Steve Vai Masterclass Review Melbourne 17.10.2011

Posted by Allans Billy Hyde , Thursday, October 20, 2011 11:43 AM


As a long time fan of Steve Vai (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake) any day that he is in town is a good day and let me tell you Monday was a very good day! Steve was here to share his thoughts and wisdom from many years in the music industry with his Alien Guitar Secrets master class.

He kicked off the class with a performance of ‘The Crying Machine’ to a backing track and then took us through an informative and inspiring discussion about goal setting and how these principles helped him create the music that was in his head and get it into the hands of us the listener. Following a blazing performance of ‘Building The Church’ Steve then invited several lucky audience members onto the stage to have a ‘private’ guitar lesson. He had them play for him and he then showed them how they could improve on their playing - priceless! Finally, Steve played his signature song ‘For The Love Of God’ before having individual jam sessions with five brave audience members.

The three plus hour session was intimate, humorous and uplifting and left me feeling inspired and focused to get stuck into my own personal musical goals. I can’t wait to see Steve again next year when he returns to Australia with his band for a full concert.

- Chris Silwedel
Web Developer / Allans Music + Billy Hyde

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Robben Ford & Renegade Creation Gig Review Melbourne 6.10.11

Posted by Allans Billy Hyde , Monday, October 10, 2011 8:52 AM


After a sizzling set by Project 3, lead by Melbourne’s guitar legend, Simon Patterson, Australia was about to be introduced to a new US supergroup: Renegade Creation.

With session-ace guitar duo Robben Ford and Michael Landau up front, the night was sure to produce something special, and with the powerhouse rhythm section of Gary Novak (drummer for Chick Corea, and amongst others, Alanis Morissette) and Jimmy Haslip (Ford’s one-time Yellowjackets bandmate) on bass, fans were treated to a night of tasty blues-rock guitar bliss. From Landau’s spicy and adventurous Jeff Beck-inspired creativity, Ford’s solid and oh-so-right blues/jazz stylings, Novak’s sensitivity mixed with power and Haslip’s sympathy for the groove (and some of the most gospel-ridden solo phrases ever to be played on a bass!) it was a delight to watch world-class musos interact, and most importantly stretch their chops to the danger zone and back.

Musical ‘chops’ aside, this was a very soulful night of blues-rock, and a rarity for Australian audiences to be able to witness such an event.


- Neil Boland

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Sonic Boom! Ampeg BA Series Bass Amps Review

Posted by Allans Billy Hyde , Wednesday, October 5, 2011 12:43 PM

Gone is the mentality that entry-level musos have to settle for second-rate tone until they ‘earn’ a better sound, with heaps of manufacturers now competing to make products that inspire the beginner. Ampeg has heeded the demand and created a series of practice amps that are lightweight, easy to use and look the part.

Both the BA108 (25W with 8” speaker) and the BA110 (35W with 10” speaker) come in rugged compact housings which, despite their size, have a nice, rounded bottom-end sound via a sensitive 3-band EQ. Both amps have an RCA input for a CD or mp3 player for playing along with your heroes, with the ability to balance between your bass level and the audio via the CD Level knob.

Bedroom or apartment-confined budding Jason Newsteads and Jaco Pastoriuses can now progress through their bass journey in style.

There’s also a second input for teaching and bass-on-bass jamming!  

- Neil Boland
www.junioronline.com.au

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