Nikhil Dev

Been a long time that I havent written much by myself. Life has gone just so disorganized now. Need to do something about this, I always used to put up an excuse that I dont have enough time to blog but it might just that I am not using my time properly. No time and patience to practice my music, no time for people at home on the weekdays. A lot things that have to be taken care of.

Shifted my focus a lot towards linux.  Found ubuntu to be the best platform to start with. Some of the best things that I notice about ubuntu are

1. It comes bare naked.

2. The easiest install I have ever seen. In fact its easier than windows.

3. Has an optional KDE package in the name of Kubuntu. I use Kubuntu always cos I just like the level of customization and the window management.

4. Its small.

5. And the most important that it free.

So alll the people who are thinking of switching to Vista, take a back step and look into the world of open source. You can have all those eye candy and more by just install beryl. I have a lil tough time cos I was having the Dapper Drake version. But I am going to put up the instruction for Edgy and Feisty very soon. Its a piece of cake installing all these on the new version.

We are thinking of starting an acoustic like band at the office playing the Metal but the box style. Its all about the old school attitude. Though we have like about 4 to 5 songs in the mind to start with, we are just too lazy to START in the first place.

Planning to change my ISP at home cos this shitty Airtel is just too expensive for the lil use that I have. Thinkin of shifting to Beam cable that a lot of people have advised me to de. Its affordable, fast enough and unlimited.

Its a really good saturday today after the late night venture with Mazhar, Nash and Meshal. A Really pleasant start to a weekend infact.

Steven Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960 in Carle Place, New York) is a Grammy Award-winning guitarist, composer and record producer.

When growing up, the young Vai became interested in rock giants such as Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper, Queen, Cream and Led Zeppelin, which influenced his early guitar career. He first picked up a guitar when he was invited by a friend to join him for a lesson, thus splitting the $10 fee. Vai went out and bought a cheap acoustic guitar and took it to the lesson with his friend’s teacher (Joe Satriani). Prior to attending Berklee College of Music, Steve frequently jammed with his teacher Joe Satriani and played in numerous local bands. He has acknowledged the influence of many guitarists, including Jeff Beck and fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth.

It was also at this time that he became fascinated by the music of Frank Zappa. A persistent rumor at Berklee tells how Steve would skip classes while spending time in the school’s library transcribing Zappa’s works by ear. Steve mailed transcriptions of Zappa’s guitar solos to him, and after meeting Vai for the first time Zappa was so impressed with the abilities of the young musician, he hired him to do work transcribing his seemingly endless array of experimental symphonic rock. In these formative stages of his career, Vai’s talent was showcased on such songs as “Moggio” and “Stevie’s Spanking.”

While employed by Zappa, he would at times tour with Zappa’s band and engage in a friendly competition with the audience, wherein audience members could bring in musical scores and see if Vai could sight-read them on the spot.

Zappa referred to Steve as his “little Italian virtuoso” and was listed in liner notes as “stunt guitar.” He would later be a featured artist on the recording, “Zappa’s Universe.” In 2006 he returned to Zappa music, as special guest on Dweezil Zappa’s Zappa Plays Zappa tour.

After leaving Zappa in 1982 he moved to California where he recorded his first album Flex-Able and performed in a couple of bands. In 1984 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnet’s Alcatrazz with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace.

Later in 1985 Vai joined former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth’s newly assembled group (which also featured acclaimed bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Gregg Bissonette) to record the multi-platinum albums Eat’em And Smile and Skyscraper. These albums, along with their accompanying videos and arena tours significantly increased Vai’s public familiarity.

In 1986 Vai also surprised many by playing with ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon’s Public Image Ltd on their album “Album”. Following 1988’s popular Skyscraper Tour, Vai left David Lee Roth’s band. In 1989 Vai stepped into guitarist Adrian Vandenberg’s shoes to record with British rock-group Whitesnake after Vandenberg injured his wrist shortly before recording was due to begin for the album Slip of the Tongue.

Vai also played on the Alice Cooper album “Hey Stoopid” along with Joe Satriani on the song “Feed my Frankenstein”.

Steve Vai continues to tour regularly, both with his own group and with his one time teacher and fellow guitar instrumentalist friend Joe Satriani on the G3 series of tours. Former David Lee Roth bassist Billy Sheehan also joined him for a world tour.

In 1990 Steve Vai released his critically acclaimed solo album “Passion and Warfare”. In 1994 Steve Vai began writing and recording with Ozzy Osbourne. Only one track from these sessions “My Little Man” was released on the “Ozzmosis” album. Despite Steve penning the track he does not appear on the album. His guitar parts were replaced by Zakk Wylde.

Vai’s band members throughout the 1990s included drummer Mike Mangini, guitarist Mike Keneally and bassist Philip Bynoe.

In 1994 Vai received a Grammy Award for his performance on the Frank Zappa song “Sofa” from the album Zappa’s Universe.

In July 2002, Steve Vai performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, in the world premiere of composer Ichiro Nodaira’s Fire Strings, a concerto for electric guitar and 100-piece orchestra. In 2004, a number of his compositions for orchestra, as well as orchestra arrangements of previously recorded pieces, were performed in The Netherlands by the Metropole Orchestra in a concert series entitled The Aching Hunger.

In 2003, drummer Jeremy Colson joined Vai’s group replacing previous drummer Virgil Donati. Vai’s latest album, Real Illusions: Reflections, was released in 2005, and Steve Vai and the Breed, as the band is now called, has embarked on a world tour in support of that album.

Steve Vai released a DVD of his performance at The Astoria in London in December 2001, featuring the lineup of bassist Billy Sheehan, formerly of David Lee Roth and Mr. Big, guitar and piano virtuoso Tony MacAlpine, guitarist Dave Weiner and drummer Virgil Donati.

In 2004, Steve Vai was featured on Xbox’s Halo 2 Volume 1 soundtrack, performing a heavy rock-guitar rendition of the “Halo 2 Theme”, known as “Halo 2 Theme (Mjolnir Mix)”. He also performed on the track “Never Surrender”. In the second iteration of the soundtrack, he performed on the track “Reclaimer”.

In February 2005, Vai premiered a dual-guitar (electric and classical) piece that he wrote called The Blossom Suite with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris.

In 2006, Vai played as a “special guest” guitarist alongside additional guest Zappa band members, drummer Terry Bozzio and singer Napoleon Murphy Brock in the Zappa Plays Zappa tour led by Frank’s son Dweezil Zappa in Europe and the U.S. in the Spring as well as a short U.S. tour in October.

On September 21, 2006, Vai made a special appearance at the “Video Games Live” concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California. He played two songs with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. One song being the Halo Theme, the second was for the world premier trailer for Halo 3.

Steve Vai is currently editing and mixing a double record set entitled “Steve Vai’s Sound Current”. He recorded this with the Metrople Orchestra in Holland for the Dutch Government and NPS Radio. He recently released this information in a Ultimate-Guitar.com interview

Where Vai’s contributions to others’ material has been constrained by the largely rock or heavy-rock style of those bands, his own material is somewhat more eclectic.

Vai’s playing style has been characterized as quirky and angular, owing to his superb technical facility with the instrument and deep knowledge of music theory. Vai has also been credited with the recent revival of the 7-string guitar.

An interesting point to note is Vai’s commitment to practice. In several guitar magazines and texts, he is reported to practice upwards of eight hours per day, a habit he began as early as his high school days.

Vai is an accomplished studio producer (he owns two: “The Mothership” and “The Harmony Hut”) and his own recordings combine his signature guitar prowess with novel compositions and considerable use of studio and recording effects, such as the Eventide H3000 ultra harmonizer and Digidesign’s Pro Tools Hard Disc recording system and plug-in effects architecture.

Vai also helped design his signature Ibanez JEM series of guitars. They feature a hand grip (fondly referred to as a “monkey grip”) cut into the top of the body of the guitar, a humbucker-single coil-humbucker DiMarzio pickup configuration, and Ibanez’s Edge locking tremolo system (which is Floyd Rose licensed), as well as an elaborate and extensive “Vine of Life” inlay down the neck. Steve also has a 7 string model designed by him named Ibanez Universe. The Universe later influenced the 7-string guitars used by Korn and other heavy metal bands to create nu-metal sounds in the late 1990s. He also has a signature Ibanez acoustic, the Euphoria.

Steve Vai has also worked with Carvin Guitars and Pro Audio to develop the Carvin Legacy line of guitar amplifiers. Vai wanted to create an amp that was unique and equal in sound, versatility, and affordability to any guitar amp he had previously used.

Over his long musical career, Steve Vai has used and designed an array of guitars. He even had his DNA put into the swirl paintjob on one of his signature JEM guitars, the JEM2KDNA, in the form of his blood. Only 300 of these were ever made. Nowadays he mainly uses his white JEM7V, which is inscribed with the letters “Evo”, mainly in order to allow him to distinguish between the guitars he uses onstage which are practically identical, his “Flo” guitar however is equipped with a Fernandes sustainer pick-up in the neck.

He also has a guitar named “Mojo” in which the dot inlays are blue LED lights. Additionally, he has a custom-made triple-neck guitar that has the same basic features as his JEM7V guitars. The top neck is a 12-string guitar, the middle is a 6-string, and the bottom is a 6-string fretless guitar with a Fernandes Sustainer pickup. This guitar was featured on the G3 2003 tour on the piece “I Know You’re Here”.

Vai’s effects pedals include a modified Boss DS-1, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Morley Bad Horsie, Morley Little Alligator Volume pedal, Digitech Whammy, and an MXR Phase 90. His flightcases are labelled “Mr. Vai”. He used a number of rack effects units controlled via MIDI, but used a floor-based TC electronics G system instead for the Zappa Plays Zappa tour.

Steve Vai’s homepage

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (IPA pronunciation: /ˈɪŋveɪ/) (born Lars Johann Yngve Lannerbäck, June 30, 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, composer and bandleader.

Widely recognised for his guitar skills, Malmsteen achieved widespread acclaim in the 1980s for his technical proficiency and his pioneering of the shred guitar technique and neo-classical metal genre.

Early Life

Malmsteen was born into a musical family in Stockholm. Yngwie was the youngest child in the family. On September 18, 1970, at age seven, he saw a TV special on the death of Jimi Hendrix which caused him to become obsessed with the guitar. To quote his official website, “The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born”.

At the age of 10 he took his mother’s maiden name Malmsteen as his surname, and Anglicised his given name Yngve to “Yngwie”.

Yngwie (pronounced “ing-vay”) means “young Viking chief” in Swedish. Technically it is a variation of Yngvi, who founded the House of Yngling, which is the oldest known Swedish dynasty.

Malmsteen was in his teens when he first encountered the music of the 19th century violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical influence. Through his emulation of Paganini concerto pieces on guitar, Malmsteen developed a prodigious technical fluency. Malmsteen also cites Jimi Hendrix, Brian May of Queen, Steve Hackett of Genesis, Uli Jon Roth, and Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple as influences.

Malmsteen broke new ground and contributed to the evolution of modern rock guitar, particularly with his embracing of modal progressions and classically-influenced techniques not widely used in rock music. He is often credited, along with Randy Rhoads, with increasing the popularity of the neoclassical heavy metal genre and inspiring a new generation of electric guitarists including Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker, and Tony MacAlpine.

Rammstein is a German band that was formed in 1994. Their musical style incorporates elements of metal/hard rock, industrial metal, and electronic music. The band is also widely accepted as part of the Neue Deutsche Härte-scene, alongside bands such as Oomph! and Die Krupps. Some critics have also dubbed their sound as Tanz-Metall (lit. “Dance metal”) . Their songs are performed almost exclusively in German. They have sold over 12 million records worldwide.

Rammstein takes its name indirectly from the western German town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, site of an airshow disaster in 1988. The band’s signature song, the eponymous “Rammstein”, is a commemoration of the tragedy that took place at the Ramstein Air Base. The extra “m” in the band’s name allows the word to mean “battering ram” (literally “ramming stone”), reinforcing the image of the band’s music as fierce and relentless. Also, the verb “rammen” in german, means to hit something. With that said, the name is really a wordgame, made of the town’s name and an extra “m” in relation to the air-show tragedy. Despite lyrics that are in German, the band has enjoyed success outside of Germany, in Europe, North America, Mexico and South America, as well as Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. With the album Reise, Reise (2004), they became the most successful German-language band of all time internationally. Rammstein has had several top ten singles in Europe. The asteroid 110393 Rammstein is named in the band’s honour. The Rammstein website released a statement on the bands new tour in 2008 saying “rammstein will hopefully be touring most of europe in 2008,and are currently about to begin work on a new album for late 2007″ (Statement from Big John McAleer)

The band’s members all come from the former East Germany, specifically East Berlin and Schwerin. They are:

• Till Lindemann – lead vocals
• Richard Zven “Scholle” Kruspe – lead-guitar
• Paul H. Landers – rhythm-guitar
• Oliver “Ollie” Riedel – bass-guitar
• Christoph “Doom” Schneider – drums
• Christian “Flake” Lorenz – keyboards

Riedel, Schneider and Kruspe were the original founders of Rammstein, following an attempt by the latter to compose American-influenced music with a West Berlin band called Orgasm Death Gimmick. As Kruspe put it, “I realized it’s really important to make music and make it fit with your language, which I didn’t do in the past. I came back [to Germany] and said, ‘It’s time to make music that’s really authentic.’ I was starting a project called Rammstein to really try to make German music.” He invited Till Lindemann, a basket-weaver and drummer for the band First Arsch, to join the project as a vocalist. The four entered a contest for new bands and won, attracting the interest of Paul H. Landers, who knew them all and decided to join the band. Christian “Flake” Lorenz was the last member to join; he had played with Landers before in the band Feeling B and was initially reluctant to come on board, but was eventually persuaded to join. Their first album was released a year later. They have been nominated for two Best Metal Performance Grammy Awards: in 1999 with the song “Du hast” and in 2005 with the song “Mein Teil”.

Although Rammstein is often generalized as industrial metal, its music spans a variety of related styles, including hard rock and heavy metal. The band was strongly influenced by Laibach, a Slovenian neo-classical and industrial group. Other influences include DAF (Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft), Oomph! and Ministry, but the contrast between individual songs such as “Bestrafe mich”, “Ohne dich” and “Te quiero puta!” makes the band difficult to classify.

Rammstein’s style has tended to divide critics, some of whom have responded with memorable comments. Jam Showbiz (April 2001) described Mutter as “music to invade Poland to.” New Zealand’s Southland Times (Dec. 17, 1999) suggested that Till Lindemann’s “booming, sub-sonic voice” would send “the peasants fleeing into their barns and bolting their doors.” The New York Times (Jan. 9, 2005) commented that on the stage, “Mr. Lindemann gave off an air of such brute masculinity and barely contained violence that it seemed that he could have reached into the crowd, snatched up a fan, and bitten off his head.” Other critics have been more positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide commented that “their blend of industrial noise, grinding metal guitars, and operatic vocals is staggeringly powerful”^[5]. “We just push boundaries,” said Till Lindemann in an interview with rock magazine Kerrang!. “We can’t help it if people don’t like those boundaries being pushed.”

Despite Rammstein’s brutalist image, many of its songs lyrics demonstrate a certain sense of humour. “Zwitter”, for example, is a bizarre take on narcissism (and bisexuality) through the person of a hermaphrodite:

Wenn die anderen Mädchen suchten (When the others searched for girls)

Konnt ich mich schon selbst befruchten (I could already fertilize myself)

Similarly, the song “Amerika” features a tongue-in-cheek adaptation of the normal chorus:

We’re all living in Amerika

Coca-Cola, Wonderbra! Usually “Amerika ist wunderbar” (”America is wonderful”), in one chorus is sung as “Coca-Cola, sometimes war”

We’re all living in Amerika

Amerika, Amerika!

Some of their songs show unexpected influences. “Dalai Lama” is an adaptation of the famous poem “Der Erlkönig” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. “Hilf mir” was inspired by the short story “Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug” (from “Der Struwwelpeter“) by Heinrich Hoffmann. “Rosenrot” is inspired by the poem “Heidenröslein” by Goethe and the story Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot by Brothers Grimm.

Nearly all of Rammstein’s lyrics are in German. However, the band did record English versions of “Engel” , “Du hast” and “Amerika”, as well as covers of the songs “Stripped” (Depeche Mode) and “Pet Sematary” (The Ramones). In addition, the songs “Amerika” (German version), “Stirb nicht vor mir//Don’t die before I do” and “Moskau” contain not only German verses, but also English and Russian choruses, respectively; “Te quiero puta!” is entirely in Spanish. “Ollie” Riedel commented that “German language suits heavy metal music. French might be the language of love, but German is the language of anger.” (Sunday Herald Sun, Melbourne, Australia, October 24, 2004).

Wordplay is a fundamental component of Rammstein’s lyrics. In many instances, the lyrics are phrased such that they can be interpreted in several ways. The song “Du hast”, for example, is a play on German marriage vows (”Willst du, bis der Tod euch scheidet, treu ihr sein für alle Tage?” - “Will you, until death separates you, be faithful to her for the rest of your days?”).This is the English Translation. But it is sung (In English),
You You hate You hate me You hate me to say You hate me to say And I did not obey

Will you until death does sever Be upright to her forever

NEVER!

Will you ’til death be her rider Her lover too, to stay inside her

NEVER!
In the song, the traditional affirmative response, “ja” (”yes”), is replaced by its negation “nein” (”no”). The final repetition of this line further perverts the meaning of the original vows through a minor change in the wording: “Willst du, bis zum Tod der Scheide,(…)” (”Will you, until the death of the vagina…”) (where ‘vagina’ can refer to the woman), but it could also be interpreted as: “Willst du bis zum Tod, der scheide, “, which would have the meaning of: “Will you, until death separates, …”. The song starts, in fact, with a play on words: “Du… Du hast… Du hast mich…” meaning, “You have me”. This line is often mistaken for “You hate me”, which is wrong, because in German, there is a clear distinction between “du hasst” (double “s”) which means “you hate” and “du hast” (single “s”) which means you have. The verbs are hassen (hate) and haben (have). The wordgame is later resolved as the line is completed: “Du hast mich gefragt” (”You [have] asked me”).

Rammstein often uses rhyming to create similar effects. For example, from the song “Los”:

Es ist hoffnungslos (”It is hopeless”)

Sinnlos (”Senseless”)

Hilflos (”Helpless”)

Sie sind Gott [break]

Los

The last two lines above can be interpreted in three ways. “Sie sind Gott. / Los!” can mean “They are God. / Go!”; “Sie sind Gott los” can be translated as “They got rid of God;” while “Sie sind gottlos” means “they are godless”. However, in the context of the rest of the lyrics, the most likely meaning is the third one.

Official Site

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983.

Throughout their career, the band has successfully fused various elements of alternative rock, punk, rap, funk, heavy metal, psychedelic rock and adding just a touch of pop rock as the years progressed. They have, collectively, sold 60 million records worldwide, and also hold the record for most number one singles on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart with 11 (with a total of 78 weeks at number 1).

The Red Hot Chili Peppers (originally Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem) were formed after what was supposed to be a one time performance in 1983 by Fairfax High School alumni Michael “Flea” Balzary (bass), Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Jack Irons (drums), and Hillel Slovak (guitar). Later in that same year, after becoming a popular draw in the Los Angeles rock scene, they secured a record deal with EMI.

At the time, Slovak and Irons both had obligations to another band, ‘What is This?’ Consequently, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the band’s 1984 debut album, was recorded with replacement members Jack Sherman on guitar and Cliff Martinez on drums. Produced by Gang of Four’s Andy Gill, the album did not achieve commercial success. The ensuing tour did not fare much better, with internal fighting between Sherman, Kiedis, and Flea resulting in Sherman’s departure, and Hillel Slovak returning.

Parliament-Funkadelic’s George Clinton was hired to produce their second album, 1985’s Freaky Styley. Cliff Martinez was fired from the band soon after the release of the album, allowing the return of original drummer Jack Irons in early 1986. During this time, drug problems started to become prevalent with the band. At one point Anthony Kiedis was fired from the band due to his heroin addiction, only to rejoin after getting clean. Hillel was also using heroin but managed to keep himself together and stay in the band.

Their next album, which entered the Billboard Top 200, was 1987’s The Uplift Mofo Party Plan lead singer . It was produced by Michael Beinhorn. This was the only album to feature the four original members.During the supporting tour, the public became aware of Slovak’s drug problems after his relapse, which resulted in erratic behavior and botched performances. The rest of the band was upset and annoyed by this, and were on the verge of firing Slovak, but backed out of doing such a thing on the advice of FishboneAngelo Moore, who felt and warned the Chilis that firing Hillel would actually bring more bad than good for the benefit of the band. Shortly after the band returned from some performances in Europe on June 25, 1988, Slovak was found dead of a heroin overdose. Jack Irons left the band saying that he didn’t want to be a part of something that involved his friends dying. He then went on to drum with Pearl Jam and Eleven.Members

Anthony Kiedis (vocals)
John Frusciante (guitar, back up vocals)
Flea (bass, back up vocals)
Chad Smith (drums)

Red Hot Chili Peppers website