During my many years as a musician, I’ve performed in a variety of contexts. In 6th grade, for example, I sang a solo in Hebrew as part of The Chitchester Psalms, a piece for chorus and organ, written by Leonard Bernstein. In rehearsals, the feeling of singing with so many voices was thrilling and euphoric. I felt myself open up in a way I’d never experienced before.
The night of the performance, I was filled with confidence. I remember walking out onto the stage in my new electric blue wide-wale corduroy pants, feeling the enthusiasm and support of the musicians behind me. The choir director remembered that the translated words were in the program and asked that the house lights be brought up so the audience could read along.
All of a sudden, hundreds of people emerged from the darkness and, much to my surprise, they were staring at me. In an instant, all that joy and confidence evaporated and, in its place, arose a new feeling: Terror. The music began, and I felt a bit heartened but, as my moment to sing approached, my body felt like it was going to split in two.
Some time ago I acquired a hand-made custom bowed psaltery. Recently, I recorded
a wee tune
with it. The tracks were recorded in Cubase SX3, and all the processing was done on the computer. I recorded the psaltery part first then, using an old Brian Eno trick, reversed the track so that it was playing backward, and recorded delay with it. The original track, with the delay, were then both re-reversed so that the original track is now playing forward, but the delay is reversed, fading in rather than fading out. All this was then run through the same delay so it has delay coming and going. I then added the two guitar parts.
As I plough through the detritus of my life I occationally find tidbits, fragments, glimpses of times and places past, long forgotten connections, meaningful references, etc. No better example of this are phone messages. I remember feeling the need to get an answering machine at some point, mostly because 1) I was looking for a job and, 2) my friends all complained bitterly that they could never reach me, the elusive social butterfly that I was. Still, I don’t think the answering machine ever really solved any problems, and caused a few of its own.
I was living on 4th Street, just across from Chipper’s Corner (now the Pike) at Hermosa. I’d been working for Kinko’s but, at some point in this period, I lost my job. It took some time, but I eventually moved out of the apartment and back in with my mom, and started working for KLON.
Featured on the recording are Brian Hancock, Brian Nelson, Joanie Karnowski, Camille Smith, my roommate Jim Theibert, Larry Miller, Mike Dubois, Andrea Adkins, Rychard Cooper, Bebe Wolff, Marvin Wolff, and a few others. I am pretty sure that phone numbers from more than 20 years ago have no modern relevency.
Listen To The Messages
– [this is a large 13MB file, so it may take a while to download]
As you may know, some years ago I undertook the rather ambitious task of creating a custom guitar. It was an educational experience, fraught with unique challenges but, ultimately, rewarding. A friend pointed out that I’d not recorded an example of its various sounds and whatnot, so I did.
I’m including three links here. The first is
an early attempt
, with a total of 6 tracks. Please be forewarned that the lead is a bit wooly. I hope to improve upon it with some practice. In this early version there are very few effects (some delay and reverb, and gain on the lead).
In
the 2nd version
, I added 6 additional tracks. Three are individual notes in a chord, sustained by a device called an e-bow, and played at double speed. I also added a bass guitar part (the only track not played on the Sandblaster) and two one-note harmony tracks at the end of the solo.
I’m also including a very brief example of the
e-bow tracks
, on their own, so you can get a better sense of them.
UPDATE:
A friend suggested that I add
a spoken word element
to the piece.
After living with this first version for a while, I felt that a different reading of the words would work better. I also added some rather complex effects to the voice.
For quite some time now I’ve been collecting audio from various environments and, just recently, I’ve begun to edit and assemble them into what will eventually be a very large piece (60-80 minutes). I’ve posted a 10 minute segment that includes audio from 4 different recordings. I don’t know if you have a set of headphones that you can connect to your computer but, if so, I think you’ll enjoy the experience a bit more:
Once again, I was invited to participate in a group project. This time, it is 99 Bottles of Beer. Each ‘chorus’ will be performed by a different group/individual, and then they’ll all be put together.
I was talking to a friend the other day, discussing the 45 second track I produced for the upcoming vinyl compilation I was invited to participate in. I learned that another compilation was in the works, but this one had a slightly different spin.
The project, “Sloppy Seconds,” will feature 80 one minute tracks. Each one minute track will comprise 60 one second submissions, each from a different artist or group, totalling at 3600 individual submissions. Of course, I had to make one.
If the player, above, doesn’t work, you can
download the file here
.
Also, you can
hear the one minute track
that has my one second composition in it.
Please leave comments, as I always welcome feedback!
As a result of my last gig I was invited to participate in a compilation album that’s being produced by a young fellow I met at the gig. I guess that the plan is to produce an LP (those 12″ vinal things…) with up to 40 tracks, each no longer than 45 seconds. To be honest, I love stuff like this. So far, I have produced two tracks.
The first
is from my performance, the middle bit with my Lap Steel, that runs about 12 minutes or so. Using special software, I reduced the running time to 45 seconds. Thus, the entire performance is represented, but it happens at a much faster rate. The pitch would have stayed the same but I decided to drop the whole thing down one octave, just because it felt better to me.
The second
is more of a multi-track studio affair. I built the thing up one track at a time, improvising each track as I went. For example, I recorded the first guitar track, then improvised the 2nd and 3rd tracks just listening to the 1st. These three tracks became the 3 note chords. I then recorded the 1st 1/4 note arpeggio, also an improv, and then the 2nd without listening to the first. I improvised the bass part while listening to the chords, then added the 3 vocal tracks, the lap steel, and the bells.
It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for the project, but I do like it. It is simultaniously lilting and wacked… (BTW, I described it to my wife using the same two words and her reply: “Lilting and wacked… Just like you!”)
, was written a few years back when I was recording songs as birthday gifts for my friends. At a local farmer’s market, I found a small stone heart that was carved from some sort of crystal. It looked rather dull and gray until the sun hit it. When it was illuminated directly, it sparkled and shined, refracting the light from within. This became a lyrical metaphor for me, and sparked the song. My singing, especially at the beginning, is a bit ragged. The harmonies are all staggered and informal. This was all planned. The guitar solo is perhaps one of the best I’ve ever recorded, not for its technical skill, but because to me it is filled with feeling. As the solo progresses, the rest of the music fades away. To me, this was also a metaphor for being couragous in letting one’s heart shine… At the end, my vocal is softer, warmer, and more intimate…. Almost a whisper.
To me, this is a very special song. I don’t know if anyone else likes it much, as I understand that aspects of it can be challenging. Still, for me, I felt like I reached a place in the creation of it that was emotional and personally profound.
Having said that, I absolutely welcome and encourage any and all feedback and impressions you care to share, positive or negative.