Members streetknight Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 I don't have anyone to jam with. So I've been thinking of getting a drum machine or a looper or something but don't know much about these items. In my search I found 2 pieces of equipment that really caught my eye. First, was the Line 6 Spider Jam amp. Features all the Spider III modeling stuff, but has like 150 backing tracks already on it, with the capability of adding your own via a SD card. Has a built in looper and record feature. Also has the XLR and other instrument inputs. MP3 input. Looks pretty handy. Then there's the Vox Jamvox. This is just software with a Interface/Monitor. But it has Jamtracks, looper, recording, XLR input, and their GXT (guitar extraction software) on it. Supposedly, you can import you Itunes library, drag in the MP3 of your choice and jam along with it. With the GXT feature you can extract the guitar and play the guitar parts yourself along with the original artist as your backing band. You can also isolate the guitar and slow the tempo down without affecting the pitch to help learn solo's. The Jamvox is $200 cheaper, but is all computer based. What do you guys think? either worth buying and would help learn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bdemon Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 One of my students came in with the Spiderjam a few months back. Gotta admit it was pretty cool, all the patches modeled after famous song tones ("La Grange", etc.), drum loops, etc. But if you want more flexibility in programming your loops you're better off getting a drum machine. Alesis just came out with a new one, which I haven't tried, but I used their SR-16 for years, a Hall of Famer as far as gear goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members streetknight Posted October 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 Thanks. I'm a 33 year old father of 2 with a busy work schedule like many of you. My practice time is very limited and I've only been playing a couple years. Just trying to find a way to make the most effective practice time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 Check out Band-in-a-Box! Incredible stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Music Calgary Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 Check out Band-in-a-Box! Incredible stuff. +1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terje Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 BIAB is cool for what it is but I'll say that it very good to be able to loop, change pitch or tempo as well as jam along with. BIAB is great if you want to create a track to jam with and has additional software that will do the loop and pitch/tempo thing, I think it's called Slow Gold. You don' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 BIAB is cool for what it is but I'll say that it very good to be able to loop, change pitch or tempo as well as jam along with. BIAB is great if you want to create a track to jam with and has additional software that will do the loop and pitch/tempo thing, I think it's called Slow Gold. You don' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Music Calgary Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 You can easily loop, change key, and change tempo in BIAB -- plus TONS more. For example set up how many loops and assign an intro and outro accordingly, etc. So much more than just a looping tool, BIAB is the ultimate learning tool for music. And it has a bunch of specific learning tools built in such as "fretboard view" where you can see the notes on a fretboard in real time. BIAB also offers a bunch of guitar lessons, i.e. country picking, jazz guitar, etc. Ear training also. Awesome stuff. A couple other great tools are Guitar Pro and Transcribe!, they both do things BIAB doesn't. Bottom line, it's a great time to be alive -- we have so many awesome [affordable] options available to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virgman Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 I find BIAB great for jazz type stuff and GuitarPro for rock. They are both really useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mosiddiqi Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 The Spider Jam is a very cool I must say. Might also be worth checking out Fender's G-Dec which is similiar and cheaper I think...I must also add my vote for Transcribe! which I got recently based on recommendations on this forum and it is a brillliant tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Music Calgary Posted October 7, 2008 Members Share Posted October 7, 2008 Might also be worth checking out Fender's G-Dec I see these used all the time. Mixed reports. Worth checking out but if you buy one, check around for a used one -- you can probably catch a break. Line6 is a superb company with superb gear. Not all their gear is roadbuilt but as long as you're using the right gear for the right application you can definitely not go wrong with anything they sell -- and resale price tends to hold fairly well for Line6 gear because it's popular stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terje Posted October 8, 2008 Members Share Posted October 8, 2008 You can easily loop, change key, and change tempo in BIAB -- plus TONS more. I was thinking more of looping a regular CD or mp3 for that matter, something with music on that you want to transcribe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Music Calgary Posted October 8, 2008 Members Share Posted October 8, 2008 I was thinking more of looping a regular CD or mp3 for that matter, something with music on that you want to transcribe. Ahhh... Yes. I use Transcribe! for that, it makes it super easy to redefine your loop points on the fly, tweak playback speed, etc. Great software. Anytime I need to figure out music I can't pick out by ear I use Transcribe!. According to their site even Pat Metheny is using it. Hee. http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/reviews.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Music Calgary Posted October 8, 2008 Members Share Posted October 8, 2008 I was thinking more of looping a regular CD or mp3 for that matter, something with music on that you want to transcribe. Ahhh... Yes. I use Transcribe! for that, it makes it super easy to redefine your loop points on the fly, tweak playback speed, etc. Great software. Anytime I need to figure out music I can't pick out by ear I use Transcribe!. According to their site even Pat Metheny is using it. Hee. http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/reviews.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RCC Posted October 8, 2008 Members Share Posted October 8, 2008 Another potential option - http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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