Monthly Archives: January 2022

The Cognitive Continuum of Electronic Music PDF

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

The Cognitive Continuum of Electronic Music PDF

The electronic medium allows any audible sound to be contextualized as music. This brings about unique structural possibilities as spectrum, dynamics, space, and time become continuous dimensions of musical articulation. What we hear in electronic music ventures beyond what we traditionally characterize as musical sound and challenge our auditory perception on the one hand and our imagination on the other. Based on an extensive listening study conducted over four years, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of the cognitive processes involved in the experience of electronic music.

It pairs artistic practice with theories from a range of disciplines to communicate how this music operates on perceptual, conceptual, and affective levels. Looking at the common and the divergent ways in which our minds respond to electronic sound, the book investigates how we build narratives from of our experience of electronic music and how we situate ourselves in them.

Truefire Evan Taucher’s Classical Melodies Handbook TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Evan Taucher’s Classical Melodies Handbook TUTORIAL

Musicians, composers, and even listeners across all genres of music would all agree that “melody is the essence of music,” to quote Mozart. Whatever style of music you study as a guitarist, exploring classical melodies will reveal countless key learnings about performing instrumentals and composing your own original melodies and songs.

To that end, Evan Taucher designed this Classical Melodies Handbook for both classical guitarists and fingerstyle guitarists. Even if you’re not a fingerstyle or classical player, you’ll find the lesson material to hold a wealth of knowledge about melody and its underlying rhythm and harmony.

”I’ve designed the course for both classical guitarists and fingerstyle guitarists. I hope that Classical guitarists will find the lesson material useful for refining their technique and enhancing their performance of classical melodies.

I also hope that fingerstyle players will find the course to be a very accessible approach for expanding what they already know to broaden their technique and repertoire into the classical arena.“

Evan Taucher tours and teaches internationally. Recently chosen among all North American applicants as a Magellan Scholar to study in Spain with the classical guitar’s foremost luminaries. Evan has won 8 separate prizes in professional competitions throughout the United States including 3 Grand Prizes. Evan was also awarded two prestigious grants commissioning nine new works for classical guitar. We’re thrilled to welcome Evan to the family with his first TrueFire course, Classical Melodies Handbook!

”I’ve organized the course into 10 lesson sets. Each set focuses on a particular classical melody of a well-known composition. I’ll perform the piece, break it down for you, and then step you through a series of lessons related to the piece covering a key concept or technique.

Across this series of lessons, we’ll explore Making the Melody Sing, The Bass-line Melody, Separating the Voices, Artificial Harmonics Workout, Ornaments Workout, Dynamic Arc, Focus on the Accompaniment, Accentuating the Melody, Traversing the Fingerboard, Rhythmic Melody Focus, Open Melody and and many other approaches to help you make the melody sing.”

You’ll learn melodies from some of the most widely celebrated classical pieces including Romanza, Asturias, Mozart Variations, and Cello Suite No.1 Prelude. We’ll study the melodies of classical composers like Francisco Tarrega, J.S. Bach, Miguel Llobet, Eric Satie and many others.

Evan will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson. You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.

Grab your guitar, and let’s dig in with Evan Taucher!

Truefire Greg Koch’s Gristleman Guitar TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Greg Koch’s Gristleman Guitar TUTORIAL

“I believe Greg Koch is pound for pound the best guitar player in the world today. His, tone, feel and style are unrivaled in today’s guitar playing community. He is scary good. It was a true honor to do shows with him.” – JOE BONAMASSA

Greg Koch has been at the top of our wish list, not to mention our students’ wish lists, for a very, very long time. He’s been busy releasing 15 records, authoring over a dozen best-selling instructional materials, writing countless articles for top guitar mags, serving as an ambassador for Fender and Fishman, touring the globe as bandleader, and posting 4,000 plus video gear test drives and lessons generating over 50-million views.

The stars have finally aligned and we are now thrilled to welcome Greg to the family with his first TrueFire course, Gristleman Guitar!

”Finding your way as a guitar player means more than learning licks and phrases. It means digging deep and honoring the nuances of many of the guitar greats in an identifiable and flavorful way – their expressiveness, the techniques, and all of their melodic and rhythmic sensibilities.

But at the same time, you have to put your own twist on those roots. You have to personalize them over time, and make them your own. That’s truly where all the flavor comes from, and that folks, is what I like to call Guitar Gristle. It’s the intersection where all that’s right meets all that’s wrong.

I’m excited to share with you fourteen of my go-to techniques and concepts for all out guitar savagery. We’ll look at my approaches to chicken picking, vibrato, hybrid picking, all kinds of bends, travis picking, pinch harmonics, double stops, standard tuning slide and a ton more.”

Greg will explain and demonstrate each of the 14 Gristleman techniques sharing some of his own creative twists for each. Using backing tracks from his own records, Greg will also perform an example for musical context followed by a detailed breakdown.

”We’ll play over a chicken pickin’ onslaught I like to call “Spank It”, a greasy little shuffle named “Quarantonne”, there’s some swing tunes, some laid back funky soul grooves, a sinuous rock conflagration, slick jazzy shuffles, and of course there’s even a pungent and filthy blues too.”

You will play your way through all 14 sets of lessons including: Poultry Pluckin’ and Cluckin’, Hybrid Picking Leads, Travis Picking, Vicious Vibratos, Beastly Blues Bends, Pre-bent Chords & Hybrid Harmonics, Pinch Harmonic Savagery, Comping in “Shuffle & Swingland”, Double-Stops with Drones, Funky Finger Picked Comping, Sultry Slide Soloing in Standard, Rock Double-Stop Soloing, Constructing Longer Solos, and Triple-Stop Comping Like an Organ.

”Maybe you’ll take a few things from here verbatim, but my hope is that this course will at the very least inspire you to try something new on the guitar and take these ideas into a totally new place yourself. You know what they say; ‘where there’s fat, there’s flavor!’”

You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the playing examples and performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson.

You can also loop or slow down any of the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are also included to work with on your own.

Grab your guitar, and let’s ‘pound the gristle’ with Greg Koch!

Truefire Jack Ruch’s Shades of Blues TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Jack Ruch’s Shades of Blues TUTORIAL

Most blues tunes share very similar chord progressions and so, if you’re stuck on using just pentatonic approaches when you solo — you’re greatly limiting your creative potential. On the other hand, if you know how to apply a variety of relatively simple — yet still sophisticated — harmonic, melodic and improvisational approaches to “color” your playing, you’ll unleash an unlimited resource for crafting engaging, fresh and distinctive solos that your audience will never tire of hearing.

In this masterclass from Jack Ruch, you’ll learn 10 of Jack’s favorite approaches for “coloring” your blues solos over basic blues changes, sophisticated changes and even across various styles such as slow blues shuffles, gospel inspired changes, funky New Orleans style grooves, jazz-blues tunes, latin flavored feels, sophisticated soul changes and lots more.

”For each approach, we’ll first dive deep into the harmonic information you need to know, and then we’ll work through a few versatile ways to create lines, licks, and embellishments that work well together in your solos. You’ll apply it all, over backing tracks, as you play your way through 10 soloing performance studies.

We’ll explore minor and major pentatonic crossover points, chord-tone-focused approaches, diminished and other alterations for functioning dominants, go-to substitutions, superimposed arpeggios, harmonic minor applications, lydian dominant colors and many other approaches that you’ll be able to put to work immediately.”

Every now and then someone tips us off to a blues artist that blows our mind from the very first note we hear them play. Jack Ruch is a perfect example. Jack hails from Nashville. His bio reads, “Husband, Dad, and guitar player in Nashville, TN. Available for Skype lessons.” A phone call later and we knew Jack had to come down and collaborate on a project with us.

We’re thrilled to welcome Jack to the family with his first TrueFire course, Shades of Blues! You will also likewise be thrilled when you play your way through his enlightening curriculum focused on “coloring” up your blues playing!

Jack will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson.

You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.

Grab your guitar and lets “color” our blues solos with Jack Ruch!

Beat Tweaks Mastering EDM For Loudness TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Beat Tweaks Mastering EDM For Loudness TUTORIAL

Getting your tracks to sound as big and loud as commercial EDM tracks is not easy. It takes production skill, great sound design, a well-balanced mixdown, and mastering chops to get to the insane loudness levels of today’s EDM tracks. Whatever your opinion is on the loudness war, maximum loudness is essential when it comes to EDM – especially if you’re looking to get spins in the clubs.

Mastering EDM for loudness can be done in a number of different ways. In this course, you’ll learn the tricks of the trade, the plugins and the techniques used to achieve maximum loudness.

Whether you’re looking to master house, trance, mainroom, or anything in between, this course will show you how to master your electronic music to be loud, clear and punching through those club systems.

When mastering for loudness you’ll be using tools like

Mid/Side EQ
Multi-Band compression
Saturation
Parallel processing
Limiting

…along with some other goodies to achieve that “wall of sound” effect that many EDM tracks possess – and can sometimes be very difficult to achieve.

This course was made using Ableton Live and its native plugins, along with a number of free plugins, to master a festival-style EDM track for maximum loudness. If you’re not an Ableton Live user, fret not, because you can use ANY DAW. Linkss to download the free plugins used in the course will be provided to you when you sign up as well.

If you’re looking to push your tracks to commercial-level loudness while still maintaining listening quality, this course is for you.

Course Requirements?

DAW
Your finished EDM track
The free plugins used in this course

Truefire Brad Carlton’s Guitar Lab: I IV V Melodic Moves Vol. 1 TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Brad Carlton’s Guitar Lab: I IV V Melodic Moves Vol. 1 TUTORIAL

Hi, I’m Brad Carlton. Welcome to Guitar Lab: I IV V Melodic Moves Part 1.

This course will guide you through melodic moves involving triad chord tones for the I and IV chords of a I IV V progression in the key of E.

The principles presented in this course will provide a foundation for both chord melody and soloing.

VITAL Plus 1.0.8 + Factory Content [WIN macOS LINUX]

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

VITAL Plus 1.0.8 + Factory Content [WIN macOS LINUX]

As we mentioned above, the basic version of the Vital VST is completely free and gives music producers access to nearly all of the synth’s features. This means that you’re getting the world’s most powerful spectral warping wavetable synth without having to pay a dime.
In addition to the extra oscillator, Vital also features two fully-featured filter modules on its front panel. These filters can be routed independently, which makes for some really interesting sound design possibilities. You’ll also find an extra filter in the FX panel of Vital as well for good measure, of course.

The important thing to note is that these filters can be routed however you’d like inside of Vital. This means you can run them in either serial mode or in parallel on any oscillator of your choosing.

Pros

The synth is completely free
Has three fully functional oscillators
Features two filter modules on the front panel + one FX filter
Has unique spectral warp modes
Features advanced key tracking capabilities
You can control the mod remap curve of any modulation
The transpose snap function can keep your sounds in key
Has a text-to-wavetable function that’s incredibly fun to use

Vital Free Vs Vital Pro

While Vital’s base version is free, you can upgrade to one of the premium tiers to get some added benefits. These benefits include things such as extra presets and wavetables, additional skins, and unlimited access to Vital’s unique text-to-wavetable feature.

There are a total of four tiers to choose from, ranging from Vital Basic to Vital Pro. So, to make things easy for you we’ve broken them down here.

All versions of the Vital VST are 64-bit and are available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Now, let’s take a peek at all four tiers that Vital offers us!

Vital Basic – Free

This is the most basic version of Vital that gives you full access to the synth. It includes 75 factory presets, and 25 factory wavetables all for free. The only thing you don’t get with this tier is unlimited use of the text-to-wavetable feature.

Vital Plus – $25*

A mid-tier option for producers who want some extra presets and wavetables. This version includes 250 presets and 70 wavetables, but still lacks the unlimited text-to-wavetable feature.

Vital Pro – $80* PRO VERSION

Vital Pro is the full version of Vital and includes unlimited use of the text-to-wavetable feature. With Vital Pro you also get 400+ Vital presets, 150 wavetables, additional skins, an exclusive discord perk, and prioritized support.

Vital Subscription – $5 / Month*

Vital also offers a monthly subscription that includes full access to the VST and $5 per month of store credit. This credit can be saved and used to purchase Vital Pro or the preset packs found on the Vital store. You also get subscriber-only packs, additional skins, and first access to new features and plugins.

Truefire Brad Carlton’s Guitar Lab: I IV V Melodic Moves Vol. 2 TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Brad Carlton’s Guitar Lab: I IV V Melodic Moves Vol. 2 TUTORIAL

Hi, I’m Brad Carlton. Welcome to Guitar Lab: I IV V Melodic Moves Part 2.

This course will guide you through melodic moves involving triad chord tones for the I and IV chords of a I IV V progression in the key of E.

The principles presented in this course will provide a foundation for both chord melody and soloing.

Truefire Brad Carlton’s Guitar Lab: I IV V Melodic Moves Vol. 3 TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Brad Carlton’s Guitar Lab: I IV V Melodic Moves Vol. 3 TUTORIAL

This course will demonstrate the application of the condensed add9 arpeggio (1,2,3,5) over a I IV V progression in the key of E. You will be presented with 24 permutations of the four chord tones.

These permutations will be organized on the fretboard in a note-per-string system.

This will provide many options in terms of technical options as well as overring options.

Truefire Andy McKee’s Modern Fingerstyle Foundations TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Andy McKee’s Modern Fingerstyle Foundations TUTORIAL

Learning how to enrich the polyphonic qualities of fingerstyle with string slaps, body percussion, tapping, harmonics, and many other “modern” techniques can seem like a daunting task at first.

Andy McKee’s Modern Fingerstyle Foundations presents a tried and true approach to breaking down modern fingerstyle techniques into smaller, more manageable parts so you can focus on a particular aspect or approach.

”I was inspired to learn how to play modern fingerstyle by many of its pioneers — Preston Reed, Michael Hedges, Billy McLaughlin and Don Ross in particular. At first, it seemed almost impossible to incorporate percussive techniques like string slaps and body percussion, alternate and open tunings, tapping, and harmonics all while holding down the bass, rhythm and melody parts.

But once I broke it down into smaller parts and took it one section at a time, it all started coming together for me. And it’s that approach that this course is designed to pass on to you.

You’ll play through 20 individual “modern fingerstyle” etudes, each etude focuses on a key building block of modern fingerstyle. The etudes will help you develop command of alternating bass, right-hand fingerpicking patterns, tapping, harmonics, using open tunings for lush harmony, body percussion, and other components that comprise modern fingerstyle guitar.

You’ll have fun learning these fundamental techniques by playing them in a musical context, rather than working through tedious exercises. As you work through the series of etudes, I’ll also show you how to connect the individual techniques and play through four of my original songs.”

Andy will explain, demonstrate and break down all of the key concepts and approaches in play. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies.

Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson. You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.

Grab your guitar and let’s dig in with Andy McKee!

Truefire Jeff McErlain’s Blues Soloing Guitar for Beginners 1 TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Jeff McErlain’s Blues Soloing Guitar for Beginners 1 TUTORIAL

The key to success when learning any style of music is having a strong foundation to build upon, which is the way most pro musicians learned to play when they were just starting out.

This first module of Jeff McErlain’s Blues Soloing for Beginners is designed to help you build that solid foundation and get you up and running quickly.

”Learning just one scale, a basic vocabulary of blues licks, and a few essential techniques are the fundamental building blocks you’ll need to start start soloing over a blues. You don’t need to learn theory, struggle through tedious exercises, or read music.

I’ll show you the single most important blues scale — the minor pentatonic. This simple, easy-to-learn 5-note scale has powered literally thousands of blues solos. We’ll work on the key blues soloing techniques including bending, vibrato, hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Using the pentatonic scale and these key techniques we’ll start building your vocabulary of blues licks, which you’ll learn how to connect and construct solos with.

What makes this course really special is how you’ll learn these fundamental building blocks for soloing — we’ll practice everything together!”

Each lesson begins with an overview and demonstration. You’ll practice together with Jeff using a slow playalong, and then you’ll play over a blues backing track for real-world musical context.

In the last section of the course, Jeff will touch on how to improvise your solos. You’ll play together with Jeff, over full-length blues backing tracks, trading solos back and forth to practice everything you worked on in the course.

You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the lessons. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson.

You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.

Grab your guitar and let’s learn how to solo with Jeff McErlain!

Truefire Jimmy Vivino’s Jimmy’s Blues House TUTORIAL

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Truefire Jimmy Vivino’s Jimmy’s Blues House TUTORIAL

Over the course of his career, Jimmy Vivino has led and played in countless touring, recording and house bands supporting some of the world’s biggest talent in the studio, on the stage, and on millions of television screens.

Jimmy’s Blues House is chock-full of tasty blues moves and priceless insight for “serving the song” and playing with other musicians whether you’re gigging professionally with a band or jamming for fun at the local club.

”Learning how to listen to the other players, build a collective groove together, and serve the song is the key to becoming a successful musician. It’s the very foundation of any musical house.

My house was built by blues guitar legends. I just rent it and they let me live there. In this course, we’ll explore 14 rooms in the house — each one of them inspired by a blues artist that influenced my own playing in a significant way. Along the way, I’ll share a variety of approaches for serving the song and building the link between the heart and the hand.”

Jimmy Vivino has been a consistent element in Conan O’Brien’s late night career, starting with the first episode of Late Night in 1993 all the way through The Tonight Show where Jimmy served as Music Director/Guitarist/Arranger.

When not appearing on Conan’s shows, Vivino divides his time between recording sessions and live gigs throughout the country. In addition to his solo work, Vivino plays with The Prisoners of 2nd Avenue, Rumble & Twang with Lee Rocker, The Barn Burners, The Rekooperators, and the successful Beatles tribute band, The Fab Faux.

Each room in Jimmy’s “house” has its own “blues song study” including vocal parts and a rhythm section where you’ll learn a variety of ways to support the other band members and the vocalist on guitar. Most importantly, Jimmy passes on key approaches for serving the song and building the link between the “heart and the hand.”

Jimmy will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson.

You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.

Grab your guitar and let’s go to Jimmy’s house!

Live Soundz Productions Bando Guitar Melodies 2 WAV

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Live Soundz Productions Bando Guitar Melodies 2 WAV

‘Bando Guitar Melodies 2’ Is perfect if you are looking for 20 Guitar Melodies with high-quality RnB, Hip Hop & Country music, full of inspiration and energy. This fresh, new face of Country is full of attitude and ready to take its rightful place at the top of today’s charts. This Kit is incredible because it’s hard to find digital country music. Take time to listen to this exclusive Country sound that is a mixture of Hip Hop & Country.

Innovation Samples offers a large collection of sounds includeing: Urban, Trapsoul, Trap, Vocals, Vinyl, Hip Hop, Neo Soul, R&B, Pop, Indie, Country, Rock and much more! These high-quality loops will make your projects more effective and put you on the right course to making hits. Check out their range of sounds inspired by the Billboard chart’s most prominent artists and get a head start on creating the next big chart-topper.

Demo Preview:

Lupulo Records Deep Tech Tools WAV

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

Lupulo Records Deep Tech Tools WAV

Lupulo Records presents Deep Tech Tools. If you produce Tech House, Deep House, or Jackin’ House then this sound pack will tick all the right boxes. Deep Tech Tools is a sample collection with a perfect blend of beautiful groove and dance-ready sonics.

The collection contains:

29 Bass Loops
95 Drum Hits
52 Drum Loops
21 Percussion Loops
18 Sounds & Effects
19 Synth Loops
30 Top Loops
202Mb of WAV file!!! 24bit/44.1Khz

Demo Preview:

M3G Moguls Cleffed Synatra Series WAV

By vsto | January 8, 2022

0 Comment

M3G Moguls Cleffed Synatra Series WAV

‘Cleffed’ from our Synatra Series fuses hip hop and trap together with LIVE brass, soulful progressions, melodic keys, classic pianos, concerto style licks and riffs, sizzling hi hats, thumping kicks and quaking basses. Inspired by the sounds of J.Cole x Future,YBN Cordae x Joyner Lucas, Russ x Travis Scott and many more!

Midi Moguls Music Group is one of the leading American production companies producing professional sample packs and Construction Kits, specializing in Live Guitar, Live Horns, Hip Hop, TrapSoul, Trap, and RnB, offering a wide range of diversity of genre. With many radio and club chart hits under their belt, and three top recording studios for recording, mixing and mastering, M3G aims to provide music producers and beat makers with the highest quality of samples and loops possible.

Demo Preview: