Last night I was at a wedding party. Actually, it was all day long cause a cousin of my wife’s got married, but what made me write this post was the actual party, not the paperwork or religious service.

So, a short overview of what Romanian wedding music means: usually there are 2 main traditional dance styles in Romania that are suited for weddings, a faster one and a middle paced one. Both have speed variations, but basically these are the 2 main, period, both being traditional folkloric dances. There are also other regional variations, but wherever you go in Romania, if you are going to take part to a wedding, you’d better know to dance these 2.

Now, what this has got to do with music? All the (traditional)songs can be adapted to fit these 2 dance styles so you get to a point where no matter what you are singing, it works on one of these 2 styles. Both are 4/4 so it’s not that difficult. If you have seen my previous post about Romanian folkloric music you will understand me better. They both dance in large circles, usually a lot of people participate to these circles.

Now to get to my point: there was this band on stage, playing, when I got there. I didn’t give them too much attention since I was already tired and frankly I was also hungry, after a long day of running around with the groom and bride and barely waiting for the food.

But at one moment, the band managed to get my attention since they managed to play some common songs on a totally different rhythm than the original one. The original song had a rhythm where the singer had enough room to breath. Musically speaking, a song needs breaks, pauses for the voice, a song can not have the lyrics chained one to the other, since nobody will understand anything from it. Well, this was the case with a few songs there. Imagine a fast paced dance, fast measures, where one sentence ends at the end of the measure and the next one starts right in the beginning of the next one, forced by the rhythm.

This was a mistake, since they forced these songs on a rhythm that was not the original one. Honestly I couldn’t understand why they did it since the original songs were quite good, very known and were very “danceable”, which is always a good thing at weddings.

Well, now comes the second part of my frustration: given these fast measures and lyrics that ended at the exact end of the measure, the singer actually didn’t have the time to start the next verse in the beginning of the next measure, on the first beat because she needed to breath, so…she let one more beat to go!! So, instead of starting on the first beat of the second measure, she started on the 2nd or on the 3rd, starting counting an other measure from there!!

For me it was frustrating, even if I didn’t pay too much attention to them, the songs have a fluency and a rhythm that leads you and you start feeling it at one point. When the measures are not well respected, you feel it effortlessly. I guess it has to do with your inner mathematical/musical sense.

After a while I realized this girl that was singing had quite a habit of not counting the beats in measures, even if she had all the time in the world to breath. So, it was quite frequent to start singing on the 2nd or 3rd beat instead of the first beat of the next measure and start counting from there and this happened no matter the rhythm of the song. For God’s sake, woman, count! Damn it!

I remember I had an experience with a girl singing in my band about 10 years ago, we had this song that had 8 measures in the beginning of it, measures that had a particular meaning, a melody that justified those exact 8 measures there! Well, she didn’t count too well, almost each time we played that song, on stage, she counted till 4 or 6 instead of 8 and started singing. The only good thing it was the fact that the chord was the same as the one where she should have started singing so we quickly played along exchanging glances! Damn, woman, count! Damn it!

Well, after a few bottles of wine with friends and family, these things were overcome, since overall, the singer didn’t sing flat or anything like this, she had a good voice, I think her math was not very good(considering counting beats in a 4/4 measure), or breathing sense, but they kept a good spirit for the audience and the songs were good.

I came back in the morning with a small headache, but not because of the music. This was from the Whiskey and wine, I guess. Too many glasses of wine?

But, well, again…who’s counting? Damn it, woman!

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Stage names are usual and after a while using them, nobody actually remembers the real name behind the artist. It would be very interesting to take a little quiz here… Let’s see:

1) Name the English singer, guitar player and songwriter born on 30 September 1947, become very famous in English rock music in the 70’s and died in the year I was born. Well, nobody said it is going to be easy, ok? Real name: Mark Feld, hint: Jurassic Park.

2) Name the guy behind the name Paul David Hewson. Born in 1960 in Dublin, raised in Dublin also, became one of the most influential lead singers of present day. Hint: humanitarian work, involvement, military outfit

3) Name the American singer and songwriter that was born in 1948 under the name Vincent Furnier (that’s funny, his name really does not represent him at all!) whose career spans five decades.The stage show features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood and boa constrictors. Hint: paint,horror,recorded an “aria” of the world famous Jesus Christ Superstar but not being part of the original show.

4) Now that’s old, you fans of vintage things must know this one: born in 1936, died in 1959, pioneer of rock and roll, inspiration source for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The name: Charles Hardin Holley. Hint: Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him number 13 on a list of 100 most influential artists of all time. That must mean something, right?

5) Ooo, this is good: Lars Lannerback. Really good! Guess the man! Born in 1963, icon of rock music, I won’t say the style cause you’ll nail it at once, reports he was “born”(as a guitar player) the day Jimi Hendrix died. Hint: Fender, scalloped fretboard, Speedy Gonzales

6) Another tricky one: Farrokh Bulsara. Would you believe this guy is one of the most famous rock singers!? Born in 1946 in Zanzibar, died, but again, I don’t say the year. Trademarked voice, trademarked band style, stage presence, shows. Hint: not of the stone age, trademarked guitar for his famous band mate, big shows, George Michael, Paul Rodgers, teeth

7) Born 1947, James Newell Osterberg, Jr is an American singer, songwriter and an occasional actor. Considered to be an innovator of punk rock and garage rock, he is sometimes referred to by the nicknames “the Godfather of Punk” and “the Rock Iguana”, and is widely acknowledged as one of the most dynamic stage performers, as Wikipedia says. Hint: bare-chested

After being one of the most famous rock singers around, William Bailey got into a long period of struggling, studio work and re-branding. Turbulent, left the stage more than once, unique, inimitable voice, he is the branded voice of some of the most famous hits in modern rock music. Hint: Dr Pepper,13 years

9) Born in 1958, Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna, Jr. is an American bassist, author, photographer, and the main songwriter for the rock band…na, na, na…it won’t be that easy! He usually plays Gibson Thunderbird Reverse Basses, and had his own signature bass produced by Gibson. Hint: 12-string basses, Playboy

10) Name the guitar player born in 1967 as Jeffrey Phillip Wiedlandt. Tough, rugged look, branded Gibson guitar, unique playing style, a worldwide guitar icon, he is most known for his work with some…let’s say TV reality show star…Hint: bulls-eye,his biggest influence is the very guitar player he replaced in the same band. Now that is interesting…

So, let me hear you! Who are those guys? Do you know your stuff? By the way, Stumble and Digg me!

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Yesterday a Carrefour hypermarket was launched in my city and of course, my wife just needed to be there, the same way she had to be there for the other 4-5 hypermarkets when they were launched. Of course, me and a friend of mine (his wife was there with mine) were angry like hell, we didn’t have where to park, I have never seen so many cars in one single place, cars parked on the sides of the highway, in curve, on every possible exit. At one moment, my friend had to stop and turn back because his car was too large to go on one street that had cars parked on the sides…Imagine that.

Now, in the middle of this parking hell, there was that stage installed where our local Shakin’ Stevens played his nationwide hits!No kiddin’, we have our own local Shakin’ Stevens the same way we have all kind of worldwide bands adapted to our local cultural environment.

I don’t speak about impersonators, no, I speak about artists that build their image taking as a model one artist or another from the “western” culture. It is very interesting to see how a musical market that started virtually with no “new” artist develops day by day by adding new “modeled” artists.

It is interesting because there is still room. You can look around, see what is not covered in Romania and build a new artist by a template borrowed from western markets. Why not, if it works and brings money? Plus that it kind of gives you a direction, a niche, your own place on this already crowded artistic world, right? Well, it is not that frequent anymore, at artist level, but at song level, I am still amused when I realize one song or another are composed to match some western artist style or sound…

I guess this process is very common on markets that are not yet well developed. As one of my band mates and long time friend, used to say, when a company does not know what to do, copies an other one. It works well in music too.

Well, don’t get me wrong, as any other “consumer”, I fall for this too, I like this guy’s music. His name is Stefan Banica Jr. He sings, dances, plays guitar and piano, but first he is a respected actor, a very known one here, he has a huge visibility, also due to his late father who was a very respected actor long before his son came to being, plus that he is the moderator of “So you think you can dance” franchised show here!

I was amused at first when I have seen his glowing stage outfits, seemed so aged to me(the costumes, not him, since he is around 40 yo),  but after a short while I realized it is part of a bigger image. He gathered around him great musicians, one of the best guitar players in Romania, Nicu Patoi, a big band, with trumpets and stuff…Whatever. Every year he has this big Christmas concert where women go nuts for him. And yes, he makes a lot of money, he is one of the best sold artists here. And he produces hits, which is always a desirable thing.

I am actually curious, did you observe in your corner of the world this kind of “modeled” development of the local music market?

Anyway, here’s one of the hits our local rock’n'roll artist used to break the hearts of so many women here…

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I have seen a lot of guitar players that play rock, blues or jazz having not so good opinions about alternative music bands, nu metal, etc. The fact is that I had myself my share of fast judgment related to some bands and honestly I feel bad for kind of rushing into judging them. Now, after this small mea culpa, let me tell you the point of this post: we work since a few days a song that is new and at the same time, old, meaning that it has been composed about 4-5 years ago, has been played a few times, but then kind of forgotten. Now we try to bring new life to it.

The fact is that we used to refer to this song by the name Rolling, as in Limp Bizkit’ Rolling due to drum line. Now, when I started playing the guitar line, I realized I need something new, some new approach, to match the drums and the bass line. Everything must sound new, I need some strange sounds, some interesting chords to dress up a very simple progression, Em, C, D…

I have started to listen Limp Bizkit, Korn, Guano Apes to see how they do it and what makes them sound the way they do. Beside the over processed guitar, in most cases, the chords use some interesting forms and turns, that, again, don’t come naturally to me, but surely provoke me.

I have come up with something that IMO sounds as it should, but I kept on thinking about this.

Actually, modern music, nu metal, alternative music, all these are not simple to create, despite what an experienced guitar player might think at a first glance. I am sure that if you are used to play pentatonic scales, blues and fast solos, you might face a problem trying to put up a simple alternative song, because your brain doesn’t think that way.

The fact is that I was listening yesterday, I think, something on YT, but I don’t remember where or what, I just remember what the guy said: “they don’t have the experience, so young people can not do anything else but being creative!”

I can’t help thinking about Metallica and that album that changed their musical direction a few years ago, I presume it was not easy for them to be creative on a new musical direction, preserving at the same time their branded sound.

So, let’s do the following exercise and then come back and comment here: listen one of the new bands that you hear these days (I don’t speak about Blink 182, OK?), take Guano apes or Korn and try to come up with a few riffs that match their music. Put yourself in the place of their guitar player and try to enrich the song.

Well, do you still think it is easy? The interesting part is that it is not about technical knowledge, even if a good chords theory helps a lot, but it is about creativity and breaking new grounds! And if you think at one moment that if it is just about power chords, listen carefully again

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Because I haven’t had a “poll” here in a while, today’s question is how much is enough when we count the power of an amp for a “regular” rehearsal room?

Let’s define the conditions: regular rehearsal room, let’s say 7-8m long, 7-8 m wide, regular height, I guess, about 2.45 m(?) and a “regular” band, something like drums, bass, 1 guitar, 1 keyboard, 1-2 microphones.

So, considering these conditions(that you may adjust to fit your “regular” image of a rehearsal room/band), how much would you consider it would be enough for a guitar amp? Would 75 watts do it? Or do you need 100 watts? Or 50 watts will do the trick also?

Keep in mind I speak here about distinguishing your guitar from the rest, in a “constructive” way, not making as much noise as possible so nobody else could be heard beside you…

Also, would the same wattage work for the bass amp too, or is it different?

How about for a 2 guitars band, does it change anything? What other parameters should be considered? Walls type? Drummer madness? Music style? Amp type? Number of speakers? Types of speakers? What else?

Let me hear you!

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Well, what can I say more than this month has been very quiet. I had other things to do and I kind of lost my enthusiasm regarding my dare, even if I should never ever lose it if I want to reach that target.

Not much happened, I had around 10.000 visitors but constant traffic, I had only 1 small spike, on 15, of 507 visitors which is not much.

This month I focused more on monetizing the traffic, and this is not an easy task for a blog, since the traffic for a blog is so much different compared to search engine traffic.

I have managed to make the fabulous amount of $133.5 using various sources, like AdSense, affiliates and direct sold advertising space. I can say I made this money from music, isn’t it?

So, to make a long story short, statistics go like this:

• 9805 visitors
• 10.804 visits
• 15.233 page views
• 1.41 Pages/Visitor
• 143 RSS subscribers
• $133.5

Also, in case you are new here and want to find out the story from day 1, here’s the 4th report which will lead you to the rest of the story.

Ah, and yes, again, if you are new here, don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feeds! Thanks!

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You already know my interest in Variax modeling guitars so it is normal to also test one, beside reading reviews and listening how it sounds on YouTube. So, this last weekend, because, Silviu, my friends who owns one, was in Pitesti, I had this occasion so I asked him to let me test it at our rehearsal room.

So, Sunday morning we’ve met there. First impression? Despite what I have read on the internet and I was afraid of, the guitar is very beautifully built and gives a nice feeling of a job well done. He owns a beautiful Variax 700 model, red, so my opinions are about this model. I hope 600 model will also be well built…

The first guitar I was curious how it sounds was an acoustic model. Actually, any acoustic model, since if you find there at least one that sounds realistic, it’ great! So we’ve plugged the guitar in and started to play.

I can tell you it was not what I was expecting, the sound was not realistic at all, in my opinion. It sounded like a strange electric guitar but nothing like an acoustic. Maybe a bit that string scratch you get on an acoustic more than on electric.

Silviu told me that live, on stage, when set up correctly it doesn’t sound this way, sounds more realistic, since it should not be plugged through a combo.

OK then, let’s plug it on the PA system directly on a voice channel. We’ve plugged it in, cut the EQ and let it ring!

Well, here the situation was a bit different, the guitar sounded more realistic than through the combo and it emulated an acoustic guitar quite close. The 12 string acoustic guitar was nice also! So, as a short conclusion, the acoustic model is OK. Does not make your jaw drop, but it is OK for those moments when you need an acoustic guitar and don’t want to carry one with you. Plus that setting it takes only a spin of a knob while setting an acoustic guitar on stage takes more than that…

How about electric guitar models?

Well, here I had a blast! Really! I totally loved the distortion you get when you play the Gibson Les Paul modeled guitar, both on bridge and on neck “pickups”. Yeah! Rock on! True, rich sound and clear at the same time, notes that blend well when playing power chords and distinguish well when playing solo! I loved that! We played it through a Digitech (for electric models) and we bypassed the effect for acoustic models.

I also liked the Strat model, but I liked Tele models better for clean patches due to that sparky sound which worked great with the clean preset on the Digitech. And again, Gibson model works great on clean too!

The rest of the models were fun to try, but I don’t know if I will ever find an use for them: 12 strings Rickenbaker sounds great, I love it, banjo, sitar, great feeling but…where would I use them? Also jazzbox guitars were fun to try but not very useful to me also. But Gibson and Fender models work great!

The guitar was not heavy, or at least seems like a regular weight I am used to. I haven’t tested the tremolo bar, it was not mounted and I had no curiosity about it since the model I am interested in is 600 and not 700 and these 2 models differ very much when comparing the tuners so it wouldn’t have been relevant.

Very easy to play, beautiful fret inlays, knobs and “pickup” switch easy to use.

As a conclusion, the guitar made a good impression on me and the possibility for me buying one increased dramatically. However, it would be interesting to also test a 600 model…

Or just buy the God damn guitar and move forward!!!

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In the last post I was telling you about this show we prepared. So, now, after the show, here are a few pictures and a few observations.

The show was interesting and I had fun being part of it. However, it could have been promoted a bit more since we have lost a considerable number of participants because they didn’t know about it, people that would have been there otherwise. I say this because I know the level of enthusiasm the show generated last years. This was the eight edition. This year we were expecting more people that actually came up. Well…

As good impressions, I loved the sound or rock, the sound of drums and guitars, generally speaking. I loved the enthusiasm of 50-60 yo people singing and playing on stage. Since our drummer couldn’t make it, we managed to get our ex drummer that already knew the songs so we managed to play just fine. Except one of our song that was a bit shorter than usual, but hey, nobody noticed, right?

As bad impressions, I didn’t have a good control on stage over the second guitar and voice. Also, between me and the Marshall amp was some kind of love and hate relationship since I was not happy with the sound I managed to get from it, no matter how hard I tried, but overall, it gave me a great feeling of power and control since being close to it, the sound monitors were not such a big help comparing to the amp itself.

I played with my band, Tentatii, and also with a girl singer, from another band I used to be part of. We put up 2 songs in a hurry, right before the show and we managed to have them going: Have you ever seen the rain and Mustang Sally.

So, until I will upload a video, here are a couple of pictures my wife took while we (and an other band before us) played:

After the show, together with some good friends that came to watch the show, went to a restaurant near by for a wine and some food.

And, to end this post in a happy note, here’s a piece of conversation my wife unintentionally heard between one of the guys in the first picture and his wife:

- What do you have there?!

- Water, dear!

- It’s not water, it’s Vodka!

- …get out of here!

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Today that show I was telling you about a few weeks ago will take place and I am part of it. Yesterday I was invited to a local TV show to speak about this event, along with the organizer/producer, the presenter of the show and another local musician.

It was a funny thing to do because we kind of remembered together the previous editions of this show, Retro Rock 70’s. At one moment we have watched and commented a mix of moments from previous editions where I could see myself everywhere, playing with 4-5 bands, except my actual band. Damn!

So, this evening that show will take place and we only have one single issue: the drummer announced us yesterday evening that he won’t be able to come to that show. What?!! Now you’re telling us? Damn! I called our previous drummer to replace him for this evening, he should fill in just fine because we played together for a couple of years, he was part of that “dream team”, he knows the songs so it should be no problem. Well, only a small one: he has a contract to play every evening somewhere around here. Doh!

The producer/organizer of the show is a drummer and a very good one, so I asked him to fill in, he agreed so in case nothing gets better until the end of the day, we will play in that formula. Again, it should not be a big surprise, we have played together a couple of shows in the past, he is a very experienced and inventive drummer and frankly with him on drums I dare to play a song without any rehearsal.

But I was also asked by him to fill in for a guitar player in the band of his daughter who could not come with her band from Bucharest, she will come alone. Again, no surprise, she was in my second band and we played together for 1 year I think, I know her, she knows me so we can put up a couple of songs. Just that we haven’t played together since 1 year or more. So, last night, around midnight, I contacted her on Messenger to agree on a couple of songs. We agreed on Venus from The Shocking Blue, Black Velvet from Alannah Myles and Have You Ever Seen The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival. All these in the middle of the night.

There is no need to say that I have no clue about how these songs go, but I need to figure it out by this evening and manage to play them. Have you ever seen the rain is high school music, no problem here, but Black Velvet is a very beautiful song that needs to be nailed right, otherwise it would be such a pity…

Of course, she also proposed Proud Mary! Right, my nightmare! I told you a few days ago I hate Proud Mary because it does not come naturally to me!No Proud Mary this time!

So, even if I feel things are a bit unstable, with the drummer missing and a brand new set that we need to figure out this evening, I feel OK and positive about the show tonight!

Of course, you are all invited, no need to say this! If you won’t be able to make it, I will post here a couple of pictures and why not, a movie or something

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Since a few months I actively consider buying a new electric guitar since my old was way too much around and can’t handle the stress anymore…

So, lately, each time I open my computer I look for possibilities, I evaluate features, prices, shapes, pickups, tuners, sounds, artists, damn, I feel I am going crazy!

Of course, because there are so too many possibilities out there, I can not make up my mind. Of course, first I should define my needs, this should be the first step.

So, what exactly do I need? I need a versatile guitar, since I play a lot of pop rock music and alternative also, I need a guitar that allow me to go from a clean sound with personality (read sparky Fender Stratocaster) to a sweet and non aggressive distorsion tone for hard rock, to crunchy metal tones for the black side of me…

I would also like the guitar to have “the look” and have a Floyd. Period. Ah, yes, and of course, be affordable!Doh! So, let’s evaluate the possibilities…

How about an Ibanez guitar?

I love Ibanez guitars. I am a fan of Ibanez since my early years. Lovely shapes, fashionable guitars, Floyd, crunchy tone, affordable. I refer here to RG and S models, mostly. Then? Well, they don’t have that sound that only Fender provides, or the sweetness of tone, IMO. They are guitars for hard and heavy guitar player or for Satriani fans (even I am one of them, I don’t play what I preach). Also, after a tone test of an Ibanez RG against a Carvin guitar, I was so disappointed that for months I didn’t want to hear about Ibanez guitar. But, as you see, first love never dies…

Or a good old Fender Stratocaster?

I also like Fender guitars very much. They give me the sparky sound on clean, sweet distortion for rock songs. Also I have always played Fender shaped guitars so I am very familiar with the position of knobs, blade, etc. I realized that when playing a few Fender-like guitars, it came very easy to play them, comparing to playing on a Yamaha, I think, when I even hurt my pinky finger trying to turn down the volume. The knob was too close to where I had my finger and I didn’t realize so I came too hard on the knob. Of course, this is not a reason, it is just something I remember.

What I don’t like at Fender? (I speak about Fender Stratocaster). They don’t have a Floyd. I don’t have one on my current guitar but I consider having one for this next one. There is a model with Floyd but it seems like a model to please the idiot that asks for a Floyd on a Stratocaster. Namely me. So, it is is not a standard, proven solution, but kind of a hybrid. Also, prices for a good guitar, not made in China or Japan are high. But again, Ibanez is so affordable exactly because they make a lot of their guitars in Japan, I think.

Or a Jackson guitar to rock the house?!!

Yesterday I was looking at a Jackson guitar, which I love as shape and feeling. But man, the guitar I was looking at, a Randy Rhoades model, does not represent me at all. Plus that it is hard rock all over it. Too bad, a beautiful guitar. The same for the rest of Jackson models.

Variax. The guitar collection seems better than all the ones above enumerated

The one that I actually set my mind on and I really considered lately is nothing else but the Variax 600 model that I really studied in the last period of time. If it comes to being versatile, I think that we can all agree that nothing beats a Variax. Nothing CAN beat a Variax, really and I don’t think anybody would argue that. The reason is simple: every guitar, as much as you would change it, has a tone range where it can move while a Variax has 28 tone ranges…to put it this way…

Variax seems to be, so far, the one that weights the most in my options, like 70-80%. However, it has no Floyd, even if I can live with that and it is a not yet stable technology, which I am a bit afraid of, since if something happens to it, I won’t be able to fix it. With a regular electric guitar, with a screwdriver, a bit of work and an iron you can do whatever you like. With a Variax guitar, well, not quite…You need to go to the doctor.

I don’t have any problem with the fact it is a “digital” guitar and not a “regular” one. I play a processor and I am happier with it than with any stompboxes I previously owned so I am very open minded when it comes to the digital era products.

I specially love the fact that I can have my acoustic guitar and my electric guitar at a knob position away. This thrills me! Really! I have studied it, I have asked Silviu, my friends who owns one, I was speaking with him about a few of my concerns even when he was not here in Romania but on a beach in Bulgaria. Damn! I have listened to samples, recordings, live takes, the only think I would like to do is to actually play one to feel it, just that I need to take a trip to the store which is in Bucharest and I haven’t managed to find a day to go there in the last months. I must do it, I think.

So, what do you think? I am crazy or what? Considering my “needs” what would be the guitar you would advice me to buy? As you see, I haven’t considered any Gibson or Telecaster here. Even if I like them both, I wouldn’t buy one as my weapon of choice. Both have, in my opinion, too much character to fit what I want.

Any opinion would be welcome! Let me hear you!

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