampler Tackles Digital Effects with the Terraform
Brian Wampler started his legendary career by modding pedals, and has always been a self-described “gear nut.” Not wanting to make something “boring” (his words) Brian decided to combine 11 custom-designed modulation effects into a single stompbox unit. He’s thrown Wampler into the digital realm with the Wampler Terraform multi-modulation pedal. The eleven custom-designed modulation […]
Three Tremendous Tremolos: Amp, Pedal, and Harmonic
Often confused with the whammy bar, tremolo was one of the first effects to ever be introduced for guitar. In this post we’re taking a look at a few different versions of this effect. What is Tremolo? There’s often a lot of confusion in the guitar community about tremolo and vibrato. Both are often used […]
Organizing Digital Music Libraries for DJs
In the age of digital DJing, organizing a music library has never been easier. Not only can you fit a whole crate of records on a flash drive, the ability to create a playlist and organize songs into folders is much more intuitive than labeling physical media. I am not trying to talk negatively about […]
Analog Filtering Tracks With the Korg Volca Mix
With all the great plug-ins available these days, is there really any advantage to using analog outboard processing? In this post we’ll take a listen to some sound samples that have been processed by analog filtering so you can hear for yourself. For our purposes we’ll use the Korg Volca Mix, a very affordable portable […]
Coaxial Studio Monitors in the Real World
Kali Audio’s “Project Independence” IN-8 and IN-5 studio monitor speakers are notable for their three-way architecture, with the midrange driver and tweeter nested together in a coaxial, or coincident, design. We’re taking a close look at coaxial studio monitors — and how they can help solve the real-world problems of phase cancellation and off-axis lobing […]
Beat Techniques: Ambisonic Music Production
Ambisonics is a phrase used to describe a way of listening to sound beyond the mono and stereo world we’re normally exposed to through headphones and speakers. Ambisonics is immersive audio coming to you from all angles — left, right, north, and south. If you’ve caught any of the previous Beat Connection posts, you’re probably […]
