Behind the Kit

So the Presidential inauguration is today. I got one thing to say.

Whoopdee-freakin-doo.

The hoopla surrounding the whole thing is just, well, making me ill. I mean good God you would think Lennon, Hendrix and JFK have all arisen and melded into one flesh.

After the Obamessiah claimed the throne I could not help doing a Vulcan mindlink into what I think was the mindset of far too many Obamacons. Did you see any of those panels where they asked the people what he had accomplished?

Uhhhhhh….. I think was the most common response.

Here is the result of my mindlink- [continue reading…]

At one of the seven local Starbucks I frequent there is consistently a group of motley type misfit young hipster musician kids hanging out. Why they hang out in this particular Starbucks is beyond me -it’s in a giant Target-Ross-Petsmart infested strip mall.

But hang out they do nonetheless. I am fascinated by the fact that pop culture has converged into such a mash up of styles and fashion -there appears to be nothing new -just a mix of things that are old. Some of these kids go for the late seventies straight up punk look. Or the early eighties Cure Goth look. Stuff that was even way before my teenage angst had yet to flower. What tickles me is they strut around like they are on to something new. Whatever… more power to ’em.

Since much of the identity is still wrapped up in music, I find it fascinating that if I were to walk up to this crowd and say, “Hey guys, ya’ll ever heard of an old rock band that formed and broke up before any of you were even born called Led Zeppelin?”. They’d look at me like I was from freakin mars. And I am quite sure I would get the same response if I asked the same of Hendrix, Floyd, and Black Sabbath. Probably the same with the punk scene e.g. Sex Pistols, Clash and Ramones. [continue reading…]

If you don’t know who John Bonham is well, you should be put to sleep. But if you would like one last chance before the anti-cool police show up at your door, this PDF from Trapsmagazine.com does a fine job of giving an overview of who John Bonham is and what he contributed to drums, drumming and modern music in general.

Even if you are a Bonham know-it-all, there are still some great things in this article that you may not have known.

Really, really is worth the read. Especially if you KINDA understand why he is so revered but you don’t really get it. Read it, then go LISTEN -which when it comes to music…is kind of important no?

bonham-traps07

So the other day I went to church and there in the worship band was a drummer wailing away like it was his last gig on earth. I cringed. I twitched and cringed. He wasn’t a bad drummer, in fact he was pretty good, but what he didn’t realize was his joyous flailing was probably the reason the band has been forced into an awkward and uncomfortable playing situation.

The entire team –which consists for the most part of a guitarist/ singer , bass, lead guitar, keys, drums and the occasional drop-in novelty instrumentalist (flute, harmonica, violin etc.), is using an in-ear system. Why? Because reportedly, the stage volume just gets too loud.

Gee, I wonder why it gets too loud when the drummer is wailing away like Billy Cobham on steroids.

So the ‘remedy’ to this ‘problem’ is to give everyone in-ear monitors so there are no onstage monitors getting cranked up to the point of sending all the front row attendees back to the land of sin and death.

Not to mention muffling the drums to the point where they are sure to die a cardboard death.

Now the thing is, this is a new church and it’s quite large so theoretically there shouldn’t be a problem with the volume –the ceilings are giant. And there are sound baffles everywhere –walls, ceilings, stage- not to mention the fact when 1500 people file in they are all walking sound baffles.

So what up?

Well, besides church soundmen usually being the epitome of ‘knowing just enough to be dangerous’- I think the biggest problem is most of the drummers frequenting the stage in this church do not know this important rule- [continue reading…]

Don’t get me wrong I love the Beatles and I think they deserve every last bit of the legendary status they have. And the groundbreaking recordings in their later albums are undeniable, but this has always perplexed me.

Listen to the snare drum on this recording of “Revolution” (preferably your own on a good system or headphones to really hear it  -this youtube clip is the actual album cut; they are just ‘lip syncing’ in this video but the sound quality is lacking) especially the triplet snare fill Ringo does at the lead in to the section right before – “You know it’s gonna be…alright”.

Hear that? I swear they miked just the snare bottom and not the top. It sounds like a hair comb wacking a piece of wax paper. Now after hearing this song for a million times I admit it sounds ‘normal’. But upon closer inspection it does not take much to think, “Wait a minute, that sounds…like major dog doo.”

It’s like…what were they thinking here? You go back a few years and the snare on “Ticket to Ride” is cranking. And if it was apparent they were going for some weird tweaky snare sound for a specific musical/textural/psychedelic reason it would make sense, but this song is supposed to be a rocker.

Overall, it’s not bad enough to ruin the song for me but I always wondered what the intensity level of the song would be if they simply miked the snare top, got some room sound, and consequently got some sonic power coming from the kit.

But it just goes to show you– if the song is strong enough and most of the elements are there,  a few recording glitches or mistakes just aren’t going to matter.

Two bands.

Both love God.

A very, very, very big and merciful God.

Who appears to put up with all manners of indecent music.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of working with the producer Dave Jerdan. Jerdan is best known for his work with Jane’s addiction and Alice in Chains, both during their innovative heydays.

Jerdan has been around the block multiple times, for multiple years and  has seen it all. As we were working he sometimes would go off on these rants that were so packed with wisdom I often thought, “Good lord, if I could record this I could sell it”. I mean, the dude knew what was up.

One thing he said that stuck with me was the current state of the music industry is virtually in shambles leaving the music scene the “wild, wild west” as he put it.

For the most part, he said we are right back in the sixties –anything goes.

So this article written by Bob Lefsetz called “It’s 1968 all over again” caught my attention. It is definitely worth the read. In fact, this guy Bob Lefsetz is always worth a read. This guy really has a clue as to what is up in the music business and music in general. And he is a great writer –talk about letting it rip… Check it out.

“It’s 1968 all over again”

The other day I was rehearsing with my band The Tallships. I am very fortunate to play with a couple of guys that have a pretty high skill level with their instruments and share the same vision of music that I do –namely that music is something to be explored and much can be found through expressive and explorative playing (which most/many call ‘jamming’ but I hate that term –it makes me think of endless noodling and instrumental wanking in a potsmoke filled room).

So we just jumped into some riff or groove –I can’t remember how it started but it turned into a 20 minute (or so) uh…’jam’ (ech) that was one of the most satisfying experiences I have had with music in a long time. It brought me back to the very reason I love music and always wanted to play it and always will continue to play.

After it finally wound down and came to an end it felt like we collectively took a journey into some far out places that cannot easily be explained. We all just kind of giggled when we were done- joyful but strangely vulnerable at the same time. I felt 15 again; encountering music for the first time; my passion for music was renewed and I felt cleansed. It really was a trip. Totally cosmic man. Totally.

During our ventures into the beyond, I was struck by how many things became so clear.

•    Improvisation is a form of communication that goes beyond left-brain logical analysis and reaches deep into the right brain spiritual and creative components of our psyche.

What I found striking was how focusing on what I think I should play instead of just playing- would make me feel choked and frustrated. So I would just say “Screw it, I’m just going to play whatever and I don’t care”. Then I would find myself in a place where I would step back for a second and say, “Wow, that’s sounds freakin COOL!” If I would let the music draw out my playing instead of trying to force my playing into the music, the best stuff would happen.

•    The greatest hindrance to creating good music in an improvisational situation is fear.

Fear that you are going to play something dumb, fear that you will make a mistake, fear you will play something the other guys will think is ridiculous. But it is when you take the risk, quit caring about playing something wrong and just go for it that good stuff starts to happen. There were a few times when we ended up in a place where I honestly had no clue how we got there.

•    Trust is essential amongst the people you are playing with.

If you don’t believe that the other players believe in what you have to offer, that will stifle the creativity and consequently the music. A couple of times in the jam I felt stupid because I felt like something I played was stupid, but I knew to the guys is was no big deal so I had the confidence to keep reaching. The next thing I knew we would be in a totally different musical place and what I was thinking or worrying about was gone.

•    The most important thing is to not think solely about yourself and what you are playing, but about what the others are doing and how you can contribute to it.

This really is the key. Improvisation is about GIVING-it’s about service- serving the music, serving the greater and bigger picture and serving your other band members.

Isn’t it true the best things in life happen when we are not thinking about ourselves, all caught up in our own little trips- whether it be in relationships, or music or wherever? When improvising, if you treat the music as a separate entity that you are giving to that’s when the magic happens. Get your eyes off yourself and onto the bigger picture. That’s when it really takes off.

Technology can change things.  And in the case of the music industry, it destroyed it.

Ouch.

Well, that’s the opinion of an anti-record company type called Tunecore anyway. But the reality is- I agree with ’em. The Music industry -the big cars, fat cigars, drugged out stars, music industry- is on it’s last  legs. Or leg.

Here is a brief PDF download called “The Music Industry Survival Manual”. It’s to a large degree a sales tool for this Tunecore company as well as a lot of different companies it mentions in the download but it has some good pointers if you are trying to promote your own band/music. Some of the things it mentions I plan to do and some of the resources it provides I plan to explore when my band’s record (obsolete term I know…tough) is finally finished.

With this company Tunecore I must say, it does work. It gets your stuff in/on itunes (and rhapsody and emusic and blah blah) and for what it costs (29.00 a year per record) it’s a good deal. I used it for my old band dryve and a record we did called ‘Thrifty Mr. Kickstar’ and it paid for itself in a pretty stupidly quick amount of time.

But even if you don’t use them, like I said, they have a few good points in dealing with the new music paradigm that we all must face as it is only a matter of time before the CD becomes extinct.