Chasing Holdsworth's tone

      The first time I heard Allan Holdsworth I was 16 years old. I remember reading online someplace that he was a completely unique player that resembled John Coltrane on guitar. Being a huge fan of Coltrane I thought I'd check him out. I bought 'Metal Fatigue' on LP for about $2 despite the fact that I didn't have a record player(nobody was listening to records anymore back then). Luckily my uncle had one and I remember thinking it sounded a bit dated, but interesting. Then it got to the solo and I was blown away. As I listened to more songs on the album I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The tone, the technique, the melodic-ism, the harmonies. It was all so impressive and it still is. It took me a long time to figure out how to get close to his tone. It's not exact, but hopefully I can help some people get close to his tone. Anyway here is the video explanation of how I go about getting his tone.

If you don't want to listen to the explanation just watch this, which is just the demo songs.

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Review of Kirk Hunter Diamond Symphony Orchestra

Recently there was/is a sale on most of Kirk Hunter's products. I already own a few, but the sale was so good I couldn't resist. I picked up Diamond which is a complete orchestra including woodwinds, brass, strings and percussion.

   First I'll talk about the sound. The sound of the strings are better than I expected, although as I said before I already have some string samples. The woodwinds are also good although there seems to be a problem with the flute. Everything else sounds good and responds well. One of the reasons I bought this library is because of the piccolo and it doesn't disappoint. The horns sound pretty good, but they are a little aggressive for my taste. Also the library includes reverb. but it isn't baked into the samples, so you can adjust it as needed or take it off completely. This can be good or bad depending on your perspective, but personally I prefer things this way.

  Second, the features. Most of the patches have TEVC programming which gives them the ability to use keyswitches for articulations and adjust certain parameters giving the patches much more flexibility. Unfortunately not all of the patches have updated programming(the bass trombone), but most do which makes them easy to work with.

Overall it's a great value and the fact that it was recorded dry let's you blend it with other libraries without too much trouble. Anyway, check out the short song I wrote with it below. Leave comments and questions below.

 

Joyo British Sound demo

Here is another video of a joyo product. This time it's the British Sound. This thing gets great Marshall tones.

Joyo California Sound demo

Here is a demo I did a while back of the joyo California Sound. It's a great pedal and for the price it can make a great backup if your main rig blows up. It's very bass heavy, but the tone is pretty good and there is a lot of variation to be had. With a few tweaks of a knob you can go from a harsh, biting distortion to a smooth woman tone. Check it out.

S-gear demo(part 2)

Here is the 2nd part of my S-gear demo. This showcases the Wayfarer amp model. It's basically a cross between a fender twin and a mesa mark series amp. Anyway, leave some comments below.

S-gear demo

Here is a demo I did for Scuffham S-gear. I've been using s-gear for a little over a year and I'm really pleased with it. I use it for all my guitar recordings now. Mike Scuffham recently talked about an update to this software and hinted that there might be a new Fender tweed style amp added. Not only that, but there will be more impulses and all of it will be free for current users. You can't beat that. Anyway here is part 1.

Mooer Rumble Drive demo

Here is a demo of the Mooer Rumble Drive I made a few days ago. I'm really enjoying this pedal. People have said it's a clone of the popular boutique Zendrive. I don't know, but I know it sounds great. It has that smooth overdrive tone that makes the notes you play sing. Just try this pedal with a little delay and reverb and try to keep a smile off your face. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Mooer Rumble Drive demo: