Atlantic Rising

So it's been a while since I've posted anything and a lot has happened so I will split it up into several posts. So after living and working in London for a few months I started looking for a band. Through gumtree I met a lot of good musicians and jamed with a lot of them in the studio in my building. In the end I got on with a singer songwriter I met from Kentish Town and we put together a set list of songs he wrote during his solo project. We had a lot of influences in common and felt comfortable playing blues rock together, me on guitar and him on guitar and vocals. We both put ads on gumtree and began auditioning for other musician. We took on a lead guitarist for a while but it didn't really work out so I became the lead guitarist and soon had to find myself an electric guitar. I scored and awesome deal on eBay on a Hofner shorty (yep another travel guitar), I will review this nice little guitar in a post later. Next we found a bassist that had played with the the singer (from here on our front man) and soon after we found a good fit for a drummer. After we had filled the position for drummer we had a reply to one of our wanted ads from a lady who still really wanted to audition. When we met her we explained that we had found a drummer already but where always keen to jam with new people, so she pulled out a set of harmonicas and told us to play a 12 bar blues. When she joined right in with the harmonica we realised this kind of sound was perfect for our band. We spent our time for a month or so learning the songs writing our parts to them and rehearsing the set list. Soon it was time for a name to give the promoters we looked around at how we all came from different places, decided on the name and Atlantic Rising was born. Our front-man had been in the business for a while during his solo career and got to know lots of venues and promoters so as soon as we felt comfortable he started contacting people and in just a short time we had a gig at the Enterprise in Camden. I'll never forget the feeling of walking in for my first sound check on a proper stage at a proper venue above a pub in London. I was extremely intimidated and excited at the same time. It was a dream come true, I had been hoping for this ever since we made plans to move to London but it was so surreal to actually be experiencing it. Luckily you wife's family was in London visiting us so they got to come to the show and see me. It was so great, we got a great reception from the crowd and so many compliments. I even got complimented on my little travel guitar. Up there on the stage looking over the people that had come to hear us play and knowing I had reached my goal and could truly consider myself not only a musician but a lead guitarist in a working band was amazing and I will never forget it.

Compact and Travelworthy Recording Gear

One of the main reasons I started this blog was to review my gear, so if feel its time I did a side by side comparison of some of the gear I am traveling with and using to record my music. In case you haven't noticed I can kinda nerd out when it comes to guitars and music gear, I will confess I am a gear head, I am always researching and obsessing over new gear. I often change guitars and gear and I love to take things apart, test things, see how they work and talk about gear. This is great for you as a reader because I aim to share my opinions, knowledge and experiences with the gear I use. My goal in doing this is to help readers make informed decisions when buying new gear and to help spread the word about some of my favorite guitars and equipment. I will post some details about the gear I am using but if you would ever like more information or to see my other gear you can visit my Guitar and Music Equipment Page, or of course you can always comment or Contact Me.

So I am currently using two different methods to record, the first is my Tascam DR-40 and the second is my Iphone 5s with iRIG interface and various apps. I often use these two interchangeably to record my ideas and original songs. For the most part though I use the Tascam to record high quality acoustic and vocal tracks (usually my finished songs), and I use the Iphone to record quick little riffs, ideas and songs that I do not want to forget. I also like to use the Iphone's modeling capabilities to play my acoustic guitar as an electric and to just play around with effects and lead guitar parts. I will be posting everything on my Sound Cloud Page, if you have problems listening just drop me an email or leave a comment and I will find other methods to post them. I would also love to hear your opinions and questions on the gear (or anything on the blog for that matter) as well as any ideas or suggestions you may have.

So, for this review I created 4 recordings of my acoustic guitar comparing these two methods as well as 2 recordings I made on my Iphone that are just for fun where I use some cool effects. Please keep in mind I am not claiming to be a guitar expert or a recording expert so try to listen more for the differences in the equipment than my ability or my playing style. I apologize if there is any background noise, I wanted this to be very raw so you hear exactly what you get strait out of the the recorder. If you wanted to you could edit your recordings on your computer using various software, if you just starting out or a hobbyist like me I recommend Audacity because its free and its relatively simple to use.

The first recording is with the Tascam. Here I am using the two built in condenser mics with no effects or any sort of editing or mastering. Listen Here.

Now compare that to the next recording in which I use my iPhone 5s built in microphone and the Garage Band app. Listen Here.

Just a note of recording with micraphones, the thing to keep in mind is that mic positioning and environment (as in the room or space your recording in) make a huge difference in recordings. I prefer recording with mics because you will never get the same thing twice and it sounds very natural and organic. After comparing these two myself I came to the conclusion that I prefer the Tascam recording because you can hear more of the harmonics and overtones of the guitar, but on the downside it also makes for a messier recording because the condenser mics pick up EVERYTHING including breathing. Although I prefer the Tascam I was pleasantly surprised in the quality of recording I got out of the Iphone, I expected much less. Also as a another side note, you may not be able to tell a difference on soundcloud but the Tascam is recording in stereo (using two different microphones), where as the Iphone just records in mono.

The next recording is the guitar plugged directly into the Tascam using a standard 1/4" guitar lead (same cable you would use to plug into an amp). Listen Here.

Compare that to the next recording in which I plug the guitar strait into my Iphone iRIG interface with no effects or modeling. Listen Here.

When recording like this by plugging strait in there are a lot more things to take consideration, such as the quality cables you are using, the interface you are using, input levels, if you are plugging strait into the recorder or going through some sort of amp or effects processor, and finally the quality of pickup (and preamp if you have one) that you have installed in your guitar. Fortunately all of these variables are easily controlled, to get the best recordings you should experiment with different cables, pickups, preamps, or any other gear in your "signal chain" (anything components between your guitar pickup and the recorder/ amplifier). In both of these recordings I used a cheap off brand acoustic pickup/preamp combo installed in my guitar and a cheap off brand lead. Personally I felt that the Iphone was a much better option for this type of recording. The Iphone was much simpler and much cleaner in this case. I had to play around with the input levels on my Tascam to get a decent sound and even in the one I posted you can hear some distortion and noise. Also because the Tascam has two inputs and the ability to record in stereo you will notice the first recording will only play through one speaker (this can be fixed with some mixing and mastering using a recording software). The Iphone also had some cool and fun effects you can play with that can be added before or after you finish the recording.

The next recording was just something I did for fun, I have been asked before if I can get some cool crunchy (heavy distortion) metal tones from my acoustic using the built in modeling in Garageband so I gave it a try. Here I recorded by plugging strait into the interface for my Iphone again, but this time I used the built in amp modeling and some effects to simulate a "heavy metal" style amplifier on the lead channel. Listen Here.

Compare that to this recording which is essentially the same recording, but I switched amp models to a "fender style" bluesy amp with a more mild gain setting. Listen Here.

Keep in mind because I am using an acoustic guitar and a pickup with a preamp that's just meant to be plugged into a PA or acoustic amp, these last two recording would sound a lot more like an authentic electric guitar "rig" (guitar, effects and amplifier) if I had been using an electric guitar. That being said, the fact that I can get theses sounds out of an acoustic guitar is an awesome concept for anyone in my position that doesn't have the option of buying multiple guitars to lug around. This makes garage band a great tool for a traveling musician. Also worth noting is the fact that garage band allows you to change effects and modeling after recording, this is extremely helpful because you can record and just worry about getting the guitar playing to sound the way you want it and then you can see how that recording sounds through different amps and effects till you find the right tone for that particular recording. You can also duplicate the original recording and make it sound like multiple guitar through different amps. You can also overdub and add other instruments or recordings to the track and end up with a complete song that sounds like a full band using just your Iphone! The interface of the Garageband app is really cool and after a bit of playing around you can quickly learn how to use all of the features. There are many more amp models in Garageband, endless options to fine tune your tone and plenty of effects that are meant to model the traditional "stompbox" effects pedals. For example here are the effects I like to use a lot.

This is also only one of the apps that are available to guitar players on the Iphone and although you do have to pay for garage band there are many other great apps like this that are free.

All in all my opinion is the best mic'ed up acoustic recordings come from the Tascam but for a bit of fun or modeling the Iphone is the way to go. That's just my opinion though, make sure to comment and let me know your opinions. 

Until next time,

-Peghead
Email Me
Talk with me more about guitar stuff on twitter: Peghead3x3

First post!!!

Hello World Wide Web. I would like to take advantage of the first post of my new blog to introduce myself and talk a little about what this blog is about. I am a young professional working in the field of geomatics and mapping. I'm from a little town just outside of metro Atlanta (Georgia, USA). I love music, traveling, antiques, the outdoors, my job, God and my church, my family, cars/trucks and anything manly. I am married to a wonderful woman who is very supportive of my career and hobbies. Just a few months ago my wife got an opportunity to go to school for archaeology in London. We both love traveling and have always wanted to live abroad, so this is a dream come true for us. It's not only a great opportunity for us to advance our careers, but also to take some chances and go for our dreams. Besides traveling, I love playing and listening to music. I love all types of music from old fashioned delta blues to heavy metal to country to worship music in church. I play guitar and sing, and I have written some original stuff of my own. I would still consider myself a moderate-beginner guitar player. I have never been serious about it and I haven't really played in public much. But I have decided to change that and really go for my dream to becoming a working musician. I want to put my music out there where people can hear it and appreciate it. I hope to take advantage of this opportunity we have been given to travel and to follow my dreams of being a musician. The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my experiences, and establish a connection with my readers that will allow for a mutual learning experience. And also to encourage other traveling musicians who are considering going for similar dreams. Feel free to comment and give advice or ask for advice or just say what's on your mind. I look forward to writing and to connecting with anyone reading this blog.

-Peghead
Email Me
Talk more about guitar stuff on twitter: Peghead3x3