Rocker Dad

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This feels like deja vu…and not the good kind.

If you’ve followed this Crohn’s series, you know the back story. My daughter was diagnosed back in March of 2010. Since then, she’s done well for the most part (except for that episode where she stopped taking her medication last summer). That all changed this past week. She had not been feeling as well for the last few weeks so her doctor ordered an upper and lower GI be performed to check things out. She had this procedure done the day she was diagnosed. I wrote I never wanted to see her like that again in my life. I saw her like that again last Wednesday and it wasn’t any easier.

Once the procedure was done, I could tell by the look on the doctor’s face that it was news I didn’t want to hear but probably knew was coming. She was most definitely having a flare up of Crohn’s. The other thing I never wanted to see again was her having to be on steroids for a 2nd time. Guess what? I batted 2 for 2 on this day of things I didn’t want to see. She would have to begin being treated with steroids right away and require another stay in the hospital. I really worry about how she is going to feel once her appearance starts changing while on these medications.

There was a little bit of good news that came out of this. She only had to stay one night instead of the 3 or 4 that was originally planned. She responded very well to the medications and treatment right off the bat. At this point, I’m realizing this is going to be an ongoing battle through her life…it’s sinking in more and more. I’ve recently had some severe back pain and I have a bad cold as I’m writing this but I would gladly take feeling this way every day for the rest of my life if it meant she would be ok. All I ask is that she be able to live and enjoy her life without too many more complications. For someone who is only 9 years old, she has gone through more than most people in their seventies. I may have mentioned this before but she is the bravest person I’ve ever met and I really hope she stays as strong as she is moving forward. Thank you for reading this and expressing your support. Hopefully, I won’t be writing too many blogs on this subject.

Digitech was kind enough to send me their new iStomp pedal and I received it late yesterday. For those unfamiliar with it, it’s basically a do it all type pedal…meaning, if you have an iphone or ipad, you can download different effects into the pedal. For example, need a delay for a show? Download it and you’re ready to go. Need an overdrive? Same thing. The Digitech app store has a good number of choices to choose from…od, reverbs, compressors, delays, chorus, etc….they range in price from $.99 to $9.99.

As with most of my gear reviews, I review things for how I would use it for my own purposes. There are literally hundreds of reviews on the iStomp, as well as videos, that show you how it works, what each knob does, what color it is, etc. I review gear for the ease of use for my live rig, nothing more. The same can be said for any videos I may upload to youtube showcasing a product. Hopefully, my take on some of these products will help some fellow musicians out there decide whether or not to try or buy.

I’ve only gotten to mess with it for a few minutes at a time but it’s pretty cool and sounds good, like most Digitech products. When I first heard of this pedal, I was a little underwhelmed. I didn’t think I would have any use for something like this but once I decided to build a travel board, this pedal makes things MUCH easier than having to buy a few separate pedals. I think it’d be great for guys who are in more than 1 band and need a certain effect for the night or even for someone looking to grab a quick pedal to jam/rehearse.

One of the best features, and I wish all of the apps in Apple’s app store did this, is that you can TRY the pedals before you commit to buying. It puts a 5 minute timer on and you can use it like you own it. I can’t tell you how many apps I’ve bought for my iphone or ipad thinking it looked cool only to come find out that it really sucks big time and I can’t get my money back. Props to Digitech for including this feature. They also send you a bunch of stickers to use on the pedal if you wish. This might be better for those that have a couple of iStomps. I may have to grab another to complete my board…I like the flexibility and the thing seems to be built like a tank as well. Loading a new effect into the pedal from your iphone or ipad takes about 30 seconds.

It’s definitely not for everyone. I know there are guys complaining that it doesn’t make sense to spend $150 on one pedal and only be able to use one effect at a time, which is a valid point. To me, this pedal is the perfect board finisher….you know when you have 1 spot left on your board but you need a variety of effects that you need to swap out for certain gigs? This will do the job. Again, it’s the size of a regular stompbox. I guess you could use a Line 6 M5 and be able to have a couple of effects at a time but if you’re like me and space on your pedalboard is at a premium, this may work for you. Check one out at your local music gear dealer or visit Official Digitech Site.

Quick update today…

I recently was asked by a friend to play acoustic guitar on a song he wrote called “Now Or Never“. The song has a full band, electric version that is available on iTunes for 99 cents (lead vocals are handled by Jamie Fletcher of Modern Superstar and formerly of Britny Fox). Proceeds from the sales of this song will be donated to helping fight hunger and homelessness in America. This is not a band…it is a group of guys united to make a change. 5 Guys Who Care is the name of the project and it could be different guys involved at any given time. All info can be found at the links I have provided below. Please take a few minutes out of your day to check it out…it’s for a great cause. If you could sign the petition and pass it on, that is greatly appreciated.

5 Guys Who Care

Petition to raise awareness:
Please sign the petition!

Website home of Robert Graham, owner and founder:
BG Entertainment

Live acoustic performance on The Rhode Show (Rhode Island):
The Rhode Show performance

iTunes link:
Buy “Now Or Never

If you play guitar AND own an iPad, it’s time you check out the iPB-10 pedalboard from Digitech. I’ve been using the iPB-10 for about 2 months now. My favorite feature about it, besides the sounds, is its ease of use. The biggest drawback on all other modellers I’ve used in the past has been the interface. That problem has been solved for me with the iPB-10. The iPB Nexus app, which is a free download for your iPad, is stunning and gives you complete control of all of its features. No more toggling or scrolling through settings to find what you’re looking for. Everything is laid out like you are looking at an actual analog pedalboard. You can see real looking stomp pedals, not just numbers, words or names. The visual part of this setup is what really separates it from competitors.

Another big plus is that you DO NOT need to have your iPad in the iPB-10 in order to use the board. Playing a seedy bar and worried about some drunk spilling his beer onto your iPad? Set your sounds during sound check, adjust your tone for the stage, and then take the iPad out before the show starts. If you’re like me then you also don’t like fiddling with tone while the show is happening. Set your sounds and play! There are 20 banks with 5 preset slots in each bank. If you need to tweak, there is plenty of room to do it ahead of time.

The amp models in the iPB-10 are your typical amp models. They won’t make you want to sell your real amps but they are definetely usable in a pinch or for recording direct. The effects, on the other hand, sound very good to my ears. I usually cringe at modelled overdrive pedals but Digitech changed my mind this time. One of my favorite overdrive pedals is the Boss SD-1. It is a popular OD to use with Marshall amps. (I play through a DSL100) I’ve always kept an SD-1 on my board, especially when using modelling gear. Since I started using the iPB-10, I have not turned it on once. Side by side, the iPB’s “Supreme” OD is as close to the SD-1 as any other attempt I’ve heard. It even looks like the pedal it is emulating.

I could go on and on about what I like about the iPB-10. To keep this blog review from getting more boring than it already is, I’ve listed a few pros and cons for the unit. Bottom line for me is that it gets the job done in a much simpler fashion than most others in its field. At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters to me. Check out the iPB-10 at a music store near you….just make sure you own an iPad first.

Pros:
Ease of use, FREE Nexus iPad app, # of inputs/outputs, Ability to use the 4 cable method, # of effects, # of amp models, Digitech customer support, can be run as a standalone modeller or only as an effects board, use as a backup amp in a pinch

Cons:
No amp channel switch to control your analog amp, no website to share presets with other users, no tap tempo (Digitech has alerted me that tap tempo IS coming in an update), no way to backup user presets to disk off of the iPB

Since I last wrote about my daughter’s fight against Crohn’s disease, there have been a few things that have happened. After some smooth sailing, it was learned that my daughter had stopped taking her medication. My wife happened to notice some pill capsules in the trash in the bathroom. This wasn’t out of the ordinary because since my daughter got her braces and palette expander, she had been unable to swallow her pills. We would open the capsules, pour the contents into orange juice or water, and she would drink it. She would then put the empty capsule ends back together and throw them away. My daughter is 8 but sometimes we give her a little too much leeway. That’s what happened with the medication. We would set her pills out in the morning and before bed and then rely on her to take them. We should have been watching her. We are partly to blame for not watching her more closely. I’m not sure what made my wife check the pills in the garbage but the first one she picked up was still full.

We started looking through the garbage. Pill after pill were full and unopened. My wife had to leave for work so I needed to sift through the entire basket, which was full, to try to figure out how long she had been doing this. After about 45 minutes of pulling pills out and guesstimating (pills at the bottom of the basket were really corroded), the time-frame seemed to be about 6 weeks worth of meds that she had been skipping. We had a long talk with her about the importance of taking her medicine, why she has to take it, what could have happened to her because of this, but most importantly….we couldn’t trust her right now because she lied to us.

Having said all that, this may have been a blessing in disguise. Her health had not deteriorated at all. In fact, she had gained a pound or 2 and her energy level was up. While on the medication, it was hard for her to gain much weight.

The next thing was to inform her doctor. We knew she would order some blood work to make sure my daughter’s blood levels weren’t spiking or rising from being off the medication. We also decided to not put her back on the meds if her blood work came back ok. There was no sense in doing that. Something was telling us that the probiotics and plain yogurt were actually helping.

Her blood work came back as normal as her last test. We decided to keep her off one of the meds and to lessen the dosage of the other for the time being. Our next visit to the doctor isn’t until mid October. We are hoping things stay as is until then. What started as a big scare could actually have been a breakthrough for us. Even with the good news, we are watching her again when it’s time to take her medicine. This will be the last post about Crohn’s for awhile as we seem to have settled into a rhythm of keeping it in check. (fingers crossed)

Just a quick post today…

I wanted to get some info to those of you in the NY area on a cool event. It’s a benefit concert for Rock Asylum Foundation presented by Zo2. It’s a non-profit organization that provides free rock concerts to schools around the country with the goal of inspiring and motivating young people to succeed in their education and to become creative, well-rounded adults.

Lots of celebs, pro athletes, rock stars and more will be attending.

Thursday, October 13th
Hiro Ballroom (in the Maritime Hotel)
88 9th Avenue New York, NY 10011
Doors 6:30pm/ Showtime 7:30pm

Zo2 hits the stage around 8:30pm. For more info visit: www.rockasylum.com/

What a relief! After testing the Peavey Ampkit Link and IK Multimedia iRig guitar interfaces for the iPad and iPhone to less than stellar results, along comes the Apogee Jam. My suspicions as to why the previous 2 products wouldn’t work correctly (for me) came true…the key is in the dock!

For those that have tried the iRig and Ampkit Link, you know that the unit utilizes the headphone jack on the iPad/iPhone as an input. Before I even tested them out, I had a feeling there was going to be a chance of feedback or noise. Plugging a metal tip into a metal headphone jack that normally pushes sound OUT should cause a problem…and it did in my case. I could not play any amp model software that had any kind of gain or distortion. It was unbearable because of the squealing, noise and just bad sounds.

The Jam fixes all these issues for me. For starters, it plugs into the DOCK! Who would have thought? Oh yeah, I did! It makes total sense since we already know that the camera connection kit can help you use USB products with the iPad/iPhone. How simple is it to get up and running? How about trying this…plug your guitar cable into the Jam, plug the included dock cable into the other end of the Jam and then into your iPad or iPhone. Open up Garageband or other music recording/guitar app and…that’s it. You should see a green light on the Jam which signals that you’re ready to rip.

Best feature of the Jam besides the clear sound? The gain control knob located on its side. Signal too hot? The light turns orange to red. Just turn the gain down and it goes back to the green. So simple, so easy. I’m not going to get into what the specs of the unit are. For that, visit Apogee website. I’m telling you how easy it is to get a good, clean, clear, noise-free guitar tone to record or “jam” with.

To hear a couple of samples I recorded, click here:
My Jam Testing Tunes (you may need a soundcloud free account to listen)

(Yes, these are Def Leppard tunes…I joined a Def Lep tribute recently)
These samples were recorded entirely with my strat, Line 6 Spider III 15 watt amp, the Jam and an iPad 1 using Garageband.

On a side note, the Jam works with Garageband, PRS Jam Amp app and the Peavey Ampkit app. It doesn’t seem to work with Amplitube as of yet…hopefully that changes.

This month’s CD review is from the band Gambiza, featuring Berklee School of Music grads. Their newest CD is titled “Mr. Shiny Pants” and upon first listen, 2 major influences hit me right off the bat: Queen and Alice Cooper. There are unbelievable amounts of rock opera elements in the music and vocals.

The opening track, “Rock N Roll Star” is a humorous, Bohemian Rhapsody styled tune with mid tempos and full out rocking. The lyrics tell you a lot about this song…”Make me a rock star”…”get me some cheese”. The band seems to like mozzarella…always a good thing.

The song “Fishies Swim” starts off as a pretty lullaby before kicking into a majestic power ballad. The CD’s title track, “Mr. Shiny Pants“, begins as a piano ballad (I can hear some Amy Lee/Evanescence influence here) before the pace picks up. While listening to this batch of songs, I couldn’t help but picture this music as part of a lavish broadway musical. I can see why other reviews compare the band to the Rocky Horror genre. The band also gives fans a free song download of the song “Evil Man” via their website (info below).

My favorite track is the rock guitar driven “Insane Maniac“. While this music is not my cup of tea, the production is great, the performances are top-notch and if you’re into music in the styles I’ve mentioned in this review, you really should check these guys (and lady) out.

Gambiza – Rachel Gambiza, Michael Johnson, Kevin Clougherty, Francisco Pawluszek
Website: Gambiza.com

I’ve been a dad for 8 and a half years now. I have 2 little girls…ages 8 and 5. I also have 2 dogs but I’m not going to write about those 2 knuckleheads. I’m really not going to write much about my girls either. This one is more about me and maybe other dads that read this will realize that it is true for them also. I will make this short and simple but it should make perfect sense.

For 8 years I’ve tried to figure out what it means to be a dad and answer the question, “WHY am I a dad?”

I know the answer. The reason I’m a father is because I’m supposed to be one. MY KIDS ARE THE REASON I WAS BORN. I don’t think I need to explain that and I hope all the other dads out there feel the same way.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads that are kind enough to read my blogs and check out this site. Enjoy your day.

P.S. – Put on your guitars, grab your drumsticks, turn up your mics….and ROCK LOUD!