Ovation, manufacturers of quality acoustic guitars have a section on their site called Soundroom. As well as news around Ovation releases and endorsed artists, there are also some useful how-to videos around truss rod and action adjustments.
They have also introduced free video lessons page.
The lessons are all of different quality levels and mainly cater to beginners. They seem to have been submitted by various Ovation users from all over the web. Definitely a useful free resource for anyone who is looking to expand on their acoustic guitar skills.
For the guitarist who is just beginning to play, one of the best ideas is to learn simple chords and techniques that enable one to start playing without having to remember complex chord structures or theory. Most guitarists know about root 5 power chords, 2 note chords that contain just the root (beginning) note and the 5th note of the scale. Because the 5th note is the same whether the the scale is minor or major (called the perfect 5th) these chords are highly adaptable. They are easy to play and sound great with distortion, and as such are heavily utilized in rock and metal playing.
If you want to extend this idea, you can incorporate the 3rd note from the scale to form a chord known as a tonic triad. Let’s quickly have a look at an example:
The first 5 notes of the A Major Scale:
A, B, C#, D E
The first 5 notes of the A Minor Scale:
A, B, C, D, E
An A major tonic triad therefore would incorporate the notes A, C# and E. A minor on the other hand would be exactly the same except that it would incorporate a C instead of a C#. In both cases the first and 5th degrees of the scale are called the root (or keynote) and the perfect 5th respectively. In the major scale the 3rd is known as the major 3rd, in minor scales, it is know as the minor 3rd.
Triads are very useful for playing chords on the top or treble strings on the guitar. You’ll find funk and reggae rhythm playing often employs use of triads.
The fact that China has questionable intellectual property protection laws is widely known. Everything from computer games to golf clubs have been copied and passed off as genuine from time to time. The latest company trying to protect its intellectual property in the communist nation is none other than Martin, one of the most famous makers of acoustic guitars in the world.
Since 2005, C.F. Martin & Co. has been fighting to register its trademark with the Chinese government to prevent the marketing of counterfeit guitars. These fake guitars take much less time to construct, are of highly questionable quality and sell for often 10% of the price of a real Martin which cost about US $2500.
Reaper is the name of highly affordable Digital Audio Workstation software made by CockOs. It offers a complete, audio and MIDI recording and production system for as little as $40 for individuals or small business.
Disclosure: I am not an affiliate of Cockos. Just a very impressed customer.
The company website for Cockos states:
The goal of Cockos is to develop software sustainably while preventing profit rationale from forcing engineering compromises. By doing so, we can keep our product visions intact, giving maximum benefit to our users.
As a resultwith Reaper, the company has delivered a product that is affordable, has no intrusive copy protection system, is compact (extremely small download) and continues to impress the more you use it. If you are unfamiliar with DAWs or audio engineering concepts there may be a learning curve involved in becoming productive with this software, but it is worth the effort. If you have used other DAW’ such as Cubase or Logic, many of the concepts will be familiar but the Reaper approach is slightly different again, and takes some getting used to. One example is the ability to run Audio and Midi on the single track.
For the full run down and to download the fully functional 30 day evaluation copy head over to the Reaper Home Page.
A few of the highlights:
The Ability to Insert almost any third-party audio or MIDI plug-in: VST, VSTi, DX, DXi, AU
Freely mix audio, MIDI, video, still image media on any track
Highly impressive Pitch Shifting and Time stretching
Includes 64 bit Plugin Suite
Can be run from a USB or other mobile device
Easily move, split, glue, resize, trim, loop, time stretch, pitch shift, fade, crossfade, slip, snap to grid, without switching tools
Reaper Main Screen
I’ll continue to update this post as I dive deeper into Reaper. For the moment, here’s a couple of other useful things I have found you can do with this software.
TimeStretching
There are a lot of software options around now for slowing down or speeding up audio files without altering the pitch. This is especially useful for guitarists wanting to learn difficult passages. In Reaper, do the following.
Right click on the Audio File in the main screen
Choose Item Properties from the menu
Adjust the Playback rate value, keeping ‘Preserve pitch..’ box checked
A playback rate of 1.0 is normal speed, 0.50 is half speed, etc…
Adjust Playback Rate
Layering Takes
REAPER’s multiple takes feature can help you when you want to record several versions of a track to see which you prefer. This is handy if you are doing home recording. You can set Reaper to loop between markers and continually record multiple takes.
Set record mode to normal (Options, Record Mode: Normal)
Make sure that Free item positioning is not enabled for the tracks being recorded Right click over the Track Control Panel for the selected tracks and make sure this option is not ticked.
Record your multiple takes by rewinding or setting Reaper to loop over a section
The multiple takes are recorded on a single track or ‘lane’
Right clicking on the take gives many menu options including exploding the takes onto their own lane.
Archtops are a distinctive type of guitar that were first developed in the US at the end of the 19th century. They feature an arched top and back with ‘f’ holes in the body which are inspired by those found in violins. Archtops are built with a very large sound-chamber which allows them to produce louder volumes even if the guitar in question is an acoustic. The sound quality and separation found in these guitars is also generally very good. Archtops include both acoustic and electric models, the acoustics sometimes feature a floating pickup.
Archtops have retained popularity to this day, and are used across a wide variety of styles. Jazz artists were frequent users of archtops in the early years of this type of guitar. Eddie Lang, one of the most famous jazz guitarists of the 1930′s often used a Gibson archtop. Other genres and artists to use them include Country and Western (Chet Atkins), Blues (John Lee Hooker) as well as rock and rockabilly (Brian Setzer and Eddie Cochran).
The main originator of this style was Orville Gibson, and indeed, most of the famous archtop models are Gibsons. During the 20th century, these guitars progressively advanced and incorporated features such as cutaway bodies (allowing access to the upper frets) , the use of pickups and enhancements to the construction which aided the acoustic response.
Notable Archtop models: Gibson L-5
Originally appearing as a non-cutaway acoustic in 1922, this model gradually evolved to include variations such as a cutaway option in 1939, and an electric model with pickups (the L-5CES) which was released in 1951.
Gibson Super 400
This guitar appeared in 1934 and replaced the L-5 as Gibson’s top range model. It produced more volume than the L-5, and was highly ornate with a wide body. Cutaway acoustic and later on, electric models were introduced.
Gretch 6120
This hollowbody electric guitar was released in 1955, and featured a 3 way selector switch, individual volume controls for its 2 pickups, as well as master volume and tone controls. It became extremely popular with country and rock artists in the 50′s and 60′s.
Gibson ES355
An electric archtop which was released in 1957, the ES355 combined elements of traditional hollow body design with elements normally associated with solid body guitars. the result was increased sustain, enhanced tone and resonance without causing feedback problems. This model is still in production today, and has provided the basis for a whole range of offshoot models, including the EB2 bass.
