Now, onto the other side of the coin. This choir group doesn’t stick to Hymns. Pastor Burns loves “The Band” and we often play some of their tunes for special events. After several years of listening to the chorus of “The Weight” performed incorrectly, I hit my breaking point and decided to lay some knowledge on the choir. The part that always gets everyone flustered is after the last “Take the load off Fanny” line where the singers rest on the first beat, then have an arpeggiated “And, And, And…..” followed by two singing “You put the load right on me” staggered by a beat. That is a tough enough sentence to write, so you can imagine how difficult it was to try and explain it verbally. The concept of a time signature is the missing link here. You need to understand how 4/4 time and 3/4 time works to hear this accurately, and perform it as The Band intended. The “You put the load right on me” measure switch to 3/4 time is quite significant.

To explain the concept, I notated the chorus for “The Weight” with a program called noteflight we have been using in our Theory courses. It is my first go at using the program so bear with me.

Notice measure 5 is in 3/4, meaning there are only 3 quarter notes in the measure. Try playing the file while counting out loud and see how it goes. The little numbers on the top are beat numbers so you can count, clap, stomp along with the tune. I am not going to get into what time signatures are in this post but we do cover rhythm in our Music Theory courses. If you are interested in learning about notation, rhythmic dictation, and harmony, you should check out the Music Theory 101 course.

RIP Levon Helm

-Michael

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

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Auto Tweets

This is something I actually fell victim to. A lot of your social media is going to be tied together. Be careful not to blast your followers with multiple copies of the same tweet in short succession. For instance, my band’s WordPress Blog was set-up to push any new posts to Twitter and Tumblr. Problem was that our Tumblr was also set-up to push to Twitter! In a matter of seconds our followers were hit with redundant tweets. I quickly put a stop to this, I know personally I have unfollowed people for such things.

Ask for Followers/Likes

This is something that I see all the time. It’s one thing to promote your Facebook page or website on Twitter. Those two sources are where people can get more information about upcoming dates, news and listen to your music. Asking for likes on social media is not the way to build a dedicated fan base. “Liking” something for “Following” someone is a passive act. Seeing a high number of “Likes” or “Followers” is definitely an ego boost and feels good…but are these fans buying your record and coming to your shows, or just clicking “Follow” and forgetting about it? If you’re nearing a personal milestone such as 500 followers or 1,000 likes, it can’t hurt to point that out and maybe garner a bit more attention. Look at it as a relationship though; you don’t want to seem needy.

One too Many Retweets…

Share what YOU have to say. It’s great to retweet interesting stuff and share things your fans are saying but people are following YOU! I have unfollowed on a number of occasions because all they did was retweet things over and over. You might think, you don’t have anything interesting to say and that is where you are wrong. Conor Oberst of @brighteyesband could tweet “I prefer Skippy brand peanut butter” and 90% of his fan base will think “WHOA! Conor Oberst likes the same peanut butter I do!!!” You can keep it light, just remember to keep it you.

Don’t Think You’re Better Than Your Followers

Too often I see major stars openly dissing their fans. Most recently, Rihanna went after a fan on twitter. Not cool Rihanna, not cool. You have to remember that not everything you do will jive with your fans but never under any circumstances should you attack them. People might talk trash, but let it go. No need to go after them. You could very easily loose more fans by doing so, let them talk, no one will notice.

So these have been my thoughts on the Twitter game. This is the approach I am taking and it seems to be going well! Let me know what you all think! What are you doing to keep fans engaged on Twitter?

Doug

www.thefieldeffectmusic.com
@thefieldeffect

Check out our Online Music Marketing course if you are interested in leveraging all of your digital marketing efforts.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

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Content, Content. Content!

Not a day should go by with out a tweet from you or your band. But Doug, I have nothing cool to say or talk about! That’s where you are wrong. Your fans want a little glimpse into your day to day. What are you doing when you’re not rocking faces? Something as simple as “Listening to the new @yellowbirddd_ track and it rules!” puts you on their level and might help them discover artists you enjoy. Bottom line is don’t over think it. Share what you’re doing, listening to even eating. Tweet a picture of your view from your seat in the back of the van while you’re touring. People connect to your music. Let them connect to you as well.

Interaction = Awesome Sauce

No doubt you follow some of your favorite musicians on Twitter. How often do you see fans soliciting re-tweets and replies from the superstars? It would just make by birthday if I got a RT from @KarminMusic!!! Obviously the more popular you become and the more followers you amass it will become difficult to respond to every tweet, but setting aside just 10 or 15 minutes a day to tweet at some fans can make their week, month or even year! Let them know they are appreciated, welcome new followers, it takes all of 30 seconds to write 140 characters or less. If they tweet back at you then you’re showing up in their feed and all of their followers see it as well. Don’t forget your fellow musicians in all of this. You’re playing the game together, always nice to have some allies!

Navigating the Vast Realm of the Twitterverse

So your music rules and people are paying attention. You’ve been interacting with your fans and pumping out the tweets but now there are so many you can’t keep up! There are a few tools out there that can really help you manage all this awesome madness.

TweetDeck – Personally I use TweetDeck. It’s the official aggregator of Twitter and is super easy to set-up and use. You can use it through the web, install it as a Chrome App if you use Google Chrome as your Browser or install it on your Mac through the Mac App Store. It displays your Twitter Feed, Mentions, Direct Messages and custom searches all on one screen. It can also sync up multiple accounts so if you and your band members all have personal twitters you can manage those as well!

HootSuite – HootSuite tends to take things to the next level. With a paid subscription you can get detailed analytics on your Twitter traffic and even further customization in terms of display and search options. A label rep, manager outside marketing team, and not the band itself will most likely utilize the paid options. You do need to save sometime to write songs and practice after all.

Twitter Mobile App – Chances are at least one if not all of your band members have a smartphone. Great way to hit your followers on the go, the van can be a boring place on those long drives between gigs…unless you have a small TV and a VCR, but seriously you can only watch Twister so many times! Tweet a picture of the audience from stage, let them feel the thrill of staring out into a packed house!

So for a quick recap – stay active, interact with your fans, there’s an app for that. Share your thoughts below and be on the lookout for a follow-up blog about some things NOT to do on Twitter!

Doug

www.thefieldeffectmusic.com
@thefieldeffect

Check out our Online Music Marketing course if you are interested in leveraging all of your digital marketing efforts.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

After years of studying every instrument I could get my hands on: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Harmonica, Trumpet, Trombone and Sax I realized I have been delaying the inevitable…Slide Guitar!!!

I have been a fan of slide guitar since I was in middle school, but never got the courage to attack it. Now that I have a decent amount of musical education under my belt I figured I would take the plunge. Oh what a plunge it was, or should I say is! It’s like relearning how to play guitar; which to me is exciting more than words can express.

For those of you not privy to slide guitar, it is one of the most expressive ways to play the instrument and no one personifies that nowadays more than, my personal hero, Derek Trucks. You’ll notice that in the video clip below Derek makes his SG take on a vocal like quality- something that can only be achieved with slide guitar. Plus he has a killer touch on the instrument which reinstates the mantra “tone is in the hands of the player”.

Derek plays slide, much like his predecessor Duane Allman, in open E tuning which takes a bit to get used to when you have been playing guitar for over 20 years in standard tuning. How do you get used to open E – well I am not sure there is a right and wrong way to go about it, but I can tell you a few things I am doing that have drastically helped me.

1) Take your guitar to someone who knows what they are doing that can set up your instrument for open E slide. Make sure you do not set the action too high because you will want the option to go back and forth with the slide and fretted style.

2) Draw a map of your fret board (writing in all notes) from 1st to 12th fret so you can familiarize yourself with the differences between standard and open E. If you know your theory this will immediately help you visualize your fret board.

3) Find a slide that feels comfortable. It shouldn’t feel bulky and obtrusive. Also, find one with a timbre that really resonates with you (no pun intended). I prefer glass, but a lot of players dig on metal/brass as well.

4) Buy some CD’s and start listening and copying everything you hear. Don’t just buy Allman Bros. and Trucks albums, get the best of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin etc… Learn to play lyrically and vocal like. This will in turn spill over into your standard tuning skills as well.

That is a great place to get started. Now let’s learn a few things to get the ball rolling! In this first clip let’s discuss vibrato.

Now that you have that under your belt let’s examine one of the most important aspects of learning slide…Right Hand Technique.

I hope this was interesting to you guitar nerds out there. I am really enjoying the process of slide guitar; and if you, like me, want to play more soulfully inspired music- this is one way to get yourself to that next level.

Best of luck guys!

-Mark Hopkins

www.markhopkinsmusic.com

Check out our new Acoustic Blues Guitar course which gets into some awesome bottle-neck slide techniques.

Berkleemusic’s next term begins on June 25th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

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As a musician, I feel like I have about the same odds of winning the lottery as getting organized. For years it has been this unattainable goal, this ideal sitting high above me on a lofty pedestal.

The problem about getting organized is that, if you don’t start out organized, it can seem like an insurmountable task. I’ve been trying to dig myself out of a hole ever since moving to Boston 5 years ago, and while I’ve gotten started a few times, I’ve ultimately fizzled out. Being organized is not simply something that keeps you from finding an important document come tax time (although we’ve all been THERE). It has gotten to the point in my musical career where being disorganized is literally keeping me from moving forward, making connections, and potentially making money.

I’ve realized that there is no silver bullet to getting organized – it will take time and hard work. However, I’ve been working on a few steps that can be applied to anyone who is in my position. So far, it seems to be working out, and while I’m only on step 2 it is certainly better than doing nothing!

Step 1: Identify the areas of your life and career that need to become organized. For many, it could be finances – self-employed musicians need to track everything in order to not pay through the nose come tax time. For me, it is compositions – being a composer, it is important for me to have a comprehensive list of works with all of the relevant information in once place.

Step 2: Choose one of the areas identified in Step 1, and create a system that you can use to organize this area from today forward. For me, it ended up being a google document – it’s something I can update easily, quickly, and it’s always accessible. It also means I don’t need to worry about having multiple files and versions sitting around. By creating this system, you provide a way to start getting organized simply by inputting everything that is new. Don’t worry about the old stuff yet – establish good habits by updating this system regularly and not falling further into the ‘disorganization hole’.

Step 3: Start working through the back-log. This is the scary part, the part I’ve been avoiding. It’s also the most difficult part to tackle first, which is why my previous attempts at organization have failed. Most people who try to get organized think they have to have everything caught up before they can move forward with ‘being organized’. By pushing this bit to step 3, it allows you to form good organizational habits while actually making less work for yourself by the time you get around to this step.

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that being disorganized is potentially costing me money. In terms of being a composer, I want people to buy and play my music. However, because I have never been organized I am missing critical pieces of information for every piece I’ve written. This missing information prevents me from registering music with performing rights organizations, from getting them copyrighted, and finally from getting them up on a website in order to make them available for other musicians to find/purchase/perform.

How is being disorganized costing you money? Remember, time is money – stress is money – missed opportunities are most definitely money. If you have other techniques or strategies to get organized, I’d appreciate you sharing below – I need all the help I can get!

-Brian J

Berkleemusic’s next term begins on June 25th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

If you are familiar with the site www.soundcloud.com, or have produced any music with a DAW, you are familiar with what a waveform looks like. When looking at a waveform, we can easily see where the relative loud and quiet parts of a song will be. Basically, what you are looking at is a summary of the songs dynamics.

In the below waveform you can see that the music starts quietly, pauses a couple times, then swells with a large crescendo which brings the overall intensity to a peak. Eventually it quiets down again and finishes with one last swell. A large amount of dynamic range is typical in orchestral pieces (which this is).

Kamaishi City by Michael Moyes

On the other end of the spectrum, here is a contrasting piece from the artist “mysticgroove” that you can see has a smaller dynamic range. This is a common sight in much of (but not all of) today’s electronic, pop, and rock music.

Planet X by mysticgroove

This visual ‘wall of sound’ is very much compressed whereas the first example is hardly compressed at all.

What is compression?

Compression reduces the volume of loud sounds while amplifying quiet sounds so that the waveform pushes, pulls and shapes itself into a more uniform looking figure. The end result is a volume level that is more or less steady throughout the piece. Depending on the amount of compression added, you may no longer see (or hear) subtle or even obvious dynamic changes. If I wanted to, I could even attempt to compress that first piece so that the waveform looks the same as the 2nd.

Here is another example. This is 2 audio files of the same piece, one compressed and one not. (The compression is crude and is overdramatized to illustrate my point) The selection is from the dynamically diverse Beethoven’s 9th Symphony – 3rd movement…

One personal advantage to having a compressed audio file is being able to listen with headphones on the subway without having to constantly adjust the volume. When listening to film or classical music I often times turn up the volume so I can hear a solo piano line only to have my eardrums blasted when a chorus of trumpets enters the mix. Compression has the positive effect of making your mix sound loud which is a real benefit in many types of music.

A big disadvantage (and this is a big one) is losing the dynamic intricacies of each instrument, the room’s natural reverb, and the composer’s intended sonic landscape. In a pure listening environment like a concert hall, a living room with good speakers, or even a quiet car, dynamics in all sorts of music add a great deal of emotion. Berkleemusic professor and author Ben Newhouse writes in his Orchestration 2 course…

“Part of what makes orchestral music exciting is the vast dynamic difference between a flute solo and a full tutti (multiple instruments all playing the same notes in unison). Compression would reduce the difference between those extremes, minimizing a characteristic we love about orchestral music.”

In pure orchestral CD releases, compression is typically not used to keep the experience as close as possible to a live listening experience. In Film music, some limited compression can create some sonic space so that dialogue, sound effects, and music can live together.

Compression may be a necessary evil depending on how you intend to have your music listened to. This is a hotly debated subject and you can find countless articles about it online. Now you are hopefully armed with some information to make the call for yourself!

-Michael

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One of the toughest parts of recording in a home studio can be tracking vocals. Your bedroom most likely wasn’t designed with room acoustics in mind. Maybe you have roommates or younger siblings moving about and making noise. Or if you’re like me you live in the city on a busy street and with all kinds of traffic at all hours of the day.

A few years ago I stumbled upon a blog post in some random corner of the interweb about how to build a portable isolation booth for under $30. At first a kind of scoffed at the idea, thinking it was most likely a scheme to get you to open a credit card and once you spent “X” amount of money you got some kind of a gift card you could use to buy all the supplies you need for such a project. In reality it turned out to be one of the simplest and straightforward ideas I have ever seen.

Here is what you’ll need:

1 Collapsible Storage Cube – (This is a set of two but you should be able to find just one for around $5 to $7 at your local Target or Wal-Mart)

1 Sheet of Acoustic Foam – (You can find a 12 pack here but should be able to pick up a single sheet from you local Guitar Center)

I think perhaps the most difficult part of the project is going to be cutting and fitting the foam into the cube. I suggest beginning with the sheet for the rear of the cube. Take your measurement and cut the foam to fit. Keep in mind this is soft foam so it doesn’t have to be perfect you’ll be able to mash it in there.

Once this is done cut the piece for the top of the cube. Remember to take into account the space that is being taken up by the foam you just put inside.

Repeat this step for both sides.

And there you have your finished portable isolation booth!

I actually didn’t build mine for the portability factor. I ended up measuring my height and actually mounting it to my bedroom wall. By cutting a whole in the bottom I was able easily take mics in and out. For those of you on the road touring or travelling for work this is the perfect solution to help improve the quality of your demos on the road!

-Doug

Check out our Acoustics course if you want to get REALLY deep into sound isolation!

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The Winter month’s are here and with the harsh weather abound, I’m constantly battling a cold. The bigger picture is that I should consider a trip to an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) specialist to have my tonsils removed, but for now while that isn’t feasible for me, I’ve developed a series of “work-arounds” to keep my voice ready for performance and daily use.

I usually develop a cold right when the Autumn temperatures turn wintry. As a vocalist, this is a big problem for me. Early mornings seem flooded with mucus and phlegm… sometimes it’s difficult to breathe… how do I sing around this, how can I get rid of it?

A remedy I’ve discovered, without hacking all morning, is to sit in the bathroom with the shower running (steaming hot water, of course) for about 15 minutes; creating a sort of sauna-type atmosphere. Anything blocking the breath passage eventually starts to come up and rather than coughing it out (sorry for the graphic description) you’ll spit it out. Alternatively, you can stand in the shower with hot water running over your head and allow everything to drain from your mouth. It’s not environmentally friendly, wasting so much water (it can take a while) and I know it reads pretty gross, but it works! Why this elaborate process when you can just cough it out? Coughing is really bad for your vocal chords and potentially damaging:

Coughing is a natural reflex which helps to get rid of anything that may block our breath passages, but it’s often rather violent and can cause severe damage to your vocal chords. The harsh rush of air when coughing is like sand paper on your vocal chords… I’m probably exaggerating a bit here, but the bottom line is, it’s terrible for your vocal chords; so bad you’ll feel it over time. Ever notice how it hurts to talk and your voice is a bit scratchy after a coughing fit and or consecutive days of battling a cough?

Instead of coughing, try a warm glass of water. Gargling salt-water in the AM is also helpful (the salt will help to breakdown the yucky things like mucus or phlegm). Cough suppressants also come in handy, especially when attempting to get some shut-eye or in a public/office setting where coughing too frequently, too loudly can be disruptive.

You can also try ice-cream. It’s fatty properties will help coat your throat. Maybe there isn’t a scientific explanation for ice cream as a remedy, but again, it works! Give it a try. Proof is in the pudding… er, ice cream.

Throat clearing is another “remedy” we often resort to when sick with a cold or even in a performance setting before singing. Ever notice singers are always clearing their throats before singing. I think it’s our subconscious way of making sure our voice is good and ready to go before letting out the first note. Reason aside, it should be done minimally, if at all.

Clearing your throughout, similarly to coughing, presents a harsh “attack’ to the leading edges of the vocal cords. Try clearing by humming a low note. If throat clearing is unavoidable, do it gently and moderately so as not to wear out the cords.

Limit extreme temp. liquids in the Winter months, we all have a tendency to reach for really hot coffee, or cocoa (what a better way to warm up, right? NO!). Really hot or really cold beverages are harsh on the vocal folds and in the long-term can cause severe damage. Taking this a bit further, keep this in mind when choosing temperature for foods you eat as well; the same applies! Go for something tepid… keep it warm/room temperature if you want a drink on the toasty side of things.

Rest: rest all the time- the amount of sleep one should get each night varies from person to person, so if you’re not sure how much you may need, I’d suggest taking some time to experiment when you’re schedule is flexible. Your body will tell you.

Another aspect of resting applies to resting your voice… while awake. Early on in my singing career, a voice teacher recommended I rest my voice for a full hour after waking in the morning. As a 13 year old, I’m sure you can imagine how daunting this was. At that age, it didn’t seem feasible. Fast forward a decade plus later, it’s still unrealistic, but important that I attempt to remain silent during the first waking hours of the day to allow my voice to warm-up. Much like a car’s heating system during Winter, the voice needs time to warm-up and adjust. Think about it, we walk around our homes a bit in the morning, from room to room; some of us may take a shower, back to the bedroom to clothe ourselves for the day then out the door. All of these location changes have temperature changes as well, which in the first hour of the day can be harsh on the vocal chords and the general anatomy of our voices. If it isn’t feasible for you to remain quiet, keep conversation to a minimum and for further protection, consider the next thought (especially in frigid temperatures).

Protect your neck: keep it warm! Your neck is what shields your vocal chords from the cold air! Easiest fix, wear a scarf. Already wear one? Make sure it’s nice and snug around your neck, but not too tight… you want to have mobility of course.

There are a host of other useful tips out there, but I’m hoping this information helps. Be on the look-out for vocal health round two. We singer’s have a delicate and sometimes temperamental instrument. It’s important to treat it with care; it is, after-all, the only one we’ve got.

For more information on vocal heath and voice technique as well, look into our Voice Technique 101 course. Here’s a link to the course description and syllabus pages for further reading:

Voice Technique 101

Voice Technique 101 Syllabus

-Jason

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I am all over this topic. Not because I know microphones, on the contrary, I’m what the french call, les incompetents. The reason mic’s are on my mind is because I am a MIDI orchestrator, pianist, and banjo instructor (you read that correctly) who is finally diving into the world of live recording. I hope you can learn from my journey…

There are 3 types of microphones I looked at.

1. Dynamic
2. Condenser
3. Ribbon

Dynamic microphones are commonly used for live performances, speeches, and any other run of the mill uses due to their ruggedness and versatility. The SM57 and SM58 models are some of the most popular mics in the world. You can crank up the gain and throw them on the ground (not advised) without worrying about them breaking or distorting. Another benefit is that dynamic mics do not necessarily require a pre-amp or phantom power. They are great for voice and instrument miking but you may be sacrificing some clarity.

Dynamic Mic (MP3)

Condenser microphones are the ones you would often use in studio settings. These mics will capture every minute detail with painstaking accuracy. I borrowed a KSM27 and tried to record some banjo licks last night but every time I stopped playing I could hear my cat eating in the kitchen, my next door neighbor watching The Bachelor, and a phone conversation from a couple zip codes over. It was far too sensitive for my acoustically untreated bedroom in an urban Boston neighborhood. The level of detail that you would get in a good recording environment is excellent with these mics, which is why they are perfect for studio recording. You do need external power though and you want to be careful not to crank them too loud as they are sensitive and the diaphragm can be damaged.

Condenser Mic (MP3)

Ribbon mics probably shouldn’t even be mentioned here since they are out of my price range and too fragile for someone with my patience. They do sound fantastic when used on acoustic pianos though. I was fortunate enough to have an engineer record a piano concerto using some Royer R – 101’s and the result was amazing!

I am going to go with a dynamic mic for starters since my recording studio is a noisy, family inhabited bedroom. I need the sonic forgiveness a dynamic mic offers for now. Down the road, I will invest in a good condenser to record violin, cello, etc. Adding a couple live instruments to a MIDI orchestration can make an enormous difference!

Of course, I am probably going to take the new Mic Techniques course as well. You can have the freshest ingredients in the kitchen but you are going hungry if you don’t know how to cook. (write that down)

-Michael

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

As a student advisor this is a question I get asked often. Students are quite perplexed by how online courses work; I am here (as a guitarist and Guitar Master Certificate holder) to clear up all those gray areas for you!

The main argument is… “why shouldn’t I just invest my money into a private instructor?” Well, you definitely could go that route, but writing this blog as a guitarist of 22 years I can attest to the fact that great teachers are few and far between. I have spent mucho dinero on private instruction that got me in a room with a bunch of great players, who mostly like to talk about themselves. Before you know it your hour, or worse – half hour- is done. For me, as a life long student of music, I need a raging fire under me to motivate and push me to the next level! Private instruction doesn’t really deliver on that 100% of the time, but our online courses do.

I went through the guitar program at the main campus and after finishing up at Berklee I got a job here at Berkleemusic! Taking advantage of the amazing guitar curriculum we offer, I jumped into the Master Guitar Certificate right away. I was simply looking to maintain and juice up my chops- ya know, get in that shed and start chopping wood! I can say, with all honesty, it delivered… and then some. Every week I was challenged with 1-2 assignments where I was responsible for performing with a backing track and submitting it to my teacher. I love this format! It pushed me to up the ante on each assignment during the 12 week courses. Even courses like Chords and Scales 101 were absolutely amazing in helping revisit my fundamentals and technique. After completing all 8 courses involved in the Master Certificate I am an even better player than when I left the main campus. I noticed a huge difference in my playing and musicality. Not only do I feel intensely more comfortable on my neck, but I am hearing things at a deeper level than I was before.

With a bigger set of ears, my musical communication with my Trio has vastly expanded. I have now reached the point where I finally feel comfortable and understand how to craft my guitar tone the way I always heard it. With classes like Getting Your Guitar Sound you get to unleash the inner gear nerd from within and explore amps and effects like never before with the software Amplitube. If you are a tone nut (like me) and want to learn more about how your gear works, while also improving yourself as a player you will dig on that class hard. I got to play through amp mods that I have always dreamed of: Orange, Marshall, Vox and even old Fender Blackface amps. I have a 71 Twin Reverb that I mic’d and A/B’d with the vintage Fender amps in Amplitube… you cannot tell the difference. In fact, I have used a bunch of these amps on my latest tracks because they are so convincing! Not to mention I can come back to a guitar solo 3 days later and the tone is dialed in exactly the same so punches aren’t an issue at all. Y’all gotta check that class out it was one of my faves!

I genuinely believe in the education we offer here at Berkleemusic and I continue to take classes online whenever I can. It’s a great investment that you will never regret, and it’s a gift that you will cherish your whole life and a guitarist. I don’t think I’ll ever stop seeking out education, knowing more about my guitar makes it that much more enjoyable to sit down and play every day.

See ya guys soon, I’m off to the wood shed.

Mark Hopkins
www.markhopkinsmusic.com

Berkleemusic’s next term begins on April 2nd, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com