Tonelab USB Recording

The USB based recording in the Tonelab ST, is something that helps you achieve true clarity from home and gives almost studio like quality. I bought my VOX a little more than a year ago. When I bought it i was not quite satisfied as I was unable to use it to it's true potential. Learning more about my processor I have started using the USB interface given with it. I use it only for recording though. I have not yet made patches on my computer using it.

The sound that I get is very pleasing and the best part is that you can hear yourself play almost without any lag. It would be better if you could get a firewire interface. The good part about this is that it does not expect you to have even a decent system. I mean even with an atom processor one could record on softwares such as Audition or FL Studio. Even if you have something like Cubase or any of the other Steinberg products I do not think it should cause much of a problem.Even though people do underestimate the power of the atom, I say otherwise after having a first hand experience working on one. Initially even I happened to be hesitant in using the system for recording. Later I noticed if you are not synthesizing many effect then it should not be much of a problem.

 One more important thing to be noted is that if the sound card driver on your system is not very good then you can utilise the USB interface to access your VOX which will act as a temporary card and can handle way more loads than your basic driver. Basically, reduces the load of your processor by focusing the sound card issues to your processor. Another advantage of this is that the quality of sound is enhanced and it can be easily understood. So please do take undue advantage of your processor and record without any issues! 

Touching the Indian Note & Epiphany

I have finally decided to organize my work and hence have created a page on facebook to store most of my work .I have started off by making a fusion like song namely 'Touching the Indian Note'. The name of the page is Epiphany.
Here is the link to the page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Epiphany/328158763870860?sk=wall

Sanguine Sunrise

A new piece i came up with. I have uploaded it on my soundcloud profile. It's a piece played on guitar trying to make it sound like a veena. Hope you enjoy. The link is given below:

http://soundcloud.com/v_arvind/sanguine-sunrise

Top 10 Bassists of all time

Of late UG(Ultimate Guitar) came out with this list of bassist which they said were the viewers top 10 bassists of all time. I was taken aback when I saw the list as it did not contain most of the people that I considered the Gods of the bass. The list given below is the list of bassists who I think deserve to be in the top 10 of all time.

10)Cliff Burton(Metallica)
He played for the heavy metal band Metallica for a few years.He played for the albums kill em' all,ride the lightning and master of puppets. He died when his tour bus met with an accident in 1986. In the short span of time that he played for metallica he and the band gained a lot of attention due to their attractive riffs and bass lines. He was also very well known for his bass solos.He also played for a few other lesser known bands.

9)Chris Wolstenholme (Muse)
Bass,vocals,guitar and keyboards are the parts that he plays in the band Muse. Muse is a rock band and chris' basslines play a prominent part in most of their songs.

8)Les Claypool(Primus)
A bassist at Primus and many other bands Les Claypool is an established bassist with insane bass techniques. He had auditioned for metallica after they lost their bassist but was not chosen as he was thought to be too good for the band!! This was a good decision as claypool's inclusion in the band would have made them redefine their genre as a bassist is often considered to be the backbone of a band.

7)Geddy Lee(Rush)
He is the lead vocalist and is also a keyboardist in the band Rush. Rush is a well renowned canadian rock band and has been a source of inspiration for bands like dream theater and other bands that originated at that time.

6)Victor Wooten(The Dave Matthews Band)
An american bassist who has won the bass player of the year award three times in a year. He has played for many bands like steve bailey,Béla Fleck and the Flecktones ,SMV, Greg Howe, Dave Matthews Band, Chick Corea Elektric Band.

5)Flea(Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
The bassist at RHCP is considered by some as the best bassist in the world and definitely deserves a spot in the top ten. He makes really cattchy riffs like danni california and by the way.

4)Matt Bissonette(Joe Satriani)
This man is one who is much more than a musician and a bassist. He plays for joe satriani and has several solo albums himself. He is also an engineer and a producer. He has also played with david roth lee and several others.

3)John Myung(Dream Theater)
The man behind as i am and several other legendary Dream Theater song bass lines.He is also known for using the chapman sticks and generally uses a 6 string bass. He has made amazing basslines for many songs like octavarium,dance of eternity,a change of seasons.

2)Steve DiGiorgio(Death)
He is the bassist of the band that is considered to be the father of death metal. He like many others has featured in many other bands too.

1)Billy Sheehnan(Steve Vai)
This man is a legend amongst legends. His bass skill are far superior to anyone that i hae heard of till date. He is known for tapping and using harmonic notes and other insane techniques. He plays for steve vai and keeps the crowd entertained with his stage presence. He also sings at times. He has sung songs at G3 concerts which vai features at almost always!

If you have a different list of bassists or any inclusion to the existing list do comment.

Lou Reed & Metallica-"Lulu"

When Metallica announced that they would be making an album with Lou Reed, there was a great amount of aversion coming from the metal community. I, for one, did not even know who Lou Reed was. Considering what they did with their previous album, people like me thought the inclusion of another guy in the band was'nt going to stop their newly found momentum. Infact, there was a great amount of hope among the Metal community that Metallica were going back to their roots and that the new album would be atleast half as good as their previous one. Death Magnetic was, by far, the best thing Metallica produced since the Black album. It nearly took 2 decades for James Hetfield to understand that he was'nt going to become Lynrd Skynrd by making blues guitar solos. Death Magnetic was the answer to the countless number of insults they had been enduring for more than half of their carrier. And just when they seemed to be getting back their lost respect, Lulu came. And before Lulu came, the single, The View came. When I first heard the song, I knew, this guy, Lou Reed was just enough to shatter the hopes of Metallica becoming a credible metal band. But still, there was a tiny glimmer of hope that the rest of the album would turn out to be better.  It was announced that the album had 10 songs which is normal for a standard metallica record. But the running time being close to an hour and a half swept everyone off their feet. Who would have expected Metallica, supposedly a thrash metal band, would make songs that last for 20 minutes. The song lenghts drove everyone crazy and the resulting hype was too much. We expected too much off them even after hearing the single. 

But today, after hearing to the album in its entirety, it would be safe to say that, without any doubt this is the worst album Metallica ever made. The first song, Brandenburg Gate promises something to be expected of the album when James sings "Small town girl...". But after listening to a couple of songs, you will find that it was the only thing good about the album. Search the entire album, hear to the songs a thousand times, your efforts to stumble upon a line that James actually sings would be futile. Lou Reed has literally replaced James Hetfield as the lead singer. For fuck's sake, is this even a Metallica album? I dont know what was in James' mind when he let Lou Reed sing all the verses, but seriously, he does'nt do any better than reciting the lines. And more than anything else, the biggest flop in this album is the much anticipated 20 minute song. There is no riff, no solos, no James, no nothing. Nothing at all, except Lou Reed "talking" about his junior dad throughout the length of the song. 

Reviewing each and every song would be awfully difficult because, no one has ever seen anything like this before. Lulu is not thrash metal. Lulu is not hard rock. Lulu is not even music. If the rolling stones ever makes a list of the 500 greatest flops in the history of music, Lulu should be just beating Justin Beiber to top the list. But, being the fanboys of Metallica that we are, we can convince ourselves understanding that, this was'nt entirely made by Metallica.

Most of what is seen in this album are essentially Lou Reed. Coming to think of it, there is not even a single trace of Metallica in the record, except the occasional guest appearances by James Hetfield that makes us realize that he is still alive.

It's nearly time that James Hetfield should stop making albums trying to "reinvent" the music in him that even make the system of a down guys laugh. If he still does'nt get the point, he should call it a day. Atleast for the legacy of the first four albums.

Review By Adarsh

A Dramatic change of Events: Dream Theater (2011)

The all star band which recently lost its renowned drummer mike portnoy released an album titled 'A Dramatic change of events'. The album as such has all amazing songs which are a pleasure to listen to like any other DT song. I think that the album is a letdown for hardcore fans. 

 

 The band has been as it is criticized for losing out on their star drummer and the new drummer has been under scrutiny. Talking about drummers if you listen to the album we notice that in almost all the songs there is no sign of the drummer trying to dominate or make his presence felt in comparison to what mike portnoy has done. In one or two songs its visible like maybe bridges in the sky. That is the only song which has can be classified as a DT like song as there is a perfect fusion of all instruments.

  In most of the songs the keyboards have been used extensively and the others have not been given much of the spotlight. If you listen to any other song by them we will notice that there is an equilibrium maintained in which all the musicians are given proper importance. 

 Another letdown can be said to be that of the role of john petrucci. Being a hardcore fan of him myself I felt bad when I did not come across any solo with crazy shreds and the odd really fast sweep which makes the songs almost impossible to cover exactly.

  

 One of my favourite songs from this album has been breaking all illusions. The song has a metalcore touch to it and reminds me of bands like killswitch engage and as i lay dying. The main riff itself sounds very much like the metal core riff. The vocals in that song and the bass lines have been outstanding there. The solo in this song was  a let down for me. It was played on a US Blues sort of patch. Though the solo had some parts which sounded very bluesy on the whole the petrucci tried to bring in his feel and sounded more like malmsteen's solo's. The slight delay in the patch made the solo sound sexy. Though there is a good bit of shredding towards the end of the solo on the whole it was a disappointment to me.

 The last song titled Beneath the Surface is such a beautiful song that anyone who listens to music will fall in love with it. Its a beautiful soft melody based song with not much complexities and intricacies. I was hoping for a beautiful guitar solo to top it off instead of the keyboard fill. Nonetheless the song is still amazing.

   The song build me up, break me down has a real cool guitar riff but the starting and the beat in that song is kind of upsetting. The way the effects had been put in initially shook me for a minute. I suppose they were experimenting with the album as the drummer is gone now new ideas might be flowing in leading to change in Dream Theater. This is my interpretation of the album.