Electronic Insomnia

Electronic Insomnia

Discovered about this new disease primarily caused due to modernization and all the Internet and Social Networking.. The Future has truly arrived. Will this be the reality in offices one day?

Concise Electric Guitar Guide for Metal/ Heavy Metal Style

Let me say this up front. I am a novice. A n00b. I have very bares bones guitar playing skills and have only till now played an Acoustic. Recently, my interest in guitars was redoubled and I punched through learning a lot of Metal songs (obviously from YouTube and the Internet). And the obvious realisation was that I needed a electric guitar to proceed any further. I started researching for buying an electric on the Internet. As expected, the Internet is bloated sick with too much Information. Unfortunately much of the information was either too basic like "What a guitar looked like" or too complicated (or elitist if I may) like "how to upgrade stock pickups to Duncan Humbuckers." If the last few words made no sense to you but the earlier query seemed silly, please read further.

NOTE: What I intend to do here is to vomit all the information I have assimilated from the Internet with respect to understanding and buying a Electric Guitar that Metal style of rock in a concise one- stop way. I have not, at the time of writing, tried or actually bought and \or played a Electric guitar. Yes I may be moron, but I feel a similar blog would have helped in my search. So just filling the gap. Hope it helps someone.

1. Understanding a Electric Guitar.

All images are owned by the people who own it. I don't. I just link to it.

What you see here is a typical guitar. Let the shape not throw you off. Its just styling, nothing to do with sound.

Now most (solid bodied) Electric Guitars by definition do not have sound of their own, or not a loud enough sound. Because it has no hollow resonating box to amplify the sound made by the vibrating strings. What it does instead is capture the vibration and convert into electric signals and then amplify that sound outside the guitar. hence an electric guitar.

1. The device which captures vibrations are called Pickups (see fig). They are basically coils of wire with magnetic field around them, the vibration of strings over them causes changes in this field creating tiny electric signals.
2. The Device which takes these signals and converts them into a loud sound is called an Amplifier or in short an AMP.

Phew, that was almost back to school, but its over.

As you know, electric guitars have spawned the rock and roll genre including Heavy Metal, thrash, Death, Black, nu, Alternative, psychedelic etc etc ... An important feature of Heavier forms of Rock is that it features really fast riffs /interludes. Humans, although legends have proven to be an exception, are limited by physical ability to play so fast.

This can be alleviated by

1. A Thin Neck. So don't need long big fingers. Like half of you are already not bothered about having bigger, longer organs.

2. A Low Action: Action is basically distance between strings and the base of the fret Board. A lower action means you don't have to press with all your might to get the right tone, while risking Carpal Tunnel's. This helps when you are playing very fast.

Now the things to notice is that it should be low enough that you need minimal effort to play the note. But at the same time not too low to cause the string to simply hug the fret board causing a muted noise, like a dying fly, called the Buzz.

The Point to note here is that buzzing is dependent on the build quality and finish. Hence you must try to play every note to ensure there are no stray buzzing instances. Else your favourite solo will end up sounding choked at that note. Hence, at the store, check. But if it does, don't "fret" too much. Ask the shop keeper if he can adjust it. No biggie, but you should check it.

Now that we are talking about fret board, check if the neck has a smooth finish. The upper half esp. where your thumb and inner hand slides .. should be smooth. Else, the frets are ruthless and won't mind leaving a cut or a gash.

Hah, Drama queen!!! :P

Back to pick ups:

1. Single Coils :
These are the very first kind of pick ups. Lets forget the actual technical mumbo jumbo. These type of picks up produce a softer tone and are much useful for cleaner, crisper music styles. Which are those? Blues, jazz etc etc. That doesn't mean you can't rock with a guitar with Single Coil. You can, you 'll know why soon. But the awesome sounds we have grown head banging too, that head rush will be missing. They are not useful for playing heavy sounds.

2. Humbucker Pickups.

These are a more complex form of pickups and are much suited for generating that metal sound which pumps adrenalin into our body. Please note while these help in generating that metal sound, they can also used for playing clean tones. But will not sound as clean and soft.

All pick-ups come in various price range and quality. As you enhance your skills you may want to upgrade these to get better sounds you are looking for.

What are the other knobs there for ?

Well you should probably know this, but if you don't they are self explanatory. One is Volume, duh. The other is tone. Tone is variation of notes, whether sharp or dull. You will understand better when you actually try it at a shop.

Pick up selector switch: Well electric guitars don't have just one pick up. They have either 2 or many times 3 pick ups. One is always near the bridge (start of strings) and one at neck. The third one is in the middle, if there is.

Nomenclature:
Neck pickup: This ones closer to the neck. This produces a warm tone. Warm = bassy. Like basking in a sunny morning, butterflies fluttering, breeze combing your hair....

Sorry, but you get the point. Due to its nature is mostly almost always used for rhythm style guitar playing. Hence is also called as the Rhythm pickup.

Bridge Pickup: This Pick up creates a more sharper tone. This is usually useful when you want to play solos and lead guitar and have that crispy sharp sounds. Hence, is also called a lead pickup sometimes.

The In-Between pickup is an in-between and generates an in-between sound, useful for when you are trying to find that in-between sound you heard in between your favorite track.

The Pick up selector is (oh you know!.. so smart already!!) a switch to help you select a pickup or switch to the other (duh). A 2 pickup guitar, has 3 switch positions.

Neck: Neck pickup active, others off. Rhythm play.

Bridge: Bridge pickup active, others off. Lead play

In-between: Both Active. Dunno what. Both.

With 3 pickups, it has 5 positions. You are smart , do the math.

More on pickups:

Many entry and intermediate level guitars come with a combination of pickups where the neck pickup (warm sound)is Single coil (clean sound) and the bridge(crisp sound)is a Humbucking (heavier tone)one. Collectively called HS configuration. This lets players to play a range of guitar styles from blues , jazz to Death and Nu-metal. If you are unsure of the style, make sure you get some similar combos. The 3 pickup has 2 SS (Single Coil) and 1 H (humbucking), and hence a HSS configuration. A H-S Config too is possible and common among entry guitars.

Whammy Bar\ tremolo bar.I had not seen a Whammy bar\ Tremolo bar \ vibrato Arm until much later. if you are still wondering what it is , its that long metal arm you see attached to bridge of the guitar in the pic.

This Whammy bar , when pulled stretches the strings, thus changing their notes, creating the bleeding, sliding notes we are so used to hear in Metal solos. They say that similar effects are possible by just bending the strings. I dunno. I'm a noob.

What I do know is that in cheap entry level guitars where parts are not top-notch, the whammy tends to put the guitar out of tune and too often at that. As someone who is just learning, this can be frustrating. Some argue you learn more and will be much accomplished player in the end, will only need more patience. So look at yourself in the mirror and ask am I that person. The answer you get is the answer to whether you get a guitar with a tremolo bar.

The presence and absence of a tremo arm also affects whether the Bridge is fixed or floating. Again on a similar analogy, floating bridges difficult, expert level stuff, fixed, good entry-level stuff.

Tuning Nuts: Are you nuts over nuts?

The Tuners are turn knobs at the far end of the fret board that let you tune the strings.

You have to check if the tuners are precise and give you a good feedback. A locking nut is available here, which lets to lock your tuning position. Lesser re-tuning breaks. Its minor, just Tune your guitar once and then play something. (Yes, random striking with pick permitted), Check if you don't loose tuning too easily. Why? read above.

Some Sample Entry Level Guitars :
Please note the lowest priced good brand (meaning not a nameless Chinese make) guitar
start upwards 8K and Entry level stops at 15K for me. But you are master of your moolah. So splurge.
These Guitars have been picked with an idea of playing Metal Music an with ability to play other styles decently.

Bullet Strat:

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0310005580

This Guitar is the cheapest entry level guitar and packs a punch at the price range.
This is HSS config, with a tremolo arm. It modelled after the famous Fender stratocaster (looks exactly like a strat), manufactured by squier, the cheaper cousin of fender. Good Starter. This is good for people wish to not invest much, who want to play a wide variety. Due to low price, no guarantee if each guitar has same level of quality. Hence TEST and BUY.

2 . Epiphone Special SG

http://www.epiphone.com/Products/SG/SG-Special.aspx

Just like the Squier, the Epiphone too is a cheaper cousin of the Iconic gibson guitars that have been immortalized by many of your rock idols. Now this is a true heavy rock guitar as has a HH config.
The price, though, cheap might still be steep for a beginner and is actually out of the range I mention, but its a worthy mention.

3. Ibanez GRX40

http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/GRX40

The Ibanez is a comparatively newer company but is as reputed as the former companies. This particular has come highly recommended for Metal and is said to produce really good thrash sounds. Its a HSS config again, which means it is all round performer. Also its price hits the sweet spot between the Bullet Strat and the Epiphone SG special.

4. ESP LTD F -series F- 10 Black.
http://www.furtadosonline.com/product/Esp-electric-guitar-ltd-f-series-f-10-black-lf10blk-202744.html

Another Cheap remake of the Legendary ESP guitars which are used by the Masters themselves. These are the raw deal and will give you the sound you grew up listening. The Quality is though I have heard, questionable. But give it a try, if you don't find any complaints go for it. Awesome Design and price range..

I have rambled on for too long now to cover Amps and other stuff. Watch out for my next post.
Hope you found it useful.

\m/

Saada Haq ..ethe rakh

I believe good directors are great Narrators. That is what enables them to breathe life into a mere series of scenes. And when the story being told is their own or perhaps very close to them, they break the surly bonds of commercial success themes and formulas. Movie then becomes a ruthless pursuit to expose and convey the most naked emotions buried within the story. Many times such an attempt becomes an awkward experience for us as a viewer. Sometimes it turns into a masterpiece. Rockstar is the latter.

This movie, too, is a signature imtiaz ali movie where he yet again explores the most famous four lettered invention called "Love". However, this time its potrayed as an unverbalized camaraderie between a Jim Morrison idolizing artist, yearning to be a Rockstar, and a College sweetheart soon to be married off into affluence. Janardhan Jhakar (Ranbir K), is searching for a heartbreak to happen as it will fuel his creativity and hence his dream to be a rockstar. He bumps into Heer (Nargis Fakhri), believing getting dumped by her should seal the deal. But mindless fooling around soon blossoms undetected and before they know has grown into a chronic tumor of love.

By the time they realize this its too late. Though it may seem formulaic, Imtiaz's treatment of the subject is very unique. So much that it transcends from a Raw human emotion to borderline supernatural and yet seems very beautifully plausible. People complain about a slow second half have missed the point. I guess they were waiting for something to happen while missing to savor some of the most beautiful unsaid portrayals of love.

Imtiaz experiments with non-linear editing in this one and has done some really cool stuff. Its like a novel which tells you in the first 5 lines that the protagonists dies in the end and grips the reader wondering how did that come to pass. The Cinematography too is brilliant and has produced one of the most memorable scenes of Bollywood cinema. At least for me. To top it all off is a shell of fresh and innocent humor which helps the movie remain easy going and yet not loose its depth.

Ranbir has arguably done a marvelous job, for his role is that of silent anguish, which can easily become one of a chronic constipation in the hands of a clumsy actor. He has also done one of the most close to reality potrayal of a guitarist within Bollywood and should be given credit for that.(looking at Rampal in rock on). Nargis is a Newcomer and is just that, a novice, however she is as beautiful as she is delicate and portrays her character well enough.

Last but not the Least, A R Rehman, trademarks the soundtrack with Kun Faya and cranks up the distortion with Saada Haq. (it has liberal sprinkling of guitar riffs and some good ones at that).

With a climax which can send jitters into many Bollywood directors this movie is definitely a feather in imtiaz Ali's Cap.

A Must watch by me, but then I am a sucker for Imtiaz Ali movies, hence a Pinch of salt is advised.

SIRI -ndepity

The new Iphone launched yesterday. And much to everyone's chagrin, turned out lack lustre.



The new striking feature was the advanced audio command/ assistant software called SIRI. The video of its usage has taken people by its stride and might actually help in sales. But is your world really private with SIRI. Here's a small peek of many what ifs.

Can I gets the lights?!!?

Being enslaved in the "corporate world" for the past many years, I was able to witness and participate in a Social ritual, which many of my fellow slaves rigorously follow, called Smoking. Somewhere in October 2010, the assh**e nanny government branded these "practitioners “ as pagan and banished them from being close to any social habitat. Since then the rituals have been moved to more desolate locations, like behind office buildings, under the bridges, wastelands and dilapidated building compounds. This separation from community and specifically from the cigarette shops (Pan Tapri.. as it isloving called), posed a new problem hitherto non-existent, Nicotine deficient vagrants continuously begging fellow smokers for a match to light up their cigarettes. The amount of social interaction I have experienced in these encounters turned out to be an eye opener on human Psyche andSocial Intelligence.

“Okay... That last linesounded way too profound... Really??”

Alright, may be it gives a sneak peak at quirks in human behaviour.
I have discovered, to best of what my underdeveloped neurons could analyze,specific set patterns in these behaviours and drawn some inferences which i am about to share. If you have been one harassed recently by teeming hordes of people begging for light, the following may help you a bit.

The Cigarette Havaldar/Bureaucrat:

This is mostly a lumbering overweight person, (can be thin and scrawny or normal), but more importantly a person whose innards resemble the contents of a sewage tank. He walks into the smoking areas with at least one of his minions hobbling behind him. He will target you long before you notice him and will stride towards you while his minions fervently get the cigarette ready. And like a autocratic noble from the medieval ages, he will stand next to you,extending an open palm in your face, while he continues to regale his minion with the story of how he wrote a kick-ass email. Now, it is up to your good judgment to understand that what he basically is doing is asking for a light.The obnoxious factor here is total absence of the courtesy to even ask for the matches.

Mitigation?

Assume he is begging and drop a coin in the palm.

If you are so inclined, you may kiss the palm and ask for his blessings toabsolve your sins.

You may take a deep thoughtful look at the palm pretending to read it, and predict he will die a horrible death by having his eyes scorched out with burning cigarettes.

The Cigarette Neurotic

Okay not very imaginative title but functional.

This variety, as you may have guessed, is more of a lonely kind. He will walk slowly in the field unnoticed. He bears an expression which says the mere presence of life around him make him miserable. He will draw out a cigarette and will each time realise he does not have any matches or a lighter.
If you happen to be standing next to him, you are screwed. He will look at you like you are vomit of a rabid dog that ate stale poo. And then will ask you for light, as if it was the most demeaning thing in life ever. And as you go ahead to give him a lighter or even lend him your cigarette, he will look at you as if the moment he is done, he will blast you to dust with a million watt laser coming from his eyes. These interactions sometimes cause loss of confidence and/ or courage.

Mitigation?

This kind is easy to detect due to the deliberate slow movements andoverly dramatic expressions. The easiest way is to throw him off guard byextending light before he gets a chance to ask.
This confuses his brain which thinks you are a worthless pile of garbage, whileyou are actually sentient and helpful.

The “Great Cornholio”

"Tee Pee for my bunghole?? "

Now, if you guys ever read asterix comics before, you will know that his side kick, obelix, is a man who has superhuman strength due to the fact that he fell in a cauldron full of magical potion, as a infant. Now imagine a similar person except that he fell in a cauldron full of Red bull mixed with sugar syrup. This guy is actually so hyper active that you actually only see him as a blur. Butts/ Filters of cigarettes smoked by this dude are defeated and get punctured under such intense stress of act of smoking.

He will simply grunt in front of you with the cigarette dangling from his lips and even before the signals register in your brain you will see his hand either reaching for your cigarette or at least gesticulating at you to hurry as if you were in ER intern trying to save the life of a trauma case.

Mitigation?

You may approach in both positive and negative ways depending on if you really wish to help.

You may crawl in to the basement and pray he is out your reach.

You may fumble endlessly in your pocket trying to draw out the match box, which will cause the dust devil of a person to drift to the next victim. But chances are you would get scratched / mauled by aforementioned attempts to grab your cigarette.

If you are able to spot it approaching, you can drop the matches /lighter and step away, so that he may light up and leave you unharmed.

In case you yourself don’t have any matches to spare, you can try point 3, or move cautiously behind some other group causing him to alter directions. Either way requires you to have complete awareness of the surroundings.

The True Brit

This is a fairly pleasant type and possibly many of us will be in the periphery of this kind. Here we discuss a person with obsessive compulsive need forcourtesy and etiquette. Good part is it is unobtrusive but it may cause someamount of guilt later.

This kind forget matches rarely, and on those occasions will truly search themselves thoroughly and will declare publicly with sighs and sometimes curse words (read as “fuck”) in an attempt to prove the genuineness of their forgetfulness. They will approach you and wait for you to notice them withoutbreaking into your conversation (or even deep thought if you are alone). When you do notice him, with the most humble look a lamb can ever have, ask you withalmost a deliberate stammer,

“Err, Excuse me.. Sorry, I wonder if you could spare me some match”,

All this while holding the cigarette as if to provethe truthfulness of his request. All he misses is a Hat twirling in his hand,if you must.

Mitigation?

None. Only thing to mitigate here is you not noticing him sooner, as it will only add to any guilt you may have.

These are a few exaggerated caricatures you might encounter in your smoking escapades.

I can’t end this without emphasizing that I do notcondone or wish to promote smoking. Smoking kills you in the most horrible ways and such that you will mostly end up having a closed casket funeral. Do not Smoke.

:P
:D

The Circle of 99

This is a short story that i heard somewhere in my childhood. Its a nice moral story.
I just wanted to share it.

Long time ago, there was a king who ruled the vast lands right from the Oceans to the High Mountains. His Kingdom was vast and abundant. His riches were no match for any other kings of those times. He was a valiant and a benevolent king. But Despite all of this, he ws not Happy.

Yea right, tell us something we don't know
His anxiety grew and he tried to satisfy himself with all worldly pleasures. But to no avail. In his court was a barber.

Billo Barber !!!???
He would come every week to give the king his shave. He had two wives and he would rave the king with his petty adevntures of his domestic life. he would always be cheerful and pleasant. Every week, the king would pay him 5 copper coins for his services, to which the barber would happily acept and be off. The King was jealous of him.
One evening in his resting quarters he called upon his trusted friend and advisor, his prime minister.
Birbal..... no wait.. i got this one... tenali rama... ?? no?
He told him about his dilemma that he was not happy despite all the riches and pleasures. He told him he wanted to know why and how was this poor barber so happy, even when he barely makes his ends meet.
His minster spoke said," It is because he is not in the circle of 99".
The King said, " What do mean?"
He said," Today night, ask one of the guards to drop a bag of gold coins in the barbers house quietly. but make sure the bag only has 99 coins"
The King replied," Why? Why not a 100 or 1000?"
The minister said,"Then you shall understand why you are unhappy"

The King did as advised. Next morning the Barber discovered the bag of coins. He was overjoyed. He felt as if all his prayers were answered. He started making plans for a Shop. A new house with this new found money. He was afraid the guards might be looking for it. So he decided he will wait if somebody is looking for them for few days. So making his plans, he decided to count them. He found there were only 99!

He began to think, if only there was one more gold coing he would have full 100. He started to think how he can get it. He thought if he did double the work, by travelling to the next village and cut back on his expenses, he could earn a gold coin in a month. Delighted he decided so.
Soon he started working double.

After a month, when he visited the king, he was late. His looked travel worn, he looked worried and irritable. He had no stories to tell. The King noticed the man looked no more happy.

The king talked to his minster," What happened to this poor barber?"
The minister simply replied," Sire, he is now in the circle of 99"

The End.... Really ..already?

Mr Ratnam You missed a spot

I don't know why I chose this movie review as my comeback to Blogging, but yes after almost 2 years I am trying to post something which is a movie review. The movie in question being Raavan.

But why Raavan.. ??? Good Question. Am I here to say something different from what the Entire critic world has to say ?? May be May be not . But my reason for this choice is as simple, lucid and trivial as the plot of the movie. Here goes....

Well actually I got bored watching the movie that my thoughts drifted and they reminded me that I have a neglected withering Net Space called this blog.

Coming to movie.... Expectations were very high considering the fact that the Doyen of Indian films was its director and Santosh sivan the cameraman.

Also, the marketing did a hell of job so the people never forgot this "epic" movie is coming. But as with all other highly marketed films, this too has .... (for me) fizzled.

The plot is a retelling of the epic Ramayana retrofitted to the newer world. I expected it to be more of a retelling in sense and not just a remake, which is what it turned out.

The story starts of quickly, With Beera (Raavan), kidnapping Ragini (Sita), Police SP Dev Pratap's wife. The Hunt begins and we stumble across Govinda as Hanuman, Laxman, Brothers of Raavan and Lanka.

Well for the least the first half has no story whatsoever. Its more like a Dicovery channel show with every other scene shot in Slow motion. But as with Discovery shows these are so breath taking that u may ignore the fact that movie's plot is at a grinding halt. Its only time that you realize its like watching a beautiful Windows screensaver, when your PC froze and it just loops endlessly.

Its only when you begin to get restless at about near Intermission that the story snails ahead.

We are treated with all the epoch events such as Surpanakha's insult, Hanuman's meeting and many others(disclosing them will be a spoiler.. ya i know that every one knows the story, but still it can be a spoiler.). During all this the movie shows energy but misses the soul. There is no connection. You really don't care for any of the characters' tragedies or travesties and they simple turn out as plot twists.

A End which is more predictable than the Sunrise in mornings, the movie left me with utter indifference. There was no retelling. No re alignment of values to modern times. It was a Remake with a newer Twists. God forbid if i am not getting the big picture, but as a movie it never connected to me and that is what is least a movie experience should have.

Acting Department, Aishwarya catches your attention with brilliant potrayal of Sita's Defiance and worship for her 'Bhagwan' husband. Vikram is usual, his hindi being really good, but nothing spectacular. He has simply put up the Samy (Vikram's Tamil Film ) act. Ratnam has really extracted the best from Abhishek as he has in his previous movies with him. However, this time Abhishek feels stifled and unnatural. Yuva and Guru are way better.

if you are a die-hard movie buff and cant-miss-a-mani-ratnam guy, you should go. But if you don't care so much, or its raining too heavily for going out you can give It a miss. A DVD, when it comes out, is all it needs. Even so, the breath taking cinematography coupled with stunts performed by the actors themselves may still be worth your admission fee.