Encore Lounge Music Gear

Music production has gone leaps and bounds from the early days to recording to the age of the iPod. But for all their modern bells and whistles, CDs and mp3s have yet to match the sound quality of vinyl records, a technology that dates back to the 1800s. Audiophiles are drawn to their rich, warm sound, something even state-of-the-art recording tools would be hard-put to achieve. The only catch, of course, is that vinyl records don’t last forever.

Vinyl collectors swear by a number of methods to keep their records in top shape, but most would agree that cleaning is essential. You want to keep your discs free of dust and stains without using strong cleansers and abrasive surfaces. The best way to go about it is to use a record cleaning machine, which takes care of everything from the cleaning solution to the scrubbing and drying. Having a machine do it helps you avoid over-cleaning or missing some spots. It’s not a small investment, but if you’re a serious collector or seller, it’s well worth the money.

If you’re bent on doing it yourself, or don’t have that many records to make machine cleaning worth it, get a cleaning solution specifically made for vinyl records—you’ll find them at most music shops. Most stores will also have professional cleaning brushes designed to be gentle to vinyl surfaces; read the recommendations on the bottle or ask store attendants for suggestions.

You can also make your own solution if you’re on a budget. Use either 90% isopropyl alcohol (available at pharmacies) or a dishwashing soap, preferably unscented or the kind made for sensitive skin. If it smells or looks too strong, dilute it in a bit of water. It’s always safer to make it too weak and just add more soap or alcohol as needed, rather than the other way around. Microfiber or soft flannel cloths usually work well for drying.

Once you’re done cleaning, you’ll want to store your records properly. Instead of putting them in their original sleeves, which are probably dusty as well, get a new set of plastic inner sleeves and use them for newly cleaned discs. Then put everything in a larger outer sleeve before storing. Use a new sleeve every time you clean. Do this regularly and you’ll find that you won’t need to clean the disc as often, and they’ll keep their sound quality for a lot longer.

Even if you are left-handed, you can find a custom designed left handed electric guitar to suit your natural ability. Left-handed people do not have to play right-handed guitars, so can choose a guitar based on their hand strengths. While most of the guitar scene performs on right-handed instruments, left-handed guitars are similarly used with the same features in reverse. This is so the pick end is played with the left hand, and the fretting end is played with the right hand. When a left-handed electric guitarist plays, the neck is pointed to the right of the body, with the guitar appearing as a mirror image of a right-handed electric guitar.

As with any electric guitar, ensure your guitar is properly tuned before playing it. It is best to select a simple method and stick with it, until you are able to learn other learning methods with experience. When playing an electric guitar upside down, be careful of the knobs as they may prevent you from strumming. Famous left handed electric guitar players include Jimi Hendrix and Albert King.  Albert King played upside down with a right handed guitar with his left hands, which is also another suitable option. This results in the normal low E string being the highest string, and the high E string becoming the lowest string. Jimi Hendrix similarly played guitar left-handed, however took a right-handed guitar and restrung it to be played left-handed.

A restrung or specifically left-handed electric guitar has the strings in the correct position, with the low chord on top and the high on the bottom. The bridge is altered to make the lower strings longer than the top strings. A nut is changed to handle new widths also. The controls are reversed on electric guitars to handle the strings naturally, just as a right-hander would play a normal guitar. To hold the left handed electric guitar, hold the guitar pick in your left hand between the knuckles of your thumb. Position is over the guitar’s sound hold, by striking the lowest string with the edge of the pick. Practice using your wrist only, by ensuring the pick strikes the string in a downward motion, and then an upwards motion. Play simple scales, with your right index finger held firmly on the first fret to strike the bottom string with the pick and then alternate playing consecutive strings. Lastly, learn how to play chords, which are sequences of two or more notes with G major being the easiest.

Overall left handed electric guitars are suitable for both left-handed people and those who play electric guitar upside down as they rock to the music.

Guitar strumming involves the act of brushing fingers over, also known as strumming, the strings of guitar. A strumming pattern is a preset pattern used by a rhythm guitar, which can be indicated through notation, tablature, up and down arrows, or slashes.

When beginning the guitar, you should consider taking up guitar strumming lessons to get the correct technique and foundations from the start. The first two things to learn in isolation are beginner guitar chords for the left hand as well as beginners strumming patterns with the right hand. This requires coordination for the isolation by combining two things at once. The basics require strumming and changing the chords at the same time, so by focusing on each one individually and combining them together really helps.

Guitar strumming lessons are a great way to learn the basics fast. You will be taught the first learned beginner strumming pattern which is four downward strokes. Your instructor will teach you how to have a big action, by moving your hand in a large arc, a big swing from the elbow, so the plectrum moves across the strings quickly. Your instructor will be able to teach you easy techniques to improve faster. As you move up levels you will become accustomed to changing chords where you can focus on making your strumming even. This involves being in time and holding the right tempo, which is where strumming becomes the most important. From here you will move up to strumming four beats on the e minor chord, followed by changing to the g chord whilst your right hand is in action.

There are various guitar strumming lessons available both in person, online and on CDs and DVDs. Firstly, Guitar Lessons Sydney with Luke Stansmore Guitar Academy offers private guitar lessons for students of all ages and abilities. They focus on music that has a contemporary popular music, to customise to your favourite tunes. There are various musical opportunities such as performance concerts, jam sessions, recording facilities as well as the complete lessons that balance technical work, music theory and song study as you improve your strumming technique. Located in Bondi Junction, you can choose individual or group lessons that are most suited to you.

Next, an online guitar strumming lesson can be found at online where you can learn the simple quarter note strumming technique and how palm muting with downstrokes changes your playing sound when learning to strum. There are online strumming instructors which will show you the right way to do the percussive slap on your guitar and the fundamentals of positioning your hand on the guitar. The key to guitar strumming lessons is to practice the correct technique over and over again. Good luck and happy strumming!

Country guitar lessons are a great way to improve your skills with professional advice and experience. By understanding the basics of playing the country guitar, you will rise to the next level quickly.

There are various country guitar lessons available in Australia, both in person as well as online courses. There are also various books, DVDs and CDs to aid you in the learning process. There are great sites offering free country guitar lesson tips including, how to play country guitar, play a lick in C on a country guitar, play rhythm on country guitar, play country on the electric guitar, play country lead guitar, play nut bends, play jazz anticipations, play double stops and play a bop-style lick. There are also free country guitar tips and how to get the perfect tone for a country guitar. These lessons are useful when exploring country guitar lessons to suit your level and country guitar style.

Country guitar lessons should provide you with at least the foundations for you to practice playing in your own time. The basics include understanding the sounds of the Blues pentatonic scale and the bends you make, as the blues guitar sounds are very similar to that of the country guitar sounds. You should focus on how to perform bends, jazz anticipations and other non-traditional sounds to create effective country guitar sounds. The different techniques will allow you to improvise and create your own tunes. A key tip is to listen to country guitar licks such as country guitar rocks, Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, BB King as well as country guitarists/singers, Vince Gill and Lyle Lovett for a more modern country folk and blues tune. The guitar sounds are similar in most artists’ music, allowing you to replicate the sounds with your country guitar. While country guitar lessons do provide you with advice and tips, the best way to learn is to practice the sounds and techniques learnt, whether by playing along with a country guitar player or recording yourself playing to play back and assess your performance.

There are also free online guitar sites where you will find 5-10 minute video lessons that teach you certain techniques, scales and licks all for free. Premium downloads are also available which take a more in depth look at country and chicken picking concepts.

An acoustic guitar amp is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an acoustic guitar louder so that it will produce sound through a loudspeaker. Acoustic guitar amps modify the instrument’s tone by emphasising or de-emphasising frequencies and adding electronic effects.

An acoustic guitar can be amplified by using various types of pickups or microphones. The piezo and magnetic pickups are the most common used for acoustic guitar amplification. Piezo pickups are generally mounted under the bridge saddle of the acoustic guitar and can then be plugged into an amplifier, or mixer. Conversely, magnetic pickups are generally mounted in the second hold of the acoustic guitar.

There are many great ways of producing a realistic amplified acoustic guitar sound. They vary in terms of equipment required and type of expense. The three parts of the amplification include Transducers, converting the guitar’s sound into an electric signal, Preamps, conditioning this signal so that it is appropriate for amplifiers as well as Power Amps, which amplify the signal.

When shopping for your acoustic guitar amp you need to consider what you will use it for, how loud you need to be, if you’ll be competing with electric instruments in a band and what kinds of inputs you need. For example, if you only need to plug into a standard guitar cable then you will only need a quarter-inch input, whereas if you need to use external microphones you will have more options. The outputs are also a significant consideration. It is good to use a balanced DI feed if you intend to use the amp as an on-stage monitor. Tuner outputs risk degrading the signal by running your tuner in-line with your acoustic guitars cable. It is useful to consider buying an effects loop with a level control, if your sound depends on external effects. The last consideration is the physical size of the amp. Some amps are too large to be transferable to certain venues. Therefore, it is ideal to purchase lightweight acoustic guitar amps.

There are various types and brands of acoustic guitar amps. The retailer, Fenders Australia consists of many types, such as the Acoustasonic SFX II, Acoustasonic Jr. DSP and Acoustasonic 30 DSP in their Acoustasonice Series Amplifiers. Roland Australia also has top acoustic amplifiers such as the AC-60 which uses the latest in DSP technology to deliver a rich, pure acoustic sound with projection far beyond its compact size. So there you have it, all the features and considerations when buying an acoustic guitar amp!