HomeMusician.net Blog

Bringing Back HomeMusician.net From The Dead?

2007-11-16T08:37:00.000-08:00

I've put some thought into resurecting HomeMusician.net lately. As I've (unfortunately) put it aside for awhile, it totally refused to die. Instead it still gained a lot of traffic, going from 900 unique visitors a day to about 1300.

So that being said, I'll be turning HomeMusician.net into a community website. I've got plans that will draw a massive amount of visitors. I also hope to get lot more useful and entertaining content to all of you.

In the meantime, if you are interested in taking part in the future version of HomeMusician.net, I'm looking for writers in these fields of knowledge:

Theorical music lessons
Music playing techniques (guitar, bass, drum and piano)
Musical instruments and equipment reviews
Recording and mixing
Music scene

Here are the benefits of writing for HomeMusician.net:

Getting quality backlinks to your website
Increase your PageRank
Visibility

In the short term, you will not be paid to write for HomeMusician.net but you will be allowed to link to your website. In the long run, I will come up with a pricing structure that will allow to make money off posts made a HomeMusician.net

Interested? Send me an email at sbrault at homemusician.net.

Until then, stay tuned for our massive makeover of HomeMusician.net!

PLEASE DISABLE YOUR DOWNLOAD MANAGER

2007-11-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

PLEASE DISABLE ANY DOWNLOAD MANAGER when you are downloading files from HomeMusician.net. This causes the webserver to crash.

THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR WEBSITE COPIER / OFFLINE BROWSERS.

Again I've just had to ban another IP from which the visitor was trying to download my whole website. Bandwitdh cost money, server resources cost money and maintenance takes time (and time is money).

So just when I am in the process of deciding if keep this site online, please have a little consideration and download only what you need!

Thank you for understanding.

Should HomeMusician.net Be Kept Alive?

2007-11-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I posted here huh? Things have been going pretty fast since my last article. Me and my girlfriend had a baby in late September. I've also started a new blog over at http://www.thewebmasterscafe.net

Why I've Left HomeMusician.net Aside

Since February 2007 I've put a lot of effort into HomeMusician.net and managed to multiply its income by nearly 15 times! Hey I'm not rich, I've gone from $30 a month to nearly $400 a month. But this summer I've experienced a huge drop in my AdSense earnings although my site still had more and more visitors (and clicks!) everyday.

Now my goal is to make a living online and HomeMusician.net was (is?) a way to get there but it takes to much time to update it on a regular basis for the income it generates.

I've thought of a few ideas to monetize this site like turning this whole site into a blog selling ad spots. Don't worry, I'd keep all the free stuff ;)

So, do you think HomeMusician.net should stay online or not? Let me know what you think.

Watch How To Tune Your Guitar for Metal Heads

2007-08-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

I like going over YouTube.com from time to time. There are a lot of useful (and not so useful) videos there.

This week I've found this video on guitar tuning for all you metal heads freaks.

Download Free Drumkit Desktop Wallpaper

2007-08-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Ok here it goes for you skin-bashers : a brand new drumkit wallpaper for your desktop.

Just right-click on the link and "Save As":

METALLICA's Sound Engineer Talks Equipment

2007-07-30T11:42:00.000-07:00

L&Si Online reports: METALLICA's long-time FOH engineer and equally long-standing Midas devotee Big Mick Hughes has fulfilled the promise he made when Midas announced the development of a digital mixing system: to take it on tour with METALLICA as soon as it was ready.

The moment arrived in late June as METALLICA embarked on a 12-date tour of shows and festivals across Europe, starting in Lisbon and ending in Moscow. As all shows plus two days of production rehearsals took place during just three weeks, two identical control and backline systems leapfrogged their way across Europe, with both XL8s supplied by Canegreen via the M7 Group, which facilitates UK XL8 rentals.

"I always considered myself an analogue diehard and I've used Midas since the Pro 1," says Hughes. "I tried most other digital consoles along the way but I never felt comfortable. The XL4 is a heavy beast, it feels firm and positive, whereas some of these digital consoles just didn't feel substantial, and I'm too big to deal with anything that dainty! And I was never convinced by the way they sounded; there was something inherently wrong. So when Midas said they were coming up with a digital console I thought if there was one I'd like, this would be it."Read the entire story at L&Si Online.

Guitar Lesson : Pentatonics and Passing Tones

2007-07-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

I've put up a new guitar lesson about using passing tones in pentatonic scales. Whether your soloing a creating a walking bass line, passing tones are very useful for filling in rythmic space within a beat while avoiding melodic redundancy.

Read it here - Guitar Lesson : Pentatonics and Passing Tones

Motley Crue - The Dirt to come out in 2009?

2007-07-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

For Mötley Crüe fans out there, it seems The Dirt movie should come out in 2009. Speculations has it that Val Kilmer will play David Lee Roth and Christopher Walken will play Ozzy Osbourne.

IMDB has updated it's page about the movie : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800325/fullcredits#writers

Fixed Page Navigation Bug in MIDI Section

2007-07-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

There was a bug preventing from visitors from navigating correctly in the MIDI section.

Free Warlock Guitar Desktop Wallpaper

2007-07-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

Wow, time flies by so fast, I wish I had more time to post...

Anyway, here's another guitar wallpaper to download. I always liked the B.C. Rich Warlock but mostly just for it's shape. Here's a preview :

Simply right-click and save as...

I've also posted a new guitar lesson on arpeggios so all you shredders out there, go read it!

New Bass Guitar Lesson for Beginners

2007-06-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

I've just posted a new lesson for those of you who are new to bass playing.

Go check it out!
:)

New Website Design Update in Progress

2007-06-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

You've probably noticed Homemusician.net's new look by now. If not, have a look now. :)

There are still some sections that need to be updated but unfortunately, I didn't have time to do it all at once. Anyway everything should be functionnal.

There are still several things to iron out through the site, mainly in the VST and karaoke sections. Damn there's still so much stuff waiting to be added : hundreds of vst plugins, thousands of karaoke songs, samples, loops and videos.

Enjoy the site!

Download Free Guitar Wallpaper

2007-06-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

I've just made a Stratocaster wallpaper for myself. Feel free to use them if you want.

Here's a preview :

You can download the desktop wallpaper in different sizes (Right-click => Save As):

Also, the main site's new look is almost done and I'm pretty sure you will like it. Lots of new stuff are also in the works such as HomeMusician.net Radio.

Stay tuned.

HomeMusician.net is getting a major facelift!

2007-06-10T05:06:00.001-07:00

Ok so new additions may come in slowly lately but the reason is that the website is getting a new facelift. You will still get new articles on monday and wednesday.

Keep watching!

Sharon Osbourne Pissed Off by Piers Morgan

2007-06-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well I don't know if this was a rerun but I just saw this episode of America's Got Talent (but Dallas doesn't) where Sharon got upset about Morgan's harsh comments to a young contestant. Sharon ripped her cards and stormed off the stage yelling "I can't take this anymore! I'm leaving!"

I mean, did she watched the show at least once before taking on replacement duties for Brandy? Anyway, I gotta agree, this is not American Idol. I mean there are young contestants who's dreams and self-esteem might be blown away after taking Morgan's nasty criticism.

On another hand, parents should be aware of the type of comments their kids might receive on this type of show. It's their responsability to judge if their child is good enough to go there. But it seems that there are some parents that can't even judge that and they will send their child on national television after they've won their school's Christmas talent contest. And Morgan may have been right on this to some extent. It's the parents that want the million dollar prize. Not the kid.

Still, having a laugh at clueless contestants seems entertaining as those Cowell-produced tv shows are more popular than ever. Maybe it's the viewers who are wrong in the end.

Guitar Hero Virtuoso at Age 8

2007-06-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

Watch this little guy playing Guitar Hero. If it's true, he kicks ass!

Plus listening to Motorhead teaches our kids good values!

Music Gifts for Father's Day

2007-06-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, Father's day is already at the door. It seems I just got over Christmas. Now I am not a daddy already but I should be by mid-october this year. We're waiting for a little baby girl!

So is your father a musician? Or maybe you're a father and you're crossing your fingers for a musical gift? Here are a few gift ideas for Father's Day :

Get 25 FREE iPod® compatible downloads from eMusic!
Choose from over 1.7 Million songs!
Buy him guitar strings (if he's a guitar or bass player of course) : make sure to know which kind and gauge he uses. Guitarists often run out of strings so you could buy a bulk pack. Guitar strings from D'Addario are my favorites :

Electric guitar strings

D'Addario EXL110 Regular Light Electric Guitar Strings 5-Pack with Free Strobe Tuner

D'Addario EXL115 Jazz/Blues Electric Guitar Strings 5-Pack with Free Strobe Tuner

D'Addario EXL120 Super Light Electric Guitar Strings 5-Pack with Free Strobe Tuner

Acoustic guitar strings

D'Addario EJ15 Phosphor Bronze Extra Light Acoustic Strings 3-Pack

D'Addario EJ16 Light Acoustic Guitar Strings 5-Pack with Free Strobe Tuner

D'Addario EJ17 Medium Acoustic Guitar Strings 5-Pack with Free Strobe Tuner

What's cool with these strings packs is that they come with a tuner so that's two gifts for your dad starting at only $19,99 (normally you get a single pack for about $6,00 at your local store).

If his favorite strings aren't listed here, just head over to GuitarCenter.com : The Best Gear and the Best Deals - GuitarCenter.com
Boss TU-80 Guitar Tuner & Metronome
$15 iTunes Music Store Gift Card

My First Post!

2007-04-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

Well this is my first post and it's also my first blog, believe it or not! Let me introduce myself. I am a 33 years old computer programmer living in Quebec, Canada. I am also a web developper and I run a few websites and web server.

More on a personnal note, I am an amateur musician and I've been playing guitar for 17 years. I run a music website at http://www.homemusician.net/ which provides free resources for musicians such as home recording, soundfonts, MIDI, VST plugins, music sheets and lots more stuff.

While this blog will be music music-oriented, most of the technical stuff and file archives will stay at HomeMusician.net.

Here's a picture of me and my nephew from about 3 years ago :

That being said, welcome to my blog and enjoy the ride!