Measure 28

Okay, so here's measure 28 of The Black Page. This is the last really tough bit, measure 29 is just an open roll on the floor tom. Anyway, I've worked this out and it isn't really as difficult I thought it would be given that I've already gotten the nested tuplet figure and the undecuplets down. I really focussed on it today and I worked out all the sticking, so now it's just a matter of practicing it with the rest of the piece. That said, I think I will refrain from posting on this subject again until I can present a video.

P.S. Frank and Eliot have both said they want me to play it live, so this will be popping up in a set some time soon. It will be our one and only cover.

Anima Art

Yes folks, here it is. Illustrious Anima Obscura E-flyer art for your personal viewing pleasure. Each of these is a genuine original advertisement promoting good clean fun for you and your friends. My personal favorite is the one on the left there. That artwork is actually from the cover of a little pulp comic book that I bought in a small town in Pakistan three years ago. The text is in Urdu, so I have no idea what the story is but the cover art probably sums it up pretty well. I added all of the text stuff with Photoshop.

Brain Party

Hey doods! How y'all doin' ? there's a party in my brain and everybody's here! We're talkin' Cerebral Cortex, Frontal Lobes, Perietal Lobes, Occipital Lobes, Temporal Lobes (all them damn Lobes is here), Hippocampus, Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Cerebellum, Cerebellum Dentate Nucleus, Corpus Collosum, Reticular Activating System, Amygdala, Prefrontal Cortex, Anterior Singulate, Basal Ganglia, crap even that damn little pussy Pineal Gland is here... hell, every damn neuron I know is here and they're all wearing nothing but a myalin sheath! How wild is that?! Brain party... ooh, ooh! Brain party... ooh, ooh!

And you know what? They're all talkin' to each other 'cause of The Mozart Effect. I just know it's 'cause mommy played me the Turkish Rondo when I was still gestating in her warm wet womb. Mozart... in the house! Mozart... in the house!

Okay, that was weird.

Next Big Gig!

Can't wait to see how this one goes... five other bands I've never heard of, at a club I've never played at, through a "promoter" I've never met, on a night none of our fans will come out, across the street from a toxic waste clean up site! Oh well what the heck, music is all about meeting new people and having a good time, isn't it?. Or is it all about organizing and manipulating sound with some regard for melody, harmony, and rhythm? I'm never quite sure. Anyway, I will not be daunted by the whispered lies of the Spider of Negativity! I will charge once again into the breach! My sword is tempered, my loins are girded in steel! I shall prevail... and I will drink a beer and have a good time playing really loud music!

On a side note, is that E-poster kind'a weak? If you know me... I didn't make it. Okay? My E-posters are all better than that one. Really.

The Spider of Negativity

Looking back on some of my recent posts it is apparent that The Spider of Negativity has once again caught my brain in it's evil web. Bound by silken strands of cynicism made stronger by the bitter fuel of irony, my sad cortex has descended to the nether regions and wallows in the quagmire of self indulgent satire and scorn. Oh woe is me, for the Spider doth fatten itself upon the ripe first fruits of misanthropy made abundant in the mind of this pessimist. Surely my sad cerebrum shall once see surcease of this spurious state. Pray, pray thou saints that I may find victory o'er this lowly, demeaning , pathetic, situation.

New Club

Looks like this is the next place I'll be playing. Anima Obscura is booked to play on March 21st at 11:30. I drove by the other night and realized it's right across the street from a Motorola plant I used to work at. Have I ever mentioned how much I detest Motorola? Probably not, because there's not enough server space to store the volumes of derision that I could type about the house that Galvin built. Chances are I've skipped that subject because it has nothing to do with music. Thank God. I certainly hope my proximity to that cursed cesspit won't have a negative effect on my performance.

Tone?

How many times have I heard guitar players say they hate another guitar players tone? I actually had a guy tell me that he likes Jeff Beck but hates his tone. So what are these people talking about here? It seems they're talking about the sound of the instrument, right? As in, is it too thin, whiny, screechy, hollow, muddy, trebly, warbly....? Too be quite honest, I think most of the time people are talking about how the signal was processed. While signal processing may be part of the equation, I think the real question about tone is how does the artist's playing style and technique effect the sound. I mean, for how long before there was electronic signal processing, were musicians discussing tone? Surely tone is far more than what the mixing board has to offer. I guess that means forget the sound of the instrument and concentrate on the sound of the player. To my ears, it's not so much how much flange, chorus, delay, nylon string, steel string, coated head, maple shell, humbucker, nylon tip, wooden tip, neck through, noise gate, tube, digital, blah, blah, blah. Actually, I think most of that's crap. To my ears, tone is really about does he play spot on the beat, behind the beat, in the pocket, staccato, legato, ghost stroke, flutter kick, touchstyle, finger style, sweep pick, aggressive, passive, second line, rudimental, flat pick... In other words, I think the electronic processing is ancillary. When I saw Adrian Belw the other night, he had a 180 degree array of pedals -flange, delay, chorus, loop, compression, midi, tube scream, wah-wah, volume, etc, etc.... Is that what really defines his tone, or is it the human Idiosyncrasies, quirks, foibles, and preferences that make up Adrian Belew? Here's an example from drummer land which may be more illustrative. Buddy Rich and Neil Peart have radically different tone. It has nothing to do with signal processing, technical proficiency, or equipment choice. It has everything to do with playing style and personal preference. Neil Peart plays spot on the beat. Buddy Rich had (when he wanted) a more legato, in the pocket style. When Neil plays a ghost stroke, it's very precise and deliberate sounding. When Buddy played a ghost stroke, it sounded very improvised and in the moment. Neil's phrasing has the sound of absolute pre-planned precision executed with flawless spot on timing. Buddy's phrasing had the sound of absolute improvised precision executed with flawless spot on timing. Which is better? None can say definitively. It's a matter of personal preference. I can say I prefer one over the other, but I have to admit that both are superior quality. It's not about your pedal, your pedal won't give you the tone you're after. It's all about you. Figure out who you are and what you like, and be that. Then you'll find you're tone.