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Discography

Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid (2007)
Ten kick-ass, soaring, intense, instrumental rock/metal songs with crunchy riffs, big melodies, and over the top solos! Crank it up!

Unlocked! Blue Sky
Unlocked! The Key
Locked! Sign-in to access this Pitter Patter

The Firebard (2004)
Powerful, intricate, and energetic, these ten instrumental metal/rock songs have sweeping melodies, killer riffs, and shred solos!

Unlocked! Legends
Locked! Sign-in to access this Still at Large
Locked! Sign-in to access this Accolade

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Featured Articles and Guitar Tab

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Unlocked! Got Tendonitis? What To Do - What your first steps should be if you suspect you have tendonitis.

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Free Guitar Tablature

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"Buoyant, melodic, and fresh with vitality, Ellefson's playing is an inspiration all over this intimate, personable, rocking album."
- BW&BK Magazine

New Guitar Photos
June 2009
Some photos of the newer 6-string and acoustic bass have been uploaded to the gear page as links, next to the photo of the 12-string acoustic.
"The Key" Video Up
June 2009
Earlier this year I videotaped myself performing all the guitar parts for "The Key" from the Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid album and have finally edited them into a video posted here on the videos page. This is one of my favorite songs from the album, so check it out!
Main Guitars Recorded
June 2009
As of the end of June, all main guitars for the next album have been recorded. This means all lead guitars, and both nylon and steel six-string guitars. As you can see from my recent blog "Home Studio Issues", it can be challenging to record at home with a microphone, but it's been great, too.

Next up will be both electric and acoustic bass followed by...
Story Published
March 2009
A story of mine has been published at Bewildering Stories, an ezine. The story, 'The Insultalon', is a bizarre commentary on the willingness of some people to insult others as if they will be rewarded for doing so. It''s not the usual fantasy I write and is so weird I wasn''t sure it would ever get published. Aside from my guitar articles, this is my first published effort! I''ve also uploaded the story here on this site.
Video Editing
June 30, 2009 1:41 PM
Yesterday when I edited together "The Key" footage I filmed months ago, I had the challenge of doing it without time codes. For professional videos, that's how they synch the audio from the album with the video footage shot so many times from different angles and with different cameras. It's much harder to do it without that, as I can only go by the visual. First I tried lining up the video by comparing its audio to the mp3 track, but that proved too hard to tell which was which. In the end I turned off the mp3 and just ran the clips back to back...
Home Studio Issues
June 30, 2009 9:15 AM
Recording at home can be a challenge when using a good quality, sensitive microphone that picks up all the nuances of your performance - and every noise you don't want heard! I don't have a sound-proof room, but one room is fairly quiet so that all household sounds aren't picked up, unless my cat Isabel decides to paw at the door, shove it open, and announce her presence. She's been lying on the bed listening quite a bit, sometimes licking herself. You'd be surprised how much noise that makes, so I've had to institute a "no licking...
Full Steam Ahead
March 14, 2009 10:05 PM
This year is off to a good start with my projects. Musically, I just began recording the acoustic guitar album this month and have two songs in the can, mostly. My approach is to record all steel 6-string guitars first, both rhythms and lead, following it up with the classical guitar for both. I'll be doing that on all songs before anything else. Then I'll be practicing bass for a week or two to get used to the heavier strings before recording. Last will be the 12-string guitar, which will also take some practice to get used to...
Back from Break
December 5, 2008 6:51 PM
I haven't been doing much with my own music since August, when I did the drums, bass, and rhythm guitars on a whole bunch of rock songs, paying no attention to what albums they might be on. I've been doing that since releasing the first album, actually. With such a big backlog, I just want to get the stuff recorded.

The acoustic guitar album is up next, starting in February if not sooner, and I hope to have guitars and bass (which I'll be doing myself) done by April. Then I have to figure out when to have...