1. The
Troubling of Goldfish
2. A Loveliness of Ladybugs
3. An Array of Hedgehogs
4. The Exaltation of Larks
5. A Kettle of Hawks
6. A Cete of Badgers
7. The Siege of Herons
8. A Blessing of Unicorns
9. A Convocation of Eagles
10. The Deceit of Lapwings
11. A Quiver of Cobras
12. A Flamboyance of Flamingoes
13. The Business of Ferrets
14. A Rookery of Seals
15. A Cowardice of Curs
16. The Wisdom of Owls
17. The Smack of Jellyfish
18. A Confusion of Weasels
19. The Richness of Martens
20. The Sloth of Bears
21. The Unkindness of Ravens
22. A Mob of Emus
23. A Raft of Otters
24. A Mutation of Thrushes
25. The Shiver of Sharks
26. The
Mustering of Storks
27. A Leash of Greyhounds
28. The Labour of Moles
29. The Scurry of Squirrels
30. The Pitying of Turtle Doves
31. A Prickle of Porcupines
32. A Flutter of Butterflies
33. A Pounce of Cats
34. The Cry of Hounds
35. A Brace of Quail
36. The Pladge of Wasps
37. A Bale of Turtles
38. A Grist of Bees
39. The Charm of Goldfinches
40. The Scold of Jays
41. A Gulp of Magpies
42. The Skulk of Foxes
43. A Steam of Minnows
44. A Pandemonium of Parrots
45. The Obstinancy of Buffalo
46. The Paddling of Ducks
47. The Rhumba of Rattlesnakes
48. The Lamentation of Swans
49. A Battery of Barracudas
50. A Husk of Hares
Sunday, February 26, 2006 12:49
AM
The Troubling of Goldfish
Today, I straightened out my computer problems and it started recording
without pops and clicks every 2 seconds (driver issue).
I started a project today that will take the better part of this year.
The idea is this: I'm going to record a set of CDs. 50, to be exact.
An hour each. All live, completely improvised (so I can't screw up,
since I am recording it). Each CD will be completely different, and
no copies will be made. So each one is a unique work of art if you
will. I already have a CD release set up for an art gallery in November,
and I just recorded my first CD- 62 minutes actually. 49 hours to go..hehe..I
think it came out pretty good too- at least I didn't have to cover
for too many mistakes. Recording will take the better part of March
and April, with May being used to design the covers (each will be a
slightly different variation of something I come up with) and June
and July will be spent packaging (all by hand), with Sept and Oct for
press and radio stuff. I have been lucky enough to get on local radio
for live performances quite a bit for the band, but never solo. This
project is pretty crazy...so hopefully I can get some TV too- I will
at least try. In the next day or so, I might post something here. When
it is all done, I will also have a sampler, which won't cost nearly
as much and I will make copies of.
The style of music is most likely called ambient...in other words,
music that is meant to enhance your surroundings. Not that trance stuff
of the mid 90s, but check out pioneers like Brian Eno. His CD Music
for Airports is a wonderful example. I am recording this with regular
electric guitar, guitar synthesizer and looping, although most of the
sounds I come up with are pretty unidentifiable. Tech heads can read
about the gear here: http://www.hazardfactor.com/dave
The whole project will be called 'Collectives' ,
which are names for groups of animals (herd of cows, pack of dogs,
etc). It occurred to me that some of these group names are pretty
random and make no sense.
CD1: The Troubling of Goldfish
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Tuesday,
February 28, 2006 12:47 AM
A Loveliness of Ladybugs
CD#2 is finished. You know, this is hard. I find myself playing very conservatively while recording, which I am sure, will change about CD #20. I played something closer to being regular sounding guitar for this one, but not for long. Lots of oboe solos, and lots of Asian scales and sounds. There is a middle part that sounds like swarming insects, and I am sure it will freak out anyone who is lucky enough to get this one. One of my loops suddenly stopped when I was setting up a loop- I am doing this barefoot, which I never really do, because it is easier with shoes on- a hard sole hitting a button provides positive feedback; I can tell when I pressed a button. If I press it twice, the loop stops, and there is silence, but I recovered well. Another hour done: CD2...A Loveliness of Ladybugs.
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Tuesday,
February 28, 2006 11:27 PM
An Array of Hedgehogs
CD3 is done, and I am finding it hard to stay focused
for an hour straight, although by the time I am done, I am sure
it will be no problem. This recording had lots of rhythms, and
the general scary sounding things, as well as a cool mechanical
clock sounding thing in the middle. I also played something approximating
a guitar solo. Well, I guess it was a jazzy thing in F#m- with
a very clean sound. Added more oboes and even a flute solo too
(all on guitar synth). I am still working on phrasing for some
classical instruments, but I am sure it will come in time- and
listening to lots of classical music.
So we present, CD3: An Array of Hedgehogs.
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Wednesday,
March 01, 2006 11:29 PM
The Exaltation of Larks
Recorded another today, which makes 4 hours. 46 more to go, which sounds insane. I played some interesting things, although a midi cable came undone from the back of my rack of equipment, which meant I had to change a lot of settings with my hands instead of my feet. It made really long transitions from one section to another. This recording had a lot of classical trio stuff on it- the flute, oboe and trumpet made an appearance playing this canon-like stuff, which I always like playing. It always amazes me how different certain instruments sound- from English horn to clarinet to flute..It is really fun to work with them, although I would have no idea what to do with a real one. So here we have CD4: The Exaltation of Larks.
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Monday,
March 06, 2006 11:32 PM
A Kettle of Hawks
More recording tonight. First one in about 4 days,
which I can't afford to take off if I want to have this done
by mid-May. It helps to have a few days off, and then come back,
but 4 might be too much. Tonight's CD was filled with lots of
rhythmic loops, which the other ones don't really have. I set
up some neato rhythms and played overtop...including a very creepy
sound that sounded like a music box thrown from a window and
the clown inside is screaming all the way down. The last few
recordings were so calm and pretty, so this one I went a little
insane on. It really jumped around from sunny to dark, which
I like. It is also very dynamic, which is sadly lost in a lot
of music. I like quiet parts followed by really loud parts. Or
parts that are fading into nothing, and then suddenly there is
a loud, awful sound to wake you up. What fun!
I took a few days off mainly because I got a new guitar I wanted
to try. It ended up not being what I wanted, so I will re-sell
it (and hopefully make money on the deal). It is amazing what era
we live in with all this technology. Unfortunately they put it
in a very very crappy guitar.
So, this CD, like the rest, was recorded with my Brian Moore Custom
Guitar, which has a synthesizer pickup built in. And it is one
awesome regular guitar too.
So, here it is, CD5: A Kettle of Hawks.
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Tuesday,
March 07, 2006 10:42 PM
A Cete of Badgers
It is really hard to be creative if you don't feel it. The traditional wisdom is that creativity comes in a flash of inspiration, but we musicians who do this for a living know better. Yeah, once in a while, lightning strikes and something earth moving happens, but in a professional musician's career, this may happen just a few times. When it doesn't, we rely on the hours of sitting alone in a room practicing scales, timing, and picking- the not so fun stuff. The recording tonight was hard to start, because of a number of reasons, but I really wanted to get it done. So I started, and before I knew it, 40 minutes went by before I played anything resembling guitar music. Which is fine- mostly this one consisted of shifting polychords (like D over A) but I couldn't resist putting a pretty high gain guitar solo at the end. We also had oboe and flute, but that was a good 20 minutes earlier. There ya have it, CD6: A Cete of Badgers
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Thursday, March
09, 2006 12:19 AM
The Siege of Herons
Number 7 is it? Man, I have recorded 7 hours, and I am already trying to come up with new ideas. This one came out really pretty, but it turns super creepy, then very pretty at the end- and the pops! I have about 50 edits to make and my eyes are going all zoobie because I have to cut these microscopic pops and clicks which decided to show up for no reason. So instead of recording it over, I will try to edit them out. I got about 1/3rd of them now, and I am taking a break. Mostly the software can come in and take them out- but some I have to edit, and that is no fun at all. I really like this one too- I will put the creepy portion on the sampler. Ta da, CD7: The Siege of Herons
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Friday, March
10, 2006 1:38 AM
A Blessing of Unicorns
I tried some new recording techniques today...I
started a 40 second loop, and let it play with about 90 feedback.
For those who don't know, feedback is the volume at which the
loop repeats. At 100the loop repeats back without decaying, indefinitely.
Now with a 40 second loop, at 100ver an hour, it would become
so dense after about 10 minutes that it would be a big pile o
mush. So, at 90the old loop stuff I recorded gradually decays.
It takes time, but the loop can evolve and change keys- again,
very slowly. I went through about 6 different keys in this one,
as I let the loop play for the entire hour, listening as it morphed
from one thing to another. This recording is one of the best
so far- I got pretty sleepy recording it, as it is the most 'ambient'
of the ones I have recorded. But if it can cause that reaction
to me, as I play, I bet it is going to help one person sleep
out there. Who says music has to be for singing, dancing, jumping
around and making angry faces?
The pops and clicks from yesterday are gone (I rebooted and cleared
some things) but towards the end, I was getting some nasty overloading
with some bassy guitar notes. I edited out about 3 minutes of these
things, so it came in about 59 mins and 20 secs for the whole piece.
With such a cool effect, and such a different approach for me,
I had to get an equally phantastic name...So, I give you CD8: A
Blessing of Unicorns.
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Saturday, March
11, 2006 1:43 AM
A Convocation of Eagles
Tonight seemed to breeze by. An hour gone in what
seemed like 20 minutes. I used a variety of approaches here-
with some cool guitar soloing and long, drawn out ambient pieces.
This may be my most dynamic one yet, which is something I am
working on. Music on the radio is all one volume, and we forget
(musicians included) that we can vary the volume of a piece from
very quiet to very loud. So I experimented with this tonight.
I let long loops play for awhile too, which was great to listen
to as I played. I had a few technical problems with some distortion
on one solo, as I played overtop of an already loud piece- I
think it was too loud as it started distorting. I wound up editing
about 2.5 minutes of this out, although there is one note from
my solo that made it in. It was pretty good too, but the distortion
was bothering me. So, this recording isn't quite an hour, but
it is close.
I need to work on my sounds this weekend as there are a few giving
me problems. I also need to work on a system where I can use some
of my software synths in these recordings, because I can't really
do that now without loads of preproduction. The idea of this collection
was that it is spontaneous. I have about 100 sounds that I have
access to instantly- and I use them all. The software synths would
give me access to 1000s, but I almost have to pick out a set to
use before I start recording. That takes time, and after I go through
lots of sounds, my ears are too tired to actually record. Besides,
I guess it forces me to be creative (or try to) with what I have
in front of me. Away we go, CD9: Convocation of Eagles.
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Wednesday, March
15, 2006 1:01 AM
The Deceit of Lapwings
Oh man, some serious problems here. My computer
is inserting some pops and clicks in the audio, and my Outlook
reminder played this chime sound in the middle of my recording...which
actually didn't get recorded. But it did set the sample rate
of the recording lower, which means that the last 8 minutes of
my loop played back about 1/2 a step too high. I am trying to
fix it now. I swear- I am using the money I make from selling
these CDs to buy a laptop specifically for audio. This so sucks.
The performance is a good one- I am diving into some of the Echoplex's
functions. Some are really useful, and some I don't get the hang
of yet. But that is one of the reasons for starting this project-
to understand all of my gear better. So, some lucky person gets
to hear me experimenting with pressing buttons and spinning loops
backwards and forwards, 1/2 speed and full speed, and in general
making crazy sound collages. I played some nice classical canon
stuff here as well with some pipe organ, flute and clarinet.
Hopefully I can salvage most of this and not have to do it over.
EDIT: it’s now 4am...I did it over. I really tried for almost
2 hours to salvage what I had done (it might up as an mp3 on the
multimedia of the CDs), but it seemed like it would take a few
hours more to work on it. I just played it over- it took...an hour.
This one is better in composition than the last, and started with
one of the most beautiful themes I had played so far. It included
a cool Floydian solo too. And some of the scariest noises to date...it
shows that good music can result despite the circumstances. Finally,
it will be CD11: The Deceit of Lapwings.
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Wednesday, March
15, 2006 3:45 AM
A Quiver of Cobras
Wow tonight I started late, around 2:30am, which
kills me when I was up since 8. So I finally get done around
3:45. I go to open up my recording program and the splash screen
appears, and then disappears, and no open program. This is bad.
So I go in search of the install disc which of course is buried
behind all of my equipment, which I have to dismantle before
I can then grab the disc, install it, and somehow feel inspired
to play. Now, I have heard the argument that a musician/artist/writer
has to be inspired to create, and it isn't true. Maybe in an
attempt to give a musician an excuse for his/her flakey work
ethnic, or as an excuse for a lazy writer- who knows. I worked
my whole life to be able to play at any time that I need to.
That doesn't mean I am not angry, sleepy, in pain, whatever...but
it is my job to make sure you never know this at the moment of
a performance. Music can visit us if we do the work, and how
we are feeling (or how the audience feels) really has nothing
to do with it.
Over the weekend I worked on a few new sounds, all of which made
an appearance in this recording. They work better than the old
ones they replaced. I am also having some problems with my looping
device not doing what I want it to- and it is too late to determine
if it is user error or if it is acting funny. So, I need a trip
to the manual and figure out what I am doing wrong. The Echoplex
is a serious looping device, and I am sure I don't use half of
what it can do. The beauty of looping is the different approaches
used. I tend to favor seamless washes of sound over short seizure-inducing
effects, but I have no problem flipping sound in reverse or up
and down an octave if it gets me there. I had some funky button
presses here, and I have to take out some silence in the recording
that I screwed up on, but I like this one. Some new approaches
I haven’t used- and, 10 hours into this madness, I am taking
some chances. Some work, some don't. Oh well, it is all fun to
me. Before I sleep, CD10: A Quiver of Cobras.
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Thursday, March 16,
2006 1:01 AM
The Flamboyance of Flamingoes
Well tonight's recording went a lot better than
last night, technically- my computer didn't freak out. I guess
it hard for a machine to write to the hard disk for an hour straight
with no breaks. I played some neat things tonight, including
some kalimba in 7/8 at the end that is good enough for the sampler.
So I have 1 edit (a loud pop) to cut out, and also to raise the
gain of the whole thing and I am done. I felt good about this
one; although I wish I had more synth sounds. Of course the synth
I want is $$$, and there is no way I am going to be able to get
it. I am though, thinking about going to an all laptop system-
it would rock to be able to show up to a gig with just a laptop
and a guitar. Software synths sound a lot better than hardware
synths, and I wouldn't have to lug around 100 pounds of equipment.
I decided not to sell my Variax guitar I just bought. I want to
give it some time before I decide. Full of great sounds, the guitar
it is designed into isn't so good. So I might build my own..we
see. In any case, CD12: The Flamboyance of Flamingoes.
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Friday, March 17, 2006 1:25 AM
The Business of Ferrets
I seem to be having a stroke of luck, in that I am happy with what I play *and* the recording comes out free of pops and clicks. Had some nice orchestral things as well as tuned percussion too. With 13 hours behind me (over 1/4th done with this insanity!) I am hoping I can keep my ideas fresh and sounds inspiring. I have been listening to lots of diverse music (thanks Sirius radio) and I think it helps a lot. Playing for an hour was scary at first, but now it goes by pretty quick. I just have to remember to record it a little bit early, so I have somewhat of a night left. So, lets have it, CD13: The Business of Ferrets
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Saturday, March 18, 2006 11:58
PM
A Rookery of Seals
For those just checking out my blog, its gotta
look pretty weird. With all these names of animals and notes
about recording. Well, scroll back to a few weeks ago, and read
up on my recording project- its zany.
Alright. I wasn't going to record on the weekends, but to stay
on schedule, I needed to record today. 14 hours into this thing,
I am really starting to understand how all of this gear fits together,
and I am able to effortlessly get from one sound to another. I
think that was one of the goals for this project, to better understand
my equipment and make it as transparent as possible. There is nothing
worse than watching a musician fumble around with the equipment
onstage trying to figure it out in a performance situation. Most
guitarists have it easy, a guitar, a few pedals, and an amp. I
have quite a bit of stuff. But I can still set it up in 10 minutes,
and if something goes wrong, I can usually fix it before anyone
notices. Yay for me.
Tonight's recording flew by- I had lots of neat little themes.
Lots of Ebow on this one- this is a handheld device that produces
infinite sustain over 1 string at a time. It can make a horrible
noise with the wrong guitar sound, and bad technique, but I have
been using one for over 15 years. Add some panning delay, and mmm,
I'm in heaven! Lots of sleepy pads on this, so naturally I must
name 14: A Rookery of Seals.
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Tuesday, March 21, 2006 12:28 AM
A Cowardice of Curs
It was good to take a few days break from recording
and then get back into it. I will be busy the next month or so
with performances, so I will see if I can stick to my schedule
with recording. I hope to get 25 hours worth of stuff recorded
by the end of March, and I have 15 hours right now, and it is
only the 19th. So I have a good chance of meeting my goal.
Tonight's improvisation was mostly a 26 second loop, which I gradually
added to throughout. The old stuff faded away, so it was constantly
evolving. Also, the first 13 minutes or so was some of the best
stuff I have recorded so far. I will use a huge chunk of it for
the sampler, and I really want to use all 13 minutes. A positively
inspiring solo sound too. Mmmm, this is what makes it worthwhile.
Tasty!
Some creepy sound stuff (as always, it seems) too, especially when
I was changing keys, and they overlapped. Sometimes it is fun to
sit back and listen as the sounds clash together. I think it might
be really dissonant to some people, but I really dig it. The title
is a group of mountain dogs, CD15: Cowardice of Curs.
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 2:45 AM
The Wisdom of Owls
Man, this one was hard. Not even the playing or
the composing, but I got tons of pops and clicks in this recording...I
really need to upgrade some main parts of my computer this spring,
so I don't spend 2 hours editing after each recording.
As far as the recording went, on this one, I rarely used any guitar
sounds at all. Lots of echo, and I am working on leaving lots of
space. Recording these hour long things reminds me to use dynamics,
and let the sound go. I made lots of long loops (30 secs and more)
and let them play, adding subtle things each time. I am also using
a Chapman Stick sample a lot for bass- it cuts through the dense
loops. It is a wonderful sounding instrument, and something I really
wish I knew how to play. I haven't used this a lot with the band,
since it always seemed too percussive, but for some reason it is
perfect for adding bass to these loops. I am also not so concerned
with rhythmic looping, which can get repetitive after awhile. It
is funny that the most popular looping devices sold are sold to
people who just want to solo over some prerecorded track. I have
always thought about looping as meditation- it tends to reveal
new layers as the loop evolves. So, for CD16, we have The Wisdom
of Owls.
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006 11:19 PM
The Smack of Jellyfish
This hour flew by. I had lots of ideas, and practiced leaving space,
and using lots of dynamics. I will have some programming this weekend,
since I have lots of ideas for new sounds. Problem is with the
piece of gear I want to program- there is no computer editor for
it. I guess it was made right at the time that musical gear could
be edited on computer. Well, this thing doesn't have it. And I
have to sit over a 1" LCD screen scrolling through parameters
to set up sounds the way I want them. Garr...
Tonight's recording had lots of flute- probably the most realistic
flute playing I have ever done on guitar. I do have to work on
my oboe and clarinet, although they were good, it probably wouldn't
fool anyone...but maybe it is my synth. One day I'll just have
all these sounds in a laptop...one day...
So, being that I used tons of woodwinds a canon-like fashion, we
have CD17: The
Smack of Jellyfish
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Friday, March 24, 2006 1:26 AM
A Confusion of Weasels
Another hour flew by. I swear, I was thinking by 18 hours into this, I would have a terrible time coming up with ideas. I am a lot faster from idea to execution as well. Now I know my gear a lot better, and I am refining sounds with notes I make as I am recording. Small things, like having echoes bounce back from one speaker to another. I have some ideas to streamline my setup as well, so I have some manual reading to make sure it works correctly. This weekend I have programming to do, as well as some computer stuff, like trying to figure out how I can trigger softsynths from one program to be recorded in another. This is something I haven't quite figured out yet. So with shows coming up next week, I have to work hard in order to achieve my goal this month of recording 25 hours. Until then, we have the aptly named CD18: A Confusion of Weasels
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Saturday, March 25, 2006 1:33 AM
The Richness of Martens
Tonight is the first time in 19 hours that I used the special piezo
pickup in my guitar. This is a pickup built in to the bridge of
the guitar which actually delivers a pretty convincing acoustic
guitar sound. So, for this hour, there were lots of soft acoustic
guitar loops, as well as solos. I put in a cool 'nightmare' section
in the middle with swooping classical choirs, a music box gone
horribly wrong, and what sounds like swarms of insects. (Hey grandma,
listen to the song I wrote!) Anyway, I did some flute playing as
well (not real, on guitar synth), and it is getting better. I am
learning better how to phrase like a flutist. I think some of this
CD will end up on the sampler. As with all my songs with lots of
woodwinds, this is named for a bird...CD19: The Richness of Martens
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Tuesday, March 28, 2006 12:19 AM
The Sloth of Bears
Wow, 20 hours into to this thing, and tonight I almost put myself to sleep. Honestly, this is the most ambient/new agey one of the bunch- not that it is a bad thing- but I just happen to play a lot in F#m tonight, with some of the longest loops I have ever played with...50 seconds. I tried to keep it evolving, but for some reason it stayed into this dreamy sleepy state. Sometimes the music tells us what it wants to be, and I had no choice but to listen, even if it made me tired. Some more flutes and weird acoustic guitar stuff- but I really have to get levels straightened out. And some bass notes were so low; I couldn't even tell if they were on pitch. But that is ok- it all added up to CD20, The Sloth of Bears.
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Wednesday, March 29, 2006 1:57 AM
The Unkindness of Ravens
This hour flew by. I mean, I could've played another hour, but it wouldn't have fit on a CD. I got started late tonight- and I still have to do some practicing- but it was worth it. Tonight's improvisation started out joyously in the completely unfriendly guitar key of F# major (a lot of sharps there). I played a nice I-IV progression and did some pretty acoustic solo stuff on it. Then of course, it all went to hell. I mean- I finished that part, and played some orchestral stuff, then into an Ebow thing, except an octave lower. Then it was looped, and taken down another octave at half speed. Then I reversed it. So, it was really really low and rumbly. Then I overdubbed a bunch of pipe organ, male & female choir, flute, clarinet, trumpet and more overtop. Music for collective screaming, I think. It didn't stay that way...I made it pretty at the end. So of course I had to call it CD21: The Unkindness of Ravens.
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Friday, March 31, 2006 1:31 AM
A Mob of Emus
Oh man, I had typed out a whole blog and then I
go to submit it and I get 'page can't be found'. I have to remember
to copy my text before I post it in case anything goes wrong.
In any case, this recording turned out quite well, and they seem
to be getting a lot easier. I took a day off yesterday because
of a show, which I didn't want to do, but between playing and teaching,
I had to tear down some of my equipment and I was too tired by
the end of the night. The show, at a really big festival, went
very well though.
This is the first recording I have done without my Ebow, so no
long sustained notes. I played a few short solos, but for the most
part, it was all dreamy textures with some grooving' bass, and
then some quiet parts and louder ones. I am getting better at using
dynamics- very extreme ones too, which I don't think many people
use a lot. Lots of neato flute and clarinet too, and even some
trumpet solos which are really hard to phrase correctly on guitar.
I am hoping to get a new pedal board case for the floor- my current
one is in a soft keyboard case and it gets dirty easily and quite
banged up in my van. I just hate spending a lot of money on something
that doesn't make any sound. Oh well, it will look better on stage
when I get the new one, and take up less room.
So CD22 gets a name fitting of the animal: A Mob of Emus.
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Tuesday, April 04, 2006 12:53 AM
A Raft of Otters
Back set up and recording after a weekend of shows, and tearing
down of a bunch of my gear. I set it all back up, and then, of
course, I didn't feel like recording. Sometimes, no matter how
we feel, we have to get on with the project, and if I want this
to end sometime in mid May, I have to keep recording. Tonight’s
hour started very slow and sleepy, but got pretty groovin after
awhile. Still on the new age-y side of ambient, I am trying to
get things a bit more upbeat, but hey, I was tired tonight! So,
after 20 minutes, I was almost asleep (while recording, mind you)
so I figured I'd better do some things to wake myself up. SO I
flipped the loops backwards and such, and came up with some very
fun rhythms. Lots of Ebow here too, but not much acoustic guitar,
since, I forgot to set the levels before recording (I used my mixer
for playing live all weekend) and it came in too loud. Well, it
isn't bad; I just wasn't comfortable using it for the rest of the
recording. The first half hour seemed like forever, but the 2nd
half flew by. Also, I got my computer parts today, so maybe next
weekend I can start upgrading and installing- and re-installing
Windows. I hate that, but if it helps with clicks and pops in the
recording, I will be happy when it is done. Swim on, CD23: A Raft
of Otters.
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Thursday, April 06, 2006 2:20 AM
A Mutation of Thrushes
Tonight is sort of a milestone- 24 hours of music
has been recorded so far. Wow, this is hard! I started tonight
with a fugue-like thing, which quickly devolved into some horror
movie theme, and then ended up landing perfectly on the ground
with some pretty jazzy playing at the end. Lots of flute and
clarinet, although they sound kinda 'off' but not in a bad way.
I really need to get some sort of laptop to record some great
orchestral samples. My synth is a 'good' one, at least for hardware,
but nowhere near as realistic as a good software synth.
Tonight I had 14 different pops and clicks which turned up while
I was recording. Listening back, they weren't really there. This
is why I need to upgrade my computer with the parts sitting next
to me here. After tomorrow's recording, I will perform some surgery.
A whole day's worth of improvisations, and I come up with what
sounds like attacking birds...CD24: A Mutation of Thrushes.
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Thursday, April 06, 2006 5:33 PM
The Shiver of Sharks
Another milestone- and I know there was one yesterday...I am halfway done! For those who are new to this blog, I am in the middle of recording 50 hours of improvisations, and I just finished hour 25. Looking back, I am amazed I got this far in a little over a month, I mean, it is hard to make yourself sit there and create. I know I know my gear a lot better, and I learned a lot about arranging so far. The good thing is, this hour was my absolute favorite yet. Maybe because it is the earliest in the day I have ever recorded, I don't know. But there are some neat violin and Ebow solos- I may use a bunch of this for the sampler. I also have to do some editing, so I may upload a web clip too. I played some really wonderful 'normal' guitar solos too, and finished with a beautiful acoustic loop that I just decided to try on a whim since I hadn't done it yet. It sounds very baroque, a little sad with some hope thrown in. MMM, tasty! So, half way done we have CD25: The Shiver of Sharks.
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Tuesday, April 11, 2006 1:07 AM
The Mustering of Storks
I just started the 2nd half of this project, and
it is getting pretty easy as I go on, much different than I expected.
I mean, I thought by now I would be digging for ideas, but I
start the planning process early in the day. After that, as long
as I have the first few phrases or keys, it starts happening
by itself. Tonight featured a few false starts with the new computer.
Some driver problems with the audio card, I am guessing. Then
I accidentally pressed a record button on my looping device twice,
which resulted in a 1/10th of a second loop which sounded like
loud clicking. So, I am not good enough at this to make that
sound musical apparently. I aborted and started over, ditching
the first 4 minutes. Again. At least I wasn't 45 minutes into
it. I think I have to wear shoes to do this- I can press buttons
more accurately.
I played with a 50 second loop for awhile, letting the old part
fade away while I layered new parts. Lots of fun! Had a cool scary
section too. And here we are, CD26: The Mustering of Storks.
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Wednesday, April 12, 2006 1:35 AM
A Leash of Greyhounds
Tonight's recording had a lot of stuff. From Asian
scales to classical rounds, to just plain noise. I also used
a lot of backwards and forwards loops- sometimes at the same
time- and played some solos over them. Some of my best playing
yet, and it is amazing how long you have to spend with something
like improvised music to start to make sense of it. I mean, when
I first started playing, it was difficult to get 30 seconds of
music that I was comfortable with, and in this current project,
I have 27 *hours*. No, not all is wonderful, but I am happy with
all of it. In the end, that is all that matters, right?
I am working on using some more interesting scales. This is hard
for a guitarist, as most of our work comes from repetitive patterns.
So I have to re-learn, build up comfort and then start using them
(hopefully) in a musical way. I am very happy with all those hours
of programming though- a few tweaks here and there (the fretless
bass is sounding great) and I am pretty happy with the sounds I
can make.
Two distinct pieces from this improvisation may end up on the sampler-
I may make mp3s tonight of them. Look for them in a bulletin. And
it was good, CD27: A Leash of Greyhounds.
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Thursday, April 13, 2006 1:21 AM
The Labour of Moles
Lots of orchestral music in this one, with backwards and forwards loops again. Some echo-y piano, and then these ticking-clock/clowns come alive/nightmare dream sequence in the middle...yeah!!! Then it went into this serene canon-type classical thing with bowed basses. Lots of 'real' guitar too, with quite a few solos- the listener will get a pretty wide range of stuff here. I am getting more comfortable with my Echoplex (looping device) ...I have had it about 10 years too! Just shows what a deep box it is, and how much I still have to learn- I must have 1000 hours on this thing. Wonderful ebb and flow, as well as dynamics on this one...and it ended up being quite sleepy sounding, although I don't feel that way. In honor of the sleepiness, CD28: The Labour of Moles.
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Friday, April 14, 2006 12:03 AM
The Scurry of Squirrels
I wasn't quite sure how to approach this one at first, since it was late in a longish day, and I wasn't particularly feeling creative. Actually I was going to put it off, but I am happy I didn't. This was one of the quickest hours yet, and I played lots and lots of 'regular' guitar sounds, with only a few orchestral things, and just a slight bit of Ebow. Lots of rhythms, some solos on electric piano sounds, vibes, and frantic guitar playing. Even some Asian sounding stuff in there too. Some cool tuned wood drum that beats out a rhythm for a long time with some echo-y piano over it as well. The creative process surprises sometimes. Sometimes we rely on years of training to hack the way through, and sometimes the hardest part is just starting. Once I get past that, I have tons of ideas. So here we go, CD29: The Scurry of Squirrels.
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Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:07 PM
The Pitying of Turtle Doves
So I return to recording after about a 5 day break,
which was much needed. Listened to a lot of diverse music, worked
on some equipment problems I had been having, and should still
be more or less on schedule. Now 30 hours of music has been recorded,
and it is the home stretch of (gulp) 20 more.
This recording was a lot more serene, I think. I mean, it is always
serene, that is just the way I am, I guess, but this one more than
others. I let longer loops play while I added very subtle things
as they evolved- some over 15 minutes or more. I am getting better
at not playing- I think for quite a few hours I felt I had to be
playing the whole time. I don't really need to, I guess.
Lots of guitar playing in this one, including some doubled with
kalimba (in the right speaker) and vibes. I had been playing a
lot of 'straight guitar' this past weekend, so I guess I still
want to hear lots of notes. This hour was a lot more confident
than many of them. We have CD30, The Pitying of Turtle Doves.
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Tuesday, April 25, 2006 2:40 AM
A Prickle of Porcupines
This recording started with some problems, and
I had to start over a few times. I am realizing I can't hit buttons
very well with my feet if I don't have shoes on. At least not
when they are supposed to be pressed. I made some horrific mistakes,
and then started over.
I played some very pretty ebow on this, as well as a wonderful
Renaissance-inspired flue solo. Just a few pieces of actual guitar
sounds- lots of wavy ambient stuff. I let some loops play for quite
awhile, and then inserted some backwards stuff in there. I am finding
that I am repeating a few things here and there- not actual notes,
but approaches. I think I have to try to resist thinking things
like 'oh this would be a good place for that cool war drum sound
I use now and then', because when I do that, it never turns out
as good as it is in my head! But for artists, I don't think that
is ever the case. Funny thing about this recording, an hour was
up long before I stopped playing. I guess that is a good sign,
considering how late it is! And so, we shall have CD31: A Prickle
of Porcupines.
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Wednesday, April 26, 2006 1:58 AM
A Flutter of Butterflies
Another one I wasn't sure I was going to record,
but am glad I did. Sometimes you have to force yourself to sit
at your instrument, and trust that good things will happen. Don't
get discouraged by bad notes- eventually the good ones will help
you forget. I played a ton of bad notes in my life, always followed
by good ones. I didn't have to worry about that in this recording,
since it all seemed to work.
I did a lot with the piezo acoustic sound of my guitar, which sounds
amazingly like an acoustic guitar. If I layer things right, it
sounds like a harpsichord. Or a dulcimer. Either way, I am delighted.
I started out this recording with some 'acoustic' looping, much
like I play in my solo shows. Then I added some pretty strings,
and more ambient stuff. Eventually I did some solos on electric,
but doubled with a synthesized electric guitar sound. It sounds
nothing like and electric of course, but as much as a synth can,
I guess. Besides, this sound was called 'Phrippfuzz', which was
this very distorted sustaining sound which eventually faded into
chaos. Very cool. Later on, I layered some electric piano sounds
with kalimba, marimba, and vibes...then devil voices, and scary
dream clown music- yay! It all turns out ok in the end, because
there was some positively pretty acoustic loops, followed by ethnic
horns, and finally beautiful modulations to switch from the key
of Em to Fm, which isn't easy to do, but I barely noticed it. CD32,
it is: A Flutter of Butterflies.
[back]
A Pounce of Cats
Back to recording after a break, a serious rearranging
and rebuilding of my studio here and some thinking of how I should
approach the last group of recordings.
Sometimes it is good to recharge- listen to new music, and just
play for fun. I forget to do that sometimes.
This is another recording I wasn't sure I was going to do. I started
by getting some sounds, and making sure my gear is hooked up right.
I essentially got a new desk here, and had to transplant my whole
studio setup, as well as re-run cables everywhere, re-wire my rack
of effects and synths, and get it all ready to press record. I
started by getting some distorted sounds, then some funky blues
thing (which is way weird for me) and not recording any of it!
Once I got my levels for my loops set, I was still not sure I was
going to record anything, or if I was feeling inspired, blah blah...I
hate making excuses. I pressed record and started playing. Before
I knew it, an hour went by. Wow! I started with some very traditional
looping with an acoustic guitar sound- some great melodies twisting
around. Then I went into some other things, like funky electric
piano, freaky giant flying insect sounds (made out of metal, or
something, of course), and then back to pretty clean sustaining
electric for the end. I don't know what it was, but this hour was
effortless. I wish they would all be this easy.
After a weekend of cleaning cat hair out of everything, and the
fact that this music both put the cats to sleep as well as sent
them flying out of the room, we have CD33: A Pounce of Cats.
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The Cry of Hounds
I wonder why I start these recordings so late.
I mean, it is quarter to 4 in the morning, I just finished recording
for an hour, and I didn't want to stop. That's how I know it
is working right.
Tonight was fun, although sonically I was all over the map. I played
around with the 'insert' button on the Echoplex, which replaces
bits of audio in the loop when you hold it down. So you can have
this nice flowing piece of music, and insert these bits of noise
in there. I usually shy away from it, as I tend to gravitate toward
flowing, as opposed to glitchy. When I use it, I tend to make my
loop (in this case a 14 second one) super glitchy, so it is almost
seizure inducing, and then put something impossibly pretty on top
so you don't remember you were rolling on the floor banging into
walls. I need to read up more on the insert button- you'd think
I would know it by now after playing with this magic box for over
10 years...but it’s really deep, and reveals new treasures
each time.
This time though, there was some nice acoustic looping, which for
some reason when I do this, it sounds a lot like a harpsichord-
and the vocabulary I use is really Baroque sounding- although I
added some didge-drones underneath. I also added a recorder/flute
solo, although this is a hard thing to play convincingly on guitar
synth, it was overtop a mess of guitars so hopefully it isn't too
noticeable that the sound is a bit lacking.
This music was sad, yet hopeful. As in, hopefully, we never have
to hope anymore. We do what we can to make it a better place, even
if no one notices. CD34, The Cry of Hounds.
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Thursday, May 04, 2006 2:56 AM
A Brace of Quail
Tonight's recording was hard. For one, I kept shifting
in my seat and couldn't get comfortable. When you have to sit
there for an hour, this is important. Also, I accidentally hit
'record' on my Echoplex when I meant to hit overdub. This is
bad. All sound stops. So, I hit 'Undo' which brings back my loop.
But it sounds like I made a mistake (I did). Luckily, I was able
to fix this by editing the silence out, but I am not always that
lucky.
This was more of an experimental recording- I worked with 'Insert'
and made some glitchy things, but I am not too comfortable working
with (what sounds like) random noise. In fact, I just think I haven’t
found a way to make the Insert function musical to my ears. There
was less actual guitar soloing in this recording- this was more
of textures. I let an 11 second loop of a Dm over a Bb chord sustain
for about 7 minutes. I thought it was cool. Let’s hope the
lucky listener does. For all we have, it’s CD35: A Brace
of Quail.
[back]
The Pladge of Wasps
A day and a half worth of recordings done- whew! That is 36 hours, kids. This recording was pa pretty twisted one, with lots of dissonance. I didn't really plan it that way- just some of the sounds I chose to leave droning were non-pitched, and quite frankly sounded like the return of those giant metallic insects I wrote about before. So, I guess the invasion is on. No Ebow at all this time, and hardly any distorted guitar. Lots of acoustic, layered with clean electric (I like that sound, since it sounds like neither). There was some smooth jazz thing in there for some reason, and some pretty stuff that probably should have gone on longer, but didn't. Oh well, the person who buys this one will most likely freak out when they hear it, or at least, turn on all of the lights. Aptly named, CD36: The Pladge of Wasps.
[back]
A Bale of Turtles
Lots of different rhythms in this recording, which
can be good and bad. Good, because I am certainly getting better
at hitting the all-important Record button after I press the
multiply button. Bad, since I only get it right most of the time.
This time, I wasn't as lucky. Well, I had to edit out a few seconds
of a loop I made which was about 1/10th of a second of audio
which repeated, making this really fast fluttery sound. That
might be good if I had intended it, but I certainly didn't- either
time. So, I had to edit that out.
See, I control the recording of my loops with my feet. If I have
this ambient drone-y thing going on as a 50 second loop, I will
then sometimes try to make a little rhythm out of it. Since the
loop has no rhythm, and it is 50 seconds long, I have to cut a
section out (by pressing the multiply button with my feet), play
a rhythmic theme (some cool marimba theme in this case), and then
hit record with my feet and the little rhythm will hopefully repeat.
This all has to be done while I am playing, and right on the beat.
Unfortunately, I am not so good at playing without shoes, and I
double pressed record, which makes a horrific sound. Nice, but
not what I wanted.
I fixed it in editing (yay Wavelab), and now all is well. I need
to work on letting loops play. I tend to want to overplay on them.
I did get some purty guitar solos on this one, though. I will also
use the end percussion rhythm for the sampler. As it goes, CD37:
A Bale of Turtles.
[back]
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 1:15AM
A Grist of Bees
You know, sometime I should listen to myself when
I am really not in the mood for playing for an hour straight.
This time, I'm mostly happy I didn't. I started out playing some
stuff that turned out fine, but was nowhere near what I wanted
it to be. I mean, it was almost right, but I worked on some polyrhythms
(7 against 8) which should have worked, if my hands did what
my brain asked of them...what it turned out to be was more like
3.756 against ^&%, but hey, it was almost cool.
Things turned around in the 2nd half hour when I just let the loops
be. I came up with some nice tribal drum stuff, with some gorgeous
loops underneath, some of the best pretty sounding ones so far...then
the insects came in...By the swarm...I can't keep these things
away, it seems- but this time the insects sounded like they were
from Egypt.
I've spent lots and lots of time with my gear these past few weeks
(that was the point) although I gotta keep working on the guitar
part...you know, the fun stuff, like scales, working on songs,
etc...I forget I ain't done with the learnin' yet. Look out kids,
its CD38: A Grist of Bees.
[back]
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 1:37AM
The Charm of Goldfinches
So, I am finally back to recording after a weekend
of live shows, which had me breaking down my entire rig and setting
it up again tonight. It is nice to have a rest, but I am so close
to finishing this thing. I shouldn't slow down now (even though
I have), but I must admit, it is better to slow down with 10
more hours to record than 25. I still plan on recording every
night this week, which will make quite a dent in the work ahead.
Tonight's recording was a breeze. I left my Ebow (electronic bowing
device for guitar) in the van, so I did a pretty good job of coming
up with other ideas. As artists, (visual, musical, dramatic, comedic),
we acquire a certain bag of tricks to rely on. As a guitarist,
it is very easy to rely on stock patterns, letting our hands take
us when our mind isn't sending messages. One of the ways of breaking
out of these patterns is recording 50 hours of improvisation. Ok,
that is crazy...so for the normal guitarist, one way is to let
go of things we rely on. We may say 'Let’s not bend any strings
here, even though I want to, and it is fun'. I think it is like
fasting. No better way to appreciate food when you don't eat for
awhile.
If our hands lead us, the brain is out of the picture. We have
all heard this, in every music store on Saturday afternoon, or
any open jam in Anytown, USA. Play a song is G...same licks in
G. Play in D, move up to the 10th fret, and repeat the same licks.
I guess at some point I certainly did this. Then I got tired of
my own playing. Toss out what you don't like, and come up with
new stuff. This is constant. In order for our brains to lead the
hands, we have to show them who is boss. Take the leap- you don't
want to sound like anyone else, anyway.
Lots of acoustic sounds in this recording, as well as some very
cool ambient passages. I am pretty happy where I am right now.
I really like this mode of playing, since it is so different than
anything else I play. One of the shows this weekend was on a stage,
playing exactly these kinds of things, while women did yoga all
around me. What great energy- and a fun combination. I wish there
was more of a market for cool stuff like this.
A little while later, we have CD39: The Charm of Goldfinches.
[back]
The Scold of Jays
Again, there is a little bit of time between this
recording and the last. I did, however, get a new pedalboard
for my (duh) pedals to go in. The pedals are how I control different
sounds, since my hands are on the guitar. I can change guitar
sounds, synth sounds, and loop either or both. I was using a
soft bag meant for a small keyboard, but this one is way nice.
Custom made (priced like it too) and it fits everything in perfectly.
One of these days I have to take some pictures of my studio setup
here and post them.
This recording went pretty fast, and I had lots of ideas. I did
some soloing on clarinet too, although there is a lot of guitar
soloing in it as well. The music was pretty serene, but it got
pretty scary in parts. That must be something I like, because I
tend to do it a lot. Everything seems so pretty and perfect for
awhile, and then you realize something is horribly wrong. I guess
I watched too many horror movies.
This week I will try to record more, but I have 4 shows this weekend,
and I really have to practice for them. These are all on acoustic
guitar, so this project may have to wait until next week, but we
will see. For now, we have CD40: The Scold of Jays.
[back]
Thursday, June 01, 2006 1:53AM
A Gulp of Magpies
Back from a weekend of 4 shows, set up all my gear
again and back to work. This weekend, there was a show in Tampa,
followed by a festival show about 200 miles away (3 performances).
This was called the Florida Folk Festival, and while I don't
play anything close to folk music, I did play instrumental acoustic
guitar with lots of looping. So I camped out, listened to a lot
of banjos and mandolins, braved the Satan-death heat in Florida
(summer is here, apparently), and made lots of noise for a bunch
of unsuspecting folk fans. Well, actually, I was lucky they really
seemed to like the idea of improvising, and using (gasp) technology
to make live spontaneous compositions. It was nice to see some
young people in the campsites playing old time folk music on
all sorts of instruments- its not something that most teens are
exposed to, but it was cool walking to one of the stages (there
must’ve been 10) and hearing 2 girls about 13 walk by harmonizing
some Irish sailing song. Saw a few neato performances by very
good acoustic guitarists, and learned about some gear I have
to seek out to give my guitar that low end that I wanna hear.
This recording was an easy one, and went by very quickly. There
was a huge glitch in the middle though when I double pressed a
button that I wasn't supposed to and all of the sound stopped.
So I had to repeat, and edit the 2 parts after. Ahhh, well, come
on, I've only done a few edits on these recordings, and luckily
you can't hear me screeching in horror when I press the button
(with my feet, mind you) twice instead of once. Oh well, I made
up for it with some neato flute, oboe, clarinet and piano stuff.
And some absolutely twisted scary solos on this- some of my favorites.
I may edit some of these things for the sampler too. So I complete
the trilogy of bird-themed recordings with CD41: A Gulp of Magpies.
[back]
The Skulk of Foxes
Tonight's recording was a sleepy one, with lots of drones and Ebow'd guitar, and very little solos (although there were some). Some polyrhythmic loops going too, which was really forcing me to count to get the overdubs right. I did some polychords too, like having an Amaj7 on the bottom octave and a Dmaj7 on the top. I played a neato solo on that, doubled with some boy's choir sounds. For this one, I let the loops play for quite a bit, and I think it worked really well. The ending was very nice- it was some looped Ebow and an acoustic guitar solo. It sounded sad, which I think is strange, because a lot of my recordings sound sad at the end. Almost like I am sad it is ending, not sad in general, because I am a very happy person (almost) always. It’s strange what comes out sometimes, and in this case, it is CD42: The Skulk of Foxes.
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Wednesday, June 07, 2006 2:18AM
A Steam of Minnows
Well I guess I am getting better at letting the loops evolve- this recording was even sleepier than the last, although it had a good rhythmic beginning (over an E6 chord) and 2 pretty crazy guitar solos in it. I didn't use any acoustic guitar sounds either, I did use lots of Ebow, more choirs, long sustainy notes overdubbed, and an electric piano solo. It is difficult to use a piano sound on guitar, since it is difficult for me to phrase like a good electric piano player...I think I abandon any idea to play bass and melody at the same time and just do a solo. More polychords this time, where I would have a D chord over a C chord and play the solo in C Lydian, and I think the dissonance is softened by the fact the D and C chords are 2 different sounds. It worked, though, and it is something I want to explore on the last 7 recordings. And there it is, CD43: A Steam of Minnows.
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A Pandemonium of Parrots
After some programming tonight, I am back to recording.
One of the goals, which I guess has been met, of this project
is that I wanted to get a better command of what sounds I had
available, ad be able to get to them quickly. The Roland synth
that I use is a very good one, but like anything, after awhile,
you really have to dig deep to get some unique sounds out of
it. It is more correctly called a sample player, since I trigger
samples, not really a synthesizer at all. I have to admit, I
don't think analog synthesis would be right for this project,
and I don't have enough confidence in my programming that I would
be able to come up with enough distinct sounds. Plus, if I thought
I was spending too much time programming now, I bet it would
be much worse if I actually had to learn analog synth programming.
Ahh, more time spent away from the instrument I like to play...
This was yet another fast recording, although the first half-hour
went by quickly, the 2nd half I was having trouble. I think if
I am not spending enough time practicing, I try to play something
and it won't come out as intended. It might come out good, but
it isn't really what I was looking for. This is what happened tonight-
although what resulted are 2 of the best solos I have recorded
in this series. I am getting pretty happy with the sounds I have
created, but even now, I can't leave it alone, I find myself tweaking.
It is funny how I started out layering one sound at a time, and
now I am layering 2 or 3 sounds at a time, and panning them all
screwy so it sounds very odd. No Ebow, but it is the first time
I was using backwards guitar sounds, thank you. What else could
this be called, but CD44, A Pandemonium of Parrots.
[back]
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 12:46 AM
The Obstinancy of Buffalo
Back to recording after a longer than I had planned
break. Having to break down everything, set it up for a show,
and then set it up for recording doesn't seem like a lot, but
it seems like it is enough to keep me from finishing this project.
I swear, the last few recordings seem to take the longest! Although,
when I am actually playing, the time goes by fast. I am in the
home stretch now, I guess- which is a great thing. Over the past
few weeks, I am starting to get a good idea of what form this
project can take, as well as the 2 bands I play with. It is a
really good feeling when things start working or better yet,
you can see the beginning of something. I think there is a certain
quality of things- like the universe saying 'come on, dummy,
it is right here. What are you waiting for?' I have been through
this feeling enough times to recognize it as a real thing. There
was a reason I named my last CD Trust Action.
The show this week was a good one, and in a way helped me prepare
for this recording. Both the show and this hour of music were sleepier
than I would like, but sometimes we have to trust that is what
it is. I played lots of acoustic guitar loops tonight, and since
my Ebow is missing in my room somewhere (I really need to get another,
as mine is from the 70s, and I don't want anything to happen to
it!). I played just a few solos on this, lots of pretty loops over
maj7 chords. I ended this one with an idea about to develop- so
hopefully the listener will hear it and ask 'Where is the rest
of this?’
The purpose of music may not be what we think it is. I think music
can go beyond making you feel good, beyond a melody you can scream
out when you are alone in the car. If you play something, and no
one is there to hear it, does it matter?
Oh yeah, baby, it does. More than we will ever know.
And with that, we have CD45: The Obstinancy of Buffalo.
[back]
Thursday, June 22, 2006 1:04 AM
The Paddling of Ducks
This was another 'fast' recording, in as fast as an hour goes by. I let a lot of loops play on, subtly changing them; even the long ones, which I think were about 27 seconds. That is a pretty long time by looping standards, considering most are around 5-15 seconds. This is good sleepy music, or bath-and-wine stuff. No solos to speak of, really- some clarinet, a tiny bit of acoustic guitar, but more small melodies than actual guitar playing. I just may rock out on one of these- maybe. I really enjoyed playing with the Ebow again, and I think I might edit out the beginning for part of the sampler cd which will hopefully be available by winter. It sounded very eerie, like walking into a church that you know you aren't supposed to be in.
This is also the first time in this project that I ran out of disk space. It takes about 1gig to record an hours worth of stuff of 24 bit, 48k audio. So I need to make some room by dumping some to DVD. This is the not so fun part of recording, the preparation and maintenance. A silly name for CD46: The Paddling of Ducks.
[back]
Friday, June 23, 2006 12:57 AM
The Rhumba of Rattlesnakes
I started this just before midnight, and when midnight
rolled around, it was my birthday- I can't think of a better way
of starting it than playing and recording.
This recording was a tougher one, as it got harder as it went by.
Mostly in E major, with occasional C#m chords thrown in too. The
first half hour sped by, but I was dragging a bit towards the end,
and made some pretty unnoticeable mistakes, although, there was one
major one. See, when looping, you have the chance to manipulate the
loop while it is playing. I can overdub on top, and set a new 'start
point' at any place. You do this by having a loop playing, and then
hitting a button with your feet (labeled 'multiply' and then play
overtop...when you are done, you hit the record button with your
feet. Problem is, I double pressed it, or it sensed a double press
or something. Instead of a cool bassline atop backwards guitar playing,
I got...silence. Damn!! So I had to do a few edits to fix that. It
is nearly unnoticeable now, but I hate having to do that. I really
want to present this series 'as is', but when there are obvious equipment
failures, I have to go in and at least edit. Well, I left any bad
notes for the listener to find. At least you couldn't hear me screaming
when I screwed it up, but I am sure it was quite comical.
More solos here, and I feel pretty good about most of them. I have
to work on my acoustic sounds, as well as some gated reverb things
(those of you on my friends list, you hear that sound on the video
I sent). For now, beware: CD47: The Rhumba of Rattlesnakes.
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006 1:14 AM
The Lamentation of Swans
The hardest thing for a composer to do is sit down
and start writing. I think it comes easy after that. Discipline
and skill kick in, and we can go wherever the music takes us.
For me, yeah, it’s true. The hardest is to start. I can
write parts all night long. I can come up with ideas from all
over the place. I have to work on the starting. I have spent
so much of my professional life adding to what is there. Even
with 48 hours of music in this project behind me, nothing terrifies
me more than starting the next hour.
This recording is among my top 10, I think. I felt good about it,
tried lots of new things (like monk bells, whatever they are) and
even had a middle section in 7/8 which I honestly didn't try to
do. Lots of musicians will use time signatures to scream 'look
how clever I am' (which makes it hard to be around current proggers),
but when you finish playing, listen back to that groove, and you
start tapping your foot on the 8th notes, it doesn't matter where
the downbeat is. I am cutting this section out for the samplers...
I let it play for awhile and added voices, as well as strings.
I also did some weirdo 'insert horn name with no vowels' soloing
too, which morphed into one of the best guitar solos I had yet
put on my hard disk.
I name a lot of things with bird names, because groups of birds
usually have very odd names. I'll leave you with CD48: The Lamentation
of Swans.
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006 2:18 AM
A Battery of Barracudas
Another quick one- I guess I am getting good at
playing for an hour straight and recording it. This time I did
some different things. Lots of sounds I haven't used in ages.
Mostly pads that evolve, and I would probably use them more,
but I have only so many presets I can store, so some have to
get dumped. Lots of African sounding log-drum rhythms, which
I forget to use sometimes, but I really love melodic percussion.
I also used 2 guitars for this recording. It is the first time
in this series I have used something other than my Brian Moore
guitar. I hooked up my classical to the mixer and had it ready
to go. Now, my classical is not a normal one- it is built with
a thinner neck for us steel string players, it has a cutaway, and
a pretty good pickup inside. Oh, and I (gasp), play it with a pick.
The trick when recording it is keeping the nylon strings in tune,
which of course is mostly impossible on any nylon string. So, I
had to record the regular guitar, mute that mixer channel, unplug
it (there are 2 cords, the synth and magnetic pickups) and grab
the classical guitar. Then, I had to tune it, un-mute the mixer
channel, and keep playing, hoping the levels were right. They were,
mostly. And what a sound!!! I had not even really recorded with
this guitar yet, and I quickly made up a preset on my effects processor
and it was beautiful. I had planned on just playing a solo over
the ambient backing, but it sounded so good, I ended up with an
awesome loop at the end of the recording. You might just be afraid
of CD49: A Battery of Barracudas.
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Thursday, June 29, 2006 12:23 AM
A Husk of Hares
So I start this recording like all the rest: sitting
down with my guitar, staring at The Blank Page. No page, of course,
but a giant record button in front of me. I decided to start
this out with one sustaining note- an A-, and gradually build
it up over quite a few minutes. I built this up, adding consonant
and dissonant notes and chords overtop, as well as a very cool
bass line. Then of course, I screwed up- I overloaded the recording,
and seeing the red line and hearing the horrible digital distortion
forced me to stop- there is no way I can fix it. So there is
9 minutes of stuff gone. So of course, I have to start over,
and I did. This time, a little slower- I like it slower. It came
out good (and quieter) this time, and I was able to make it all
the way through. Almost. Somewhere right about half-way, I double
pressed the record button on my Echoplex looping device, which
erased my loop. So, I had to do a little editing. About 3 second’s
worth. Not too bad, and listening back, I can't even hear where
it was. I guess that is good.
More solos on this recording: some crazy electric stuff, as well
as Ebow (Phrygian mode-wow), and the acoustic sound on my electric.
I tried the nylon string patch from last night, but it didn't cut
it- it was terrible on this guitar. So back to my original. I still
need to work on this sound- it is good, but not great. I just need
to spend time with it.
I ended hour 50 with a ton of Ebows, in different octaves, overlapping
in a fading 9 second loop. This entire thing faded over 5 minutes,
with a bass marimba playing a repeating figure overtop, like it
was the start of the next section or recording. Maybe it is the
end of this series, but there will be more. Lots, baby. For now,
here is CD50, A Husk of Hares.
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Thursday, June 29, 2006 5:05 PM
A Completion, A Beginning...
Or, 50 hours of music, 50 CDs, and no copies made.
When a musician finishes a recording project, the work is far from over. Yes, I did the easy part. Almost 28 years of playing made it so I could actually do the recording. Now, comes the not-so-fun part.
1. Applying for grants: there are many grants in every state given to musicians.
2. CD layout and design: although it will be simple, when all CDs are put together in a row of 10, 5 deep, it will make 1 solid picture- but they each have to stand on their own, too.
3. Multimedia: all of my CDs I have released include a multimedia section, with mp3s, videos, pictures, and more. I learned how to do this myself, and it is a lot of fun. It is also easy, and if the CD has lyrics, you can put them here instead of paying for additional printing. All of these blogs will be on there.
4. Printing of CDs and inserts: I know of a printer who can help me, but I am printing all the CDs myself- this takes forever, and is expensive, but each will be different, so I can't get a commercial cd replication company to do it. I have to sign and date each one by hand.
5. Promotion: radio, TV, print. I got the radio booked (October), but I have to write tons of press releases, which is another skill independent musicians should have. TV is another problem, although it is very possible. Things have to be booked months in advance for this, though.
6. Planning the opening: I will have help with
this as it nears the release date (early November), but these
things are filled with tension. You have to be 'on' all night,
and hope everyone who comes buys a CD.
I forgot that after they are all sold (hopefully), there will be
2 additional CDs produced, which are samplers form the 50. These
will be the same, so they won't be signed and dated, but I have
to edit and assemble them so they make sense. I have about 4 hours
of music to sort through, and I hate listening to myself play-
it is kind of like looking at pictures of yourself. You think 'what
am I wearing?', and 'what’s with my hair', but everyone else
just sees you.
So, after 50 hours, what have I learned? This was certainly an
exercise in discipline. Playing for an hour straight, recording
it, and preparing yourself that, yes, it will be released, was
daunting at first. It is no big deal now, but still, it was freaky
when I started. I learned how to recover from mistakes, and how
to make a loop that has gone horribly wrong into something I really
liked. This will come in use when I play live. I learned how to
use my equipment better, and how to get the sounds I hear in my
head from it. I did a lot of tweaking over the first 30 hours or
so until I settled on a set of sounds I knew I could use and be
happy with. The best way to learn to use something is give yourself
a task that uses it. I will say I play a lot better now than when
I started, and I have a stronger relationship between me, my guitar,
and my creativity. I don't believe musicians must be inspired to
write, any more than a baseball player has to be inspired to play
well. He does, because he is trained to. Well, we musicians are
trained too, although we don't usually have a team to encourage
us. This, I think, is the hardest part.
Artists and musicians generally work alone, and sometimes don't
even have the support of friends and family, yet they endure, because
they know what they are doing helps make their world a better place.
So I have 4 months to finish this project. These blogs will shed
some light on this process, although I am sure I will talk about
some other things too.
Reading through all of this, I realize I am very strange.
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Thursday, July 06, 2006 5:45 PM
Well, one of my professional goals is reached.
I am finally in the pages of Guitar Player magazine. Check out
the Aug issue. I had issues from the mid-70s I poured through.
This is how I learned who to listen to, who were the good guitarists,
and how to get those sounds I heard on records. It is a pretty
big deal as a guitarist, since it is the biggest, longest running,
and most well written magazine for our kind. I had gotten a lot
of press for things before, but none internationally. Yay, I
say!
Some other news today: I finished a grant application before the
deadline. I sent out tons of press releases. I was asked by the
local NBC affiliate to perform on their Daytime show the week of
the opening. I had been on TV a few times before, but never solo.
I think I am more worried about fitting in an improvisation into
4 minutes. We'll see what they have in mind.
I will have to run to the post office today and then work on some
gear issues. I have more endorsement letters to send, and a few
more promo-related emails.
You know, I was never told I had to do this when I signed on to
be a musician. Not to mention, I had to learn all about this stuff.
I mean, I have a 'team' that helps me, but I don't have a staff.
Against the American Idol-crazed world, I don't have a chance.
But that isn't my world, anyway.
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Sunday, July 09, 2006 5:31 PM
To read ye scroll is a Fool's Folly
My band has a show coming up in August, at a place
in Tarpon called the Neptune. The Neptune is an interesting place,
run by Eddie, whom other people refer to as the PA Nazi. That
is, he comes in; plugs the PA in, sets up one mike and you begin
playing immediately. No sound checks, no monitors, nothing. And
you better not ask for any either. I've seen bands do that and
he tells them to get off stage. But, he has always been very
respectful to my friends and I, and I never have any unreasonable
requests. It is always fun to play there, and it is the closest
club to where I live that loves original, diverse music. There
are a few more, but they mostly have classic rock or heavier
cover bands. That’s great, as long as I don't have to go
or play there.
The current band I am playing with is called Fools Folly- me with
our Hazard Factor drummer Ivan, who is really great when he feels
comfortable enough with the music and musicians. We have always
played well together, and hopefully this format will allow us to
stretch out more.
The bass player is Mark from Spring Hill, and he plays a very jazzy
6 string bass. He solos like crazy, and played with a bebop band
in the area for years. Plus, he likes a lot of the same music as
I do, so we can write or improvise from the same space.
Our first show last month went well musically- we improvised a
whole hour, except for 2 songs.
Oh, Hazard Factor is not over, either. I have lots of plans for
this band too (this is gonna be fun!).
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Wednesday, July 12, 2006 11:50 PM
You know, I spent the last week sending out press releases and other
emails. Some time playing (we will get to that in a bit) but mostly
typing, proofing, and collecting the hundreds of contacts I had built
up over the years. Fun stuff they don't teach you in music school.
You are supposed to have publicists that do this, right? I just want
to play music, not type. I suck at typing. Why do I want to do it?
Well, I don't want to. But I can't get people to work for me for
free. This is part of the normal musician's job skills. Sorry, but
you can be the best musician in the world, but if you can't talk
up what you do to other people (press or industry people) it doesn't
matter. I really don't particularly like talking about how great
a project I complete is- and quite frankly, it feels arrogant to
me. However, this is exactly what you must do as a musician. Unless
you are fine letting someone else handle your career- which is ok
if you are big enough to warrant it. I'm not, but I don't spend all
this time releasing something to have no one show up to buy it.
So, we have essentially established that being a musician requires
more than learning how to play- and sometimes that isn't even important.
So, if you play music, learn how to write a coherent press release
in an easy to digest form- kinda like learning how to record, make
a flyer, take pictures, order business cards, talk to people, network,
etc.
I spent most of last night working on sounds and looping. What did
I come up with? Nothing. After 7 hours in front of my computer, I
got nothin'. This happens. I tried lots of things, none worked. I
did get my Echoplex to sync with a drum program, which was fun, but
only for a little while. Actually producing a decent sound eluded
me though. Between that, and my computer freezing when I tried to
get the computer to follow my loops made a very frustrating night.
Yet I continue. Amazing.
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Monday, July 24, 2006 9:27 PM
I spent the last day doing a lot of tedious work
for the CD. First was sorting through the clips of the 50 hours
of music for the sampler. It looks like there will be 2 sampler
CDs, each a little over 60 min long. I wrote down the times,
the keys and the overall feel of each one- which is tough for
me because I really don't like listening to myself play. It is
kinda like looking at pictures of yourself- kinda creepy, a little
weird. I was amazed that I thought what I had collected was really
good, and it will make 2 really interesting CDs, with varying
tempos, dynamics and feelings.
The next project this week was getting the blog ready for the multimedia
part of the CDs. So I had to sort through over 100 blogs here.
And I wanted them to be in order from earliest to latest, which
is opposite to the way MySpace puts them. So I copied and pasted
into Word, ditched the formatting, and re-ordered them. Then spell-checked.
Either I suck at spelling or typing or both. Well, I won't sound
so idiotic on the multimedia portion anyway.
This is the absolute sucky part about being an independent musician-
I gotta do this. It was really monkey work. I mean, I wish I had
a monkey to do it, since it was so repetitive. And maddening. What
I came up with is 24 pages of content for my blog on the CD. I
have no idea if anyone will sort through this or not, but that
isn't why I do it. I do it for me, to document a project, and to
get it done right. I like multimedia anyway- if there are lyrics
on a CD, it is cheaper to put them on the multimedia than in the
printing. I can also include mp3s, etc...that aren't on the regular
CD portion.
So far, this project will have (at least on the multimedia):
- blogs for every CD and the process after they are recorded (like
this blog will be included)
- some videos
- an art gallery from the artists who are helping me
- an mp3 of a recording I had to stop because of a technical problem
(30 mins long?)
- technical notes (I have yet to write them)
- pictures and press about me (yay for me kinda stuff)
This is where it stands now. I haven't even picked
the overall color theme for any of this yet.
You know, it is a lot more fun for me just to play.
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