SITE
CONTENT



HOME

CONTACT

MP3 SONGS

LESSONS & TIPS

GUITAR CHORDS

POETRY

CHARACTER
VOICES


JOKES & HUMOR

YOU TUBE

GAMES

GREATNESS &
STRENGTH


FOR MY
STUDENTS


GUITAR TUNER

ARTWORK

OPTICAL
ILLUSIONS


UNREAL
TOURNAMENT


FREEWARE
440+ APPS


HeathStudio.com
LESSONS & TIPS

CONTENTS:

Basics to look for in a guitar
Guitar Tuner Download
Tap Delay Pedal
Using Flatwound Strings
Travis Picking
Tambourine Angle
Bending the end of Strings
Playing with capo on second fret
Notes on the Guitar Neck
How to Mic Drums
EDGE's Delay for "Where the Streets Have no Name"
E-bow
External Battery Holder
Don't "loop" your strings
Tabla effect from String
Playing Harmonics
My guitar setup
Some Good Links!!




Basics to look for in a guitar:


Look down the neck to see if it's straight. Check for a cracked or lifted bridge.
Check the intonation by using "harmonics". Check "playability" of strings.. (Action)

First off.. What are you going to be using the guitar for?? I used to have one guitar that I bungie corded to the back of my motorcycle.. It didn't have to be pretty.. It was a functional guitar.. great for campfire songs and banging around.. but I have other guitars that I use when I'm playing out.. Here are some basics if you are looking for a good playable guitar.. Look down the neck.. Is it straight.?. Pay special attention to where the neck joins onto the body.. A lot of times there is a little deviation there.. Play up the strings to see if there is any "buzzing".. If you are a beginner and plan on purchasing another guitar later it may not make any difference right now because most of what you are playing will be near the "head" of the guitar anyways.. Check to see where the neck joins onto the body.. Is there any separation.?. Is the bridge lifted or cracked.?. As you can see in the picture of my guitar the bridge is cracked but I have secured it with three bolts and with washers on the inside.. Check the intonation by going to the 12th fret and playing the harmonic for each string then press the string down on the fret and play it.. IT SHOULD BE EXACTLY THE SAME NOTE..!! Check the "action" of the strings.. How close the strings are to the neck, and how easily they play.. Don't pass up a good guitar just because the strings may be old.. You have to look beyond the condition of the strings.. and try to judge by the things we just covered..


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Guitar Tuner Download:


(Click here to DOWNLOAD)
This is the handiest tuner I have found so far. It will automatically give you a tone every few seconds (you can set the interval) and you can set it to automatically advance to each string for "hands free" tuning. You can download it here or check out some of the other cool programs that Mike has on his site:

http://www.gieson.com/


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Tap Delay Pedal:

A great addition if you want more precise control over your delay effect. With a switch pedal, (normally open) plugged into the "tempo jack", you tap four times at a consistent beat to set the tempo of your delay. Very Handy. This is the DD-5 model. I think the latest version that's out is the DD-7.


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Using Flatwound Strings:

Roundwound strings on acoustic guitar

Flatwound strings on electric guitar

Of course, there are many different types of strings that are available for your guitars, but one of the biggest changes I found in strings for my electric guitar was putting on flatwound strings. Easier on the fingers.. they don't have that squeaking sound when you slide between frets.. I think they last longer.. and dirt and materials don't build up in the grooves between the windings because there are virtually no grooves..


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Travis Picking:

The "T", "1", and "2" in this diagram represent the Thumb, First, and Second fingers of your picking hand. 1 through 6 represents the strings of the guitar. The verticle lines represent the beats. If you're starting off and want an easy chord for your chord hand to be holding, you can keep a finger on the first string, third fret ("G" chord). Start off slow. Gradually you can speed up the pattern, then start changing bass strings and adding "hammer ons" and "pull offs".


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Tambourine Angle:

Timbrels change sound with different angles. A tambourine with brass timbrels.

You can get a different sustain to the timbrels depending on what angle you strike the tambourine at. When the tambourine is held at a verticle angle the timbrels are able to reverberate longer because they are just hanging on the shank that holds them in place, but when you hold the tambourine level the timbrels are now on top of one another and resting on the tambourine body so the sound disipates more quickly. I prefer a tambourine with brass timbrels instead of nickle because it has a much mellower sound. I actually have two of these and sometimes play them both together for a much fuller sound.


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Bending the end of Strings:

While you are changing strings bend the end of the "ball end" before putting it in the hole of the bridge. This will keep it from catching on the end of the peg and pulling the peg out as you tighten up the string.


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Playing with capo on second fret:

I like using a capo on the second fret a lot of times because the sound seems to be a little more "solid". Keep in mind that when you play the string open, the vibration is being transfered through ivory or plastic, (unless the nut happens to be metal).. but when you play with a capo, your open string vibrations are being transfered through a metal fret for a more solid sound.


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Notes on the Guitar Neck:




(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

How to Mic Drums:




(Click on an area of the drum kit)

Clicking on the individual parts of the drum set will bring up a diagram of how to mic that particular part. Keep in mind this is a very basic setup, but I think you'll get the idea.

(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

How to set up delay EDGE uses on "Where the Streets Have no Name":

YouTube clip that this refers to Edge's echo audio files graphed in Sonar
If you watch the video at the left from YouTube, at 0:13 you can get the interval that Edge has set his echo at. The top "purple" line in the figure on the right is actual audio from that video clip of the echo beat. In the second track (the yellow track) in that picture I have replicated with a drum machine the intervall of that echo. At 0:24 you can hear the interval between the notes that he is playing. I replicated the interval of his notes in track three (the green track). The actual result of the interval of echo upon track 3 would give you the resulting sound found in track four which throws notes in between the notes you are playing. ..Which is how Edge achieves the great fullness of sound that he does. Check out the sound at 0:32 !!!

Here is another clip from YouTube where "lbarringer" shows a technique at 2:03 where you gradually increase your playing speed until it gets the effect you want with the delay setting. Of course there is the question, "What do you set the length of the delay to?" We are already able to get the length of the delay (for this song).. for example; at 0:13 in the clip above.
lbarringer has a method of increasing tempo


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

E-bow:

This is the "E-bow Plus" pictured here. The E-bow has a pickup on one end that picks up the string vibration, amplifies it, and sends the signal back out through an induced magnetic field to the string again for infinite sustain and a wide variety of "flute like" effects. Switching the switch to the left gives you the regular E-bow sustain. This is the "E-bow Plus" which has the added feature of switching to the right for extra enhancement on the harmonics and overtones. Be cautious as you move the E-bow near the magnetic field of pickups because this greatly increases the volume of the output.


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

External Battery Holder:

If you have a guitar where the access to the battery is hard to get at, (like in the sound hole), you can install an external battery holder. Here is a link to one supplier where you can get them:

http://www.guitarnucleus.com/gnstore/elec_battery.html


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Don't "loop" your strings:



Don't loop your strings !!
I know it can look cool, but I don't advise anyone to do this with their strings. In fact, it's a good practice to check over your whole guitar to see if there is anywhere where something is loose or able to vibrate, because anything that is able to vibrate on your guitar will suck the life out of the sound of the guitar. Tighten tuning pegs,.. epoxy or glue down wires inside.. make sure all braces within the body of the guitar are still in place. If you have any braces that have come loose you can glue them back in place. "Elmer's Wood Glue" makes a small container that will fit through the sound hole with your hand and you can feel the edges of the braces with your hand where the glue needs to be applied.


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Tabla effect from String:

Click to hear sample.
"Hmmm.. ..Doesn't look like a drum machine!" While changing strings one day, I found that I could get some really cool drum like sounds from the "E" bass string with a cloth underneath it. It sounded a lot like tabla drums. Run the sound through EQ and reverb to fine tune it a little.


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Playing Harmonics:


5th Fret Harmonic 7th Fret Harmonic
Harmonics at the 5th fret. Harmonics at the 7th fret.
12th Fret Harmonic

Harmonics at the 12th fret.


NOTE:
Harmonic chords sound great when you use the technique on guitars tuned in alternate tunings.
Harmonics may be played wherever the string is divided into proportion: 1 to 2, 1 to 3, and so on. The higher divisions are much harder to play, so here are the three strongest harmonics,.. the strongest being at the 12th fret.. the next strongest at the 7th.. and the next at the 5th. To get the harmonic sound place your finger on the string above the mentioned frets.. don't push all the way down.. just let your finger be a "fulcrum point".. You can also play harmonic chords: Playing strings 6 3 2 and 1 with your finger on the 12th fret will give you an "Em" harmonic. Playing 4 3 and 2 will be a "G". Playing strings 6 3 2 and 1 on the 7th fret will give you a "Bm" harmonic. While playing 4 3 and 2 on the 7th will give you a "D" chord.


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

My guitar setup:


This connects through 13 pin below. GK-1 Synth driver was added.
A converted XLR jack to 13 pin.

GK-1 driver above connects here on back.

This is a fairly versatile setup.. If you look further up the page, you'll notice there are two pickups right above the bridge.. one is used for COSM (Composit Object Sound Modeling), and the other for Midi.. and the 1/4 inch jack is a combination of an acoustic mic under the bridge and a stereo pickup within the bridge which has a switch to send the even strings to one channel and the odd to the other.. or the three bass strings to one channel and the three higher strings to the other.. very versatile..!!


(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)

Some Good Links!!:

http://www.shrinkpictures.com/ ← This is a site where you can upload pictures for resizing, still keeping great detail and then download the new resize.

http://www.drstrings.com/ ← In my opinion, virtually the best strings on the planet!

http://www.guitarnucleus.com/gnstore/elec_battery.html ← A site where you can purchase external "pop-out" battery holders.

http://www.gieson.com/ ← Mentioned earlier on this page where the guitar tuner and some other cool programs may be found.

Search Engine Optimization SEO

← This is a great place to check out if your header code for your website is optimized and in correct format. Just insert your URL and they'll give you an analysis.

Valid Robots.txt

← A good site for finding out if you have a valid "robots.txt" file.

← This is the best, most powerful editor I have ever downloaded.. and it's free.. (There is a place on the site for donation). You'll probably find yourself replacing notepad in windows with it.

← Download a free (donation) favicon editor. A favicon is the little 16 bit by 16 bit graphic that you see to the left side of the browser URL address bar.




(Click here to return to TABLE OF CONTENTS)






If you would like to promote this site, please copy the
following code and paste it into the HTML of your web page:


Will look like this:

HeathStudio.com




Will look like this:

HeathStudio.com