Tag: Apple

Music

You Go, Gill!

My friend John Bohlinger from Premier Guitar just shot a Rig Rundown video with one of my utmost guitar heroes, Andy Gill.

I’ve rhapsodized about Gill’s guitar voice more times than I can count. But the aspect of his playing that I love the most is the way he created such a definitive voice with zero reference to prior rock and blues. If I’d ever worked at Art Forum like my wife did, I could probably draw comparisons to Luigi Russolo’s futurism and Jean Dubuffet’s art brut, but really, I just dig Gill’s blunt, brutal badass-ness.

The big surprise for me in this interview: These days Gill plays through a laptop running Logic, and he’s using some of the stuff that I helped make while sound-designing guitar components for Apple. This news makes my year (though given the year we’ve all been through, walking to the corner store without breaking my ankle would probably also make my year).

Nice work, JB! And thanks, Andy, for the endless inspiration since 1979’s Entertainment!

Tags Andy gill, Apple, joe gore, joegore, john bohlinger, Logic, premier guitar, tone fiend, tonefiend, tonefiend.com

Digital guitar Music Technique

Less-Boring Looping (“Pumped-Up Kicks” Cover)

Post author By joe
Post date June 20, 2015
12 Comments on Less-Boring Looping (“Pumped-Up Kicks” Cover)

For a while I’ve been playing this loop-based cover of Foster the People’s “Pumped-Up Kicks” at solo gigs and with my duo band, Mental 99. At risk of sounding like a pompous dick, I’ve annotated the performance, highlighting techniques I’ve found useful for making loop-based performances livelier and less predictable.

I’ve covered some of this ground before, particularly in this Premier Guitar looping-technique article. But here I call out the techniques mid-performance, and I’ve included a few new ones. I hope you find some of them useful.

Likewise, I’ve already written about my live looping rig, but it’s changed a bit since then, and I’ve recently integrated a Universal Audio Apollo Twin interface (plus the stellar plug-ins it allows me to run). An updated overview:

The arrangement perform nicely, and I dig the individual components. But I dislike the system’s Rube Goldberg complexity—it’s a royal pain to set up and schlep. I’m always looking for ways to simply. (Other than, you know, just plugging the guitar into a frickin’ amp.) I’m open to suggestions for streamlining!

Black Mac — I love Apple products, but I hate having Macs onstage (mainly ’cause they’re so much better looking than me). Covering it in black wrap makes it less obtrusive. The Marshall logo is from one of those “toy” stacks (which, of course, can be far more than toys in the studio).

Tags apollo, Apple, birdmaster, Boomerang, Comerang III, cover, digital, electric, fiend, fishman, Foster the People, fralin, gore, guitar, interface, joe gore, KMI SoftStep, less-boring looping, live looping, Logidy UMI3, loop, looper, looping, macbook pro, MainStage, midi, P-92, P92, patch, plug-ins, Pumped-Up Kicks, Side Car, techique, tone, tonefiend, tonefiend.com, triple play, tripleplay, twin, ua, universal audio, warmth, wireless

Digital Recording

Logic Pro X:
What’s New for Guitarists & Bassists?

Post author By joe
Post date July 24, 2013
2 Comments on Logic Pro X:
What’s New for Guitarists & Bassists?

As promised: an overview of Apple’s new Logic X Pro, with an emphasis on what’s new and cool for guitarists and bassists. Lots of movies and audio!

It’s here.

This is an exciting post for me, and not just because I get a desperately needed break from Klons and Screamers. I’m thrilled to bits about Logic Pro X and MainStage 3, though I’m still wrapping me head around them. (Yeah, I worked as a developer for both products, but I didn’t get a proper program-wide view until last week’s release.)

Also, it’s my first story for Premier Guitar, whose staff I’ve just joined as a senior editor. I’m stoked because it reunites me with PG editor Shawn Hammond and senior editor Andy Ellis, both of whom I remember fondly from my Guitar Player magazine days.

There’s much talent and coolness on the staff. I’m a happy little guitar nerd. Plus, the schedule is loose enough that I can still record, perform, and continue to work with audio/software clients.

What does the gig mean for this blog? Good things. I have no plans for a major course change — there are too many things I can only cover on a non-commercial site, including some of the topics closest to my heart. Meanwhile, working with PG will keep me more up-to-date on new music, new gear, and scurrilous guitar community gossip. In some cases, though, I may link to a PG article I’ve written rather than duplicate the work here. Today, for example. 🙂

Tags amp designer, Apple, audio, bass, bass amp designer, bassist, DAW, demo, effect, fiend, guitar, guitarist, joe gore, Logic, logic pro x, modeler, movie, pedalboard, premier guitar, software, stompbox, tone, tonefiend, tonefiend.com, video, virtual

Bass Digital Effects guitar Recording

Logic X is Here!

Apple released the long-awaited Logic X a few minutes ago. And it’s dripping with cool new guitar and bass stuff: a fabulous bass amp modeler. Lots of new virtual stompboxes. Vast new libraries of guitar tones, and newer, smarter ways of accessing them. More product info here.

FYI, I’m the furthest thing from an unbiased source: Apple is one of my clients, and I was a major indie developer for this product. But hey — the guitar features here are seriously bitchin’.

More details and examples in the coming days!

Tags 2013, Apple, bass, features, guitar, logic x, new, release, sounds

Digital Effects guitar Technique

MIDI Guitar Meltdown

Okay, I promise: tonefiend is not going to become an all-digital blog. I’ve got two new DIY analog pedal projects in the pipe, plus a piece on that delightfully retro technology, the book.

But while there’s more to life than MIDI, for the last few months my particular life has been all MIDI, all the time. I worked on the documentation for the Fishman TriplePlay MIDI guitar system, then demoed the product at MacWorld and Musikmesse. And now that the smoke has cleared and I’m off the Fishman clock, I’m still obsessed with the musical possibilities here. In fact, I’m just getting to the fun part: bending the technology to taste and making ~~weird-ass music for weird-ass people~~ compelling new sounds.

I’m posting two new pieces spun off from my Musikmesse demos. Technical and musical comments after the videos.

In my first TriplePlay demo, I used simple, recognizable acoustic instrument samples. For the second one, I focused on aggressive/distorted sounds. But now I’m getting into what really interests me: solo guitar arrangements featuring hybrid colors, deployed so that it’s often difficult to tell the guitar sounds from the synths and samples.

Tags Apple, cathode, cathode ray blues, demo, digital, fishman, guitar, laptop, live looping, loop, looper, looping, macbook pro, midi, paneer, performance, play, solo, triple, tripleplay

Digital guitar Music Recording

A Loop-Oriented Laptop Guitar Rig

Post author By joe
Post date May 7, 2012
20 Comments on A Loop-Oriented Laptop Guitar Rig

Screen Shot 2012-05-02 at 5.26.07 PM — I haz a band.

My ol’ pals at Guitar Player magazine interviewed me for an instructional article on looping for next month’s issue. It was especially flattering to be invited, because the interviewer was Barry Cleveland, a fine guitarist and a leading figure in the looping community.

I put together this little video to demo the digital rig I use onstage with my duo band, Mental 99, and I’ve cross-posted it here. It covers software, hardware loopers, looping techniques, and the like. Have a listen.

Tags Apple, Boomerang, demo, gear, guitar player, joe gore, Keith McMillen, laptop, live looping, Logic, loop, looper, looping, magazine, MainStage, Mental 99, OSX, plug-in, Side Car, SoftStep, technique, Trussart

DIY Music Tonefiend DIY Club

The Workbench & Rehearsal Room iPad:
My Top 10 Apps

Post author By joe
Post date April 6, 2012
21 Comments on The Workbench & Rehearsal Room iPad:
My Top 10 Apps

iPad: Your pathway to a more productive and better organized workspace!

organization — iPad: Your pathway to a more productive and better organized workspace!

It’s not as if Apple needs more free publicity, but IMHO, the iPad is the greatest workbench and rehearsal room innovation since the Mesopotamians perfected beer.*

Seriously — I find myself reaching for the thing as often as I reach for the soldering iron. In fact, I sometimes confuse the two, which probably explains the sketchy wiring in my pedals and the mysterious burns on my fingertips.

Marketing hype notwithstanding, there’s isn’t always “an app for that.” (In particular, I eagerly await the “Why Doesn’t This $^%&Y# Thing Work?” app.)

But I would like to share a few tools that proven consistenly useful in the two years since the iPad’s debut. Prices range from free to a whopping $5.99 for Electronic Toolbox Pro.

Play Prev|Next

Electronic Toolbox Pro

Cleartune Chromatic Tuner

Safari Web Browser

Dropbox

Metronome™

Camera

Kindle and/or iBooks

StreamToMe

Voice Memos

iCircuit

Plants vs. Zombies

Is anyone else foolhardy enough to expose their expensive mobile devices to hazardous workbench and rehearsal room environments? What are your observations? Recommendations? Bitter regrets? Do tell.

* Just kidding. Kids, don’t drink and solder.

Tags app, Apple, application, best apps, DIY, iPad, music, practice, rehearse, top 10 apps, workbench