A little over a year ago, I reviewed the Capo app, which is a music learning tool made by SuperMegaUltraGroovy. The developer, Chris Liscio, has released Capo 2.0 today. In addition to providing the ability to slow down and loop music, Capo now provides the ability to automatically detect chords within songs. Also included in the new version is a sophisticated Spectrogram that helps you visualize the music being played. This Spectrogram can also be used to help tab out songs as you play through them.

These updates make an already excellent music learning tool even better. If you have a Mac and play guitar, I highly recommend checking the Capo app out.

Pedaltrain have recently added a new, smaller pedalboard to their list of products, called the Pedaltrain Nano. This board seems to be targeted towards those using the “micro”-sized pedals or only need a couple of pedals on their board. The included soft case can be attached directly to a gig bag, thus making it easier to carry your pedals into a gig.

If you need a larger pedalboard, check out my review of the Pedaltrain Jr.

Australian custom guitar pick manufacturer Grover Allman recently offered me some custom Guitar Lifestyle picks. They offer multiple styles, colors, and gauges. I chose the polycarbonate style in black, 1.00mm. You can see a photo of what they look like above. I think they turned out really well!

I’ve had the picks now for a number of weeks, and to my surprise, I actually use these more than my normal Jazz III or 1.00mm Tortex picks. The only nitpick I have is that the top of some of the picks still have a nub from where they were connected to a plastic casing while, I presume, they were being printed. That being said, I don’t feel the nub at all when I’m playing. Furthermore, I really like the feel of these. If you’re looking for some custom picks, check out Grover Allman.

Last week Mark McGuigan posted a list of guitar-related iPhone apps that he likes. A nice list, including some interesting apps that I’d never heard of before, like iReal Book and Musician’s Practice Journal. Check out Mark’s full list here.

I’ve been thinking about getting some type of recording device to record myself while I practice. I’d like the recordings to be fairly high quality and I’d like to easily be able to transfer the recordings to my computer. The Zoom recorders by Samson seem to be some of the best on the market right now. Below is a video of Page Hamilton talking about how he and Helmet use the Zoom H2:

What do you use to record yourself playing guitar?

I’ve recently had the chance to use a leather guitar strap from Italia Leather Straps, and I can say that these are very well made guitar straps. The one I have is their black on black model, as shown in the picture. In addition to being very well made, the straps carry a lifetime guarantee, so if anything does go wrong with the strap, they’ll replace it for free. As they say on their website: “An Italia Strap is the last guitar strap or bass guitar strap you will ever need to buy.”

I’m used to using nylon straps that came with my guitars. Immediately upon feeling the leather strap by Italia, you realize that it’s a completely different feel than the nylon straps I’m used to. The strap feels like a much higher quality strap and feels like it’ll last for a long time. The leather is also more comfortable than the nylon straps I’ve been using.

If you’re in the market for a new guitar strap, I’d recommend checking out Italia Leather Straps.

MONO CASES is a company that makes high-quality guitar gig bags as well as guitar straps and gig bags for bassists, producers and drummers. In addition to great looks, MONO’s guitar bags provide a neck-stabilizing support, which provides additional protection for the neck of the guitar. As touring musician Randy Williams says:

The best feature, however, to me is definitely the neck brace. Now, I won’t have to be scared to check it. As long as the neck isn’t moving around, I can hand the case to the burly baggage beast with confidence.

MONO has both single- and double-guitar cases, so if you need to carry more than one guitar, it looks like MONO’s got you covered.

Griffin Technology has released a free iPod/iPhone app called iTalk that let’s you use the microphone of the iPhone to make recordings:

iTalk Recorder lets you record, pause, resume and append to existing recordings, manage the list of your recordings, and add text notes, all on the touchscreen of your iPhone or iPod.

You can then sync the recordings to your Mac or PC using the (also free) iTalk Sync application:

iTalk Sync is a dedicated app you run on your Mac or PC that searches your Wi-Fi connection to find any iPhone or iPod touch that’s running iTalk. It lets you drag recordings from your iPhone or iPod to your computer’s desktop.

iTalk seems like a great way to capture quick song ideas or record brief interviews with other guitarists.

(via Daring Fireball)

The StagePlayer is a combination folding stool/guitar stand created by Nick Vail Designs. I use a folding stool similar to this when I play guitar, and I can see the benefit to having an attached guitar stand.

Here are some of the features of the StagePlayer:

• no assembly required
• weighs only 10lbs
• fully padded and comfortable
• fits most guitars, basses, and banjos
• neck support and non-slip foam on the folding support arms
• safe for all finishes
• rugged metal construction
• holds up to 250lbs

Julian Tan of Guitar Pug recently listed several guitar-related applications that have been created for the iPhone. Having recently purchased an iPhone, I’ve been looking for some cool apps to throw on it, and Julian’s list is a nice round-up of the ones I’ve found. Julian’s list includes:

Guitar Toolkit – This seems to be the most popular guitar-related app on the iPhone so far. It includes a tuner, a chord finder, a metronome, and tuning tones.

Band – An app by MooCowMusic, Band includes a collection of virtual instruments that you can use to create music. Instruments included are drums, piano, bass guitar, and guitar. Crowd noise is also included.

Pandora – Pandora is the iPhone version of the popular Pandora Radio streaming music service. This one looks particularly interesting to me.

Julian’s list also mentions a few other apps, so go check it out!