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Take Four!
Jul. 27th, 2008 12:48 pmTake 4 is up on the Lefty Valdez MySpace.
We've moved from a train wreck to a car wreck, and it even sounds as if we're almost playing the same song!
If you haven't checked it out yet, give it a listen - we've received absolutely no feedback on this tune from non-band members, and I'd like to at least hear about how bad it still is... for those who've listened to the different live takes, it'd be nice to know if we're improving!
This take is still the drum machine,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
noone234 on alto sax, aequitaslevitas on piano, and meself on guitar and bass.
We're debating havingaequitaslevitas do the clarinet part (doubling the one Rachel will be doing) or doing the same part - maybe up a third - on the trumpet. We may also have him add in the trombone, or have noone234 double the sax part. With the wonders of multitracking, we can have a whole horn section.
We've moved from a train wreck to a car wreck, and it even sounds as if we're almost playing the same song!
If you haven't checked it out yet, give it a listen - we've received absolutely no feedback on this tune from non-band members, and I'd like to at least hear about how bad it still is... for those who've listened to the different live takes, it'd be nice to know if we're improving!
This take is still the drum machine,
noone234 on alto sax, aequitaslevitas on piano, and meself on guitar and bass.We're debating having
aequitaslevitas do the clarinet part (doubling the one Rachel will be doing) or doing the same part - maybe up a third - on the trumpet. We may also have him add in the trombone, or have noone234 double the sax part. With the wonders of multitracking, we can have a whole horn section.
Lefty Valdez Strikes Again!
Jul. 26th, 2008 08:24 pmTake 3 of 5 on Reserve (it only took 473 takes to get from 2 to 3!) is posted on MySpace.
It's a train wreck, but it's *our* train wreck.
I did the bass track to the drums. We did a bunch of attempts to play sax-guitar-piano live, failed, and proceeded to do a bunch of attempts to do the tracks one by one. After that, we played live again, and it mostly worked.noone234 switched to a better mouthpiece, and did another take, and the rest is history.
Better versions coming soon.
Hopefully.
It's a train wreck, but it's *our* train wreck.
I did the bass track to the drums. We did a bunch of attempts to play sax-guitar-piano live, failed, and proceeded to do a bunch of attempts to do the tracks one by one. After that, we played live again, and it mostly worked.
noone234 switched to a better mouthpiece, and did another take, and the rest is history.Better versions coming soon.
Hopefully.
A new set of live tracks are out there on The Lefty Valdez Band MySpace page.
This take is a step backwards in that the guitar isn't there - it's just bass and keys. It's a step forward in 1) sound quality; 2) percussion that follows the tune; and 3) some of the time we we even play in time. There's errors in both the bass and keys parts. Even the drums come back, twice no less, long after the tune is over. Still, it's better than what was there.
It helped being able to isolate the parts enough so that we could record live. Although I have to say, my interplay wasn't withaequitaslevitas (and when it was my timing got a wee bit fast!), it was keeping an eye on that drummer and trying to get the feel for the part. Yeah, we wrote it, but I'm still working on getting the groove. It's just a tiny bit slower than we were playing - and I want to slow it down, as I feel it sounds better, so now it's just remembering that. It catches me the most in transitions back to the chorus... I get a bar or two in and realize I'm no longer in sync with the percussion and have to slow it down.
Tomorrow we should get, at the least, a more solid take with the bass, and we were talking about me getting that track down first, and then playing live with the three of us (aequitaslevitas on keys, noone234 on sax, and me on guitar).
This take is a step backwards in that the guitar isn't there - it's just bass and keys. It's a step forward in 1) sound quality; 2) percussion that follows the tune; and 3) some of the time we we even play in time. There's errors in both the bass and keys parts. Even the drums come back, twice no less, long after the tune is over. Still, it's better than what was there.
It helped being able to isolate the parts enough so that we could record live. Although I have to say, my interplay wasn't with
aequitaslevitas (and when it was my timing got a wee bit fast!), it was keeping an eye on that drummer and trying to get the feel for the part. Yeah, we wrote it, but I'm still working on getting the groove. It's just a tiny bit slower than we were playing - and I want to slow it down, as I feel it sounds better, so now it's just remembering that. It catches me the most in transitions back to the chorus... I get a bar or two in and realize I'm no longer in sync with the percussion and have to slow it down.Tomorrow we should get, at the least, a more solid take with the bass, and we were talking about me getting that track down first, and then playing live with the three of us (
aequitaslevitas on keys, noone234 on sax, and me on guitar).All the Updatia What Fits
Jul. 25th, 2008 09:47 pmLet's see...
Rachel andpatrixa danced with a tornado... and won. It was to the south and east of them, although at one point, they almost headed back into one of the areas that had the most destruction, just to try a different way home. They didn't even find out about it - outside of some traffic stopping rain they experienced - until a friend of patrixa called and asked if they were still in Kansas. Or, rather, Cow Hampshire. If they were in Kansas, it would be nearly as bad or worse than if they were in Oz, on account of starting out so far away, and not having the advantage of a wicked witch to land upon.
In other news,aequitaslevitas and I are putting down some new tracks for 5 on Reserve. This is sounding much better - and more coherent - than the prior effort. noone234 should be joining us tomorrow to do the alto sax thing. We'll have something up by the end of the weekend, not that I've gotten any comments on our earlier efforts. :: tap, tap :: Is this thing on?
Rachel and
patrixa danced with a tornado... and won. It was to the south and east of them, although at one point, they almost headed back into one of the areas that had the most destruction, just to try a different way home. They didn't even find out about it - outside of some traffic stopping rain they experienced - until a friend of patrixa called and asked if they were still in Kansas. Or, rather, Cow Hampshire. If they were in Kansas, it would be nearly as bad or worse than if they were in Oz, on account of starting out so far away, and not having the advantage of a wicked witch to land upon.In other news,
aequitaslevitas and I are putting down some new tracks for 5 on Reserve. This is sounding much better - and more coherent - than the prior effort. noone234 should be joining us tomorrow to do the alto sax thing. We'll have something up by the end of the weekend, not that I've gotten any comments on our earlier efforts. :: tap, tap :: Is this thing on?5 on Reserve
Jun. 22nd, 2008 11:41 pmThe live recording went not so well.
I definitely haven't been playing enough bass regularly to keep up with the slap bass line. Right hand index and middle finger are very sore and ring finger has a monster blister. So by the end of the day when we went to record, my bass track was kind of weak, but mostly on time. Slow on the second half of the bridge, a few flubs, one on the bendy bit at the ending - where I'm playing solo, so it's nice and noticeable.
Justin's piano track is down, but rough in spots, especially considering the most demanding part was written yesterday and today - so not much practice time. Likewise the part Chris plays - he just learned/wrote the verse and bridge parts today, so it was tough to capture.
We went for the guitar part - which helps guide the sax and clarinet in the verse - and I discovered the guitar part really could use some work. It's now reggaeified, although you can hardly tell on the software version.
And that "final" complete software version is posted up on The Lefty Valdez Band MySpace page. So you can hear the whole tune, minus the human performance aspect.
Based on the performances we've recorded so far, and the sound we got, it will sound a whole lot better when we get it all captured live.
I definitely haven't been playing enough bass regularly to keep up with the slap bass line. Right hand index and middle finger are very sore and ring finger has a monster blister. So by the end of the day when we went to record, my bass track was kind of weak, but mostly on time. Slow on the second half of the bridge, a few flubs, one on the bendy bit at the ending - where I'm playing solo, so it's nice and noticeable.
Justin's piano track is down, but rough in spots, especially considering the most demanding part was written yesterday and today - so not much practice time. Likewise the part Chris plays - he just learned/wrote the verse and bridge parts today, so it was tough to capture.
We went for the guitar part - which helps guide the sax and clarinet in the verse - and I discovered the guitar part really could use some work. It's now reggaeified, although you can hardly tell on the software version.
And that "final" complete software version is posted up on The Lefty Valdez Band MySpace page. So you can hear the whole tune, minus the human performance aspect.
Based on the performances we've recorded so far, and the sound we got, it will sound a whole lot better when we get it all captured live.
The Lefty Valdez Band has a new song up on MySpace...
Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Aliens (with respects to Carl Stalling) is actually a much more complex and orchestrated piece than it might appear on first listen. Or, for that matter, subsequent listenings.
The first track recorded for it was the core percussion track - in this case, involving hands slapped on the dinner table or, rarely, clapped together, and fingers snapped. At times, even in time. Almost. As a bonus, you also get the effect of forks rattling on china plates. There's kind of a When the Levee Breaks groove materializing there. This also includes the "ending note" (which later tracks ran past, thus not making it so much of an ending) of a napkin being ripped in half (where "half" equals "a corner, roughly"). I did the finger snaps and table slaps,aequitaslevitas did the table slaps, hand claps, and napkin destruction.
The next track that went into the mix features an extended section with me on two steak knives, and later involvesaequitaslevitas on forks and plates. I also channel a few alien vocals.
Next track, panned left, isaequitaslevitason plastic spoon and saucepan and giggles. I add some alien vocalizations and I don't remember what else. Thanks to the processing, the saucepan sounds almost pipa-like - more like a string instrument than a percussion instrument. Both of us include some alien slurping sounds.
Next up are some laughing, coughing, and additional vocalizations and percussions. Really, we only break up laughing about half the time. Lots of reverb on this track, and some funky pitch shifting echo.
Panned to the right, the next track features me on the spoon and saucepan.aequitaslevitas adds the lip-smacking and alien commentary at the end. There's also random alien vocalizations and yet more percussion of the dinner-table variety.
Next, panned left, are some effects from the starship's PA system, including some test drones. All sounds vocalized by the two of us and processed pretty much beyond human recognition, which was kind of the point. This track wound up overriding everything else, especially on some long, held out notes I did. It's now way down in the mix.
The only thing at a lower level than the prior track is this one, which has a whisper filter which reduces everything to an almost steam-train like chugging distortion. The whistle trade offsaequitaslevitas and I did came out a wee bit too clear, though, so that's why it earned its place at the bottom of the mix.
The next track is amongst the highest in the mix. It has alien arguments, growling, and discussion. It's one of the reasons we decided, after the fact, that they enjoyed a little dinner and combat.
Next track is another percussion one, this with excessive echoes. Although it's high in the mix, it still seems to just blend in. The glass door provided most of the instrumentation, although we made use of the usual suspects - table, plates, forks, knives, and so on - as well.
That's it for the "live instruments" - the rest were all synth tracks. I put down some computer beeping for that authentic "our spaceship is based on early-to-mid twentieth century technology" sound.aequitaslevitas put down the next synth line, panned left, to give some random melody and music to the tune. I balanced that out on the right with a different synth line and an entirely different synth sound, and a spacey synth bell right in the middle. During the argument and clear to the end, you can hear some synth lasers being fired off.
Anyway, we had a lot of fun with it. Keep in mind, we worked without a net, or, in the aural equivalent, a set of headphones. In other words, as we recorded each track we had only a rough idea of what happened in prior tracks via a graphic representation of noise happening. It works to simulate a cafeteria inhabited by a host of unsavory alien types, but not so much to create a more coherent musical piece.
Tomorrow,noone234 will be coming over and we'll work on getting some more of 5 on Reserve done. The player-piano version out there now is already obsolete - we wrote some of the piano part for the bridge, and I have the guitar and clarinet parts written out for the whole tune. Tomorrow, I hope to get the sax part in there and then I'll repost the sheet music generated piece again. Of course, that has some serious limitations - the guitar part sounds like a keyboard, and I'm not even going to try for a transcribed guitar solo, as the software showed serious limitations on the string bending at the end of the bass track. The piece will, however, serve as a guide I can listen to to set down the bass line using the fretless. Once that's done, we'll try to get the piano, sax, and guitar parts down as well.
So there might even be live music posted tomorrow.
Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Aliens (with respects to Carl Stalling) is actually a much more complex and orchestrated piece than it might appear on first listen. Or, for that matter, subsequent listenings.
The first track recorded for it was the core percussion track - in this case, involving hands slapped on the dinner table or, rarely, clapped together, and fingers snapped. At times, even in time. Almost. As a bonus, you also get the effect of forks rattling on china plates. There's kind of a When the Levee Breaks groove materializing there. This also includes the "ending note" (which later tracks ran past, thus not making it so much of an ending) of a napkin being ripped in half (where "half" equals "a corner, roughly"). I did the finger snaps and table slaps,
aequitaslevitas did the table slaps, hand claps, and napkin destruction.The next track that went into the mix features an extended section with me on two steak knives, and later involves
aequitaslevitas on forks and plates. I also channel a few alien vocals. Next track, panned left, is
aequitaslevitason plastic spoon and saucepan and giggles. I add some alien vocalizations and I don't remember what else. Thanks to the processing, the saucepan sounds almost pipa-like - more like a string instrument than a percussion instrument. Both of us include some alien slurping sounds.Next up are some laughing, coughing, and additional vocalizations and percussions. Really, we only break up laughing about half the time. Lots of reverb on this track, and some funky pitch shifting echo.
Panned to the right, the next track features me on the spoon and saucepan.
aequitaslevitas adds the lip-smacking and alien commentary at the end. There's also random alien vocalizations and yet more percussion of the dinner-table variety.Next, panned left, are some effects from the starship's PA system, including some test drones. All sounds vocalized by the two of us and processed pretty much beyond human recognition, which was kind of the point. This track wound up overriding everything else, especially on some long, held out notes I did. It's now way down in the mix.
The only thing at a lower level than the prior track is this one, which has a whisper filter which reduces everything to an almost steam-train like chugging distortion. The whistle trade offs
aequitaslevitas and I did came out a wee bit too clear, though, so that's why it earned its place at the bottom of the mix.The next track is amongst the highest in the mix. It has alien arguments, growling, and discussion. It's one of the reasons we decided, after the fact, that they enjoyed a little dinner and combat.
Next track is another percussion one, this with excessive echoes. Although it's high in the mix, it still seems to just blend in. The glass door provided most of the instrumentation, although we made use of the usual suspects - table, plates, forks, knives, and so on - as well.
That's it for the "live instruments" - the rest were all synth tracks. I put down some computer beeping for that authentic "our spaceship is based on early-to-mid twentieth century technology" sound.
aequitaslevitas put down the next synth line, panned left, to give some random melody and music to the tune. I balanced that out on the right with a different synth line and an entirely different synth sound, and a spacey synth bell right in the middle. During the argument and clear to the end, you can hear some synth lasers being fired off.Anyway, we had a lot of fun with it. Keep in mind, we worked without a net, or, in the aural equivalent, a set of headphones. In other words, as we recorded each track we had only a rough idea of what happened in prior tracks via a graphic representation of noise happening. It works to simulate a cafeteria inhabited by a host of unsavory alien types, but not so much to create a more coherent musical piece.
Tomorrow,
noone234 will be coming over and we'll work on getting some more of 5 on Reserve done. The player-piano version out there now is already obsolete - we wrote some of the piano part for the bridge, and I have the guitar and clarinet parts written out for the whole tune. Tomorrow, I hope to get the sax part in there and then I'll repost the sheet music generated piece again. Of course, that has some serious limitations - the guitar part sounds like a keyboard, and I'm not even going to try for a transcribed guitar solo, as the software showed serious limitations on the string bending at the end of the bass track. The piece will, however, serve as a guide I can listen to to set down the bass line using the fretless. Once that's done, we'll try to get the piano, sax, and guitar parts down as well.So there might even be live music posted tomorrow.
I suppose "Plays Again" might be more accurate. Then again, three out four of the band did go for a ride in the truck...
We played Hard Rock Blues (encore) a quarter million times. At first we played unison, or as unison as a C, Bb, and Eb instrument can get1. Then I went and came up with a Variation to the bass part, taking advantage of the fretless nature of the, erm, fretless bass, and playing the first two beats with them, then sliding a chord along as the wind instruments did their thing. And while Squeaky2 played the tune while everyone else was not playing it, I started channelling Billy Sheehan's opening line from Stand Up (less synthified, of course). Turns out it worked.
So I played that bit, or a similar variation thereof, while the band played the tune. And then, it was time to turn the tune around. Because we couldn't really decide on anything decent to do with it except play it - as is, in other octaves, or otherwise transposed - we called out solos. The arrangement thus became: everyone - Squeaky - everyone - Valdez3 - everyone - Flubber4 - everyone while Lefty5 churned along on the same two notes and the same rhythm6. I had the two non-soloing wind players call out the name of the soloist just before they started, which made it more fun, especially the time Flubber flubbed Squeaky's intro and called her Squeaker.
We also worked a bit on The Signature Tune, which mostly included trying to remember all that which was forgotten7 since last we played. We also intro'd Squeaky on the bass8 for The Kraken. We didn't bring Flubber's bass up, so he sat out on that little bit. Squeaky'd only played bass for maybe two entire hours, so it was best to focus on getting her up to speed. A little practice on her own, and we should be able to pull off the tune9.
As a reminder, on a wholly related note10, don't forget to pencil in Musical Day, Saturday May 31st, on your calendars - bring an (acoustic) instrument and come and play with the Lefty Valdez Band!
~ ~ ~
1: i.e. same note, different names.
2: That'd be Rachel, on clarinet, for those who haven't been reading along since the dawn of Lefty Valdez Time, way back long, long ago, mid last year.
3:aequitaslevitas, trumpet, keys, natural horn, bass
4:noone234, alto sax, bass
5: That'd be me, fretless bass, guitar, flute (not so much), and punji (even less)
6: Hey, after centuries of lead guitar and being the only - or maybe, at best, one of two - soloist, I think my ego can cope with skipping out on a solo for one tune.
7: To various levels of success.
8: She plays a short scale bass with the E tuned down to D.
9: Arranged for grand piano, organ, electric guitar, and two bass guitars - got to get down low for all the cephalopodic goodness there.
10: Pun quite intentional, thank you very much.
We played Hard Rock Blues (encore) a quarter million times. At first we played unison, or as unison as a C, Bb, and Eb instrument can get1. Then I went and came up with a Variation to the bass part, taking advantage of the fretless nature of the, erm, fretless bass, and playing the first two beats with them, then sliding a chord along as the wind instruments did their thing. And while Squeaky2 played the tune while everyone else was not playing it, I started channelling Billy Sheehan's opening line from Stand Up (less synthified, of course). Turns out it worked.
So I played that bit, or a similar variation thereof, while the band played the tune. And then, it was time to turn the tune around. Because we couldn't really decide on anything decent to do with it except play it - as is, in other octaves, or otherwise transposed - we called out solos. The arrangement thus became: everyone - Squeaky - everyone - Valdez3 - everyone - Flubber4 - everyone while Lefty5 churned along on the same two notes and the same rhythm6. I had the two non-soloing wind players call out the name of the soloist just before they started, which made it more fun, especially the time Flubber flubbed Squeaky's intro and called her Squeaker.
We also worked a bit on The Signature Tune, which mostly included trying to remember all that which was forgotten7 since last we played. We also intro'd Squeaky on the bass8 for The Kraken. We didn't bring Flubber's bass up, so he sat out on that little bit. Squeaky'd only played bass for maybe two entire hours, so it was best to focus on getting her up to speed. A little practice on her own, and we should be able to pull off the tune9.
As a reminder, on a wholly related note10, don't forget to pencil in Musical Day, Saturday May 31st, on your calendars - bring an (acoustic) instrument and come and play with the Lefty Valdez Band!
~ ~ ~
1: i.e. same note, different names.
2: That'd be Rachel, on clarinet, for those who haven't been reading along since the dawn of Lefty Valdez Time, way back long, long ago, mid last year.
3:
aequitaslevitas, trumpet, keys, natural horn, bass4:
noone234, alto sax, bass5: That'd be me, fretless bass, guitar, flute (not so much), and punji (even less)
6: Hey, after centuries of lead guitar and being the only - or maybe, at best, one of two - soloist, I think my ego can cope with skipping out on a solo for one tune.
7: To various levels of success.
8: She plays a short scale bass with the E tuned down to D.
9: Arranged for grand piano, organ, electric guitar, and two bass guitars - got to get down low for all the cephalopodic goodness there.
10: Pun quite intentional, thank you very much.
Weekend Updatia
Sep. 24th, 2007 10:38 amThe sleep test on Thursday night into Friday morning left me more exhausted than I had thought - on initial reports before leaving the sleep lab I described my current state of being as "awake" and "alert" and "not tired" and "not sleepy".
I was only fooling myself though.
I forced myself to stay up a bit while the guys were working on the septic tank, and then I was out for a nap. Deb drove Justin down to his friend's house in Bethlehem and then went for a night out. Rachel, Mr. B. and I hung out and then went to sleep.
Saturday, Rachel performed at a kick-a-thon to raise money for a local kid and Dreams Come True. Forecasters called for a nice cool day, suitable for a couple hundred kicks, but the sun and clear skies had other ideas, so it was quite hot in the Wal*Mart parking lot where it was held. Rachel got in 200 kicks as well as worked the door to collect additional donations, and then she headed over to soccer for drills and a game against the high school kids that were teaching them. Deb had told her to focus on the kick-a-thon, and she could sit out the game, but she played through it all despite being quite exhausted.
I had some stuff planned for Saturday, but I just hung out with Mr. B - I couldn't get going in the AM, as I was still off-kilter from the sleep study.
Sunday, Rachel and I went to Bake Oven Knob, joined bynoone234, to watch hawks. We saw a few in the sky, and had an enjoyable time up on the ridge, but the highlight was seeing a few birds quite close - the Carbon County Environmental Education Center had brought birds that were unable to be released back to the wild - including Tecumsah and another that you can see if you click through that picture. The pictures of the kestrel didn't come out very clear, so they weren't posted.
I'm still a bit out of sorts, so I'm thinking not everything in this summary makes perfect sense, but I'm leaving it as is. =)
I was only fooling myself though.
I forced myself to stay up a bit while the guys were working on the septic tank, and then I was out for a nap. Deb drove Justin down to his friend's house in Bethlehem and then went for a night out. Rachel, Mr. B. and I hung out and then went to sleep.
Saturday, Rachel performed at a kick-a-thon to raise money for a local kid and Dreams Come True. Forecasters called for a nice cool day, suitable for a couple hundred kicks, but the sun and clear skies had other ideas, so it was quite hot in the Wal*Mart parking lot where it was held. Rachel got in 200 kicks as well as worked the door to collect additional donations, and then she headed over to soccer for drills and a game against the high school kids that were teaching them. Deb had told her to focus on the kick-a-thon, and she could sit out the game, but she played through it all despite being quite exhausted.
I had some stuff planned for Saturday, but I just hung out with Mr. B - I couldn't get going in the AM, as I was still off-kilter from the sleep study.
Sunday, Rachel and I went to Bake Oven Knob, joined by
noone234, to watch hawks. We saw a few in the sky, and had an enjoyable time up on the ridge, but the highlight was seeing a few birds quite close - the Carbon County Environmental Education Center had brought birds that were unable to be released back to the wild - including Tecumsah and another that you can see if you click through that picture. The pictures of the kestrel didn't come out very clear, so they weren't posted.I'm still a bit out of sorts, so I'm thinking not everything in this summary makes perfect sense, but I'm leaving it as is. =)
Weekend Updatia
Sep. 17th, 2007 10:49 amKind of busy weekend but not nearly so busy as the next two look to be...
Saturday Rachel had karate and soccer. After dropping off Rachel, Deb and I met up to sign our names and take care of some other business. I headed home, we ate lunch, and just as we were finishing,noone234 arrived for band practice. Our drummer-to-be was held up at w*#k, and couldn't make it - I did get word today that he had hauled his drums out of storage, dusted them off, and found absolutely no rats nests within them, so that's a good thing!
We worked on the Signature Tune a wee bit.noone234 had music for 2 and a half bars more than the others - just alto sax - and we had intended to keep everybody playing through it. We orchestrated a bit for trumpet and clarinet, but Rachel was getting increasingly agitated, saying she couldn't play it, and so forth, tears streaming down her cheeks. She went in and out of the house a few times, then came back out. I pulled her aside (as aside as you can get when you're less than half a dozen feet from the other two) and finally realized what was bothering her. She didn't think it sounded good.
The half bar thatnoone234 had at the end called for a call-and-response treatment, so I suggested Rachel and Justin sit out for the intervening two bars. noone234 and Justin do the call-and-response bit for two bars after that, and then come together for the next bar. Rachel accents the the second note for both calls and both responses, and also accents through the last bar.
Soccer happened at that time, and thennoone234, Justin, and I worked on the Breezy Tune, coming up with a bit more marimba and bass (having also switched from grand piano to the former instrument for Justin's part). noone234 then grabbed his bass, Justin switched from marimba to synth, and I traded bass for guitar. noone234 learned the remainder of the intro/bridge/outro riff and the pre-chorus. That leaves the verse, chorus, and tag ending parts as well as learning the arrangement. We found that Justin's suspended fourth triads were too much. Actually, I realized that before, but I put it down to him swapping back to the 1-3-5, which he was prone to do. They clashed too much with the guitar holding out the sus4 chords for a half note each. I realized this when he "came up with something else to play", which, when I asked him what it was, in typical musician fashion, he admitted he had no clue what he had played because he accidentally and quite randomly screwed up. A few tries, and we found that if he arpeggiated his sus 4 triads, they fit and the sound was complimentary with the guitar and bass lines.
As we were starting to get cold out on the porch - Justin went in for a sweatshirt,noone234 grabbed his jacket - we decided to pack up, as there wasn't enough time to really get into something else before dinner. After dinner, we relaxed with some martial arts drills, and we determined that some future band practices might include sparring and other less musical practices.
While we played out on the porch, Mr. B proceeded to get his peanut butter in his chocolate, so to speak, except where peanut butter = sand and chocolate = water. He was really happy to just mess about in the sand/water table we got him for his birthday. Unfortunately, I realized late yesterday, that he's not going to get much time with it this year - frost warnings are already being called for our area.
Sunday, I felt blah. A cold has really been bearing down on me for the last few workdays last week, and I pretty much just sat around, and for five or so hours, did this. If you haven't already, follow through on that other Top Sekrit post and let me know what you think over on that post.
Saturday Rachel had karate and soccer. After dropping off Rachel, Deb and I met up to sign our names and take care of some other business. I headed home, we ate lunch, and just as we were finishing,
noone234 arrived for band practice. Our drummer-to-be was held up at w*#k, and couldn't make it - I did get word today that he had hauled his drums out of storage, dusted them off, and found absolutely no rats nests within them, so that's a good thing!We worked on the Signature Tune a wee bit.
noone234 had music for 2 and a half bars more than the others - just alto sax - and we had intended to keep everybody playing through it. We orchestrated a bit for trumpet and clarinet, but Rachel was getting increasingly agitated, saying she couldn't play it, and so forth, tears streaming down her cheeks. She went in and out of the house a few times, then came back out. I pulled her aside (as aside as you can get when you're less than half a dozen feet from the other two) and finally realized what was bothering her. She didn't think it sounded good.The half bar that
noone234 had at the end called for a call-and-response treatment, so I suggested Rachel and Justin sit out for the intervening two bars. noone234 and Justin do the call-and-response bit for two bars after that, and then come together for the next bar. Rachel accents the the second note for both calls and both responses, and also accents through the last bar.Soccer happened at that time, and then
noone234, Justin, and I worked on the Breezy Tune, coming up with a bit more marimba and bass (having also switched from grand piano to the former instrument for Justin's part). noone234 then grabbed his bass, Justin switched from marimba to synth, and I traded bass for guitar. noone234 learned the remainder of the intro/bridge/outro riff and the pre-chorus. That leaves the verse, chorus, and tag ending parts as well as learning the arrangement. We found that Justin's suspended fourth triads were too much. Actually, I realized that before, but I put it down to him swapping back to the 1-3-5, which he was prone to do. They clashed too much with the guitar holding out the sus4 chords for a half note each. I realized this when he "came up with something else to play", which, when I asked him what it was, in typical musician fashion, he admitted he had no clue what he had played because he accidentally and quite randomly screwed up. A few tries, and we found that if he arpeggiated his sus 4 triads, they fit and the sound was complimentary with the guitar and bass lines.As we were starting to get cold out on the porch - Justin went in for a sweatshirt,
noone234 grabbed his jacket - we decided to pack up, as there wasn't enough time to really get into something else before dinner. After dinner, we relaxed with some martial arts drills, and we determined that some future band practices might include sparring and other less musical practices.While we played out on the porch, Mr. B proceeded to get his peanut butter in his chocolate, so to speak, except where peanut butter = sand and chocolate = water. He was really happy to just mess about in the sand/water table we got him for his birthday. Unfortunately, I realized late yesterday, that he's not going to get much time with it this year - frost warnings are already being called for our area.
Sunday, I felt blah. A cold has really been bearing down on me for the last few workdays last week, and I pretty much just sat around, and for five or so hours, did this. If you haven't already, follow through on that other Top Sekrit post and let me know what you think over on that post.
Weekend Updatia
Sep. 4th, 2007 09:46 amBusy weekend.
In short: Friday, hosted a couple of bikers. Saturday, invented music. Sunday, moved mountains. Monday, cookout!
My brother and one of his brothers stopped by on their way across the country. Talked a bit, ate some food from Trainers Inn, and looked at their route. They spent Saturday night with my grandmother, and were in the Smokey Mountains for Sunday night. I expect there somewhere between there and Phoenix at the moment.
The Lefty Valdez Funk University Band had a practice session on Saturday and new & existing tunes were worked on, and a brand-spanking new tune was created.
Sunday, Justin and I relocated some two thousand pounds (conservatively estimated) of books from the garage to the cellar. Lots of other stuff went downstairs or upstairs or moved horizontally to make it all happen. My guitar rack was de-spidered and set up and still sounds as great - and, unfortunately, as unreliable - as ever.
With some research, we discovered M-Audio keyboards. They have a couple of exceptional instruments, and, conveniently, they're reasonably priced. Justin's saving for them, and I've added them to his wish list
. I was guiding him towards their simpler semi-weighted digital piano, but as soon as he heard the vibes and strings on the hammer-weighted model he made up his mind. The 61-key MIDI controller would be a later addition that, when paired with a computer (a laptop, most likely), would give him exceptional capabilities for a variety of sounds.
Monday, we enjoyed the company ofnoone234, kk1raven, thefrogger, my future sister-in-law-in-law 1jadedhart & my brother-in-law, my niece, my father-in-law, and one of our neighbors. Food was simple fare - burgers, hot dogs, sausage with built-in onions and peppers, grilled corn - along with some homemade salsa from noone234, lemon cake from kk1raven (we officially gave her permission to try some other kind of cake for next time, provided she also brings the lemon cake! =) thefrogger brought some truffles that went over very well, and our next-door neighbor made some spinach dip that was very good.
After the meal, the Lefty Valdez Band set up on the Front Porch Stage and played through the portions of tunes we know. We did a little bit of work, extendingnoone234's bass parts in The Kraken and Sorrow's End. We also worked a bit on getting Rachel a clarinet part for Breezy. Justin and I both caught our nicknames on our first session - indeed, I haven't played the right-handed-bass-strung-lefty since then, so Lefty doesn't directly apply. I suppose it's still funny, considering I'm the only Righty in the household (Mr. B. is still Undecided.) Valdez referred to the vast quantities of valve oil needed for the trumpet - which is now in the shop and will hopefully not apply in the future. Yesterday, we coined names for the other two band members. Rachel's nickname came up from her occasional blasts from the clarinet - usually when she's frustrated, but sometimes by accident as well. She is now Squeaky, a name which Mr. B delights in calling her over. And over. thefrogger actually suggested noone234's name when he mentioned a flub - thus, we now feature Flubber on alto sax, electric bass, and - someday soon - C sax.
In short: Friday, hosted a couple of bikers. Saturday, invented music. Sunday, moved mountains. Monday, cookout!
My brother and one of his brothers stopped by on their way across the country. Talked a bit, ate some food from Trainers Inn, and looked at their route. They spent Saturday night with my grandmother, and were in the Smokey Mountains for Sunday night. I expect there somewhere between there and Phoenix at the moment.
The Lefty Valdez Funk University Band had a practice session on Saturday and new & existing tunes were worked on, and a brand-spanking new tune was created.
Sunday, Justin and I relocated some two thousand pounds (conservatively estimated) of books from the garage to the cellar. Lots of other stuff went downstairs or upstairs or moved horizontally to make it all happen. My guitar rack was de-spidered and set up and still sounds as great - and, unfortunately, as unreliable - as ever.
With some research, we discovered M-Audio keyboards. They have a couple of exceptional instruments, and, conveniently, they're reasonably priced. Justin's saving for them, and I've added them to his wish list
. I was guiding him towards their simpler semi-weighted digital piano, but as soon as he heard the vibes and strings on the hammer-weighted model he made up his mind. The 61-key MIDI controller would be a later addition that, when paired with a computer (a laptop, most likely), would give him exceptional capabilities for a variety of sounds.Monday, we enjoyed the company of
noone234, kk1raven, thefrogger, my future sister-in-law-in-law 1jadedhart & my brother-in-law, my niece, my father-in-law, and one of our neighbors. Food was simple fare - burgers, hot dogs, sausage with built-in onions and peppers, grilled corn - along with some homemade salsa from noone234, lemon cake from kk1raven (we officially gave her permission to try some other kind of cake for next time, provided she also brings the lemon cake! =) thefrogger brought some truffles that went over very well, and our next-door neighbor made some spinach dip that was very good.After the meal, the Lefty Valdez Band set up on the Front Porch Stage and played through the portions of tunes we know. We did a little bit of work, extending
noone234's bass parts in The Kraken and Sorrow's End. We also worked a bit on getting Rachel a clarinet part for Breezy. Justin and I both caught our nicknames on our first session - indeed, I haven't played the right-handed-bass-strung-lefty since then, so Lefty doesn't directly apply. I suppose it's still funny, considering I'm the only Righty in the household (Mr. B. is still Undecided.) Valdez referred to the vast quantities of valve oil needed for the trumpet - which is now in the shop and will hopefully not apply in the future. Yesterday, we coined names for the other two band members. Rachel's nickname came up from her occasional blasts from the clarinet - usually when she's frustrated, but sometimes by accident as well. She is now Squeaky, a name which Mr. B delights in calling her over. And over. thefrogger actually suggested noone234's name when he mentioned a flub - thus, we now feature Flubber on alto sax, electric bass, and - someday soon - C sax.The Lefty Valdez Band practice updatia
Sep. 1st, 2007 09:18 pmNo drums or percussion, alas.
We did, however, go over Sorrow's End (Chris on bass, Justin on synth, me on guitar). Justin (pipe organ) and I (guitar) demonstrated the more complex verse riff in Forgotten Royalty. We did The Kraken, with Chris playing bass, Justin playing grand piano, and me doing my thing on the guitar.
For the jazzier portion of the program, we worked on the still officially nameless Dm Mellow Jazz Tune, with Rachel taking the lead on clarinet, Justin imitating the trumpet on the keys (his horn is in the shop trying to get the Valdez-nickname-earning stuck valve un-), and me doing clean 7th chords on the guitar. We did a few rounds of the equally nameless Signature Tune (which we're now calling it, as "First Tune We Wrote With All The Horns Going Dun-Da-Duh" is getting a wee bit awkward), but with no new material added (Rachel, clarinet; Justin keys-as-trumpet; Chris, alto sax; me, fretless bass). While goofing off with that, we accidentally came up with yet another truly unnamed tune, this one codenamed Breezy. Justin plays grand piano on this 5/4 wonder, as I speed along on the fretless, and Chris is writing the alto sax part. We'll come up with a clarinet part after we get a bit further with it.
We're thinking of having Chris play his bass on the Dm Mellow Jazz Tune, but haven't tried anything with it yet. We've got to get additional parts for the tunes that are complete songs - Sorrow's End and The Kraken - that way we can get through an entire actual, real, live song. The three other bits will take longer as they are being entirely written from scratch, so we have no clue where they're going next. =)
The Kraken is the easiest of the two, as we're just arranging the tune - and by that, I mean we're playing it pretty much verbatim, except for jumping up an octave or two here or there. Sorrow's End was written in 1990-1991 while I was working at a retail store in Lexington. Used to have to "stand guard" over the parking lot for my first hour or two of work, as no one was supposed to park there until after we opened. So I would stand there, warn people off once in a while, be ignored most of the time, and, while doing so one chilly morning, I wrote the entire tune in my head. There's lyrics somewhere, and I'll likely post them here if I can find them...
We did, however, go over Sorrow's End (Chris on bass, Justin on synth, me on guitar). Justin (pipe organ) and I (guitar) demonstrated the more complex verse riff in Forgotten Royalty. We did The Kraken, with Chris playing bass, Justin playing grand piano, and me doing my thing on the guitar.
For the jazzier portion of the program, we worked on the still officially nameless Dm Mellow Jazz Tune, with Rachel taking the lead on clarinet, Justin imitating the trumpet on the keys (his horn is in the shop trying to get the Valdez-nickname-earning stuck valve un-), and me doing clean 7th chords on the guitar. We did a few rounds of the equally nameless Signature Tune (which we're now calling it, as "First Tune We Wrote With All The Horns Going Dun-Da-Duh" is getting a wee bit awkward), but with no new material added (Rachel, clarinet; Justin keys-as-trumpet; Chris, alto sax; me, fretless bass). While goofing off with that, we accidentally came up with yet another truly unnamed tune, this one codenamed Breezy. Justin plays grand piano on this 5/4 wonder, as I speed along on the fretless, and Chris is writing the alto sax part. We'll come up with a clarinet part after we get a bit further with it.
We're thinking of having Chris play his bass on the Dm Mellow Jazz Tune, but haven't tried anything with it yet. We've got to get additional parts for the tunes that are complete songs - Sorrow's End and The Kraken - that way we can get through an entire actual, real, live song. The three other bits will take longer as they are being entirely written from scratch, so we have no clue where they're going next. =)
The Kraken is the easiest of the two, as we're just arranging the tune - and by that, I mean we're playing it pretty much verbatim, except for jumping up an octave or two here or there. Sorrow's End was written in 1990-1991 while I was working at a retail store in Lexington. Used to have to "stand guard" over the parking lot for my first hour or two of work, as no one was supposed to park there until after we opened. So I would stand there, warn people off once in a while, be ignored most of the time, and, while doing so one chilly morning, I wrote the entire tune in my head. There's lyrics somewhere, and I'll likely post them here if I can find them...
The Lefty Valdez Band practice
Aug. 26th, 2007 04:48 pmUnfortunately, noone234 was out of commission for today's practice on account of a battery failing yesterday at a most inopportune moment.
Rachel and I were both in and out for the session - her, more so than me. She was so pale that a few times we had to force her to stop and get some rest. I felt a bit wiped at one point, and opening the windows didn't help. A low fan did the trick and let me continue for a bit.
We worked on fleshing out the Dm mellow jazz jam Rachel and I had done, going off of the Bb-D-F-Bb opening slur she came up with. That jam is now officially named Dm Mellow Jazz, until Rachel gets the honor of naming it once it's done. For the A section, we counter her lines on clarinet with Justin's simpler lines on trumpet over a simple, clean progression on the guitar. The first part of the B section continues in that vein, and then ends with a line harmonized in thirds - Justin still plays simple bits (to downplay the power of the brass) and Rachel plays an approach to their chords.
We also worked on the first - still nameless - tune, just getting it a bit tighter. Whennoone234 is over next time, we'll continue writing work on it, with Justin and Rachel coming up with their parts.
While Rachel was resting, Justin and I worked a bit on Jack Sparrow (minus any decoration from sea shanties). The fretless does really well on the cello lead, as we had expected. Switching back to the guitar, dropping the low E to a D, and we played through The Kraken a couple of times.
noone234 was out of commission for today's practice on account of a battery failing yesterday at a most inopportune moment.Rachel and I were both in and out for the session - her, more so than me. She was so pale that a few times we had to force her to stop and get some rest. I felt a bit wiped at one point, and opening the windows didn't help. A low fan did the trick and let me continue for a bit.
We worked on fleshing out the Dm mellow jazz jam Rachel and I had done, going off of the Bb-D-F-Bb opening slur she came up with. That jam is now officially named Dm Mellow Jazz, until Rachel gets the honor of naming it once it's done. For the A section, we counter her lines on clarinet with Justin's simpler lines on trumpet over a simple, clean progression on the guitar. The first part of the B section continues in that vein, and then ends with a line harmonized in thirds - Justin still plays simple bits (to downplay the power of the brass) and Rachel plays an approach to their chords.
We also worked on the first - still nameless - tune, just getting it a bit tighter. When
noone234 is over next time, we'll continue writing work on it, with Justin and Rachel coming up with their parts.While Rachel was resting, Justin and I worked a bit on Jack Sparrow (minus any decoration from sea shanties). The fretless does really well on the cello lead, as we had expected. Switching back to the guitar, dropping the low E to a D, and we played through The Kraken a couple of times.
(no subject)
Aug. 20th, 2007 12:16 pmJustin comes back tomorrow - hopefully not too late, although I'd be surprised if they made it to the house before I get home from work.
My brother will be driving them down ("them" being Justin andpatrixa). They ("they" being my brother and patrixa) will be staying a couple days and then heading back to the Nearly Great White North.
Some musics happened this weekend, but mostly solo type stuff with a quick - but productive - duo taking place on Sunday.
We have a drummer who will be working with us - I hesitate to say "trying out", as it's much more of a two-way process. Probably won't be able to get together with him until the Labor Day weekend.
Worked out a bit of a "new" tune. I've still got to fiddle with the slap bass line and the horn arrangement, but it shouldn't be all that complex. We're doing the tune to help get Rachel to make the jump from "Middle School Band" to "music" by taking one of her practice tunes ("Mary had a Little Lamb" - some of you may be familiar with the melody... =) and jazzing it up a wee bit. I played the melody with Rachel as part of the Sunday duo, although I did my part as a nice, clean jazz guitar octaves ala Joe Pass. Most of the work was done Saturday, when I wrote the bass line under Mr. B's guidance.
The arrangement we'll use will be simple - I play the melody on the bass, go into the slap bass bit, and the wind section will take the melody over the top of that, go through a quick little riff, and then I'll play the melody while one of them solos; repeat until all three make it through.noone234 will take the first solo, Rachel the second, and Justin will wrap it up at the end. Just a simple little thing: 1) to get us playing; 2) to provide a break while we work on writing our own tune; 3) gets each one to improv a bit; and 4) just for fun.
Phone conversations withnoone234 and Justin discussed some possibilities for other tunes. We're going to expand the Jack Sparrow/A Jug of This tune Justin and I had worked out to include an alto sax intro with a recognizable bit of a certain little ditty about what to do with drunken sailors. I'll swap the guitar melody I had been doing over Justin's staggering grand piano line with the same thing an octave lower, played on the fretless bass. This will bring it back closer to the original line, which is performed on the cello. Not sure what else will happen with that tune(s) once we start playing it(them).
We're also looking at doing something with The Kraken. Justin and I liked the Nightwish-like treatment we gave that on keys & guitar. I'm also not sure where sax will fit in to the mix, sonoone234 doesn't know it yet, but we're going to try to convince him to give the bass a whirl for that one. The clarinet - doing select bits and pieces - will work nicely with it.
I also asked Justin if he wanted to learn the guitar part - fingerstyle acoustic - for one of my tunes, Talent Lost. Years ago, a bass player I worked with came up with a line for it, some of which I remember as I became so used to it that, in his absence, I merged it into the guitar part. As the tune was written in memory of two friends - both bass players - I'd like to take the fretless through its paces and give them a fitting tribute. If I don't scare off the other band members, I may even consider doing the vocal part, as well. It never really had any drums or percussion set to it, although it would definitely require a light touch, maybe hand drums or something?
During the time spent on Sunday, Rachel and I did a Dm jazz improv, and she came up with a bit that just might make it into a tune - a nice line that flowed and really sounded beautiful. When I asked her what she had played, she said she had gone from a low Bb to a high Bb. We talked for a bit and I showed her how playing that robotically - Bb1... Bb2 - sounded like the way she's supposed to play in band, but playing it the way she had - Bb1... D F Bb2 with the D & F slurred into a single breath with the high Bb - is what gave it character and turned it into music.
My brother will be driving them down ("them" being Justin and
patrixa). They ("they" being my brother and patrixa) will be staying a couple days and then heading back to the Nearly Great White North.Some musics happened this weekend, but mostly solo type stuff with a quick - but productive - duo taking place on Sunday.
We have a drummer who will be working with us - I hesitate to say "trying out", as it's much more of a two-way process. Probably won't be able to get together with him until the Labor Day weekend.
Worked out a bit of a "new" tune. I've still got to fiddle with the slap bass line and the horn arrangement, but it shouldn't be all that complex. We're doing the tune to help get Rachel to make the jump from "Middle School Band" to "music" by taking one of her practice tunes ("Mary had a Little Lamb" - some of you may be familiar with the melody... =) and jazzing it up a wee bit. I played the melody with Rachel as part of the Sunday duo, although I did my part as a nice, clean jazz guitar octaves ala Joe Pass. Most of the work was done Saturday, when I wrote the bass line under Mr. B's guidance.
The arrangement we'll use will be simple - I play the melody on the bass, go into the slap bass bit, and the wind section will take the melody over the top of that, go through a quick little riff, and then I'll play the melody while one of them solos; repeat until all three make it through.
noone234 will take the first solo, Rachel the second, and Justin will wrap it up at the end. Just a simple little thing: 1) to get us playing; 2) to provide a break while we work on writing our own tune; 3) gets each one to improv a bit; and 4) just for fun.Phone conversations with
noone234 and Justin discussed some possibilities for other tunes. We're going to expand the Jack Sparrow/A Jug of This tune Justin and I had worked out to include an alto sax intro with a recognizable bit of a certain little ditty about what to do with drunken sailors. I'll swap the guitar melody I had been doing over Justin's staggering grand piano line with the same thing an octave lower, played on the fretless bass. This will bring it back closer to the original line, which is performed on the cello. Not sure what else will happen with that tune(s) once we start playing it(them).We're also looking at doing something with The Kraken. Justin and I liked the Nightwish-like treatment we gave that on keys & guitar. I'm also not sure where sax will fit in to the mix, so
noone234 doesn't know it yet, but we're going to try to convince him to give the bass a whirl for that one. The clarinet - doing select bits and pieces - will work nicely with it.I also asked Justin if he wanted to learn the guitar part - fingerstyle acoustic - for one of my tunes, Talent Lost. Years ago, a bass player I worked with came up with a line for it, some of which I remember as I became so used to it that, in his absence, I merged it into the guitar part. As the tune was written in memory of two friends - both bass players - I'd like to take the fretless through its paces and give them a fitting tribute. If I don't scare off the other band members, I may even consider doing the vocal part, as well. It never really had any drums or percussion set to it, although it would definitely require a light touch, maybe hand drums or something?
During the time spent on Sunday, Rachel and I did a Dm jazz improv, and she came up with a bit that just might make it into a tune - a nice line that flowed and really sounded beautiful. When I asked her what she had played, she said she had gone from a low Bb to a high Bb. We talked for a bit and I showed her how playing that robotically - Bb1... Bb2 - sounded like the way she's supposed to play in band, but playing it the way she had - Bb1... D F Bb2 with the D & F slurred into a single breath with the high Bb - is what gave it character and turned it into music.
Weekend Updatia
Aug. 13th, 2007 12:23 pmThe FinalFest post, which wraps up my rather shoddy coverage of Musikfest appeared on Sunday. It covered events on Wednesday and Friday, because, hey, not so speedy with all the other stuff going on.
A meeting of the Lefty Valdez Band (or whatever it actually winds up being called!) took place on Saturday night.
Sunday, Mr. B and I had the house to ourselves, as Justin was up in the Nearly Great White North of Cow Hampshire, riding around on a motorcycle, and Deb and Rachel were getting sneakers and shin guards on sale. We had a Veggie Tale marathon going on, with almost no episode going unwatched. Also, we drove a giant dump truck down the front yard, rolled it over after bouncing off a tree, and then went inside because the bugs were after us. =)
A meeting of the Lefty Valdez Band (or whatever it actually winds up being called!) took place on Saturday night.
Sunday, Mr. B and I had the house to ourselves, as Justin was up in the Nearly Great White North of Cow Hampshire, riding around on a motorcycle, and Deb and Rachel were getting sneakers and shin guards on sale. We had a Veggie Tale marathon going on, with almost no episode going unwatched. Also, we drove a giant dump truck down the front yard, rolled it over after bouncing off a tree, and then went inside because the bugs were after us. =)
The Lefty Valdez Band
Aug. 12th, 2007 02:37 pm3 out of 4 of the active members of the Lefty Valdez Band got together last night to work further on The Tune.
We started out on the front porch, until it got dark, and Deb unlocked the door and let us back in. After a few rounds of practice, some playing around on other potential themes, we got to work on The Tune. A second riff for the bass introduced itself to me, and so I played it fornoone234 and Rachel. Once we came back inside, we set to work devising the sax part for the transition and the new riff, and, by the end of the night, we had it.
We refined the existing parts by following the lead Justin had accidentally set when he first transcribed The Tune, and we don't give the horns a measure off between each of their lines. Now, we come in pretty much at the same time with only a quick slide on the last bit of the 4-e-and-a, so, boom, we all start at 1. Four measures of intro, then we segue to the new bit, which, on its own is 12 measures of bass. The final holding note of the intro hangs over that first measure (so we have 5 measures of the horns) and we've got the sax part for the next two measures, completing the first figure of the new part. We'll tighten that up once Justin gets back from vacation and writes his trumpet part - posibilities are: harmonizing the sax part, sitting out for a short sax solo and coming in after, or doing something completely different. In any case, the tune is shaping up nicely.
We met, briefly, our temporary percussionist - Korg, his name is - although we couldn't hear a beat he played on account of a distinct lack of RCA plugs (or 1/4" to RCA conversion cables).noone234's cousin sounds like he'd be a good fit, although he'd have some difficulty commuting down from Buffalo. So the position is still officially open.
We started out on the front porch, until it got dark, and Deb unlocked the door and let us back in. After a few rounds of practice, some playing around on other potential themes, we got to work on The Tune. A second riff for the bass introduced itself to me, and so I played it for
noone234 and Rachel. Once we came back inside, we set to work devising the sax part for the transition and the new riff, and, by the end of the night, we had it.We refined the existing parts by following the lead Justin had accidentally set when he first transcribed The Tune, and we don't give the horns a measure off between each of their lines. Now, we come in pretty much at the same time with only a quick slide on the last bit of the 4-e-and-a, so, boom, we all start at 1. Four measures of intro, then we segue to the new bit, which, on its own is 12 measures of bass. The final holding note of the intro hangs over that first measure (so we have 5 measures of the horns) and we've got the sax part for the next two measures, completing the first figure of the new part. We'll tighten that up once Justin gets back from vacation and writes his trumpet part - posibilities are: harmonizing the sax part, sitting out for a short sax solo and coming in after, or doing something completely different. In any case, the tune is shaping up nicely.
We met, briefly, our temporary percussionist - Korg, his name is - although we couldn't hear a beat he played on account of a distinct lack of RCA plugs (or 1/4" to RCA conversion cables).
noone234's cousin sounds like he'd be a good fit, although he'd have some difficulty commuting down from Buffalo. So the position is still officially open.Weekend Highlights
Aug. 6th, 2007 08:56 amThe short form report of Friday and Saturday can be found at the Festing Frenzy, in which I go on a bit about the Philadelphia Funk Authority and other bands, and a report on the gathering on Saturday, in which I mostly go on about yet another band - this one featuring yours truly, noone234, Justin, and Rachel.
On Sunday, I discuss the PercussionFest, in which percussion instruments were purchased, and in which I performed to a standing-room only crowd at Musikfest (well, it was on Main Street, so there weren't all that many chairs around... =)
Still have to get to a more detailed post about PFA...
noone234, Justin, and Rachel.On Sunday, I discuss the PercussionFest, in which percussion instruments were purchased, and in which I performed to a standing-room only crowd at Musikfest (well, it was on Main Street, so there weren't all that many chairs around... =)
Still have to get to a more detailed post about PFA...
PercussionFest!
Aug. 5th, 2007 07:41 pmSo I ended that last post with a statement that we needed a percussionist, with no further information.
Well, today, we went down to MusikFest (we being:patrixa, Justin, Rachel, and me). After a lunch at Bowmanstown Diner (the only diner in the world that won't serve omelets or home fries at 11:30am on a Sunday, but is otherwise my favorite diner), we parked and began to wander around the fest.
None of the acts really hit me - they were mostly bluegrass, country that sounded kind of like bluegrass, and celtic that sounded almost like bluegrass. Even the trombone quartet - which was mostly playing classical - did a ragtime swing piece that probably would have sounded natural with a banjo playing along.
Rachel picked up an ocarina, flute, and a percussion shaker (for Mr. B) from the Native North/South American folks.patrixa also picked up an album of the flute music being played at the moment. They bought Deb a bead bracelet as well.
Met up withnoone234 at the Volksplatz and after a bit we headed over to the drums at Spirit in the Wood. They had some dununbas that sounded great, and a beautiful conga (the picture at the link is nowhere as near as nice looking as the one they had there - the hardware looked like cast iron, and it the wood itself had a beautiful, but simple appearance). We picked up a kalimba, a carved, hollowed out frog with a sawtooth pattern that makes a frog-like sound when the stick is slid over it, and a djembe.
We stopped at another tent with drums - one was in the process of being carved. They were from Ghana, and the kpanlogos they had were exquisite - very intricate carvings, and, to top it off, a beautiful sound (this link goes to a vendor who imports them; I will correct if I can swing by during the week and find out if these guys have a site of their own - I'd much rather show off their art, although the linked one looks pretty good too! =)patrixa bought a unity sculpture from them; the man had carved the three intertwined figures out of a single piece of wood. You can see the approximate shape of the original piece when you slide them together, however the sculpture is best viewed folded open, as if the three figures were twirling in a dance.
We wandered some more, were nearly lulled to sleep by one of the celtic band's tunes, and headed back to the Main Street stage to hear the trombone quartet. On the way back, I noticed a few guys sitting out playing drums behind the stage; one guy had a kpanlogo, the other a conga (think he works next door to me; I recognized but couldn't place him at the time), and the third - well, I didn't see his drum. After the trombone quintet finished up, we headed back down to the drummers, and between one of the drummer's daughters (either the kpanlogo guy or the third guy) andpatrixa, I was volunteered to jam with the three, plus an 18 year old playing electric blues guitar.
We played a couple of tunes - having owned the drum for a total of a couple of hours, I wasn't overly confident at first, nor, to be honest, at the end. I did, however, have fun.
Now, it's all well and good that we now have a bunch of percussion instruments to use while we play, or during recording. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that we need some one to play congas and/or a drum kit to play along with us when we're doing trumpet, sax, clarinet, and bass. So, yeah.
We need a percussionist.
Well, today, we went down to MusikFest (we being:
patrixa, Justin, Rachel, and me). After a lunch at Bowmanstown Diner (the only diner in the world that won't serve omelets or home fries at 11:30am on a Sunday, but is otherwise my favorite diner), we parked and began to wander around the fest. None of the acts really hit me - they were mostly bluegrass, country that sounded kind of like bluegrass, and celtic that sounded almost like bluegrass. Even the trombone quartet - which was mostly playing classical - did a ragtime swing piece that probably would have sounded natural with a banjo playing along.
Rachel picked up an ocarina, flute, and a percussion shaker (for Mr. B) from the Native North/South American folks.
patrixa also picked up an album of the flute music being played at the moment. They bought Deb a bead bracelet as well.Met up with
noone234 at the Volksplatz and after a bit we headed over to the drums at Spirit in the Wood. They had some dununbas that sounded great, and a beautiful conga (the picture at the link is nowhere as near as nice looking as the one they had there - the hardware looked like cast iron, and it the wood itself had a beautiful, but simple appearance). We picked up a kalimba, a carved, hollowed out frog with a sawtooth pattern that makes a frog-like sound when the stick is slid over it, and a djembe.We stopped at another tent with drums - one was in the process of being carved. They were from Ghana, and the kpanlogos they had were exquisite - very intricate carvings, and, to top it off, a beautiful sound (this link goes to a vendor who imports them; I will correct if I can swing by during the week and find out if these guys have a site of their own - I'd much rather show off their art, although the linked one looks pretty good too! =)
patrixa bought a unity sculpture from them; the man had carved the three intertwined figures out of a single piece of wood. You can see the approximate shape of the original piece when you slide them together, however the sculpture is best viewed folded open, as if the three figures were twirling in a dance. We wandered some more, were nearly lulled to sleep by one of the celtic band's tunes, and headed back to the Main Street stage to hear the trombone quartet. On the way back, I noticed a few guys sitting out playing drums behind the stage; one guy had a kpanlogo, the other a conga (think he works next door to me; I recognized but couldn't place him at the time), and the third - well, I didn't see his drum. After the trombone quintet finished up, we headed back down to the drummers, and between one of the drummer's daughters (either the kpanlogo guy or the third guy) and
patrixa, I was volunteered to jam with the three, plus an 18 year old playing electric blues guitar.We played a couple of tunes - having owned the drum for a total of a couple of hours, I wasn't overly confident at first, nor, to be honest, at the end. I did, however, have fun.
Now, it's all well and good that we now have a bunch of percussion instruments to use while we play, or during recording. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that we need some one to play congas and/or a drum kit to play along with us when we're doing trumpet, sax, clarinet, and bass. So, yeah.
We need a percussionist.
Festing Frenzy!
Aug. 5th, 2007 09:47 amQuick update, as I intend to come up with an in-depth review (wow, those two things usually aren't found together here! =) some time in the coming week (to six months... if the record stands!)
Ogans - they caught our attention early on and we watched a couple of soundcheck songs. Swung by later on to catch most of their first set, but, due to me misremembering what time PFA came on, we missed out on their second set.
Cast In Bronze caught one of his sets after Ogans soundcheck, and one tune - the Carol of the Bells - out of another set after the Ogans performance.
Philadelphia Funk Authority. Excellent. Sat off of stage right so Justin could clearly see the horn section (most of the time; passing traffic or pausing traffic in the aisle between us and the stage caused some difficulty). The guy sitting next to us was there to watch the keyboard player - he plays keys & trumpet in a Blues Brothers tribute band. Go see PFA if you can, or, alternately, pay them to come play for you!
Although the gathering yesterday wasn't music-centric in the original intentions, it certainly became so after we ate. Inside and throughout the day, the music of PFA, the Blues Brothers, the Muppets from Space soundtrack (i.e. James Brown, George Clinton, and so on), and Martha Redbone played. After the meal was done, though, it was quickly decided that some music would now happen. I borrowed Deb's bass, Justin grabbed his trumpet, and Chris had his alto sax and we debated upon the merits of performing indoors in air conditioning or out on the front porch in the heat.
After a little bit of prep time, we set out to actually Play Something, and it was Good. Funk University (that's Funk U, for short) was thus formed. We're going to get a singing group to work with us, and we'll name them And The Horse You Rode In On. =)
Okay, so it's just a working name right now, but the possibility of us playing out at little jazz gigs here and there under some more sensible, but less entertaining, alias does exist. We've got a whole 30 seconds of original music written!
Rachel joined us on the clarinet - and, for 3 weeks of training followed by 2 weeks of vacation, she kept up with the seasoned pros. Ummm, that would be us. Rachel and Chris still need nicknames. I'm Lefty, on account of being right-handed, playing a right-handed bass that is strung lefty. Justin is Valdez, on account of a sticking valve that used more oil than spilled into Prince William Sound.
Anyway, we've got a nice slinky bass line that I mostly play over and over so the horns can get their timing down, but it opens itself up to a lot of variations which I'll toss in as we go. We've got four and a half sets of horn parts that run back and forth over the bass line. The tune is written out as it stands so far, so we'll work on ideas and get together in part over the next few weeks, and then in full as soon as Justin gets back from vacation.
We need a percussionist.
Ogans - they caught our attention early on and we watched a couple of soundcheck songs. Swung by later on to catch most of their first set, but, due to me misremembering what time PFA came on, we missed out on their second set.
Cast In Bronze caught one of his sets after Ogans soundcheck, and one tune - the Carol of the Bells - out of another set after the Ogans performance.
Philadelphia Funk Authority. Excellent. Sat off of stage right so Justin could clearly see the horn section (most of the time; passing traffic or pausing traffic in the aisle between us and the stage caused some difficulty). The guy sitting next to us was there to watch the keyboard player - he plays keys & trumpet in a Blues Brothers tribute band. Go see PFA if you can, or, alternately, pay them to come play for you!
Although the gathering yesterday wasn't music-centric in the original intentions, it certainly became so after we ate. Inside and throughout the day, the music of PFA, the Blues Brothers, the Muppets from Space soundtrack (i.e. James Brown, George Clinton, and so on), and Martha Redbone played. After the meal was done, though, it was quickly decided that some music would now happen. I borrowed Deb's bass, Justin grabbed his trumpet, and Chris had his alto sax and we debated upon the merits of performing indoors in air conditioning or out on the front porch in the heat.
After a little bit of prep time, we set out to actually Play Something, and it was Good. Funk University (that's Funk U, for short) was thus formed. We're going to get a singing group to work with us, and we'll name them And The Horse You Rode In On. =)
Okay, so it's just a working name right now, but the possibility of us playing out at little jazz gigs here and there under some more sensible, but less entertaining, alias does exist. We've got a whole 30 seconds of original music written!
Rachel joined us on the clarinet - and, for 3 weeks of training followed by 2 weeks of vacation, she kept up with the seasoned pros. Ummm, that would be us. Rachel and Chris still need nicknames. I'm Lefty, on account of being right-handed, playing a right-handed bass that is strung lefty. Justin is Valdez, on account of a sticking valve that used more oil than spilled into Prince William Sound.
Anyway, we've got a nice slinky bass line that I mostly play over and over so the horns can get their timing down, but it opens itself up to a lot of variations which I'll toss in as we go. We've got four and a half sets of horn parts that run back and forth over the bass line. The tune is written out as it stands so far, so we'll work on ideas and get together in part over the next few weeks, and then in full as soon as Justin gets back from vacation.
We need a percussionist.
