The Wireless MIDI Keyboard Rig
Playing keyboards is my jam, but schlepping a lot of gear around is definitely not. My main gigging board is a Roland AX-Synth Shoulder Synthesizer — or a keytar, as it’s affectionately known. Besides the keytar’s distinctive look, the appeal of this board is its eminent portability. But there comes a time when you need […]
Bringing Your Guitar Back From the Dead (of Winter)
Whether it’s cars colliding with cavernous potholes, or football opponents colliding with “Bear weather,” Chicago is a city known for its winters. It is also true that instruments are not safe from the grasp of Old Man Winter, which can expose the mortality of even the “elite.” While winter has proven capable its ability to […]
A Guide to Distorted Bass Guitar
In the dark, mysterious world of heavy music, the guitar reigns supreme, sitting atop a craggy mountain on a throne of crushed skulls. If you want to riff hard, usually you grab a guitar, drop the tuning down, plug into your favorite fuzz and start chugging. If you follow conventional wisdom though, the bass guitar, sitting […]
Beat Techniques: Dub Production
Welcome to Beat Connection, a series dedicated to promoting modern and vintage dance styles the only way we know how…by providing you a musical starting point to help you create that beat. In the main bulk of our posts, we’ve been taking you on a journey to what I’d dub “foundational beats.” These foundational beats […]
A Guide to Finding Your Perfect Snare Drum
The centerpiece of your drum kit, the most addictive thing to collect in all of drumming — the punchy, fat or attacking snare drum. It’s no secret that the snare drum is one of the sexiest pieces of modern drum kits, and with so many different materials, colors and sizes, it’s easy to get lost […]
Keyboardist Bonnie McIntosh: Roland Artist (and Role Model)
Where in the world is Bonnie McIntosh? As the live keyboardist for such pop phenoms as Selena Gomez, Madilyn Bailey, and Malia Civetz, the talented Ms. McIntosh spends a lot of time globetrotting (just peep her Instagram for photo evidence.) When she’s not on the road playing tour dates and TV gigs, you’ll find this […]
1965 Gibson LG-0 Vintage Acoustic Guitar
Hello. My name is Patrick and I’m a guitar addict. My most recent acquisition is a vintage 1965 Gibson LG-0 acoustic guitar. This model was Gibson’s student level guitar when it was released in 1958 since it lacks some features and has laminated back and sides. The guitar isn’t in mint condition. It has a […]
Legends of Tone: Andy Summers
The Police have had a long, storied, and downright tumultuous career in the history of rock, and oh what a story it’s been! At one point, they were considered the biggest rock band in the world, regularly selling out the largest capacity venues worldwide with no signs of quitting. Four of the band’s 5 albums […]
The Trials and Tribulations of DIY Sound Treatment
My band and I have been rehearsing in the same building since 2014. It’s one of those “warehouse-turned-band-practice-space-compound” type of deals that you come across in big cities like Chicago — except it never turned fully “practice space.” In its original form, our building was a cold storage facility in the Stockyards industrial district of […]
