Rain

The Cure - Where the Birds Always Sing

Brian Setzer - As Long as I'm Singin'

Type O Negative: My Grilfriend's Girlfriend.

16 hours ago, Old Joad said:

 

My brother died last year and it got me back into writing songs, if I can ever bring my vocals up to snuff I'll post some of my songs so you can hear my Amps working.

Very sorry to hear this, man. I do hope you keep pushing and find it in you to post those songs. But I completely understand the struggle with vocals. 

1 minute ago, craigb said:

*Sigh...* 🙄

 

I feel you , brother. That stack has been haunting my memory since you first posted it.

Oh well - there's Amplitube and Guitar Rig, right?

I was raised on Marshall, so obviously, that's what I've been looking for the minute I could imagine buying a half stack again. Fortunately for me, I can't really dream of something unless there is a remote chance, so I never agonized over things like Boogies. They are forever out of reach.

So my reasonable  dream dream amp is a one fo those compact, studio JCM800 - not even a plexi or the real JCM800.

That being said, I could always borrow one of those if need be. 

For practicing purposes, I am still floored by the quality of those affordable little amps we have access to nowadays. I wish we had something like this little guy when I grew up... I can't imagine what the 2 12 version does - I would suspect that it is quite recordable. (I think our old pal D. Danzi left a review on Sweetwater's website).

56 minutes ago, Old Joad said:

Nice Marshall, I have the JCM 900 & 1960 4-12 cab.

 

Love it! And that Les Paul has me drooling... Right tuners, right knobs - it's got it all!

Mine WAS just a DSL. It's one of the many things that I had to let go of in 2019-2020.

That being said, I can't say that I ever really used it all that much. But there was something comforting about that big Mashall box in the corner of the room - and I knew if was there when I needed it. But I recorded DI most of the time. 

The one thing I sincerely regret having to let go is my inexpensive Gibson SGJ.  Best practice guitar I've ever owned and unlike other SG's, it felt solid. 

Since the ex moved out, I've had to do a LOT of decorating. It's a big house for one man and his cat, so I had to spread stuff around a bit. And it's also quite expensive so the budget for decorating is extremely tight. 

But last week I finally managed to get around to installing that upholstered panel that's been in the garage for a year.  As you see, gear is sparse. The outboard compressors, the mackie board, the Pro Tools control surface and a lot of that stuff is gone. But if I'm to be honest, the equipment I actually use is still all there. 

And the room still has that vibe, I just love it.  Since it doubles as my office, I spend almost 60 hours a week in here and even after 9 years, I just never get tired of it. I hang out here on my nights off quite often, actually.

I really need a new black rug though - this grey one is an eyesore.

Iron Maiden - Murders in the Rue Morgue

I spent way too much time on my pedalboard. But as you see it was totally worth it. 

FWIW - this recently released one is free on Prime this month.

T'was just as DSL but still... I miss that Marshall.

Def Leppard - Let It Go

Soundgarden - Fell on Black Days.

So much cool stuff going on the playlist! Keep'em coming.

I've just put this one back on my watchlist - seen it once but I am going through one of my Alice phases and I need to see it again. Really liked it.

And for some reason, now I also feel like watching Deadpool too... Wonder why.

Refused - New Noise

Accept - Revolution

The Cure - From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea

1 hour ago, craigb said:

And... back to the song I've been relearning (which I haven't posted for at least a few pages! 😁 ).

 

I've been listening to a lot of those 80's bands in the home gym/dojo. This is one that's gotten a lot of love these last several months. Perfect for ka-Ratt-é.

Reminds me...

Back on topic.

April Wine - Roller

14 hours ago, craigb said:

 

The following doesn't count as an entry.

Someone missed the sign above the entrance.

So, there:  The Tea Party - Let Me Show You the Door.

Definitely not his best either - definitely a weird phase in his life and career - but...

Alice Cooper - Make that Money (Scrooge's Song)

David Bowie - John, I'm Only Dancing.

Mr. Bungle - The Air-Conditioned Nightmare.

From one of my favorite albums of all time.

Currently free on Amazon Prime.Will try to watch it tomorrow.

On 7/25/2022 at 6:58 AM, Tim Smith said:

 

Rain you do have a sense of humor " 50 year olds in skinny jeans". lol.  

On the other end of it, I would say I don't want to be on the web as yet another wanna be electronic artist whose music sounds like a kid playing with pads. There must be a million of those on soundcloud already. Probably the same way you see the 50 year olds in skinny jeans. " Just another bloke with a synth".  TBH I AM just another bloke with a synth. Different for the sake of different might be worse, OTOH sameness can all sound good. I guess it all depends.

I think what the world needs is YOU or US as musicians. If that happens to sound similar to someone or something else, so be it. I get into trouble if I start my goals with " I want to sound just like ****** *******"  I'm really not concerned what someone else sounds like when I'm making my music. Whenever someone says the drums are "supposed to" sound like this or that or the guitar "should" sound this way.....this is art and if an artist wants to copy another artist, I guess that's their prerogative. This has never been what I'm about. I do look at and admire what many artists do. That doesn't mean I try to copy it.

Genre all seem to fall closely within the lines of  sounding  like a group of artists, much like modern and classical art are different. To be fair, I did say I was thinking about writing some prog rock music, so I put my thinking into a classification because the ideas in that genre were the closest to what I  envision. In my mind the music might sound similar to or 'like' what some of the other prog rock bands sound like. 

I don't really think I will ever reinvent the mouse trap. I've heard some music and productions that are over the top and I know I'll never compete with either those production chops or that talent on some of those levels. If anything, they are a standard to look at for me. Maybe in the process I'll come up with a different kind of mouse trap, not a better one. I can then improve my mouse trap.

At the outset something puts the wind in the sails of music, be it an emotional feeling , a technical idea, or both. Some see music as a stand alone art form while others see it as a way to convey something. Most often in modern culture music seems to convey a thought, an idea, or point to something. Something deep within us bubbles to the surface and some of it becomes music if we are musicians. Something about us makes it what it is.  Some people's ideologies are so closely tied to the rest of them that the music seems inseparable from who the person is.

Do  death metal music musicians see their music as a way to express their ways or is it all an act? Most metal bands will tell you it's all an act while others will tell you they are in fact, well invested in that lifestyle. Same could probably be said of religious bands. Many are not associating their beliefs with their music and since many Christian record labels are now owned by secular interests, the Christian music 'biz' is not that different from the Satan music 'biz' There are still the sincere few, but for the vast majority a lot of it on both ends of the spectrum isn't sincere. One thing that isn't often mentioned about some of this- Many who hold certain beliefs are told to or encouraged to lie to cover up what they are, so an artist might laugh it all off in a public interview as nothing more than a theatrical ploy. One aspect of all of that is secrecy to a degree. The public face isn't the private face. If you get deep into some of it, you are doing things against the law so the 'brothers' cover for each other.

There's  a lot of symbology used in culture I am well aware of. It all says something about something. It's like an undercurrent, an ebb that often indicates the source or origin for a lot of it. I will never ride on a concept I am either not sure of, or am not invested in to sell a song. I will never use any sort of publicity that points to anything I can't support. I will never be associated with anything that is against what I believe intentionally.

My mission here as I see it is to love everyone ( brotherly love), no matter who they are or what they have done or haven't done....and you know it really isn't that hard to do for me. Doesn't mean everyone is blood brothers. It just means we all have value in God's eyes. HE sees us as valuable, so should I. The real enemy isn't us.

Sorry Tim, didn't mean to ignore your reply. These are some inspiring observations, indeed, so I started writing and ended up with yet another novel. I figured I'd spare you guys this kind of nonsense. But here's part of it.

You are quite correct in your remark about guys with synths. Maybe because I'm not a synth player, it's easier for me to keep a certain innocence. It's always been a lot easier to write on anything but the guitar. Hand me an instrument I've never played and I'll have 5 or 6 song ideas in the next 30 minutes. Partly because I'm not self-conscious about it and partly because things don't work the way I would expect, so there's a sense of adventure.

Just as it is a lot easier for me to write in English than it is to write in French. Despite my English vocabulary being a mere fraction of what I have at my disposal in French, and despite the studies in French literature, it's easier for me to say the real things in English - notwithstanding the occasionnal infelicities. 

Anyway, it would be more accurate to say that I decided to focus on songwriting, and that the music I write doesn’t seem to really require much guitar. And actually,  I am not sure that it could be labelled as a specific genre.  I refer to it as EBM - for Embalmed Body Music, as a gag because of the underlying theme. And because in most case, there definitely is an element of dance music in it. But I also make constant use of theremins for melodies, and acoustic instruments of all kinds. There is something very organic about it.

I believe I think of it as electro in a very broad sense, because I rely on sequencing extensively and make heavy use of instruments traditionally associated with the genre. But stylistically, it’s just a melting pot of things that I love, drawing inspiration from everything from 50's sci-fi movies, to soundtracks by Nino Rota, to Alice Cooper, to Depeche Mode, to Suicide Commando and all that very noisy industrial music. But you could just as easily find references to things like Charlie Parker with Strings in some of those songs... 

A lot of it has got to do with instrumentation and "packaging" - that's what gives the project it's sense of identity, for a huge part.

As for the rest, some people manage to express themselves by performing - and that’s all the better for us who enjoy watching them. I mean, I am a KISS fan - I genuinely love the theatrics and all that stuff. And I used to love being on stage too, and to rip off SRV, and Jimi, and Page, and all those cats I admired. For a while, I thought my personailty would eventually emanate for that weird mixture and that my onstage persona would become something more personal than the sum of my influences.

But as I started writing my own music, I began to feel less and less comfortable putting on a show and obeying the stereotypical choreography of a given genre, whether it’s head banging or doing windmills… It’s like wearing someone else’s underwear.

So I realized that I am not a performer. And after over 40 years playing the guitar, I am comfortable admiting that I don't really have anything to contribute on that instrument specifically. I've spent the last 10 years pushing boundaries, learning new techniques, trying to play faster. These days, maybe in part as a result of studying Eastern philosophy, I am reverting to a way of playing that's a lot more "zen", trying to use as few notes as I can and making each of them count. 

Which actually isn't really isn't all that new, as I have always been a fan of David Gilmour.

In the end, it's all about being authentic. Even if I'm writing music about an old German necrophiliac although I myself certainly have no penchant for such things - these are just part of the fiction, the shadowplays, neatly tucked into a more or less homogeneous product. Underneath it all, the music still tells of who I am, what I love, the music I grew up listening to and wish to share with the world. And it also bears the marks of my limitations, which are often more telling than anything else, and make the end product more original, even if that's not voluntary.