Recent Session - Justin Bieber's Yellow Raincoat

Co-wrote and played this song with Justin. 1990 Gibson Dove and AKG 451 mic.

Inside the Hey St. Jude Session

For those of you who aspire to do session work, here's a little view from the inside with some comments. I'd say this is a typical session, but every session is different, and some are very different. In this one we were hired to replace a karaoke track of the original tune that had already been sung over, by various artists, actors, athletes, and other, and edited. This posed some very unique and complex issues which the arranger and engineer handled flawlessly. I played bass, acoustic and electric guitar and even helped out with handclaps. here's my inside look...

Here's the final product...

One of my latest sessions...

Justin Bieber - All I Want Is You

(Under the Mistletoe)

I played my Gibson Dove (double tracked), my Larivee Parlor strung high-strung (also double tracked) and G&L for the power chords in the choruses (oh, double tracked).

Why I use Elixir Strings.

PLEASE NOTE: I endorse Elixir strings.  They didn't come to me though, I went to them because I really like their product.

There is, or at least was, a bit of a debate about coated strings.  Which I completely understand on two levels, first, coated strings, especially early on were not as bright as non-coated strings.  And second, one method of advertising is to disparage your competition. That quieted down significantly when many other manufacturers offered up their own versions of a coated, long lasting string.

So why do I use them?

1.  I have acidic hand sweat.  You should see up close some of the hardware on my guitars.  Particularly the gold ones.  Not pretty.  You know the alien blood from the movie Alien?  Now you know what I'm taking about.  Prior to Elixirs I used Ernie Ball strings on electric, and within and hour of playing time they became tetanus wires.  I was always changing strings.  At a few bucks a set it wasn't that big of a deal, just the time it took to change them, but time is money and once I switched to Elixirs I found that I could keep strings on my main electrics for weeks instead of days.

2.  They don't corrode in storage.  I have a lot of guitars.  Many are rarely played.  But the last thing I want to do is restring my Rickenbacker 12-string the night before a session. Especially if, despite being told to bring it, I never actually use it.  But with it strung up with Elixirs I know I can confidently grab it on my way out the door and if needed it will be ready to track.  I always keep extra sets in every case just in case.  Pun not intended.

3. The immediate vintage tone.  Truth be told, as nice as brand new strings feel, they can sound a little brittle or bright.  Normal strings sound better once worked in.  For me that may only take an hour, for others a week.  Even still I change strings on my acoustic(s) the night before a session so they have time to settle in.  With Elixirs they immediately have that worn in sound and I like that.  Many players don't and that's why they came out with the nano-web versions to provide that closer to non-coated experience.  To me both the electrics and acoustic sets are ready for the red light (to record) as soon as they are on the guitar.

4.  They tune up fast.  You know how when you string up a guitar you have to tug the strings and tune them a bunch of times until they settle?  Maybe between every song for a set?  Not with Elixirs.  Tune, tug, tune, play, tune... and that's pretty much it from my experience.  This is important when you have several guitars out for a session and you are going from one to the other twenty times in an hour.

5.  They are quieter.  When I'm in the studio recording acoustic instruments, ie. acoustic 6 or 12 string, nylon/classical guitar, mandolin, etc., I am often playing before a very sensitive condenser mic or maybe two.  They pick up everything: heavy breathing, toe tapping, chair squeaking, humming, counting aloud,  a hole in your septum (that's another story for later) or SQUEAKING STRINGS.  Well Elixirs can't help with any of those except those pesky squeaks one creates when one slides fingers up and down the fretboard.  There are ways to reduce that noise; mic placement, lightness of touch, swiftness of hand movement.  But another tools to reduce this unwanted noise is to string up your instrument with coated strings.  I prefer the polyweb (classic) over the nanoweb for this reason.

6.  They are easier on the finger tips.  There are days where I have a guitar in my hands for 14 hours and Elixir strings really allow me to play longer without pain or discomfort.  Often I'll pick up someone else's guitar and within minutes be feeling the deep ridges of a non-coated set of string.  Ouch.  OK, I'm a baby.  This is also a reason why I prefer polyweb over nanoweb.

Do I have something, anything bad to say about Elixirs?  Hmmm, the packaging hurts my eyes.  Oh yeah, and that they discontinued the classical guitar sets.  They are well aware of my objections.

Elixir Strings Electric Guitar Strings, 6-String, Light NANOWEB Coating

Elixir Strings Acoustic Guitar Strings, 6 String, Light POLYWEB Coating

Elixir Strings Mandolin Strings, 8 String, Light, Acoustic NANOWEB Coating

Elixir Strings Electric Guitar Strings, 12-String Light

Transposing Tip (Baritone Edition)

Baritone strings -
D'Addario XL157 Baritone Guitar Strings, Medium

Some transposing tools...
Transposing Charts - Transpose Music For All Instruments Including Band Instruments (Instructional)
Theory and Transposing Guide Laminated Cards

Like my shirt?  Get it here!

Reinventing the Guitar #1

 A story of intrigue and peril.  No actually it's a story about playing a grouping of five sixteenth notes over a 7/4 meter, plus a little more.

Here's the actual movie...
Revolution Os - might be of interest of you techies out there

My strings of choice -
Elixir Strings Acoustic Guitar Strings, 12-String, Light NANOWEB Coating

My 12-string -
Taylor Guitars 655-CE Jumbo 12 String Acoustic Electric Guitar

Intro to Django/Gypsy Jazz

Some of the chords used...
Am6 - 5x45xx
Dm6 - 10x910xx
E7 - x767xx
E7/B - 7x67xx
C6 - 8x79xx

Check out the Wikipedia page on Django Reinhardt.

Some recordings...
Essential Django Reinhardt

Capoing Reasons 4 and 4.1

A couple more reasons to capo.... to emulate an auto harp and play impossible chords.

Shubb capo...
Shubb GC-20A Acoustic Guitar Capo in Nickel

Auto harp...
Oscar Schmidt 21 Chord Autoharp

Some music by Fernando Ortega...
Fernando Ortega
Shadow of Your Wings: Hymns & Sacred Songs
Hymns of Worship
Breaking of the Dawn
Christmas Songs
Storm

Capoing Reason #2

Capoing Reason #2 - To contrast with another guitarist.

Original progression - Em C G D
Capo at 3rd fret play - C#m A E B
Capo at 5th fret play - Bm G D A
Capo at 7th fret play - Am F C G
Capo at 10th fret play - F#m D A E

Reason to Capo #1

To get out of bad keys like F, Bb, Eb, B etc.  A capo can make your life easier and make you sound better.

Dunlop 83 Trigger Curved Guitar Capo (Black) - curved for most guitars
Dunlop Trigger Classical Guitar Capo, Black Finish - flatter for nylon string guitars (this is why I was having problems in the video, I was using a classical guitar capo on a normal steel string guitar)
Shubb GC-20A Acoustic Guitar Capo in Nickel - My preferred capo for the studio
Kyser 6 String Capo, Black - my preferred capo for the stage
Shubb GC-20E Electric Guitar Capo in Nickel - my preference on the electric guitar

Some others to peruse...
Stainless Steel Deluxe Guitar Capo
Kyser Pro/Am Guitar Capo
G7th Performance Capo (Six String, Silver)
First Act MX220 Six String Guitar Capo
Planet Waves NS Capo, Silver
Jim Dunlop 7190 Russell Gtr Capo Reg - OLD SCHOOL!!!

Cool Tools - Mandolin and Dulcimer

A couple of links to check out...

Applecreek PKACD150K Hourglass Shaped Dulcimer with Case

Fender FM-53S Mandolin, Sunburst

Introduction

D35 Acoustic Guitar