Write Before Right: 03.09

3/30/09

I Like You 03.29.09

Sorry about this one... I really did not want to write a song at that time...

I'd like to send out a disclaimer to all of my students. Allen Sleeman and I wrote this song as a humorous release of frustration. I love all of you equally! This tune is not to be taken that seriously and was not written for anyone specific. Have a great day and keep practicing...

3am 03.27.09

3/27/09

Listening To Music... I Mean Really.

I'm listening to a 1989 recording of Chick Corea's Akoustic Band with Dave Weckl on drums and John Patitucci on upright bass. Its awesome. I think Chick, in fact I think all three of those guys just bring the fire every time they pick up their axe. I happen to have this recording on vinyl.

I also have an amazing vinyl record player that I got for christmas a few years ago. There is a company called Crosley that still manufactures vintage style record players reminiscent of the 1940's. Mine can stack 6 records, play cds, and has an old analog dial for the am/fm tuner.

Vinyl is great. It sounds great. It looks cool and, oh yeah, it sounds great! You lose almost no sound quality in the conversion from studio to home speakers. But there is another reason that vinyl records are superior to their technologically advanced children. They actually support the idea of listening to the music! Follow me here. You have to physically pick up this large disc, place it on the turntable, pick up the needle, and gently set it down into a specific groove. After only half of the album is finished, you then turn the record over to finish listening. Of course you can do other things like cleaning or homework or whatever. But you can't make a mix(well, you need some software and the right equipment) or listen to the music in your car or do too many other things before the record player needs your attention again. Think about it. When was the last time you actually listened to music? Most people including myself would probably say they listened to something within the last 24 hours. But even while I write this, I'm not actually listening to Chick Corea. I'm still taking a sound bath, trying to figure out what my next sentence will be in this blog.

It's so easy to turn on the tv, or do other things instead of sitting down and listening to music. We've become so much of a visual/fast paced society that it's difficult to just sit down and listen. I hope I don't sound preachy-- I'm writing this article as much for me as anyone else. So last week I told myself that every night before I go to bed and before I turn on the tv I would listen to 1 album of my choice on vinyl and with headphones. No cleaning, no blogging, no email, no internet, no family or friends(unless they wanted to join in on this mini project), no writing, no distractions. Just uninterrupted listening to music. This turned out to be an amazing idea which I'm sure lots of my musician friends and hopefully other friends might already do. Sure I've actually, really listened to music before. I'm a musician. But usually I was trying to learn how to play something. I was probably transcribing a passage of a great pianist or learning the chords or lyrics to particular song. But just simply listening?

I felt relaxed but still engaged with what was happening as the notes filled my ears. I became more aware of each instrument as well as the 'sound' of the recording. The panning, the mixing, the space, the arrangement, the performance, the quality all became so evident to me. Since last week I've really listened to Rubber Soul(Beatles), Cosmic Slop(Funkadelic), You Must Believe In Spring(Bill Evans), Guero(Beck), The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan(I can't remember who recorded this), and disc 1 of The Well Tempered Clavier performed by Glenn Gould. What have you listened to lately?

3/26/09

No More 03.26.09

Sad song today. I did play the guitar for the first time though.

I'd like to share an article that my friend Kevin Heraldo(check out his blog 'Broken Jokes' --on the left side of my blog for a link to his site) sent me. Its an article by Brian Eno about the benefit of singing. Amazing article... Here's the link

3/25/09

Southside Of The World 03.25.09

I basically 'free wrote' this song. I just sat down and recorded whatever came out of my mind. I adjusted a few minor things, but for the most part this song was a spontaneous idea. I got the concept(not that its super secret or hard to think of) from Adam Larrabee who told me about Daniel Clarke's experience up in New York with Ryan Adams. Daniel (great pianist and Richmonder who has been on tour with Mandy Moore and KD Lang... respectively) is working on Ryan Adam's new record. Apparently, Ryan 'free writes' some of his stuff. He'll just do a couple takes and whatever comes to mind is what they'll keep. That's pretty amazing considering Adam's artistic nature and songwriting chops. Anyway, maybe I'll try to write some songs like that... just to see what happens...

By the way, I love Flickr. I don't know whether the photographers of these awesome pictures would appreciate me posting their stuff, but I really enjoy some of these photos...

3/24/09

Black Swan 03.24.09

There is something nice about 'performing' in the studio. This is something I've come to realize over the last 90 days. Really getting a good, natural, energetic take is very difficult to do and further emphasizes the need for practice. Unfortunately, I don't have to time to rehearse these songs over and over before I record them. I am however, trying to reduce the editing, the takes, and the plug-ins to get a good track. I'm really trying to learn how to perform on the microphone in the studio as opposed to the stage. I guess the biggest difference is the audience. There's usually nobody, or very few people in the studio.

I have also been trying to get the best overall sound with my recordings during this project. But, you know, there is something great about lo-fi recordings. I don't know what it is, but there can be so much vibe to lo-fi stuff. Part of that has to do with the actual music, of course, but still... I recently read an article by my good friend Evan Setzer about the great sound of a band called Katamine. Apparently, there sound is very lo-fi and very awesome! Check out Evan's blog on the left side of my site. There's a link you can go to.

I recorded this song using only 1 mic. My Rode K2 Tube Condenser was set to omni and positioned just to my right-- between me and the piano. There was no editing or anything like that. Just one take straight down... I used 1 eq plug in to take out some of the low end on the piano. I also used a compressor to bring the overall volume up to my other songs... I hope you like it...

3/23/09

Save Me From Myself 03.23.09

I found this picture online and I thought I'd share it with everyone who checks out my blog...

3/22/09

When Will This End 03.22.09

I wrote and recorded this in an hour. Not really all that impressive, but I'm trying to challenge myself to write some tunes in a really short amount of time. Writing constantly for 5-7 hours everyday is very draining. Anyway, hope you like it as usual...