Gibson Music Blog

Way back in May, we wrote about Paul McCartney’s plan to go back and record some standards for his next album, saying “It’s my dad’s style of music.
I’ve wanted to do that kind of thing forever, since the Beatle days.” Saturday, a few more details emerged including a name, My Valentine, and a release date of February 7.
Concord Music, which will release the album on their Hear Music label, has announced more information on the album, including a confirmation of the release date, but they don’t confirm the name.
Here’s the text of the release:
WHILE many a musician is often asked about the tunes that have influenced their songwriting, it is not a question Paul McCartney ordinarily gets to answer ’ until now. Paul is about to offer a glimpse into ‘the songs which inspired the songs’ with the upcoming release of a brand new album of those standards he grew up listening to in his childhood-plus two brand new McCartney compositions: the album, which is currently untitled, will be released on Hear Music/Concord Records on February 7th 2012.
With the help of Grammy Award-winning producer Tommy LiPuma and Diana Krall and her band-as well as guest appearances from Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder, McCartney’s new album is a deeply personal journey through classic American compositions that, in some cases, a young Paul first heard his father perform on piano at home. As authentic and daring a musical statement as he could make, this is the album Paul has been thinking about making for more than 20 years - and probably the last thing his fans are expecting. ‘In the end it was ‘Look, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it,’ he says.
In short, Paul believes it is about time ‘the songs me and John based quite a few of our things on’ received the recognition they deserve. Moreover, the record also features a couple of new original McCartney compositions in the spirit of those classics.
‘When I kind of got into songwriting, I realised how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them,’ Paul explains. ‘I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys - I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it’s beautiful, the way they made those song’.’

Click On READ MORE

When you next find yourself gnawing on your steering wheel as the vehicles ahead of you concertina into a wall of metal, spare a thought for the drivers currently stuck in one of the longest traffic jams in history.
Thousands of drivers on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway just outside the Chinese capital have been snared by roadworks ever since 14 August – and the disruption is expected to last a further month. The tailbacks now stretch for a mind-boggling 100km and 400 police officers have been assigned to the area to quell rising tensions, with impromptu vendors said to be charging exorbitant prices for tea and noodles. Meanwhile, drivers resigned to their fate are reported to be passing the time with games of chess or cards. Some have requested concerts be performed on roadside verges.
Road-weary residents of Sao Paolo are similarly resourceful in dealing with their regular mega-jams, which are said to be the worst in the world. Men shave, women apply makeup, couples canoodle and the thirsty simply lock their car doors and head to the nearest cafe.
The AA says such jams are mercifully rare in the UK, with a channel port disruption being its “very worst nightmare”. But we are prone to the odd “perfect storm”, says a spokesman. One such incident, now dubbed “the Prat” by the motoring organisation (after the individual who caused the “totally avoidable” snarl-up), occurred in 2006 when a lorry driver hit a ventilation fan in the Dartford tunnel on the M25, causing the east tunnel to close for nine hours.
A more recent example hit the M11 in January, when a snowstorm trapped drivers for more than 20 hours. “The biggest lesson from this incident was for people to remain in their cars and check traffic reports,” says the AA spokesman. “It was people abandoning their cars that aggravated the situation. We issue the standard advice: always carry water and food with you, and make sure your mobile is topped up.”
Keeping calm and relaxed when caught in a jam is a skill few have ever mastered, but the hypnotist Paul McKenna recommends an exercise called the “calm anchor”. “Remember a time when you felt really, really calm – at peace and in control,” he writes in Control Stress. “Return to it now, seeing what you saw, hearing what you heard and feeling how good you felt.” Or if all else fails, just do as a cab driver would: tune into Magic FM.

Of the many solidbody guitar models produced in the last 60 years, few have enjoyed the popularity and longevity of the Fender Telecaster. Shortly after its invention, the Telecaster became a main staple of blues, country and rock musicians alike. The instrument has endured the test of time as the electric guitar of choice by players worldwide.
The first Telecaster, actually called the “Broadcaster,” and was designed by Leo Fender in California. Initially, Gretsch owned the rights to the instrument, but Fender improved his design and re-released the first Telecaster in 1951. It has been known by its nickname, the “Tele,” ever since.
As the world’s first mass-marketed solid body electric guitar, the Tele has gained so much favor with musicians because of its light weight and body-friendly contours. It is extremely easy to play and handle from a sitting or standing position. Telecasters feature two pickups, and the body is a single cutaway with an eight-screw pick guard.
In the 1970s, when Telecasters were manufactured in Mexico and Japan, the company began making them with two humbuckers. Minor cosmetic changes have come and gone over the last 60 years, but the basic Tele design remains the same as Fender’s prototype.
Fender manufactures various types of Telecasters, including the Artist series, the Vintage series, American Deluxe, American Standard, the Classic, and a few Special Issues. New Telecasters range in price from about $690 to $2,500, direct from the manufacturer. Vintage model prices can be lower or even higher.
The Telecaster sound has been described as “twangy,” hence its popularity with blues and country artists. The solid body of the Tele prevents feedback problems, and creates a clean, electrified tone.
During his 1960s stint with the Yardbirds, Eric Clapton played a Tele. Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders is also a Telecaster player. Other famous Tele aficionados include Jeff Beck, Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, George Harrison, Freddie Mercury, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page, Tom Petty, Keith Richards and Pete Townshend.

Click On SEE MORE

Condenser microphones capture sound using a conductive diaphragm with a capacitative charged plate behind it. The charge is supplied by a DC voltage source from a battery or from the 48 volt ‘phantom power’ supply present in most mixers and mic preamps. Air pressure changes meeting the conductive diaphragm cause it to move, which causes an analogous AC voltage to be formed in the charged plate. These tiny AC voltages are sent to a tiny preamp built into the microphone, which brings the signal level up to where it can drive a typical micrpphone preamp. The signal leaves the microphone through the cable and on to the microphone preamplifier stage of the mixer. Because the diaphragm of a condenser mic can be made very thin and light, condenser mics tend to be more accurate and ‘faster’ than dynamic mics, especially in the midrange and treble frequencies. However, condenser mics tend to be more physically delicate than dynamic mics, so they are more commonly used for studio recording than for live sound and P.A.
Since condenser mics need a tiny amplifier built into the mic casing (called the “head amp”), the quality of its electronics will influence the sound of the mic. Some condenser mics use a small vacuum-tube circuit for their head amp, along with an external power supply box for the electronics. This is what is referred to as a “tube mic.”

Click On READ MORE

When you wake up in the morning do you feel like superman
if your not a man do you feel like supergirl
understanding the plan that’s been laid out since time began
watch machines as they wake and they tear up the world
I can’t change a moment in time
I can’t change my mind
do you regret what you’ve done in the past
how long does a medium pipe last
do me a favor and tip your glass
when you jumped from the mountain did you survive the fall
were there pieces of you left at all
round like the moon, you can shoot it with a gun
you can walk on the moon but you’ll burn if you walk on the sun.
you look in a crowd and you remake a face
a stranger in a strange place
slippery fingers have no control of the past
how long does a medium movie last
do yourself a favor and tip your glass
you look in a crowd and you remake a face
a stranger in a strange place
slippery fingers have no control of the past
how long does a medium movie last
do yourself a favor and tip your glass
tip your glass
tip your glass

Take A Listen To “Tip Your Glass”

“Oh God, I could do better than that!”
As Queen Bitch’s insistent, irresistible guitar riff kicks off yet another major motion-picture trailer, is this how the reclusive David Bowie feels?
The 1971 song, from David Bowie’s Hunky Dory (and featuring Mick Ronson on guitar), was the sexy, energetic centre of the 2008 film Milk and now underscores the trailer for Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron as a “psychotic prom-queen bitch,” trying to recapture her small-town glory days.
As with Milk, the song makes the trailer bounce. It isn’t just the quirky brilliance of the music, either.
It’s the singer, whose strange, scale-sliding voice starts the song by counting off, then launching his legendary Velvet Underground-inspired, yet wholly original, tribute to an everyday superstar, an imperious queen who is “known in the darkest clubs for pushing ahead of the dames.”
Bowie, the epicene trickster, enticed us all with such slippery lyrics – lyrics that said “queen” and did not mean a regent, that referenced “twinks” and, à la Wilde’s Bosie, “a love I could not obey” – as well as an always-changing stage persona that reflected the sexual liberty of the 1970s.
That liberty was extended to all artists, Bowie’s influence too vast to name.
Consider just one instance: Nirvana covering The Man Who Sold the World on Unplugged in 1993. Bowie was hated by the homophobic punks who came before Kurt Cobain, so his cover surprised fans at the time. But it shouldn’t have: If Cobain was nothing else, he was a devout musicologist, who, incidentally, loved what was once referred to, by aghast commentators, as “gender bending” – Bowie’s claim to fame in mass culture.

Click On READ MORE

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the folk-acoustic tradition. Singer-songwriters often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano; both the compositions and the arrangements are written primarily as solo vehicles, with the material angled toward topical issues; sometimes political, sometimes introspective, sensitive, romantic, and confessional.
The concept of a singer-songwriter can actually be traced to ancient bardic culture, which has existed in various forms throughout the world. Poems would be performed as chant or song, sometimes accompanied by a harp or other similar instrument. After the invention of printing, songs would be written and performed by ballad sellers. Usually these would be versions of existing tunes and lyrics, which were constantly evolving. This developed into the singer-songwriting traditions of folk culture.
Traveling performers existed throughout Europe. Thus, the folklorist Anatole Le Braz gives a detailed account of one ballad singer, Yann Ar Minouz, who wrote and performed songs traveling through Brittany in the late nineteenth century and selling printed versions.
In large towns it was possible to make a living performing in public venues, and with the invention of phonographic recording, early singer-songwriters like Théodore Botrel and George M. Cohan became celebrities. Radio further added to their public recognition and appeal.

lakes unheard, invisible face
know tabs tapes taped de-generate
masked unmarked, relaxed and laxing
renowned water rising, waste sponges already pronounced

ingested re-laced shoes taxing
wrapped sticky fingers go unharmed
spinning machines, smoking hair trapped
melting eardrums lounge and linger, smelting, broken fingers wrapped

Alaska pies baked somewhere else
someone tosses smelling salts
naming the unremarkable
a whirlpool lapping, capped,
lines of melting fishing pole vaults

spinning machines, smoking hair trapped
smelting, broken fingers wrapped

someone tosses smelling salts

What it Is: The Alesis MultiMix 8 USB 2.0 is an 8 channel high-resolution mixer with multichannel usb 2.0 interface capabilities. You get four high-gain mic line XLR inputs with phantom power, 2 stereo ¼” inputs, 100 onboard 28-bit preset effects including reverbs, delays, chorus, flanging, pitch and multi–effects, and a very nice feature, a stereo digital out and 2 return inputs for monitoring via the USB 2.0 audio interface.

Why This Is A Great Opportunity: Not only is the Alesis MultiMix a great compact mixer with awesome digital effects, but it also is a USB 2.0 multitrack recording interface. The Multi-Mix 8 is perfect for duos and small combo groups who don’t need a lot of inputs. Run your instruments though the mixer for pa support at a live show, and record a live mix via the USB 2.0 to your computer at the same time. Back at the studio, use the MultiMix for your recording interface direct into the included Cubase recording software. The MultiMix is compatible with both Mac and PC operating systems, and offers great dual-purpose usefulness at a very fair price.

Click On SEE MORE