29th December 2009
I am now missing my studio....... the nest of cables and recording trolley were packed away b4 Christmas to turn the room back into a bedroom, blah!!!!!!!
I am well frustrated coz santa brought me a midi controller - Korg Nano Kontrol unit to be precise plus an M Audio digital USB interface which means I can now record direct to my laptop which has Ableton Live, albeit Ableton Live version 6 and that would be "lite". But, if I can make this almost "do" what I really want to do, I will then splash out and buy the Ableton Live 8 version called intro which is a bargain presently at £99 !!!
Presently looking at this website and wondering how it got like this!!!!!!!! Trouble is, if I change to a different format say wordpress, then there is just too much work transferring stuff etc and what's the point anywayzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ?
Went back to work today, which went well, thankfully.
Just had a look at the "collective task" for january and am at a crossroads.... you see, my compulsive/obsessive disorder has been getting the better of me lately and to combat it I have resolved to NOT contributing to the collective tasks every month....but, I have had a great idea for the january task and its not even january yet! So... do i give in and do the january task or do i sit it out and concentrate on recording other stuff????????
Broke a string on my Stagg strat, BLAST! "I never break strings!" in fact I pride myself in the way I string my guitars because quite honestly I never break strings, but top e broke just before Christmas and so guitar playing isn't being done and I'm missing it! maybe I'll go into town tomoz and buy a brand new set or 2.
Peace and have a happy new year, Graham
21st December 2009
I thought i would re-create here a post I just made on the guitarist collective, so here it is;-
To virtuoso or not virtuoso?
Number 1 wifey (I always refer to her as that, just to keep her on her toes – hope she doesn’t read this!) has ordered me to pack away the nest of cables and equipment bedecked trolley that I laughingly call my “studio”, as there is an imminent arrival of visitors. Therefore I have had to think up new guitar oriented pleasures, oo er missus!
So…whilst idling away my time in the (“you use too much bubble bath solution”) bubble bath I sadly started to think up the following…..
First, I have far too many guitar instrumental albums.
Second, I have rediscovered prog rock and love the interaction of several band members and I actually “like” keyboardists and the zounds they make.
Thirdly, I come from the old school where music is made up of Rhythm, Melody and Harmony and although I enjoy groooooves, I really love the interplay and make up of songs with intro’s, outro’s, pre-chorus, chorus, pre verse, verse and middle 8 /bridge sections!
Fourthly, I really enjoy vocalists. Not all vocalists, I can’t stand the screamers or the ridiculously falsetto singers – Bee gees and The Darkness.
Fifthly, due to all above, I am now appreciating more the construction and imagination of a “guitar solo”.
Sixthly I am bored with the Blues.
Seventhly my love of Jazz has waned, I go all out for it for a while and then fall out with it.
To virtuoso – I know there are some of you out there in collective land who are instantly turned off by some virtuoso names, but bear with me please. These guys don’t just pentatonic bash nor do they widdle without meaning or planning. My first theory about these super humans, is that they are not actually super human! But are very disciplined in what they play. Take any track of any of their albums and I will guarantee that there is hardly any improvisation being done when the red light (that would be the recording light…..) is turned on. Vai actually hinted at this when you-tube showed him explaining the guitar parts he recorded that were inspired by “Hungarian folk music” – it was a track off his real illusions album.
However… I also remember Paul Gilbert being invited to the Guitarist studio and Jan Cyrka had pre-recorded a backing track for Pablo to solo over. To make it interesting, Jan had created it in “seven”. The story went that PG listened through once and then nodded to hit “record” and he laid down a real “barnburner”. I think I am now starting to glimpse how this is done. These guys are pro’s. This is “all” they do. Therefore Pablo probably thought “ah, this is in seven and in E minor” “I will use riff number 78 from my memory bank of riffs to play in seven and transpose it to the key of E minor” and hence he didn’t sound pentatonic, or have that groping around waiting for the inspiration sound that many guitarists, both amateur and pro alike (yes, I hardly ever listen to Clapton nowadays coz he seems to spend ages repeating forgettable lines, before he remembers a unforgettable line – there again he has been around for yonks and it is probably majorly difficult for him to come up with anything original anymore – is that a bad thought?).
So my theory is – do these virtuosos come up with their stuff by jamming and improvising endlessly and then via excellent Quality Control, remove the dross and remember the lines that inspired them and have the ability to make it all fit together and to sound like it was “one take”??
To not virtuoso – well what guitarists fall into this category?
In my mind I am thinking Andy Summers (police) – apparently he is enjoying life now as a virtuoso jazz guitarist, but his fame was made by being a very excellent competent Rhythm guitarist, who came up with clever and intricate repeatable riffs and paid major attention to tone and effects….but he wasn’t virtuoso, nor was George Harrison – the Beatle did come up with interesting guitar solos but they were short and snappy (usually) and he never sounded pentatonic. The Edge, yep I know some of you can’t stand U2, but you have to hand it to the Edge that he knows how to create memorable riffs, even if he “needs” a delay pedal to do it. During my trip down guitar memory lane I listened to Rush, those absolute masters of the changing Time Signature and the incredibly complicated song structure, but…Alex Lifeson, he wasn’t really virtuoso was he? But boy could he come up with intelligent riffs against the weirdest song structure (spirit of radio).
The point of all this bubble bath thinking is to say that there is room for everything in guitar land and perhaps that is what makes it interesting.
It’s been said many times – Keef Richard came up with the most memorable riffs in rock n roll but is hardly virtuoso, yet no-one can hum a tune created by Segovia…..
Have a happy Christmas whatever type of Geeeetarist u r.
21st November 2009
You might have noticed that my threat to BLOG has never materialised, in fact looking back at my jottings over the past few months I have resisted the temptation - what am I on about? well, BLOGGING, just what is it? it can mean many things, but to me the real bloggers are the ones that comment on stuff just about every day - I have no intention inclination or time to do that! - they also write with authority - again, i'm just a numpty from leeds what do I know? and they have opinions that seemingly are important enough to share with the world, presumably because the world will be ever so much richer for the publication of their perception........hmmmmm
So, no. I won't BLOG.
But that doesn't mean I don't have opinions nor does it mean I haven't the courage to publish my opinions, it simply means that on a one on one basis I will share my views on anything should they be requested. A different approach.
20th November 2009
Just finished and posted (yesterday actually) a couple of tunes where I collaborated with someone from the guitarist collective called Paul, aka Dragon Dreams.
I have also been updated on my website tooling so that the streamers can be used on any page and so over the next few weeks more of my stuff will be available via streaming.
I've been loading Ableton Live onto an old ex works laptop and had hoped to have started creating loads of new stuff, but technology demands learning and I'm a bit tired so that will come later.
So it's late November now and I'm still on 2 wheels (Scootering) I worked out that I am getting over 96 miles per gallon! and to date the only thing that has gone wrong was a lightbulb failed - I'm just wondering how reliable this chinese machine will be over the forthcoming Yorkshire winter? Come to think of it, will I be able to stand the wind and the rain?
Talking of Scooters, a new shop has just opened in Kippax which sells restored Lambrettas and Vespas !!! man, for once I must have my finger on the pulse!!! but wait...the owners of Lambrettas and Vespas (classic 2 strokes) seem to look down on us with our lightweight plastic made in China 4 stroke models.
No worries, I love the lines and look of classic scooters and mine has that and I arn't that bothered that it isn't a so called real one.
Hey! check out MOLDOVER --- www.moldover.com this guy is part of a new music revolution!!!! you read that first here!
17th October 2009
Just
posted my October entry for Guitarist Collective despite
there being a definite fall off of interest...these things
happen though, we all have lives to lead and things just,
well, happen! Anyway I started to wonder why this is that
important to me and why I seem to have posted 34 straight
entries, which is probably exceptional when viewed through
the eyes of quantity, but perhaps not via quality?? I
concluded that "I just like doing it!" and "it
is a great exercise in trying new things out that correspond
to someone elses rules". I also enjoy "speaking"
with the guys on line - common interest and all that.
In
a completely different sphere of music, I am planning
my next gig....assisted once again by Lee on decks and
other paraphoalia, thank-you Lee and thanks also to Keith
on the desk, a major unsung hero of mine, a soldier, a
rock, who never lets me down and seems happy to go with
(almost) anything I try (bet I am not like that....hmmmmm).
Anywayzzz we are looking forward to it and need to get
in a rehearsal pretty sharpish.
Last
weekend was the traditional "Marrick weekend"
an outdoor pursuits challange, great stuff! and I kept
my 25 year unbeaten table tennis record, though I could
have come unstuck as there was apparantly a Lancashire
TT champion in the house....anyway, I am still unbeaten!
- but you know what? winning is not what it used to be!
it used to be vital, it used to be everything! growing
up perhaps, enjoying the journey, aware of the disguises
of the ego....
Took
"my men" to marrick - can't for security reasons
tell you who they are, but they are special people, thanks
mates for being mates! My new job is going great, I leap
outa bed every morning and arrive at least 30 minutes
before I am actually supposed to start work! yep, this
doesn't feel like work, but it is! and I can see the results,
thanks!
Scootering
is brilliant, such freedom from the constraints of 4 wheels,
everywhere seems choked up on 4 wheels but as soon as
I am on the little chinese Znen Firenze 125cc in black,
well....wow! - I love "filtering" - going between
stationary lanes of traffic beating them from the lights
and generally getting wherever I am going miles faster
than I would on 4 wheels due not to top speed but due
to keeping going, no more stop start....
Bit
sad that we don't do KK anymore, but times move on and
there comes a time when one season ends and another one
opens up! - probable last duties involve a trip to Selby
soon. It will be nice or is that sentimental, probably
just sentimental, to see the original Bernamica Gray homestead.
Quality
and quantity - well my conclusion is to get "balance
in everything" (except sex...where
I am still an extremist, according to mrs Bernamica Gray).
4th
September 2009
Just
like buses you wait around for yonks with no sign of one
and then two come along at once! and so it is with my
jottings!
Speaking
of buses...I changed jobs a while back and changed lifestyle,
with no debt!!! yes you read that right, lucky me... no
luck about it, just frugal money management...oh dear,
the ego is re-emerging....blah, anywayzzzzzzz the new
lifestyle took away being a 2 car family and now we are
a frugal 60 to the gallon single car family (actually
both girls have now departed to new horizons - bless them,
yes really! bless them!) and we also have a scooter!!!!!!!!!
- having fallen off on my CBT.....cough....and then bought
a brand spanking new scooter and er fell off that causing
some scratches to the new machine...(ZNEN FIRENZE in case
you were wondering - it is made in the same factory in
China as the Lambretta Pato and is £2k cheaper and
is probably the very same machine - but.... the Lammy
Pato is not what a Lammy owners club person would recognise
as a Lammy and in fact looks more like a Vespa!!!! - Been
doodling with possible decals to stick on the side of
the Znen and I came up with VESTA and LAMBRUSCO... get
it???? well do ya? nevermind)
Not
such a good start and perhaps my sir name is prophetic!?!?
Anywayzzzzzzzz
buses... yes buses, well buses were the reason for me
getting a scooter as they are unreliable and costly so
my scoot cost me £899 brand new on the road with
£15 road tax and 100 miles to the gallon!!!!!!!!!
- when I fill it up at the local expensive petrol station
it costs me from empty running on fumes, £5 and
25 pennies.
Next
"GIG" is on 1st November!
I
love the latest It Bites album - called Tall Ships and
I love the latest U2 offering.
Ableton
Live and midi controllering has got my interest, I've
already sourced a laptop and will soon be experimenting.
Need
to make a call to someone soon to sort out summat to do
with this web site.
Check
out Moldover, just google him or go to his home site http://www.moldover.com/
which is where you can see what "Controllerism"
is all about.
So
music.... my music.... well the P&W new style is going
good and when i get around to it i will make some recordings.
For the more complicated stuff, well this is where A Live
etc comes in, it looks like just the thing I've been waiting
for.
1st
September 2009
This
is probably the longest gap I have had between jottings
and I have no excuse except to say that holidays and house
decoration have dominated the summer!!
The
good news is that the "GIG" went down really
well and we've been asked back!!!! and we enjoyed ourselves.
We
are now looking at utilising Ableton Live as this appears
to be the software that we've been waiting for!
I
believe that technologically music is about to go through
another mini revolution, let me explain;-
There
are hundreds of thousands if not millions of DJ's out
there and most of them understand tempo and beats, but
only a small percentage actually understand how melody,
chords, harmony and key changes actually work. There is
a small band of DJ's who are now calling themselves "Controllerists"
which is the art of manipulating midi and audio data via
midi controllers (Ableton Live helps here), the result
is that there are some DJ's who are old school musicians
who can mix and mash audio clips that fit together harmonically
as well as rhythmically.
What
is all this to do with me and why am I excited???
Well,
Ableton Live via a midi controller can allow musicians
like me to perform without a stringent backing track,
but allows the vere to be extended or repeated choruses
etc etc - presently and indeed at the last gig, I was
able to do all of this via my Boss Loop Station, however
the drawback is that within 1 song I can only make 3 changes
and can't change tempo or time signature, which for a
lot of music is not a problem, however I am excited at
being able to produce in a live setting complicated music!!
which hitherto was only possible in my studio.
We
are not gonna rush though as one of the learning points
on the last gig was "simplicity", so initially
we will stick with the present plan and introduce Ableton
Live clips slowly.
17th
May 2009
If
you followed the last Jotting, things have moved along
positively, as, for the past 4 days I have been arranging
and rehearsing 4 new songs & I have to say that the
rehearsals have gone very well indeed! - I am quite excited!
I am actually ready to see if it works with Lee and we
are scheduled to rehearse in a couple of weeks.
To
be honest I could do the gig in July on my own, but I
think Lee will really add something different especially
with the dialogue tracks.
My
missus comes back this week so if she hasn't lost the
camera some brazillian fotos will appear soon!
13th
May 2009
I
am now back to work and living once again on UK time -
29 hours travelling door to door was quite, er interesting!
I
will post some pictures soon - can't at present because
wifey is still in Brazil (lucky bugger!) she has more
holiday allocation than me & her trip was partly pasrt
of her work. (she has the camera!) Anyway, butterflies
the size of a breakfast dish, birds and butterflies in
vivid colours (like as if they had come straight from
Disney!). Vultures! Eagles and Owls, not to mention poisoness
spiders and venoum filled rattle snakes!
Did
I say that we were inland in a jungle!
Not
just that but the mountains were covered in thick jungle
- bannanas on trees, you just reached out and picked a
bunch as well as a myriad of other types of fruit!
Oh
yeah and a chap living there for 1 year has never seen
a monkey and I saw THREE!
Then
we spent time in a different jungle... the inner city
or to be more accurate the Favelaes - very interesting!
So....with
an empty house and for once some spare time on my hands
I have started a new project - see www.llef.co.uk
Let
me explain a little....I have a gig booked for late July,
this was taken by me to "force me" to come up
with something NEW, to try something different and to
return to a world that I haven't operated in for 16 years
or more! - the world I am referring to is P&W!
BUT,
I have tried to approach this in a different way and so
for the past 3 nights I have written and recorded 4 new
songs - when i say "recorded" this is where
things are different.
1
I don't want to do the stand at the front with an acoustic
bit
2
I don't want the hassle of forming a band - been there
too many times!
3
I am gonna use the loop station, now armed with the loops
for the 4 songs and more will follow (hopefully) and then
the sound will be fuller and hopefully more controllable.
4
I have also asked Lee Jackson to accompany me with his
DJ turntable set - he will concentrate on drums and has
come up with some "dialogue" clips which should
make things interesting and allow me to do the odd instrumental
break!
5
Lee is also talking about video/pictures so it should
be a different way of doing the olde P&W
Of
course, if my rehearsals don't go well then I will bottle
out and return to the more comfortable and interesting
world of home recording!!!!!!!!
(I
will still be doing home recordings in any event and maybe
the music on here will get more quirky as the music on
LLEF becomes more er, what did they call it? ah yes, "acceptable!")
9th
May 2009
Still
jet lagged but managed May collective entry!
Brazil
was AMAZING!!!!!!
More
news to follow after mucho sleepo!
21st
April 2009
Well...
the gremlins struck us again, but this time I think we
are ok, fingers crossed (if I were superstitious, that
is....but, I'm not!)
I'm
well pleased that the new "Streaming tool" is
working and this months collective entry has the tune
"Daffodil" available on mp3 download or even
Streamed!
Bits of news;-
Firstly
I received an e-mail today from a label who want to use
1 of my songs on a compilation CD....at first I was elated,
then I was kinda a bit saddened coz it turns out I have
to contribute some cash...which I don't have, so.... nevermind.
Secondo,
I have now started a new website (name won't be launched
just yet) that will feature a new venture for me! - the
idea I have is to return to P&W in church, but....with
a subtle twist!!!!! so, forget acoustic guitar chord bashing,
and forget churning out the oldies that others have written
and think what it might be like to have electronic driums,
sampled on the fly DJ style drums, a DJ, yes a real one!
and lots of noisy electric guitar and harmony singing,
all via a few boxes and 2 ageing rockers.... well, 1 ageing
rocker (me) and 1 ageing DJ (that's him....) - still just
a germ of an idea but the songs are virtually written
and the idea is to have "dialogue" samples and
a multi-media "show" - a far cry from the acoustic
and OHP dayzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzz,
soz, I just dropped off there for a bit, so, 3rdly "the
Bernamicas" might have some new and rather "different"
transport shortly"....
4thly
- congrats to all my family who all seem to have birthdays
this month!
5thly
but it should 'ave been FIRST is congrats to Simon and
Amy, well done and what a gig!!!!!!!!!!!
6thish
- Brazil!!!!!!
here we come!
7thly
- the new job is pretty good! - I have new skills!!!!!!!!
22nd
March 2009
|
