April Issue 2011

PG Music Band in a Box 2011

BAND IN A BOX 2011 - PG Music

PG Music, from Victoria British Columbia. The software is Band In A Box. Over the years they have undergone
some serious development. With their introduction of REALTRACKS this arrangement and composition program
has come along way from it's early GM midi days into a full blown backup band with usable sounds for
actual recordings. This is because the REALTRACKS are made by real musicians in a studio.
And the playback engine recalls these parts that are actually played back and reconfigured in real time.
When you want to make backing tracks or write a chord progression to play on, or sing on.
Usually you have to multi-track every part yourself. With this program though, you just type in the chords
for any song using standard chord symbols (like C, Fm7, or C13b9), choose the style you'd like,
and Band-in-a-Box does the rest, automatically generating a complete professional-quality
arrangement of piano, bass, drums, guitar, and strings or horns in a wide variety of popular styles.
It uses real audio called RealDrums and RealTracks to generate unique backup arrangements that use parts
played and sampled from real players and instruments. This program can sound like just about any band you want.
And it sounds very convincing. It's so easy to just type in the chords you need and the style.
The inclusion of digital audio features makes Band-in-a-Box the perfect tool for creating, playing,
and recording your music with MIDI, vocals, and acoustic instruments. Band-in-a-Box for Windows® can
also record an acoustic instrument or voice to add to the composition, with processing through its
own DirectX audio effects. Its built-in TC Helicon audio harmonies will turn your audio track into
multiple harmony parts or adjust its pitch, with vibrato and scooping effects for realistic vocal styles
and up to sixteen choral parts.
Band-in-a-Box 2011 has made big improvements to the sounds of the RealTracks, so that they sound more
natural over a much wider range of tempos with the elastique Pro V2 time stretching engine by zplane.development.
These improvements are built-in, so there's nothing you need to do to get it working. Your existing songs
will just "sound better" over a much wider range of tempos. And an iPhone® version of Band-in-a-Box is
available from the Apple App Store. It connects to your Windows desktop version of Band-in-a-Box 2011,
and allows you to generate, play, and save songs on your iPhone®, iPod touch®, or iPad™ - with the same
high quality RealTracks sound. With enhanced RealTracks, you can now have RealTracks style changes
within a song, generate Soloist Medleys - solos that play RealTracks instruments during the solos, and more.
There's a Scales Wizard for practicing, which generates scales for any chord progression.
New StylePicker Filters show you only the styles that match your search criteria.
At $569.00USD they include everything you need to write and produce pro quality studio tracks and
recordings all on a 160GB USB hard drive.

L.R.D. Music Gizmos, monthly product reviews and music advice are provided by:
Lance Reegan-Diehl. Recording Artist, Producer,
and Music Industry Specialist. LRD Music
He has performed with BOA, Tony Ahn, Ricky Martin,
and at Major Music Trade Shows with concerts world wide.
Artist appearance at Musik Messe 2011 Frankfurt Germany April 6th to 9th 2011

March Issue 2011

The Ntune onboard tuner.

Onboard True Bypass Chromatic Tuning This device is straight from the NAMM 2011 Music Expo. It's been said that playing in tune is the key to having people want to listen to you. Timing is also another good part of the process, but enough on that subject. What we have here is a tuning system built into the guitar. It will fit to any style guitar and does not interfere with sound, and there is no routing or drilling. The makers are from the Pacific West Coast region, Bellingham Washington U.S.A.
The main reason Tom and Seth came up with the tuner was because of always misplacing and loosing their tuner. It's not there when you need it. And this product came to realization through that necessity. The N-Tune on-board chromatic tuner is specially designed to fit most electric guitars and basses that have a 3-way toggle switch and humbucker pick-ups. conveniently placing the N-Tune display ring around the toggle switch, the Artist Series tuner is activated by pulling up your volume control knob, which also mutes the output signal of your instrument while tuning. Once you're tuned up, simply push the knob back down and play!

- Fast, accurate tuning, installs right into your guitar or bass.
- For use in most 3-way toggle switch guitars and basses with humbucker pick-ups.
- Pull your volume knob to tune up silently; push knob back down to play.
- Includes black and Gibson Creme colored tuning rings & switch caps and a specially deisgned, high quality 500k push-pull potentiometer.
- True bypass design preserves your instrument's original tone.
- No drilling or permanent modifications required.
- Installs easily using standard soldering tools.
- Auto shut off to preserve battery life.

The price for N-tune is at $49.99 Installation is best handled by a repair technician.
As well you may find it already installed in production guitars and basses out there. For more information: Ntune.com

L.R.D. Music Gizmos, monthly product reviews and music advice are provided by:
Lance Reegan-Diehl. Recording Artist, Producer,
and Music Industry Specialist. LRD Music
He has performed with BOA, Tony Ahn, Ricky Martin,
and at Major Music Trade Shows with concerts world wide.

February Issue 2011

The Artec Vintage Phaser.

 The phaser is originally a modulation device from the 1970's back in the last century. And the first units had only one control knob on them and an on off switch. The control was simply to change the speed to allow a musician to sync up their playing with the faster or slower wave modulation. The actual sound of a phaser has not changed much. However the usage and the ways to control it have. Looking at the Artec Vintage Phaser there is a noticeable difference in controls. Three knobs are implemented on this pedal. To start off the pedal has a negative tip 9volt power source, with a 9volt battery compartment. The footswitch is true bypass, based on a circuit design. So it does not have a 9pin switch installed. Sometimes there are benefits to this configuration. However bench testing show no visible or audio signs of signal change when placed in or out of the signal chain. Input and output jacks for the instrument are placed to the sides. The controls on the Artec Vintage Phaser have a certain cool factor to them. Not only is there adjustment for speed and depth, there is an additional RESO control. The speed is adjustable to vary how the phase wave flows when you play and the effect is engaged. The depth gives you control over how wide or shallow that phase is. A very wide depth can make phasing sound like a rubberband is being applied to your sound. Sometimes this is a good thing. The addition of the reso control gives the third dimension to this phaser. There is an almost lifelike physical movement that happens sonically when you increase the resonance on the unit. And in addition from low to high reso. (left to right, counter clockwise) you can notice the amplifier gets a bit more drive to it, so in addition you are getting a pleasingly harsh bite to your sound just by using the reso control. Over all the Artec Vintage Phaser is a very durable unit with cast metal construction. The footswitch and control knobs are placed in accessible positions. And it fits in with other pedals very nicely on a tradition pedal board layout. This unit is very clean, and quiet whether on or off in the instrument signal chain. The Artec Vintage Phaser has an MSRP value of $129.95USD and retails for around $100.00 pricing varies from dealer to dealer and country to country. More information is available if you search for "The Artec Vintage Phaser" online. Artec Site

L.R.D. Music Gizmos, monthly product reviews and music advice are provided by:
Lance Reegan-Diehl. Recording Artist, Producer,
and Music Industry Specialist. LRD Music
He has performed with BOA, Tony Ahn, Ricky Martin,
and at Major Music Trade Shows with concerts world wide.

January Issue 2011

The CPT-10 Capo Tuner.

 This month we have a new way to keep those capo'ed chords in tune. Introducing the Intelli EXE CPT-10 capo tuner. While working just like a Capo, the user is also able to tune the strings/chords they are capoing in. This has unique benefits for both stage and studio usage.

 A look at the specs. Show us an auto tuner, with full chromatic ability. And a tuning range from A0(27.5Hz) - C8(4,186Hz) the range listed here translates to usage for more than just a six string guitar. Bass, 12string, and other similar neck sized instruments can be included in the applications of the CPT-10. Tuning is within +/- 1cent accuracy.The calibration cannot be adjusted. It is preset at 440hz, which would provide one drawback; not being able to calibrate to a piano or harp that is locked in a tuning that is slightly lower or higher than standard tuning.
This doesn't mean that altered tunings are out of the question. Tunings in Eb or an open tuning is just fine and quite easy, as the tuner itself is chromatic. It does quite a good job of reading a full range of strings. Power is provided by two(2) 3Volt lithium cells. Located just above where the CPT-10 hinges to place the capo on the instrument.As far as durability is concerned. The CPT-10 is made from die cast aluminium, it is just as strong as any other Capo on the market. You might not want to be leaving this one at the last stage you played or practice space though.

 For stage and studio the CPT-10 performs, as you are able to tune in the place you are capoed at. Making sure that your chords are ringing true with the other performers. And not sagging slightly out of tune. This can actually have a negative impact on the players you are working with, or the producer listening back to your performance in the studio. And so many people do make the mistake of just Capoing anywhere, and forgeting that they have just made slight detuned adjustments to their instrument. Affecting vocal intonation, and not to mention the other players ears when they try to play along. CPT-10 provides an excellent reference for keeping Capo'ed performance's sharp and on the mark. Ease of tuning and bright LED lighting make it a breeze to view and check your tuning at any spot on the neck. Retail is set to come in around the suggested MSRP of $25.00 Pricing may vary from dealer to dealer, and in different countries. For more on the Intelli line of EXE tuners, and effects go to : E-intelli

Music Gizmos, monthly product reviews and music advice are provided by:
Lance Reegan-Diehl. Recording Artist, Producer,
and Music Industry Specialist. LRD Music
He has performed with BOA, Tony Ahn, Ricky Martin,
and at Major Music Trade Shows with concerts world wide.
Artist appearance at NAMM 2011 Anaheim California Jan.13th to 16th 2011.

October Issue 2010

The Rubber Lock - Keeping your Strap on your instrument.

 Often a troublesome task is the guitar strap that never seems to hold your guitar all the time. It falls off on stage when you need to pickup the guitar at a certain time. It comes loose in your case, or it just plain comes of during a performance. Well there are remedies for such an affliction, and the cost can be staggering with most metal strap lock varieties being about $25 and up for a decent set. (I have seen the $10 type disintegrate right off the guitar.) Recently I have discovered that a Korean entrepreneur has come up with a very practical device.

 The RUBBER LOCK. Very simply, it stretches over the top of the strap button while the guitar strap is attached to the guitar. Being made of firm rubber it slides over the button easily but, holds it's form once in place to actually lock the strap on the instrument. It holds up against most movements and stresses. There are two pieces in the package. One for both strap buttons. Or one can be used on the neck position strap button only and the second one kept as a spare. Using the neck position button only, is where most strap's disconnect in an untimely manner. And the bottom button is used to take the instrument on or off. Rubber Lock, can be used on guitar, bass, or any instrument held up by a musical instrument strap. Costs for the item vary a bit in Korea, at the low KRW6,000 to KRW8,000 per set, it's a bargain to keep your instrument safe and secure while you play.

In stock at DEELEEBOB Music and available in other shops around Korea. More information at: Rubber Lock

Music Gizmos, monthly product reviews and music advice are provided by:
Lance Reegan-Diehl. Recording Artist, Producer,
and Music Industry Specialist. LRD Music
He has performed with BOA, Tony Ahn, Ricky Martin,
and at Major Music Trade Shows with concerts world wide.

September Issue 2010

MONO cases for all.

 Often I find the life of my gig bags, or soft cases tend not to be that long. They endure rips in the interior cloth from peg heads and strap buttons. They get damp, the zippers are often a last minute thought as if from a ski jacket straight from Kmart. And I have had to buy a few just to keep up with the rigours of touring and moving from country to country. Humidity and cold all take the toll on the gig bag. The carry straps and handles have all busted loose on me in airports and buses. And usually they last just short of two years before they are rendered totally useless.

 Along comes MONO. At first glance my trained eye and experience from customers wanting the cheapest bargin in town tells me, "IT'S WAY TOO EXPENSIVE!!!" Hey cheapskate!…..look at the features first. The outer cover itself is waterproof. Not water resistant, it actually keep the rain or whatever out of the material. Zippers are anti-skip on all zip points to avoid jumping out of sync, and it appears the bag material does not get in the way of the zipper itself. (A common trait with cheaper bags.) There is one large pocket on the back for cable, tuner, headphones etc. The cool hidden top pocket is to hold a cell phone, keys, wallet etc. I like that it is built in, and hidden. This can be handy in public places, with less honest characters running around.  The inside is well laid out. The neck is held down by a sewn in velcro strap, it has a zip pocket on the side for picks. The area where the peg heads rub against the upper lid has been recessed to make sure you don't rip the interior apart. The bottom end strap button area is also recessed so the bottom strap button does not rip the material. And internally the top of the instrument and the bottom are shielded by an ABS shell which saves on shock from dropping or bumping a low door sill. As well rubber feet on the bottom of the case keep the concrete from wearing a hole or two in the case material.

 All in all MONO is a case that I would like to try in the stowed luggage bin on an airplane to see how it works out. It looks like it would wear along time and that is what I like about this case. With and MSRP of $230.00 and the Street price hovering at $189.00 I can see that the lasting ability of the case is it's selling point. I have had $70 gig bags burn out on me in less than one year. For more information on MONO cases for Guitar, Bass, Acoustics, DJ gear, Mixers, Computers, drums, and effects bags. Check them out MONO Cases.

Music Gizmos, monthly product reviews and music advice are provided by:
Lance Reegan-Diehl. Recording Artist, Producer,
and Music Industry Specialist. LRD Music
He has performed with BOA, Tony Ahn, Ricky Martin,
and at Major Music Trade Shows with concerts world wide.