A List Of Good Guitar Accessories To Have

The six string is a wonderful instrument and one that is going to provide you with years of enjoyment and maybe even a career. When you first begin to learn there are certain good guitar accessories to have that will really help you progress faster.
The first thing you will need is a tuner. This is an essential piece of equipment. Learning to tune by ear is an important learning curve that will help you understand tone and notation. But before you do that, you are going to need a little help. A tuner will make sure your instrument is always in perfect pitch. This will help to make the shapes and progressions you are perfecting sound as good as they possibly can.
There are only a certain number of basic chord shapes. A great way to discover new and exciting variations is with a capo. A capo can really turn those basic shapes into new sounds and open up a world of possibility. You basically put it onto any fret of your choosing and strum your basic chords. The only difference will be that the chords will sound higher, fresher and different.
Every guitarist needs a plectrum. This is the tiny piece of plastic you will hold in your strumming hand to attack the strings with. Some players prefer to play without one, but to begin with, a plectrum is going to make learning far easier on your fingers.
Cleaning is very important. Strings will become dirty and avoiding cleaning is sure to snap the strings quicker and have you spending more money. There is a variety of cleaning products on the market, many professionals prefer using lemon oil. It is down to you, try a few out and see which one fits the best.
As you progress, you may want to get into the world of effects. There are lots of different effects out there and it is possible to make a guitar sound like an organ, a human voice, anything you can imagine. Popular pedals are delays, reverbs and of course distortions.
These are just some of the good guitar accessories to have. All of them will help you learn and make the whole process much more fun and easier. Keep practicing, never give up and you may be surprised at how fast you are improving. Who knows, after a few years we may be seeing you on the television and topping the charts.

The Greatest Rap Instrumental Producers of 2010

2010 was an interesting year for the rap instrumental production game. One of the best newcomers is Alex da Kid who broke onto the scene producing the hits "I Love the way you lie" by Eminem featuring Rihanna, and Ariplanes by B.o.B. He is definitely a front-runner for the smash hits that he has produced. Two of the biggest rap records of the year. I also like Alex da Kid because of his ability to create a sound that is distinctly his own. He creates an instrumental that is a little grimy using hard drums in traditional hip hop patterns, yet the music he writes over it has very pop chord progressions that allow for extremely catchy hooks to be written over them. This creates a song that a rapper can sound good on and still get radio airplay.
Another standout producer of the year would be, like many other years, Kanye West. Kanye is always a great mind in the music production department, In my opinion Kanye is one of the greatest. This year he gets the nod from me for putting together one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time in "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" This is a hip hop album that sounds like no other hip hop album. Musically it draws influences from all of Kayne's previous works. It has elements of the youthful soul driven beats of college dropout, the string arrangements of Late Registration, Synthesis of Graduation, and auto tune melodies of 808's and heartbreak. Combining all of his previous influences into one tremendous body of work, creating a musical masterpiece that nobody has ever heard before all the while producing smashes for other artists puts Kanye up front.
The third producer whom you could argue as the best producer of 2010 is Boi-One-Da who has been killing it for the last couple years. In 2010 he produced some smashes for Gucci Mane, Drake, and Soulja Boy. I like how he has raw southern style beats but still is able to infuse his production with a certain amount of pop appeal. His records tend to gravitate towards being the single.

The Voice: No Idol Knockoff, Part 1

The great thing about NBC's The Voice is just what the title implies: what an artist sounds like over what they look like. Highly entertaining and an emotional rollercoaster a times, this is 'reality' TV at its best.
When I first heard the concept, I--like most everyone else--was a bit skeptical. With X Factor and America's Got Talent already established, did we really need another singing talent show? When I saw the panel of judges, I was immediately more interested. Instead of Simon Cowell, who probably couldn't sing his way out of a wet paper bag, you've got monster vocalists Cee-Lo and Christina Aguilera, savvy country music star Blake Shelton and (my personal favorite) the new century's answer to Sting: Adam Levine.
That lineup alone had me interested. And the playful interaction between the four wildly diverse personalities just adds to the effect. But let's face it, the real stars are some of the absolutely unbelievable vocalists who risk everything to face the backs of four Star Trek-looking chairs. It's a great effect. In fact, so much of the music industry was based on appearance, that it's exciting to see four stars actually fly in the face of tradition and go solely on the sound of an artist.
Cherie Oakley, who barely made it through the first time due to song choice, was one of the more amazing performers. And Oakley has some serious experience in songwriting and backing gigs for both Carrie Underwood and Gretchen Wilson. Still, she really made a risky (and poor) song-choice to try and get Blake Shelton's attention. And let's face it, once you've been let down, a singer's nerves have to be absolutely ragged upon heading out for round two. Amazingly enough, her second (and better) song-choice got Adam Levine to hit his button and feel pretty good about it. But singers like Jeff Jenkins, whose voice is an absolute revelation get the kind of level playing field that a 'visual' might otherwise rob them of.
Whereas great (and hot) singers like Kelsey Rey or Sonia Rao would have the old music industry standard of looks weighing in as equally as sound, Jenkins, Frenchie Davis, Tyler Robinson and Sara Oromchi get a solid audition based on some serious vocal firepower. And frankly, this is what the old, moldy music industry doesn't get: we want sound! Yeah, some artists will always have a visual advantage, but with new direct-to-fan models being cultivated by the culture of the internet, fans are far more likely to snap up recordings by artists who have a great sound and come off as regular people!
As it is, contestants who didn't make it through probably picked up a good 20,000 fans if they have any kind of online presence and downloadable material. More on that in our next installment...

How to Work Out How Much You Should Be Paying for Wedding Entertainment

Today I will talk about what you should expect to be paying for a professional wedding band for an evenings entertainment. The key word there is professional. A band that does it week in week out and knows what is expected from a wedding band.
I've been in 3 or 4 different wedding bands, and worked with at least 50 others on a weekly basis, trying to help couples find the perfect band for their weddings. A lot of people ask me how much wedding bands should be charging for an evening of music. Personally, If I had never booked a band before I would have no idea how much live music should cost.
There are a lot of differing thoughts on costing with regards to value to the customer and value to the musician. Both parties need to be satisfied for the evening to work out. If the bride thinks she is paying too much then she won't be relaxed, happy and enjoying her perfect evening with family and friends. If the band aren't safe in the knowledge they can pay their rent / eat more than rice and peas this week, their performance will suffer.
There are a few different factors to bear in mind when looking at a bands costs the main two are distance from the venue and number of musicians.
With petrol prices being what they are a band will need to charge for travel and the bigger the band the more the travel costs. We have to bear in mind that, for example, a five-piece rock and pop band will need to bring drums, PA, lighting, 5 people, instruments and amplifiers, which may, if the band don't all live with each other and have a van, need to be brought in 4 or 5 separate cars. If the venue is 100 miles away from their base this equates to potentially 4 x 5 hours of car travel. At current petrol costs that's roughly £180 for 5 pretty efficient cars. This doesn't include an hourly rate for the musicians while driving or car wear and tear. It's purely petrol cost.
The 2nd main factor is hours per musician. There is a short story I have read which goes a little something like this.
"A lady calls the musician's union to get a quote on a six piece band for her wedding.
The rep says "Off the top of my head, about two thousand quid".
She says "What? For music?."
The rep responds, "I'll tell you what. Call the plumbers' union & ask for six plumbers to work from 6 to 12 o'clock on a Saturday night. Whatever they charge you..., we'll work for half."
The lady hangs up. She calls back five minutes later...
"I get your point" she said."
I have seen this quite a few times in different places. For this reason I will look at plumbers as a comparison. Both musicians and plumbers are highly skilled labourers who have spent hours on their craft and £1000's on their tools.
The basic service offered by my bands is a 6 hour period from 6pm til midnight. Each band has 5 musicians so 6 x 5 hours of musician time. So far including the travel we have 50 hours of man time. It's tricky to work out what musicians should get paid an hour. Some are highly skilled and put everything into their craft. Others enjoy doing the music as a hobby. If you look at plumbers you have new plumbers who charge a little less because they are less experienced and older more knowledgable plumbers who charge more because they really know what they are doing. On the money saving expert website it says that plumbers will cost between £20-£40 an hour or £200-£250 a day for a local job.
If we use the lowest pricing for our 5 example wedding musicians we have 50 hours x £20 which equates to £1000 for labour.
So plus travel the total cost for a five-piece wedding band for a 6 hour period with travel to a venue 100 miles away is roughly £1180. This is using the lowest rate that a plumber would charge and rounding cost of travel down as doesn't include vehicle wear and tear nor the fact that the cars, loaded with equipment, aren't at their most efficient. It also doesn't take into account the 'unsociable hours'. So this really should be the minimum expected to pay for this service and it shouldn't be a surprise if a professional wedding band were to charge double this. It's strange though, as many bands charge less and many couples expect to pay even less again. Why is this? It has to have something to do with the value a customer puts on live music at their wedding.
I find it interesting that a lot of the time a bride will leave the success of their whole evening reception, once food is done with, to their entertainment team (band / dj). I would think it'd be worth paying extra to make sure you are dealing with absolute professionals who have done many weddings and who have experienced most types of guest, time table, venue and event.
You wouldn't leave plumbing your house to someone who hadn't studied plumbing for years. Chances are something will go wrong and you'll have to get another plumber out to fix what the first did wrong!
Hopefully this blog will help any newly engaged couples budget for a wedding band. If you really want something good be prepared to pay £20+ an hour per musician and travel expenses. A 5-piece band is usually the norm and bands will need to be there for roughly 6 hours to play 3 x 40 minutes of music.
If you are planning to have a wedding on a budget here are a few ways you can save money on quality entertainment.
Only get the band for the times you need. Chances are that a band won't need to set-up before the ceremony or wedding breakfast. There is usually an hours pause in activity between food and dancing where guests digest, chat with people they weren't sitting with and get some drinks in. This time is perfect time for your band to set-up and will usually be right before they play. This means you won't have to pay for band waiting time.
See if you can use food or accommodation as a way to bring the bands price down. Some bands aren't that keen on driving three hours home after midnight and may be able to give you a discount if you can find them a place to stay over.
Work with an agent to help you find a band that lives closer to your venue to cut out travel costs. Let the agent know where you are having your wedding, what you need the band to do and what times you need them. Also let the agent know your budget. They will then be able to find you something that fits with it all. Also more often than not an agent will have a deal with their bands so even though there is a commission, costs should still be roughly the same. Also due to the fact that the agent has worked with many couples booking bands in the past they will be able to advise you on what best fits with your needs hopefully saving you unnecessary spending.
One last thing is you probably don't, unless you really want it, need both a DJ and a band. A professional wedding band will have an iPod or laptop full with the latest dancey tunes and will be able to play this through their pa while they are taking their breaks. Also I've found it's often good for party guests to have a short break from dancing to fill up drinks and have a rest.

Tubes / Valves for Guitar Amplifiers: List of Worldwide Brands and Manufacturers

This article presents a list of the worldwide brands and manufacturers of tubes / valves used in guitar amplifiers. Since the words tube and valve are synonyms for the same device, tube most used in the United States and valve in Great Britain, I will use tube in the article.
First of all, some clarifies are necessary in order to understand the actual situation of this niche world. There are many brands in the market and manufacturers in the world. As a consequence of many "buy and sell" operations made in the past years, today some factories produce tubes models labeled with different brands, and you can buy the same device with a different name or brand according to which part of the world you live. The simplest way to approach the market is identifying the various tubes models by brand, and this article is a list of tubes brands with details about the manufacturers that produce them.
Another clarify is necessary about Svetlana, a common female name in Russia that creates confusion because it was used in the past for competing devices that generated legal actions. Actually in the market there are two different series of tubes that are often confused when named as Svetlana only, but can be identifiable in this way:

• Svetlana "S" logo - Saratov, Russia
• SED / Svetlana "Winged C" logo - St. Petersburg, Russia

Later you will understand how to recognize them.
The last clarify is about the brands owned by New Sensor Corporation, an American company: they own the brands Sovtek and Electro-Harmonix plus the rights on Svetlana "S" logo one for the USA and Canada. Moreover, they produce and sell even Mullard New Production and Tung-Sol New Production tubes.
And now, the list:
JJ Electronic - Slovak Republic
They began production of vacuum tubes in 1994, and today they have an assortment of more than 20 models. Formerly known as Tesla, JJ Electronic tubes are made on some of the original European equipment that was used in the heyday. They produce also tube amplifiers and electrolytic and polypropylene capacitors.
On their website is possible to download some technical informations, like tubes data-sheets.
Sovtek - Russia
Sovtek originally was a Russian factory and brand, but nowadays it is an American owned brand of New Sensor Corporation.
Sovtek tubes are produced by Reflector Co. factory in Saratov, Russia, together with Tung-Sol New Production, Electro-Harmonix, Mullard New Production and Svetlana "S" logo ones.
These tubes are distributed among the others by TubeDepot that on its website states: these tubes are used by more manufacturers than any other tube made.
Some of the companies who trust Sovtek tubes are:
•Fender
• Marshall
• Peavey
• Crate
• Mesa Boogie
• Atma-Sphere
• Ampeg
• Soldano
• Hartke
• Bogner
• Audio Note
• Cary
• Balanced Audio Technology
• Behringer
• Dynaco
• Matchless
• Orange
• Aguilar
• Audio Research
• Rogue Audio
• Convergent
• Manley Labs
• Carvin
• Demeter
• VTL
• Wellborne
Svetlana "S" logo - Saratov, Russia
New Sensor Corporation has the exclusive right to use the name Svetlana for the USA and Canada markets only.
They use it for this assortment of tubes that can be identified uniquely by the "S" logo. Svetlana only is confusing, because it is used by SED / Svetlana "Winged C" logo tubes in the rest of the world.
These tubes are produced by Reflector Co. facility in Saratov, Russia, together with Mullard New Production, Tung-Sol New Production, Electro-Harmonix and Sovtek ones.
SED / Svetlana "Winged C" logo - St. Petersburg, Russia
These tubes are produced by Svetlana Tubes factory in St. Petersburg, Russia, one of the oldest tube factories in the world, and marketed with the brand SED in the United States and Canada and Svetlana in the rest of the world.
This assortment of tubes can be identified uniquely by the "Winged C" logo. Svetlana only is confusing, because in the United States and Canada it is used by Svetlana "S" logo tubes.
Electro Harmonix - Russia
Electro Harmonix is a brand owned by New Sensor Corporation.
These tubes are produced by Reflector Co. factory in Saratov, Russia, together with Mullard New Production, Tung-Sol New Production, Sovtek and Svetlana "S" logo ones.
TubeDepot on its website states that:
These tubes are considered by many to be some of the best new production tubes available.
Mullard New Production - Russia
These tubes are marketed by New Sensor Corporation.
They seems to be faithful reproductions of the original Mullard models, and are produced by Reflector Co. factory in Saratov, Russia, together with Sovtek, Tung-Sol New Production, Electro Harmonix and Svetlana "S" logo ones.
Tung-Sol New Production - Russia
These tubes are marketed by New Sensor Corporation.
They are produced by Reflector Co. factory in Saratov, Russia, together with Electro Harmonix, Mullard New Production, Sovtek and Svetlana "S" logo ones.
SINO Chinese Tubes - China
No doubt that their stronger point is price, like many others products made in China.
They are distributed among the others by TubeDepot that on its website states:

Genelia hot pics

..........................................................................................................................................
Genelia Hot, Genelia Hot Photos, Genelia Hot Pics, Genelia Boobs, Genelia Unseen Photos, Genelia Sexy Photos, Genelia Hot and Sexy Photos