• The secret tools used by Michael Bereal, Jason White, and other top musicians

    in Technology

    So you’ve heard them play on your favorite albums and covet their style.

    But you have no idea how these top musicians get such a full, phat sound, outside of the brilliantly-voiced chords they concoct.

    Well, here’s some tools that will get you one step closer.

    1) Roland MKS-20 (more information)

    mks20lg.jpg

    Roland actually stopped producing this device in the 80’s or 90’s but it hasn’t stopped some of the world’s greatest musicians from grabbing one in the local pennysaver, recycler, craigslist, or on ebay.

    You won’t always find them on ebay but here’s a trick to make sure you know when one is posted right away.

    1) Search for “Roland MKS-20”

    2) If you find results, great! If you get 0 results, don’t worry. Scroll down to the bottom and find the “RSS” button. This stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It’s been the hottest thing for the past couple of years!

    In fact, you can subscribe to your favorite blogs, podcasts, and online radios show via RSS. Of course, you should be subscribed to my blog … cough cough cough.

    But what you do is either click RSS and subscribe via your browser or you can right-click on the RSS button and copy the link. This will enable you to add it to your favorite RSS reader (if you’re using one) or you can add it to your favorite online portal’s homepage like google, yahoo, msn, bloglines, etc. And whenever that search comes up in Ebay, you’ll be notified within seconds.

    Basically, the idea with RSS is that you don’t have to remember to revisit some of your favorite sites that constantly post new information. You can subscribe and get their latest updates syndicated to you automatically. This has totally changed the web because search results (like on ebay or yahoo), breaking news, tips (like from this blog), audio shows, video shows, and just about anything you can think of, can now be subscribed to with a click of a button. I’m personally subscribed to over 100 different sites and services and get updates everyday, free of spam.

    (Click here for 10 reasons to subscribe to this blog via RSS… my shameless plug).

    ebaymks.jpg

    3) Search for other things like “MKS-20” or “Roland Module” and follow the same steps.

    Other modules used by the pros:

    Roland JV-1080 (more information)
    jv1080.jpg

    Roland P-330 (little brother/sister to the MKS-20 / more information)
    p3301.jpg

    I hope you find this post helpful! Until next time.

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    Hi, I'm Jermaine Griggs, founder of this site. We teach people how to express themselves through the language of music. Just as you talk and listen freely, music can be enjoyed and played in the same way... if you know the rules of the "language!" I started this site at 17 years old in August 2000 and more than a decade later, we've helped literally millions of musicians along the way. Enjoy!




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