"Music is the healing force of the universe."
--Albert Ayler
In answer to a request for jazz listening suggestions on a guitar message board, I recommended Albert Ayler to someone. Talk about diving into the deep end of the pool...
I won't go into the sad, crazy tale of Mr. Ayler here, but his is a story of someone who could not separate art from life. And when the music in question sounds like a New Orleans marching band on acid, living that art all the time must have been overwhelming.
Ayler's music has a funny way of insinuating itself in your brain. A deranged form of joy. I know it is going to appear on my next album, which is amusing in the context of the mega-fusion piece I'm currently preparing.
I am absolutely stoked about where my music is going, and I need to mix up a teaser piece for your listening pleasure. It's all sitting unmixed in the recorder at the moment. I am such an idiot when it comes to self-promotion.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Inspiration returns
I spent yesterday working on a free-funk improvisation. It's the first real musical work I've done in several weeks. I barely even picked up a guitar over that period.
Why does inspiration come and go so quickly? Some people, like Frank Zappa, seem permanently inspired to play and create. Zappa was notorious for staying awake for days on end doing nothing but writing little musical dots on the page. John Coltrane's recording career lasted only about 12 years, and yet he recorded a ridiculous amount of music. I'm not like that consistently, for whatever reason.
I was starting to feel old and used-up as a musician. When you've been a rock musician for 20+ years, it's hard to watch yourself get older and realize you really can be "too old to rock 'n roll, too young to die," as Jethro Tull memorably put it. That describes me pretty well, now. I've become less fond of all the posturing and bluster of rock music. Can any event where you need earplugs to participate be described as particularly musical?
My transition to quasi-jazz musician has helped, but not completely. Sometimes, I stop and realize that I'm now two years older than Coltrane lived to be. The difference is, I haven't achieved my "Giant Steps" or "A Love Supreme" yet. Hopefully, I'm a late bloomer.
A couple days ago, however, the positivity switch was activated. I finished up everything at my day job by staying late on a Friday night, and I felt a burst of life--I'd have the entire weekend to make music and desperately wanted to do just that. I was on such a high when I got home from work that my wife thought I'd been drinking.
I've been floating ever since. Maybe I'm musically bipolar.
Why does inspiration come and go so quickly? Some people, like Frank Zappa, seem permanently inspired to play and create. Zappa was notorious for staying awake for days on end doing nothing but writing little musical dots on the page. John Coltrane's recording career lasted only about 12 years, and yet he recorded a ridiculous amount of music. I'm not like that consistently, for whatever reason.
I was starting to feel old and used-up as a musician. When you've been a rock musician for 20+ years, it's hard to watch yourself get older and realize you really can be "too old to rock 'n roll, too young to die," as Jethro Tull memorably put it. That describes me pretty well, now. I've become less fond of all the posturing and bluster of rock music. Can any event where you need earplugs to participate be described as particularly musical?
My transition to quasi-jazz musician has helped, but not completely. Sometimes, I stop and realize that I'm now two years older than Coltrane lived to be. The difference is, I haven't achieved my "Giant Steps" or "A Love Supreme" yet. Hopefully, I'm a late bloomer.
A couple days ago, however, the positivity switch was activated. I finished up everything at my day job by staying late on a Friday night, and I felt a burst of life--I'd have the entire weekend to make music and desperately wanted to do just that. I was on such a high when I got home from work that my wife thought I'd been drinking.
I've been floating ever since. Maybe I'm musically bipolar.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Happy Rocktober!
Council of One is still alive, I can report.
I've gotten away from regular updates, which is unfortunate. There are a fair number of things to report--especially the riduculous amount of guitars and gear coming in the front door of my apartment. Some stuff needs to start going out the door, too. ;)
The great rackmount experiment continues unabated. I've now got a Yamaha T50 rackmounted amp and two new power amps (Peavey Classic 50/50 and Carvin DCM600) to go along with the Mesa Quad/50-50, Peavey Rockmaster and Fractal Audio Axe-FX setups.
No, I am not opening up a gear shop. Some of this stuff is going to go, but I want to try out a bunch of different stuff to go with the isolation cabinet. The Axe-FX has snuck its way back into use as my primary preamp, since it sounds great with the Peavey Classic 50/50 tube power amp. The Carvin DCM600 solid-state power amp doesn't do what I need and will get sold as soon as I get motivated. The Yamaha is my newest acquisition, but it might be a bit too powerful for use with my isolation cabinet. I need to experiment more with it.
Rackmount stuff is so cheap, that you really can afford to try things out without breaking the bank. So, you could say that the boutique amp snobbery of today benefits me indirectly, by making all the cool rack stuff unfashionable and therefore affordable.
On the music front, I am currently working on a new album of improvisations, called The Structure Creates Itself. So far, I've completed two trio pieces, which in my opinion absolutely blow away the stuff on Saturation. I've gotten so much better at free improvisation in the last few months just from practicing and thinking about how to do it, that I'm really excited about the future. I can't wait for people to hear this crazy shit I've got on the way.
The Structure Creates Itself will feature a wider variety of settings than Saturation did, including possibly a few programmed beats here and there. Not purely free-form, I guess, but interesting. The rest should be all free, including the percussion. Expect more textures and unusual sounds. It shouldn't be that long before I have the album finished, actually. I've got a three-day weekend coming up, and that's usually a good time to lock myself in the studio and get to it.
I've gotten away from regular updates, which is unfortunate. There are a fair number of things to report--especially the riduculous amount of guitars and gear coming in the front door of my apartment. Some stuff needs to start going out the door, too. ;)
The great rackmount experiment continues unabated. I've now got a Yamaha T50 rackmounted amp and two new power amps (Peavey Classic 50/50 and Carvin DCM600) to go along with the Mesa Quad/50-50, Peavey Rockmaster and Fractal Audio Axe-FX setups.
No, I am not opening up a gear shop. Some of this stuff is going to go, but I want to try out a bunch of different stuff to go with the isolation cabinet. The Axe-FX has snuck its way back into use as my primary preamp, since it sounds great with the Peavey Classic 50/50 tube power amp. The Carvin DCM600 solid-state power amp doesn't do what I need and will get sold as soon as I get motivated. The Yamaha is my newest acquisition, but it might be a bit too powerful for use with my isolation cabinet. I need to experiment more with it.
Rackmount stuff is so cheap, that you really can afford to try things out without breaking the bank. So, you could say that the boutique amp snobbery of today benefits me indirectly, by making all the cool rack stuff unfashionable and therefore affordable.
On the music front, I am currently working on a new album of improvisations, called The Structure Creates Itself. So far, I've completed two trio pieces, which in my opinion absolutely blow away the stuff on Saturation. I've gotten so much better at free improvisation in the last few months just from practicing and thinking about how to do it, that I'm really excited about the future. I can't wait for people to hear this crazy shit I've got on the way.
The Structure Creates Itself will feature a wider variety of settings than Saturation did, including possibly a few programmed beats here and there. Not purely free-form, I guess, but interesting. The rest should be all free, including the percussion. Expect more textures and unusual sounds. It shouldn't be that long before I have the album finished, actually. I've got a three-day weekend coming up, and that's usually a good time to lock myself in the studio and get to it.
Friday, August 21, 2009
I bring you clips
Ladies and gentleman, I bring you...Guitar Tone! Two clips recorded with my new Mesa Quad/Fifty-Fifty rackmount setup. The only difference between the two is the channel on the Quad that I'm using. The good old Fractal Audio Axe-FX has been sent to the effects loop of my recorder and provides chorus and delay. I'm quite happy with the results so far, though I have more knob-twisting to do on the Quad before I get *that* sound.
Legato Funk v.4:
Legato Funk v.3:
Legato Funk v.4:
Legato Funk v.3:
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
I've got tone!
I've now gone from a tiny little guitar recording setup to a monster rack! I got a Mesa/Boogie Quad preamp to go along with the 50/50 power amp, and now I've expanded my rackmount setup to include an ART Digital MPA II mic/line preamp. I had to go get a bigger rack to hold it all, including my Axe-FX and Monster power conditioner. And I still have a little further to go with the rack, since I'd like to get an ISP Decimator noise gate. I'll talk more about how my setup works when I'm finished building and configuring it.
I haven't posted any clips of the Quad setup yet, since I'm still working on getting sounds. Working quite hard on it, actually. It's a tricky little bugger to work with, since the controls are all interactive and very sensitive. Minor changes have a big effect on the sound. It's getting there, however.
As for my trip to Portland last week, nothing particularly musical happened. I looked at a whole bunch of guitar gear and CDs and didn't buy a thing. Our little apartment is already too full to handle any more stuff, basically, and I've pretty much got all the guitars I need, though that can change... ;)
I haven't posted any clips of the Quad setup yet, since I'm still working on getting sounds. Working quite hard on it, actually. It's a tricky little bugger to work with, since the controls are all interactive and very sensitive. Minor changes have a big effect on the sound. It's getting there, however.
As for my trip to Portland last week, nothing particularly musical happened. I looked at a whole bunch of guitar gear and CDs and didn't buy a thing. Our little apartment is already too full to handle any more stuff, basically, and I've pretty much got all the guitars I need, though that can change... ;)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Still workin'
Greetings, Internet. No, I haven't forgotten about you.
It's just, well, I've been busy. I got a Grendel Dead Room isolation cabinet a couple weeks ago and have been madly working on my guitar sounds ever since. For the first time ever, I actually have a decent recordable guitar tone.
Here's the problem. Now I've got all kinds of gear lust for various amplifier setups that I could never use before. Including lots of expensive old Mesa/Boogie gear. I've already got a Mesa 50/50 power amp to go along with my Axe-FX and Peavey Rockmaster preamps. The Rockmaster isn't cutting it, sorry to say, and the Axe-FX is sounding kind of digital--even though it sounds way better through a real power amp and speaker than it did direct into the mixing board.
I'm looking at getting an old Mesa preamp, either a Quad or a Studio, to go along with the 50/50. I'd like to get the Quad, since that has four channels of ungodly tone compared to the Studio's two. However, some folks say that the Studio has a little juicier tone. Tough to say. They are both '80s vintage preamps, essentially just the preamp sections of the legendary Mark IIC and Mark III amps from that decade. Those amps were used by everyone from Larry Carlton and Carlos Santana to Metallica and John Sykes of Whitesnake fame. So you know you can get some great tone.
The challenge is partially finding one in good condition with everything intact, including the unique, non-interchangeable footswitches. They're built like tanks, but gear wears out over time. I've got my eye on one, however.
Check out my SoundClick page, if you haven't done so recently, and you can hear a whole bunch of clips I've made with the Dead Room. I'm really quite happy with it, so far.
In other news, I had a hell of a musical weekend. On Saturday, I went to the Progressive Nation festival, featuring Dream Theater, Zappa Plays Zappa and Queensryche. Lots of proggy metal goodness, in addition to a healthy dose of Zappa music. However, Sunday was the kicker, when I went to see two sets by the great young fusion jazz keyboardist Hiromi Uehara. She is sort of what might happen if Chick Corea's musical spirit were to be transferred to a young Japanese woman. She's a dynamic performer and ridiculously talented. Her band is great, too. On guitar she has Dave Fiuczynski, who's a fusion guru who has been around a while--a master of fretless guitar and all kinds of unusual and difficult phrasing even on normal guitar. Tony Grey played bass, and I was very impressed with his combination of chops, pocket presence and melodicism. That was a great evening of music.
I'm still mulling over what sort of new musical ventures I want to do. Now that I have more solid guitar tones to work with, it's more enticing to do music that is heavier and a little more composed. Maybe a balance of composition of chaos? Whatever the case, I won't get started immediately, since I still have to sort the gear situation out, and I'll be visiting the folks in Portland, Oregon next week. I'll probably file another report from there, since something musical usually happens.
It's just, well, I've been busy. I got a Grendel Dead Room isolation cabinet a couple weeks ago and have been madly working on my guitar sounds ever since. For the first time ever, I actually have a decent recordable guitar tone.
Here's the problem. Now I've got all kinds of gear lust for various amplifier setups that I could never use before. Including lots of expensive old Mesa/Boogie gear. I've already got a Mesa 50/50 power amp to go along with my Axe-FX and Peavey Rockmaster preamps. The Rockmaster isn't cutting it, sorry to say, and the Axe-FX is sounding kind of digital--even though it sounds way better through a real power amp and speaker than it did direct into the mixing board.
I'm looking at getting an old Mesa preamp, either a Quad or a Studio, to go along with the 50/50. I'd like to get the Quad, since that has four channels of ungodly tone compared to the Studio's two. However, some folks say that the Studio has a little juicier tone. Tough to say. They are both '80s vintage preamps, essentially just the preamp sections of the legendary Mark IIC and Mark III amps from that decade. Those amps were used by everyone from Larry Carlton and Carlos Santana to Metallica and John Sykes of Whitesnake fame. So you know you can get some great tone.
The challenge is partially finding one in good condition with everything intact, including the unique, non-interchangeable footswitches. They're built like tanks, but gear wears out over time. I've got my eye on one, however.
Check out my SoundClick page, if you haven't done so recently, and you can hear a whole bunch of clips I've made with the Dead Room. I'm really quite happy with it, so far.
In other news, I had a hell of a musical weekend. On Saturday, I went to the Progressive Nation festival, featuring Dream Theater, Zappa Plays Zappa and Queensryche. Lots of proggy metal goodness, in addition to a healthy dose of Zappa music. However, Sunday was the kicker, when I went to see two sets by the great young fusion jazz keyboardist Hiromi Uehara. She is sort of what might happen if Chick Corea's musical spirit were to be transferred to a young Japanese woman. She's a dynamic performer and ridiculously talented. Her band is great, too. On guitar she has Dave Fiuczynski, who's a fusion guru who has been around a while--a master of fretless guitar and all kinds of unusual and difficult phrasing even on normal guitar. Tony Grey played bass, and I was very impressed with his combination of chops, pocket presence and melodicism. That was a great evening of music.
I'm still mulling over what sort of new musical ventures I want to do. Now that I have more solid guitar tones to work with, it's more enticing to do music that is heavier and a little more composed. Maybe a balance of composition of chaos? Whatever the case, I won't get started immediately, since I still have to sort the gear situation out, and I'll be visiting the folks in Portland, Oregon next week. I'll probably file another report from there, since something musical usually happens.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Quickie update
Just a quick note to show that I haven't died or given up the guitar etc.
I went to Bonnaroo a few weeks ago and managed to catch the BonnaFlu that usually goes along with it, so I've been sick and unmotivated for the last couple of weeks.
The highlight of Bonnaroo for me was seeing The Mars Volta live for the first time. I was already a fan of the albums, but holy crap, they are one of the most amazing live bands I've ever seen. I'll try to post more links 'n stuff later.
Since I got back, I managed to acquire a Peavey Rockmaster preamp and Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp in preparation for getting an isolation speaker cab from Grendel Sound. Grendel doesn't seem to be the fastest-moving small business in the world, so I'm still waiting for it, but hopefully I'll have the cab within the next week or so. I want to get moving on some new musical ideas, and just make a whole bunch of crazy noise!
I went to Bonnaroo a few weeks ago and managed to catch the BonnaFlu that usually goes along with it, so I've been sick and unmotivated for the last couple of weeks.
The highlight of Bonnaroo for me was seeing The Mars Volta live for the first time. I was already a fan of the albums, but holy crap, they are one of the most amazing live bands I've ever seen. I'll try to post more links 'n stuff later.
Since I got back, I managed to acquire a Peavey Rockmaster preamp and Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp in preparation for getting an isolation speaker cab from Grendel Sound. Grendel doesn't seem to be the fastest-moving small business in the world, so I'm still waiting for it, but hopefully I'll have the cab within the next week or so. I want to get moving on some new musical ideas, and just make a whole bunch of crazy noise!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)