Modern Rhythm

Modern Rhythm

The Great Debate Musician's Beginnings Protecting Your Hearing

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Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Biographies

2 3-4

FEATURES Brett Bradford: The Interview

5-6

Austin Beginnings

7-8

The LASA Band Interview

9-10

Videogames and Music

11

Blackout Poem: Music

12

A Beginner’s Guide to Tone

13-14

OPINION ARTICLES The Great Debate: Fender Stratocaster Side Gibson Les Paul Side

17-18 19-20

Earplugs: Hearing Protection Is Essential

21-22

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

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Biographies

Lucas

Lucas is also 14 years old and he likes music and sports. He plays percussion in the LASA band, and is the author of the LASA band feature and the article on earplug usage.

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Colin

Colin is 14 years old and would like to become a musician. He likes the Gibson brand and has been playing a Les Paul for about four years now. His article in ‘the Great Debate’ supports the Les Paul.

Jackson

Jackson is 14 years old as well and likes school, videogames, music, and hunting. He thinks that some videogames, like his favorite series “Halo” have good music that should be respected. He has recenly been going hunting with his father quite a bit, and hopes to get the buck he and his father have known about for four years now-- a five-year-old with eleven points and brow tines longer than most deer’s G1s. Also, his father has been a guitarist in many local bands. His favorite brand of guitar is fender and he vouches for the stratocaster in his ‘Great Debate’ side.

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Brett Bradford: The Interview

By Jackson Bradford

S

cratch Acid, a very successful local band from the 1980’s, was very influential in the world of rock, and Brett Bradford was the band’s guitarist.

Brett Bradford is a performing guitarist who has been playing music in many different bands for about thirty six years now, and, though he may not be so very famous, he loves what he does.

“I never thought I would be successful, actually,” said Bradford, ”I just did it for the love of music, never for the money or rewards.”

Originally, when guitarist Brett Bradford began his interest in music, he didn’t even think he would be in any kind of successful band beyond the one he was in for his high school’s talent show. Originally, he was just another kid from Dallas. But then his sister happened to buy herself a Beatles album.

“I liked [the album] a lot, so I played the record on the phonograph over and over again when she wasn’t home,” he said, ”but it turns out, I wasn’t so good at operating the thing, so I actually ended up scratching the record with the needle after a while.”

Though he may not have been the best DJ, Brett Bradford was hooked on music. He ended up learning to play guitar when he was 14, on a new 1973 stratocaster he bought. A couple of years later, his high school was going to hold a talent show. Brett, at first, was not going to perform in a band, but there were “some guys” who had a band that was-and they needed a guitarist. They decided to ask Brett Bradford if he wanted to be in the band, and, jumping at the opportunity, he said yes. They played at the show, but, “We only played that one time,” Though his first band may have dissolved after just one

“

show, Brett Bradford was determined to get into a good, stable band that he could play in. So, soon after the talent show, he formed a band with his brother, Tim Bradford.

They called themselves The Decomposers, and they played cover songs of famous rock bands like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, or The Clash.

“We ended up playing at pretty much any club in Dallas that would let us,” said Bradford He played quite a bit during high school, but his band ‘decomposed’ as he and his brother moved on to college.

“You know what, I don’t think I could see myself not being a band, for very long, that is,” said Bradford And Brett Bradford was exactly right.

After a year at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, he decided to come to Austin for the summer to try and find a band. Here, he found future Scratch Acid members David Yow, Rey Washam, and David Sims. They stayed in touch and, once Brett came back to Austin after graduating college with a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology, formed the band Scratch Acid. In fact, for the first year, they were just a poster band, as they never actually played a show, but rather practiced and put up fantastical posters stating that the band was opening for all sorts of big-name bands at places like the Erwin Center. After that, they began to play actual shows, and the band took off. They played many shows while touring the U.S. and Europe, making it to the status of “semi-famous”, according to Bradford, meaning that “we’re fairly well known locally, but nothing like the big mainstream artists that you hear about so often.” Scratch Acid, Bradford explained, was his most famous band, and it broke up after five years of playing to-

I never thought I would be successful, actually,” Said Bradford, “I just did it for the love of music, never for the money or rewards.”

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2 0 0 6

1 9 8 4

Brett Bradford: Before and After gether from 1982 to 1987. After Scratch Acid, Brett played in a series of smaller bands, such as ‘Sangre De Toro’, and has been pretty low-key and local since the break up, with the exception of the Scratch Acid reunion tour in 2006.

Though Scratch Acid is no more, Brett Bradford “would say that Scratch Acid fans are [still] somewhat numerous and [tend to be] pretty devoted.” Also, the band members still keep in touch.

Brett Bradford, through all of these bands, has maintained a personal style. He apparently has even been “told by some people that my style is aggressive or hard, but well composed with elements of blues, punk, metal [and] classical” As well as this, he has also apparently had it explained to him that “I have a specific sound that comes from my use of a Stratocaster, my style of playing, and my Fender concert amp.”

The end result is a melting pot of tones that can be summed up by calling it a southern version of what is now called ‘grunge’ rock. Though a lot of the sound comes from his style of playing, Brett Bradford also explains that a large portion of it results from his guitar and amplifier choices, telling why he favors the Stratocaster in this quote.

“I’d say I favor the Stratocaster because, first of all, I no longer own or play any other kind of guitar (I own two Stratocasters), and I also have been playing the same guitar, a Stratocaster, since I was 14,” he said, “That’s thirty six years, not to mention that I feel most comfortable with it.”

And yes, he is still playing that same guitar.

In the end, though he may not be a professionally trained musician, he has much practice and sees himself as very

skilled at what he does. Over all, his experience with music “has influenced my life in he way it has made me wonderful friends, allowed me to travel the U.S. and Europe, and, over all, I’ve had a lot of fun with it.”w

Brett Bradford’s Guitar

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Austin Beginnings Colin Barnes

John Branch is easing a bluesy rhythm from his TV yellow ’61 reissue, humming through a small amp on the floor. He sits on one of the two black chairs in the deceptively small room, and a desk against the wall easily accommodates the few things he brings with him daily.

John is a performing guitarist in Austin, playing with the band Topaz, as well as a guitar instructor at the Austin School of Music. He’s been playing since he was just 10, and teaching since his junior year of college.

After taking piano lessons for several years and quitting due to a bad instructor, John picked up his Dad’s guitar.

Not too long after, he attended his first concert.

By the time he was in high school, he was working towards a full time career as a musician. He was already performing and teaching, and looking into a formal musical education.

Teaching isn’t as easy as it used to be these days, as John explains. He, like many others, feel that products like Guitar Hero© and Paper Jamz© are creating a poisonous environment for kids who want to get into music.

“I don’t mean this to sound cliche in any way, but I’ve never thought of doing anything else.”

“I don’t mean this to sound cliche in “My first concert was Jeff Healy, from any way, but I’ve never thought of doRoadhouse…He’s blind and plays ing anything else.” overhand and just wailed; I was 10 or 11 when I saw that and just said to myJohn loves writing and performing, but self, “There it is, that’s it” also enjoys his job teaching kids the instrument. He teaches several days a Since he had learned to read music week at the Austin School of Music, as from his piano lessons, the guitar came well as instructing kids in Rock Camp, naturally to him. By the time 7th grade a summer program that brings kids tocame around, he was already playing gether to play together in a band. in a band with some of his friends. By high school, he was performing regu“It’s really rewarding when you get larly with his band in clubs around Ft people who are into music just because Worth. they love the sound of something. I guess that’s the thing, people are less “My first gig was at a place called the inclined to be involved purely about Greek Cafe, it was an outdoors patio, the sound of something” and we played some of the originals we had.”

“Because technology is moving things along so much faster, it’s hard to get people to concentrate on one thing for awhile, or get them to slow down and not focus on being instantly gratified. Learning how to play an instrument and learning how to play music is going to take you your life.”

In addition to teaching, John has begun to record more and pursue selling more albums to support his band, as performing doesn’t pay near as well. “[Being a musician is] very fun and rewarding, yet frustrating too. It’s frustrating in the sense that it’s very hard to make a living, to make a decent living doing it. And because the way you make a living playing or being a musician is evolving, and it’s evolving pretty fast now. With the Internet and technology, it allows you to do a lot of things, but you find you have to be constantly evolving with it, you cant start getting lazy” With teaching, writing, and performing music, John enjoys his career as a musician, and finds that there is always something new, that it always 8 | Modern Rhythm | 2010

Rock Out Loud The story of how a few highschool students turned into a band.

The Unknowns are not exactly your regular highschool band. Sure they might have the same kind of instruments in their band, but what separates them from all the other student made bands is that they’re starting to make their own, new music.

The Unknown are a new band formed recently just before a talent show. They go to LASA high school and are like many other students who go there.

Like most groups they got started early with music.

“I was kind of forced into it in middle school, my parents wanted me to get into it,” Caleb said.

“The LBJ Talent Show was coming up and I asked Caleb, ‘What if we performed in the show?’”

That afternoon the talent show commenced and they had just decided that they wanted to play in it. The director of LBJ wasn’t to happy about this sudden change in her plans though.

Photo by: Lucas Szalwinski you can play.

“It’s always kind of fun; we’ll practice a little bit then go hang out,” Caleb said.

They’ve all ways wanted to play rock but now that there’s a singer they’re starting to rethink what kind of music they want to play.

“I’ve been playing guitar for four or five years and Caleb’s been playing drums for almost the same “Ever since we got a singer it’s amount of time,” Bursad said. changed our [type] of music.

Some [type of music] where you Making music is a time consumcan here the singer’s voice.” ing but can result in great products (just think about your favorThey were not always a band, ite band and how much time they though. The day of the LBJ Talent put into it). When you’re in a band Show was a big day for all the peryou can just jam out and no one formers, but especially for them. will care, but when you’re in the In fact, at this point they weren’t school band or concert band there even a student band yet. are specific times and limits when 9 | Modern Rhythm | 2010

“Why didn’t y’all tell me this before?” she said.

“Okay so we have guitar and drums and Tim can play bass,” Bursad said.

What started out as a talent show act transformed into a band. But, after the show, they weren’t sure what they were going to do.

“It just seemed like something that wouldn’t be happening,” said Caleb.

It turned out that they would keep on practicing and then they turned into a real band that writes their own music. “[Now] we try to get together almost every weekend. [Caleb’s] parents let us practice at his house,” Bursad said.

of. Today they still want to play music and they still plan on writing more of their own songs.c

Photo by: Lucas Szalwinski

“[Which] my neighbors aren’t so happy about because of [Bursad’s] giant amplifier,” Caleb adds.

What started out as a talent show performance and then turned into a real band that actually practices is just a cool moment to be apart

The Unkown in their natural habitat joking around and having a good time hanging out together.

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Recent

Videogames and Music Game

Game Music Genres

Game Rating (Game Informer)

Music Rating and Review

Halo: Reach

Classical, Rock

9.5/10

Call of Duty: Black Ops

normally rock (a few 9/10 songs by the Rolling Stones and other bands of the genre), contains rap song “wont back down” by Eminem

Mario and other classics

electronic “8 bit” music

Games in General

varies depending on the N/A game: many sports games use the actual popular muusic of the time, and many games based in a certain area use music of the featured area. Games with a heavy demographic also usually contain music suited for that demographic

9.5/10 Halo: Reach has some very interesting, ‘epic’ sounding music with a full sixty piece orchestra and band for the ‘rock’ pieces of music.

8.5/10 The game has some good songs in it such as “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones, but it lacks a bit in quality original music.

2/10 when comapred to today’s videogame music, older videogame music sounds like crap, however, considering the amount of technology people had back then for recording elecronic sounds, the music isn’t that bad.

N/A different games with no similarities cannot have their music rated as a group, however, I will say that game music can be good or bad depending on the amount of focus the deveoper has on music production.

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Super Mario Bros. does not have an actual rating, however, it has placed second on IGN’s top 100 videogames of all time behind the famous game “Legend of Zelda”.

Music By: Lucas S. cc The

best

thing

is

listening

to music.

Music

can

be

any

about

feeling.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Tone Colin Barnes

Once you’ve begun to play guitar for awhile and have some licks down, the next logical step is to begin to shape your sound. One of the things I struggled with most when I was first staring out was getting a good sound out of my beginner level equipment. With a little practice picking out and tweaking your gear, you can get some sweet sounds out of your wallet-friendly setup. Here are some things to consider:

The Guitar:

This is the most important choice when beginning to play and will set the foundation for your sound.

The first thing to consider when choosing an axe is what type of music you want to play. An Ibanez (guitars commonly used for metal) is not going to be the best suitor for a smooth jazz or bluesy playing style. Here are some types of guitars and their recommended genres:

Fender Stratocaster style:

These guitars are characterized by an Alder or Ash body and a bolt-on maple neck. These are very comfortable guitars, and the Fender sub-brand Squire makes them very affordable. This style of guitar is often associated with twangy bright sound, and is most commonly used in Classic Rock and Texan Rock.

Gibson Les Paul style:

These guitars sport an all mahogany body and neck, with a rosewood fret board.

They have a much thicker tone. These are used often in classic rock and even metal, due to the wood’s resistance to feedback and unwanted distortion at higher drive levels.

Gibson’s sub brand Epiphone make the cost friendly versions of these.

Semi-Hollow:

Often used for softer music, these guitars have a solid core and hollow sides, providing very warm tones when used with minimal distortion, since they tend to feedback with heavier drive. However, guitarists such as Tom Morello proved that these can also be used for heavier playing styles as well.

Shred and Metal types:

Although solid bodies, these differ from most by their sharp and striking designs, and many features that make them easier to play fast licks on. These guitars often use active pickups, which employ an internal power source to achieve a hotter output. Very thin necks are common for faster playing, so big handed players beware.

Your Amp:

Amp choices are limited in a beginning price range, but an important thing to look for is balance. You want it to have enough features to be able to explore different styles and sounds, but not so many that it distracts you from 13 | Modern Rhythm | 2010

between tube and solid state amps, but some good brands to keep in mind are Marshall, Fender, and Vox; all classics and very reliable.

Pedals:

For those who don’t know, a guitar pedal is a small unit with a guitar input/output that usually provides a single effect or changes one aspect of the sound, but multi-effects are also available. Pedals are the most cost efficient way to get great sound, or a different sound.

Some effects that pedals offer:

Reverb:

Also commonly offered by amps, this is the simulation of being in a large hall or cave; it has a distinct echo effect. This is a very common effect, and most amps include it in some form or shape.

Distortion:

This is the classic ‘Rock Tone’, or what separates a ‘clean’ or acoustic sounding tone from bands like AC-DC. You can find a distortion pedal in any shape, color, and price range, and is easily the most used effect in existence. Getting a quality distortion pedal is the easiest way to improve your sound as opposed to your cheap amp distortion. Some good distortion pedals include the Boss DS-2 and the Ibanez Tube Screamer.

Wah:

A pedal controlled by foot that emulates a human voice, hence the name “Wah” or “Wah Wah” pedal, which is the characteristic sound it makes. This is one of the most classic pedals, and is used liberally in styles like Psychedelic Rock and Funk. Jimi Hendrix is a Psychedelic rock guitarist who revolutionized the sounds you can get from just a few effects, the Wah included.

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Photographs courtesy of Fender.com and Gibson.com

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The Great Debate:

The Ongoing Arguement Between The Gibson Les Paul And The Fender Stratocaster

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The Fender Stratocaster

By Jackson Bradford

T

he Gibson Les Paul is one of the highest quality and most expensive non- custom guitars in the world, but the Fender Stratocaster costs half as much and is considered by many to be even better.

Though its rival, the gibson les paul, may have more feaures, many are unnecessary and some can even make playing harder- such as the weight, Also, the Stratocaster costs half as much, so you get more for your money.

The Fender Stratocaster may cost half as much as the Gibson Les Paul, but that does not mean that it can’t be a better guitar. A new Fender Stratocaster is a lot cheaper than a new Gibson Les Paul, with the Stratocaster being in the $400+ range and the Les Paul in the $800+ range. Also, the American Stratocaster has clearly been proven as a great guitar considering its popularity with great artists such as Jimi Hendrix as well as its specifications. A similar story may be true for the Les Paul, but with different artists and different manufacturing techniques. After comparing the two guitars, I have found one thing for sure, and that is that with the American Stratocaster, one will get more for their money.

Switching to the Fender Stratocaster from a Les Paul could eliminate possible back problems, for the Stratocaster is a much lighter guitar. The Stratocaster uses high quality alder and swamp ash wood while the Les Paul uses high quality mahogany. The difference? Alder is about half as dense as mahogany, meaning that a chunk of alder the same size as a chunk of mahogany would weigh about half as much, and swamp ash weighs even less. With these woods, the average weight of a Stratocaster comes out to be around 4.5 lbs and for a Les Paul, about 9 lbs- a weight that can cause long term back problems for frequent players. Though one could request weight relief chambers, they cost extra. Also, some may argue that the heavyweight wood gives the Les Paul better tonal sustain. though this may be true, for my father and I, the pros of the Fender Stratocaster outweigh the cons, and that is why my dad switched.

In the end, it is up to the buyer to decide which guitar is better. The buyer will have their opinion, and I will have mine. For one’s final decision, it really comes down to their genre as well as their likes and dislikes considering guitar design. If the Stratocaster fits one’s likes, I recommend it. If it does not, then I do not. If one wants a guitar tailored to their needs, they should get a custom. Otherwise, let them take their pick.3

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Photographs courtesy of Fender.com

The Fender Stratocaster has a better range than the Les Paul with more tonal combinations. The Stratocaster uses single coil pickups while the Les Paul uses humbuckers. It may sound like an argument for the Les Paul because humbuckers have more of a ‘crunch’ sound than the twangy Stratocaster, making the Les Paul better for rock, but it is actually one of the Stratocaster’s strong points. Single coil pickups are a little over half the size of humbuckers, meaning that the Stratocaster can fit three pickups while the Les Paul can only fit two, allowing the Stratocaster up to five different tonal combinations and the Les Paul only three. This gives the Stratocaster the most musical versatility when it comes to guitars.

Triple single coil pickups

Tonal selection knobs

Amp cord port

Floating bridge

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The Les Paul T

o a new buyer or an unfamiliar eye, the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul can be very similar guitars. They’re both chunks of wood that plug into an amplifier. The first thing most people see is the price difference; Gibson Les Pauls cost about $1,000 more. But when you look under the surface, the differences can be quite striking.

Gibson uses some of the finest quality woods in the world on their guitars, and does not compromise for lesser woods like Fender. While Fender uses Alder, which has an inconsistent density according to many online tone-wood reviews such as Jemsite, Gibson uses Mahogany and Korina, which sport high, consistent density. Heavier weight is regarded by many to be one of the largest factors in determining sustain, and Mahogany has a much warmer and thicker tone than Alder. Having owned guitars made of both Mahogany and Alder, the difference can be startling. Alder has a very unnatural metallic twang to my ears and many others, partly due to the fact that the body and neck are two different woods in many cases. On the other hand, Mahogany has a very natural and wooden feel to it, and is almost always used in pair with a Mahogany neck.

Many point out the Stratocaster’s lower price as a plus, but Les Pauls are more expensive for a reason. The build techniques that Gibson uses give their guitars better strength, feel, and most importantly, sound. Instead of a bolt on neck, where manufacturers affix the neck with metal screws, Gibson uses a more natural technique of gluing the neck to the body. Gluing is often bashed with remarks about the adhesive dampening the sound, but this is far to minuscule and debatable a topic to begin to compare with the setbacks of a bolted on neck. These bolt-on necks are using METAL between two pieces of wood, and are prone to loose fits and poor velocity of sound, as is the view of communities such as Guitar Player. n o s Despite the fact that bolt-on necks can be very well constructed, even Gib f o better than that of a glue-on, it is widely accepted that these fits are rertesy Photos Cou stricted to handmade guitars, while Stratocasters are milled by machines.

As I mentioned earlier, the weight of the woods used in Les Paul guitars contributes heavily to its unique sound and is largley responsible for the 19 | Modern Rhythm | 2010

Jimmy Page, inducted into the guitar hall of fame twice and ranking ninth on the Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” is one of the many guitar legends that choose the Les Paul for their main instrument. Page is holding “Number Two” in this picture, the second of his two 1959 Les Pauls.

The ‘59 Les Paul is one of the most coveted instruments ever by collecters, Prices for a genuine ‘59 range from $200,000 to upwards of $800,000.

Among Les Pauls, Page also uses a Gibson EDS1275, J-200, Hummingbird, along with a Gibson mandolin. When it comes to brands, it’s clear what the masters use.

instrument’s legendary sustain. In addition to being heavier, the Les Paul is just simply more wood. Stratocasters hollow out a large portion of the wood right under the strings, where it matters most. Les Pauls on the other hand, set the control routs out of the way of the strings as much as possible. (You can find pictures demonstrating this on Gibson’s website, as they take a lot of pride in their work.) Designing a guitar with these things that you might not think about make a difference in an instrument, and Gibson has taken the extra mile.

The other day I was in Guitar Center for some strings, and decided to do a conclusive head to head comparison between the Stratocaster and Les Paul. While I had no problems using harmonics to tune the Les Paul, which is a very definitive test of sustain and tone, I was thoroughly frustrated with the effort it took to coax the thinnest, quietest harmonic out of the Alder bodied bolt-on. I promptly restored that guitar to its place on the wall and proceeded to enjoy the Les Paul. The guitar that the buyer chooses is up to them, but keep in mind that when it comes to guitars, you get what you pay for.

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Can You Hear Me Now?

Did you know that you have hair follicles in your ears that let you hear and when you listen to loud music for long periods of time it damages them and can eventually lead to deafness?

The loud music that most kids listen to these days is really taking a toll on hearing and how they register sound. However these days most kids don’t find it important to care about there hearing. In the mall and around school you see and hear loud heavy music.

Also there are some passing cars outfitted with heavy bass that damages your ears and your body. Excessive exposure to loud noise can damage the tiny hairs in the cochlea and lead to hearing loss.

Generally, this type of hearing loss is reversible (except in some cases of a sudden, very loud noise, such as an explosion), (Abelard). This shows what loud sound can do to your hearing.

Keeping your hearing is important because if you don’t you will become deaf and not be able to hear people well.

Those who are hard of hearing tend to not be able to hear what other people say and things must be repeated multiple times. A conductive hearing impairment 21 | Modern Rhythm | 2010

is an impairment resulting from dysfunction in any of the mechanisms that normally conduct sound waves through the outer ear, the eardrum or the bones of the middle ear. This is an excellent example of how your ears

an explosion from a building demolition. Some ways you can keep your ears safe is by turning down your music or by avoiding demolition cites or by wearing earplugs. If you’re in a band and you play loud music you’re just asking for some hearing damage.

Of course there are those that like there music beating loud but just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. Most people would actually like to keep there hearing for the rest of there lives. This is why you should protect your ears in all cases.

work provided by Wikipedia page about how your ears work and hearing problems. It shows what kind of damage you can do to your ears if you aren’t careful.

There are a many ways you can damage your ears and there are also many ways you can protect them. One cause of hearing loss is a fast loud sound like a cannon shot. But seeing as people don’t use canons these days you probably won’t be running into any. Other loud sounds would be like blasting your favorite Metallica song or

Photo provided by Drumdamental In this diagram you can see the effects of what loud sounds do to your hearing and your ears. Sometimes the effects of loud sounds lasts for some time after the event.

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Modern Rhythm