Hi Professor Satch!

I just wanna say it was awesome to meet you outside the Theatre Royal in Nottingham a few nights ago (despite it being like 1am in the morning!!) thanks for the autograph, and I've got a cool photo of us too; you holding up my promo sheet/CD I gave you! Rock on!

Laters dude!

Igneousiceman, glad you like my stuff! Deliverance is probs my favourite track of mine, so many guitars layered together! you might like Neocity for something a bit different. I guess my pics are a bit cliche in the world of guitar hero music lol....

It means so much that you think I am the next Joe Satriani!! Spread the word! Peace out dude....

Hey guys! My names Nick, nice to meet you all!

Basically I play guitar and compose my own stuff much to the style of JS etc. I just wondered what you budding satch fans thought of my stuff, if you get 5 mins, please take a listen!

Igneousiceman: thank you for listening and your praises!

I know this is kind've shameless promo, but from a composing point of view I'm genuinely interested in what you think!

www.nickbowley.co.uk

Igneousiceman: Yeah thanks for listening again! Good stuff. I guess what I've tried to do with my stuff (obviously heavily influenced by JS) is create memorable and interesting melodies, rather than simply play really fast! - I know there are a lot of awesome technical players out there, but what a lot of them lack for me is feel and sense of melody (without sounding big headed!)

Yeah with the composition aspect I tend to base a track around a mode of the scale to give the piece a certain flavour, which does rely on theory, but at the same time, thinking too much about theory ruins creativity a bit, so yeah you need a balance I reckon!

It says you play guitar! what sort of stuff do you do?

Igneousiceman, SRV come on part 3 is a classic! He makes that wah pedal scream! Good choice of track.

Sorry I forgot to say that I'm finishing Fusion at the minute, redesigning the artwork etc. The whole selling my stuff on my website is pretty unsuccessful to be honest, its just great if I can get people to listen online!

The whole jamming and 'using your ears' thing is the thing to do in my eyes rather than get bogged down with theory. But yeah if you learn all the modes ie. phrygian, lydian etc, then it does help with the whole Satch thing :-)

REVAN 2000 - Get yourself on a computer based browser and have a listen!

loll - Interesting what you say about getting my stuff on itunes. I tried and failed a while back, but several people have recommended tunecore, so I'm gonna give it a shot. Thanks for listening!

Guitarman 77897 - Yeah I used to play satch's stuff with one of those Jam with books, I've kind've forgotten most of it tho since I started doing my own stuff! On the mystical potato head groove thingy, you wanna practice it on a clean tone, and then when you whack up the gain you'll nail it! Having said that I can't play it. Anyway, great you like my stuff, spread the word!

Igneousiceman - I reckon great musicianship in this game comes from 'feel', Hendrix had it, SRV, Satch still has that bluesy feel built deep into has music, despite it being a bit more complex!

Igneousiceman - Yep I've applied to get my stuff on itunes, but now it means an eight week wait until the tracks are on there! Aside from that though, and I'll keep you updated; I'm gonna update the shop on my website and start selling CDs. Watch this space! I've got some new tracks in the making too, overcome my writer's block :-)

Anyone else going to see Joe and the other awesome players on at the London guitar show?

loll - yeah the nearest travellodge is the london airport travellodge and its like half a mile away from the venue for the show. So that's your best bet :-)

I think you can get a combined ticket to see Joe and go to the show for £25

Firstly I'd like to say Joe Satch rocked at the London guitar show! I managed to get right at the front on his side of the stage. I've seen him play before, but have always been 20 or so rows back. Epic! My favourite song of the gig - time machine - love that song!

Has anyone ever heard or seen Joe play 'Why' live? One of my favourites too. Any youtube vids of this?

Igneousiceman - I use a line 6 POD for all my stuff and it does the job! Probs similar to what you've done in the past. People I speak to seem to recommend micing amps up with a shure sm57, that'd do for acoustic stuff as well. Better still would be a large diaphragm condenser, but they get a bit expensive, like a Rhode NT1000, but there's loads out there. Red 5 do pretty good reasonably priced mics too.

In terms of a new guitar the Ibanez Prestige models are really good, but a bit expensive. It depends what kind've sound you're going for I guess. For a blues/rock thing, you could get a hot rodded american strat for that sort of price.

Guitarman 78897 - I tried the Satchurator out at the London guitar show, they had one on the entire Vox stand! I was really impressed, it does what you'd expect - gives you bags of tone and clarity. Its very responsive too, you roll off the volume and it cleans up nicely. I'm gonna get one!

Do the Stu: thanks for your feedback on 'Why' and whether Joe's ever played this live (you replied a long while back, I haven't been on here for a while!). Couldn't manage to find any videos, but if I do I'll post them! Interesting he did it on the Strange Beautiful Music tour. Why is one of my fav satch tracks too, I love the stuff on the Extremist. For me Joe's high point was the Crystal Planet album.

I've been contemplating what I should do with my music a lot recently, how I can improve it etc. You seem quite a reputable character in Satchland, so I was wondering what you thought?! check out the 'fusion' album (most recent) here! Would appreciate your and anybody else's feedback!

Mountain Song has gotta be up there too!

Hey Guys

Do the Stu: Yes it'd be good if you could find that vid of 'why' sometime and maybe post it somehow! Funny you say he played motorcycle driver on the ITLIS tour, I went to see that gig, he may have played that one, not sure, but he played 'War' which was nice to hear, seriously heavy and loud!!

My top Satch albums have got to be Crystal Planet, The Extremist and Engines of Creation. I get the impression that a lot of people aren't keen on EOC but, I reckon its awesome, a lot of thought has gone into it.

Igneousiceman: Hows things? School/college does keep things focused lol, although at the time I grant you it seems like hard work! On the subject of itunes...... I've decided to rerecord a lot of the stuff before I get it on itunes, with real drums etc and better production. So I reckon I'm gonna wait. But if you want, email me at nickbowley@gmail.com and I can send you a cd! How north is up north? We do a regular jazz/funk gig in Nottingham.

Hi Satchland! Haven't been on here for a while.......

Guitarman7787 - thanks for listening to my stuff dude....glad you like it. I've been recording satch type stuff since 2003 when I entered Young Guitarist of the year and since then really. I used a tascam 788 to record most of it, I'm now switching to Logic on my mac which is much better :-) Spread the word!

John (iceman) - I haven't had time to watch any of the tour this time round, but what you say about Armstrong..... he's truly an awesome guy.....have you read any of his books? "it's not about the bike" is the one I've read, it's pretty inspiring!

Good evening Satchland......

Do the Stu - How you doing? People seem to like 'Deliverance' for a full on rock thing and 'These Days' for more of a ballad....'Neocity' is a mix of techno sounds and guitar which is kind of a EOC sound. Great, take a listen if you get time! If you follow the link below and click on the 'Fusion' album....Cheers!

nickbowley.co.uk/music

Nick

Good morning Satchland!

Firstly, does anyone know the date when the Satchurator will be released in the UK? I've been told late summer, but other than that, can't seem to find anything.

Zenfish, thanks very much for checking my stuff. Any criticisms you have of it?

Guitarman 77897, I got a Tascam 788 years ago which is a great way to easily record guitar and other basic tracks, I used to hook a drum machine in from my computer and borrowed a bass from a friend etc to get the basics down.....they don't make that one any more, but here's their current range: link and you record to hard disk which saves messing about. Some have CD burning facilities too. There's loads of other brands out there too, so look around :-) Are you recording at the minute?

I think most of you have hit the nail on the head with the loudness issue, most albums peak at 0db, but there's a difference between say SWTAlien and say Strange Beautiful music in that there is less dynamic contrast in the latter. Dare I say it though, I'm not sure Satch has used a real drummer on his latest album. I had a listen this morning and I still think its a drum machine! I can't really talk having used a drum machine on some of my own stuff, but does anyone else think this?!

Dream3 - No dude I wont take that the wrong way! I actually bought the album off itunes so couldn't see who was playing drums in the credits, so fair enough if it actually gives him credit for it! I still think that certain tracks are programmed though. For example compare Musterion and Overdriver, first two tracks. I think musterion is programmed or an electric kit, and Overdriver is more likely Jeff. Check out the drum fill at 1:20 in Musterion. I don't mean to pick apart a cool album either and I might be wrong!

Zenfish - think you're right in that he uses a combination sometimes, eg) Crystal planet has real drums throughout, but some sampled sounds entering the mix, check out Crystal Planet at 3:20. Raspberry Jam delta V is filled with sampled precusiive sounds too.

Nick

Hey Guys :-)

Firstly Joe Satch, I have a questiones for thee: would you use a dynamic mic like a SM57 to mike up your amp in the studio or something more like a large diaphragm condenser? I've tried a 57 out and gotten fairly ok results considering, but I really had to blast my amp pretty loud :-) I'm thinking a condenser would provide a richer, warmer sound, but am not sure, lots of people seem to have different opinions on this one!

If anyone else can shed some light on this one as well?!

Do the Stu: Souls of distortion is a truly epic track, I love the drum fill at the start and the bluesy guitar solo too.... the drums are loud but definitely live though. Thats your fav satch album right? I like Lifestyle as well - wicked blues solo.

Igneousjohnicemandude - The Serpent's Promise is a wierd one..... interesting you were listening to it, I just embarked on writing it out for other band members to follow! Rock on.

Laters......Nick /nickbowley.co.uk/

Hey Guys! Really need to catch up on this forum more often! So eleven pages of posts later:

Blue Moon, thanks for your advice on microphones! Have you mic'd up your amp in the past then? If I was gonna buy only one though would you buy an SM57 or a large diaphragm like a Rode NT1a etc? Checked out your Oriental melody video as well, you sound good dude!

Do the Stu - Did you ever find those vids of Why? ... still my fav. satch song as well!

.....Nick.....

Listening to Toto - Past to Present

Do the Stu..... Yeah have a dig about 4 those vids. On the subject of G3 tours I love John Petrucci's set on the tour he was on. Jaws of Life is epic in my view and 'Tunnel Vision' is another one off his solo album which I really like. I went to the Nottingham show in the UK where Rob Fripp played with Satch and Vai. (king crimson guy). Wasn't that impressed by Fripp I have to say, but Whispering a Prayer was really nice. I'd never heard that song beofre but he nailed it that night!

Michelle ..... You're right John Petrucci certainly is the king of riffage. His guitars are so low and crunchy....Tunnel Vision is kick ass lol. And honor thy father as well! Awesome stuff. The Glass Prison is another fave of mine too!!

Do the Stu.....yeah I the crowd wasn't that receptive at all towards Rob Fripp, I think I'd appreciate him a lot more these days than when I saw him :-) The way I remember it was him at the back of the stage, you couldn't really see him that well... and he was kind've playing his guitar through a synth for a while. But no offence to him saying that!

Skippygirl....I'm sure I could turn up to play a mass satch cover....sounds like a logistical nightmare though getting it all together!

...Nick.... nickbowley.co.uk

Whammyfreak - I reckon the efeect on lifestyle is like the thing he does on Surfin w/the alien at the end. He kind've picks the note at the same time as depressing the whammy bar a lot and then immediately releases it. Check out a vid of surfin to see what I mean. I really can't do it that well at all!! Guitar to go for for extreme whammy bar stuff is probs an Ibanez with a floyd rose, but lots of other makes have them on like you say.

Igneous - You seem to have given my CD a good airing! Nice. I like Venus Isle for classic Eric Johnson, but Ah Via Musicom is great as well. Manhattan is pretty awesome.

listening to Empty Arms - SRV

...Nick.... nickbowley.co.uk

you get a pretty good view of that technique at 2:50 in this video!

Blue_Moon - Is it Pro tools for MAudio you've got? A mate of mine had problems setting up his maudio box too. Not very user friendly! You've probably already tried it but if you change the hardware buffer size within pro tools then thats usually what helps. Lowering the buffer size makes your signal go through the software faster, but you'll get pops and if you set it too low the whole thing'll crash. Set it larger and there'll be a delay with the signal. So set to get a happy medium.

Another thing to do is monitor your guitar direct from the input so you get zero latency rather than listening to what comes out of protools. Some maudio boxes have that feature (if thats what you've got)

Hope that helps?!

Guitar meister - just briefly checked out your soundclick page, the one with the piano is very tasteful....... also liked stars, cool playing, nice tunes. I'm gonna listen some more later!

Do the Stu - I don't go to the gym, but if I did I'd probably listen to something heavy like rammstein or dream theater or maybe some killswitch. Something which has that angry sound to it. I cycle a fair bit so can't really listen to music whilst exercising.

If you are bored and have no T2J posts to reply to then you should visit my website!