Digging In

Gigs, Shows, Festivals, and Battles

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Today is Milwaukee’s long-awaited East Side Music Tour. If my Twitter and Facebook streams are any indicator, all of Milwaukee will be there. Sadly, I won’t be there for various personal excuses, but it’s honestly one of the most exciting things to happen in the local scene since it’s inaugural appearance last year. Seriously, do go if you’re not like me and stuck at work on a Saturday with several house hunting and upcoming wedding errands to take care of. I did debate hopping on the bike to catch a show or two, but alas, it’s a ticketed event. This got me thinking about the various ways that local shows are run, and why some work and some should be avoided at all costs.

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Digging In

CAGED System vs. Pentatonic Scales

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I’m hoping by now you’ve read Ivan’s great post about the history and importance of flatpicking. Though a seasoned musician, it’s a relatively new topic to me and one I’ve been looking at a lot lately. Recently, while hoping to improve my acoustic and bluegrass guitar soloing chops, I searched around for some tips on scales and chord shapes to use. In doing so, I found such a travesty of misguided music theory and wildly unmusical thinking, I just had to share.

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Digging In

But He Don't Sound British – Accents and Singing

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Ah music, the international language. It transcends political and economic boundaries, it harkens on universal themes, and does a lot of other things someone who describes themselves as #blessed would say. All feel-good melting pot analogies aside, have you noticed that music actually does manage to nullify one huge indicator of our backgrounds? That’s right, nearly everyone sings without an accent. Why is it that you don’t realize a singer hails from the UK until you hear them speak instead of sing into the microphone?

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Digging In

The Science Behind Autotune (And Voice Recognition)

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I assume everyone reading this blog understands the role this plays in music. In this, the year of our lord 2014, most people have super computers sitting around their home that are capable of amazing things. Being able to “break down” sound allows your to fabricate and modify recorded sound, which can lead to some pretty cool results (and some pretty bad ones, I’m looking at you Lil’ Jon).

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Digging In

The Diphthong Song

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those-who-dig-logo-finalThis is about the diphthong song. Depending on your knowledge of grammar and/or lingerie, that’s either a very sexy or very confusing title. Or both. The song I have in mind is now 4 decades old, started as a country tune, but received a huge lift half-way through its lifespan and became one of the biggest singles of all time. Read more…

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Digging In

Do You Dig It?

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Hey everybody, allow me introduce myself before we get going. I’m Kent Heberling, life-long musician and first-time contributor to this site. I have an extensive music background including over a decade of cello, guitar, bass, percussion and piano performance, a pretty regular gig schedule with 3 local bands, and a B.F.A. in Music Composition & Technology. I’ll be writing about everything, because everything is what I like. Do you Dig It?

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