GuardiansGuitar

If you dig Vinnie Moore's brilliant guitar playing, he just gave Guardians of Guitar a nice little sneak peek of his upcoming album SOUL SHIFTER (due October 9). Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/guardiansofguitar/videos/409971136214118/?epa=SEARCH_BOX Best, Mike

So sad to hear of Ric Ocasek's seemingly unexpectedâand shockingâpassing. I hadn't had much interaction with him, as most of my journalistic duties surrounding the Cars were focused on guitarist Elliot Easton. But Ric was willing to do promotion for his 2005 solo album, Nexterday, so I was put in touch with him. I remember I didn't have a lot of time, as he was scheduling a bunch of interviews with various press peeps, and, to be honest, I was a bit concerned that his brainy detachment â at least what he often showed to the public â might hamper getting solid data on guitar and recording info for the GP set. I shouldn't have been worried. As expected, the swift time block allotted for our interview was a drag, but within those few minutes Ric was funny, completely willing to answer questions about his process, and very much into the magazine's mission of helping musicians learn how to become better players and creators. We've lost another bright star. Sigh. Ric Ocasek on Tracking Nexterday By Michael Molenda Guitar Player, 2005 The Cars sold gazillions of records in their "80s heyday, and it shouldn"t have happened. The band was quirky, anti-charismatic (before it was fashionable), distant, and influenced by a commercially deadly mixture of punk, garage rock, and bubblegum. But none of these apparent disadvantages trumped the genius of frontman Ric Ocasek, who forged uniquely brilliant radio hits until the band broke up in 1987. Today, Ocasek remains a crafty and in-demand producer (Weezer, Guided By Voices, Hole), and he"s a label owner to boot. His new solo album, Nexterday [inverse/Sanctuary], recalls his garage-rock roots (it was actually recorded in his basement), but retains the sparkle and punch of a chart-topping smash. Far from a spoiled ex-superstar, Ocasek took a Calvinistic approach to producing Nexterday, dedicating himself to playing parts until they were right and tight, rather than embracing the editing magic offered by digital workstations. 'I guess analog-recording habits die hard,' says Ocasek. 'I record with Tascam DA-88s because I don"t have to touch a mouse. I don"t mind recording with Pro Tools if I have an operator, but I don"t use it myself, because it takes away from what I"m thinking about as I"m playing. I don"t want to watch the computer screenâthat doesn"t feel musical to me. It"s to the point where I don"t even set up the automatic punch-in feature on the DA-88sâI just punch myself in on the fly. I make some funny mistakes that way, which means I have to start all over again because I can"t play and punch in simultaneously. By the time I"ve done a part ten times, I"ve got it pretty good [laughs].' When crafting guitar tones and parts, Ocasek adopts a similar work ethic. 'I"m pretty meticulous about guitar sounds, but I conceive them as I go,' he explains. 'I play along with the track to audition sounds, and I make sure the tones are different for each part I play. I never use compression, because I don"t like how it mushes up the sound and diminishes the attack. If I need to hold the guitar back a little bit, I just play it that way. And I always double parts without hearing the other track, because I like my full attention on the part I"m doing. It"s distracting to hear both parts, and, anyway, I don"t mind a little bit of drift between parts, because if the performances are too precise, the song can sound stiff.' Although he can obviously afford fabulous technology, Ocasek holds that experience, vision, and ambience are more important to the process of making great-sounding records than obsessing over gear. 'I record in the same home-studio environment that a lot of your readers do,' he says. 'It"s not like I have a glorious facility down in the basement. But I think that if you have a limited amount of stuff to play with, it forces you to find a way to make interesting sounds. You can make anything sound cool if you play around with it long enough. You just have to be adventurous and willing to make a lot of mistakes until you know what you"re doing.'

DannyAlcatraz â Thanks for sharing your "clump." Bravo. â Mike

Another annoying missive from little ol' me regarding guitarists submitting material to the Guardians of Guitar/Mi5 Recordings/Universal Music Group label. First, though, I appreciate EVERYTHING I get. If you are brave enough to send tracks/links to me at gpeditor@gmail.com, I automatically salute you. You have done something awesome and tangible to move your career forward, win or lose. (And if I haven't emailed you back yet, please be patientâthere are lots of tracks for me and my label bosses to audition.) That said... Here is what is NOT awesome. I share these with all love respect, of course, because if you FIX these little glitches, you might GET a deal. If not with Guardians of Guitar/Mi5 Recordings, then I sincerely hope some other label will see your commercial value and snap you up. So, please. Listen to your Uncle Editor Boy and don't make these self-destructive boo-boos. [1] No Groove. No Rhythm. Yes. I am well aware that guitarists love to shred. But, c'mon. That doesn't mean your rhythm-guitar chops should suffer. I've listened to tracks were the groove is either non-existent, loose-y goose-y, or simply whack. Groove is the bedrock of a great track. I'll never even GET to the awesome shreddy bits if I'm grossed-out by your appalling sense of rhythm. [2] No THERE There. I've said this before. I need SONGSâwhether melodic instrumentals or rock songs with good chorusesâto promote, market, monetize, and keep my bosses (and the artists) really happy. Jams that go nowhere are not helpful. Arrangements that crash and burn are not helpful. Musical works with absolutely no elements for a listener to grab onto and adore are not helpful. Please help yourself and LISTEN CRITICALLY to rock songs and guitar instrumentals that are bona fide hits. Does YOUR track compare? If not, woodshed some more and try another submission, because a track with no hope of seducing an audience ain't gonna be part of our catalog. [3] Ask for an Advance Because You Totally Deserve It. The era of big advances is, for the most part, extinct. It's over. In our world of today, you send us masters, and we distribute. If all of the fates blend together into a cauldron of grooviness, then everyone makes a spot 'o' cash. Too many someones send me emails (with no track attached and no links to music) stating how talented and brilliant they are, and all they need from me is $5,000-$40,000 to complete their obviously massively fabulous tracks for me to expend further marketing and promotion funds in order to cash in on greatness. Yeah. That will happen. Please move on down the line, chum, and I really DO hope that someone somewhere agrees with you and invests in your project. It just won't be me â especially when I wasn't even given the chance to hear ONE NOTE of your epic stuff. [4] Send Me a Demo. What IS a demo these days? Do they even exist anymore? I don't deal in demos, because I don't deal in advances and recording budgets and signings a la 1974. We distribute masters. So, yeah, we need MASTERS. In other words, uncompleted ideas rendered with less-than-stellar performances that can't compete in today's commercial music market are dead dead dead before they even start. Please don't waste time percolating in your old-school History Channel world where "demos" actually meant something. We are living in the now, and we need your most awesome tracks to have even a small chance at breaking through the noise to spotlight your talent. Do it right! I hope this helps. I love you all and I want tremendous guitarists and songwriters to succeedâwhether they sign with my label or another commercial entity. Be great! Cheers, Mike

Fab! Thanks for sharing, Real MC!

Thanks, Caevan... Quite a rig! -- Mike

Caevan... Please do!

Awesome, Caevan. Sometimes, I'd get surprised comments over at GUITAR PLAYER when I'd take a newly delivered review guitar or amp out to a gig without having it setup or at least run-through. I actually LIKED struggling with an unfamiliar piece of gear, and, like you, I acknowledged that I had no excuses if I sucked. Can't blame the "new" gearâjust my inability to make something cool with it. â Mike

Agreed, Winston. I am so happy to have grown up when I did. I'm sure everyone says that, but I truly believe that history will show the '60s and '70s to be a golden era of rock music. Grateful for the memories and the music to be sure!

A cautionary tale indeed. Thanks, Caevan!

Bummer article for those of us who grew up with '60s and '70s music flowing through our brains and hearts. Time moves on. Pop culture evolves. The new overtakes the old. That's the path of life, and not everything new is "bad," either. But that doesn't mean we can't salute the glory of the past. https://theweek.com/articles/861750/coming-death-just-about-every-rock-legend

All good points, Danzilla, but you may have slightly missed my main point here: Don't use the tools, gear, time, learning curve, and so on from PREVENTING you to ultimately release something. As I said in the post: I know talented musicians who have spent years making various excuses, and, as a result, they have cheated us from sharing in their creative minds. Sigh. Thanks tons for joining the conversation!!! Best, Mike

Throughout my career, I've met soooooooo many artists who have rationalized NOT producing music for release by saying things such as, "I just need the right plug-ins," or "My guitar rig sucksâI need a new amp," or "If only I had this cool multi-effects box, my song would really kick some butt." Yeah. The gear will help. There's also another ideaâand I will quote from Mr. John Lennon to start us off: "Free your mind instead." C'mon. Gear is a means to an end. It exists for you to manifest your creative ideas in a tangible form. It's not the ENGINE of your imagination and productivity. Sure. You should be comfortable with your tools, as that comfort zone can help you feel confident and guide you to some groovy elements. But that stuff shouldn't rule your productions, or freeze them in a cold, heartless web of inactivity. Nah. If you are stuck, it may be your BRAIN. You're paranoid. Fearful. Too obsessed with perfection. Confused. Unable to make creative decisions and have the confidence to stick with themâright or wrong, good or bad. Sabotaged by your concept of "good tone." Lazy. Driving yourself crazy because your work isn't as brilliant as your favorite artist's. Or, yeah, one of those peeps who simply keeps making excuses about NOT getting stuff done. A true and committed artist must produce work that the public can absorb, critique, enjoy, ignore, and/or be inspired by. A so-called "artist" who produces absolutely nothing, but considers themselves wonderfully creativeânot that they'd ever release any proofâis just another ghost braying into the storm of artistry created by others. They're not even drowned out by the sounds others create. They are just silent. Invisible. Nothing. Don't talk about your hopes and dreams. Don't make excuses. Anyone existing today has the tools to produce music and let the public hear it. Many of those tools are FREE. Let's hear your vision. Free your mind. And your songs...

Word.

REAL MC -- Well, I certainly HOPE guitar solos haven't worn out their welcome in the greater community of music fans, but good points. I especially like your challenge to guitar soloists to NOT be musically selfish, to stop smothering the sonic landscape, to cease doing what has been done over and over, and to seek space. Good stuff!

This just kills me. So many "experts" out there. I love hearing ideas from anyone, because even crazy "wrong" stuff could be transformed into a cool new method by people with actual knowledge. But it's soul crushing how much crap is out there masquerading as viable data. I'd love for someone to rate all the web info and point users to credible info and warn them against crap content. Would the community embrace such a thing? My optimistic self would hope so. My pessimistic self would say, "People are soooo used to devouring informational feces from beautiful charismatic "experts" who sometimes offer entertaining looks at tech apps that those peeps would rather enjoy the circus tricks than absorb the knowledge." Sigh. [but super awesome suggestion, Craig!]

DaveâAwesome stuff. A lot of bands here are going the private/corporate party route, as well. Cheers -- Mike

zeronyne ... Awesome stuff! Thanks tons for sharing. -- MM

I had an interesting interaction with a local venue manager as I was inquiring about bookings for a couple of '60s- and '70s-styled rock acts. Here is his email response: "I would really like to stay away from the 60s and even early 70s. Even the [band name redacted] are selling out to customers that may have one drink if any, bitch about seats, and tip poorly. It's beyond depressing. It's personal and sad to me what has happened to music in this market. What was once a thriving live music scene has been reduced to two-day-a-week tributes. The torch was not passed and now it's flaming out. I thought that in a decade I could break one new band, or help someone besides a tribute band grow. I was wrong. My stage sits empty most of the time, like a big nest waiting for a bird to lay an egg." Now, not every city has a live scene that's challenged or diminishing. Bravo to those live-music scenes that are thriving! But the home base of Bill Graham and ballrooms and tons of once-buzzing music clubs and bars is strugglingâas you can surmise from the venue-manager's comments above. Of course, many folks love to blame Millennials, electronic music, DJs, and greedy club owners when discussing a live scene teetering on the brink of oblivion, and there are definitely bits of truth in all of those arguments. But can a good chunk of the blame also be laid at the hands, feet, and ambition of the musicians seeking employment in those venues? A casual peek at the many reality shows focused on bar, restaurant, and club businesses will tell you that churning up success in the night-time entertainment field is a brutal endeavor. It doesn't help when the entertainment isn't doing its part to bring in patrons. So I think in the case of my town at least, rather than moaning about diminishing gigs and crappy club owners, musicians should look inward to see how much of the problem they might be causing themselves. For example... DON'T THINK IT'S ALWAYS THE VENUES' JOB TO PROVIDE THE AUDIENCE I hear this a lot: "It's not my problem. The club should take out ads in the media to promote the shows." Really? It's great when a venue DOES promote the acts it is presenting BEYOND mentions on the venue's social network and web site. But why not look at "audience acquisition" as a joint partnership? When clubs are shutting down and gigs are scarce, it's no secret that times are tough. Don't put the whole responsibility on the struggling club communityâdo your part to make things happen with your own promotion and marketing. DON'T LIE TO THE BOOKER ABOUT YOUR DRAW Yes. Some acts continue to misrepresent their audience base. It's a shame. And stupid. You can lie about your number of fans, and hope that some miracle brings significant traffic into the club, of course, but if your show tanks, all you've likely done is very selfishly get a show ONCE at that venue. And, actually, you may be doing more damage than that, because your untruth may have cost the club the "promise" of much-needed revenue. Too many nights of poor crowds and increasing losses, and that club could be done. Proud of yourself? IF YOU DON'T PROMOTE YOURSELF... I have no words. I talk to bands all of the time who begrudgingly put up Facebook pages and don't populate them with daily news and things of interest. They don't study how to grow a community that might actually come out to see them play. They don't keep their data updated or regularly refresh their band photos and audio tracks. I'll stop here. In short, those bands DON'T DO MUCH OF ANYTHING to generate interest in what they do. And when those types of business "checked out" artists badger bookers for gigs, what do they expect will happen? Venues depend on a healthy community of live-music lovers who want to see awesome bands and who will spend money to see them. If the bands aren't doing their part to keep those music lovers thrilled, intrigued, and INTERESTED, there is not much a club owner can do to fill the void that the musicians have created for themselves.

Hi Dave â Funny, re: your comment about selling drinks. I had just rec'd a sad/hilarious response from a local club owner who kinda went nutso as I was inquiring about some future dates for a couple of acts. One of the things he said about his club was, "I am trying to stay away from '60s and '70s acts. Even when 'BAND XXX' totally sells out the venue, the crowd only buys one drink each, complains about the seating, and they don't tip." Yikes!

Skipclone1 -- All fab points, as well. Loved the Bad English story. Venue-appropriateness is something even long-time professional acts can forget. Ultimately, I feel it's all about reading the audience and ensuring that you are entertaining and engaging them. Thanks tons for joining the conversion -- MM

Dave Bryce... True. And professional mastering engineers love love love having the choice for subtle and brilliant applications of compression taken completely out of their hands. Hahaha.

Hi all... For those interested, here's the latest rant: https://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3004711#Post3004711 Cheers, Mike

This topic came to mind as I have been auditioning rock and guitar-instrumental tracks to release via the Guardians of Guitar/Mi5Recordings label distributed by the mighty Universal Music Group. Of course, there is no such thing as a demo these days, and most labels (big, small, and indie) are typically seeking masters that can be released as is and ready to go. In many instances, I don't have a huff at all with the musicianship when I'm looking to be thrilled by a submitted track. It's so awesome that so many players can really burn with passion, conviction, and kick-ass technique these days. But while accomplished musicianship is certainly a groovy thing indeed, musicianship alone won't get me all excited to share your creations on my little label. After all, both the label and the artist want a chance to make a few bucksânot that ANYONE is really pulling in massive amounts of cash for distributing rock songs and guitar instrumentals at the momentâso the promise of commerce weighs heavily on signing decisions. And being musical AND commercial can be a tough go. The following is totally subjective blather ignited by my own brain, of course, but I'm the label dude, so I guess my blather has a bit of an impact if you want to be a Guardians of Guitar artist. That said, I also interact with a ton of label professionals and hear what bugs THEM about submissions to their companies, so even if your dream is to sign with SONY or CAPITAL or YEP ROC, these tips may apply. Therefore... HERE ARE FIVE WAYS TO GET ME TO SAY "NO" TO YOUR RECORDING [1] Give me something that's not even remotely a SONG. Disconnected jamming and awesome displays of shredding do not usually invite mass appeal and the resulting win-win of purchased downloads by more than six guitar freaks. Great SONGS are the currency of the music business. We want those. Don't know how to write a song? Happily, there are tons of examples on YouTube from most eras of the recording business. Deconstruct that stuff. Steal from it. Amend it. Make it your own. And study, study, study. BUT PLEASE: Do not send me something I won't even remember 47 seconds after I've heard it. EXTRA TIP: Make sure you aren't lying to yourself about what a song is. I've had several guitar instrumentalists tell me something like, "Man, I get it. My music is like the Beatlesâtons of hummable melodies." And when I listen to their stuff... Well, let's put it this way: THERE AIN'T NO GOSH-DARN MEMORABLE MELODIES PRESENT AT ALL!!! [2] Present a track so washed in reverb that it's drowning. I'm not anti signal processing at all. Savvy use of effects can really bring a track to life. But if you murder the sonic landscape with tsunamis of reverb and delay, so much so that I can barely hear the glory of your work amidst all the foggy stormy muck of ambience, then I'm gonna pass. Here again, if you listen to YOUR favorite tracks by bands you dig, you will likely be surprised that they are actually drier than you might have conjured up in your mind. Too much reverb affects more than a guitar or a vocalâit can also muddy up the relationships between drums, bass, keyboards, and percussion. It kind of sticks to everything. Whenever I hear reverb-slammed tracks, I immediately say to myself, "This isn't professional. Pass." [3] Make sure that distortion and audio gremlins are loud and clear. There's no credible reason to present a label professional with a recording that presents clicks, glitches, crackles, non-musical buzzes, or other audio anomalies. Listen critically to your track to ensure that the results of improper gain-staging and/or any weirdness caused by software demons are terminated with impunity. Deliver pristine, clean, and awesome tracks that I can release immediately. [4] Pummel me with muddy low end. I love taut, round, warm, and banging bass. I detest washy, muddy, booming low end that totally distracts me from enjoying a recorded work. Yes. Many modern audio productions do push the bass. But LISTEN. Is that bass muddy or too boomy? And I'm not talking about drastically boosted low end from the intense, bass-heavy music lover in the car next to you at a stoplight. I'm talking about the audio spectrum you present to me. Reference your tracks to recordings you admire, and determine if your low end is cool and appropriate, or so over-the-top that it threatens to devour your song. [5] Please include sub-standard performances and obvious mistakes. NOT. Now you'd THINK this would be a no-brainer. Ha! I get tracks all the time with off-pitch vocals (lead and background), fractured tempos, laughable clams, and a whole toy chest of awful. Did they not HEAR these things? Did they think I (or anyone else) wouldn't hear them? I simply can't fathom sending an industry professional tracks with obvious miscues. I would call myself a liar that this even happened, because it's so unthinkable as to be actually true, but I have proof. It's real. Please don't be that person. Produce goodness. Seduce ears. Don't blow it all with a horribly off-pitch vocal or a blitzkrieg'd guitar line.

Thanks for that, Scott Fraser!