Colored Guitar Strings

Remember when you were a kid and the “cool” thing to do was go out and buy the most obnoxious pair of shoe strings you could find to wear to school. Most people opted for some sort of neon color with a psychedelic pattern because let’s face it--plain old strings are just boring! Well apparently, one of those crazy shoe string kids decided that decking out his sneaks wasn’t enough and went a little wild on his fret board. Now they actually make colored strings for your guitar! Who would have ever expected that?

Colored Guitar Strings (Image Reference)

            There are a couple companies that make colored guitar strings, but it seems that Dr. Strings is the only one that people buy from. They offer the strings in blue, red, silver and black. Their “black beauties” are by far the most popular strings sold, and they’re a great way to add a little touch of depth to a guitar. If you are planning on rocking out in style, you may want to try a set of those out.

            However, you need to be forewarned that colored strings don’t stay “cool” for very long. Even though they are specially coated to keep the paint on the strings, they have been known to leave a bit of “dust” afterwards, as most people refer to it. As the strings are played over time, more and more of the paint is strummed away, leaving you with nothing but a set of dingy looking strings. If you play your guitar all the time or are thinking about putting it on a practice guitar, then you may want to stick with what you have. No sense in putting neon strings on your work boots now, is there?

            Don’t get discouraged from buying them though. If you have a guitar that you only use for special occasions or concerts, then decorate as much as you want! You can have a really great looking guitar, and the color should last awhile if you don’t play it in excess. Then all you have to add is some stickers and a hot pink bridge pin lifter, and you’ll be the talk of the town! You can even mix and match the strings, or go all out with a rainbow effect! It is totally up to you. Just have fun and see where the process takes you. You might end up bringing out those old shoe strings as well right after the first strum.

Guitars Can Go Green Too!

Over the last five or ten years, society has decided to finally get off the couch and do something to change the way it impacts the environment. Now we have hybrid cars, solar energy, recycled plastics, and even environmentally safe guitars. Yes, that’s right, guitars have “gone green” too! Simon Lee makes a line called the Cyclotron Guitars, and every part of the design was thought  through as a way to help better the environment while still maintaining the integrity of the guitar. They are the first guitars of their kind to push the limits of how humans can help the world, and hopefully they will inspire others to do the same.

            The body of the Cyclotron Guitars are made entirely out of recycled plastics. All those left over laundry detergent and cleaning supply bottles that people throw away are actually used to create some really cool designs for the face of the guitars. They use everything from crushed CDs to rejected yogurt containers to produce six different faces for the guitar’s body. Each one comes out a bit different, so everyone gets to enjoy a unique guitar that helps out the planet.

Guitars Can Go Green Too! (Image Reference)

            One of the biggest innovations that the designers came up with in the Cyclotron Guitars is the “sandwich” style construction. Every part of the electric guitar is layered o that it uses less material and still produces quality sound. They guitar is actually designed to create the same sound quality as non-environmental guitars without a loss of energy. All of the parts are isolated from the others so that they can be easily accessed and adjusted if need be. Everything is held together with steel or titanium bolts which should last for the lifetime of the guitar.

            The Cyclotrons feature a sleek, ergonomic design that is reminiscent of some more classical pieces. This gives the guitars a universal feel with a modernized look, bridging the gap between various members of the guitar community. They look great and sound just as good as anything else, and you don’t have to worry about how it was made. Everything about the guitar was planned around the environment so that we can get the most out of the materials we use. It’s a great guitar for tree huggers and rockstars alike, and everyone gets to feel a little bit happier about their impact on the world. Who says that mother nature can’t be your next groupie?

Magic Feet …

… We all own a pair of them!  Waiting for a bus, sitting for dinner in a restaurant or driving somewhere with the radio on.  Strains of music fill the air and as if by magic our feet with a will of their own start to tap to the rap instrumental beats that are part of this generation of hip hop music.

Watching performers whose movements are fluid and appear almost flawless every time provides the inspiration for us to get up and get moving (even if only for the exercise), as we copy-cat the entire body movements of a hip hop dancer as they move in time to their chosen rap instrumentals.  Countless hours are poured in as hip hop dancers work tirelessly sometimes over days at perfecting every step in their dance repertoire just to make the entire performance look like a nonchalant and casual undertaking.

The best asset when learning to dance to hip hop and rap is to carry within you a fabulous winner-takes-all attitude!  Starting and perfecting the basic moves that complement the hip hop beats means that with even limited experience you’ll be looking authentic and just as good as the professional hip hop dancers.  Learning to hip hop dance is mastered through repetition. 

To make a start buy beats online that immediately catch your attention and can hold your interest because you’ll be hearing them over and over again while you practice.  Here are a few of those basic steps:-

Heel and Toe Hip Hop Moves

Your comfort position is with your feet apart to the width of your shoulders.

Heel and Toe Hip Hop Moves (Image reference)

• Jump and land with your right heel on the ground directly in front of your left toes.
•  Use the right heel to pivot to the right and your left foot will step to the left so that you can retain your natural balance.
• You are back in the comfort position so do the reverse
• Jump and land with your left heel in front of your right toes.
•  When your left heel is pivoted to the left, the right toes will move in a step to the right and you’ll be back in your comfort stance.

Keep alternating the jump with the heel toe movements until you feel the quiet confidence of your natural hip hop rhythm.

Gliding to Hip Hop

From the comfort position with your download rap instrumentals playing in the background,

• Swing your right foot so your right toes point to your right.
• With the bulk of your weight on the ball of your right foot your left foot is free to slide in the exact opposite position outward about six inches and pointing to your left.
• The bulk of the weight shifts to the ball of the left foot and your right foot becomes free to glide/slide in front of the left foot.
• From the time that the glide starts all toes are turned left.  Shift the weight by grounding your left heel.  Shift the weight back to your right toes by gliding your right foot over your left foot and the right feet are over the left toes.
• Re-position your left foot to the left and you’d be back in your starting comfort position.

Magic Feet can be trained from simple steps to brilliant rap and hip hop dance moves.  Just buy beats that are interesting and dance your way to being one of the next most watched dance hall, rap or hip hop performers!

Rap Music and Killer Instincts

Rap Music is here to stay because it has won the hearts of all those people who like the sheer energy that comes with listening to Rap instrumentals, Hip Hop, R &B, Reggae or any of the beats that are vibrant with a quiet call to take action rather than to stay on the sidelines and let the world slip by.  The thoughts that are voiced through the medium of strong rap instrumental beats provide the strength in the delivery of the messages which are ultimately conscious and incredibly determined in their content. 

Rap Music and Killer Instincts (Image reference)

To go where others are too afraid to tread is the key to being in this high energy segment of the music industry where sheer guts with a bold positive attitude comes with built-in killer instincts.  Knowing when on the trail of a string of rap or hip hop beats that will kill the airwaves comes as a natural instinct to anyone who is set on making a mark as a performing artist or as the music producer whose fame comes from the wind (beats) he sets beneath the wings of the performer.

Killer Instinct is not limited to the performer who carries this as their stage name or even the arcade game so titled.  It is a way of being that takes those in the rap field who understand how it works into a dominant position right at the top of the charts, effectively killing off all of their competition!  Some individuals choose to buy beats online for a reasonable cost and then download as many rap instrumentals as they have purchased. 

The more creative individual goes one step further and purchases and learns the music production software so that they can twist, turn and flip the standard rap beats until they are made as fresh as newborn babies with genetics all mixed up from the parents and thrown in to form a musical specimen that appears completely new.

Typical beats for rappers vary considerably and this is what provides the life of the music because it is possible to start with a rap beat that is popular and instantly recognizable and tweak the beats and the instrumentals used to come up with a variation which when compared to its parent beat sounds completely new and is fresh to the listener who is unaware of the intricacies of rap music production or the music production software that can churn out new beats with studio audio quality from a simple computer keyboard.

Staying current by keeping tuned-in to what is happening in the rap music industry through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MTV and online with rap news broadcasts as they unfold and in some cases explode on a daily basis. This guarantees that the rap musician who is about to pounce on their ‘prey’ can perfectly time the moment when they can move in for the kill and when their rap beats can have the greatest impact on their intended audiences!

Some people choose to wait a lifetime for the right moment to be hand delivered onto their doorsteps but those with a passion for rap instrumentals know that just like the hungry killer whale, lion or tiger that they must instinctively do what it takes by first leaving home and then going the extra miles required in order to bring home the spoils of their kill!