Gibson Exclusive Firebird I Demo
In the early 1960s, a well-known car designer by the name of Ray Dietrich retired to Kalamazoo, Michigan. He had done some styling work in the auto industry for manufacturers like Packard and Lincoln as well as designing some custom luxury vehicles. Soon after he had moved to Kalamazoo, Ted McCarty, then president of Gibson, […]
Enhance Your Guitar Tone with Preamp Overdrive
Getting the tone that’s in your head sometimes involves more than just twirling the knobs on your amp. Learn how to utilize hardware or software preamps, and you’ll open up a rainbow of tonal possibilities for your tracks. Join me as I attempt to augment a standard rhythm guitar tone with a software preamp model […]
Using Pitch Riding to Improve Your Mixing
In our era of master tempo and the “sync” button, mixing can become very stagnant and boring. These features easily become crutches and they aren’t always correct. You may find yourself in a situation where you need to know how to manually beat-match and, most importantly, mix songs unassisted. So while computers and CDJs/media players […]
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 […]
Hybrid Mixers: Analog Mixers Meet Digital Tech
Not quite digital mixers, but with capabilities beyond the basics of analog mixers, hybrid mixers employ both analog and digital signal paths, with features like USB inputs/outputs, digital effects processing, or built-in digital recorders. Mixers that combine analog and digital tech have existed for decades. But more recently, manufacturers have been touting the “hybrid mixer” […]
Exploring the Korg volca modular
It’s a “West Coast style” modular synthesizer! It has 50 patch points! It’s… perhaps a little intimidating at first glance. The Korg volca modular is a “micro modular synthesizer.” This means that it’s made up of individual modules: the sections of a synthesizer that perform different functions, such as selecting the sound source, adjusting the […]
A Journey to MIDI Guitar Land: Part II
Not many dedicate a whole post to what you can’t do with something, but allow me to break a cardinal rule for a reason. Do you ever have one of those “a-ha” moments when things just click? I have to say, I had one quite recently when going through the land of guitar MIDI control […]
Orange Bass Butler Demo
Serve up classic “bi-amped” bass tone, without a van full of gear! The Orange Bass Butler splits your signal in two — with one end handling clean, fat low end, and the other emulating a guitar amp, tackling mids and top-end, while adding just the right amount of gain. The result is a finely tuned, […]
Victory Amps Kraken, Duchess & Countess MKII Amps Demo
Victory designs amps with modern versatility that sound like vintage classics. We put three of their top varieties to the test here at zZounds. Listen to the video above to hear The Duchess, The Countess, and The Kraken in action for yourself! Plus, shop our guide on zZounds to see even more Victory Amps! All […]
