Line 6 Multi Effect Pedals: Multi FX From The Original Amp Modelers

It all started at Line 6 with the bean-shaped "pod", but they have seen explosive growth into virtually every category of guitar sounds including effects, loopers, amps, guitars and other electronic interfaces which make our world as a guitarists a lot more fun!
One of their greatest products (I think) is their versatile and advanced range of multi effect pedals. Still using the "POD" name, the new line of effects pedals includes the Floor Pod Plus, and the Pod HD300, HD400 and HD500. These guitar multi effects are designed primarily for stage use, but also work great in a home setting with their computer and mp3/CD connections which will allow you to tweak and play in the apartment without getting a visit from the cops.
With a simple interface, and easily tweakable settings, the Floor Pod Plus is basically a re-designed floor version of the Pod 2.0. The Floor Pod Plus has 32 amp models, 16 modulation effects, 16 classic cab models, 6 types of delay and 2 types of reverb. This is more than enough for most cover band guitarists, and certainly enough for a bedroom player looking for some great new sounds.

The Pod HD effects are the latest and greatest of the Line 6 Multi Effects. The three HD models are obviously siblings by their look and design, and as you go through the chain from the HD300 to the 500, the features start to ramp up. They all contain 16 HD amp models. If they used the name HD to make you think of HD TV quality, they were pretty close, as the sounds of these models are quite amazing. As the pioneers of amp modelling, Line 6 basically took 16 of the greatest amps from manufacturers like Fender, Marshall, Dr.Z, Mesa Boogie, etc.. and digitally re-created them.
The remaining differences include the number of effects (HD300 has 80, while the 400 and 500 have 100 effects), number of preset locations available and number of simultaneous effects available. In addition the HD500 comes equipped with a 48 second looper, while the HD300 and 400 have a 24 second looper. This looping feature, to me, is an essential element if you are considering buying a multi effect pedal as most units available now have them.

If you are searching for guitar effects to create your favourite tones, or invent your own, consider the multi effect pedal. For more information on Line 6 multi effects and others by Digitech, Boss, Vox and Zoom, visi

Guitar Accessories: Effect Pedals and Devices

Electric guitarists seldom just plug into an amp and start playing. Well, they may start out that way, but if you listen to the radio - or any recorded guitar music, for that matter - you quickly notice a lot more going on than just a "straight" guitar sound. At the very least, you hear some ambient treatment in the form of artificially created echo, or reverb, as the effect is known in guitar lingo. You may hear some (intended) distortion, especially in rock and blues music, and you may hear additional effects, such as wah-wah, vibrato, and other electronic manipulations. Welcome to the wonderful, wacky world of guitar accessories known as effects.
Effects are devices that plug in between your guitar and amplifier and enable you to alter your signal in all sorts of creative and unusual ways. Scores and scores of these guitar accessories are available from all different manufacturers and in all price ranges. You can buy them as individual units or as an all-in-one box, called a multieffects processor. But whether you go for the package deal or à la carte, effects can spice up the basic sound of your guitar in all sorts of exciting ways.
Most effects come in the form of foot-accessed pedals, also known as stomp boxes because they reside on the floor and you activate them by stepping on a footswitch. This setup enables you to selectively turn effects on and off while playing the guitar without interruption.

If you plug, say, a reverb device inline (that is, between the amp and guitar), you can make your guitar sound as if you're playing in a cathedral. A distortion unit can make your tones sound like those of Jimi Hendrix, even at low volumes and with your amp set to a clean sound. Dozens of different types of effects are available - more than you could possibly own, not to mention use all at once. The price of these individual units varies, too, with distortion boxes as cheap as $45 and digital reverbs and delays as much as $175 (or more).
Individual pedals are a great convenience because they enable you to buy effects one at a time and use them in a modular fashion - you can choose to include them in your chain or not, and you can rearrange their order to create different effects. But many guitarists opt for a multi-effects unit, which puts all the individual effects into one housing. Multi-effects units are programmable, meaning that you can store different settings in the effects and recall them with the tap of a foot. Multi-effects guitar accessories, like individual pedals, also offer a modular approach to effect ordering, although they accomplish this electronically rather than physically.

Understanding Double Bass Pedals - A Double Bass Pedal Guide For You

Choosing double bass pedals? If you're a little lost, then it's best that you check out a double bass pedal guide first before you do. Besides giving the lowdown on different double bass pedals, this double bass pedal guide also offers basic information about bass pedals in general, which is an ideal place for beginners to start.
Getting started
Double bass pedals are made up of two connected pedals as well as two beaters hooked to a bass drum, designed for making it easier to beat the drum and also for coming up with different playing styles. Depending on what you need, you can get pedals in direct drive, belt drive, and dual cam types.
Types of double bass pedals
Direct drive double bass pedals: With high response rates and seamless pedaling, direct drive double bass pedals feature separate adjustments for spring tension, beater angle, and board height, as well as stabilizer plates made with Velcro strips and quick-release systems. The beaters are also available with nonslip memory locks and two kinds of surfaces.

Belt drive pedals: Consisting of four interchangeable cams, belt drive double bass pedals come with adjustable toe clamps and belt drives and increased traction.
Dual cam pedals: With separate adjustments for beater angle, board height, and spring tension as well, dual cam pedals offer powerful, solid pedaling. Along with beaters with nonslip memory locks and two available surfaces, they also have stabilizer plates with a quick-release system and velcro straps.
Buying tips
What's a double bass pedal guide without a few buying tips? Here are some for you to consider:
Belts - when it comes to belts, go for those made from plastic and then embedded with steel cables for durability and stretch resistance.
Adjustable drives - adjustable drives are ideal because they allow changes in footboard angles, which makes playing more comfortable for you.
Traction - rubber discs offer the best traction and control, preventing your feet from slipping.

Important information

Don't Make A DIY Pedal Board Case

Why making your own case is a bad idea
Would you make your own case for your guitar?... Would you make your own case for your amp? Probably not and why not? Because they are expensive, easily damaged and they are valuable to you, that's why you invest in a case that will keep it in good condition. So why would you make a DIY pedal board case instead of investing in a quality soft case?
I have spent the time reading about various guitarists/bassist who are trying to or looking for advice on making their own DIY pedal board case. As you probably know, musical equipment is expensive and you don't want to repair it too often, this includes effects pedals, which on average range from $100 - $400 per pedal. If you have half a dozen pedals in your set up, that's worth a bit of money.
It amazes me that people spend hundreds of dollars buying effects pedals for their guitar/bass and then they do not want to buy a proper case that will protect it, instead they try to make their own DIY pedal board case for it and if this is not made correctly, it can end up damaging their pedals. If you just got a brand new Gibson you wouldn't try making a case for it would you?you would just invest in a case that would keep it in mint condition!
Alternative Cases
From what I have read, one of the main reasons musicians try to make their own DIY pedal board case is because its cheaper. However, if you take into consideration the price of buying all the materials and spending the time trying to make a DIY pedal board case, a quality soft case/gig bag would not be much more expensive and it would give far better protection and security for your pedals. Unlike a DIY pedal board case a soft case is much more durable, easy to transport around and you wont be worrying about fixing your case all the time, as it will probably break often

If you are still considering making a DIY pedal Board Case, I would suggest that you spend some time researching the internet for other options before you decide. Although you may have the ability to construct your own case from scratch, it will probably not be anywhere near as good as a case made by a professional company like Gater, Pedaltrain, Odyssey etc.
What I use
I use a 24" Gater soft case for my boss GT8 and I have used it for the past year. I gig most weekends and it's still does a great job, no complaints! I would strongly recommend investing in a quality soft case to protect your pedals because lets face it they don't come cheap and its well worth protecting them in the long run, to prolong their life and keep them in mint condition so you can re-sell them.

Beware of Copyright Infringement When Recording Sound Effects

Copyright is a set of rights assigned to the owner/creator of a piece of original work. Those rights are assigned automatically upon creation of the work. For the sound recordist and designer, these rights are essential in order to give control over any sound recordings created and how they can be used. It's fair to say they are the lifeblood of our work.
Copyright must be respected and considered at all times when recording sound effects. It's easy to overlook possible copyright infringements when out in the busy world recording. We are bombarded with recorded sound on a daily basis and it has become an ingrained part of our lives. From advertising and television and radio programmes to toys and ringtones, copyright material is everywhere and it's very easy to accidentally capture sound under copyright in a sound effect recording. If you do, it renders that sound effect unusable with the possibility of serious legal action being taken against you.
So just how easy is it to accidentally capture copyright material in a sound effect recording? The short answer is very easy. On many occasions I have been in the studio editing down recordings I have just made and realised I captured a ringtone of a passing person's phone or music being played in a passing car. It may sound insignificant, but those ringtones or that music is under copyright and it's illegal to record or distribute copyrighted work without permission from the copyright owner.
I have compiled a list of just some of the copyrighted sounds we hear regularly and may accidentally capture when recording sound effects:

1. Music - music is everywhere: on the radio; television; stereo system; background music in shops; restaurants and bars; computer games; toys; gadgets; sporting events and more.
2. Ringtones - most modern cell phones have a range of recorded ringtones available and many are under copyright. Even that old sound of a 'Bell' telephone is probably a recording and under copyright.
3. Toys and Games - electronic toys and games often use short audio recordings. From an action figure's spoken catchphrase to the buzzer on a board game, they are probably under copyright.
4. Computer Games - It's almost a certainty that the audio in any computer game is under copyright, including amusement arcade games.
5. Software - All those interface beeps, button clicks, musical signatures etc. are all likely to be under copyright.
6. Recorded Announcements - These can be some of the easiest copyright infringements to make. Recorded announcements can be heard in: train stations; airports; bus/coach terminals; sporting events; trains; aircraft; busses; ferries; elevators; shops and many more places.
So remember to always consider what and where you are recording. Take time to listen to the surroundings of where you are going to record to establish the risk of recording copyrighted material. It won't only be a waste of your time if you do but can land you in serious legal trouble.

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Keyboard Technique - Sustaining Pedal in Romantic Period Music

The Romantic period can also be dubbed the Era of the Sustaining Pedal. Almost every piece by a Romantic composer depends at one point or another, and sometimes throughout, on the use of the sustaining pedal.
The basic reason for this change from Classic period music was the gradually increasing sonority of the piano itself. With greatly enriched harmonics of the new instruments, close-position chords in the bass, whether broken or unbroken, no longer sounded tolerable. Composers therefore opened out the chords, playing their notes successively instead of simultaneously, and used the pedal to sustain what could not be stretched by a single hand.
This was really only a development of an existing device: Broken chords had long been used to provide both rhythmic interest and a sustaining effect in keyboard music. What was new was the epiphany that the pedal now permitted spacings which were not only beyond the reach of a single hand, but also noticeably suited to the fleeting tones of the piano. New and beautiful keyboard textures evolved, whose immense potentialities were developed continuously up to the time of Debussy and beyond.
Two basic types of chords evolved to accompany pedaling. In the first, the chord is spread out in single notes. In the second, the chord is divided into smaller chords, or a combination of smaller chords and single notes. Pianists should be on the lookout for such architecture, and their combinations, because while they depend entirely on the right hand pedal for their effect, they are not always marked by the composer in the score. When there are no marks, the best way to determine the pedaling is to reduce the open-textured chords to their closed position. The pedaling will then usually coincide with the changes in harmony. Additionally, harmonic factors should be taken into consideration so as not to create an over-thick sound and lose the true bass.
Another reason for modifying the harmonic pedaling is the complexity of the right hand part. The lesser sustaining power of the treble as compared with the bass will generally take care of this. But at times the sound must be thinned out by means of a kind of half-pedaling that leaves the more resonant bass notes still party audible, and in extreme cases the bass should be abandoned altogether and left to the listener's ear so the music is not muddied.
One example is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, where the entire first movement is played senzi sordini (without dampers); i.e. with the right hand pedal held down unchanged from beginning to end. On the modern piano, the results are hopelessly muddied. But with a third pedal, we can approximate the effects Beethoven intended fairly closely by depressing the lowest notes in the piece with the middle pedal kept down by the left foot throughout the movement. The right hand pedal is used in a normal manner, and changed as harmony dictates. This allows the undampened lowest strings to act as sympathetic resonators, so that they vibrate continuously and produce a faint but perceptible haze of sound from beginning to end, through which the singing of the right hand can sound, as Beethoven himself reported,

Top 5 Distortion Pedals

There's a lot you can with just an electric guitar and an amp, but there is going to come a time in a musician's development where they are going to want to try out new sounds. The easiest way to do this is get distortion pedals that will allow you to change your music in an almost unlimited number of ways. The tricky part is finding one that will give you a killer sound with out breaking the bank.
With that in mind, here are the top five distortion effects for under a hundred bucks:
Boss DS-1
This is pretty much your beginning level distortion pedal. It's very cheap, essentially indestructible, and can give you anything from a light distortion to full on heavy metal growling. It's also super simple to use with three, count them three, knobs: tone, level and distortion. This was the pedal used by Kurt Cobain to record Nevermind, and if you're looking for a no frills pedal that will stand up to lots of use, you can't go wrong with the Boss DS - 1.
Line 6 Uber Metal
This actually just nudges on to the list, not because of quality, which is great, but because of price. The Line 6 Uber Metal has a suggested price of about $180, but you can almost always find them on sale for half of that. This is a more advanced distortion pedal than the Boss DS - 1, with a lot more flexibility. It's built in high gain levels include Metal, Insane and Pulverize, which should give you some idea what the pedal is capable of. It's a little pricey, but this tough little pedal gives you a lot for the money put into it.

Electro Harmonix XO Metal Muff
This is one of the best sounding distortion pedals, and if you want a more refined sound, this is probably the way to go. You can get anything from a warm distortion that just enhances your guitar playing to ridiculous super distortion that makes you sound heavier than heavy metal. This pedal also has a high gain boost switch, which means that you don't have to switch pick-ups when you go high for your solos.
Digi Tech XMM Metal Master
A very tough, very gnarly distortion pedal. This thing will give you an almost endless range of distortion types, and it has a morphing ability that allows you to flow seamlessly from distortion type to another, which will vastly expand the range of sounds that you've got. It also offers a clean signal out as an option and it's virtually noise free, which gives you a cleaner sound.
Cool Cat Metal II
This is a very cheap distortion pedal, pricewise, but it gets the job done. For about thirty bucks, you get a tough distortion pedal with the basic distortion effects. You don't get the bells and whistles you would from the more expensive models, but it gives a great clean sound and has a true bypass, so when you switch it off there is no loss in quality. Good for beginners and people who only need a distortion pedal for a limited number of things.

The Violin: How Silent Are Silent Violins, and Should I Buy a Cheap or Expensive One

In this article I am going to discuss, contrast and compare the relative merits of two "silent" violins. What is a silent violin? Well, these are electric violins that come with headphones and enable you to be able to practice without disturbing neighbours and family. Even if you can play an acoustic violin very well, if you are practicing a piece of music and going over it again and again, it can really annoy people in close proximity. Let's face it, the finished product may sound great, but the effort to get there may at times mean your playing is not at its best. My long-suffering family are now very used to me wandering around the house practicing my violin but even they draw a line at me sitting with them watching television whilst learning a violin tune.
So how silent are silent violins? If you put a bridge mute on an acoustic, it doesn't really make it silent but just mutes some of the vibration, thus making it a bit less noisy. An electric violin is basically a piece of wood that gets it sound from a "pick-up" which is then channelled into some form of amplification. If this amplification is a pair of headphones, then all people in the vicinity will hear is the rather squeaky sound of the bow drawing over the strings. To put it another way; it is still annoying to people in the same room, but go into a room on your own, close the door and put on your headphones and you will not disturb anyone. Here are my two choices for silent violins; one cheap and the other more expensive.

The Harley Benton silent violin comes in at about £130.00 and comes complete with case, bow, rosin and headphones. The headphones plug into a separate socket in the violin and because the pick-up is active, you need to insert a battery to play. The violin itself is not too bad but the headphones were cheap and totally useless. I used an expensive pair of my own, and this really improved the sound, though it was still a bit "dead" I eventually fed the violin through some effect pedals and a mixer desk and listened with my headphones plugged into the mixer desk, which gave me a very acceptable sound. The point here is, that I could have done this with any electric violin so I really didn't need one with a specific headphone socket.
The Yamaha SV 130 costs about £500.00, and is a professional instrument, and as always with Yamaha products, has quality stamped right through it. This particular model when using headphones is very quiet and you are able to play at high volume in your headphones whilst people in your house or neighbours will be oblivious to the sound. Because the violin has a built-in reverberation unit the headphone sound is fantastic, so you don't need other effects pedals or mixer desk. The beauty of this violin is that you can take it to a hotel and play at high volume in your bedroom without disturbing anybody.
So should you buy cheap or expensive? In my opinion, if you have the money, always go expensive, because in the end it is better value.

Guitar Loop Pedal - Top Ways to Unleash Creative Havoc

A guitar loop pedal has many benefits. The first benefit it has for guitarists is that it allows you to capture your creative ideas on the spot. If you have ever forgotten a great lick or riff because you did not record it. A guitar looper is great insurance for long term memory loss.
The second great benefits of guitar looping stomp box is that they allow you play lead over rhythm backing tracks. If you are primarily a lead guitarist and are fed up with many of the lame backing tracks on the internet or on guitar instructional CD's, then a looping pedal is for you. Many looping devices will allow you to play at least five different loops at one time.
The third benefit of looper effects device is that it will help you fulfill your creative vision on the guitar. If you enjoy writing songs you may feel limited with only one guitar. In addition, if you currently have a band you can have multiple guitars going at one time without the need of a second guitarist. This is good if you feel that adding one more egg to the basket may disrupt your band's chemistry.

The fourth benefit of guitar looping stomp boxes is that you can capture your favorite riffs from your music collection and put them on your looping device. This will allow you to slow down your favorite riffs or licks so you can master them quickly and with more ease.
The fifth benefit of looping pedals is that many of them have a mic input on them. This will allow you to loop everything from vocals, keyboards, TVs, radios and other devices. This is a great option for people who perform psychedelic or post rock music.
In conclusion, a guitar loop effects pedal has many benefits that should take your guitar playing and creativity to a whole new level. They allow you to record ideas on the spot and should help to fulfill your creative vision on the guitar.

6 Of The A lot of Accepted Guitar Furnishings Pedals Explained

Guitar furnishings pedals, which are aswell alleged barge boxes, are acclimated by the artist to change the complete of their guitar. Barge boxes get their name because of the "stomping" activity bare to accomplish the aftereffect work. When the pedals are off, you are arena with the guitars apple-pie (unaffected signal) complete advancing out of your amp. When you footfall on it to about-face it on, the arresting that goes to the pedals are afflicted creating the adapted effect.

You can aswell affix added that one furnishings pedal to your guitar. Simply use application cables (short cables) to affix them to anniversary added application the imput and achievement jacks. You can alone ascendancy which furnishings you wish on and off at any time just by axis (stomping) them on or off. When a pedal is off, the arresting will bypass it and go through anyone that is angry on.

For the best accessible sound, you should abode your accretion and accent based furnishings at the alpha of your band of pedals. Accretion and accent based furnishings cover distortion, volume, wah and EQ. Next you should put the pedals that change the angle or blush of your sound. Again at the end of your chain, you can put the pedals that affect your timing such as delay, reverb and flanger.

If you accrue a ample bulk of furnishings pedals, you can accumulate them all organized and adequate by application a pedal board. Pedal boards are basically a collapsed lath that all of your pedals can be placed on all affiliated together. You can even get them with covers, transformers and ability cables to accomplish it a breeze to backpack up and move from gig to gig.

One affair to be acquainted of is that abutting too abounding pedals calm can could cause a lot of bustling and exceptionable noise. To fix this botheration a babble aboideau pedal can be used.

With so abounding altered types of pedals on the bazaar today, I couldn't possibly account them all. So I'm accomplishing the next best affair and will explain some of the added accepted ones.

Distortion:

Distortion is acclimated in abounding accepted agreeable genres abnormally metal, bedrock and harder rock. The baloney pedals job is to blow the signal, giving it's adulterated sound.

Chorus:

Chorus pedals accord you a blubbery and abundant complete by accompanying your aboriginal sound; abacus some adjournment to it and again bond it aback with your aboriginal signal. This ends up authoritative your guitar complete like a agglomeration of guitars or a "chorus of guitars" if you will.

Flanger:

Just like the Chorus pedal, the Flanger duplicates the signal, adds a abbreviate adjournment and again mixes it aback with your aboriginal signal. The aberration actuality is that the Flanger's adjournment includes several repeats that get best and beneath at a abiding rate. This produces a thicker complete compared to the Chorus pedal.

Wah-wha:

The Wah-wha pedal affectionate of looks like your cars gas pedal and you bedrock this pedal aback and alternating to acquiesce lower and college frequencies to canyon though. This again produces the "wah-wah" sound. Jimi Hendrix in the backward 60's and alarm music in the 70's fabricated this aftereffect famous.

Reverb:

The Reverb aftereffect emulates accustomed acoustic spaces by bearing an answer authoritative your accent complete like it's getting played in a big concert hall.

Talk Box:

Last but not atomic is the Talk Box. The Talk Box pedal has a baby apostle in it that plays the arresting audibly up an closed baby artificial tube. This tube is taped to the ancillary of the microphone area it sticks out just abundant to be able to forward the complete into the guitarist's mouth. The guitar amateur again makes shapes with their aperture to change the sound, which is again best up by the microphone. Abounding performers accept acclimated the Talk Box over the years but one of the a lot of acclaimed was Peter Frampton who acclimated it on his song "Do You Feel Like We Do" off his Frampton Comes Alive record.

Hope you accept enjoyed my explanations of some of the guitar furnishings pedals that are out there. This is just a baby atom of the furnishings that are accessible to you. A acceptable tip would be for you to do a little analysis on some of your admired guitar players and acquisition out what furnishings they use that accord them "their sound" the most. For archetype if you were into harder bedrock or abundant metal, it would be a acceptable abstraction to alpha off with a baloney pedal. Bedrock On!

Getting the Perfect Guitar Tone

Guitar playing can generally be condensed into two categories. Your technique and style, and your tone. In this article we're going to be talking about tone, and the importance of refining it.
I see too many guitar players who have a zillion guitar effect pedals, and I try not to open my mouth, but then they start playing, and its absolutely unbearable. Guys, seriously, don't compensate with toys. Take the time to improve your playing, because all the goodies in the world won't make you a better guitar player.
Also, using too many pedals and effects can be bombarding to the listener, and it also kills the strength of your overall sound. If you spend most of your time playing through a clean setting on your guitar, don't think for a moment that you are not affected by this.
I've witnessed a lot of clean guitar players who are bad for this as well.
If you can find the discipline to limit yourself a little bit, then you will see just how awesome a tone you can get. For instance, deciding to build a pedal board is a great way to tackle the problem of guitar pedal self indulgence. Sure, you could buy a pedal board brand new, but they are expensive, and many won't fit your needs.
Building your own pedal board is fun, rewarding, and helps you to get a good idea of how you're going use your tone. Remember, when you're building a pedal board, you're also building your tone, because you'll need to determine what goes where, and what goes before what.

Invest part of your time into becoming a smart consumer. Don't just settle for any old pedal off the shelf, and don't ever assume that because a pedal is really expensive, that its the best and is the best for you.
Try out all sorts of pedals, and you'll find that the oddest effect pedals compliment each other. In example, using a clean setting with a very light amount of delay (really short delay) can give you a nice and rich "creamy" sound for chords.
If you experiment, you'll find all sorts of tricks like this, which helps you to determine the layout of your pedal board. Don't forget to put this down on paper first, and certainly don't forget to measure the dimensions of the pedals, and account for the space needed between each one for your cables.
Now I'm not saying that building a pedal board is the only way to do this, but it does help to nudge you in the right direction, because if you do something like this and find that perfect sound, you'll probably freak if anyone so much as breaths in the direction of an effect pedal knob.
So make sure that you ask questions of yourself. I'm sure that you have your own opinions about what sounds good to you. Perhaps you like a touch of the flanger, or maybe a little wah, or some chorus action in their. Regardless of what it is that you want, refine and come up with a plan.
Final Advice

Can 10 Cent Earplugs Improve Your Learning & Memory

Can Ten-Cent Earplugs Improve Your Learning, Memory & Reading Speed?
NASA's Astronauts could not use their pens in space so they spent ten million to invent a special ink-flow device. The Russian space cadets had no dinero, and solved the same problem by writing with pencils, which worked like a charm.
Earplugs are not exactly high-tech, but work instantly to eliminate unwanted noise. The first earplugs written about were wax and used by the crew of Odysseus to ward off the Siren's Song and a shipwreck. How old? 8th Century, B.C.
Who cares?
Have you even been studying in your school library and lost your attention and concentration because some dumbos at the next table were whispering, giggling, and dropping books? Ten Cent earplugs tune them out, and your mind inward.
Distractions
Students and career executives suffer from noise, movement of people, and constant interruptions. Fact: we are interrupted at work - an average of once every three-minutes. Fifty-percent of the time we interrupt ourselves by responding to emails the telephone, and answering questions.
Our mind get used to being diverted from focused attention and deep concentration.
Distractions break our train of thought, and actually reduce our personal efficiency. Some research concludes habitual distractions cause a drop in our IQ up to 10%. Get this: Every time your mind is diverted from your present task, it takes up to 10 minutes to get back into your original Zone (flow).
It is called Regressions, is habit-forming and dumbs us down.
Soon you become a subconscious procrastinator, and lose up to 25% of your Attention-Span. Paying attention to everything is the same as concentrating on nothing. What is a practical, easy and cheap solution? Maybe earplugs?
Mind Wandering
Are you aware of how often your mind wanders off your target of concentration? Neither was I. The researchers at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, headed by Dr. Michael Kane, concluded college students are distracted and lose their attention span, one-third (33%) of the time they spend in school.
They are thinking off-the-subject at class lectures, while reading, and when studying for exams. Students suffering mind-wandering up to 90 minutes in the morning, and another 90 minutes in the afternoon of a six-hour day. What are they wandering about? Sex is number one, fear of the future, and personal relationships top the bill.
So what?
Distractions lead to chronic stress, which affect our long-term memory, inability to comprehend complex text, and loss of self-esteem. Many complain of a negative state-of-mind, bad mood, and loss of productivity. What about our competence?
Stress and distractions cause your executive competence to drop up to 15%, enough to lose out on your next promotion. Students at college complain of fade-out on exams, anxiety and the agony of Information-Overload.
Stopples a/k/a Earplugs
Earplugs immediately improve your attention span and concentration up to 33%. That is a noticeable change from distracted thinking to being in your Zone focused on learning, remembering, and being creative.
Earplugs have the power to turn your mind inward instead of permitting you to listen and react to random sounds in your environment. Ideas appear to reward those wearing stopples (plugs) and avoid folks who are easily distracted

You have heard that one picture is worth a thousand words; we suggest that one well thought out Idea, is worth a thousand pictures. Implement good ideas.
Secret Revealed
White Noise. When you slip on your plugs you do not get sleepy and disoriented, but move into deep Beta consciousness, between 7-14 cycles per second. Your brain rhythms vibrate to screen out noise, and to trigger (cue) your PFC (Prefrontal Cortex) for analysis, synthesis (combining ideas), and connectedness.
White Noise
Technically White Noise is a frequency produced by electronics. It is a combination of all the tones into one. Wait! White Light takes all the color frequencies (rainbow) and combines them into one. Same idea.
Earplugs close the auditory canal and leave us with our personal Zone of silence. Best of all, there are no side effects from using plugs up to 16 hours daily. Just wash them, remove the wax from your ears, and concentrate.
Buy Them Now
We recommend silicone or foam plugs that you mold to fit your ears. Polyurethane stopples cost a dollar for a pair, and have an unlimited life. The biggest problem is losing them after a good night's sleep, or a study session.
Variety
There are electronic earplugs that produce a calming sound (anti-stress) costing $187.95 called SleepEze. No comment. We recommend disposable plugs that will not make us cry when we lose one. PVC Foam come in a six-pack and cost just $2.95.
Factories buy them in volume from the Earplug Super Store for about 10-25 cents each. They reduce chronic stress from ambient factory noise.
Reading Research
We have tested over one thousand students and executives - half speed reading text wearing plugs, and half unaided. After 21 days of practice, the students using earplugs improved their reading speed an average of 100 words per minute, and added up to 12% in comprehension.
Non-users showed 40 words per minute increase in reading, and no improvement in comprehension. They were distracted by their surroundings.
Close Your Door
Seeing other folks moving around is a visual distraction, one that breaks up your attention and comprehension. Music - Classical to Elevator tunes - cause us to lose our mental focus. Group study works only when everyone agrees to be silent and productive until the end of the session.
Our Mirror Neurons cause us to want to imitate the activities of those we watch. It is a bio-distraction. Learning requires silence and the lack of activity around you. Google: University of Calgary, Dr. Tim Welsh, and Journal of Human Movement Science, 12.2007. Earplugs are a great investment in your personal growth.
Endwords
"If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, of what then, is an empty desk a sign?" Albert Einstein
Would you have a major competitive advantage if you could read-and-remember three (3) books, articles and reports in the time your peers can hardly finish one? Ask us how because knowledge is king. Call us now.
copyright © 2009 H. Bernard Wechsler

Author of Speed Learning for Professionals, published by Barron's; partner of Evelyn Wood, creator of speed reading, graduating two million, including the White House staffs of four U.S. Presidents.

The Most Important Guitar Effects Pedals for Aspiring Rock Musicians

There are a mind boggling amount of guitar effects pedals about and they come in all different shapes and sizes. What is an effect pedal you may ask? An effect pedal is a device that is put between your guitar and the amplifier to alter the output sound. A pedal is made up of numerous components put into a case. The sounds that you can achieve from various effect pedals are quite extraordinary.
Guitarists today use more effects than ever and are evident to the sounds of bands such as Pink Floyd and U2. Numerous effect pedals are used in succession to complicate the sound. There are two main pedals out there. One is the multi effects processors and these contain numerous built into a single device. Alternatively, individual pedals focus on giving you one sound and not more than two. Such pedals involve you playing around with settings in order to get your intended sound. Many amplifiers these days have built-in sounds for you to use but they are not as versatile as pedals. This is because it is hard to utilize more than one sound simultaneously on amps.
Pedals cost from $60 or £40 upwards and include a broad range of prices. Specialist brands include Boss, Marshall, Pete Cornish, Electro Harmonic, Yahama, Dunlop and Digitech. As a budding guitarist, you could easily wipe your bank account clean upon purchasing guitar effects pedals due to the countless variety out there. What I recommend is that you only purchase one pedal for each main sound.

Recommended guitar effect pedals
Delay and Reverb sounds give a strong echo sound and is great if you are really playing live. This sounds professional like and is very convincing. Distortion and gain guitar effects pedals are widely used with electric guitars and are certainly used in lead and solo guitar playing. This adds crunch and meat to your sound and certainly does sound sweet. As stated previously, multi effects processors are a great for beginners as they have access to all the different possibilities right in front of them. All of these mentioned are the essential pedals that you must have in order to sound great.
After you have gotten hold of the main pedals, you may want to look for a few more to sound even great! A wah-wah effect allows the sound pitch to be constantly changed through the use of a pedal. This was heavily utilized by Jimi Hendrix. Added effects include Flanger, Chorus and Phase shifter also know as a uni-vibe. These pedals sound slightly similar to each other, however they do sound beautiful. Chorus and Flanger pedals sound very sweet and made famous by David Gilmour and created the sounds of Pink Floyd. Most of these sound best with little to no gain or distortion.

Description of the Different Types of Effect Pedals

Electric guitarist seldom just use the amp along and play, they make use of different types of effects to make good music. Some effects that i will talk about include distortion, chorus, phase shifter, pitch shifter, digital delay, wah-wah pedal, reverb and tremolo. A good multi effects pedal brand is ZOOM.
Distortion
This effect makes the sound driven too hard for the amp. Most guitarist will make use of this effect because it creates a musical pleasing way. Distortion can be anything from fuzzy to a screaming chain-saw fuzz used by bands who play metal.
Chorus
This effect makes the overall sound sound fatter, which sounds like the sound of many guitarist playing all at one time.
Phrase Shifter
This effect allows you to play in harmony alone through splitting the signal into two paths. It is really useful when practicing a song alone as it allows you to play in harmony.

Digital delay
This device produces a repetition of the sound, just like echoes. It also created rhythmically timed repeats of the notes you play. One famous band that uses this is Guns N' Roses.
Wah-wah pedal
This effect plays with the frequency. You can control the sound by raising and lowering the pedal. The world famous dragonforce makes use of this pedal to make all sorts of weird sounds.
Reverb
This effect reproduces the natural echo sound produced. It is sometimes included in amps. While the ones include in amps are not bad, having reverb as a separate will give you more variety and control.
Tremolo
Similar to reverb, it is included in many amps. Tremolo is the rapid wavering of the volume that makes your guitar sound as if you are playing it through a slowly moving electric fan.

My Quest For a Quiet Air Compressor Has Finally Ended

I had great hopes for my Thomas T635-HD air compressor after I got it a number of years ago. At the time, it was considered the most quiet compressor in its class. When it came time to purchase a rebuild kit, I was SOL. Appears like the company went out of business or merely stopped providing support for the line. While I am generally good about obtaining a difficult to find part, I made the decision it just wasn't worthwhile trying to bring a well used air compressor back again. I do what I typically do and checked out Sears, Home Depot, as well as did some research online.
Introducing the Rolair JC10
Shortly after doing my homework, I selected the JC10 to replace the Thomas and WOW am I amazed. Initially I assumed it was my error as it made so little noise. You really have to (not) hear it to believe it. The compressor oozes quality. This unit gets to full capacity (125psi) in about a minute and recovers in mere seconds. This really is by far and away the quietest 1HP unit you will find. I am not going to tell you that one could run it underneath the dining room table while you eat and never detect it. Having said that, I will say that it runs below my work bench in my garage as I happily tinker away without annoying me in the slightest.

It isn't quite as ergonomic as the DeWalt 55141 I had been also contemplating and a little bit more heavy but produces more air flow and I am hoping it will fill the gap that I've had for 8 years between light, portable and quiet and a do-everything compressor. Very good quality guages and fittings. Effortless enough to transport upstairs and no-one will complain if you utilize it inside their house. The grip on the handle needs an upgrade, and I've already fitted a 90 degree brass elbow so the pressure gauge points up in order to see it without tipping the compressor on its side, yet it is certainly a keeper. Only time will tell if it does almost all I need. It isn't a shop or 2 man compressor though.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7997835

Guitar Multi Effect Pedals: Finding Your Sound With One Pedal asdasdas asdasdasd

Like they always say, you get what you pay for. Except in this case, you get more. asd asd as asdasdasd
Just saying "multi effect pedal" a few years ago would have got you thrown out of most bands, but oh, how times have changed. My first guitar multi effects pedal was the Zoom 505. Honestly, it was a piece of hissing, digital crap, but it made me realize the potential that lay there within its cheap, semi-transparent blue housing. I actually brought it to one of my band practices, and I can tell you, that pedal combined with the roaring power of a cranked, 70's Fender Twin Reverb was painful to say the least, especially for my band mates. So I went back to my "snake pit", home-made pedal board consiting of the usual guitar pedals (distortion, tuner, delay...).
Then, last year I started researching new guitar pedals on the internet, and found a new opinion developing regarding multi effect pedals. Experienced guitarists, with a large collection of expensive, boutique single effects pedals were starting to sing the praises of multi pedals by brands like Digitech, Line 6 and Boss. Either these players had reached an advanced stage of hearing loss, or they really liked these multi effect pedals!
I was particularly surprised with reviews of the new Digitech RP line of pedals (RP500, RP1000). Guitarists were going off about how great the sound was, the quality of the effects, and the ease of use. None of these qualities had previously been associated with a multi effects pedal. These pedals (and others by Line 6 and Boss), have such a wide palette of great sounding effects, that its hard to understand why you would buy single guitar effects any more.
With this thought in mind, I did a little research on single effect pedal prices. I picked 9 of my favourite single effects, that are also produced by most new multi effect pedals, and priced them out. This is what I found:

Dunlop Crybaby 535Q multi wah: $125.44 Visual Sound Volume Pedal: $139.95 Proco Rat Distortion: $67.49 Boss CH1 Super Chorus: $89.00 Boss FRV-1 '63 Fender Reverb: $129.99 Boss DD7 Digital Delay: $169.00 Boss RC-2 Loop station: $189.00 Boss TU-2 Tuner: $99.00 MXR M-102 Compressor: $69.95 Total price: $1077.83
This would give you a pretty impressive pedal board! Especially in size. My old pedal board had half this many effects, and it was a beast to deal with. You would be looking at 11 patch cables, 9 power connections, and the board itself.
I now own the Digitech RP500. It has all of these effects built in, with a total of 125 effects, a looper, all metal construction, and stereo output. But honestly, the best thing of all is its ability to shut off all digital modeling, and simply become a pedal board. This feature, through my old Fender Twin Reverb tube amp sounds awesome. Better than any single pedal, or combination thereof I have ever owned. The only thing that sounds better than my RP500/Twin Reverb combo, is an RP500 through two Twin reverbs in stereo! Huge, lush, shimmering sound. All that, for $300 bucks (the pedal that is).
So if your looking for a single, or multi effect pedal, do your research. Despite their digital sounding names, the latest in multi effect pedals can produce amazing sounds, at a reasonable price. They simply allow you to explore more creative sound ideas

Best Guitar Multi-Effects Pedals For Live Use

The first digital multi effects pedal that I became familiar with was the old Digitech RP1. Very few dared to play live with these without a guitar amp, I mean through a PA. They had the proper settings for different types of power amps, but the sound they produced in this manner was not very exciting.
That left many of us tainted, but in the last few years I've seen many live performances, mainly at bars, where multi-effects pedals are connected straight to a PA without a guitar amplifier. And the sound was actually very good in my opinion.
In my experiences these are my top 3:
The Vox Tonelab LE: at a party dedicated for the 25th anniversary of 'Appetite For Destruction' I friend of mine played a whole set with one of these pedals straight to a PA. This pedal in my opinion is the fattest sounding when connected to a PA, even though it might not be the most versatile.
The Digitech RP1000: used straight to a PA by a friend of mine that plays in a punk rock band. When Digitech came out with the DNA chips my interest in this brand was rekindled. I had completely lost faith with the RP series, but this pedal has impressed me lately.

The Boss GT8: used by a cover band that I use to sell instruements to. The sound of Boss GT Multi-effects straight to PA's is not my favorite, but this guitar player surprised me by carefully using EQ and setting suitable presets for every song.
To play live with a multi-effects pedal you just have to set the right output for one of these 3 possibilities:
*Plugging it in to the front of an amplifier, "No Amp or Cab Emulation Should be used".
*Plugging into the power amp of a guitar head or combo, "No Cab Emulation Should be used".
*Plugging straight to a mixer in a PA or a powered monitor, "Cab Emulation Should be used".
An affordable ways to play live with a multi-effects pedal and have plenty of volume is with a live powered monitor.

Best Distortion Pedals - Boss DS1 Review

Boss DS1

This is a true distortion pedal, coloring the guitar sound a lot more than a Tube Screamer. The tone of this pedal is great, the range of distortion can cover from the lightest to the heaviest rock. And the tone is thick, specially of help to those with Fender Stratocaster guitars.
This pedal's sound quality is superb considering how inexpensive it is. Many famous guitar players have used this pedal professionally. Some that I know are Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and the late Kurt Cobain.

Ibanez TS9 Review

This is a pedal that has been around for decades now. It's main characteristic is that it doesn't color your sound in an obtrusive way, retaining most of the dynamics of the clean guitar signal. The TS9 is a modern version of the original, the 808 is a replica of the classic design, and there's a TS9 Turbo version with extra gain for more of a true distortion sound.

Let's remember that technically this is an overdrive pedal and not a distortion pedal, even though many don't differ these 2. In my experience, tube amps that might not have the best distortion, like the Fender Hot Rod series for example, benefit greatly from this pedal.

Boss Metal Zone Review

This is one of the best alternatives for those interested in heavier guitar sounds than those offered by a Tube Screamer or a DS1. Apart from offering a massive amount of gain it offers a simple yet very flexible EQ section that helps to tailor the sound more precisely.
In my opinion this is the best way to get a very good heavy metal sound regardless of what guitar or amp you might have. The only thing I would personally advice is to be careful using this pedal with single coil pickups, this amount of gain can create a lot of hum.

Guitar Effects

I'm sure you have seen some fancy wah pedals at your local music shop by now. There are a ton of different effect pedals that you can use to change your tone very quickly. Not only are there tones of different brands and products but there are a tone of different effects that each manufacturer can make.
Distortion
Distortion pedals give your guitar that mean and nasty sound you hear with heavy metal and rock music. It takes the wave signal made by your guitar and instead of making it a nice curved line it chops off the tops and makes them flat. You can also make this sound if you have a gain control on your amp. If you bump up the gain and turn down the amp you will overdrive the signal making it distorted.
Reverb and Delay
Reverb and Delay pedals are similar in effect but not sound. They both take your guitars sound and reproduce it a few times over and over. This makes an echo sound out of your amplifier. The difference is that Reverb makes it sound like you are playing in a very large room. The delay effect simply makes the guitar sound like is echoing. Both effects can be manipulated so that they sound different, like making the echo last longer or making the room sound bigger or whatnot.
Wah Pedals
Wah pedals are a very popular pedal that is used in all types of music. The wah pedal is closely related to a filter. It picks out certain tones and doesn't let them through. The thing that makes the wah pedal so great is that you can adjust what frequencies it cancels out just by rocking it back or forth. It works great in funk metal and blues and is one of the most widely used effects.

Flanger and Phaser
A flanger pedal takes the guitar's signal, doubles it, and mixes the two signals slightly out of time with each other. A phaser takes the signal and splits it into two parts like the flanger, but instead, one path keeps the volume and amplitude characteristics and the other path makes the phase out of synch. In short, a phaser effect still has the original sound mixed with the phased effect, whereas a flanger mixes up the signal completely.
Effects in General
Effects have become popular in all types of music, some effects are more prominent in some styles than others but overall you can usually find effects mixed in somewhere. The tricky part about using effects is that you can't over use them in a song or it will take away the fealing from the music completely. The best effects are the ones that are there but you can't notice them unless you really listen for them.

Make Your Guitar "Cry" With a Wah-Wah Pedal

There are a million devices available to add various effects to the sound of your guitar. Choruses, flangers, distortions, delays, octave dividers, harmonizers and the like.
Most effects pedals work by pressing a button or a foot switch which actives the effect. Once activated, the device will "color" the sound of your guitar and be "fixed" according to how you have the parameters set on the effect.
The one effects pedal that operates differently is the wah-wah pedal. This pedal requires the user to activate it, and in addition, control it while playing, all in real time. It's truly an "interactive" type of guitar effect.
A wah-wah is an "old school" effects pedal and has been around since the sixties. One of the early users that brought the pedal to prominence was Jimi Hendrix.
Unlike many of today's digital based effects, a wah is an analog pedal that is nothing more than a glorified tone potentiometer mounted to a variable pedal controlled by the user.
When the pedal is in the upward position the tone is "rolled off" and will produce a muted sound. Advancing the pedal to the complete forward position will produce a high end, almost shrill, tone.
The pedal gets its name from the fact that when you advance it from the upward position to the most forward position while playing a note, it will produce a note that sounds like a "wah". This "crying" sound is the basis for the name of the most famous wah-wah pedal, the Dunlop "Crybaby".

Here are a few ways you can put your wah pedal to good use:
As a Lead Guitar Tool
The wah can be used as an "expressive" tool for leads. Used effectively you can almost make your guitar "talk". Listen to "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn.
As a Rhythm Guitar Tool
It can also be used as a rhythm effect and was closely associated with guitar rhythms of the disco era. Think Shaft!
As a Tone Control
One almost overlooked way to use the wah-wah pedal, however, is as a "set it and forget it" external tone control. By scrolling the pedal to find a slightly rolled off tone and leaving it there, and combining that with a touch of distortion or crunch, you can arrive at a nice Santana-esque sound.
Considering the amount of sweep in the pedal, the tonal possibilities using it this way are endless.
There is a bit of an art to using a wah pedal and it takes a little practice to learn how to use it effectively. But if budget is a consideration and you are limited to only a handful effects pedals in your arsenal, a wah-wah should definitely be one of your first investments.

Zoom 1201 Guitar Multi-Effects Processor

Zoom is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, effects processors and accessories. Allegedly the name of the company was chosen simply to stand out among its competitors, simply because it started with the "unusual" letter Z. Zoom released their first product in 1990, the Zoom 9002 multi-effects processor. Seven years in 1997 later came one of their most successful products, the Zoom 1201.
The Zoom 1201 is a clear-cut stereo digital reverb and multi-effects processor. It does not support MIDI and allows for very little in the way of patch programming. However this simplicity, combined with its price tag (it originally retailed for around $150 and is now sold used for less than half that amount), is actually the main appeal of the 1201.
Users can select from 11 types of effects, each of which are available in 11 variations, by using knobs on the front panel of the unit. A three position slider is used to select from patch bank types.
The first available patch bank, Bank A, contains reverb effects grouped into Halls, Rooms, Plates, Vocal, Ambience, Dimension (panning reverbs and mono-to-stereo simulation patches), Percussion, Ensemble, Power, Gate and Reverse. Each reverb type has 11 variations, which can be selected by the Character/Variants knob. The Adjust control sets the reverb decay time.

Bank B contains mostly delay and modulation effects, such as chorus and flanging, as well as in various combinations.
The final effect bank is where other various effects offered by the Zoom 1201 can be found. A pitch shifter with 11 types of detuning, phasers and tremolo/pan effects, an auto-filter and ring modulator are all located in Bank C.
One of the most ridiculed effects on the 1201 is the Karaoke setting, which was intended to remove vocals from recordings using a combination of phase cancellation and filtering. However, the results are seldom useable.
The Zoom 1201 is a rackmount unit and takes up a single rack space. It uses an external power supply unit. Stereo inputs and outputs along with an input for a bypass footswitch are also included. Overall it makes a great entry-level effects processor for guitarists and electronic musicians alike.

The History of The Humble Ear Plug

So just who invented the ear plug and what did they use it for? Well no-one so far has been able to dig up an ancient ear plug, but the earliest reference to ear plugs was made in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey written in around the end of the 8th century BC. By this reference we know they were being used then but what were they used for?
In Homer's Odyssey ear plugs were used to drown out the bewitching song of the Sirens (beautiful creatures whose haunting song would lure sailors into the ocean and to their deaths).

Early Materials for ear plugs

Odysseus's crew may have used wax pairs to help shut out the song of the Sirens. However, it is believed that other materials were also used including clay, cotton, wood, ivory or even silver - nothing but the best to insert into the ear holes of the noble classes!
Modern silicone pairs were invented by Ray and Cecilia Benner who marketed their new silicone version at swimmers as silicone is a waterproof material. This was to help prevent what was known as 'swimmer's ear', which is a particularly painful infection referred to by medics as otitis externa.

Uses for ear plugs

We don't suppose that many were sold to sailors to shut out the song of the Sirens, but they were used just as they are used today, to shut out noise and to protect you from water and dust.
Today they are used in just the same way for many of the same reasons. Only today's modern noise nuisances, include aircraft noise, loud music, industrial machinery, loud snoring and traffic noise etc.
Many people find them helpful for blocking out their partner's snoring, allowing them to share the same bed with their partner for years. Musicians use them to protect them from tinnitus, as do concert goers. Both workmen and swimmers use them to block out dust and water.

Moulded Ear Plugs

Regular users, however, can increase the risk of ear infections, especially if they are shared or are ill-fitting. Custom and moulded versions can help to prevent this by being moulded to the exact shape of your ear.
Thermoplastic molded ear plugs also contain an antibacterial compound which further protects you. Although moulded pairs don't come in silver or ivory, they do come in a range of funky colours to suit your mood.

Guitar Effects Pedals - Chorus

This is one you probably already intuitively know! You're likely familiar with the vocal term "chorus" -- as in "many voices singing at once". A guitar "chorus" pedal does the same thing -- it makes your guitar sound like two or more guitars playing in unison at the same time.
What makes chorus work is that it really does try to act like two or more players playing at the same time. In real life, two people playing the exact same thing will never be completely synchronized. They'll start each note at a slightly different time, perhaps pitch the notes slightly differently, hold them differently, etc. They'll be really close -- but it won't be exact. This slight "offness" is what makes a chorus sound different from a single voice -- the slight variances in the signals make the sound richer and fuller.
A guitar chorus pedal works by splitting the guitar signal into two pieces ... and then delaying one of those pieces a fractional amount. The delay is very slight -- too much would yield a reverb effect -- but it's enough to shift the wave form of one signal path so that it no longer exactly matches the original signal path.

Consider wave form as a sine wave graph. Now, take the exact same wave form, shift it just a fraction, and place it on the same graph as the original wave form. What will you see?
When one form peaks, the other will be slightly off. When one wave begins to rise, the other will be just a touch behind. The resulting tone will sound much like two guitars playing in unison in real time. The sound will be fuller, richer, and also have a slight "shimmer" to it.
A chorus is effective on a clean guitar signal as well as on a dirty or distorted one. A clean chorus will also fill a room better than a straight unaltered signal.
Note that a chorus effect doesn't really alter the pitch of the tone -- it doesn't try to sound like two guitars playing in harmony (octaves, fifths, fourths, etc). Again, while the chorus effect is slightly similar to a digital delay or reverb effect, it's very, very slight ... just enough to give the sound that typical chorus "shimmer". Also, most choral effects only add a second guitar signal to the mix ... but some can add the effect or three or more guitars at the same time.

Electric Guitar Effects and Sounds

You may often hear people discussing electric guitars and electric bass guitars use the word 'effects' when talking about the things which can be achieved with these instruments. However, for beginners it isn't always clear what is meant by the word effect - so exactly what are the effects that can be achieved by playing either an electric guitar or an electric bass guitar?
Since electric guitars of all kinds are, by their very definition, electronic, most of the effects that can be achieved are electronic ones - altering the tone of the guitar in some way, or affecting the actual pitch of the notes, or even making changes to the overall sound of the guitar. You may have heard electric guitars used in a variety of different types of music, from gentle songs to hard rock, from the flat slappy sounds of funk to the distinctive sounds created by jazz musicians. To some extent these different sounds are created through the playing techniques used. Picking gently with your fingers will of course create quite a different sound from plucking the strings with a hard plectrum, or slapping the strings with the fingers. Each of the different genres or styles of music uses different playing techniques - but these techniques are only half the story. Much of the style and sound is created electronically, through the use of these effects that alter the sound, pitch or tone of the guitar.
The effects that can be applied to the sound created by the guitar can be included in a number of different ways. Pedals can be used, so that the guitarist can temporarily apply a distortion effect by using his foot to press the pedal down. In other cases, the effect is generated by the amplifier. In this way, a variety of either pre-set effects or dials which allow the performer to choose which type of effect to use, can be activated. In this way, the digital signal from the guitar is fed to the amplifier, which then applies the effect immediately. This type of effect usually is used to change the overall tone of the guitar, creating more of a richer voice, or a pitch change perhaps. These effects are permanent, until the guitarist stops and changes the settings on the amplifier.

There are other more complicated items of electronic equipment which are usually used by those more experienced players, and these can include items such as amplifier simulation software, which uses computers to affect the sound of the guitar, especially where the guitar is being recorded.
One of the most obvious effects used in electric guitar playing is distortion, where the sound of the guitar is distorted in such a way that it almost sounds as though the guitar is on the verge of having an argument with the amplifier! This effect is most commonly heard in rock music, especially heavy rock, and also in metal. Usually this effect is applied through the use of a pedal, since it is only used on certain, usual sustained notes during the song. The variety of distortion effects is huge, and this can be applied using pre-sets. These pre-sets usually work by taking the raw waveform of the guitar and clipping the signal.

Different Kinds of Bass Guitar Effects

Bass guitar effects are equipment used to alter the audio signal from the instrument to the amplifier.
While bass effects could give you a new signature, it is always recommended to give it just a subtle twist so as not to overlap with the guitar section of the band. Effects made for bass guitars are similar to lead guitars, but is designed to fully optimize the distinctive tone of a bass guitar.
There are two types of bass guitar effects according to technology: analog and digital. Analog bass effects involve the physical alteration of parts and voltage to produce different sounds. Most analog bass effects are customized depending to the need of the bass player. Digital base effects involve microchips with computer programs and predefined algorithms to mimic particular sounds. It is more advanced and covers a wider range of audio effects. Today's bass players prefer the digital sounds because it is more convenient and cost efficient.
Bass guitar effects can also be categorized depending on their pedals: Multi-effect and dedicated. Multi-effect pedal or a rackmount is a unit that consists of several pedals. You can preset your effects and conveniently turn it off or on while on stage. While many agree of its flexibility and convenience, the more effects it houses, the less quality it produces. Dedicated effect pedal or stompbox produces a single sound and in much more quality compared with multi-effects pedal.

Fuzz box is another bass guitar effect most notably used by Paul McCartney in the song "Think for Yourself" in the 1965 Beatles album, Rubber Soul. It has a dirtier and edgier sound than overdrive and distortion. Bass compressors, as the name suggests compresses the sound to make louder or quieter. Manipulating the bass compressors will either give some volume or punch in the song or subtle and quiet texture. Funk bands of the 60's and 70's uses "wah-wah" pedal bass effects most notably Melvin Ragin. The late Cliff Burton of Metallica extensively used wah effects on several songs such as "The Call of Ktulu" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls".
Overdrive bass effects produce a "buzzing" or "growling" sound which can be heard on rock and heavy metal songs. Early bass players use guitar distortion pedals because bass effects are not commonly popular back then. Rage Against the Machine used bass distortion effects for their album the "Evil Empire".
Think of bass guitar effects as the dressing on a salad, nothing else. While it adds flavor to the music, it should never steal the real value from the main ingredients. There are many more effects out there, but a constant idea remains true: bass guitar's role in the band as provider of the beat and rhythm should never be compromised by introducing different sound effects.

Confused by Guitar Effects: Clean/Boost, Compressor, Distortion, Overdrive, Fuzz?

There are so many guitar effects pedals on the market and it is hard to know what the difference is between them. Categorizing effects pedals has been difficult. There has been little consensus on how to do this. There are six common classifications: Dynamics, time based, tone, filter, pitch/frequency, and feedback/sustain. This article will focus on the Dynamics Classification and the Tone Classification.
Dynamics Classification: Clean Boost/Volume Pedal, Compressor Pedal, microphone amplifier.
Clean Boost/Volume Pedal; Amplifies the volume of an instrument by increasing some aspect of its electrical signal output. These types of effects are usually used for "boosting" volume during solos and preventing signal loss in long "effects chains"
Examples: Fender Volume pedal, Dunlop MXR Amp effect, Visual Sound True Tone Clean Boost
Compressor Pedals; stabilize volume and smooths a note by dampening its onset and amplifying its sustain. Compression is achieved by varying the strength of a signal to ensure volume stays within a specific dynamic range.
Examples: Dunlop's MXR custom Comp pedal, Erockson Compressor/Sustain pedal, Boss CS-3, Aguilar TLC Compressor, BBE Benchpress pedal.
Microphone Preamplifier or "preamp"; Increases a microphones low voltage output to levels that can be picked up and used by equipment such as mixing consoles and headphones.

Tone Classification: Distortion, Overdrive, Fuzz, Lo-Fi
Distortion and Overdrive; distort the tone by adding "overtones" creating different sounds such as "warm" "dirty" "gritty" types. Distortion effects produce the same amount of distortion at any volume. Overdrive units produce "clean" sounds at a lower volume and distorted sounds at louder volumes.
Examples: BBE GreenScreamer, Dunlop MXR Distortion III, MXR custom GT overdrive, Dunlop Zakk Wylde Overdrive Pedal, BOSS Bass Overdrive, Pigtronix Aria Distortion pedal, Pigtronix Disnortion, Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive, and Route 66 American Overdrive.
Fuzz Pedal or " Fuzzbox"; A type of overdrive pedal that clips a sound-wave until it is nearly a square wave resulting in a heavily distorted or "fuzzy" sound. The Rolling Stones greatly popularized the use of fuzz effects.
Examples: Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, Visual Sound Angry Fuzz Octave, Boss Fuzz, Dunlop MXR Blue Box Octave Fuzz.

Guitar Chorus Pedal - Blending the Chorus Effect Into Your Tunes

There are so many sweet effects for you to use with your guitar and the guitar chorus pedal stands among them. With its ability to emulate the sound of multiple guitars from one tone, it can add a whole new sensation to your live show.
But what are some opportune times to actually use this neat effect without taking away from the song? There are going to be better places than others to use this effect. Here are a few suggestions:
Stand out in the middle of a guitar solo.
You know that it's your time to shine when it comes down to you wailing above the rest during a powerful guitar solo. Try your guitar chorus pedal the next time you blaze the frets and you can leave a better impression.
Use it to boost your lead parts in a heavy rhythm section.
Sometimes an intricate rhythm section that consists of constant strumming can drown out a weak lead riff. With some chorus on your guitar you'll be able to cut through more of the bass and middle ranges to be heard over the top easier.
Add more bulk to a rhythm section.
A guitar chorus pedal is mainly used to create the illusion of multiple instruments playing in sync with each other. If you want to give more bulk and power to a rhythm section, flip on your effect and suddenly you'll have other tones backing you up.

Now, not everything that you attempt with an effects pedal is going to be beautiful music to your ears. It's very easy to do too much and potentially wreck a song. Check out these tips to check your intentions with the effect.
Think about your purpose.
If the only reason you can find to use your guitar chorus pedal is "just because" then you probably shouldn't. Always have a purpose to use your effects, because they can create really awesome drama when used in moderation.
Always serve the song.
Using the chorus effect too much can run the risk of ruining a song. You'll know deep down if a part of your guitar tune has too much going on and you really shouldn't attempt to fit anything else in.
You can't be in the spotlight the entire time in a full band.
As much as we all wish we were the center of attention 100% of the time when we're playing with a band, we can't be. Check your ego at the door so you're not putting attention on yourself with an effect that isn't necessary.
A guitar chorus pedal can add some really neat and new dimensions to your playing, but you have to make sure your intentions are pure and what's best for the piece. As long as you stay true to the tune, you should be in good shape.

Distortion Pedals, Are You Ready to Expand Your Playing?

So you are finally starting to be able to play guitar well. Playing your favorite songs and solos with ease now. Now what? What are you going to do next to keep you entertained so you do not put down the guitar which you took so long to perfect. Now you need to curb your sweet guitar tooth with an awesome pedal to add dimension and flavor to your sound. Guitar pedals are what separate the acoustic guitars from the electric guitar. Not only expressing yourself in the notes you play, but also what tone the notes are played in. Adding a nice distortion to your guitar instead of going through your amp distortion is going to sound so much better and you will realize it right way. Either choosing a heavy metal to crank out some Metallica or getting a rough grunge distortion to play your favorite Nirvana licks, a distortion pedal is really going to be a solid pedal for you to have to start your first pedal board or to just mess around with.
Distortion pedals are pretty straight forward to use. You are not going to need a whole bunch of knowledge to work your first distortion pedal. All you need to know is how much distortion you want and then start playing! Just do not get too carried away or your guitar is going to buzz the whole time, unless that is how you like it. Personally I really like the heavy metal sound so when I play my solos it feels like I am screaming with my guitar, but I know everyone is different. Think about all the different songs you like and more than likely you will come up with a couple of specific sounds which you can take in consideration when choosing your pedal.

The point is, if you want to take your guitar playing to the next level you really need to think about investing your money into different pedals. You will be able to mimic different songs better, add versatility to your playing, and just plain out have more fun when you are playing. When choosing your first pedal, really make sure you do your research and listen to what the pedal sounds like before you spend your money. Demoing it for yourself would be the best option but not always possible. The best way to really get to know these pedals is to not only find a review of them but also to find videos of them online so you know what they really sound like.

Pedal Board Flight Cases

If you are reading this article then you are probably researching information on pedal board flight cases. Maybe you are looking for a pedal board flight case and unsure about what case would suit you best? If so then you have come to the right place. As there is such a wide range of effects pedal cases on the market, finding one that meets your needs and requirements can be a difficult process.
I have been playing guitar in a band for the past few years, playing gigs most weekends and I have changed my effects board several times to expand my set up of effects pedals and to increase the protection of them on the road. I am currently using a 24" odyssey hard case. However, upon researching flight cases I found it hard to find relevant information and help towards choosing the right one, therefore I have provided some information that might be useful to you.
Pedal Board Flight Cases
Pedal board Flight cases are probably the most efficient and durable type of case to protect your pedals. They are an ideal case if you play a lot of gigs or transport your pedals around often as they can take a hard beating unlike a soft case. However the disadvantages are that a pedal board flight case can be pretty heavy if you have a lot of pedals in your set up and you are more likely to injure yourself carrying it around (e.g hitting your shin of the corner of it!!)

Size
One of the most important factors in investing in a pedal board flight case is to decide on the correct size you need. This is a mistake i have personally made before like many other guitarists. You should first place your pedals in a rectangular fashion of two rows,then measure the length and width of the setup. Effects boards range in size from 14 by 5 1/2 inches to 32 by 16 inches. In doing this you should also allow about an inch around the edge of the pedals for jack leads and power lead
I would personally recommend investing in a pedal board flight case if you play a lot of gigs or transport your pedals around often, as it offers better protection than any other type of case/bag. Remember, Guitar/ Bass effects pedals do not come cheap so it is worth investing in a case that will protect your pedals and keep them in mint condition, that way you can sell them later on for a good price if you wish to do so.

Guitar Tone Using Pedal Effects

Have you ever thought about building your own pedal effects board? Have you actually built a pedal effects board only to discover that your guitar tone has changed drastically? Believe me, you are not the first to run across this problem. In fact the majority of pedal effects boards will change your tone, and most of the time is it not for the better.
There are many things to consider when designing and building your pedal board. If you're careful to address critical issues during this process you'll end up with a great guitar tone. If you're not careful you may end up with a guitar tone that is less than desirable.
Here's a few things that will affect your guitar tone when designing your pedal board.

• Length of Cables
• Types of Cables
• True Bypass
• Buffering
• Unity Gain Structure

There are more things than this to examine in Part 2, but for now this will get you on the right track to killer guitar tone when designing your effects pedal board.

1. Length of cables - You should try to keep the length of your cables as short as possible. This includes the patch cables in between the pedals as well. The reason is that the longer your cables are, the more tone loss, gain loss, and high end loss occurs.
2. Types of cables - Just as the length of your cables can result in tone loss, so can the type of cables. This is something that is sort of a personal preference, but I will say that Mogami and Belden cables are always going to be a great choice. Keep in mind that the most important cable is the first cable used from your guitar to the first effects pedal.
3. True bypass - This can be good and bad depending on the rest of the pedals in the chain. If all of your pedals are true bypass, and they're all turned off, you face the problem of all of your cable lengths adding up to one long cable going into the front of your amp. This is really bad if you are using vintage pickups with low output and high impedance. You should consider some type of buffer to keep the signal steady.
4. Buffering - Buffering the signal can help when using true bypass pedals along with vintage pickups, but you'll have to play around with the combinations. You may run into issues of signal spikes and treble spikes depending on where the buffers are placed in the chain. Best solution is to plug your guitar directly into a fixed high-impedance load that is identical to the amp input. Then distribute the signal to the various effects and amps by low-impedance buffered feeds. This will give you constant signal level, and tone characteristics, which will not change when more effects are added.
5. Unity Gain Structure - This is another critical issue when it come to balancing out your sound. Example: if you used a chorus pedal and a delay pedal these devices are usually unity gain. When you get into pre-amps, equalizers and units with gain control, you'll need to balance all of them out so that one unit is not louder that the other when turned on or off.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1728863

Guitar Effects 101 - Understanding Guitar Effects

We always have this constant question on all guitar oriented forums -"what order do I put my guitar effects in? While there are some simple guiding principle, there is no "right" way to do it. It's all a matter of taste and your personal tone. Let your ears be the final Judge.
Guitar Effects are electronic device that connects a guitar and an amplifier or mixing board. Their main purpose is to modify and enhance the tone, pitch of the guitar and create special sounds using a guitar pedal or a combination of several pedals. These effects transform sounds in many ways and bring "life" to sound. It is usually used in in-recording studio accompanied with vocals and live performances. A Guitar Effects device consists of analog or digital circuitry which processes audio signals. Effects processing circuitry are similar to that found in music synthesizers; it may include active and passive filters, envelope followers or envelope modifiers, wave-shaping circuits, voltage-controlled oscillators, or digital delays.
Effects device come in several formats, the most common are the "stomp-box" and the rack-mount unit. A stomp box or "pedal steel" is a small metal or plastic box containing the circuitry which is placed on the floor in front of the musician and connected in line with the patch cord connected to the instrument. The box is typically controlled by one or more foot-pedal on-off switches and usually contains only one or two effects. Rack-mount effects unit contains identical electronic circuit, but is mounted in a standard 19" equipment rack. Usually, rack-mount effects units contain several different types of effects. These are typically controlled by knobs or switches on the front panel, and often by a MIDI digital control interface. "Guitar pedal boards" are used by musicians who use multiple stomp-boxes; these may be a DIY project made with plywood or a commercial pedalboards.

Nowadays, modern desktop and notebook computers have sound processing capabilities that rival commercially available effects boxes. Some can process sound through VST or similar plugins, such as LADSPA, RTAS or Direct X. Musicians in the modern world can play any instrument through a computer's sound card, emulating effects units or amplifiers. These VST-plugins can be downloaded for a little or no cost.
Guitar Effects are divided according to effects description; Amplitude based effects which composed of volume control, tremolo, auto tremolo, panning/ping-pong, gating/repeat percussion, compression, expansion, asymmetric compression, noise gating, attack delay, ADSR (Attack Decay Sustain Release), and limiting, auto swell. There is also Waveform distortion effects which can be done by Symmetrical clipping, asymmetrical clipping, infinite limiting, Half wave rectification, Full wave rectification and Arbitrary waveform generation. FILTER/FREQUENCY RESPONSE EFFECTS can be achieved through EQ/tone controls, treble/mid/bass boost, cabinet simulation, resonator, wah, envelope follower also called as Auto wah, tremolo wah, "vibrato", and phase shifting. For time delay effects; echo, reverb, true vibrato, flanging, chorus/ADT, slapback, and reverse echo/reverb. We can also add other miscellaneous effects such as octave division, harmony generation, phase lock tracking, Noise addition, talk box, and voice tracking. Leslie, aphex and enhancers are examples of common combinations effects.

The Best Of Guitar Effect Accessories

One of the important add ons to guitar are guitar effect accessories. They enhance the sound of guitar and allow the player to come up with different kinds of tones and sounds.
There are a whole lot of guitar effect accessories available today.
- Guitar to U.S.B interface: This particular accessory is very effective for practicing. It is a cable that can be adjoined with the U.S.B port of your personal computer. And after that you can jam as long as you want. You do not need any other accessory. All you need is your guitar, a computer or laptop and this U.S.B interface.
- Footswitch: It is a gazette that helps you to control the selection of loops. It also gives a hands free comfort to change the modes. It has got an option by which you can start and stop it automatically, if you want. It also provides you the system to record automatically.
- Foot pedal: This is a small processor kind of thing that provides you different facilities and effects. It has got a record option. It also contains some other facilities like, multiply, insert, mute, undo etc.
- Remote control pedal: This is a more advanced version of conventional pedals. They have some unique facilities, which will make the playing comfortable and enjoyable. This gazette has one pedal through which, the major functions of two amplifier foot switches can be fulfilled.
- Mini amp and distortion: This is the latest two in one version of guitar effect accessories. This is a mini amplifier. There is a very powerful inbuilt speaker in the pedal. After the amplifier is attached, it becomes a very strong distortion box.

- Mini auto guitar tuner pedal: This is a very short box. It fits easily in the pedal board. It instantly tunes the guitar with total accuracy. A digital needle indicates the state of the tune.
- Slap echo pedal: This pedal delivers the echo tone. Especially the shower room tone that was very popular in the 1950s.
- Flanger pedal: Another effect accessory that gives a flange effect.
- Acoustic guitar amp modeling effects pedal: Do you want an acoustic tone from an electric guitar? Don't have to think a lot or invent a new machine. This gazette will do that for you. You just need to plug in. And it will give clear tone of acoustic guitar.
- Digital stereo reverb guitar effects pedal: This is for reverb effects.
The above accessories are all for electric guitars. But there are other guitar effect accessories also, which are made for bass guitars.
- Bass guitar multi FX: It has got a good amplifier and many brilliant effects.
- Bass multi effects pedal: It is a bit advanced from the previous one. It contains drum machine, recording software, along with many effects.
These are the guitar effect accessories, which are available mainly for electric & bass guitars. There are lots of other accessories being invented everyday, especially for electric guitars. These accessories are making guitar playing a more enjoyable experience.