Zoom H2n

Happy Cyber Monday! I know I am not the first person to offer a holiday gift guide, but I plan on approaching it from a slightly different angle. For starters, ask your self a few questions about the guitarist on your Christmas list. Are they in an active band? What Kind of music do they like to play? Do you ever listen to them and think “That is just noise!”? Are they more traditional? Would you consider them “Artistic”?

Answering these questions will point you on the right track to finding the perfect gift for the guitarist on your list. To help the decision making along a little more I have a few suggestions based on the questions above.

Capturing Ideas -

If the guitarist on your list is in an active band, almost anything from strings and picks

Zoom Q3 HD

to a new guitar strap would be a great gift. But let’s look at this from a different point of view. To be a successful band you need to have great songs and a rabid fan base, so how about a way to record your ideas? Two suggestions come to mind for this. The Zoom H2n audio recorder and The Zoom Q3HD Video recorder.

When you have a band, the best way to improve and write more material is to record yourself. The Zoom H2n is around $199 at most retailers is an updated version the Zoom H2. It is easy to use and has great mics. I use mine to capture ideas on my acoustic or electric guitar. What I have learned to do is talk through what I am doing and how I am playing it so when I listen back, I can reproduce what I recorded. Another way I use the H2 is to record face to face interviews for my podcast. Since the Zoom has multiple mics, you can set it to record from both the front and back mics at the same time and set the reorder between the people who are talking. Once you have your recording you can easily transfer it to your computer (Mac or PC) via USB.

The Zoom Q3HD has the same great audio recording that the H2n offers PLUS it adds HD Video. Street price is normally $299. The bonus to this unit is that you can shut off the video and use it just as an audio recorder. I used one recently to record some video at a guitar show. You can see the videos on my YouTube Channel.

Creative Ideas -

A new piece of gear can sometimes stimulate the creative process for a musician, even

Spider Capo

a small one. A couple years ago I discovered a few special capos that let you get more than the standard capo. One that I really Enjoyed is the Spider Capo. The Spider Capo retails for around $30, which is pricey for most capos, but not for this one. What the Spider lets you do is Capo individual strings in any combination. Think of it as being able to re-tune your guitar on the fly. Add in some open tunings and the possibilities are endless.

Another capo that I found unique was Bob Kilgore’s Harmonic Capo. What this capo does is play a constant harmonic at the 12th fret. Musically it adds a great ambiance to what you are playing. At $34.95, it is again more than a regular capo, but for what it does musically it is worth adding to the capo collection.

Make Some Noise -

If you have a musician on your list that makes music that sounds more like “noise” to

Boss Feedbacker/Booster

you than music, then a new effects pedal would make a great gift. Boss recently introduced a new pedal that will let you add feedback to your sound at any time called the Feedbacker/Booster (FB-2). I am really happy to see this pedal come to market. The last pedal like this was the DF-2, Super Distortion Feedbacker back in the 80′s. I am on a quest to find one, and the FB-2 just might delay that quest.

For some serious noise and tones that no one will be able to duplicate look to Death By Audio. Death by audio came to my attention through a Guitar World article a few years ago. These pedals are custom made and very unique. Take some time to explore the site and listen to the demos to find that perfect pedal. These pedals are at the top of my wish list.

The Every Day Gift -

My last gift idea is a twist on something that guitarists use every day, the guitar pick. Why not do something unique and get the guitarist on your list their own custom guitar picks from Clayton Custom. A buddy of mine at work ordered custom picks to announce the birth of his son, which I though was a pretty cool idea. You can do everything from simple text to custom graphics.

Happy Holiday Shopping!

Rob Caggiano of Anthrax

In Episode 6 of the Signal To Noise Podcast we sat down with Rob Caggiano of Anthrax and Ted Aguilar of Death Angel to talk about their current Tour.

In 1990 I saw Death Angel play at a little place called “City Limits” it was an old Roller Rink that was used for small shows. It was one of my favorite places to see a band because you could get right up against the stage. It was small, but probably still held 500 people. After that show Death Angel seemed to just disappear. This was in the days before the internet, so I really had no idea where they went. It was great to sit down with Ted and talk about where they have been and how far they have come now. We discuss everything from Ted’s guitars to the guest appearance from Rodrigo y Gabriela on their latest Release “Relentless Retribution”.

1991 I saw Anthrax for the first time ever on what may been the perfect show for the times. The bands were in order: Young Black Teen Agers, Primus, Public Enemy, and Anthrax. It was probably one of the best lineups in a show I had ever seen. I have followed Anthrax since 1986 or 1987 and to this day there is still nothing like the sound of Anthrax. They re-defined the term”heavy” and the set bar in a place where few bands will ever be able to reach. 20 years after that first show I saw Anthrax again. And now I can can say that the show I just saw was probably the best line up for a show I have  ever seen. I had the opportunity to sit down with Anthrax’s lead guitarist, Rob Caggiano, and discuss his role as a producer and how he captured the classic Anthrax sound while still sounding modern.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Cast Iron Ring Network

I first discovered podcasts through iTunes in 2005. I wasn’t sure what they were, but they seemed like they might be what I was looking for. What I was trying to find was some sort of way to listen to information about recording. An audio book, an interview, anything. So I typed “recording” into the iTunes search window and discovered that there were a lot of podcasts on recording. So I started to check them out and the irony that I found is that a lot of the podcasts that we about recording SOUNDED awful! I wondered how much I could really learn from podcasts that sounded that bad. Then I stumbled on a two podcasts that I still listen to today, Inside Home Recording and The Project Studio Network.

These two podcasts stood out among the others because of their sound quality and consistency. Sadly The Project Studio Network stopped updating after episode 102, but you can still go back and listen to the archives, and what an archive it is! Thankfully though, Big Al is still sharing his vast knowledge over at Home Studio Guru. Inside Home Recording, however is still going strong. So I used these podcasts to increase my knowledge and add to my skill set, and while I am still no expert, I am way better than when I started.

Eventually I expanded my listening to other podcasts. I was learning to speak Japanese with one podcast and learning about making comics on another. I had considered starting my own podcast, but I had no idea what the show would be about and how in the world I would publish it. Then one day my buddy Sean (whose guitar I featured in my “Classic Guitar” series) said to me “Hey, did you know John has a podcast?”, and the answer there was no. The next chain of events went like this, I stated listening to John’s show and emailed him telling him how much I enjoyed it. We started talking about music and next thing I know he asked me if I would be interested in doing an artist interview for him. Of course I was! I was so excited to be doing something music related again and I would finally be on a podcast! My first interview was Rich Williams of the band Kansas. Boy was I nervous, but it was a good interview. And more importantly, Rich was a super cool guy to talk to. So in June 2010 I made my podcasting debut with Iron City Rocks, and boy was I proud. Then in August came the next opportunity, to assemble a show myself. John was on vacation with his family and we had a time sensitive interview with Morgan Lander of Kittie that needed to be posted. John set up all the web stuff so all I had to do was update a few files. This is where those two podcasts on recording come into play. I have a great little home studio, but I had never really finished a project. It was just bits and pieces of ideas. The Kittie episode was the first real audio project I had produced start to finish in my home studio. After that episode, I did a few more and finally got the bug to start my own podcast. And that is part of the story of how my site, Signal To Noise came into being.

One thing that always drew me to podcasts was the fact that they are almost like pirate radio. The podcaster is calling all the shots, no regulation of content. No topic is left unturned, and pretty much anything can find an audience. I love this renegade, DIY aspect of podcasting. And I am proud to announce today that this single pirate radio station is now part of a fleet. So Raise the Jolly Roger and head over to The Cast Iron Ring! The Cast Iron Ring is a network of podcasts dedicated to bringing you the best in Music and Entertainment news, reviews, interviews and of course Music Gear!!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

My Jean Jacket

I was a teenager during the “Golden Age” of metal in the mid 1980′s. I was introduced to KISS IN 1984, started playing Bass Guitar in 1985, and in 1986 Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer dropped their landmark iconic albums. The 80′s really was a good time to be metal head and almost every metal head at the time wore the uniform… a jean jacket. Now I know that a lot of metal heads also wore leather biker style jackets, but in my neighborhood, jean jackets prevailed.

I got my jean jacket in 1986 and wore it pretty much non-stop until I graduated in 1990. It became my trademark,a part of my identity. I even went as far as to have my senior picture taken with it. I did the tradition picture with a shirt and tie and then I had some pictures taken with my bass guitars and my jean jacket. Crazy I know, but I was a teen in the late 80′s and that was the thing then. I am happy to say that the senior picture I used for the year with my jean jacket seemed to start a trend. Each year after more kids were forgoing the traditional picture and doing things that appealed to them which I thought was great.

So as you can see in the picture above my jacket was dedicated to KISS. It started out with just one patch, and grew. At one point I had an Ozzy patch at the bottom. The Ozzy patch was removed to make room for the four “Faces” patches that you see at the bottom. One of the reasons that this jacket has been so special to me is because my grandmother bought the jacket for me and sewed all the patches on it. She died on New Year’s Eve 1988 and the jacket has served as a great way to remember her.

The main reason I decided to write about my jean jacket was to wonder aloud what the new badge of honor is? I see black t shirts and long hair, but nothing that really stands out. Maybe it is my age and the fact that while I still listen to a lot of metal, I am not as close to it as I was, but I just don’t see those stand out articles. When I was a teen ( walking to school in the snow, uphill, both ways) there were cool spiked gloves and bracelets, cool spiked rings, and they were hard to find. There was only one place in town that sold that kind of stuff ( at least that I could find) and they did not seem to last long. I bought some spikes there and made a guitar strap with them in art class. Now a days you can buy this stuff at every hot topic, but now it just seems homogenized. While we were certainly identifiable, everyone still seemed to acquire their own style, at times it was like a game of one upmanship.

So this is a call to all metal heads to dress distinctly and look as cool as the music you love. And it is also a call to anyone who like to educate me, just in case I am way off base here. Anyway, me, my p-bass, and my jean jacket are going to go rock out. MAKE SOME NOISE!!!