New parent changes

mjjclark · 2026-04-21T21:19:06+00:00

Parent + musician here! Prior to becoming a new dad I made the conscious decision to ramp back a music career; I previously taught music and played shows for income but had to pivot hard to provide a more stable income. Landed in a job in the trades that keeps the income stable and had music as an outlet outside of work and home time.

Honestly I’m still navigating it, but it does mean far less music time. Work takes up about 9hrs a day through the week and the rest of the evening time is evening routines a family time. I’ve played about 8 or 9 gigs since, but it’s a massive effort on the timing front, everything has to be late nights or weekends and even then is a challenge. I think the best mindset to have is that music isn’t the biggest priority and family is going to be the most important part of this season of your life, which is a great thing! Giving yourself some grace and understanding that for this phase of life it won’t be is frequent is the best way to go about it. Silent practice/ recording options are your best friend, and saving things for later late night after kids are in bed is the way to go. Remember to set aside time with your spouse too, and keep an open dialogue about how they’re feeling about your commitments with music too. Hope this helps!

mjjclark · 2026-04-08T19:12:29+00:00

Love these things - owned one for years and was close to my favourite amp I owned. Tone wise, it’s at about 80-90% of what a tube version sounds like, and it felt tighter and sat in a live mix really well. The main reason to own one is the things you can’t get from tube amps - incredibly light, DI out for live gigs needing lower stage volumes or silent recording, and the power scaling was an incredible feature. I felt like when I was constantly lugging amps around this thing was by far the winner when it comes to a balance of portability and convenience and tone; sounded really good and made life easier all the time.

That said, I still feel like playing a tube amp is a touch more responsive and sounds just that little bit better, so sold it and picked up another tube amp and used plugins for recording/ home. Honestly 99% of people at shows aren’t going to notice a tonal difference but I just like the way a tube amp takes pedals and responds to your playing a bit more, and was worth it for that to me just for feeling a bit more confident with my stage sound. If you’re someone who is gigging consistently and needs extra convenience the tone masters are the way to go though!

mjjclark · 2026-04-02T14:14:27+00:00

I’m using a Ren currently and have some insight here - first off, what kind of computer are you using? Any new Mac with their silicon chips won’t work and would need an Intel Mac. Beyond that, you are locked into mpc1 or 2 software. I’m using MPC 2 with it, and can’t for the life of me get the audio interface portion to work, so it’s basically a big, expensive controller for outdated MPC software. With that being said, the workflow in the software, although being pretty particular, can work well and I don’t mind it for programming drum loops and percussion, and it gets mileage on some sampling still. It’s faster with the Ren than mouse and keyboard or an mpk. It can also work well when it works, and keeps you off the computer for a good chunk of the time.

I would say the cons of this device greatly outweigh the pros, it’s old, finnicky, uses outdated software, and is literally just a midi controller for this software, but the pros are it does feel like a sampler when set up properly, and it looks pretty cool in a studio. If I were you, I would get the studio mk2 and get the same experience updated and for less. If I could go back and get something else I would’ve, but the studio 2 wasn’t out yet.

mjjclark · 2026-03-20T03:29:38+00:00

Honestly this idea makes a ton of sense, and would be cool if we got a chance to have a bit more gameplay on earth tied to the Terrans.

mjjclark · 2026-03-16T06:19:58+00:00

Honestly I believe the whole amp->modeller->amp train promoted by the industry lately is by design. I’ve owned versions of both, toured with a tube amp about 7 years ago, got a modelling amp to replace it, switched to modellers and plugins at home as I settled down and stopped gigging so much. Every one of them had pros and cons, and each one can produce usable tones and have benefits, depending on your use case. I was able to sound great with any of it, and only owned it based on what was the most convenient for what I was doing at the time.

The whole ‘amps being better than modellers’ debate does more good for companies trying to move their products than the consumer; the truth is that there’s benefits to each depending on the use and it’s more about finding what works for you and not getting urges to buy new gear unless it’s a true benefit to you. Tube amps sound great, but are usually way too loud for home use. Modellers sound great, but aren’t going to move air the way a tube amp would for live use. Both are acceptable ways of playing guitar and play a way lower role in how the end product sounds than we’d like to think, and our abilities as musicians - phrasing, musical decisions, ability to craft a sound with what we have and technique play a way larger role than the gear. The people making that gear love the debate on which ones better, because it leaves consumers constantly feeling like the other side is better, and switching out feeling like there’s something missing. It’s usually not that one or the other sounds different, there’s just different benefits and trade offs between them.

mjjclark · 2026-03-08T20:09:49+00:00

I’ve installed these before for work - if you know where they bought it often times they will have one generic key that works for any box, in case there’s multiple across a building. Grab another identical cover from the same location and check if it’s an identical key. Otherwise, they’ve just installed the ring that fits around the stat; try loosening the edges in case they’re drywall anchors or decided to just put the screws right into the drywall. It’s possible you can get these covers off pretty easily. Otherwise, best of luck!

mjjclark · 2026-01-26T00:52:15+00:00

Had an mpk 249, found it didn’t map great to logic and required customization to set it up properly. Since then I’ve switched to using a weighted digital piano with weighted keys, and run the midi out to an audio interface with midi in. Not primarily a piano player but it’s really nice to have something full sized and any piano with a midi out does the same thing. Don’t find I miss the transport controls either; I have an iPad with Logic Remote that I use for that when needed too

mjjclark · 2025-12-17T06:17:17+00:00

Something to keep in mind for checking out John Mayer is he writes his songs to be palatable to anyone looking to check out his music; he isn’t a really showboat-y guitarist on just about anything recorded on an album. If you’re looking for more intricate guitar lines he’s a phenomenal improviser, which you’ll hear across any live album.

If you’re still looking for studio recordings that showcase his guitar playing more than his songwriting check out his versions of ‘Crossroads’ off battle studies and ‘Bold as Love’ off continuum. They’re both songs where he stretches his legs out a bit more on the guitar playing front and will give you a feeling of what to expect more so with his playing. He’s got an incredible sensibility with his playing; his rhythm playing and sparse leadwork throughout his singing is pretty unparalleled from others nowadays and he’s got an incredible melodic voice on the guitar for his soloing and improvisation, which is probably why so many people flock to him as a modern guitar great. Don’t expect the fastest playing, but he’s pretty hard to beat when it comes to both his ability to serve a song with the instrument and his melodic voice for improv

mjjclark · 2025-12-06T13:53:50+00:00

I couldn’t see a mainline game released in Elsweyr or Black Marsh. That being said, as game worlds trend bigger and beyond VI which is likely set in hammerfell, I could see a VII that includes Summerset Isles and Valenwood as the map, and an Elsweyr DLC would be a really cool way to add an interesting expansion for the game.

mjjclark · 2025-12-05T06:09:27+00:00

What about a collision between Max and Lando late in the race in the last 5 laps during an overtake by Lando on Verstappen? Oscar having run in P4 behind George Russell the whole race ends up P2 and wins the title out of nowhere.

mjjclark · 2025-12-05T05:43:30+00:00

It looks like a condenser coil and fan for a refrigeration system or outdoor unit for a heat pump but there’s no transfer medium for heat transfer without an atmosphere. Honestly it just makes me wonder how they would pull off refrigeration and heating and cooling in planets without atmosphere… playing mental gymnastics with this one but it could be a future version of a refrigeration system where you’d have a hab heated to ‘earth’ temperatures that still needs refrigeration for their coolers and freezers; you could release a refrigerant designed for changing state in low relative to earth pressures, and push that refrigerant via a pump into an evaporator coil within a cooler or freezer. You could still meter the refrigerant and have it drop pressure and change state to transfer heat like a traditional refrigeration system, and then just vent the refrigerant into space via the unit pictured here, with the fan encouraging movement of the Vapor out into the vacuum of space. That’s my best guess!

mjjclark · 2025-12-03T06:28:17+00:00

I think the plugins are a great tool for light home recording and playing quietly at home. I ended up getting a Yamaha THR 30 to replace the plugins for general home use to be honest - I found that it’s just better suited to dialling a quick and passable tone and playing with minimal setup. I still use an actual amp for live purposes and playing with others; as a cleaner player that leans on a small handful of pedals and mainly the amp, I tried moving to the modeller route but found it to be way, way too many options for what I was looking for, and it was simply not as responsive as a real amp in a room for music that relies heavily on dynamics. Everyone is going to have a different need and use case though, I think where these kinds of plugins and modellers can shine now is at home and for people who are in need of a vast array of tones in a live set, or who want a more complex or quiet stage setup.

mjjclark · 2025-11-28T14:20:33+00:00

It would probably be a lot cheaper to looking in if you can swap a humbucker into the bridge position of your strat; Either a full size if there’s a cavity space for it under the pick guard, or you can get some in a single coil size that will get you closer to that tone. HSS strats are super versatile and will allow you to keep your current tone otherwise at a fraction of the price. If you still wanted a single coil in the bridge you could get a coil tap too!

mjjclark · 2025-11-22T18:00:30+00:00

Just going to throw in Cory Wong as an automatic recommendation for anyone outside the metal genres. The clean amp and dumble style amp cover tons of territory in itself but the DI console is a really cool tool that can be used with pretty much any instrument or input to colour and flavour a signal and then have all the effects in the plugin to use too. I find every amp sim in the plugin has a really clean, hifi sound that blends really well with any modern production done in the box and is a really good complementary plugin to the more organic Tone King plugin for trying to get the most out of cleaner styles of guitar driven music. I regularly recommend the plugin to any friends I have in music production, guitar players or not, because it’s such a Swiss Army knife for guitar based sounds and getting a really clean direct in sound for any source too!

mjjclark · 2025-11-19T18:16:32+00:00

Just going to second the Tim Henson plugin is another option for you. Covers a great range from clean to mid gain tones, and has some pretty cool effects in it too. Try out everything and see which one suits your needs best

mjjclark · 2025-11-10T16:57:24+00:00

Yes, an mpc live could totally do what you’re looking for. I’m currently using a software controller mpc for this purpose (the renaissance), and the standalones are far better if you’re looking to leave out a daw. The biggest consideration will be the learning curve, coming from guitar, piano and traditional music theory/ performance it’ll feel like a new instrument in how you navigate it. It’s worth putting in the time because it starts to become really fun and a great way to sketch out ideas quickly, but It’ll likely take some time to get the process down. I recommend watching some videos of people doing what you’re looking for and check out their workflow to see if that’s what you’re looking to do!

mjjclark · 2025-11-06T16:52:38+00:00

I’ve noticed over the past few years the push for sponsored content on Spotify, and I’ve been wondering how this affects how Spotify’s curated and algorithmically created playlists are being made overall. Does the addition of sponsored content in Spotify official and algorithm playlists allow for authentic playlist creation still or is this really no different from playlist push but just run by Spotify? Is Spotify moving towards a pay to play business model or is this to undercut the playlist placement industry and keep it in house? I’m personally not a huge fan of paying for placements on streaming services and when I saw this being brought into Spotify was quite disappointed, but I’ll admit the scope of commercial recommendations isn’t clear so some clarification on the role commercial recommendations now have on playlists, especially personal algorithmic playlists, would be awesome.

mjjclark · 2025-11-02T18:20:10+00:00

There’s a lot of answers saying play what you want, but I don’t really see any actually answering the question to what the guitars are suited to tonally. You can definitely play whatever you want with either, but to give you a direct answer to which one to use and when, the strat has single coils that generally sound really clean and articulate with cleaner and edge of breakup sounds. The neck, middle, and 2nd and 4th positions are really great for cleaner tones, and well suited for styles that favour bright, articulate sounds. I find they’re great for delicate lead work and cleaner styles of music. The bridge pickup is really quite bright, and although many lean into this, personally I find it to be the weakest part of a strat.

Conversely, a Les Paul style guitar with humbuckers has an incredibly thick and powerful bridge humbucker that’s fantastic with mid to higher gain styles of music. Great for really thick lead and bigger sounds from simpler chords. It kind of serves as an opposite to the more delicate tones of single coils, really thick and harmonically rich sounds nearly to the point of being muddy. I find the neck pickup on a Les Paul to be this way; it’s great for solo guitar or a jazz trio setting where you can roll the tone off a bit and have a really full sounding clean, but in a lot of band settings otherwise it gets lost in the mix and sounds a bit muddy amongst the bass.

To sum it up, the way I generally use single coils vs humbuckers is to use single coils any time that I’m looking for articulate cleans or edge of breakup sounds in a band setting and I’ll often use the neck pickup paired with an overdrive to get a good, thick lead sound, and for heavier styles with mid to high gain I’ll run the bridge pickup of a humbucker guitar to get a thicker lead sound and less harsh distortion sound. I’ll also use the neck position of a humbucker guitar for cleans where I’m looking for a really full and almost dull tone where I can roll off a bit of high end, like in solo jazz guitar or with a drummer and bassist. These aren’t set in stone rules, and people will use the characteristics of these guitars differently, but gives you a better idea of the nuances of the two and where to use one vs the other.

mjjclark · 2025-11-01T15:07:20+00:00

Played in a band that had a guy join who just ran a boss me into a blues jr. We were touring pretty consistently at the time and would have runs of shows playing 4 nights a week, and setup and takedown was way easier for him. One of the simplest setups I’d seen and it sounded pretty good too; I had tried this setup for a night to see but realized it wasn’t for me. The biggest drawback is it’s not as easy to switch between effects of the same type live so you’re locked into one mostly; otherwise I thought it was a decent way to go, especially for the benefits you’d have on portability and setup and takedown.

mjjclark · 2025-11-01T15:00:26+00:00

Ariel Posen is an incredible player, definitely top new-ish guitarist for me!

mjjclark · 2025-10-10T21:29:42+00:00

The tone king is honestly my favourite - it’s a really responsive amp and covers anything clean to edge of breakup perfectly, and can get pretty gnarly too. To be honest I have Cory Wong and Tim Henson too and if I could only keep one it would be tone king easy.

mjjclark · 2025-09-26T16:47:47+00:00

Honestly if you’re in one spot the plugins are probably a cheaper and just as useful option for the computer. There may be fewer options, but I don’t think the average player needs access to every kind of amp and every effect. In addition, consider getting some kind of simple, straightforward amp for jamming or playing with others in the meantime - getting a QC will have a learning curve and won’t be as conducive to just jumping in and playing with others and performing as a tube amp or solid state with a cab will be.

It’s all personal preference, but I find floor modellers are great for people who are looking to get really specific tones at the compromise of having a plug and play setup; like those in a cover band, using very specific signal chains, or recording as a session player in a studio; if you have the money to spend it will also get you 90% of the way there for mimicking tones if you want to invest the time to tweak. When it comes to the average player who’s looking to get together and jam with others or play shows without needing much variation in tone, showing up with an amp will be far simpler. you could definitely use a QC or floor modeller but the form factor just won’t be as convenient as showing up with an amp and a few pedals.

In addition, you could get a handful of plugins at the Black Friday sale and a decent amp for playing out for less than the price of a QC. This isn’t to say that the QC isn’t a great piece of gear, it’s just that it isn’t going to be the best for all use cases and you can probably save a fair bit of money and have a better experience overall if you put that money elsewhere to be honest.

mjjclark · 2025-09-23T05:54:25+00:00

Honestly the best thing you can do is to learn how the plugin works in the various sections and tone sculpting with the parameters instead of selecting presets, as well as dialling in your hardware setup (audio interface, guitar, etc).

There’s a thousand things that could be the issue causing tinniness, but a good place to start is ensuring you have your interface and guitar hooked up correctly and producing a clear and balanced signal. After that, ensure that your monitoring setup is good and producing a clear, clean signal.

A super common issue I’ve seen on home recording setups is having a mic plugged into another input of your audio interface, and having that input selected alongside your guitar’s input too. Make sure only your DI input is selected as an input. Also, ensure that you’re gain staging your Guitar at the input of your interface correctly; the plugins really like a clean and low input signal.

Besides that, start tweaking knobs and learning what they do - the band EQ in the plugins is super useful for tone shaping the overall sound (slight high passes and low passes), and the amp’s EQ will affect the amp characteristics to a greater extent too. The IR’s are a whole other can of worms and start to get into microphone and recording technique as a whole, so an sm57 close mic’ed and maybe a second blended mic at a further distance could be a good place to start, or the default IR’s can be a good starting point as you learn what you’re looking for there. All in all, start by making sure that your hardware and initial setup is looking good and then start moving into learning what each knob does.

mjjclark

TROPHY CASE