It's high time I got my stuff together and started recording THE Progressive Rock album of the Century.
A lofty goal, you say? Well, I've got to set the bar high and force myself to buckle down and work on some new music. I've been fiddling with cover tunes and tributes, bought some new pedals, and recently even purchased a new guitar (an Agile AL-3010SE Tribal Green - google that and you'll see what they look like).
Now it's time shut up n' play guitar. N' keyboards. N' bass n' drums.
I've been listening to just about everything I can get my hands on - jazz, blues, prog, metal, ambient, and am trying to fit it all into my own musical genre. I have too many ideas, and very little actual material prepared, so it's going to be a challenge. What I really need is time, and that's coming soon.
For now, though, here is a cover medley I recorded this past weekend to put the new guitar to the test. No other guitars used, it's all the Agile AL-3010SE. I also tried to avoid any hi-gain settings for my amp sims. Since the tunes I mashed together for a short medley are all classic rock songs, I tried to stick to lower-gain tones. I used my Line 6 POD XTLive on the Marshall '67 Plexi, with the MXR "Red" compressor pedal sim in front, but that's really about all.
Sticking to one basic setting really shows the versatility of tone that the Alnico V pickups are capable of. I'm not planning on modding this guitar at all. This guitar is really a great knock-off of a classic Les Paul, and the stock pickups capture a "vintage" feel, not at all harsh or high-gain metal output, though I'm sure I could (and will) use this for some metallized tunez.
So for now, here's my classic rock medley ...
2/5/14
To Drop-D or not to Drop-D ...
... that is the question.
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Strings and Frets of outrageous E Standard Tuning,
Or to take a Capo against a Dsus chord
And then by tuning to Drop-D end them?
So I've been going back and forth with weird tunings (DADAD), my favorite tuning, which is Drop-D, and E "concert" or Standard Tuning. I keep trying to go back to E Standard, because sometimes I feel like Drop D is cheating (at least according to some of the guitar and musician forum pundits out there), but I really love using it.
Drop-D does make barre chords much easier for me, with my little "girlie-sized" hands that barely fit around a guitar neck as it is. And Position One barre chords have been just a bit more difficult since I had my wrist surgery back in 2009. Sliding Barre Chords and open-string pedal tone chords are also much thicker and heavier sounding in Drop-D, and just easier to play.
So is it cheating? Dunno. Don't really care. But, I do try to play some stuff in E Standard, and some things are much easier in E Standard.You can obviously play a full Position One Barre Chord across all six strings for nice full-sounding chords. You can't do that in Drop-D, where you are limited to a three-note Barre Chord in Position One. Open Chords also tend to sound better in E Standard. And quite honestly, I think my bass guitar likes the low string tuned to E, rather than D. The low E is less "floppy". Even with new strings, the low D tends to be a bit "saggy". It doesn't stay in tune as easily.
I've learned how to play several songs that are E Standard in Drop-D, and sometimes it's easier, sometimes it's harder. Thin Lizzy's "Boys are Back" is easy in either tuning. My former band, Deadside Manor played parts of Black Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" when we played live, and we did it in Drop-D. It was a real workout, but do-able. Kiss' "Detroit Rock City" works better in Drop-D, since you can play the opening riff with one guitarist.
I think the last album I recorded in E Standard was "Gothambia Redux", which was back in 2009. Everything else since has been in Drop-D or other tunings (CGCGCD, CGDGBE, DADADE, DADAD, etc.). Yeah, I like to use weird tunings just to shake things up.
So I'm just not sure which way to go with my next musical project. I wanted to try "re-making" the whole Public Image Limited 2nd Edition album as a spacey instrumental jam session in standard tuning. I also wanted to try composing some original 12-tone row music in DADAD tuning (just 5 strings!). I was thinking of trying some very Zappa-esque originals complete with vibes, horns, etc., or maybe some more classical stuff?
Way too many ideas, not enough focus.
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Strings and Frets of outrageous E Standard Tuning,
Or to take a Capo against a Dsus chord
And then by tuning to Drop-D end them?
So I've been going back and forth with weird tunings (DADAD), my favorite tuning, which is Drop-D, and E "concert" or Standard Tuning. I keep trying to go back to E Standard, because sometimes I feel like Drop D is cheating (at least according to some of the guitar and musician forum pundits out there), but I really love using it.
Drop-D does make barre chords much easier for me, with my little "girlie-sized" hands that barely fit around a guitar neck as it is. And Position One barre chords have been just a bit more difficult since I had my wrist surgery back in 2009. Sliding Barre Chords and open-string pedal tone chords are also much thicker and heavier sounding in Drop-D, and just easier to play.
So is it cheating? Dunno. Don't really care. But, I do try to play some stuff in E Standard, and some things are much easier in E Standard.You can obviously play a full Position One Barre Chord across all six strings for nice full-sounding chords. You can't do that in Drop-D, where you are limited to a three-note Barre Chord in Position One. Open Chords also tend to sound better in E Standard. And quite honestly, I think my bass guitar likes the low string tuned to E, rather than D. The low E is less "floppy". Even with new strings, the low D tends to be a bit "saggy". It doesn't stay in tune as easily.
I've learned how to play several songs that are E Standard in Drop-D, and sometimes it's easier, sometimes it's harder. Thin Lizzy's "Boys are Back" is easy in either tuning. My former band, Deadside Manor played parts of Black Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" when we played live, and we did it in Drop-D. It was a real workout, but do-able. Kiss' "Detroit Rock City" works better in Drop-D, since you can play the opening riff with one guitarist.
I think the last album I recorded in E Standard was "Gothambia Redux", which was back in 2009. Everything else since has been in Drop-D or other tunings (CGCGCD, CGDGBE, DADADE, DADAD, etc.). Yeah, I like to use weird tunings just to shake things up.
So I'm just not sure which way to go with my next musical project. I wanted to try "re-making" the whole Public Image Limited 2nd Edition album as a spacey instrumental jam session in standard tuning. I also wanted to try composing some original 12-tone row music in DADAD tuning (just 5 strings!). I was thinking of trying some very Zappa-esque originals complete with vibes, horns, etc., or maybe some more classical stuff?
Way too many ideas, not enough focus.
1/12/14
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Darkthrone
Lately, it seems I am the Cover Tune/Tribute Album King. My last project was my tribute to the late, great Frank Zappa, and now I am in the midst of posting my newest project, which is my re-arrangement and orchestration of Darkthrone's classic 1994 album, "Transylvanian Hunger".
Yep, I've gone insane.
This is not a Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth style orchestration, rather a much more traditional, orchestral work. More of a small, symphonic ensemble or Chamber Orchestra performing the music. No heavy guitars, cavernous bass guitar, or screeching, demonic vocals. Just a few instruments (strings, horns, percussion) performing the basic melodic themes as interpreted by yours truly.
Probably a bit more similar to Jaz Coleman's "The Symphonic Pink Floyd", or "The Symphonic Led Zeppelin". With me waving the little stick around.
All rights to to this music belong to Ted Skjellum (Nocturno Culto) and Gylve Fenris Nagell (Fenriz). Go buy the original albums for a taste of Norwegian Black Metal History (though I don't recommend the album to anyone who is not a fan of extreme metal).
The album will be available at the Internet Archive at the following link.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO DOWNLOAD PAGE
Or download the whole album, covers, etc., in a zip file HERE!
Give it a try. You might like it.
BTW, you realize there's no "real" chamber ensemble here, right? It's just me on Keyboards, MIDI instruments, etc. Didn't want to give the wrong impression to anyone that I'm trying to pull a fast one here.
Yep, I've gone insane.
Probably a bit more similar to Jaz Coleman's "The Symphonic Pink Floyd", or "The Symphonic Led Zeppelin". With me waving the little stick around.
All rights to to this music belong to Ted Skjellum (Nocturno Culto) and Gylve Fenris Nagell (Fenriz). Go buy the original albums for a taste of Norwegian Black Metal History (though I don't recommend the album to anyone who is not a fan of extreme metal).
The album will be available at the Internet Archive at the following link.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO DOWNLOAD PAGE
Or download the whole album, covers, etc., in a zip file HERE!
Give it a try. You might like it.
BTW, you realize there's no "real" chamber ensemble here, right? It's just me on Keyboards, MIDI instruments, etc. Didn't want to give the wrong impression to anyone that I'm trying to pull a fast one here.
1/1/14
More Zappa, now on Youtube!
This is my first real attempt at posting one of my songs (actually a cover/tribute song) on YouTube. No real video, just some pics of my guitars, amps, etc.
The song is "Chunga's Revenge", the title track from Frank Zappa's 1970 album. The solo is "okay". Listening back to it, I definitely messed up some notes, but I wanted it very spontaneous and live. It's a first take run-thru solo, flubs and all.
Overall, it sounds pretty good. Yeah, I've been in a bit of a Zappa mood again. It's officially just over twenty years ago that we lost him. So go out and buy some of his albums. I recommend "Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar", "Joe's Garage", "Bongo Fury", "Make A Jazz Noise Here", "Guitar", "Apostrophe", Overnight Sensation". There's so many, and now you can hear samples of most of them on YouTube, so dive in and pick what you like.
Howzabout my guitar tone? That's my Xaviere XV-870 "Darkside Edition", with "Lil Killers" pickups (the bridge and middle setting), thru my POD XTLive set on the Aggro X amp (is that right?), with a bit of simulated Tube Screamer as a booster.
The guitar is not easy to play. Medium size frets, and the action is all over the place, but I really like the "sound" of it. And it's very lightweight.
So there you go. Still trying to figure out what my new music will be, but I think I will include this one, perhaps a bit remixed.
The song is "Chunga's Revenge", the title track from Frank Zappa's 1970 album. The solo is "okay". Listening back to it, I definitely messed up some notes, but I wanted it very spontaneous and live. It's a first take run-thru solo, flubs and all.
Overall, it sounds pretty good. Yeah, I've been in a bit of a Zappa mood again. It's officially just over twenty years ago that we lost him. So go out and buy some of his albums. I recommend "Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar", "Joe's Garage", "Bongo Fury", "Make A Jazz Noise Here", "Guitar", "Apostrophe", Overnight Sensation". There's so many, and now you can hear samples of most of them on YouTube, so dive in and pick what you like.
Howzabout my guitar tone? That's my Xaviere XV-870 "Darkside Edition", with "Lil Killers" pickups (the bridge and middle setting), thru my POD XTLive set on the Aggro X amp (is that right?), with a bit of simulated Tube Screamer as a booster.
The guitar is not easy to play. Medium size frets, and the action is all over the place, but I really like the "sound" of it. And it's very lightweight.
So there you go. Still trying to figure out what my new music will be, but I think I will include this one, perhaps a bit remixed.
12/23/13
Blues Jam with the Joyo Pedals
I ran the Joyo Pedals thru some more tests yesterday, and came up with a simple blues jam using the pedals.
The guitar is all recorded with my old Yamaha SJ-550 with Dimarzio Pickups (Super Distortion in the Bridge, Humbucker From Hell in the Neck) through my POD XTLive set on a "clean" Hiwatt 100 amp simulation. Rhythm guitars are the Joyo Vintage Overdrive, first guitar solo is the Ultimate Drive with Vinatge Overdrive boosting it, second guitar solo is the US Dream with Vintage Overdrive.
Overall, these pedals work very well with single-note solos, and the rhythm guitar chords here that are just slightly broken up retain a great, tubey sound.
But … I find that these pedals do NOT sound good for a nice tight metal crunch rhythm guitar, like you would use for precise 16th riffs in Slayer or Metallica-style songs. It just "feels" like there's a slight "tube sag" when I play this style of rhythm. Thick, slow riffs like you would hear in heavy blues-rock or sludgy stoner rock and metal would sound great with these pedals. They're very full and thick sounding. The Ultimate Drive would especially match up well with old Black Sabbath, Sleep, Sunn O))), High On Fire, and the like.
The US Dream is a more "modern" sounding distortion, but I still can't quite get that tighter crunch with it. When I run the Vintage Drive into it (the Andy Sneap trick), it sounds better, but there's a lot of hiss and noise when I stop playing, so sudden stops don't sound so great unless I'm also running a good noise gate after the pedals.
So I'm still working on my new sounds with these pedals. When I record, I run thru the POD XTLive, which does have a very effective Noise Gate, but running live into an amp still produces a bunch of hiss, which I would guess you wouldn't really even notice playing loud with a full band in a club.
So anyway, here's the track I recorded, which also includes some rather sloppy Hammond Organ playing.
The guitar is all recorded with my old Yamaha SJ-550 with Dimarzio Pickups (Super Distortion in the Bridge, Humbucker From Hell in the Neck) through my POD XTLive set on a "clean" Hiwatt 100 amp simulation. Rhythm guitars are the Joyo Vintage Overdrive, first guitar solo is the Ultimate Drive with Vinatge Overdrive boosting it, second guitar solo is the US Dream with Vintage Overdrive.
Overall, these pedals work very well with single-note solos, and the rhythm guitar chords here that are just slightly broken up retain a great, tubey sound.
But … I find that these pedals do NOT sound good for a nice tight metal crunch rhythm guitar, like you would use for precise 16th riffs in Slayer or Metallica-style songs. It just "feels" like there's a slight "tube sag" when I play this style of rhythm. Thick, slow riffs like you would hear in heavy blues-rock or sludgy stoner rock and metal would sound great with these pedals. They're very full and thick sounding. The Ultimate Drive would especially match up well with old Black Sabbath, Sleep, Sunn O))), High On Fire, and the like.
The US Dream is a more "modern" sounding distortion, but I still can't quite get that tighter crunch with it. When I run the Vintage Drive into it (the Andy Sneap trick), it sounds better, but there's a lot of hiss and noise when I stop playing, so sudden stops don't sound so great unless I'm also running a good noise gate after the pedals.
So I'm still working on my new sounds with these pedals. When I record, I run thru the POD XTLive, which does have a very effective Noise Gate, but running live into an amp still produces a bunch of hiss, which I would guess you wouldn't really even notice playing loud with a full band in a club.
So anyway, here's the track I recorded, which also includes some rather sloppy Hammond Organ playing.
12/15/13
Mental Toss Flycoon
Finally uploaded my tribute To Frank Zappa (and a few more). This is a collection of Zappa cover tunes I've done over the years. It was time to get them all in one place. I hope I do the Maestro Zappa justice.I also include a tribute the the Buffy/Angel TV Theme songs, Focus, and Beethoven.
My two personal favorites are Ink Ero Des and Orange County Lumbertruck Runs Over a Weasel. Ink Ero Des (Zappa's Inca Roads) is almost sad sounding, and OC Lumber truck has such a great, downright "uplifting" melody. Yeah, that's pretty weird for me, but there, I said it.
Here's to you, Frank. You are missed.
To go to the Download page, click HERE.
Please note that NO MONEY is to be exchanged at all for my versions of these songs. Please buy the original Frank Zappa albums, and support the Zappa Family Trust to keep the music alive.
10/27/13
Momento Celeste - New Dimaension X song
Finally recorded a new Dimaension X song, using the new Joyo pedals and my 5-string Schecter guitar.
Here it is - "Momento Celeste"
Guitar is through the Joyo pedals and into the Line 6 POD XTLive. Bass was through the Joyo Vintage Overdrive. The song is a bit mellow, but I wanted to do something a bit mellower the really test the pedals doing something more than just heavy metal. Believe me, I've still got plenty of metal up my sleeve.
More to come.
OH ... a few more things ... I finally uploaded the two Moroghor albums to the Internet Archive, so they are available from a nice, secure, and spam-free website. The links are:
https://archive.org/details/andspaceaschaos
and
https://archive.org/details/moroghor_darkness
And unfortunately, just heard some band news. Lou Reed died today, at the age of 71.
Here it is - "Momento Celeste"
Guitar is through the Joyo pedals and into the Line 6 POD XTLive. Bass was through the Joyo Vintage Overdrive. The song is a bit mellow, but I wanted to do something a bit mellower the really test the pedals doing something more than just heavy metal. Believe me, I've still got plenty of metal up my sleeve.
More to come.
OH ... a few more things ... I finally uploaded the two Moroghor albums to the Internet Archive, so they are available from a nice, secure, and spam-free website. The links are:
https://archive.org/details/andspaceaschaos
and
https://archive.org/details/moroghor_darkness
And unfortunately, just heard some band news. Lou Reed died today, at the age of 71.
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