Greetings from Essex

Hi All, I'm interested in Website design, and joined this forum to learn from what others are doing. I'm also interested in many different types of music, I play the guitar, and I use my computer to create demos of songs. Not sure where I'm going in life, but I guess the journey is more interesting than actually arriving somewhere.

Welcome to WF.
(I was in Eastwood at the start of the week, same county... nm, forget I said anything ).
Until 6th May last year (when I broke my left han... paw, and they stuck my 3rd finger back on any old which-way, so it kinda points to Mecca at certain times of the day now) I played guitar as well.
Got around eight lying around various points of the house but my pride 'n' joy is still a Gibbo LP Standard Flame-top which was finished in the Gibson Custom Shop (they take the best top on the line for the week), complete with Custom stamp on the rear of the headstock.
What software you use on yr p.c.? I'm thinking of getting something like Cakewalk, now I can't play 'analogue' any more (lol).

Sorry to hear about your hand RedSkwirrell. I guess this is worst sort of injury a guitarist can suffer. I played electric guitars in the past, but these days tend to do fingerstyle on a classical guitar.

What I would really like is to get myself a midi guitar and use one of those AXON 100 units made by Terratec - have you heard one - they're awesome. That way it's possible to make the guitar sound like anything from heavy metal to a saxophone, and more ...

I've used Cakewalk, and it is a nice piece of software and quite easy to make some decent music with. I ended up investing in the full blown Cubase SX3. I can't say I've used anything like the power it offers, but its great having the features there when I need them. Another fantastic but cheap product is the virtual drummer called Jamstix (by Rayzoon) - it integrates into whatever style you want and has some great drum and percussion sounds to go with it as well.

Haven't heard of the Terratec, I've been out of that for a while.
I had one of the old Roland guitar synths (in the loft now I think) GR303 or 300 something or other.
It's just a fuzz box really.
Blimmin awful.
lol
Trouble with keyboards / guitars sounding like other instruments is that the other instruments are played differently so, although the sound can be copied, it's harder to mimic the playing style.
Used to play with a guy who had a '57 salmon pink strat and he ripped the original bridge out and replaced it with a synth' pick-up.
Good player - utter philistine.
Haven't played classical but I have a gorgeous Washburn accoustic in my fireplace.
Several people recommended the CuBase to me, mostly session muso's. lol
Still looking into which will be best for me... every time I decide on something, something newerer and betterer comes out. Must be my age. *sigh*
lol

Hi RedSkwirrell, sorry for not getting back to your last reply sooner, but I wanted to comment on a couple of your points.

From things I have heard and read about the Terratec Axon system, it is far faster and more playable than the old Roland guitar synths. The pickups react to the transient when the pick hits the strings, and this is claimed to be more accurate and with no apparent time delay when playing cleanly. There are also other benefits of using an Axon, such as being able to split different sounds onto the strings, so you can play bass on 5th and 6th strings and a piano on the upper strings, and it is also possible to split the string length into 3 different sound zones as well. Its difficult describing all the features in this post, but look on their website for more info:
http://audioen.terratec.net/modules....=article&sid=1

I saw a good demo of the Axon at a music exhibition at Wembley last year, and the guy who did the demos (Burr Johnson) has done some videos which you might like to watch:

http://audioen.terratec.net/modules....ticle&artid=66

With the Axon pickup - it can be stuck on without doing any damage to the guitar, although many users apparently like to fit it inside the body. I was hoping to get a guitar with a pickup already fitted that was compatible with the Axon, but that will have to wait until I have some spare money.

All the best music packages have several versions to suit what you need, and they can be easily upgraded if you need more. For example, Cubase comes in 3 or 4 versions and the cheapest one in under £100. Cakewalk has the same option of various entry levels. However, I agree with you that it is confusing when so many new gizmos are constantly being brought out, but then there will never be a best time to buy this sort of thing. It's best just to get on the bandwagon and get used to using the software, then when something new does come along you will already be well-prepared to take on board some new features.

Hope to see you around the fourm some!!