Back to The Present Future Sound.
by Dan Sonnix
Back in the primitive days way way before the world was dominated by an Apple from silicon valley, an app was usually a phrase like, ” Hey waz appening dude,” and anything called a device was usually associated with something kinky or torture.
Depending where you grew up, the word music technology was an alien concept and not commonplace at all. Most people hardly knew where electricity came from let alone what an amplifier did.
Modern, stereophonic technology was invented in the 1930s by British engineer Alan Blumlein at EMI, who patented stereo records, stereo films, and also surround sound.
Back in the 60 & 70’s Hi-Fi ruled supreme and anyone who owned a record player automatically earned street cred.
The main source of entertainment was putting on a vinyl record and freestyle jamming in your hippy buddies room while someone put a towel under the door so the old folks wouldn’t smell the incense.
Kids all over the place were rushing out and spending their milk money on records, exploring this magical Force majeure that would cause emotions to swell and other cerebral & anatomical stimuli to bubble to the surface.
Spinning a record meant freedom and a total immersive experience. It was a getaway car from the harsh realities of civilian life & a vehicle to transport the listener between worlds. Another dimension where the mysterious and forbidden resided, and there were sure to be many wild thought experiments to follow.
So when Woodstock crash-landed to earth like a stolen spaceship from another planet, it was pretty much the launching pad of Psychedelic Rock who had it’s origins in the beatnik folk rebellion of the Ginsberg , Kerouac movement which also spawned Dylan, and for decades sparked passionate debates about his reason to go Electric in ’65.’
This historical incident happened at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, and was actually a spontaneous & cheeky move by Dylan to bring on a fully amplified band with guitarist Mike Bloomfield. It was rumored the traditional folk scene despised him for it with venomous boo’s, but according to the crew, there was nothing to indicate the majority of the audience disliked it and the boos were from a minority of horrified folk purists.
Folk myth’s aside, Like a Rolling Stone was the first song to get the electric treatment and it was that one whimsical decision that brought his music to a new audience of Rock n Rollers, including the praise of pioneering guitar players like Jimi Hendrix.
Depending on your level of exposure, being an audio junkie and guitar lover was not just a hobby, it was a lifestyle choice, and as those loud raucous anthems massaged the growing pains of youth, it fought tooth and nail to pierce the ears of the regime that sought to oppress them. Then out of the primordial acid punch, a new breed of musician was born who’s mission it became to shape the present into the future as if it were ordained by a holy order.
They became known as Guitar Gods..
Ten Iconic Riffs that never get old_image…
Carrying the message of the disenfranchised from deep within the underworlds aching soul, as they mastered the Mighty Riff & Power Chord making the ELECTRIC GUITAR – THE AXE – THE STRINGED SERPENT the single most fierce vessel of communication in the History of the World.
These conductors of 6 stringed lightning rode the electrical storm, sending square wave shivers up our spines, and would not let up until their artful noise was heard. So it would be destined, these amplified sonic visionaries would command thunderous applause and shape the sound of music forevermore with earth shattering feedback.
As guitarists we should all should know the history by now…
Out of immense suffering came some immense musical excorisms…The turmoil of those cotton fields created an outlet in the form of lyrical affirmation that was subconsciously protecting the human spirit through the mystical power of song. Those same fields birthed The Godfathers of The Blues, Robert Johnson, John Lee hooker, Muddy Waters, Bo diddly, Chuck berry and Howlin Wolf.
As destiny would have it, that sound would travel beyond borders and firmly plant itself onto British shores grabbing a hold of musicians craving something real and true, like Mayall, Clapton, Townsend, Richards, Rory Gallagher who were mesmerized by the sound of this wooden jangly object and who went on to conceive an entire industry called the British Blues explosion.
The most legendary innovators of the electric guitar, Hank Marvin, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page took it to a whole other level exploring the unexplored, inventing techniques like fret board surfing and whammy abuse and pushed the amplifier to the edge to make it distort and wail.They were the axemen who’s wizardry gave the craft it’s legendary mystique which has evolved tremendously into some very technical playing. I still come back to the originals every time to keep my playing honest & authentic and I hope you do too.
All of the above mentioned laid the bricks on the Rock n Roll highway to pave the way forward for us riff makers whose duty it is to keep this Sacred Sonic Text Alive and Kicking into the Present Future Sound with No Remorse for the deaf soulless ears who just don’t get it !
And The Evolution of The Electric Guitar Continues..
Enter Generation WI-Fi
When the Guitar Hero craze “Shook us all night long ” like an Angus Young Riff , I know guys who stopped playing guitar it was so addictive.
Now thanks to Bluetooth and high speed wireless technology, we have a smorgasbord of software for guitarists , hobbyist or professional to play guitar on the move.
We have guitars like the line 6 Variax that can model the exact tonal characteristics of any guitar. The ACPAD guitar orchestra that has revolutionized the acoustic guitar by turning it into a hybrid of a traditional and futuristic electronic instrument.
We can even soon buy a guitar called the Somnium that can morph into other guitars by swapping out the neck, pick ups and completely change the body type to create a totally different looking and sounding guitar. A pretty cool idea, I think.
We can also get cab impulses and do our re-amping in the cloud delivered to us in seconds and instantly add it to our productions. It’s insane really the amount of creative tools we have available to us.
Apps like the incredible S-Gear, Amplitube 4 or Bias amp that make it easy for anyone to make realistic guitar recordings without the use of an actual amp, sacrilege to some but good or bad, current DSP guitar modelling is fast becoming virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.
Disclaimer: Don’t be silly, This doesn’t replace the need for a real creamy tube amp, and I sure am not going to be selling mine anytime soon, but it sure is handy to create a riff on the fly on your mobile device and then import it into a DAW later..
There are tons of mobile apps and guitar simulator software that accurately capture the tone and vibe of real tube amps. When it comes to music creation in the digital age, the possibilities are endless really..
If your interested, checkout my list of favorite amp simulators and digital modeled amps here and comment on your top choices to stand a chance to WIN the brutal Tone Forge Jason Richardson amp sim by JST tones !