For over three years, Guitar Doctor Bruce Lee Mani has been prescribing fixes for your guitar ills. But what if music is an illness you don’t want to recover from?

Ask Rajeev Rajagopal, TAAQ’s drummer, who has been ailing for 15 years and loves every malingering minute of it.

“The illness,” says Rajeev, describing his symptoms with the enthusiasm of a certified hypochondriac, “is about trying to get each limb to have a mind of its own. With its onset, you start to have immense fun sitting behind a drum kit. It takes a lot of patience to perfect your symptoms, though, so you need to be patient!”

Chortling at his own bad puns is probably another symptom, but he continues undeterred: “Someday, if you get to be like Rodney Holmes or Simon Philips, you’ll know what it feels like,” he says looking wounded because you think he’s faking it. “With every clinic I attend or conduct, the illness manifests in beautifully creative ways.”

So what should aspiring drummers do in order to be terminally ill?

“Teaching how to play a musical instrument doesn’t end with learning how to play it,” says Rajeev, as if he is addressing a convention of gonecases at Drummaholics Anonymous. “How you play with other musicians is what really matters and this is what makes a good band. And this is especially true for drummers, because just being a great drummer alone won’t make your band sound good. Drums, unlike guitars, are not made for solo performances. It’s important to know how to play with a guitar player and a bass player.”

Can you show me where it hurts?

“Keeping time together is different from keeping time by yourself,” continues the Drum Patient. “Speaking the musical language through eye contact and finding your way through the arrangement of a song, and transitioning between parts in a way that brings out the dynamics of what is being communicated musically – these are the elements of playing in a band that musicians must really learn.”

There is no pain, you are receding…

“I have played with guitar players like Bruce, Prasanna and Vinny Valentino,” says Rajeev, relishing the pain of personal experience. “A drummer’s target audience is not other drummers – you’re playing for the song and for the band. If you can instill the confidence in guitar players, bass players and singers that you can bring value to their music, you’re starting to get there.”

Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying…

“Through this philosophy, I have been able to live up to being the drummer of Thermal And A Quarter for 14 years,” says Rajeev, coughing softly with the smug confidence that all hope of recovery is quite irrevocably lost. “The illness has also given me the confidence to play in the presence of other musicians such as Mike Pope and David Gilmore and ability to soak it up at amazing workshops with Rodney Holmes and Simon Philips.”

And you have become comfortably drummed.

Thinking of rehab? Wait, try the prehab first.

Guitar Doctor and Drum Patient recently conducted their first combined clinic. At the workshop, held at TAAQ’s Queen’s Studio, five aspiring guitar doctors and five aspiring drum patients got together to rewrite musico-medical history.

The pictures, taken by Ashutosh, are evidence of the futility of therapy.

For a free consultation, leave a comment here and the Drum Patient will gladly let you know how you can catch the bug.

The post Guitar Doctor meets Drum Patient appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

Wednesday, 11/11/09 – 9 PM:

Thermal And A Quarter joins guitar players Amit Heri, Amyt Dutta, Tony Das and others at Blue Frog, Mumbai on the occasion of Eleven Guitar Day.

In the afternoon, Guitar Doctor Bruce Lee Mani will test-drive the new Digidesign Eleven Rack. Free workshop on guitar technique and technology from 3 PM – 5 PM at Blue Frog, Mumbai.

Read Guitar Doctor’s review of the Digidesign Eleven Rack.

Limited seats. Attendance open to pre-registered participants only. Last-minute aspirants can try their luck by emailing elevenrack@ansata.net.

Presented by: Digidesign – www.digidesign.com
Event Support: Groove Temple and Blue Frog

The post TAAQ feat. Amit Heri, Amyt Dutta, Tony Das and others – Blue Frog, Mumbai, 9 PM, Nov 11 appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

Catch Doctor Bruce doing a small workshop at the Furtados store in Koramangala, Bangalore, tomorrow April 30th, 6pm. Free entry.

Stuff covered:

Electric Guitar
1. Buying your first electric/upgrading to a better axe
2. Basics of setup and care
3. Tone: Getting the most from your guitar + rig

a. Guitar – pickups, controls

b. Amp

c. Pedals/Processors

d. Cables

e. Picks, etc

4. Daily regimen/practicing

Acoustic Guitar
1. Buying your first acoustic/upgrading to a better guitar
2. Basics of setup and care
3. Electro-acoustic – problems and solutions

a. Amplifying acoustic guitars

b. Pickup types and applications

c. Performance issues

4. Finger style – a quick glimpse of the possibilities

The post Guitar Workshop appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

I’d love to use analog pedals. I’d love to have a custom pedalboard with some goodies from Electro Harmonix, Boss, Morley, Chandler… that would be something. I would, of course, love to plug this into a nice early 60s Marshall Plexi; or maybe a Dumble or even a Fender Deluxe Reverb, using some fancy Monster/George L/Planet Waves cabling. Even better, I’d love to split my signal and run into two different amps/rigs, so I could have all my dirty/clean sounds coming from the amp that does that sound best. And I’d love to carry all this around to every gig – I’ll have to, because once I’ve got all my tones set up just right, it would be shame to take that juicy pedalboard and plug it into a.. a… Marshall 100 DFX combo! Or a Peavey 212! Or some very battered Roland Jazz Chorus… Plus, I’ll have to win a lottery as well, because all that stuff up there would set me back around, say, $5000 – $6000. Nice!

What I do now typically, is lug 2 guitars; a POD X3 Live, a Digitech Vocalist Live 4; some Monster/Planet Waves cables and Hercules stands. Excluding guitars, that combo cost something like $900. The X3 allows me to go direct to the board without DIs (it has balanced line-level XLR outs); it also provides two ‘Live’ outs that plug into stage amps  – and these can be sent to the amps without speaker/mic emulation, if necessary. I use the Digitech Vocalist through the Effects Loop on the X3. An extra Roland EV-5 Expression pedal serves as a Volume Pedal. And with enough hours spent slaving over the X3 and it’s huge array of amp models and effects, I’ve sometimes managed to convince the tone mavens in the audience that I’m using an all-analog setup.

Sure, there is something missing with processors like the POD. You miss the.. the immediacy of just plugging into a great amp. You somehow sound a little too ‘mastered’, without that lovely rawness and grain you get from an analog setup. But given the gigging/touring circuit here, I just find that I’m usually happier with my on-stage tone with something like the POD. And I can be reasonably sure that even without our favourite engineer on the FOH, the guitar sound that’s going out is pretty close to where I’d want it.

Someday soon, though, I hope to win that lottery…

The post Analog Pedals vs. Processors: The Debate Continues… appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

“Hey, I saw you guys at mood indigo 07 and it was an awesome experience!had..ahem..never heard of you till then but since , ive bin going TAAAAAQ TAAAQ TAAAAAAQ to all my friends. Anyhoo, the diddly-o is this..im going to (finally) learn how to play the guitar. I think i`m committed enough, yada yada.I really really want to. Now since this is a big deal for me, I want to make sure I buy the first guitar right. An acoustic. I`ve been saving up for this. Umm about 5K :p ADVICE PLEASE!I live in mumbai by the way.so if you recommend any shops here (other than furtados) /brands/what I should look for etc. ALSO my friends who DO play the guitar tell me I have peasant hands, they have long fingers, hence I should not pick up string instruments cuz I wont go too far. >_<. what do you say?as in my friends have long fingers. I have short ones.” – Sagar

Sagar – first, don’t worry about ‘peasant’ fingers! You’ll probably fret y0ur first barre chord (usually an ‘F’, so you can tell your long-digited pals to ‘F’ off!) with surprising ease. Those long slender arty fingers usually struggle for weeks to get past the ‘pttthh’s,  ‘pptthhhonk’s and ‘dongrlefraagle’s.

About buying a new acoustic: I’ve been thinking about putting a small video together on what to check for – that way I hope to answer yours and many other queries along similar lines. Will get around to that pretty soon I guess. If you’ve never played before, it helps to take along someone who can, when you go shopping.

Let’s try getting that vid up…

Cheerio

The post Buying a New Axe… appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

I bought almost all my cymbals online (I’ve been lucky with a cymbal that I bought on EBay as well.)

The first and foremost rule if you looking at any product, use google for reviews, and also, there are many Power Sellers/ E-Bay Stores, spend hours reading their feedback. That will give you a general impression of whether you are going to get your bucks worth.

When buying Drum Shells/ Drums: One thiing is for sure there is not going to be that big a difference in terms of buying online or in store except for the massive price difference. So I say go to a store and try all the kits that are on offer, so u get an idea of what you want. Turn on the computer – www.google.com and presto you could be up all night looking for the right buy.

In the UK, I would bravely recommend Only1Music – www.only1recording.co.uk not only for their amazing prices, but also for the fact that the guys in their store know what they are talking about. Now E-Shopping for drums makes drum purchase remarkably cheaper, simply ‘cos of lesser investment. A drum store means big money especially if they have to create space for testing of a kit and whatever, and also, just the sheer size of the store.

THe only flipside is the cost of the courier. In my case my entire purchase including the cost of the courier by far out beat any of the drum store prices in the UK. So much so that Mapex were surprised I managed to get a drum kit that cheap!

Second thing when u talking to these, they are NOT call centre operators, but happen to be drummers with excellent telephone skills (!!!!!!!), so they wouldn’t refuse if you sit and chat with them for about an hour with all your queries!

Cymbal Purchase.

This is the trickiest part of buying a drumming equipment online. Cymbals are pretty much like guitar buying, but again here as well, the price difference made me go the online way. However, I chose to be brand conscious and went with Paiste Cymbals and got in touch with one of Livepools famous sessions drummers who happens to own a E-Cymbal store. For each cymbal I bought, I would chat to this guy for hours………so much so that the last cymbal I bought, I got a call from him and said “Guru, I have a cymbal that I think will definitely match your taste.” I did think about it for a week, researched on it loads and this cymbal is currently my main crash cymbal and is my all time favourite. Here again, I was dealing with a musician who buy a twist of fate had excellent business skills!

Spare Parts: ONLINE baby! Thats the cheapest you can find. Try and buy them in bulk. Also, cases for your drums – Online!

Ideally every musician would want the red carpet treatment at the cheapest of prices, heck I would love a nice back massage while I am testing out the drums as well, but we know a “bargain is a bargain.” Some basic tips for buying drums/ cymbals:

1) Research heavily on what your requirement and what sound you are after (I took three months to buy a snare, and is one of the loudest you can find. (Ask Mr. Bruce and Rzhude for feedback on that snare after the 13th Note Gig!!:D:D hahaha)

2) Trawl through as many pages in the world wide web for product/ price reviews. Also compare as many E-Shops as possible. Some good shops online are:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk
http://www.adcdrums.co.uk
http://only1recording.co.uk
http://www.kingmidasdistribution.co.uk
http://www.ecymbals.co.uk
http://www.drumcentral.co.uk

THere are more around, but it is upto you to find out what best prices you can expect!

3) Don’t forget this thing called “ASK,” these guys will answer every question, and might throw in a freebie too!

Once again, happy E-Shopping!

I might add more to this, but I think its time for my tea!

Guru

The post Drum Bum for the E-Buyer! appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

Let’s put it simply. I wouldn’t. Of course, that’s just me. Obsessive-compulsive, fussy, nit-picking, anal, self-absorbed me. If you’re a serious musician and none of these begin to describe you, I don’t know you, man.

I would recommend third-party or remote instrument buying if you’re planning on spending some very small money for a campfire-style instrument that you’d want to use a few times a year, or just to make you look good in your room. But if it’s any kind of serious purchase, with some serious money involved, you’re asking for trouble.

Most players I know have very definite ideas of what would constitute a good musical instrument. And one man’s Gibson is another’s Less Pol. [This is obviously a guitar-based discussion.] Far as I’m concerned, I’d have to play many guitars for many hours before I settle on something I like; then I’d test the crap out of it, run it through everything it’s supposed to do and more; then I’d probably spend a day or two just playing it in. Then I’d probably buy it if the store guys aren’t a) throwing rocks as soon as they catch a glimpse of me, or b) find a sudden need to have a lunch/coffee/just-for-kicks break if they see me up the street. If they stay nice and if I bug them enough, I’d even probably get a discount, just for getting out of their hair. .

Your guitar has to fit around you. There’re so many little things apart from the list of specs and features. If you’re lucky enough to know exactly what you want in terms of sound, then you’ve got to find a piece that’s intonated right, has good action, no funny bends/warps/twists in the neck, as few dead spots/odd bits as possible, the right shape of neck (c/v/d/ibanez-razor/etc), the right access to the higher frets, the right balance, no fiddly electrical/electronics, tuning stability — the list goes on. Whoever you ask to buy a guitar for you, it’s not going to fit around you. Even if that person is a musician, and a good one at that, his/her tastes are not the same as yours, and you’ll eventually have to live with a compromise. And remember if that someone isn’t gifting it to you (hah), it’s not their money: they’re simply not going to be as picky as you are.

I know and understand all the usual reasons why you might think about remote purchase – you can’t get really fine instruments here/you can’t get exactly what you’re looking for/you may not, or simply don’t have a chance to travel abroad in the immediate future, etc etc. Sorry, but belt up and wait. Or settle for second best and no cribbing.

There is a lot of gear available in India now – we recently went in to this place in Delhi called OnStage, and it was crawling with guitarist gear. Good stuff too – all your Ibanez shred axes, Mex Strats and more, cables, strings, accessories, pedals, effects – a regular drool-o-rama it was. (Unfortunately, drummers/basssits/other musical denizens are still not such a favoured lot.) I found some of the stuff very well priced, and some just marked up unreasonably. Ibanez signature-series axes for example. Have a student who recently splurged on a Joe Sat Ibanez (the JS-100 I think); spent 50-odd k for an axe I wouldn’t have paid half as much for.
If none of this gear is to your taste, there’s the ‘custom’ option, which, IMHO, is a good way to go if you can find a luthier that can do the job just right. There ARE a few around, yes there are.

So, if you’re planning to pick up a guitar that’s just right, D-I-Y. It’s the only real way. There will be, of course those exceptions; those happy folk who find the right instrument without all the fuss of having to go get it themselves… ah, you’ll have to cling pretty tight to the lacy petticoats of ole lady luck if you’re wishing for that magic.

The post Can you buy a guitar online? appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

I’ve heard that certain pipples in this town are calling me just that. Wonder how that started. Sure, I’ve fixed a few guitars, set-em up, adjusted tremolo bridges, stripped/cleaned/adjusted floyd roses, tweaked truss rods, lowered/raised action, soldered/unsoldered connections, replaced pickups, re-wired, replaced parts, restrung, re-set necks, filed down nuts and bridges, cleaned, polished and shined them, but that’s it.

What I’d really like to do someday, is build them. Get into the wood. See the seductive curves of a strat in a dull block of red cedar. Hear the bite and twang of notes jumping from a blank unfinished bird’s-eye maple fretboard. Ah. that would be something.

I’ll be willing to answer a few questions about guitar maintenance/customizing, etc if you have them. Can’t promise much though.

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