Useless Tip #1

Being a guitarist/musician....I am constantly listening to music. I am often trying to figure out guitar parts, etc, which are often buried deep in a mix...obscuring exactly what notes are being played, etc.

So, boys and girls, here is today's useless tip. Next time you are listening to your iPod or Sony Walkman (you know, the waterproof yellow one...with the Fresh Prince tape in it...) do this:

While listening to something, pull the headphone cable slightly out until you hear a separation of sorts in the audio tracks. It's a bit of a sweet spot...too little and it won't make a difference and too much and it will obviously come all the way out.

Anyway, this works better on some songs more than others and can often yield pretty interesting results...giving you a sense of what one or more of the tracks would have sounded on their own when recorded. For example, you might suddenly hear the sound of drums being recorded live off the floor, or the sound of the guitar isolated to one ear...complete with squeaking of fingers on the frets or the hum of the amp, or the track with only a hint of the vocals.

Try it. Good times.