So I may have screwed some stuff up on the website... Nothing big, it's just that until I fix it, everyone can download my album for free. Have at it.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Business Side of Things
Music has always been fun to me. Isn't that how it should be? It's never been a money-making venture, a means of finding approval, etc. I've kept playing because I enjoy playing. Being both a perfectionist and an innovator is what has driven my enjoyment and has definitely helped to further my "career."
This all being said, I haven't really taken much mind to the business side of things. My reasoning for wanting exposure is primarily to help expose people to what the guitar really is and because I enjoy playing for new people. Not that this is changing, by any means, but recently I have given more thought to how I am accomplishing my goals.
My friend, Ken Mueller, runs a blog on social media in business and I have learned quite a bit from him. Basically, the big push I've made to be more present in social media has been prompted by how much of an impact social media can have. Playing guitar professionally is much like a business, so much can be learned from Ken. I've had a facebook and a twitter for a while, but have recently added not only this blog, but my own website as well. Yes, there is a lot of upkeep, but it's a challenge that I am enjoying quite a bit.
Beyond the business side online, there is also the business side in person. Everything from how you carry yourself on stage to how you interact and network with other musicians is vitally important to being successful. Lately I've been trying to talk to people more after shows as a little bit of self-promotion and it's worked out great. It's helped me to sell some CDs and even get some engineering job contacts. I've also been carrying myself a little bit better, dressing nicer, etc. Again, this is all stuff that's been really enjoyable and a good challenge - this is still fun for me.
One group that I haven't gotten to cater to as well are all of the people who hear/see me, who are interested, but not ready to commit to being a fan or buying a CD. You can't talk everyone into it, and I understand that. However, there's a good chance that these are opportunities that I'm missing big time. Be it a potential fan who wants to remember my name, other musicians who want to get in contact with me, a DJ at a wedding, or someone wanting me to play somewhere, I've recently realized how important reaching out to them is.
This realization, along with a commercial online, has led me to finally order up some business cards. I designed them late last night and placed the order. It's been quite some time since I tried anything with business cards, but since I've finally got a website to throw up on them, I feel it's time to do it professionally. I would almost liken a business card to a physical piece of social media and think similarly of their potential importance. So here's a screenshot of the design. Let me know what you think:
This all being said, I haven't really taken much mind to the business side of things. My reasoning for wanting exposure is primarily to help expose people to what the guitar really is and because I enjoy playing for new people. Not that this is changing, by any means, but recently I have given more thought to how I am accomplishing my goals.
My friend, Ken Mueller, runs a blog on social media in business and I have learned quite a bit from him. Basically, the big push I've made to be more present in social media has been prompted by how much of an impact social media can have. Playing guitar professionally is much like a business, so much can be learned from Ken. I've had a facebook and a twitter for a while, but have recently added not only this blog, but my own website as well. Yes, there is a lot of upkeep, but it's a challenge that I am enjoying quite a bit.
Beyond the business side online, there is also the business side in person. Everything from how you carry yourself on stage to how you interact and network with other musicians is vitally important to being successful. Lately I've been trying to talk to people more after shows as a little bit of self-promotion and it's worked out great. It's helped me to sell some CDs and even get some engineering job contacts. I've also been carrying myself a little bit better, dressing nicer, etc. Again, this is all stuff that's been really enjoyable and a good challenge - this is still fun for me.
One group that I haven't gotten to cater to as well are all of the people who hear/see me, who are interested, but not ready to commit to being a fan or buying a CD. You can't talk everyone into it, and I understand that. However, there's a good chance that these are opportunities that I'm missing big time. Be it a potential fan who wants to remember my name, other musicians who want to get in contact with me, a DJ at a wedding, or someone wanting me to play somewhere, I've recently realized how important reaching out to them is.
This realization, along with a commercial online, has led me to finally order up some business cards. I designed them late last night and placed the order. It's been quite some time since I tried anything with business cards, but since I've finally got a website to throw up on them, I feel it's time to do it professionally. I would almost liken a business card to a physical piece of social media and think similarly of their potential importance. So here's a screenshot of the design. Let me know what you think:
Again, despite this making it feel like I'm trying to make this a career, I'm not. I like playing for new faces, playing new venues, and watching my abilities progress. Since I'll soon be leaving the safe-haven of Messiah College and all of the people who already know me, I feel that it makes it that much more important to connect with the general public and the real world. This is a means of getting there - one that I thoroughly enjoyed designing and will later enjoy handing out to everyone. My goal was to have these by the MMC next weekend, but it looks like they'll take a bit longer... Still, this is pretty exciting.
-Alex
Show Review: Atlantic/Pacific
Last night, as part of Messiah College's free concert series, B-Sides, I was able to catch a performance by Brooklyn-based Atlantic/Pacific. When I first walked in the door, my first thought was Starflyer 59.
Though not quite as textured and Starflyer (sorry, but they're one of my favorite shoegaze bands...), Atlantic/Pacific embodies the shoegaze style of simple chord progressions, thick lead lines, and slow-moving melodic contour. Atlantic/Pacific takes a more folksy approach with a little less electric guitar and a bigger emphasis on the acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, they had some gear crap out on them before the gig, so what we got may not have been the most "true" Atlantic/Pacific sound. Regardless, it was still nice, relaxing music; much like folksy shoegaze should be.
Perfectly coupled with their sound, was their appearance and demeanor on stage. They were calm and collected, looking very comfortable on stage. Though there wasn't much talking between songs, what was said was important and came out smoothly. I've seen plenty of acts with a similar appearance, go up on stage and shoot themselves in the foot when they try to speak. It was good to see real people, enjoying getting to play, and making the best of their gear dilemmas.
Overall, though not my favorite band, they didn't do too bad of a job. While sitting and listening to it intently it wasn't too engaging. However, over light conversation, it was really enjoyable. I think that's probably how the whole shoegaze genre is structured, much like my music. The people who seem to enjoy it the most are also the ones enjoying themselves and the company of their friends during the set.
-Alex
Though not quite as textured and Starflyer (sorry, but they're one of my favorite shoegaze bands...), Atlantic/Pacific embodies the shoegaze style of simple chord progressions, thick lead lines, and slow-moving melodic contour. Atlantic/Pacific takes a more folksy approach with a little less electric guitar and a bigger emphasis on the acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, they had some gear crap out on them before the gig, so what we got may not have been the most "true" Atlantic/Pacific sound. Regardless, it was still nice, relaxing music; much like folksy shoegaze should be.
Perfectly coupled with their sound, was their appearance and demeanor on stage. They were calm and collected, looking very comfortable on stage. Though there wasn't much talking between songs, what was said was important and came out smoothly. I've seen plenty of acts with a similar appearance, go up on stage and shoot themselves in the foot when they try to speak. It was good to see real people, enjoying getting to play, and making the best of their gear dilemmas.
Overall, though not my favorite band, they didn't do too bad of a job. While sitting and listening to it intently it wasn't too engaging. However, over light conversation, it was really enjoyable. I think that's probably how the whole shoegaze genre is structured, much like my music. The people who seem to enjoy it the most are also the ones enjoying themselves and the company of their friends during the set.
-Alex
Monday, February 7, 2011
New Gear!!
As many of you know, I had a massive Crate BV300H guitar amp head. It was 300W of pure tube power. Obviously, as I only gig small venues with a primarily acoustic setup, this was a bit overkill and was left unused for quite some time. After trying to sell it for probably a bit over a year, I finally found a buyer on craigslist. As part of the deal, I got a Carvin Belair 50W Tube Combo amp. Here are some pictures:
The amp sounds amazing. It's got real glassy cleans and some nice grit in the "soak" channel. It's got a great vintage look and feel to it. I'm very pleased with the trade. If I had it more than 2 days, I'm sure I'd be able to add to the list of accolades, but a full review is a bit of a stretch for that little play.
In addition to looking and sounding awesome, it adds to a nice little pyramid of combo amps that I have started. On top is the Roland AC-60 that I normally gig with for it's acoustic voicing. In the middle is a Marshall G80R 50W combo that I got from my cousin over the summer. On the floor, you'll notice my Boss RC-20XL looping station, Danelectro Tape Reel Echo Simulator, and Boss GT-10. The GT-10 I got in the fall to replace my GT-3 and the Tape Reel Echo I just got a few weeks ago. The loop station and echo through the Belair is an amazing combination.
After seeing an add for the Boss GT-10 in a magazine a few days ago, I realized that it can also be used as a usb interface. Hopefully I'll be able to record with it in the near future, as soon as I find a spare Type B USB cable. There will definitely be more to come on this gear and more of my gear, as the collection expands.
-Alex
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Alex Brubaker Guitar Dot Com
It's here. alexbrubakerguitar.com is finally a reality after like 2 years of talking about it. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks. Leave some comments in the guestbook, on here, facebook, an email, etc. Just no myspace - that's pretty much dead.
-Alex
ps. Sorry this whole thing is one big link. It just felt appropriate so that no one would wonder where the link was.
ps. Sorry this whole thing is one big link. It just felt appropriate so that no one would wonder where the link was.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Musical Experimentation Thoughts
As many of you are aware, I love experimental music. The whole percussive fingerstyle genre is essentially about pioneering what can be done with a guitar and coupling these efforts with marketable material, so it should be of no consequence that I often find myself thinking about how to do something new and innovative. While many of these ideas do not materialize themselves in the form of musical compositions, they are, at the very least, musings that are engaging and thought-provoking. The rest of this post will skim the surface of some of the endeavors which I have delved into and some of the ideas that I will be experimenting with. It is very likely that I will go into more detail with these techniques and ideas in a later post.
Prepared Instruments
Some of the more abstract experiments involve prepared instruments. To my knowledge, this is only done on stringed instruments - primarily pianos and guitars. Preparing an instrument involves adding or subtracting from the instrument something that ends up altering the sonic qualities of a note. In the case of pianos and guitars, there are very definite pitches which can be played as individual notes or together in chords. Common preparations involve wedging nuts or bolts between strings, paper-clipping strings together, damping the strings with something, etc. The end result may be anything from a slight alteration in pitch to a completely new, unique sound. In this way, preparations are done before playing the instrument and are done in a very precise, reproducible manner.
Sometime last spring I had the pleasure of seeing one of the finest guitar trios in the world, Guitar Republic. After seeing some of their work, which includes various preparation techniques, I was inspired to mess around with some prepared guitar. I was working mainly with paper clips, twist ties, and paper, but the possibilities are literally endless. I have yet to write anything for prepared guitar, but it is on my list of things to do.
Even before I had heard any prepared guitar, I was exposed to prepared piano by one of my roommates. John Cage pioneered prepared piano and, after listening to more of his work and looking at some of his music scores, I became interested in the art of preparing a piano. This was able to flesh itself out this past fall when I found a free piano on craigslist and brought it to school. Throughout the rest of the semester, during the composition lessons I had with Dr. Dwight Thomas, I prepared the piano. This spring I will be writing for prepared piano, alongside many other composition students. Here's a short clip of some of its sounds (understand that I don't play piano and this is merely for demonstration purposes):
Also, note that the piano has not been damaged in any way (I know that would freak some people out). I'll have a full post on the piano sometime soon...
Abstract Playing Techniques
By this, I mean techniques not seen traditionally. For instance, Henry Cowell's Banshee , where one pianist is playing inside of the piano, or Trace Bundy's percussive fingerstyle guitar compositions played with capos that are moved throughout the piece. These are the sort of things that inspire me. When I see someone do something like that, it floods my mind with all sorts of crazy ideas. This is actually what this post is about... So here are some innovative ideas pertaining to guitar:
Prepared Instruments
Some of the more abstract experiments involve prepared instruments. To my knowledge, this is only done on stringed instruments - primarily pianos and guitars. Preparing an instrument involves adding or subtracting from the instrument something that ends up altering the sonic qualities of a note. In the case of pianos and guitars, there are very definite pitches which can be played as individual notes or together in chords. Common preparations involve wedging nuts or bolts between strings, paper-clipping strings together, damping the strings with something, etc. The end result may be anything from a slight alteration in pitch to a completely new, unique sound. In this way, preparations are done before playing the instrument and are done in a very precise, reproducible manner.
Sometime last spring I had the pleasure of seeing one of the finest guitar trios in the world, Guitar Republic. After seeing some of their work, which includes various preparation techniques, I was inspired to mess around with some prepared guitar. I was working mainly with paper clips, twist ties, and paper, but the possibilities are literally endless. I have yet to write anything for prepared guitar, but it is on my list of things to do.
Even before I had heard any prepared guitar, I was exposed to prepared piano by one of my roommates. John Cage pioneered prepared piano and, after listening to more of his work and looking at some of his music scores, I became interested in the art of preparing a piano. This was able to flesh itself out this past fall when I found a free piano on craigslist and brought it to school. Throughout the rest of the semester, during the composition lessons I had with Dr. Dwight Thomas, I prepared the piano. This spring I will be writing for prepared piano, alongside many other composition students. Here's a short clip of some of its sounds (understand that I don't play piano and this is merely for demonstration purposes):
Abstract Playing Techniques
By this, I mean techniques not seen traditionally. For instance, Henry Cowell's Banshee , where one pianist is playing inside of the piano, or Trace Bundy's percussive fingerstyle guitar compositions played with capos that are moved throughout the piece. These are the sort of things that inspire me. When I see someone do something like that, it floods my mind with all sorts of crazy ideas. This is actually what this post is about... So here are some innovative ideas pertaining to guitar:
- Body Percussion: Especially with an acoustic guitar that is internally mic'd - this adds tons of possibilities to your compositions. Keep in mind that different parts of the body will give you different sounds. You can utilize the entire body, front and back to get a variety of different "drum" tones (I would advise against beating on the neck of the guitar, however, as that could really end up sucking). You can also vary the part of your hand that you're using. Try using your palm, the side of your thumb, your finger, rolling your knuckles, and even using your nails (if they're grown out).
- String Percussion: The most common string percussion is made by slapping the strings against the fretboard after playing a chord. By simply slapping your palm down over the soundhole, you'll get a nice string slapping sound that will add texture to your music. This is also extremely easy to do and a good place to start. You can also get a similar sound by using individual fingers on your picking hand to make quick slaps on the fretboard across all of the strings. When this is done at a natural harmonic, you'll get what's known as a tapped harmonic. Try this out along with using 2 or 3 fingers individually on your picking hand in a rolling motion.
- Playing Overtones: Whenever you do a hammer-on, you're actually producing more than one note. Obviously the note that you are fretting is primarily what you hear, but you are in between two fret wires, so you will get an overtone of the section of string above your finger as well. You will notice this more the further down the neck you travel. Beyond the 12th fret, if you are not muting the top half of the strings, you've probably heard this and it's probably been rather distressing if you are a tone seeker. Rather than freak out over this, experiment to use this to your advantage. By muting the strings above where you are fretting (a heavier palm mute will work), your hammer-ons will sound the otherwise obnoxious "overtone" section of the string. You can also fret normally and strum on the opposite side of the stings to get those tones.
- Note: the action on your neck may cause a considerable amount of fret-buzz when you try this. Just get a new guitar (not that yours is insufficient, but I'm just giving a reasonable excuse to expand your collection).
- Tune to the Headstock: I played a show once with a brilliant musician, Trevor Gordon Hall. Not that other people haven't done this, but one thing that I took note of was how well he incorporated the section of string at the headstock of the guitar. A month or so later and I found myself in my room, asking myself how I could do that better. I started experimenting and, as anyone who has done such a thing can attest to, the mix of tones up there sound horrid. It doesn't have to be, though. Just as you can change the tuning of the "playable" lengths of string to meet your needs, you can also tune the section on the headstock. You'll end up with some weird things going on with the normal section of strings, but that just gives you another challenge.
These are things that inspire me. I'd encourage everyone to play around with these and experiment. Music is much more than playing cover songs; it's an art that ought to celebrate creativity and innovation.
-Alex
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Website Update
Looking back at the past few years, it's hard to imagine that I'm about to graduate from college. It's also hard to imagine that I've been doing solo gigs for 3 1/2 years. Though they're mostly unrelated, I would attribute most of my musical accomplishments to the opportunities I've had here at school. Without forcing myself to play coffeehouses in front of 1000 people, I probably wouldn't have ever shaken my stage fright. Additionally, in the past few years, social networking has really taken off, and the climate on college campuses has really encouraged that. However, with that alongside the ability to network easily on campus, it's been easy to go without an official website for the past few years. Being able to identify with both the starving college student and the starving musician mentalities, I haven't really found the "need" for a website.
This has all changed. With playing my first wedding a few weeks back, I felt that I should be stepping up my professionalism a bit. To play more events like that, a real website will work a lot better than, say, a facebook or myspace page. Not that I want to get into playing weddings all the time, but it's nice to have a variety of clients.
Last night, for my birthday, I tried to launch alexbrubakerguitar.com. I've been working on it for about a month and was ready to get it out there. Unfortunately, it takes a few days for the domain to register. So in a few days, it'll be here.
Wait for it...
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