This week, I just installed my old Pro Tools Academic software that I got way back in 2006. I haven’t used this program in a long time. Plan on making music again and I wanted to use Pro Tools so I can start putting down some song ideas. I installed Pro Tools. Double clicked the icon after installing, the program wouldn’t launch. I thought I did something wrong or if the program is so old that it wouldn’t work anymore. So I went googling some information and doing research. My research says that the Digidesign website says ProTools will not work for those with Windows XP that has Internet Explorer 8. They recommend those to uninstall IE8, and return to the old IE7. The reason this is happening since Windows XP is updated, the Digidesign company never figured out how to make ProTools work on IE8 yet. So I’m gonna have to go back to IE7 this weekend if I want to start using Pro Tools to record music again.

I like to use Pro Tools as to record song ideas down, like a home recording demo. Now that I have an electric guitar, I was going to throw in a bunch of rock riffs that I came up with for new stuff. Hopefully I’ll get Pro Tools working again later this Spring/Summer. I really want to write a new batch of tunes hopefully this year. Rock n’ roll songs this time, hopefully full band stuff. Might go around asking other local musicians to collaborate with me on backing me in these recordings. Bass, drums, guitar, etc. I know some musicians don’t play for free and I’ll be wiling to pay something for a collaborations of my tunes.

I don’t want to make another acoustic demo. It’s time for some rock n’ roll!

Kev

…the answer is quite simple, folks. Video gaming, video gaming, video gaming. I’ve been doing a lot more of that recently instead of hanging on the computer. I’ve bought quite a few games from the past several weeks that I never got around to playing yet. I’m still playing the first “God of War” game. I beat the game in easy mode, but I’m playing the game all over again in “God Mode” (which is extremely hard). Well, not extremely hard for me, ’cause playing it “God Mode” is still kind of easy. I’m toward the end of the game already. After I beat this game, I will move on to “God of War II”. After I complete, “God of War II”, I will move on to “God of War III” which comes out later this week on Tuesday.

After I complete the God of War series, I will move on to “Bioshock 2” and then “Heavy Rain”. “God of War III” will be the last video game I will be buying for a long while ’cause I have to catch up on the ones I haven’t played yet. I know, I buy quite a few games every now and then. Why? Because I feel it’s good to buy all the new games you want right away and then play ’em later, one at a time ’cause what if they sell out and you can’t get anymore, you know?

Yes, I still workout and do fitness, also play my guitar in between. I should be playing more guitar, but I find myself video gaming instead for some reason. I don’t watch too much TV, so I consider video gaming my TV entertainment.

I’ll be going back to the gym later this week, maybe even tomorrow.

Kev

From his self Q&A session:

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=61560782&blogId=530830873

Question 4 – Your new music what can the fans expect?  Well you have to select the right song to get people ready at the starting line. Especially the new fans I would love to see people in “Pittsburgh” be impacted by the new songs as well as the older tracks.

Not trying to be negative, but I predict the Pittsburgh music scene will be difficult on him. I think he will have a hard time getting gigs booked and getting those “new fans”. It’s gonna be no different than Albany.

Just because you move to a different state, doesn’t mean music will definitely be better for you. I’ve known musicians that moved out of state from here to go to California or Nashville to further their career. They discovered it was no different than Albany, and now they moved back here. The Iaz will realize that soon enough.

Again, I wish him luck on trying to get his first gig in Pittsburgh. If he gets rejected, he’ll probably be on his blog whining about it, sure. Iaz got a few gigs in Albany here ’cause Albany knew him. Pittsburgh isn’t Albany and they might treat him a little differently.

Kev

Check it out…I’ve tried to warn Tobiaz that not everyone is going to be his friend out there in his travelling adventures. I’ve also tried to warn him plenty of times that he will become a victim of a crime whether it’s getting mugged or whatever, but guess what folks? The Iaz, just got mugged. In this blog, he was with someone that claimed was his friend and that so called “friend” snatched money from his wallet. Pretty much most of his cash stolen.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=61560782&blogId=530552034

I told him, but he didn’t listen to me.

As you see in that blog, him getting mugged like that is still not making him come back home ’cause he just said that is not enough to make him come back home. If he stays there, the mugging will keep happening. It will get worse for Iaz. It’ll be more than just his wallet being snatched. Maybe even get beaten and get thrown in the alley ways.

I don’t think Tobiaz will ever catch the guy that stole cash from him with the police. Something like that is usually very hard to do. You need a very good description and good look at the thief in order to report it to the police. The police usually don’t do much about that stuff unless you got some kind of proof.

Toby getting his wallet snatched is only the beggining for him and like I said, it will get worse, if he continues to stay out in the street like that with all that cash he has. You stay out in the streets like that with a lot of cash, you’ll attract a lot of thieves and muggers. He didn’t think anything like this would happen, now he’s starting to learn.

Kev

There is something about blues music that gets to me. I plan to get more serious on blues guitar. I have several instructional books about blues guitar lessons around the house somewhere, I’ll look for them when I get to it. Plus, I’ll buy more instruction books on playing blues guitar. Blues has always been my favorite kind of music. I’ve listened to Robert Johnson, Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughn and all that stuff. If you can become a better blues guitarist, you will be able to play any style of rock music.

If you heard my acoustic songs, have you noticed that some of them are kind of bluesy?  Songs like, “Evil Fred”, “Mr. Tough Guy”, “Time Bomb”, “Take a Little Trip With Me”, “True To You”, etc. were pretty much inspired by acoustic blues. Led Zeppelin got their heavy rock music just by listening to the blues, the same goes for Black Sabbath who were once originally a blues band.

You see where I’m going with this?

I’m always looking to learn new things on the guitar all the time. If you concentrate on playing the blues, you can play great rock n’ roll with that. I plan to concentrate on playing more lead guitar solos more than rhythym guitar so I can get better on my lead playing chops.

On a side note, that new band, Them Crooked Vultures. They are a bluesy rock band. That’s the type of music I’ve been looking to play when I get a band someday, be a blues rock band with a hard edge.

Kev

Geez, no wonder people get into this stuff so much. I have been playing a lot more guitar than ever, since I got my new electric. It’s got a great sound for an affordable price. I’m going to spend more time improving my playing so I can start jamming with other musicians. Fuck Guitar Hero and fuck Rock Band. Playing the real electric guitar is what it’s truly all about. It makes me wish I played electric guitar a long time ago. I don’t plan to be no virtuoso or shredder, I’m not gonna be Joe Satriani or Steve Vai, I just want to improve as a rock guitarist. I also plan to play a little blues and maybe even study some jazz. I’ve always listened to blues and jazz music, those genres can help improve your playing and improvising skills. I don’t want to be stuck playing basic and simple stuff all the time, as I’m always learning and studying new things.

It’s been 15 years now since I’ve been playing guitar and I’ve played acoustic for most of those years. I feel it’s time to change. Play electric in hopes of forming my own band or maybe even join somebody else’s band. I’ll admit that I never had any full band experience and I think I’ll want to start getting some soon.

My goal in guitar playing is to get better and take it more seriously.

Kev

Now keep in mind, even if I bought my first electric guitar, the Ibanez ArtCore Hollow Body, I plan to buy more electric guitars in the future, so I can have different sounds. A lot of guitarists out there do have a guitar collection, just to have a variety of sounds. I’m thinking of buying like, one guitar a year or something. Don’t know. This won’t be the only guitar I’ll be owning in the future.

I vow to get better at this instrument and become a little more profesional. I won’t go for guitar lessons with a profesional teacher, I’m still gonna teach myself. Get back into studying guitar instructional material. I’ve started learning new scales and getting back into learning how to improvise better. I’ve recently learned the major blues scale, the five patterns up and down the neck. I just want to learn other scales besides playing the same old minor pentatonic scale. I want to get better at this instrument so I can be able to do like 10 or 20 minute jam improvs. I want to play solos like all the guitar heros I looked after. I will still sing and write songs, yes, and will play lead solos all at the same time. Kind of like what Dave Mustaine and Eric Clapton does.

I’ve been spending most of my time on electric now and it’s feeling really awesome!

Kev

I’m very happy with my guitar and amp purchase. They are definitely a keeper. If I didn’t like any one of them, I would have definitely sent them back to trade something different. I won’t, because I’m proud of my Ibanez Hollow Body and Fender amp. Both sound amazing.

I will focus on writing some guitar rock songs and will focus  on improving my lead guitar soloing. Learning more scales and sounding more musical. The only scale I know how to play is the minor pentatonic scale that almost every guitarist out there should know, but am going to look into studying more scales, arpeggios, modes, and focus a lot on ear training so I can get better at improvising. Building my guitar chops to a greater level.

I also learn a lot from Guitar World magazine which is my favorite mag that I subscribe to. Guitar World is more aimed at electric guitar players.

I’ll start playing and jamming with other musicians at some point ’cause that also helps you improve and get better. I’ll even want to form my own rock band at some point down the road when I’m ready. If I were to form a band, I would do a three piece, just guitar, bass, and drums. I want to do all guitar work in the band. I won’t form a band now, but somewhere down the road whenever I get used to the electric guitar.

Kev

I must say that I’m very happy with my new purchases from AMS. My Ibanez Artcore Hollow Body sounds really really good through my Fender Frontman 212R amp. The sound through the amp is very clean and perfect. No hissing or other unwanted noise coming out of it like most amps I’ve played through in the past. This is possibly the best amp I’ve ever played through in my life. Yes it does get pretty loud. Hollow body guitars has a much fatter and bigger sound than the solid body electrics. That’s why I went for the Hollow Body. I like my guitar sound up front and big.

I haven’t plugged in my effects pedals in yet, but I need more batteries and extra guitar cables (the smaller ones). I’m very serious on becoming a full time electric player. No difference really, if you know how to play acoustic, you already know how to play electric, but the only thing is, the sound and feeling is different. I’m gonna have to get used to the electric.

I also plan to buy more instructional books and DVD’s that are more aimed at the electric guitar to improve my skills to a greater level. Learn more scales and soloing techniques, concentrate on improvising, etc. You know, become a more profesional guitarist. Become an actual “musician”.

I’ll try to post pics of my new axe and amp this weekend.

Kev

Well, my new electric guitar and amp came by UPS today. I was pretty happy to come home from work earlier this afternoon seeing two big UPS boxes sitting there waiting for me. You betcha, I opened ’em right up asap.

The guitar that I got was an Ibanez Artcore Hollow Body Electric and she looks beautiful. The amp that I got is a Fender Frontman 212R. I also got an Ibanez chromatic tuner pedal and the Boss Super Overdrive stomp box. Got an Ibanez guitar case which fits my new guitar perfectly. Haven’t plugged it in and played through the amp yet. Need to buy some guitar cables so I can hook up my guitar and all those pedals into it.

I was very surprised on how fast this order is. AMS is a great company. I just ordered these yesterday and here they are now. I also bought a few other accessories as well.

The main reason why I want to go electric is not just to form a band and hopefully to play live again, I want to expand my guitar horizons. Get better at it and improve. Especially improve my lead guitar soloing so I can do some improvised jams. I’ve read the reviews on the Fender amp and they say it’s a very loud amp, loud enough to play it in a band and to play live with. It has two speakers and a footswitch.

The acoustic thing became kind of boring to me, I want to do something different this time. Rock it up some more and play guitar for the reason I picked it up in the first place. I may enjoy a lot of hobbies and different activities, but guitar playing and music is my no. 1. I’ll post pics of my new guitar and amp soon.

Kev