Musichopper » personal blog

A special place for all of my students!

admin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 18:44:24 +0000

Hi, I have created a forum for my many students to share experiences and it would be great if you could come and have a look : http://soar.forumotion.com

Thank you!

Allen Robot Van Wert

Fat drummers

ROBOT — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:12:06 +0000

There is a recent uprising or notice of overweight drummers with extreme talent. Some say they have an advantage because they use their wrists instead of their arms to play. I am wondering if people have issues with overweight musicians as a whole but in this post, specifically drummers. They are usually hidden behind a kit at the back of the stage and I have a feeling that most audience members barely notice them. Have you ever had an issue because your drummer was too fat? I had a friend drum for a band and the members were very put off by his physical appearance. No matter what was being played, they always reverted back to the primary issue in their minds… band photos. How can you take an unappealing band member and really make it work for your band photo?

I came up with a few methods that may work:
1. You play off the idea of the fat band member like Bowling for Soup does. Really show it off… perhaps have the member being thrown peanuts from the rest of the band members from behind a fence. To me this seems a little nasty to do to someone, even willing. I would go the route of playing off them as if they are very sexy and have a bunch of strippers putting money in THEIR undies while they are dancing on a stage with a pole or something.

2. You can hide them. In most band photos you will see either the singer up front or in a line with other members. More commonly, you will see the fat band member way in the back hidden so only their face shows. This is a very popular technique. If your singer happens to be the fat band member, this will not make much sense though.

3. Photoshop them to death. I once had a drummer with very large ears. I would have to go in and Photoshop his ears off because of the singer of the band getting so upset about the photos every time. You can easily make someone a little thinner in photoshop. Notice I said “a little”. If you go overboard, it will be wacked out looking and people will notice.

4. Visual trickery. This would be using circus mirrors to warp the dimensions of band members to a whole new and non human appearance. Same goes for a fish eye lens.

5. Use other humans in your band photo. This seems like a very bad idea because people going to the show will be very confused about what happened to those models they saw in the photo.

6. Don’t have humans in your band photo at all. You can simply use other sorts of visuals with the band logo. Or even cartoon versions of your members instead of real photos.

7. Use only one or a few members in the photo and make sure to remove the far and/or ugly members. This ensures some hard feelings but also ensures that you look better and more marketable.

I feel that the best bet is to try and get the best looking band members you can and have them work their image in a certain way. You usually shouldn’t look like an audience member. The problem is that regular people are dressing like band members exceedingly often. This puts you at a point where you really need something special to stand out. Perhaps a cape… a giant hat…talent.

Practice your instruments, vocals and even dance moves. The audience needs to be entertained. They will be more interested in a stage show than talent. But they know if the talent is lacking, especially when you stand there like a robot… not me.. I mean an actual robot being all weird and afraid. Even if you stand still, there is still emotion in your presence that you can use to sell the show. Eyes… face etc.

But I need to know what people think… Would you rather a Fat band member with a lot of talent? Or a great looking one with minimal talent?

Songwriting Book Now Available!

ROBOT — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:10:03 +0000

I just added a purchase page for my new book “Modern Songwriting Secrets”. I will be adding more details about the book soon but I put this up for the people who have been emailing me about getting the book asap.

http://www.AllenVanWert.com

Please let other musicians know about this book. Also please let me know how it works out in helping you with songwriting. Thank you for all the help and support!

Allen

New book is finished!

ROBOT — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:54:46 +0000

My new book entitled “Modern Songwriting Secrets” Is complete and about to go on sale. It deals with becoming a better songwriter with real world examples and secrets about modern songwriting. This isn’t about classical music, 70s pop hits, or any pointless songwriting banter like most of the songwriting books out there. This is the real deal about modern music and how to craft hits. I slaved over it and made sure to include every singe tip and secret I could. There is a song analysis at the end of the book that is severely detailed and organized to help you out. The song is a current alternative metal song on national radio. It is from the band “Ra”. Sahaj Ticotin (Their lead singer) Gave me permission to use it for the book and I use it to prove how my examples and secrets are used in the current music on the radio.

If you want to get better at songwriting and have tried other books like me and just never gained anything of substance from them except for theory terms and coined phrases then this is the book for you!

I keep away from music theory as much as I can while providing a real world way to look at things and explain it all in a common sense and logical way. I provide the secrets and tools for you to get better immediately after reading it through. However, I feel that there are so many good tips and examples that most people will find themselves going back to it time and time again when they need a quick fix for a song they are working on. Or when they just need to sharpen their craft. It deals with all aspects of songwriting. There are no pointless examples and no old school mentality where you end up learning about how diana ross songs were written about love because love is a good topic. Nothing lame like that. It is the real deal!

So let me know if you are interested and I will hook you up!

Talk soon!

Allen

New website underway!

ROBOT — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:21:43 +0000

There comes a time in every musicians life when they realize what they think people should have is not what people want. This is especially true for teachers in the music field. I have been giving free lessons on practicing guitar and music theory for quite some time on youtube. I have been flooded with questions nonstop about one certain topic. I have avoided this for a while because the topic would be time consuming and I felt that being a growing musician meant doing things for yourself.

The many questions about getting a tab, about writing music, or about song analysis has made me realize that people are really interested in this. The first thought in my head is TIME CONSUMING. I am about to make a website dedicated to song analysis by request. I am also going to have 100% accurate tabs for songs on the site. I am sure you have noticed that every tab found online and even many in the published books are incorrect. Some are so wrong that it makes me wonder how anyone can play a song in that way and still think it sounds right.

Understanding that working cover-bands like the ones I have been in in the past are always on the lookout for tabs to songs. They get together and play what they read online the night before. I have always found it funny to notice many guitarists playing songs the wrong way at shows, because they all play certain songs they same wrong way… This is a strong indicator of what tab they used as a reference.

I might even include a section of the website where people can post the worst tabs they have ever seen. You know the ones… they are in the wrong key… wrong tuning… the words are to some other song… and that one chord they mark as a major when it is clearly a minor.

There is another deal that got on my nerves a little. Every tab I see is from some foreigner in a school of some sort. Their text reads like this:

“This is my first tab so please be kind. I am 100% sure it is accurate because I used to play this song in a band. I didn’t get to post the solo part yet because I am too busy with school. You can easily figure it out yourself though. Listen to the song to get the proper feel and strum it how you hear it. The bridge was tough to figure out and might be a little off…it sounds pretty close.”… etc etc

This is the type of thing I see consistently with tabs online. I am starting to think its the same guy with some really odd sense of humor fucking with me. I like to reference tabs when needing to learn songs fast. I listen to the song. Play their tab and see what parts they messed up on. Then I figure out the part the right way and sometimes learn to voice it so I can play two guitar parts at once. There is nothing wrong with tabs.. except this:

Inaccurate because people without ears write them.
No rhythm indicators because people without rhythm write them.

I am going to have a website specifically for guitarists in cover bands who need an accurate tab the first time, every time. Without needing to check 10 different ones and then figure it out by ear anyway. It will have all the bells and whistles guitarists in cover bands would want. No extra crap in the way. No pop up ads covering the screen. No BS!

First and foremost I will be ensuring that every song is perfect. I want this to be a place where musicians can go in complete confidence every time. I want a band to be at rehearsal saying to go to the website and get the tab there because it is always spot on. I will probably include video of how to play the song as well. Slow and normal speeds.

If anyone else has a good ear and knows how to notate please let me know and I will see about giving you a job on the site. I am going to be bogged down with about two to three hundred songs right off the bat. I am firstly going to select the most popular cover songs for an average cover band.

I hope this works out!

I finally gave in and got a twitter

ROBOT — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:59:25 +0000

I have been in a silent war about some recent “technology” with my girlfriend and most people I talk to. I do not understand why I need a twitter and why people spend so much time on there. I was sitting here thinking, maybe I am being a little strong headed and need to just give it a shot. So here I am with a twitter. Within thirty seconds I got a follower. I was thinking…wow, that was fast..were people searching all this time for me on there? Then I clicked to see who it was. It was some sort of spam-bot telling about some product. I hope people are happy with me finally getting a twiter. I have been posting “tweets” but they consist of bashing the pointless twitter.

If you would like to follow me on twitter to know about my super secret daily thoughts here it is…

https://twitter.com/allenrobot

The life of this independent artist

ROBOT — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:30:53 +0000

Hello, I am in the process of converting this shared office into a full on A/V recording studio. There is enough space for that type of thing once my girlfriend is placed downstairs in her own new little office. This way we both win. I will have a nice area to record in. I can finish my instructional. She will have her own space and not be forced to listen to the same 5 seconds of audio looping for hours and hours when I am mixing.

I just fixed her computer up with some new parts and I am ready to take the next serious step in the career path of a musician. I already have the text and most of the video finished for the instructional and just need to put it all together in various formats for publication.

Now the sad truth about being independent…

I averaged my last four years of album sales, both physical and digital of all sorts. I was sad to notice that I averaged only a little over $6.00 a month in sales! People are not buying albums like they used to. It is a harsh reality that is very clear to me and the industry. My digital sales (downloads) are far exceeding physical sales. I stopped advertising my album over two years ago so it is nice to still have sales going. But I lack the funding to fully advertise at all. In fact I am losing money on the thing if you figure in the cost of my websites.

This is a warning to artists everywhere. The best bet is to play live shows. My problem is this, who would go to a live show for instrumental guitar? Is there even a decent audience for it in the live arena? I can sing, I have a singer, I have vocal songs that are radio friendly, and I love playing live shows. I am thinking about putting together an album of radio playable music that still highlights guitar in some ways. What would people think of this?

Just a little bit on my personal side.

New Metallica Album

ROBOT — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:16:09 +0000

The new Metallica album is due out soon! I have my worries about it and miss 90s metal. I know most people are into the earlier albums from Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax but my favorites were “The black album”, “Countdown to extinction” and “The sound of white noise” respectively. I was never into the straight out thrash metal with thin guitar tone and lack of melody. I admire the power of those three albums. They had strong composition, melody, harmony, and lyrics. After that point things all seemed to go downhill. Metallica came out of a five year tour with haircuts and a new sound that was quite disappointing. Megadeth had another set of good albums but then released “Risk” a little too close to pop and lost one of my favorite musicians “Marty Friedman”. Then they sort of fell off the map. Anthrax had a decent album that (if I remember correctly) was performed by their drummer “Charlie” on all instruments. It was still that same good melodic metal but at that point they were off the map as well.

Now I hear about this new Metallica album and watched some of their fly on the wall videos of them recording it. I get the distinct feeling that they are attempting to recreate the “Black album”. I could just be hopeful for that, but they seem to have a nice polished sound again and quality production standards. James has been learning to sing and working on his ear. He references a small keyboard for his pitch more than a few times in the videos. Roberto Trujillo appears to be a seasoned studio session player. He has great chops and a keen ear. He has this crazy bass guitar tone that happens to sound like a keyboard pad synth. Kirk is recording while using a wireless rig for some reason. That bothers me to no end. He also has this horrid air noise/hiss that is going to be a bitch to remove from the track later on. His solo work is a tad outside his normal comfort zone. They had him recording one portion of a solo without the backing so it would have a very free feel and not lock in time. He is also using more open strings on his solos than normal and he is upset that it may sound a little too “Angus Young” as he puts it. There are many guitars and rigs they are trying out and swapping in and out for different parts of individual songs themselves to get the exact tones. This attention to detail in the tonal quality of every little sound is astonishing and exciting to me. Lars has many takes and is protooling them together, picking and choosing the best of the best as usual. The odd thing I find is that he is selecting what licks kirks solos will have or not have. There was even a long discussion about a pickslide; The tone of it, length, volume, and reasoning. (Before Lars even Heard it). I admire him taking part in the decisions as usual, however it just has to make Kirk feel like a hired hand at times. Guitar solos are back and I hope they capatolize on this with the album. I feel that Megadeth will be in their next Album with Chris on guitar. (Very talented touch tapper!)

They have a song called “The Unforgiven III” on this one and they are working to make it dynamically the same as the first one with the heavy verses against a clean chorus. I am excited about this album and with the tons of free shows you can download from their website, I feel that they are attempting to reedeem themselves to the internet world…. remember napster. I hope this album really sets a new standard for melodic metal and hard rock. Because if not, I will have to do it myself.

Writing a new set of books

ROBOT — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 07:10:01 +0000

I just happened to go through my records for last years earnings and it is quite bleak. The only thing notable is that the book I wrote made over two times the amount of album sales for 2007. This got me thinking. I really enjoy sharing my lessons and years of knowledge about guitar and music theory. I seem to be able to help people out with all of the confusing stuff they pay teachers to show them. I will be working on a set of instructional books for guitarists. They will help you master your craft and will be in a step by step process that will work. I never aimed to publish my first book and it went over well with the masses. I might give this one a shot at being published and put into stores. I have a long list of personal exercises I used myself. I will be making some new ones that should really hurt. It seems like people would rather learn how to play guitar then listen to guitar based music. This isn’t true because the album was priced quite low (way too low). Someone actually has the song ROBOT Funk as their ringtone from Verizon. I noticed this in the sales log today. Perhaps things are looking up. I am excited to begin work on these books!

New G3 lineup

ROBOT — Thu, 22 May 2008 03:32:10 +0000

I just heard about Buckethea…I mean Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci playing 2008 G3 with Joe Satriani. It should be interesting. I never went to a G3 show but I have been at a Joe Satriani show once. I will never go to one again. He is a great musician and the guitar playing was decent, however guitar alone is boring to me. I can only listen to guitar solos for a little while and then I want to leave. My favorite part of that show was the Stu Hamm bass solo actually. I should mention that Stu gives online lessons along side of me at Music Virtuosity.

One cool thing about guitar shows is that the audience tends to clap in time. The shitty thing is that it is basically all guys who play guitar and stare at the dude on stage with their arms crossed thinking… yeah I play that song better at home on my POD…or whatever.

One review of my album said I should be a third of G3 someday. It would be fun for me but I always tend to think a straight out guitar show is boring for the audience. Steve Vai is a great front man and musician…perhaps he could pull off entertaining without vocals. He seems to. I liked his DVD from London.

Before anyone thinks I am bashing guitar based music…keep in mind, I put out an all instrumental guitar album and love listening to instrumental music. But as far as a live show goes, It seems boring to me.