Music World

Michael Angelo Batio (pronounced /ˈbeɪtioʊ/,also known as Mike Batio or MAB) (born in 1956) is an American virtuoso guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. Considered to be one of the fastest guitarists in the world, Batio was voted the "No. 1 Shredder of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine in 2003. He was also listed as one of the "Top 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time" by Guitar World Magazine, for which he writes the column Time to Burn, and one of the "20 Greatest Shredders of All Time" by Total Guitar Magazine, both in April 2008.

Early life and career

MAB started playing the piano and composing music at the age of five, and first played guitar at the age of ten, reportedly playing faster than his teacher within two years. At the age of fourteen he started playing jazz guitar, and within two years he had won the Chicago-based "All-State Jazz Solo Award". He attended Northeastern Illinois University and achieved a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Theory and Composition. After he had graduated, Batio looked to become a session guitarist in his hometown. When he asked for a job at a nearby studio, he was given a piece of music and simply asked to play it. Naturally, he managed to play it and added in some of his own improvisations and fills, making him the studio's primary call-out guitarist. As a session player, Batio recorded music for such companies as Burger King, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, United Airlines, United Way, McDonalds, Beatrice Corp. and the Chicago Wolves hockey team.

Batio began his recording career in 1984 when he joined new Chicago-based heavy metal band Holland, an eponymous project set up by ex-Steppenwolf singer Tommy Holland. With major label Atlantic Records, the band released their debut studio album in 1985 entitled Little Monsters, which saw moderate success in the United States. The band split up soon after, and a compilation of material from the Little Monsters sessions, Wake Up the Neighbourhood, was released in 1999 through Batio's label M.A.C.E. Music.

After the breakup of Holland, Batio started his own eponymous band with singer Michael Cordet, bassist Allen Hearn and drummer Paul Cammarata. The Band did not release any albums, though three of their songs appeared on the 1998 Nitro compilation Gunnin' for Glory.

In 1987 Batio joined glam metal artist Jim Gillette on his solo album Proud to Be Loud, before founding the band Nitro with bassist T.J. Racer and drummer Bobby Rock. In 1989 Nitro released their first studio album, O.F.R., from which they released two singles, "Freight Train" and "Long Way From Home". The music video for "Freight Train", which received much airplay on MTV, was notable for featuring Batio playing his now famous 'Quad Guitar', a notion which FHM Magazine voted one of the "50 most outrageous moments in rock history".

By 1992, Rock and Racer had been replaced by Johnny Thunder and Ralph Carter respectively, and it was in this year that they released their second studio album entitled Nitro II: H.W.D.W.S.. Included on the album was a cover of Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever", which the band also recorded a music video for. Nitro disbanded shortly afterwards.

In April 1993, Batio founded his own record label, M.A.C.E. Music, which became one of the first labels online in 1996.He used this label when he began recording his first album, No Boundaries, which he released in 1995. Batio's second studio release was Planet Gemini in 1997, which showed a very progressive, experimental side to his playing. In 1999, Batio released his first instructional video, Jam With Angelo, which came with his third studio album as a companion CD: Tradition. This was quickly followed by a fourth full-length album in 2000, Lucid Intervals and Moments of Clarity, which was credited to "Mike Batio and Rob Ross", the latter being the drummer. In 2003, Batio released his first DVD, the title release in his Speed Kills series, followed by the second, Speed Lives, in 2004. It was also in this year that Batio released a compilation album, Lucid Intervals and Moments of Clarity Part 2, which featured songs from Tradition and Lucid Intervals.

In 2005, Michael released his highly anticipated cover/tribute/studio album, Hands Without Shadows, which featured guest appearances from such musicians as Mark Tremonti (of Alter Bridge fame), Rudy Sarzo (of Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake and Dio fame) and virtuoso newcomer Bill Peck. In 2006, DVD Speed Kills 2 was released, in addition to the first in the new Hands Without Shadows series, Performance. Batio's latest release came in 2007, when his first two albums - No Boundaries and Planet Gemini - were remixed and remastered with additional drums, for an album entitled 2 X Again; the title of a song from the first album. Angelo also released three DVDs in 2007: Speed Kills 3, 25 Jazz Progressions and MAB Jam Session.

Two DVDs were slated for a 2008 release, one that focuses on neo-classical techniques and concepts and another which contained Batio's live performance at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center on July 9.One of these DVDs was apparently to be entitled The Neoclassical Power Approach, according to the flyer for the aforementioned concert.

Film Appearance

In 1991, Batio's guitar work appeared in the low budget horror film Shock 'Em Dead, recording tracks for the soundtrack as well as playing the guitar parts of the demonically possessed main character Angel Martin in close ups.

Style

Batio is (self-taught) ambidextrous, able to play two guitars at the same time either in synchronization or using separate harmonies, as shown when he plays his famous Double-Guitar. Though naturally left-handed, he plays as a right-handed person when playing one guitar. Batio invented the "Over-Under" technique, which involves flipping his fretting hand over and under the neck, playing the guitar both regularly and like a piano.

Batio taught guitarist Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame) while at college. Morello has credited MAB with teaching him in a feature article in Guitar World Magazine in 2005. Michael also gave lessons to guitarist Mark Tremonti after Creed broke up and Tremonti wanted to learn more techniques.

Equipment

Guitars

Batio is an exclusive user of Dean Guitars, both electric and acoustic. In 2007 he designed and developed a signature guitar with Dean, known as the MAB1 Armorflame. ;Pickups Another signature piece of equipment Batio developed is the "MAB Hands Without Shadows" pickup, which he uses in his Double Guitar when touring. The pickup is specially designed for shred guitar, and provides the clean tone Batio is accustomed to. The Armorflame, Batio's signature guitar, uses EMG 81, 85 and SA pickups.

Earlier on in his career when he was first endorsed by Dean guitars he also embraced Dean's tradition of popularising Dimarzio pickups and had used Dimarzios in his guitars. These include the Dimarzio PAF, Super Distortion (sometimes using the Super Distortion both in the neck and bridge position, like how he did in his Gibson Charvel Circuit Board double guitar. This was the main setup during the recording of No Boundaries). Batio has also used pickups of other brands including Seymour Duncan, namely the Pearly Gates and JB models and also Bill Lawrence pickups. Currently other than using EMGs in his signature guitar he also has a collection of the other brand pickups in his Dean limited edition collectors' models, such as Dimarzio Custom Super Distortions (based on the Super 2 and Super Distortion) in his USA Dean Time capsule Blue Burst ML and the Seymour Duncan pair he used (refer to above) in his USA Dean Collectors edition Hardtail.

The Double-Guitar

Batio was the inventor of the Double-Guitar, a V-shaped, twin-neck guitar which can be played both right- and left-handed. The first version of this instrument was actually two separate guitars simply played together, as opposed to being one entity. A Flying V was fastened to a snare drum in a left-handed position, while another one was strapped around his shoulder. The next version of the guitar, as designed by Batio and guitar technician Kenny Breit, featured a flight case latch attached to the back of each guitar, which could reportedly be assembled in five seconds. In October 2003, Dean designed and built the "Mach 7 Jet", and on March 6, 2007, the newest version was delivered to Batio. The original Double went on display at the Chicago Hard Rock Cafe 'wall of fame' before it was relocated to a HRC in Egypt. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.

When the Double-Guitar was first used in concert, Batio noticed that the guitars created a lot of feedback when played together. He decided that he needed to invent a way to 'dampen' the strings when both guitars were played at the same time, hence the invention of the "MAB String Dampener", which is now available to buy from M.A.C.E. Music.

The Double-Guitar was recently named as the 8th "coolest guitar in rock" by online music magazine Gigwise.

The Quad Guitar

As well as the Double Guitar, Michael Angelo also invented and designed the Quad Guitar. The guitar was originally built in conjunction with Gibson, and built by Wayne Charvel in California. The top two guitars have seven strings, while the bottom two have the regular six. The first Quad, as used in the video for Nitro's "Freight Train", was stolen in El Paso, Texas after the second show of Nitro's O.F.R. tour. When Batio was performing in November 2004, a young fan named Simon Jones and his father turned up with a guitar case which held inside the two top guitars of the Quad, as found by Mick Seymour. Dean designed and built a new Quad Guitar in 2007.

The Quad Guitar was recently named as the 2nd "coolest guitar in rock" by online music magazine Gigwise.

Effects

Batio's effects pedals are exclusively made by T-Rex, with whom he has also developed a signature model, the "MAB Overdrive".In his years with Nitro, Batio used Boss overdrive (DS-1, SD-1) pedals.

In the studio, Michael also uses the following effects pedals:

Amplification

Batio typically uses Marshall JCM 2000 amps on tour and for newer studio records. In the studio, he also uses the Marshall JMP-1 preamp and Rocktron Chameleon and Voodoo Valve preamps. During his years with Nitro, Batio used Randall amplifiers. He has been an avid Marshall amp user throughout his career and has used the JCM 800 (mostly Jose Arrendondo modified circuitry, very early in his career) and JCM 900 (especially when recording No Boundaries). Batio's cabinet setup consists of 4x12 Marshall cabinets loaded with Celeston vintage 30s and Greenbacks in mono and stereo.

Other equipment

Strings

Batio uses Ernie Ball guitar strings, favouring the .009 to .042 models for soloing and most rhythm guitar parts while thicker gauge strings are used for detuned guitars. The acoustic gauge is normally .010 to .046 or .011 to .052.

Picks

Michael uses black Dunlop Jazz IIIs as his guitar pick of choice, and has used the 'teardop' shape of pick since he first started playing. Different picks are sometimes used for acoustic work.

Solo discography

• No Boundaries (1995)
• Planet Gemini (1997)
• Tradition (1999)
• Lucid Intervals and Moments of Clarity (2000)
• Hands Without Shadows (2005)

Avenged Sevenfold (juga dikenal sebagai A7X), adalah band beraliran rock yang berasal dari Huntington Beach, California.

Biografi

Terbentuknya Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold terbentuk pada tahun 1999 di Orange County, California. Album pertama mereka, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet direkam ketika mereka masih berumur 18 tahun. Album ini dirilis dengan label Good Life Recordings, tetapi setelah gitaris Synyster Gates masuk Avenged Sevenfold, album ini dirilis ulang dengan label Hopeless Records. Lagu "To End The Rapture" juga direkam ulang, kali ini ditambahkan dengan permainan gitar Synyster Gates.

City of Evil (2005-2007)

Tahun 2005, Amerika Serikat tengah jenuh dengan musik hip-hop dan pop yang merajalela, lalu Avenged Sevenfold merilis album mereka City of Evil tepatnya pada tanggal 8 Juni, 2005. Hits single Bat Country merupakan lagu metal/rock pertama yang merajai MTV TRL. Mereka mempopulerkan kembali solo gitar dengan duet gitaris Synyster Gates dan Zacky Vengeance yang benar-benar memanaskan area moshpit. Album tersebut mendapat sertifikat gold dan memenangkan predikat Best New Artist in a Video di MTV VMA 2006 untuk lagu Bat Country.

Avenged Sevenfold (2007-2008)

Tahun 2007, mereka kembali masuk studio untuk merekam lagu terbaru mereka untuk studio album ke-5 mereka. Awal Agustus 2007, mereka menjalani tur Asia Pasifik mereka, dan sempat mampir di Indonesia dan memainkan lagu mereka pertama kali di depan publik. Lagu yang berjudul Almost Easy tersebut mendapat sambutan hangat dari penggemar di seluruh dunia. Ketika itu band punk Jogjakarta Endang Soekamti didaulat menjadi band pembuka.

Tahun 2008 ini, mereka berpartisipasi sebagai headliners di tour Taste of Chaos bersama dengan Bullet for My Valentine, Atreyu, Blessthefall dan Idiot Pilot. Ketika tour, mereka merekam sebuah DVD yang mengandung 6 lagu baru mereka.

Tanggal 22 Oktober 2008, Avenged Sevenfold akan kembali manggung di Indonesia masih dengan event organizer yang sama yakni Java Musikindo dan kali ini band heavy metal Jibril didaulat menjadi band pembuka.

Live In The LBC & Diamonds in the Rough (2008-Saat Ini)

Album yang dirilis pada 16 September 2008 ini Berisi 102 Menit (DVD) Dan 52 Menit (CD)

Discography

• Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
• Waking the Fallen (2003)
• City of Evil (2005)
• Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
• Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough (2008)

Anggota saat ini

• M. Shadows - vokal
• Synyster Gates - gitar melodi, piano, vokal
• Zacky Vengeance - gitar ritmik, vokal
• Johnny Christ - bass, vokal
• The Rev - drum, perkusi, vokal, piano

Ciri khas

Mereka cenderung memainkan nuansa agresif pada vokal, gitar, dan drum (bass tetap statis). Dengan sentuhan yang dinamis, mau keras atau lambat, mereka tetap menggunakan harmonisasi yang luar biasa dan komposisi yang teratur. Sebut saja lagu-lagu yang sedikit melow, seperti Seize The Day dan Dear God, gitarnya tetap di drop Dm seperti halnya metal-metal kebanyakan. Kemudian, ciri khasnya selain komposisi dan drop, Syn memasukkan nuansa sweep picking (arpeggio) di hampir semua lagunya. Keindahan sweep picking yang dipadukan dengan kromatik, slide, dan teknik-teknik lainnya bisa kita dengar di lagu The Wicked End. Kemudian selain itu, tidak lupa juga sentuhan akustik yang membawa suasana seperti di Hawaii, bisa kita dengar di lagu Sidewinder. Tapi, satu lagi ciri khas yang tidak pernah lepas dari mereka, menduetkan gitar Syn dan Zacky, memakai double bass dengan tempo yang beberapa kali lipat beat-nya dari biasanya.

Mantan Anggota

• Justin Sane - Bass
• Dameon Ash - Bass
• Matt Wendt - Bass

Edward Lodewijk van Halen (Eddie Van Halen, lahir di Nijmegen, Belanda, 26 Januari 1955; umur 54 tahun) adalah gitaris grup musik Van Halen asal Amerika Serikat. Eddie Van Halen dikenal sebagai salah satu pemain gitar listrik yang memiliki banyak inovasi permainan sehingga namanya dikenal luas. Grup musik Van Halen sendiri populer di seluruh dunia pada tahun 1980-an.

Ia dan saudaranya, Alex Van Halen, lahir dari pasangan Jan Van Halen (1920-1986), seorang pemain saksofon Belanda yang memiliki keturunan Swedia, dan Eugenia van Beers (1914-2005), seorang Eropa-Indonesia (Indo). Keluarga ini beremigrasi pada tahun 1962 ke Pasadena, California. Di sini sang ayah segera mengajarkan anaknya bermain piano. Tak lama kemudian mereka beralih ke drum (Eddie) dan gitar (Alex), yang diberikan oleh sang ayah. Alex, yang lebih suka bermain drum milik Eddie, malah kemudian lebih mahir bermain drum sehingga Eddie beralih mendalami gitar. Selanjutnya, keduanya mulai sering mengisi kegiatan musik di sekolah dan berbagai tempat dengan mengajak beberapa pemusik lain. Pada masa inilah mereka memutuskan membentuk grup Mammoth. Setelah beberapa kali bekerja sama dengan David Lee Roth mereka memutuskan untuk menariknya menjadi vokalis, setelah sebelumnya Eddie mengisi posisi ini. Setelah merekrut Michael Anthony untuk posisi pemain gitar bas, maka lengkaplah formasi grup ini dan mereka mengganti namanya menjadi Van Halen pada tahun 1974.

Joe "Satch" Satriani (lahir 15 Juli 1956 di Westbury, New York, Amerika Serikat) adalah seorang gitaris dan guru gitar. Ia memulai karirnya sejak umur 12 tahun. Beberapa muridnya yang telah menjadi terkenal adalah Steve Vai dan Kirk Hammett. Ia terkenal ketika menaruh lagunya di Internet, dan banyak orang suka lagu yang dia mainkan.

Diskografi

• Not of This Earth (1986)
• Surfing with the Alien (1987)
• Dreaming #11 (1988)
• Flying in a Blue Dream (1989)
• The Extremist (1992)
• The Beautiful Guitar (European compilation album) (1993)
• Time Machine (1993)
• Joe Satriani (1995)
• G3: Live in Concert (1997)
• Crystal Planet (1998)
• Engines of Creation (2000)
• Additional Creations (Bonus CD with limited "Engines of Creation") (2000)
• Live in San Francisco (Previously recorded material) (2001)
• Strange Beautiful Music (2002)
• The Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology (2003)
• G3: Rockin' in the Free World (2004)
• Is There Love in Space? (2004)
• G3: Live in Tokyo (2005)
• Super Colossal (2006)
• Gillan's Inn (Tracks 1,4,12) (2006)