If you can’t see the above video, click here.

07 – Q&A – David Ellefson & Chris Broderick Jackson Guitar & Bass Clinic @ Guitar Trader/Music Power San Diego [10-27-2011] 720p. Enjoy!

Here are the questions (tune in for the answers):

Q1: About Chris’ custom thumbpick.

 

Q2: The bass solo to Take No Prisoners.

 

Q3: The bass solo to My Last Words.

 

Q4: Before he came into the band, did Chris have to learn any of Dave Mustaine’s solos?

 

Q5: About Megadeth’s songwriting process.

 

Q6: Does Megadeth write in and/or avoid certain keys to accommodate Dave Mustaine’s voice?

 

Q7: What kind of challenges does Chris have when learning Marty Friedman & Chris Poland’s solos?

TheAndySan

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

Q&A – 07 – David Ellefson & Chris Broderick

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

In this mobile video, I talk about which guitar pick I bought from Marty Friedman, going to the Big Four concert, and my recent guitar review videos that I put out over the weekend.

TheAndySan

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

Marty Friedman’s Winning Pick & The Big Four

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

this week’s N-FAQs, which was suppose to come out last week, I go over the ASVAB test and how it affects getting the rate (job) you want in the Navy.

I also talk about the NAPT (Navy Advanced Programs Test), also called the nuke test.

I hope you guys enjoy this, and sorry about the delay!

TheAndySan

BGM: Speed Metal Symphony

BGM Artist: Cacophony

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

N-FAQs 18 – ASVAB Q&A

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

Continuing from where we left off, let’s look at my top 5 videos that are mainly on BlipTV. Here we go!!

05 – Movie Night 04 – Space Transformers

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

Although this is the last of our Movie Night series, we definitely saved the best for last! We knew this movie very well and the riff came out well!

04 – First Impact Anime 09 – Naruto

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

The Talkin’ Vedalken edited & uploaded this video while I was at boot camp, and he did a great job! He even added a counter for how many references I make to Little Kuriboh’s Naruto: The Abridged Series (15 if memory serves).

03 – Movie Night 02 – Defenders of Space

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

I’m not sure what it is with us and space-themed shows, but I think our best riffs come from this sub-genre. It was pure ridiculum!

02 – Behind The Flop 01 – Movie Night 01 Blooper Reel

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

I came up with an idea for doing a behind-the-scenes mini-series showing bloopers and extended cuts of the intro tracks, and the best one I think is the very first one we did!

01 – [TIE] “Movie Night 00 – Teaser Trailer”

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

01 – [TIE] “First Impact Anime 00 – Teaser Trailer”

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

Pure win!! ‘Nuff said!

Well guys, I hope you enjoyed this fun look back at my back catalog of videos! I’ll put up links and stuff sometime this weekend when I have a bit more time to work on it. Until then, have a good one! Bye!

TheAndySan

BGM: Bad DNA

BGM Artist: Marty Friedman

BGM: Perpetual Burn

BGM Artist: Jason Becker

BGM: Fuzz Universe

BGM Artist: Paul Gilbert

BGM: Steve Vai Solo LIVE at Monsters of Rock 1990

BGM Artist Steve Vai (with Whitesnake)

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

Vlog 66 Part 2-2 – Top 5 BlipTV Videos

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

Well folks, I can’t believe that five years (and a week) ago today, I signed up to the biggest online video distribution website in the world, not to mention the breeding ground for up-and-coming talent in the media industry.

Now granted, I have nowhere near the large subscriber base of people who joined YouTube around the same time as me (sXePhil, TokyoCooney, RodgerSwan, etc), but despite that, I still make videos chronicling my life and how it has changed over these past 5 years.

Heck, I can even go back a year and look at the kind of videos I was doing then and see the differences between then and now. I believe that my videos underwent a major change after I graduated US Navy boot camp in late August 2010. I also started doing the N-FAQs series on a regular basis around this time as well.

Now before I get all gushy-eyed, let’s begin our trip down memory lane and look at my Top 10 videos of the past 5 years! Due to the time limits on YouTube (15 minutes as of 03-08-2011), I split up the video into two parts. In this video, we’ll be going over my Top 5 videos that are primarily on YouTube. Here we go!

05 – Vlog 04 – Going Around Town

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

This video marked my very first attempt at using video editing software (Sony Vegas, which I still continue to use even today, although I keep it up-to-date), whereas my other videos were filmed in one take and sometimes compiled via Total Video Converter, like in my very first guitar video. Vlog 04 is also a very early precursor to the Life In…Video series.

04 – Pie In The Face (Navy Style)

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

This video, while it was an editing nightmare due to YouTube’s 15 minute time limit and the very large amount of footage that I took, was and still is a blast to watch!

03 – Life In…Video 02 – Celina & Coldwater Ohio’s Bike Path

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

This video to me was the beginning of a more refined editing sense in my videos. I had done a bunch of at-the-time new things like add music & record while riding on my bicycle. Although I replicated it on videos afterward, I feel that I haven’t quite recaptured the mojo of this video!

02 – Vlog 21 Part 1 – Life Plans Chipotle Finders

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

02 – Vlog 21 Part 2 – Goin’ Downtown To Myles Dairy Queen

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

These two videos I believe are my most under-rated of all time! I had to split this video into two parts because of YouTube’s at-the-time 10 minute time limit, but it seemed to work out just fine. I did things a lot differently in this video that I haven’t done before or even since, like add those pixelated transitions ala Parker Lewis Can’t Lose. I had a blast recording & editing this video, and I believe it really shows! Even Rodger Swan, one of my YouTube heroes, gave it great praise and always referred to it as one of my better videos!!

01 (TIE) – Al Di Meola LIVE at Anthology San Diego [02-19-2011] – Midnight Tango + Medley (Full HD 1080p)

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

01 (TIE) – Al Di Meola LIVE at Anthology San Diego [02-19-2011] – Race With Devil On Spanish Highway (Full HD 1080p)

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

Although I didn’t edit these videos AT ALL, they recorded a very special moment in my life and they’re also my first set of videos in Full 1080p HD!! Great meal, great music, unforgettable times!

In the next video, we’ll go over my Top 5 BlipTV videos. Stay tuned!

TheAndySan

BGM: Song of Solomon

BGM Artist: Animals As Leaders

 

BGM: Red Moon

BGM Artist: Al Di Meola

BGM: Bad DNA

BGM Artist: Marty Friedman

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

Vlog 66 Part 1-2 – Top 5 YouTube Videos

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

It’s been way too long since I’ve done an actual vlog, so I decided to bust one out while I was doing laundry on Sunday.

As you may have noticed, I got new glasses last week. I didn’t like them initially because I thought they made me look like I had bug-eyes or something, but I’m warming up to them.

The big thing that happened last week was that I got my orders!! I’ll be flying over to Point Loma in San Diego on the 23rd of November! I can’t wait!

Although I had some hiccups in the beginning (hardware is a totally different animal than software), things are looking good for me school-wise. As of today, I have 6.4 days worth of school left according to my progress report.

I just can’t wait to go to San Diego! Not to take anything away from TSC; I’m just looking forward to progressing in my Navy career!

With a lot of the guys from my boot camp division graduating their respective schools and getting orders for their next command, it just blows my mind to think that two months ago, we got on a bus at RTC in our dress whites and braved the 5 minute trip here. Then again, some days it feels like I’ve been here forever. I’ve learned that time passes really weird when you’re in the Navy; it’s hard to explain unless you’ve actually lived the lifestyle.

When I talked to my friends in the Navy about A-school before I went to boot camp, they said that it was a lot like college. After being here for over two months, I think it’s safe to say that they’re right for the most part. If you’ve lived in a dorm room setting or had roommates, let’s just say that you’ll be in pretty familiar territory.

Of course, going to school in the Navy isn’t exactly like going to any ol’ college! You have to wear & maintain a uniform (and you get different kinds of uniforms to match virtually any occasion), you do daily musters (head counts), you have duty days where you clean the ship and/or stand watches, you have to work in order to earn the right to go on liberty and what you can do when you’re on liberty (aka the three phases of liberty), and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

In other news, at the beginning of December, I’ll be able to take out a starter loan from my bank in order to boost my credit by rebuilding my credit history. I’ll be using the money to buy myself a nice guitar for my birthday, most likely a Dean ML in a blueburst finish with a fixed bridge. I’m not much of a whammy-bar guy, so I’m totally cool without one.

If I have some money left over, I’ll try to buy an amp. I’m bouncing between a Peavey Vypyr and a Jet City amp.

At the risk of sounding uber-cheesy and brown-nosey, I’d just like to thank you guys for sticking with me this whole time, even if I don’t update as much as I used to (especially on YouTube).

At the end of the day when I finish uploading a video and get to see all the comments and messages in my inbox from YouTube and Twitter and my own website, it’s a good feeling to know that people are watching and enjoying what I’m putting out there.

Well, I’m off to work on my schoolwork and get one step closer to San Diego. Later!!

TheAndySan

BGM Title: Strings on Fire Contest Entry

BGM Artist: Daniel Rezende

BGM Title: Soundtrack of Summer

BGM Artist: Daniel Rezende

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

Vlog 42 – Going To San Diego & Buying A New Guitar

If you can’t see the video above, click here.

It seems like ages since I last made a vlog, so I decided to do a quick one to explain the status of my various video series as well as what’s been going on recently.

It’s been a great experience working with my best bud Eriopolis on the Movie Night series, and I hope that we’ll continue to make more videos together!!

Until I started working on the Movie Night and Life In… series, I haven’t really sat down and watched my videos that much. A lot of them seemed stuck to a certain point of time and there are a couple very early videos that I’m downright embarrassed about. The reason I still keep them up is to show my progression as not only a YouTuber, but as a person. Despite the overall badness of some of them, I still get warm feelings of nostalgia when I watch the videos that were taken back when I was still at UU! Ahh, memories…

But anyway, getting back to the subject at hand, several of my video series are in a state of flux at the moment. Let me just give you the short version of what’s going on:

J-Vid – Unless it’s for a collab or as a response to a popular video, I don’t have any plans to bring back the J-Vids as a regular series.

Life In… – Since I’m beginning to run out of interesting places to record in the local area, I might only have a couple more episodes of the Life In… series left before I move to San Diego. Once I move there and am able to do stuff, you can count on me bringing the series back in full force!

WAR – Because of the recent increase in views and interest from this series, I’ve been tinkering with the idea of bringing it back. I have a couple of excellent CDs in mind to review! There’s also the distinct possibility of doing a long-awaited anime review *audible gasp!*.

In conclusion, just stay tuned and I hope to be giving you guys some more awesome videos in the near future!

TheAndySan

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

Vlog 37 – Video Status Report

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

In this video, I show you around the Grand Lake Lighthouse in Celina Ohio.

In Celina, the most notable place is Grand Lake, which is Ohio’s largest inland lake. The majority of our festivals involve the lake, such as Lakefest and the annual Regatta (boat race), and provides a great excuse to get insanely drunk among other things.

I am proud to debut my newest series of videos, where I take you to different places and show off the landmarks and such. And yes, this series will continue when I’m in the Navy and visiting many different ports-of-call.

Feel free to leave me your comments and suggestions for future videos; after all, how else can I improve my videos if nobody says anything? Also, be sure to read & subscribe to my blog (link’s always at the top of every video) to keep on the up-and-up wit what I’m up to.

TheAndySan

BGM Title: Escape The Night

BGM Artist: Hawaii (with Marty Friedman)

BGM Album: Loud, Wild, and Heavy EP

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

Life In…01 – Celina Ohio’s Grand Lake Lighthouse

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

I might be getting a new guitar or a camera soon, depending on how much I get back from my income tax return.

If I’m able to get a guitar, I’ll be getting a PRS SE One in Antique White. I want to add a neck humbucker to it as well as change the positions of the volume knob and the 3-way pickup selector switch that I’ll need.

If I’m unable to get a guitar, I’ll just get a Sanyo Xacti VPC TH1.

I’m also getting close to raising the amount for keeping TheAndySan.com online for another year with only about $20 left to go!

As far as my weight goes, I finally reached my goal of losing 15 lbs this past Friday! My Navy recruiter decided to reschedule when I go back in to MEPS for this Thursday-Friday so I’ll just be doing more situps and running outside to shrink my waist until then.

Even though I lost over 15 lbs and can fit into Size 34 jeans again, which I haven’t been able to do since high school, I’ve only lost an inch around my waist. It’s certainly not bad, but I expected to lose more inches along with the pounds.

Well, it’s been fun, but I’m gonna hit the sack soon so I’ll see you guys on the flipside! Have fun!

TheAndySan

P.S: If you didn’t hear any background music, it’s because I had to remove it. If I did, I probably should have listened to HikoSaemon in the first place and used something with a Creative Commons License, haha!!

BGM Title: “With Me” from the game “Sonic and the Black Knight”

BGM Artists: Emma Gelotte, Tinna Karlsdotter, and special guest Marty Friedman

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

Vlog 32 – Getting A New Guitar Or Camera & Navy Weight Update

Buy Tokyo Jukebox

If you can’t see the above video, click here.

I’m really excited about today’s album review because I’m finally reviewing Tokyo Jukebox, the latest CD from one of my all-time favorite guitarists, Marty Friedman, or マーティ・フリードマン as he’s known in Japan!!

This album has (to my knowledge) only been sold in Japan because it’s actually a collection of Japanese cover tunes, but I was able to get my hands on it from America and without further ado, let’s start the review:

Personal Backstory

Just like with housethegrate, my discovery of Marty Friedman is almost a whole post onto itself.

Speaking of house, it was through him that I heard about Marty. I was reading through house’s bio on his website (back when housethegrate.com was still up) and I read about his influences; of which, Marty was one.

At the time, I had known Marty only from his work in Megadeth, and even then, I only knew their radio hits like Symphony of Destruction and Angry Again. I had no idea even who the band members in Megadeth were. Then again, since the lineup often changed, I know that I wasn’t alone .

I then looked up clips of him from YouTube on Japanese TV shows like Rock Fujiyama, Hebi-Meta San, and even a cooking show. I absolutely LOVED how he turned the vocal lines in J-pop into killer guitar lines and meshed it with songs that are well-known here in America!!

Back in 2006-2007 when I was still going to UU, I came across a two-part guitar tutorial that he did that changed my life: Electric Guitar Day One and Two. It was the simplest, back-to-basics guitar video that I have ever come across, but the best thing was that Marty didn’t seem to look down on you like I’ve seen so many other teachers in beginner tutorials do. They also try to teach you how to play Ode To Joy or something when you really want to play Four Seasons by Vivaldi or a Metallica song. In addition to showing you what each part on a guitar and amp do and how to change strings and all that, when it came to playing, Marty just laid down the basics like power chords and some simple scales. He also gave some pieces of advise here and there for the burgeoning player.

Don’t get me wrong; Marty’s other guitar tutorial videos are pretty boss too, but they just didn’t have the same impact on me as Electric Guitar Day One and Two.

From there, I’ve been constantly watching clips of him on YouTube and keeping on the up-and-up with his singles and album releases, all the while learning more and more about not only guitar, but music in general.

The Track Breakdown

The first track, Tsume Tsume Tsume, hit me in the face with a hardcore romp that seemed out-of-character for Marty and yet it works wonderfully for him! The breakdown at 3:28 always gets my fist pumping like jams (l33t Jersey Shore reference)!

The next song, Gift, is a rock-meets-techno-meets-Hawaiian number that is one hell of a ride! This song combines so many different musical elements that it’s almost a fusion song.

Track 3 is Amagigoe, which would fit in just fine on Marty’s album Loudspeaker. It also has bits that remind me a lot of the Mute City theme from the SNES game F-Zero.

Up next is Story, a song that has quite an impressively upbeat melody! An image of Top Gun and maids from a maid cafe comes to mind for some reason.

After that, it’s Polyrhythm, which is probably my favorite song on Tokyo Jukebox! The original song by Perfume is also pretty good too, if you’re not turned off by the at-times abuse of auto-tune that is.

Kaeri Taku Natta Yo is probably what Green Day would sound like if they were a J-pop group. I can see this song being played at school talent shows like in the anime/manga BECK, but I’m not by any means downplaying this song!

The seventh track, Tsunami, is an epic rock track that is definitely multi-faceted! Just when you got this song figured out, Marty throws you a curveball that still fits with the song somehow!

Yuki no Hana has recently become one of my favorite tracks from Tokyo Jukebox, mostly due to the opening melody that cuts right through me! What was once a melancholic piano ballad quickly turns into an explosion of heavy metal flavor!

Eki starts off with an almost synth-like octave guitar line that kicks into a crying melody characteristic of Marty’s playing style. We also get to hear Marty really go to town on some exotic scales!

Track 10 is Sekai Ni Hitotsu Dake No Hana, a cover of a SMAP song that was originally on Loudspeaker. He didn’t redo it or anything, and although it’s really good, I hate how it seems like it was thrown on Tokyo Jukebox at the last minute to fill up space.

The next track, Romance No Kamisama, is a mellow piano-and-acoustic number that is nice to relax to. I also like that Marty’s getting to show off his acoustic skills more and more instead of just shredding on an electric all the time.

After that is the 12th and final track on this album, Asu E No Sanka, which continues the relaxing feel from Romance No Kamisama and closes out the album nicely. It would certainly sound right at home on Marty’s album Introduction, that’s for sure!

The Goodies, The Baddies & The Uglies

Since Marty moved to Japan going on 10 years now, I think his music has dramatically improved! Sure, I love the stuff he did with Cacophony and Megadeth and even on his early solo albums, but his playing became insanely versitle when he left Megadeth and moved to Japan on January 2000. With every album that Marty has ever done, he has saught to constantly improve and outdo himself, and Tokyo Jukebox is no exception!

Although the majority of Marty’s non-Japanese audience wants him to just drop the whole J-pop thing and get back with Megadeth already, I for one think it would be a huge step-back for Marty if he did that, unless it was for a short run (i.e: a Rust In Peace lineup reunion).

Besides, Dave Mustaine isn’t quite done gushing over how much better Chris Broderick is from any other Megadeth guitarist aside from Dave himself. Sure Chris is incredibly skilled as a guitar player, but on Endgame, he sounded incredibly stiff and generic. Hell, it sounded like Dave did all of the guitar parts by himself.

As I said in my review for Endgame, it would be a compliment in most cases to sound like Dave Mustaine, but when it comes to being the second guitarist in Megadeth, you can get easily lost in the mix if you’re sounding like Dave, unless of course you’re Dave Mustaine.

One of the things that I love about Marty’s playing is that no matter who he’s playing with, I can listen to a solo or a riff and say, “Hey, that sounds like Marty Friedman!” I can’t do that with Chris Broderick.

The Verdict

Despite adding in a song from one of his previous albums and the Megadeth fanboys wretching at his affinity towards J-pop and whining for the classic lineup to get back together, Marty Friedman’s Tokyo Jukebox is a solid album that goes well with his other post-Megadeth solo albums like Loudspeaker! Too bad the J-Haters don’t know what they’re missing…

7 Tracks To Give a Clicky-Click

- Tsume Tsume Tsume

- Gift

- Polyrhythm

- Kaeri Taku Natta Yo

- Tsunami

- Yuki No Hana

- Eki

Buy Tokyo Jukebox

TheAndySan

This Post Is Originally From: TheAndySan.com

WAR 06 – Marty Friedman TOKYO JUKEBOX Album Review