Phantasmablogia Rock Music

Live Recordings

Thu, 24 July 2008 5:58:52 -0400

I've added a section to the sidebar for tunes I've captured from live gigs. The 'Intro' one is from last night and it will likely turn into the next tune. I wanted a Hendrix kind of feeling and that was working for me. I don't normally tangle with his style as he's the One True God but I liked how that was going last night. The next trick is to remember what I did but the chords were pretty simple so that should work out ok. I couldn't even count how many times a tune has started out from just screwing around in a gig and hopefully there's now another one!

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Great Gig Last Night

Thu, 24 July 2008 5:34:55 -0400

There were all kinds of mistakes in "Down for the Count" and that would have dragged me out pretty much because I saved it up for the flashy end bit. That wasn't what hooked people but rather it was running it out on Snow's "Who Do You Love" as that one was rippin' pretty good. The gig is probably recorded but it's in a single one-hour file. What I may do is keep on recording gigs the way I've been doing it. After I do one that feels like it was 'on' all the way through it and without any really egregious mistakes, I could bust it up into tracks and put it on a CD. The audio capture file is already in the right format; I just need to bust it into pieces at the breaks between tunes.

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Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Thu, 24 July 2008 4:55:50 -0400

This law must have looked so ludicrous to the rest of the world but, even tho it was a classic demonstration of the provincialism of the American culture, it nevertheless changed a lot of thinking to the point now that the law isn't necessary and there is a substantial amount of resentment from just about anyone that it even exists. So long as don't ask don't tell exists, gay soldiers are, almost by definition, second-class citizens. Now it looks like that phase of this ignoble history may be coming to a close.

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Silas at Luxor at 4:00 SL Time

Wed, 23 July 2008 15:48:50 -0400

There's a gig today at Luxor, Circe Broom's stage, at 4:00 p.m. US Pacific Time. I'm not sure what order I'll use to roll the tunes out but "Down for the Count" will definitely be in it. Lately what I've been doing has been to open the set with all the guns firing, all the bombs going off, but that leaves the end of the set to kind of languish because I'll go twenty or thirty minutes before I finally lighten up and do a soft one. Hmm...maybe "And Darkness Falls" to open and then "Down for the Count" to close as I definitely want to end with a bang too. Yep, I like that...I'll use it as a teaser and see how that works.

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More Down for the Count

Wed, 23 July 2008 1:09:06 -0400

The obsession continues with a new lead line and new intro/outtro bits. I tried a bit of vocal but it was way too amphibian so that'll have to keep for another time. It's damn sure getting fat tho. I know I suck at production stuff but it sounds the way I want. I bet a whizkid producer could make the sound really obese but I'm pretty much satisfied with the way it is now. It might be cool to put a synthy lead in somewhere but that sucks for live as switching between lead instruments is a monster bitch so I have to record it.

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Obsessed with Down for the Count

Tue, 22 July 2008 16:50:36 -0400

Damn, some of the guitar pickin' on that tune is faster'n a mofo. I don't even believe this stuff when I play it back. I don't know if you all believe I can hear the mistakes and it may seem strange that I don't do it again when I make a mistake. The reason they don't bother me is that I'd be disappointed if I were not making mistakes because that would only mean that I'm not pushing hard enough. At this stage, the mistakes aren't a problem so they aren't dragging me down at all.

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Where the Hell is Matt?

This is a high-resolution version of the "Where the Hell is Matt?" video by Matt Harding and Melissa Nixon. It features "Praan" sung by Palbasha Siddique and written by Gary Schyman.

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More on Down for the Count

Tue, 22 July 2008 3:30:55 -0400

Today's version of "Down for the Count" is in the sidebar. The only part I didn't re-record was the bass line and there's now an organ track as well. I didn't want a synth as this one is down for the count so I wanted an organ sound that was nasty as the bass. I don't mean nasty as in some precious Disturbed kind of affectation but rather that I want it to have some bite as synths have a carpetbagger kind of sound sometimes.

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Down for the Count - Uploaded - Updated - And Again

There's a draft version of the tune in the sidebar. There's no keyboard stuff in it yet as I will still probably screw around with it some more. If I do any keys now then I'd have to record them again plus re-record the bass if I change the guitar chords. That's a waste so I'm holding off on it for now.

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Down For the Count

Sun, 20 July 2008 23:04:08 -0400

It cools off around 10:00 p.m. so that gives a short opportunity to play. I put down a bass line for the new one, "Down For the Count," and it's starting to layer up nicely. I'll probably want a keyboard line on there and what's cool these days is that I can lay it down with the keyboard or with synth chords from the guitar, maybe I'll do both. I want sound so fat that it spills right out of the pan and starts a fire on the stove.

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Metal Day in Second Life

Sun, 20 July 2008 15:38:09 -0400

The gig at Avilion was scheduled for noon and I like to login an hour ahead of gig to do the various things I need for setting up. As I'm doing that, I see Alazarin at noon, Harleykillernl at noon, Zaphod at noon, one after the other. All told, I know there were at least five electric acts and maybe six, all going on at the same time.

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New Tune

Sun, 20 July 2008 6:30:16 -0400

I don't know if I'll have it together for the gig today but it's promising. I'm pretty much satisfied with the chords and some lead lines that play over them so now I can put some bass and keys over that to see how it all stacks up. This is metallic on the same order as "And Darkness Falls" and I'm really enjoying the sound, particularly for the segregation of the instruments.

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Guitars

Sun, 20 July 2008 4:48:56 -0400

There were as an email from my sis yesterday so it's settled now on where the 12-string acoustic will go. What makes it all kozmic is that today is her boy's birthday so the timing is perfect. She works for an airline so she may fly up and pick it up so that'd be kind of cool. I don't know if it's all that practical as I'd still have to box it up just like I would for UPS or whatever. (I've checked with Guitar Center and they don't have a special instrument shipping service)

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Too Hot in New England

Sat, 19 July 2008 20:28:42 -0400

Sorry I suck so bad for being so difficult to find and for bailing out on the shows today but it is nothing but brutal here right now. The house gets so hot that the only way to deal with it is to hide in the bedroom with the window air conditioner or hide in the basement. The rest of the house is close to unusable. It will be a bit better tomorrow but not by a lot.

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And Darkness Falls

It was really good playing last night as it felt pretty spontaneous and I love that. I liked how it went with "Who Do You Love" from Snow Gretzky. That had a great, raw garage band kind of feel to it and I was definitely getting off on that. This one wasn't all that dark but it still felt like a good match.

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