Halford Brazil tour 2010

Always playing in big arenas with Judas Priest, I thought Rob Halford deserved to make this concert a larger place and more worthy of your majesty. After all, he is definitely the "Metal God"! Halford and band showed that the location does not matter as much and probably this is the chance of "Metal God" to be closer to the audience, doing shows in places with more intimate environments.
I arrived early with friends and I went to a special place beside the sound mixer and stayed there throughout the show. With a maximum capacity of nearly 2,500 people who flooded the place, the band came in and rocked!
The band's line up:
Rob Halford - vocals
Metal Mike - guitars
Roy Z - guitars
Mike Davis - bass
Bobby Jarzombek – drums

The show started at 9:30 PM and then the introduction, Rob showed who came to hold the throat with heavy sounds! The band was sharp playing the songs.
Metal Mike and Roy Z, the badass duo turns the guitar solos and backing with great competence. I like more about Metal Mike on solos - it has a more refined sense of melody and construction of phrases and licks it's totally "old school" Roy Z plays very fast, but overlaps many licks cliches in cascade…sometimes it´s boring!
Metal Mike already stands out as the main composer of Halford´s solo career. Both he and Roy used a variety of Jackson Flying V's and Roy also played with a Fernandes guitar Ravelle model. Great combination: Jackson guitars + Marshalls amplifiers = made of metal!!!!!!!!!
Bassist Mike Davis used an Ernie Ball / Music Man Sting Ray bass in most songs.
Highlight for drummer Bobby who has been here recently by playing in the band of Sebastian Bach (opening act of Guns'n'Roses tour here).
The house sound was very loud, but I would have done different adjustment - sound w/a little more daring and less bureaucratic in respect of textures.
On the set list only 4 songs from Priest, half cover the cover was ... The Green Manalishi and Diamonds and Rust ...the audience asked for Painkiller, but without success!
The other songs revisited Metal God ´s solo albuns - and focusing on his latest work: Made of Metal.
For those who think that Sunday is to stay home wearing cheaper clothes, watching TV or sleeping ... or just having lunch with family ... The Metal God closed our sunday with a golden key!
SET LIST
Resurrection
Made In Hell
Locked and Loaded
Drop Out?
Made of Metal
Undisputed
Nailed to the Gun
Golgotha
Fire and Ice +
The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown)
Diamonds and Rust
Jawbreaker
There's no Tomorrow
Thunder and Lightning
Cyber World
(ENCORE)
Heart of a Lion
Saviour

Pics: Saulo Peghin and Dida

Jeawbreaker!!!

Expomusic 2010

I want to thank everyone who has been with me through this Expomusic 2010. It is very gratifying to know that you follow my work - whether as a musician, guitar builder and guitar magazine columnist. I am very honored and happy with all this openness. At the musicians who gave me CDs and DVDs, I hear and see soon! I´ll post here on the blog, my impressions about it! My students... it's always good to see you all!

I thank the following companies, professionals and artists:
Equipo (Marcão, Wilsão, Koji, Kadooka, Harrison, Larrisa, Alex, Jean...outros), Pride Music(Viola, Sergio), Royal Music, Habro (Leandro), Guitar Player Brazil Magazine (Teresa, Jaques Molina, David Hepner, Flavio Gutok), Música e Mercado Magazine (Duda, Carla, Daniel), Comando Rock Magazine (Marcão), NIG STRINGS (Marcão, Majú), Andy Timmons, Eagle (Daniel, Pedrão, Charlie), Hard Alexandre, Andrés Recasens, Vera Kikuti, Snake (Cláudio), luthier Pablo & Wife, Deval (Alberto), Joe Moghabi, Clement Zular, Bruno Maia (Tuatha de Danann), Edu Ardanuy, Bose (Klaus, Edinho, Miguel), Sound Maker Amplifiers(Carlinhos), Basso Straps (Marcão, San Campos), Rafael Bittencourt, Pierre & Betty (AlôArtista), Dema K, Marcos DeRos, Ricky Furlani, Rafael Nery, Pedro Wood, Sound on Sound Magazine, Roadie Crew Magazine (Tonão), Meteoro Amplififers (Zé Luis), Cover Guitarra Magazine friends, Wolf Music (Sandro), Luciano Renan (Giannini), Ozielzinho, Yamaha Music (Vera), Roland, Quanta, Pro Shows, Antoniel Up Gospel, Italo&Angela, David Vincent (Morbid Angel), Marcelo Severo&Wife, amigos do Facebook, amigos do Orkut, Chris Jarrouge, Vivi, Fabinho Rock Studio, sêo Tito (lightning staff), Gera, Darkest Seed, Fabio Laguna, fiéis amigos de labuta dia-a-dia (Pauleira, Lú, Felipe, Claudim), Endo, Polacow, Airton Mann, Favoretti's pedals, Deep Trip Land Menegozzo, Panta, Gustavo Benedetti & friends, Limão, Rita, Déia, Zezo Ribeiro and friends of Promosom!!!
The guys who took pictures with me ... if they want to send me: hh777@bol.com.br
I will post the photos here and on Facebook, etc ...

More pics about the Expomusic:
http://www.pauleiraguitars.com/materias/expomusic-2010/%20#

http://www.expomusic.com.br/2010/codigo/galeria_fotos.asp?idioma=1&nome_item=Imprensa&nome_subitem=Galeria de Fotos#

News ... Basso straps is my new sponsor!

http://www.bassostraps.com.br/
thanks you all guys!

me, Pauleira, Luciano (giannini)

Precision Bass

Hi Folks!
It's been a while I builded this bass, but just now... I had time for pictures ...
I'm more a fan of Precision bass than Jazz Bass model!!!
Nothing against the JB,nation just I think the Precision is the best design: simple and basic!

I´m not a bass player...anyway...if you need a good one to play hard rock and metal...you can call me!!!


body: marupá (brasilian wood - similar to alder, but the sound is more less low.
neck: maple
fingerboard: jacaranda (brasilian rosewood)
hardware: gotoh
pickup: Malagoli/Sound PB Alnico custom shop...great pickup!!!
pickguard: acrilic
1 vol, 1 tom, jack and slaps!!!

gotoh tune machines and spaguetti logo!!!

machines, woods, craftman, precision and a lot dust!

Interesting link to see!

I received this link by email (from Carrie Oakley) and I really thought it was very good!
The topics are well organized and could help many guitarists who are at the beginning of learning....and then comment on my page.

http://www.onlinecolleges.org/novice-to-slash-100-free-resources-for-teaching-yourself-guitar/

Carrie's blog has other lcool matters. Check it out!

Natasha Wood

I will post an interview I did with a friend musician, Natasha Wood! This matter is part of the 181 edition of Brazilian magazine: Cover Guitarra - for which I am responsible for equipment test. This edition will be completely reformulated in terms of layout, design, content and editorial direction. Well, I'll reproduce in full the material to be published:
In this new column, I talk with several (as) guitarists from all over the planet. We take advantage of the boom of the internet and social networks to intercept and discover old and new talent, using only a simple criterion, the passion for music. We don´t discriminate style or nationality, may participate professionals, amateurs and string´s lovers - they have their work posted on the network.
In this column of "opening" I have the privilege of giving the "kickoff" I talked to a guitarist who discovered through MySpace and Facebook. She is Natasha Wood, who although American is very Brazilian at heart!
She is a guitarist, pianist, singer and songwriter. Born into a family of musicians and since the early times had a passion for brazilian artists.
Natasha formed the band Fala Bashu with bassist Matt Gordon and drummer David Gardner. The band released their first album, "Drifting Into Unconsciousness" in 2008. I talked with Natasha, she told me of his passion for brasilian music and also spoke of details about her musical career!

In your profile on the MySpace, you quote concerning your brazilian mother. How the brazilian music and the bossa nova became a major influence for you? What albuns or artists you used to listen to?
Growing up, I listened to a lot of samba and bossa nova because my mom and my grandparents always played albums by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Beth Carvalho, Martinho da Vila, and Maria Bethânia, to name a few. We even listened to some forró music every now and then. As I got older, I started listening to artists like Marisa Monte, Djavan, Caetano Veloso, Banda Black Rio, Olodum, and instrumentalists like Baden Powell, Romero Lubambo, and César Camargo Mariano. I also started attending live shows by local Brazilian artists, such as Kátia Moraes and Sambaguru. The list could go on and on.

How do you get inspiration for compose? Do you prefer to compose on the guitar or the piano?
I usually write songs about friendships and relationships, interesting people in my life, places I’ve traveled to, and my animals (after all, I’m a veterinarian!). For the past few years, I’ve composed most of my music on guitar, but since I’m a pianist originally, I’m trying to shift toward writing more on piano. It’s an instrument that offers a whole different realm of possibilities. I’m also starting to compose more songs in Portuguese, even though it’s a bit challenging for me. It’s always easier writing lyrics in one’s native language.

His musical work has many “colors” and influences from jazz. How do you do improvisation? Do you like to phrased linear or do you play with on a vertical way, valuing the chords?
I’m very melodically-driven, so when I improvise, I always have the melody of the song and the chord progressions in mind and sort of play around that. But I’m challenging myself to incorporate a more vertical approach and step outside of the chord changes from time to time. A little bit of dissonance can be a good thing.

Are you following the current scene of brazilian music? Any artist in particular has deserved your attention?
I’ll admit I love the artists of the past, but some of my favorite Brazilian artists are more contemporary ones like Marisa Monte, Maria Rita, Daniela Mercury, Chico César, Djavan, and of course the legends who are still performing, like Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso.

What are the musicians who often play with you?
I play mostly with L.A. based musicians from a variety of musical backgrounds ranging from Afro-Cuban jazz to American folk-rock to Indian Carnatic music. My most recent adventure took me to the Cook Islands, where I had the pleasure of collaborating with local singer/guitarist Tok Haurua. I’ve also been collaborating with my cousins, both marvelous jazz musicians. Their dad, John Wood (my uncle on my dad’s side) is a professional jazz piano player who has influenced us a lot. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to work with such talented artists who bring many different styles and experiences to the table. Every jam session or rehearsal is an adventure. We’re always learning from each other.

Tell us about your gear (guitar, effects pedals, amplifiers and strings) for concerts, gigs and recordings?
DeArmond X-155 hollowbody electric guitar, Martin Shenandoah acoustic guitar (a very special instrument as it was given to me by my grandpa, music producer Randy Wood, who founded the Dot Records label in the ’50s-’60s), Yamaha CG-100SA classical guitar (my very first guitar); D’Addario strings; Yamaha S90ES synthesizer; Roland, Fender, and Danelectro amplifiers; Shure microphones.



Finally, what are your plans and when you will play in Brazil?
I’m hoping to get more involved in the Brazilian music scene in L.A. I’ve also started performing my original material with a new band and hope to play as many venues as possible. I want to start incorporating more of a world music sound into my arrangements, so I’d like to collaborate with more artists from diverse cultural backgrounds. I’m working on new compositions and look forward to recording a new album of original material sometime in the near future. Honestly, finding the right balance between music and veterinary medicine (my other career) has always been very challenging because succeeding in both takes a huge amount of commitment. I’ve never really thought about becoming a famous musician, particularly in today’s music business where everything is so ephemeral, at times it’s disheartening. But in my opinion, the good thing about music is that if you push yourself, you can keep growing for the rest of your life, and you never know what unexpected opportunities might come along. As for playing in Brazil, hopefully soon! It’s been several years since I last visited, so I think I’m due for another trip, and this time I’ll be taking my guitar with me.

Photography by Brandon Peters
http://www.blogger.com/www.myspace.com/natashawoodmusic

Ernie Ball coated guitar strings

Ernie Ball Slink’s stringing coated line for electric guitar and acoustic guitar.
By: Henry Ho

Many companies are going ahead and producing a long term guitar strings with several technologies and different abilities. Two famous companies utilized the process of an extreme cooling a cryogenics one to decrease the raw material and others manufacturers utilized Teflon layer hyper-fine as string covering. Only Ernie Ball, one of the most well thought companies – took a long time to put a product with this kind of characteristic in the trade.
And when we imagined that there couldn´t have anything to be conceived anymore, the same Ernie Ball innovates it with a peculiar and amazing technology. From all long term stringing, the coated line has a killing timbre and long durability is prove of a plenty running.
Stretching out and running strings.
We chose a reply of a guitar HH Telecaster model to test the new stringing coated a set of .010 calibers. The measure is from the finest to roughest: .010; .013; .017; .026; .036; .046. After put it, we stretch out the strings to fixate the tuning. The initial sense is that we are handling nicely the stringing.
In visual terms the product shows brightness and has a perfect building. The strings marbles has no space and lengths of all are in the right measure.
In relation to sounds one thing that is troublesome for me is an excessive brightness at strings, soon after put them. But, in this case the product showed a balanced sonority and there is not an excessive sharpness – typical characteristic of strings newly taken from the packing.
The maple of the coated line is tough and has tuned a solid sound with excellent dynamic sense. To play the basis, power chords and riffs in a general way, the performing is comfortable and soft.
The fine strings show a cut timbre with good support and attack. The sharp intonation in each scale was perfect.
We tested also strings from coated line to folk acoustic guitar. We settled up a Japanese Yariri acoustic guitar with a set of .011 calibers. The measure is from the finest to roughest: .011; .015; .022; .042; e .052.
The texture of the stringing is softer. The visual aspect is also excellent. In terms of sounds, the feature is a solid grave and hot. The sharp sonority has an amplitude, support and brightness in the right measure.
From all stringing “long term” type, the coated line from Ernie Ball has a good textures. Probably, the additional layer of titanium besides to reinforce the mechanical properties, it supplements the sound with a little bit of harmonics.
As a long term product, the relation cost benefit is greatly good. In terms of durability I am using this stringing for almost two months and also I clean the strings with a dry cloth. The brightness is still intact as visual as sound field.
The coated Slinky line for electric guitar and acoustic guitar utilizes a wrapping that remember energetic drinks. Strings were wrapped one by one in envelopes of recycled paper.

Musical calories
The new manufacturing process of the coated line adopted by Ernie Ball is innovative. All rough strings are covered by micro layer of titanium that will assure the reinforcement and durability – for about five times more than a common one. The flat strings receive an anti-oxidation shield and a fine layer of titanium that minimize the possibility of a string common breaking. Besides the physical and mechanical durability, the stringing shows an excellent tuning, soft touch texture and matchless timbre. A conditioning exemplar sound !

Hard Blast!

Hi guys!
http://www.hardblast.com/resenha/resenha-ufo-0610-en.asp

New review of the UFO´s concert in Sao Paulo.
This text is different from other published reviews. Take the opportunity to know the website of my friend Maila:
www.hardblast.com/index_eng.asp