MySpace Fail

Myspace, maybe it's time to throw in the towel.

Brain Power

I had a professor this past year that told a story one day. Her son sustained an injury that left permanent ringing in one of his ears. The constant ringing distracted him throughout the day and then kept him up at night with its persistance. Eventually, he went to have it checked out. I don't remember what she said had caused the problem, but the doctor's treatment is what's important. There was no treatment. The doctor said that within a month, the boys brain would tune out the ringing. Essentially, it would stop "hearing" that signal. And that's what happened.

 

The ringing is still there, but he will never hear it again. Your brain conditions itself to ignore repetitive signals like that. That's pretty awesome.

 

This concept has some application:

 

1. The prevalence of terrible music - Top 40 music is everywhere. For the most part, it is terrible music. Since I try to avoid it, when I do hear it I notice how bad it is - how repetitive and unoriginal it all is. Is it possible, because so many people only listen to that music, that their brains are conditioned to ignore certain aspects of the music? In that case, it wouldn't be because they have bad taste, but because they have no taste... Bizarre concept.

 

2. The importance of listening to different types of music - While I was in school, I often listened to music while doing homework and studying. However, I could only listen to certain albums for this. They were albums that I was familiar with. I couldn't take a Frank Zappa album that I just got and do homework while listening to it. I would pay far too much attention to the music. My first few times through an album need to be almost entirely without distraction because I focus so much on them. However, after listening to an Explosions in the Sky album, or even an August Burns Red album, time after time, I could have the music playing and be able to ignore it and actually do work. I would postulate that that is because my brain was so familiar with the material that it was easier to ignore it.

Objective Reasons Why Country Music Sucks

Today is country day in the office. It's a painful day without the moral support of my iPod. While my iPod sits here and charges, I thought I might take some time to explore the objective things that make country suck.

1. Intellectual Face-Palm - Sure it's subjective to say that a southern accent makes you sound stupid. I would argue that the slow draw in your voice has a direct correlation to being all-around slow. I feel like I get dumber when I hear anything of the sort. That's a personal thing and I understand that. However, the use and acceptance of improper English achieves the same thing, but with more objectivity. Phrases such as, "gonna' get me..." and words like "ain't," find a home with country music (yes, I’ve heard both today). Sure, that's the vernacular of the country subculture, but the fact that it is improper won’t change.

2. Repetition – I remember when I was younger and had someone explain country music to me. They said that it was all about a few basic topics: a lost love, a dying dog, or a dead truck. Sure, you could probably add drinking to the list, as well as tractors, but that’s pretty much it. In the days of Johnny Cash, it was about stories. Storytelling was something that the genre actually had going for it. And it has left that go.

3. Musicality – I complain about this over most all genres. Occasionally you see some instrumentation to include a fiddle, banjo, or slide guitar. Aside from that, it’s the same radio-friendly instrumentation playing the same radio-friendly progressions. The genre has slowly worked itself into a progressively smaller and smaller box. Originality is gone.

Generalizations. Yes, I know that these are. There have been songs that I’ve heard and, putting my bias aside, have recognized as good music. Like in any genre, generalizations speak louder than a single gem. And that’s important to recognize. But maybe a genre where objective flaws such as these can be found doesn't deserve a chance?

---edit---
pt 2 can be found here.

Invest In Your Fans

The idea that one person can make a difference is a thing of the past. There are few cases where I would back the notion. The truth is that most people today are incompetent. Everyone wants everything done for them and handed to them. And if they don't get it easy, they won't try.

 

You could go a million different ways with that with respect to music. However, consider this: you can never view your fans as though one person cannot make a difference. It is impossible to know the capacity of every one of your fans and to know their connections and motivations in life. Sure, some will give you an idea, but when it comes down to it, you don't know.

 

This also extends to potential fans. There is no way of knowing whether a fan or potential fan will be the one person who actually can make a difference. So treat them like that and make yourself available.

 

In the past few days I've emptied my wallet of business cards and have given out a cd to a stranger. In almost all of those cases, this involved a discussion about music. These were conversations both during work and during my climbing time. Taking a break from work is one thing, but to take time from climbing to just talk music is showing a bit more importance to it, especially when one guy apologized for keeping me from climbing.

 

And the one time where handing out a card didn't involve a conversation? A public bulletin board. Why not? I was waiting for Kelly outside of a bathroom and was reading what was posted on the board. Why couldn't someone else end up doing the same and seeing my card?

 

What it comes down to is that you have no idea of anyone's potential. It's pretty safe to say that most people will let you down and perform pretty poorly through life, but unless you know every fan and potential fan on a personal level, you have no idea what they could do for you.

 

Invest time in everyone when it comes to your music. For all I know, I could book a string of house concerts from that business card on the bulletin board. I already know that one lady I talked to is getting me some information on open mics in the area, yet she was someone that I had just met.

 

Think about it.

Fireworks

Last night, while Kelly and I were hanging out at my house, I started to hear loud booms - a lot of them. My first thought was somewhere between fireworks and gun fight. Afterall, I do live above Reading, which isn't always a friendly place. And what the heck is there to celebrate on a Wednesday night in June? Usually if you're going to set off fireworks near a populate area, you need the cover of a holiday like the 4th of July, where everybody's doing it.

Regardless of what it was, I was intrigued. I started to pay attention more and decided that it was fireworks. Had it been a gun fight, by the sounds of it, they would have taken the whole city.

But where were the fireworks coming from? I'm kind of a pyro - I've played with tons of fireworks, built some stuff, etc. Not so much in the 'let's blow up this building' kinda way, but more along the lines of 'let's see how close to us we can get the mortors to blow up'. So small home arsenals of fireworks intrigue me.

Kelly and I decided to investigate. If these people blew up things on a weeknight in June for no reason, I wanted to be their friend.

So we get outside and hear the rest of the story. And I'm wondering who even has access to stuff this big?! These aren't just any fireworks - these are the kinds that they set off at professional displays for things like the 4th of July and at sporting events  ...like baseball. Lame.

The idea of discovering some underground hush-hush supply of pyros with their explosives is way more interesting than a generic display put on at a baseball game.

And that's the difference between the indie/unsigned and the major lables.

Major lables are all about money. They take an explosive act and pile on the mainstream expectations and use them for show. It's no longer about the music, just the glam and fortune. Everyone who's not seeking that can focus on the music and the fan experience.

Fireworks are so much about the experience. The mainstream is thinking how cool it is to see something explode from 150 yards away. They're blinded by the idea that that's what fireworks are. But they're wrong.

I've seen mortors explode from 10 feet away. Arguably poor decisions, but decisions that gave a more true experience of what fireworks are. They're violent explosions, so a hint of fear seems apropriate? Understanding it allows you to play with fire and not regret it.

Big stadiums and pop radio are just a mask of what music can be. It's the difference between having seats 100 yards away in a stadium to see Nickelback or going to B-Sides and seeing Margot and the Nuclear So and So's play 10 feet away from you. Granted, I have not seen Nickelback, but everything about them sucks and embodies mainstream, so the picture is probably pretty accurate...

Muscle Memory (new song)

It's not something that we think about very often. It just happens. I can go out and dribble a soccer ball around a field like it's second nature, but I haven't played in years. Or I can get on a bike and just take off, yet I haven't ridden a bike in years either.

I recently started climbing again. Sophomore year I climbed 3-5 days a week, but since then I haven't been out more than once a month. I was never amazing at it, but I had a lot of experience and was learning a lot of technique. When I joined Reading Rocks climbing gym last week, the only thing that was holding me back was being out of shape. My fingers knew how to move and how to interact with the holds as if it were second nature. Over the past week, as I've started to build my strength back, my ability is improving every single day. The hard part has already been done.

It's a lot like music. You write something and you play it over and over again. The more you play it, the more you remember it.

But it's more than oh I played a this chord and then this other chord. It's about your fingers remembering how to interact with the strings (this applies across the board, not just with guitar), how to maneuver themselves around to produce the desired sound. It's muscle memory.

That's how, years later, you can go back to a piece and quickly relearn it.

The band, Dream Theater, has been together for over 20 years, but the way they plan their sets allows them to have any material from their entire 20 years on only a few days notice. They have to relearn material that they may have not played in years!

Personally, I've never had the patience for learning music. And it totally sucks, because that screws me when I want to relearn an old piece that I wrote.

Like today. I just got copies of recordings I did with Jeremy Bentley at MR.STUDIO a while back. I had totally forgotten about them. They sound great, but there's one song that completely eludes me. I remember playing it once upon a time, but the muscle memory isn't fast enough to keep up with my fleeting attention span. It's a shame, because it's really good... Hopefully I'll convince myself to sit down for the half hour, or however long it takes, and relearn it.

Because I really like it.

Ironically, when it was recorded, it had no name. I don't think it ever got one, so it's going to be ironically named, Muscle Memory (tuning is D-G-D-G-A-D if anyone else wants to try it out).

It's on my website, here.
And also on this nifty little reverbnation player (but you should check out my website too)

Implications of Life's Recent Changes

In a post last week, I shared some of the craziness of life over the past few weeks. The main points are that I graduated, got a full-time job, and moved. Welcome real life.

 

The question that remains is: what does this mean for my music? By no means do I have everything figured out, but I can give you an idea of what I'd like to see.

 

To start, this is the first time in ages that I have had access to all of my guitars. This means thing like experimental 12-string bowing can happen. This also means that I can have guitars readily available in different tunings - more of a convenience thing. With some additional room and time, I'll be fixing my Strat sometime in the near future (it's been down with some wiring issues for maybe 8 months).

 

And with the extra room, I'm hoping to bring my Kora and start playing around with that. And my dad's bass is already there, but it needs a new battery right now...

 

Gigs:

Unfortunately, I don't have many lined up right now. Not knowing what was going down after graduation, I just left the summer empty. Most of the places that I normally play are still within a reasonable distance, but I'll be reassessing that as well as searching for some new places near the Reading area. So far I haven't been able to find anything worthwhile - no open mics or anything...

 

So...

 

If you know of places to play around here, CONTACT ME. If you want me to play a private house concert, CONTACT ME. If you're a musician and need some support for a gig, CONTACT ME. If you have any contacts for gigs or any other ideas, let me know. Serioiusly.

 

I've already gotten some help from a good friend of mine, Joseph Strider, with a supporting gig and I'm trying to pressure my friend Suzi Brown into the same, so there are some great opportunities that may present themselves.

 

Recording:

With the cost of living and my pay, I don't quite have the freedom that I'd like. Hopefully I can save some up to be recording in the fall? Every time I look at my budget it sucks, but I'll make the best of it.

 

Streaming/Video:

It's in the works. I'll be experimenting with using my Boss GT-10 as an interface sometime in the next week or two. Unfortunately, my other interface doesn't work with Windows 7...

 

Blogs:

There may not be as many, but I'll continue to write in my free time (lunch) and hopefully be able to get some good content out of those times.

Bowed Guitars

A few days ago I decided to pull out my bow. I've got a good bit of free time, so why not?

And I'm not taking about shooting stuff. A bow like a cello bow - because that's actually what it is. But I use it on a guitar. It's nothing that hasn't been done before, but it is exciting and a lot of fun.

Playing around with it got me thinking about ways that I've seen guitars bowed before.

Jimmy Page

The Jimmy Page method is the most common. It's just a bow and a guitar - nothing fancy.

Guitar Republic

Sergio Altamura from Guitar Republic takes it a step further. Not only is he holding his guitar like a cello, but he's got a nifty little wooden block under some of the strings so that they are arced and more easily accessible.

The third way was Neal Campau of World History. I can't find any pictures of him, but the guy took the accessible thing to the next level. Rather than add a little block like Altamura, Campau just got sick of not being able to bow around the body of his guitar one day so he cut a hole in it. When he told me this story, rather than be offended or enraged like most people would be, I commended him. Maybe not the best idea, but it's something new and ...well, they're kind of hipsters.

But people know this. You've heard of Page before and I've written about Guitar Republic and World History in previous posts. So what's the big deal?

This is the big deal: togamanguitars. This guy makes hybrid guitars, intended for bowing. A brilliant idea that's a little upsetting to have not thought of.

For 4-8 grand, I could have my own. No one tell Kelly, but I intend on it ...eventually. After hearing some sound clips and whatnot, it's hard to deny. Guitars are so great because they're so versatile. This has the versatility of a guitar, but with the sound of a cello. Check the video:

So really the video was the only thing that I wanted to show everyone, but I figured I'd add some commentary. I'll have some more posts as the bow experimentation progresses.