Legends 22
Legends: Parliament-Funkadelic
Exactly what kind of band is Parliament-Funkadelic? Although the focus of our video above is their totemic single, “Flash Light,” the brains behind it — George Clinton, Bootsy and Catfish Collins, Bernie Worrell, Eddie Hazel, Junie Morrison, and Garry Shider, among many others — were always one group. To distill every nook and cranny of […]
The Beginnings of FM Synthesis
Editor’s Note: This post covers the origins of FM synthesis through a historic and technical lens. For more on the video above, please see the section labeled “Notes From Our FM Synthesis Video.” Black. Queer. Transgressive. In 1986, in some deep backwoods of Huntsville, Ontario, appearing right on the cabin doorstep of a young Beverly […]
Legends of Tone: Fuzz
From soaring David Gilmour guitar solos to saturated and raw Jack White rhythms, fuzz pedals have moved into the lexicon of nearly every modern player. An effect that by nature is hostile, unwieldy and a whole lot of fun, the modern fuzz pedal plays into our fascination with the unknown. Endless sustain, wonderful feedback and […]
Top 5 Eddie Van Halen Solos
If you had to name just a few guitar players who reinvented the electric guitar, nay, created a whole new school of guitar itself, then Eddie Van Halen would be an obvious choice. Instantly recognizable, his style and sound became forever synonymous with shred guitar as we know it today. Some even say that without […]
Legends of Tone: Radiohead Part 2
Radiohead, the behemoth rock band of legend, carried so much content for us to represent in our first Legends of Tone feature that we literally couldn’t boil it down into just one video successfully. Instead, we decided to go with an extra-special, unprecedented sequel: Legends of Tone Radiohead: PART TWO! Our first video focused on […]
Legends of Tone: AC/DC
Where to start? If I somehow ended up in another universe and needed to explain what rock music was, I’d just put on an AC/DC record and be done with it. They are an absolute powerhouse of a group and are undeniably one of the most successful rock bands in history. For any doubters out […]
Legends of Tone: 2018 Collection
This year, we were thrilled to feature four more incredible acts in our Legends of Tone series. Each of these posts includes a look back at the artist’s musical legacy, as well as a video that showcases our attempt to recreate their most famous licks, riffs and solos. Check out all of 2018’s posts below, […]
Legends of Tone – Frank Zappa
Here at zZounds, we’ve done more than a few Legends of Tone features the past couple of years. This time, we’re putting the spotlight on perhaps one of the most prolific, bizarre, and brilliant minds of the 20th century: Frank Zappa. He released an astounding 62 albums during his lifetime, almost all self-produced. After his death, […]
Legends of Tone: Heart
In our next installment of Legends of Tone, we’re showcasing a band that certainly deserves this special title based upon their influence on hard rock. That band is none other than Heart, a genre-defying group that reshaped what the general landscape of rock was or could be. They are considered the very first female-fronted hard […]
