martingoulding.com

Guitar World “Last Licks” Video Lesson on Bending Repetition licks by Martin Goulding

admin — Sat, 12 May 2012 01:11:57 +0000

For the May 2012 edition of Guitar World magazine which features the legendary Joe Walsh on the front cover, I put together my back cover column “Last Licks” based around some old school bending and repetition licks. These are the well-known generic cliches of the authentic classic 1970’s rock guitar era, well used by players like Jimmy Page, Alvin Lee, Ted Nugent and Ace Frehley. With the evolution in amplifier technology and the increase in gain towards the late 1970’s, along with the invention of the Floyd Rose, high output pick-up’s and low actions, players like Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and George Lynch would reinvented these licks in the new 1980’s hard rock era with a more aggressive nuance, a harmonically rich attack and tone-wide, slow vibrato styles, which would help cut through a hard rock/metal mix.

http://www.guitarworld.com/last-licks-bending-repetition

For the video, i thought it would be a great opportunity to hear and compare both vintage and modern approaches for each example, with a medium gain and vintage type fast/shallow vibrato followed by a more hot-rodded 80’s approach with full saturation and a wide/slow vibrato style, hit hard with a sliced semi harmonic pick stroke! For the audio I used an Axe FX II set up with Marshall Plexi Treble type sound with the drive set to full and the boost engaged, and a TS808 type tubescreamer with the drive set to zero. For the modern rock/metal versions i used a modded JCM800 sound with the gain on 3 o’clock, and the TS808 with the gain again set to zero, all played through the deadly Tokai Goldstar loaded with DiMarzio choppers! (see gear page) Then straight to an Apogee ensemble card into a Mac Pro running Logic. For Video, a Canon 60D and FCP X for editing. The supporting video goes into some detail breaking down the examples in a way that will be accessible for intermediate level players and has some behind the neck angles to see the arm/wrist rotation for the bending and vibrato.

Guitar World “Last Licks” Video Lesson on 2 Handed Tapping by Martin Goulding

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:07:01 +0000

For the April 2012 edition of Guitar World magazine which features the great Eddie Van Halen on the front cover, I put together my back cover column “Last Licks” showcasing some elements of the 2 Handed Tapping style, including examples in the style of EVH, Randy Rhoads, Reb Beach, Steve Vai and Greg Howe. For the audio I used an Axe FX II set up with a hot rodded Marshall JCM800 type sound with a TS808 type tubescreamer, then straight to an Apogee ensemble card into a Mac Pro. For Video, a Canon 60D and FCP X for editing. Many thanks go to my student and friend Irene Ketikidi for the loan of the guitar which is a EVH customised Charvel. Rock! The supporting video goes into some detail breaking down the examples in a way that will be accessible for intermediate level players and quick work for more advanced players! The main focus is muting the un-played notes to get good clarity on the notes played and generally checking the effectiveness of the muting techniques between the two hands, especially on the Vai and Howe examples, along with breaking down the ideas and counting through beat by beat, creating repetition fragments for any problem areas. Some licks can be broken down into complete practice routines, and you may find that practicing one technique in detail will have positive knock-on effects to the other areas of your playing.

Click here for the link to the 2 Handed Tapping lesson

The Thrash Metal Video Lesson from March 2012 can be found by clicking here

The Prog-Rock Video Lesson from February can be found by clicking here

Guitar World “Last Licks” Thrash Metal style by Martin Goulding

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:18:03 +0000

For the March 2012 edition of Guitar World magazine which features Lamb of God on the front cover, i put together my back cover column “Last Licks” showcasing some elements of the thrash style, including riffs in the style of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer and Lamb of God. The supporting video can be found by clicking here, and goes into some detail breaking down and focusing on the techniques used. For the audio i used an Axe FX II set up with a hot rodded Marshall JCM800 sound with a TS808 type tubescreamer for the first four examples and a Mesa Dual Rec type sound for the Lamb of God riff, then straight to an Apogee ensemble card into a Mac Pro. For Video, a Canon 60D and FCP X for editing which is great. The guitar is a very rare pre-Hammett 1991 ESP custom with skull&bones inlays and seymour duncan active blackouts which i was fortunate to borrow from my good friend Doug Cartwright. Rock!

Linear Sphere to release second album “Manvantara”

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:38:00 +0000

My band Linear Sphere will soon be announcing the release date of our second album “Manvantara.” This album follows our 2005 debut “Reality Dysfunction” which was very well received by the international rock press, leading to London gigs in support of Cynic and To-mera. Shortly after a successful start, the band started writing the next album in 2006, with a final blueprint coming together by 2007. At this point the internal writing direction/vision within the band was starting to conflict as the music underwent refinement and ultimately started to move further away from the initial concepts. After nearly a year of experimentation and slow progress, the band became demotivated and ground to a halt, with my good friend and co-guitarist/co-writer Charlie Griffiths leaving to pursue other directions due to some clashes in vision within the band, but nevertheless on friendly terms. The band was reduced to an inactive project for a while, before i decided with the bands support (and Charlie who co-wrote three of the tracks) to build the tracks again using the original structures and blueprints.

Since then, i have worked day and night to develop this work to its full potential, engineering the band, producing and playing over the last 2-3 years to achieve the dream of releasing this incredible work. The album features the amazing playing of Nicolas Lowczowski on drums, Steve Woodcock on fretless bass and chapman stick, Jamie Brooks on keyboards and Jos Geron on vocals, with myself on guitar. The album is heavily progressive and unique, with a groove-based fusion rhythm section providing the foundations for a heavy rock/metal/fusion guitar approach, constantly developing with evolving time signatures and unusual harmonic approaches. This music is on the cutting edge and many steps up from our successful debut, it will be worth the wait! .

Another feature of our new album, which i’m proud to mention is the amazing contribution by top British actor Paul Darrow, who you may remember played Avon in the famous late 70’s/early 80’s sci-fi Blake 7! Paul came down to the studio in October to record a narration section which sets up the third track of the album, contributing to the lyrical theme which explores mankind’s journey from the legendary times of Lemuria through to modern day, through cataclysms and from advanced civilisation to near extinction, from interference and manipulation by dark spiritual entities to enlightened freedom, this album takes on the theme that we are about to start a new cycle of growth and evolution from a long age of darkness and has been an awesome concept to build the music around.

Along with John Papas at Hardbeat studios in Wembley, London, U.K, i have just completed the final mix and we are preparing for mastering this week. We are also in the process of arranging the final elements of the release such as photos and artwork for the album, a new Linear Sphere.com will be up and running soon as our old site is redesigned for the new release. I’ll be making an announcement on the release date very soon, once the masters are back and manufactured and online distribution is set up. So the next month or so will be busy and i hope once released, that people will enjoy this work as much as i have enjoyed being involved in its creation!

If you are on Facebook, please add our bandpage for more updates

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Linear-Sphere/329076993083

Martin Goulding New Monthly Columnist for Guitar World

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:03:25 +0000

I’m honoured to be writing again for Guitar World magazine, with a new monthly column entitled “Last Licks” running from January 2012. The first article is based on Prog-Rock, featuring examples in the style of the greats including Steve Howe, Alex Lifeson, Steve Hackett, and Robert Fripp. Many thanks to my good friend Phil Braithwaite for loaning me the beautiful Gibson 335.

Each article will be based around a certain style of playing and aimed at an intermediate level, with five nicely accessible riffs, licks and phrases. The lessons will also feature video content which will be posted on the Guitar World website. First issue is out now! Please click here for a link to the video lesson.

I did some work for Guitar World in 2009, including a special feature on Steve Vai, a series on Alternate Picking technique and the 30th anniversary edition commemorating 30 years of modern rock, and it’s great to be working again for a magazine that i grew up reading!

Martin Goulding IGF Masterclasses in July & August 2011

admin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 19:29:52 +0000

I’ll be teaching for the International Guitar Foundation (I.G.F) this summer, starting with a 5-day Rock youth course based in London at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (I.C.M.P formerly The Guitar Institute) from Saturday 23rd- Wednesday 27th July 2011. This course is for 11-18’s and includes early learning, intermediate and advanced tuition in Rock/Metal guitar styles as well as classes for drummers, bassists and singers. The week ends with a student performance and has been a very successful event over the last three years. For details click this link to be taken to ICMP events. Click here to book your place for the London camp.

From the 30th July to the 5th August, I will be teaching at the residential Guitar Festival in Cheltenham at the University of Gloucestershire alongside Andy James and Levi Clay. This is the main event of the year open to all ages and abilities, with courses in bass, vocals and drums alongside early learner/ intermediate/advanced classes in Rock guitar. This event is usually very well attended and has featured guests in the past such as Alex Hutchings, Guthrie Govan, Dave Kilminster, and Tommy Emmanuelle amongst others. The event is split into 2 weeks, the first of which focuses on Jazz, Blues and Classical with tutors Dario Cortese, Neville Martin and special guest Ben Verdery amongst others, with the second week covering Rock, Funk rhythm section workshops with Jason Sidwell and Acoustic guitar with special guest Andy McKee. For booking click here.

From the 8th to the 12th i will be teaching at the IGF residential guitar camp at the University of Exeter. This is an 11-18 youth rock camp with early learner/ intermediate/ advanced classes for guitar running alongside courses in bass, drums, vocals and songwriting. For more details of this event please click here.

Play Metal DVD by Martin Goulding reviewed by www.shredknowledge.com

admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:43:11 +0000

Here is the first review of my new guitar tuition DVD “Play Metal,” which was released this month by Future Publishing in association with Guitar Techniques magazine and can be ordered online here, as well as on the highstreet in branches of WHSmiths and Tescos! (see previous news post) Many thanks go to Mark Thompson and the guys at guitar website Shred Knowledge who conclude in their summary:

“This DVD and its examples are not so hard they are beyond the mortals reach and yet so good the worth reaching for practicing and learning. Tuition comes in two categories I find, either too easy and a waste of money or too bloody hard and a waste of money, this title is neither of these. Martin plays the examples with such precision and accuracy that also makes the student reach for higher level of accuracy. This is worth twice its £5.99 asking price and the performance tracks with backing worth the price alone. I have been both inspired and excited to play and learn from this title and it will stay in the DVD player long after this review. “I can honestly say its well worth buying .”

For the full review, please click this link. Rock!

Great thanks also to Laurie Monk and the guys at top guitar resource and database Truth in Shredding for the continued support:

New Metal DVD by Martin Goulding Now Available!

admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:35:20 +0000

I’m very proud to announce that my first tuition DVD, “Play Metal” has been released by Future Publishing in association with Guitar Techniques magazine. The DVD features intermediate to advanced lead development exercises and examples referencing the great modern rock/metal players such as Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Reb Beach and Tony Macalpine amongst others and comes with a full 16 page magazine with scale diagrams and tabs. Much of the content is based around developing the main technical elements of the modern rock/metal style including Alternate Picking, Legato, Sweeping and Tapping, also featuring three solo studies in the Hardrock, Thrash and Neo Classical/Modern Metal styles, complete with high quality backing tracks and running at just under an hour. The price is a bargain at £5.99 and is available in the U.K at WHSmiths and Tescos! (rock’n'roll!). For international orders click here to check it out.

Martin Goulding Demos Marshall YJM100 for Guitarist Magazine

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 14:59:54 +0000

Earlier this year i was very honoured to be invited by Guitarist magazine and Marshall Amplification, to demo the new Yngwie Malmsteen signature amp, the YJM100 head.As both an avid Marshall fan and with Yngwie being one of my earliest influences, i jumped at the chance to put the amp through its paces! In late March i went up to the factory in Milton Keynes for a full factory tour, road testing the amp on Marshall’s legendary live stage alongside international demonstrator Chris George. I used a 1988 Fender Yngwie Malmsteen signature strat and my Ibanez RG8570 DR to invoke the fury! The amp features two channels and a built in attenuator, which allows the amp to be cranked full on while being played at lower volumes, check out the spec here! The amp delivered a full range of authentic tones from clean to classic rock crunch through to high gain metal and amazed everyone that heard it. Highly recommended not just for fans of Yngwie, but as an amp that delivers a full spectrum of classic and modern rock tones. The tour and demo were filmed to be included with the June 2011 issue of Guitarist magazine. Rock!

The Sound Guitar Magazine Issue 7

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 13:48:47 +0000

The Sound Guitar Magazine is one of the best online magazines for cutting edge guitar playing and is absolutely free to download from www.thesoundguitarmagazine.com. Packed full of transcriptions, interviews, special features and lessons from some of the best players in the world!

Issue 7 features my masterclass in Alternate Picking sextuplet patterns, based around the style of players such as Paul Gilbert, Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore and John Petrucci. The issue also features transcriptions and lessons from a host of top players and teachers including Scott Henderson, Johnny Hiland, Joe Bonamassa, Bruce Bouillet, Chris Poland, Andy James, Daniele Gottardo and Jason Macedo, with a special feature on the late Shawn Lane. Amazing value for no money! Download it now!