Practice Makes Perfect - Or Does It?

Excuse the slightly strange title for this post but it is the phrase from every music teacher's mouth. 'Practice makes perfect' a catchphrase so often used in the musical world that it becomes engraved into every musicians' concious. However Jim and I were discussing all of this. Practice helps yes, but can we ever get to being totally satisfied with our playing ability? An interesting question I hear you ask.

On most days, once I've taken a look at the huge pile of work I have to do and come to the conclusion I won't get any of it done, I pick up my guitar (or some drum sticks, or even a pad and paper) and play. Why? Simply because we (scientifically proven) get pleasure from playing music. The ability to play and listen to music releases certain chemicals in the brain resulting in the feeling of 'having fun' - if ya like. Practising though can drive us so close to insanity sometimes it is atleast a fraction unhealthy. Should we though just be satisfied with how good we are at playing? Should we stop practising because we hate it?

No. Is the correct answer to the question my friends. Practise is a fantastic thing because in short, it makes us better. There is no fancy way of putting it. Learning a scale, a chord, a sequence or a new rhythmic pattern or indeed whatever, is going to help you on that journey to getting better and better.

Take a quick thought now. Think of the first time you played your instrument, whatever it is. Think how terrible you were - how you had little concept of rhythm or pitch. Now look at what you can play. Maybe you're a great sweep picker, great improviser or a great rhythm. Nonetheless you've come a long way no doubt. And so you would never consider stopping practising once you've come all that way.

Here is the truth - practice doesn't make perfect - it just makes you better and better and better and better. There is no limit to your ability apart from yourself. Everytime you pick up that guitar (or any instrument for that matter) you improve. Even on days where everything you play sounds like a fat man falling down stairs choking on a sandwich. Those days you learn from mistakes. You can never be perfect at playing, and this is why music is amazing. Its not like completing a game. If you like, its as if you're playing an eternal never ending game. The only thing stopping you, is you.

So next time your teacher says to you  'practice makes perfect', tell them 'no it won't', because the awesome thing is never being perfect. Keep searching for that extra bit.

Practice is fun my friends! As is beer for that matter so I'm going for a cold one.

Peace, Linus

3 New 2012 Releases & *Update* 12/02/12

Hey y'all! Before we crack on with this post just a quick update. Jim and I are currently working on a project with my band and we're making a few videos along the way so check part 1 out here and part 2 should be up in the next few days. Also we'll hopefully be shooting a batch more of reviews in the coming weeks so stay tuned.

Anyway...on with the blog. 

Recently the music production world went crazy for a few days in Anaheim, California. The NAMM (an enormous show where all the biggest and smallest names in gear production go to show off their stuff) show hit and my word if there was place I could go in the world it would be there.

Sadly there was no way I could go, its not open to the public. Nevertheless though I've picked out 3 products that will have been noticed by many at NAMM. 

1. MXR Custom Badass Modified Overdrive - this was voted best guitar pedal of NAMM 2012 and you haven't heard a good overdrive pedal 'till you've heard this. Its got real tube like overdrive quality. MXR took a standard overdrive circuit and (as they call it) 'hotrodded' it. Some of the features include True Bypass, EQ and a cool boost at 100Hz to give you an added punch to your tone. From what i've heard from this it sounds incredible and when they release it in the UK I'm going to do my best to get my hands on one. Last thing - it looks so mindblowingly awesome! 

      2. Fender Select Series 2012 - 'Select instruments for Select individuals' as Fender put it. These are some of the best looking guitars on the block at the moment (in my opinion). They're an all new design, based up on the existing Strat, Tele, P and J Basses. It seems at the moment Fender on a big production drive to capitalize on Gibson's lawsuit problems and the Select series is driving it. Brand new pick ups, necks and many come with locking tuners. They were a hit at NAMM with many. Some 'true' Fenders will outcast them and admittedly they are rather pricey, but I think they could be a real one to look out for. 

        3. Orange Micro Terror - we use Jim's Orange Tiny Terror a lot at Jimstudios and it's a wicked sounding amp for something of its size. And now, Orange have gone one step further. NAMM was full of 'pocket' and 'baby' heads this year, it does appear to be the new craze as I pointed out in the a blog several months ago. This Micro Terror has a similar sound to the Tiny Terror series but is even more portable and best of all it costs £99 - an absolute bargain for a tube amp. Of course it only has one valve and its not going to be able to kick out the same kind of volume as its bigger brothers, but a good practice amp? I think so!

So there you have it, 3 brand new releases for 2012 that will keep you playing till the cows come home. Enjoy!

Peace, Linus

Amateur Recording Project

This is quite an exciting blog for me. After a quick reshuffle in my band, I've taken over as lead singer, we decided we needed to get some recordings down. In the past I've always considered booking a studio or asking someone with plenty of experience to help engineer and produce. This time, I turned to myself, and our good friend Jim. This blog is going to be all about our current project, and how you can go about your own. 

There are 5 key stages to any good recording - writing, planning, tracking, mixing, mastering.

1. Writing - this doesn't involve your producer at all really. Its so important that your band (or artist) is familiar and comfortable with the song they're recording. The reason being, they can play to the best of their ability without thinking too hard about what they're actually playing. Don't go trying to record a song you wrote an hour earlier - it's going to be a real headache. 
2. Planning - next up is a stage many people miss out and I think its really important. If you plan out your recording, when things are going to be recording, what mics you'll use, how long its all going to take (realistically). Here, bring your producer into play. Let them know about the song and what your ideas are. Jim and I talked in a lot of depth about what ideas I had for the song and how we'd get the best recording. Plan it out and you're recording is guaranteed to be improved from a shabbily planned affair. 
3. Tracking - probably the most amusing part of recording, but also the most stressful if you're time pressured. I could write you a 10,000 essay about tracking but the most important thing is to be well planned and give yourself time. If you've followed the past 2 'phases' then you'll have fewer problems with tracking. But quite regularly on amateur recording you're likely to have problems. When we recorded kit for our track it took Jim and I a good 30 minutes to sort out why we couldn't get any sound from the headphone output. These little slips can compromise a recording massively. Spend some time also placing mics and getting the correct sound - don't just rely on EQ for the best results. 
4. Mixing - once you've got all your tracks down you can start to mix. This involves levelling your tracks (turning them up and down to balance all the instruments), EQing and adding FX. At this point you're somewhat on your own because it vastly depends upon the nature of the recording and the quality of it. Spend some time mixing as well, making sure you open up plenty of space in the mix and ensuring everything you've recorded can be heard. Aim for some subtle little parts that will make your recording stand out. If you have time and you're not happy with something, go back and re-record or add parts. Extra percussion, guitar parts etc can make the world of difference. 
5. Mastering - something I understand very little about. What I do know is is that your mix needs to be great by the time you master it. You don't want to be relying on mastering to make it sound good for the simple reason that good mastering is something difficult to master (oh I'm so amusing...). I suggest if you really want to get into mastering I'm not the person to ask - Jim is going to be mastering my new track whilst I shout at him to tell him to make it sound better!

This is a really brief summary about amateur recording. But if everything is well planned you're more than capable of doing a decent recording (if you know enough about recording in the first place). Keep an eye for the videos of us recording the new single and post any questions below.

Peace, Linus