A gimp's adventures in the low end

Another new TCG track!

2008-07-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

New stuff is just flowing out of my head at the moment. The second track for Army Of Elvii is now complete!

It's called "Now It's Dark", and quite possibly may be the best thing I've done in this genre. A 128kbps MP3 is now available and will stream to you at this link:

Now It's Dark

I've already got two or three more ideas for TCG tracks running around my head ... so stay tuned for more, real soon!

New Combined Geek!

2008-06-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it's only been around 5 years ... but we finally have a new track from The Combined Geek!

This one is mine, entitled "F.Y.B." (the reason for which will be apparent within 10 seconds of the song's beginning). You can hear it by clicking HERE.

(Please note: this is a streaming 128kbps MP3 file. Obviously you need a broadband connection to stream it!)

This is the first track on our upcoming CD "Army Of Elvii". No idea when, or even if, it'll be completed and released.

I'm Back

2008-02-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

OK, it's been awhile for this blog, too - but I'm still making music, haven't let the Malignant Simian stop me from doing that, or at least from trying. Some progress, some lack thereof ...

Chameleon King

I'm disappointed that the vocals have still yet to be recorded - or probably even started - on the new Chameleon King album. Starting to think that maybe I need to shag my ass up north to find Matthew J. Crane and light a fire under Mr. Mom's ass. The alternative isn't real great. I could sing them ... but no one wants to hear that (for good reason). It won't sound right unless Matt sings them.

I've thought about taking one or more of the tunes and re-working them a bit, then using my EWI to create some melodies over the top, but I haven't tackled that yet.

Other Projects

There a few things going around my head at present. I bought myself an EWI, which is a VERY cool instrument with which I can do a lot of things. My goal is to create a few tunes using the EWI and the Stick - kind of like the "what the hell is that thing" motif.

The main thing is finding the motivation to stop just jamming and practicing and to actually get something good recorded ... so stay tuned to this blog. If anything happens, you'll hear about it here first.

Done!

2006-07-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's finally done! I sent several CDs off to Arizona with all the bed tracks I did for the next Chameleon King album.

This has been over a year in the making, which is entirely pathetic - but like I told the guitarist, I have to do what my body lets me do. And my body let me get this done in its own time.

Time to move onto the next Combined Geek CD, and perhaps other projects ... so stay tuned, this blog isn't over :)

And then, suddenly ...

2006-06-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

... Reality Check was finally done. Nothing fancy, just fretless bass with a solid tone and very little stupid fretless tricks. In tune and appropriate.

Why'd it take so long? Lots of reasons. I'm done making excuses; these will get done when they get done. I -am- hoping to get them done a bit faster than I have been... these need to have vocals, etc. on them. I'm sick of listening to the bed tracks :)

Fick.

2006-04-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is frustrating.

I've been trying to work with Reality Check all this time ... and I don't seem to be able to come up with anything that isn't either a) pure crap, b) boring as hell, or c) both. Maybe I need to move on to another tune. This is taking way too long.

Things could also get better when I get my Stick bass - I am trading my NS/Stick straight up to a guy (actually, the touring bassist for Afroman) for a Stick bass. This may help me in getting the two handed bass lines I have in my head actually onto disk. Time will tell.

But for now, the struggle continues. I don't know any of these remaining tracks well at all. That, however, is a piss poor excuse. (sigh)

Reality Check ...

2006-01-29T11:57:00.000-08:00

I've decided to move on to 'Reality Check'. Apparently, I wrote the keyboard intro riff to this song, but I'll be damned if I can remember doing so. It *does* sound like the chords I was into at the time (Maj7). I'm laying down bass at first, we'll see if that inspires me to add any other textures to it.

Fretless this time, definitely. It's kind of a slow song that would benefit greatly from the warmth and growl of my fretless, assuming I can get it dialed in correctly. All I DO know is that it won't take me 4 1/2 months to finish this one!

Well, HELL.

2006-01-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

I finished Stream Of Consciousness. It only took me, what, 4 1/2 months? Fucking pathetic.

Just 4 string fretted bass on this one, fairly simple line with some weirdness that goes on in the middle underneath stuff that can only be described as surreal ... happy with it for the most part, but there are a couple of fuckups I'll have to fix later on. For now, though, I move on and hopefully start to work a bit more quickly.

Stream

2005-08-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

I think I'm trying to do too much. Flush with the successes of the last two tracks, it's starting to seem pretty obvious to me that I need to ratchet it down a notch. Sometimes the best thing I can do for these tracks is going to be laying down a bass line, and then moving on.

Think I'll give that a try and see if it doesn't jump start this process a bit :)

Autumn Rain done, moving on

2005-08-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, Autumn Rain - at least my part of it anyway - is in the can (so to speak) and ready to go. It turned out OK. I was going for a very, very large ending with strings, brass, tympani ... what ended up being the final version for me was stripped down from where it was. It got to be VERY large - so I just scaled down a few tracks, added some male & female choir, and called it good.

I'm moving on to Stream Of Consciousness. This is a very long and varied track. I haven't decided what axe to use on this one; leaning towards maybe doing some weird tapping with the NS/Stick. Time will tell.

I'm also considering doing something I haven't done in many, many years - assuming I can find my wind controller, I'll add some non-prerecorded sax loops. I know I can still play; it's just a question of whether or not I can get my fingers to cooperate. Again, time will tell!

Autumn Rain

2005-08-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Got Autumn Rain mostly done today - at least, the first part of it.

Bass-wise, I was very non-obtrusive and played exactly as much as was needed, and no more. I then went ahead and added a whole lot of stuff; two keyboard tracks and some strings. It was a difficult task due to substandard hardware that I'm using. I need to change my studio machine to a much more powerful box - I was using one soft synth (a VST instrument); 4 tracks. Basically, the machine just chokes big time when trying to bounce the whole mix. I ended up having to bounce the 4 VST tracks to separate files, then put them on one audio track and bounced that way.

What I've done so far will be made MUCH larger at the end of the track. I am thinking huge, EPIC stuff, with lots of bombastic orchestral stuff - tympani and the like. (I watched part of KISS Symphony where they play KISS songs along with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. I know it can be done. w00t!)

It's summer and hot, but ...

2005-07-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

I've gotten started on "Autumn Rain" today. This is a totally chill track, so no bass acrobatics here, just holding down the groove. I've gotta decide how much I'm going to octave unison the guitarist, and how much I'm going to leave him alone.

Using fretless on this. The song is in B, for one thing, which will allow me to get some nice open B notes in there where appropriate. Other than that, though, the bass is simple. I will probably attempt to add some B3 or some other keyboard... we'll see.

The window is open

2005-07-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

Feeling quite creative today, and a little bit disgusted that this has taken me so long, I got another track mostly finished today - "Window Of Life".

This is a track with which I am not particularly familiar; I don't remember ever playing it while with this band the first, or second, times. It's a great song - very rich vocally with a nice progression, good guitars - so I stayed out of the way as far as bass is concerned. Running up and down the neck would be absolutely the WRONG thing to do on this track. There's enough going on.

I used the Warwick 4 string fretted on this song, the song is neither the right key nor the right style to use the 5 string and engage in B string abuse. As stated above, minimal is better for the low end here. I love my Warwick. I'd wanted one for over 10 years when I finally found one on eBay. Wonderful. Best 4 string I have ever owned.

I also added a B3 track to it - we'll see if it gets used. I was going for texture in most places, although there's a contrapuntal idea in there that may or may not go well with the vocals. It can easily be removed and/or understated if need be.

Fun, though. I like progress! :)

and like that, it was done

2005-07-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

Yay - No Easy Answers is done!

Since there was nothing for me to do at the day job, I came home early and decided that I'd finish off No Easy Answers. After communing, I was able to play it through in a take or two; upon which I had it. It only took a little bit of cutting and pasting to get things squared away.

I'm happy with this one. I did it on 5-string fretless. I've always enjoyed fretless; it offers me a bit more freedom of expression than either the 4 string fretted or the NS/Stick does. There's a short bass solo in the middle of No Easy Answers that shows how far I have come as a bassist since 1991 - back then, I'd have never been able to pull it off in this FEW notes. These days I look for melody and expression as opposed to raw technique.

I guess I HAVE learned something during the past 14 years!* :)

* the thing is; I learned this before I got into Plastic Joe; I just played as many notes as possible with that group because, basically, I wanted to piss the guitarist off as much as possible! LOL

The Answers

2005-07-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

There are no easy answers.

But there are, actually, here. I started working on "No Easy Answers" today ... it's a perfect tune for me to use 5 string fretless. I get to abuse the B string in parts, and it has a nice short little place where I can stretch out a bit. Cool. A lot less frustrating than working with the NS has been on "Had To See". I'm shelving that one for awhile, I'll probably wait and send my Stick down to Emmett for work, then finish that song when it comes back to me all shiny and like new.

I recorded a one-take line on it just for a placeholder and will likely finish it this weekend. This day job is getting in my way .... necessary evil.

Maybe not so slow

2005-07-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

Replacing the batteries in the NS/Stick worked wonders. It still needs to be sent south so that Emmett can work it over and get it back to the way it was when I got it 5 years ago, but for now it'll work to at least get a song or two done.

Today I'm hoping to get part of Had To See recorded. We'll see how it goes.

Slow. And will get slower.

2005-07-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to become annoyed.

This project, which 'back in the day' would have taken me a weekend to bust out, has gone on for far longer than I wanted it to. I'm doing what I can, of course. But this damned disease just makes it so I can't work for long periods of time as I'd like to.

Now that I've gotten a new 'day job' on-site contract, I'm not at home during the day and thus my time to do this has been decreased just that much. Plus, I have to send my NS/Stick down to Stick Enterprises so that Emmett Chapman can have a look and set it up properly. So I move on from songs on which I'm going to use that instrument, to different songs altogether.

Still, I've gotta have the day job. In order to support and take care of myself I have to work. Having the last 3 months essentially off has been very nice, but not something I can maintain for very long. And so I go back to the 9 - 5 software grind. Tired of it, really. Would like to do something else ... problem, though: this is pretty much all I am qualified to do that would pay me what I need to survive.

It'll be OK. As long as I don't end up on the roof of a tall building with a rifle, shooting people indiscriminately. *

* - this would never happen, not in a million years. Just a facetious statement.

Well .... crap.

2005-06-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

The new cable showed up, while it does work, there are still major problems with my NS/Stick. It needs to get sent down to Stick Enterprises in CA to be adjusted & fixed - given that I have had the thing almost 5 years now and that's never happened, it's high time.

I'm going to move on to a different song until this can get taken care of ... as for which one, don't know yet, but No Easy Answers is a good bet.

Cable

2005-06-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

So I ordered a new cable from Stick Enterprises ... hopefully it'll show within a couple of days and I can get this train back on the rails... time will tell.

Damn

2005-06-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I am gonna have to bite the bullet and buy a new Stick cable. Believe me, I've tried to fix this thing ... but not being an electrician, I've not had any success.

New cabling is never a bad idea, anyway. It's just a pain in the ass and only lengthens the already ridiculous amount of time it's taking me to get all of this done. FEH.

Still working

2005-06-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

I'm fully all up in Had To See right now. It's not that hard, there are just a lot of changes. I've been trying to come up with some tasty stuff on the NS/Stick for it, which will happen, but I'm having equipment problems that cause my signal to break up and start crackling at the worst times.

I think the problem is the cable I am using for the NS/Stick, which is of course a specialized cable. I'll try some other things (different effects boxes for instance), but it's likely I'm going to have to break down and buy a new Stick cable. And that's just gonna create more delays.

SIGH.

Moving On

2005-06-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

I've decided that "Had To See" will be the next song I'll be working on. I think this one has some great opportunity for some 2-handed tapping with the NS/Stick ... I hope so, at any rate.

It's a complicated track, several changes. A lot more difficult than, say, Journey's End was. Still, I'll get it and all the others done, and then send them back for more guitar tweaking, and vocals.

Can't wait for this CD to be done ... it'll be worth the 14 year wait!

For now, though ... time to get ready for today's radio show. (I own and run an online radio station, Head Case Radio (http://www.headcaseradio.com). I'm on the air live on Wednesday nights from 7:00 - 9:00 pm, and on Saturday afternoons from 1:00 - 4:00 pm, all times Pacific of course. The station runs 24/7/365 - we have 8 live DJs and a great central server that runs when no DJ is on the air.)

Ah, finally

2005-05-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

One more take on Journey's End and it was all done ... I did this one from beginning to end, no cutting and pasting of anything. It's an easy song.

I ended up doing it on the 4 string fretted bass. I really do love that Warwick ...

As for what's next, I haven't decided yet.

Busy ...

2005-05-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty busy over the past few days with a project for which I am actually getting paid, so I haven't done any work on these songs. Now that the project is basically done, though, I can get back to the low end, which is where I really want to be in the first place.

I saw Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith last night. Very, very good ... dark, foreboding, and lots of people get killed. Much action and great CGI - this one is on par with Empire Strikes Back. I need to see Revenge Of The Sith again, though, to catch stuff I likely missed.

Journey's End

2005-05-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

I was finally feeling well enough yesterday to start tackling "Journey's End". After listening to the CD I created of an ollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllld rehearsal tape provided to me (the rehearsal was from November of 1991), I was able to remember most of the song. The opening line was a small challenge, but overall, I'm pretty much ready to knock this one out.

In working on it yesterday I got the idea that the song would song real good on fretless, especially the opening unison melodic line. After playing with that, though, I'm on the fence. It might be more solid just with the standard 4 string fretted bass. I don't need the 5th string for this track, and certainly not the 8 strings of the NS/Stick. Today or tomorrow I intend to keep working with it, make a final decision, record the line, and move on.

Not real well ...

2005-05-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't been working on this stuff for the past few days as I've not been feeling particularly well. This damned MS ... every so often I'll have a string of days where I'd rather just curl up in a fetal position and sleep. The last few days have been just that.

I've decided that the next song I'm going to tackle is Journey's End, rather than Had To See. I should be able to knock that one out pretty quickly, assuming I can remember it. Time will tell.

The ubiquitous B3

2005-05-15T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, trying to use the Hammond B3 in Room Of Blue Light. So far, not much luck - everything I've tried so far has just been superfluous, in the way of the string tracks. If I can't create something that complements the strings, I'm gonna say 'screw it' and move on. (Whether my inability so far to create something useful is due to the fact that I'm not much of a keyboard player or not is something that's looking more obvious all the time. hehe)

The good thing that's come out of this is that I've now learned how to get a VST instrument to work in Logic Audio. (Prior to this I have always used Cubase and/or ACID)

I am thinking that "Had To See" is going to be my next project. Complicated. Lots of changes, and I don't know the song well AT ALL. I feel that I am up to the task. Tomorrow it begins!

That was quick

2005-05-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

Got the bass line for The Room Of Blue Light done. Easy stuff, I was able to basically play it all the way through, took 3 takes.

Found a good patch in the Bass POD, with a little tweaking, the fretless growled quite nicely. This is a good thing, the Nightbass is just too noisy most of the time for studio work. I guess I could futz with the mixer and get rid of a lot of the noise, but if I don't have to ... why re-invent the wheel?

I'm not done with it yet - if I can get my VST instrument to work in Logic (doubtful) I want to experiment with using Hammond B3 on there. We'll see.

As far as what's next .... don't know yet :)

Friday the 13th

2005-05-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

... and the lights are turning blue!

Got started on "The Room Of Blue Light" today - this shouldn't take long at all. First off, this is one of the songs that we recorded back in 1991. We played it live on many, many occasions.

The bass on this is not technically difficult, I'm not having to reach and stretch and struggle with it. The progression is simple and there aren't too many changes.

The challenge here is getting a good tone dialed in with the fretless. I'm currently using my Bass POD for this but have yet to find that nice fretless growl, so maybe I'll try the Nightbass. Problem with that unit is that while it has some nice effects, etc., it's damned noisy.

The other - maybe larger - challenge here is to take advantage of the unique qualities of the fretless bass while not being as obnoxious as I was when I was in Plastic Joe. Time will tell; I think I've learned a bit of taste in the 14 years it's been since we first recorded this song.

Regardless, I should be able to knock out this line in a day or two. As far as where I'll go after that ... at this point, your guess is as good as mine. Had To See, maybe. I am planning to use the NS/Stick on that one. We'll see! :)

Caffeine .... c'est fin

2005-05-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here listening to the final bassline in Caffeine. It's worked out pretty well and sounds the way I want it to. It'll be better once all the other parts are added, vocals, etc. - but I feel good about the bass line.

The last 24 bars ended up being a product of record, listen, hate, delete, tweak, repeat. Not sure if it was my perfectionism or my gimpy hands but it just took a lot longer than I wanted it to.

In any case, it's done, and onto the Room Of Blue Light. I'm gonna switch to the fretless for that track.

Caffeine

2005-05-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

No hippie speedball today, not yet anyway ... I've been working on the song "Caffeine". It's a fast flag waver that we played live a time or two back in the day.

I've been at it for a couple of weeks now. First off was remembering the bass lines I made up for it, 15 years ago. Challenging. I was able to remember it pretty quickly - the notes, at least. Re-learning how to play it properly was fun. Got it done.

Some of the lines I made up for this song back in the day just weren't right, now that I look at them. I've changed most of it for this version, actually. The drums are different. The new lines lock in better.

I've got about 24 bars to record. I have this Claypool-like riff I'm going to put in there, which will be pretty fuckin SICK. :) My hands are tired for today. (One of the biggest hurdles for me on this will be getting my hands used to playing for more than 30 minutes at a time.)

I should be done with this one tomorrow ... then onto Blue Light ...

Getting started ...

2005-05-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I've never done this blog thing before. So I figured I'd give it a try.

I'm starting this, basically, to document my musical experiences as I struggle against the chronic disease I've been saddled with (MS) to continue to create and flourish as a musician.

I've recently undertaken a project with musicians I played with back at the end of my college days, the late 1980s - early 1990s. We are recording songs that we had performed back then, but didn't make it onto the one full album we recorded, back in 1991.

This album promises to be lengthy, maybe 2 full CDs. There's a LOT of work to be done. I am hoping I am up to the task and that I can perform better this time than last time. 14 years of playing bass has taught me a l0t; will that be enough to compensate for the fact that the technical chops I once had are starting to erode due to the MS?

Time will tell. Stay tuned to find out.