This month, we take a look at a great reference site for the technologically-inclined
and a site for those who are still lusting after the Colorsound Power Booster.
Chordie.com
Gilmourish.com
Despite the cute name, Chordie is a technologically advanced reference site for guitarists. Need to find a couple of ways to grab a B11
up around the seventh fret? No worries – Chordie has you covered.
Although originally conceived as an online chord-chart repository,
Chordie has blossomed into a one-stop resource for all things guitar,
using a Google-like web crawler to scour the interwebs for tabs
and then presenting the results in a cohesive and easy-to-browse
manner.
Ever wonder what distortion pedal David Gilmour used on Atom
Heart Mother Or what kind of changes his notorious black Strat
has suffered? Gilmourish.com is the spot to answer these as well
as pretty much any other Gilmour-related gear question posed by
even the most ardent Floyd fan. The first link on the home page
features a gallery of user-contributed, Gilmour-inspired pedalboard
glamour shots. Not surprisingly, a few black-on-black Strats make
their way into the photos.
Songs are searchable by artist or song title, and once the desired
song is located, many offer the ability to transpose on the fly, as
well as switch the chord chart orientation from right to left-handed,
in addition to 5-string, plectrum and tenor banjo chords. Don’t worry,
ukes and mandolins are fully represented, too.
The home page keeps fans up to date on what Gilmour has been
up to, as well as articles dedicated to specific pieces of David’s
gear (such as the Binson Echorec), how to pick out a Big Muff
and current reviews of Callaham’s Strat bridge. There is also an
excellent article on where to start once you’ve procured all of your
favorite Gilmour pedals, beginning with suggested pedal order
before moving on to setting up your rig when playing live.
Another great aspect of Chordie is the ability to grab the tunes
you enjoy, and once you’ve created an account, save them to what
Chordie calls “My songbook,” which is intended as a way to keep
all of your favorites rounded up in one convenient location. “My
songbook” also allows the user to save the songs as iPod Notes
to keep handy wherever you go. Retro-grouches are offered the
opportunity to print out their “My songbook” selections to keep
them mobile.
Other resources include a well-stocked chord chart, the ability to
add songs that you have hosted elsewhere, a Firefox search plugin,
a list of the site’s top 100 songs, as well as an FAQ and comprehensive links page. So if you are having trouble figuring out the changes
to “Sunday Morning Coming Down” in F# on your C-tuned ukulele,
just head on over to Chordie.
Pick your favorites at chordie.com
The Gear section is amazing, and starts with a page depicting all
of Floyd’s album covers. Click on one to be taken to a page listing David’s gear from both the album and the corresponding live
tour. Links at the top of each page show the specific guitars and
amps used in addition to “Settings” and “Source.” “Settings” is
what you’d expect, with “Source” citing where the information was
accumulated. Of course, cool Gilmour photos from throughout Pink
Floyd’s history abound.
The Features section includes a buyer’s guide that first looks at
the worthiness of copping David’s gear to nail his tone, with plenty
of sage advice ensuing, on top of many real-world suggestions.
Other highlights of Gilmourish.com include an über-comrehen-sive links section and “Backingtracks” – mp3 files over which
you are intended to hone your Gilmour chops. Whether you are a
hardcore Gilmour fanatic, or just dig the guy’s tone and economy,
Gilmourish.com is worth checking out.
Shine on at Gilmourish.com
26 PREMIERGUITAR NOVEMBER 2007
www.premierguitar.com
