REAL INSTRUMENTS

Added the wonderful Ibanez AF75 to my music room. Read more here.

Taylor acoustic guitar with Dean Markley pickup. Valley Arts Standard Pro guitar #0076, probably built in Hollywood about 1988 and better than any Strat, Tele or Les Paul I ever owned, and I have owned a few! It has been upgraded with a Roland MIDI pickup, which plugs into the Roland GI-20, which plugs directly into a USB port on my 24-inch iMac. For the bottom end, a Jackson Bass1. Jackson Bass2. Music room 1. Music room 2. Music room 3 ... all taken before I got the big-screen Mac.

Here are some pictures of the Valley Arts in pieces then back together and then on the lawn ... and a previous Valley Arts favorite, the Larry Carlton guitar and another view. Here's everything. You can see a YouTube demo of the MIDI guitar here; it's not my exact setup, but you'll get the general idea.

I have an M-Audio Keystation 49e keyboard and a smaller M-Audio for work, so if I ever take a lunch hour I can play around. I would suppose I will soon get the 61es.

BEAUTY IS NICE BUT ...


I always wished my Valley Arts looked like my flame-top, set-neck Strat. And I
always wished my Strat played like my Valley Arts. Bye, bye Custom Shop Strat!

AND JUST IMAGINE ...

You're 18 years old, working in a steel mill for the summer and saving every cent for college ... playing in a band and trying to get that heavy Led Zeppelin sound with an awful Fender Jaguar guitar. Then through a total fluke, you get the chance to buy an out-of-production 1954 Les Paul goldtop guitar for only $50!

I don't have to imagine because it happened to me!

VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

A virtual instrument is a MIDI instrument often created from actual instrument sounds sampled in a professional studio. The instrument is played with either a MIDI keyboard or the Roland-modified guitar. It does not play itself! It has no loops! It helps you more as a recording engineer than as a musician.

The most incredible virtual instruments I own come from EastWest/Quantum Leap; the Fab Four package was created with some actual Beatles instruments on actual Beatles recording equipment by Ken Scott, an actual Beatles engineer. Symphonic Orchestra package. Ministry of Rock package. Here's a YouTube look at Fab Four. And here's a YouTube look at Ministry of Rock. Here's the first thing I did using Ministry of Rock; I need to work on my drumming a bit! And here's an example of something I did using Fab Four.

VIRTUAL SYNTHS

You must check out GForce! These guys collect vintage synths and create software that turns your MIDI keyboard into the classic Mellotron McCartney used for those haunting notes at the beginning of “Strawberry Fields Forever.” I have the M-Tron, the impOSCar, the Minimonsta, and the Virtual String Machine. MIRACLE MARINE was created almost totally on the impOSCar.

OTHER CRUCIAL ITEMS

All these sounds come together in the main recording studio, Logic Pro 8, which is part of Logic Studio by Apple. That's what turns a computer into Abbey Road. Hey, check out the Abbey Road live cam.

Besides the MIDI route into Logic, there is also has an audio path, provided by IK Multimedia's StealthPlug. This and the virtual amplifier software packaged with it also allow the bass and acoustic into the computer. Waves Guitar Solo software. USB Blue Snowball microphone.

I also have some regular guitar amps, some old stomp boxes, an 8-track reel-to-reel recorder — and tons of guitar picks!

©jonfobes 2009