MUSIKA

Hello Blogateers - long time no post!  Just thought I jot down some quick notes on the start of a new music project. 

I met up with songwriter Stuart in the summer and I liked what he was doing even if was a bit outside my usual box.  I elected to play bass on this project thinking that was what was needed to take things forward. But I had a lot on, holiday and domestically wise, so we agreed to meet up in the autumn to commence work on a project to record a set of Stuart's songs and possibly gig it.  The initial session in September confirmed my view the material was good and I found I was quite enjoying playing bass again after a few decades on guitar.  First we set about documenting the arrangements and then I produced a test demo showing the potential but with me drumming and playing the solo parts on Mellotron and guitar:

Unashamed - Rough Demo

Although we talked about playing and gigging it as a duo,  it was clear percussion would be the best initial addition so I asked local drummer Ian if he would be up for drumming on the project.  He came along to try out and we were pleased to sign him up for the band:  now named MUSIKA.  After a few Monday night practice sessions we are starting to gel and are currently about halfway through learning the set.  Here's a snapshot of one under construction!

MUSIKA - I Dont Know - try out

We are going to add some vocal arrangements and try to get the band working as a three piece.  But we do remain open to the idea of a 4th member to add another voice and instrumentation:  ideally a multi instrumentalist playing at least a couple of these:  violin, sax,  flute and keys. 

Hopefully we'll reach our target of set completion by Christmas - but there is no time pressure at the mo' so we can try and build quality rather than quantity!

Raye Duval

Old friend,  drummer and bandleader Raye Duval passed away on 4th July 2017;  closing a big chapter in my life as a member of  "The Checkmates".

I put together this little video tribute to Raye of our last performance at the Borderline Soho in 2015.  The last couple of song clips are poignant given he passed away early in the morning.  No doubt he is starting to rock in that great gig in the sky with all the other rock and roll legends who made it there before him - cheers Raye and many thanks for the opportunity!

Raye at the Borderline

Passing Along The Horizon

A long time since the last post, I've been kept busy with grandsons and non-music activities! 

But I have been tinkering along with the demo below for a few weeks now. I must admit to using preset midi drum parts for most of the rhythm on this one,  but I played and sang the rest myself.  I'm happy with the arrangement and backing and just need to re-do the ragged vocals - but that will take a while so in case you blogateers can't wait here is the first demo of "Passing Along The Horizon"!

Passing Along Horizon

Not a song about love but it fits into the tale of the Garon's Daughter somewhere!

Dan's Les Paul

Last time Dan was over in UK he left his Les Paul with me on long term loan.  I offered to refurb it and then promptly left it for several months until I had a quiet day. 

I had already identified it as a mid 1970's version made in Gibson's Nashville plant.  The late 60's through to the late 70's were the heyday of the Les Paul, particularly in blues and rock and this guitar was typical of those times being very heavy,  having a very high output with bags of sustain and a fast low action: ideal for lengthy blues solos with lots of notes in!  It's in pretty good condition with only a few dings in the body,  but it crackled quite a lot when I plugged it in.  So I sprayed the electrics with 'Funk Out',  changed the strings,  adjusted the pickups and bridge to get a more even sound across the strings, cleaned the body and lemon oiled the fingerboard.  It felt and smelt good!

Plugging it in I noticed that thinner jack plugs made a poor connection the guitar's jack socket.  I would have adjusted the jack socket contacts but it's sealed up in a tin can to minimise hum,  so I settled for more 'funk out' and used a 'Planet Waves' lead with expanding contacts on the plug.  It was time to test it.

First test was on the neck pick up playing a shadows number - not a guitar I would normally pick for this job with its beefy humbucker sound,  but I thought it sounded quite good in this demo.

Gibson WondLand

Next up I tried the bridge pick up on a 60's song - the compressed Les Paul sound quite suited this I thought.

Gibson YouNoGood

In conclusion I must say I was quite pleased with the playability and sustain,  The sound is OK but I still prefer a single coil over a humbucker for clean sounds.   But I soon became weary of toting this guitar's weight -  alright when you are a muscular young rock god,  but very wearing for an old, easy listening player such as myself! 

Circular Peter Revisited

I have always been a big fan of the Mellotron and was about to buy one in the mid 70's when the first string synthesizers were invented -  at the time I settled for an Elka Rhapsody rather than a Mellotron:  good decision in view of the cost and unreliability of the Mellotron then.  Cue 40 odd years later and the solid state Melly is much more affordable!   So I have fulfilled a long held ambition and taken delivery of a Mellotron rack since the last blog.

That's an old MicroKorg keyboard on top that I picked up second hand to drive it.

Sitting quietly nursing a return to health after my latest sniffy cold gift from grandsons,  I resolved to re-visit the first demo of Circular Peter and try out the new Mellotron on it.  I wasn't in any shape to re-record any vocals or instrument tracks so the only thing new would be to add Mellotron strings and bells and then remix.  I re-arranged to shorten the song and conceived a Mellotronic doorbell sound to open proceedings followed by an acoustic verse before the band came in.  I made changes in the original demo clips and tracks in Cakewalk Sonar to arrive at the new arrangement.  If you listen carefully you can hear the "join" here and there as I cut and pasted the original recording around.  But overall I thought it was fit for demo purpose!

Then I recorded the Mellotron strings and bell parts and set about the remix.  The remix was very difficult.  I tried stereo this time but the original recordings are sufficiently flawed to make it all a frustrating compromise.  I had to remind myself that 'one day' I would attempt to record it for real (probably) using hired in musos.  But,  in the end,  I settled for the remix at the following link.

circular-peter-final-stereo-demo

Conclusion:  The Mellotron certainly cuts through the mix - I bet it would be great in a live context,  just need to find or put together a band sympathetic to the moody Melly sound.  Time to move onto the next song in the project I think!

Circular Peter

Been suffering from yet another cold and took a couple of days rest from work etc.  But,  rather than take to my bed,  I couldn't resist playing around with another song resurrection from the  previously mentioned "Bringing It All Back Up" album produced in 1970 on reel to reel tape.  Listening to the original of "Circular Peter" the words were clearly a bit of doggerel that had not really been completed properly and it only lasted a minute and a half?  However,  I thought the tune was interesting and some of the words were relevant to the new work "The Garon's Daughter",  so I thought I would add the extra verses and make a full song of it.

The ambition remained to produce to demo standard in Cakewalk Sonar - I wouldn't be spending too much time tracking the backing. 

I started with an acoustic guitar track - once again on the Takamine.  I recorded this to a click track so the timing was available for added midi tracks. 

Then I added bass using Dan's 1970's Jazz bass.  I played this live and it is a bit on the loose side despite several takes at it.

The hardest bit was doing the strange drumming.  I tried various techniques playing live but they all suffered from lack of consistency and my limited drumming ability.  In the end I settled for laying down the key percussion phrases in midi using Yamaha DD65 drum machine pads and quantizing for tight feel - too tight really but it adds character against the loose bass line!

I then added various guitar parts using my PRS and Rickenbacker 12 strings.  I am trying to limit guitar parts in the resurrection project to 12 string only to build a characteristic style to the project.

Then, using a guitar driving my EHX Mel 9, I was able to add Mellotron type string parts played on guitar.  This worked better than I expected giving the slow attack and quick release character of a Mellotron.  Playing it live into the track no keyboard skills and midi needed on this occasion.

I did several sessions to track the vocals and post process them for a weird choral sound in the choruses.  I took a decision early on to build the song from a basic band with one voice start to a full sounding finale.  The only problem with this is the first 3 minutes are relatively simple - telling a story of unrequited love of sorts and most of the sound production is in the last minute.  I did toy with the idea of starting it with just guitar and vocal to give even more dynamic contrast between beginning and end but couldn't find a way of convincingly bringing in bass and drums without re-recording the start of those instruments.  Might well do that on a properly produced version however. 

So its well worth listening to the end even if you don't care for the beginning blogateers!  Final mix of the demo was mono and set at a conservative level.  If you are up for it,  follow the link below and have a listen  -  wishing a merry Xmas to all you Blogettes and Blogateers out there (not with this song though!)

Circular Peter Mono Demo

Los Tres Amigos at The Oxford Totterdown Bristol

Jacqui and I had planned to take a week off to progress through market towns and small cities in the west of England when my brother in law suggested we also call into Bristol and make an appearance at an open mic night along with his son in law Simon.  Bring a guitar he said!  Our trio (later to be known as Los Tres Amigos) would be me on guitar,  Roy on harmonica and Simon on vocals;  and would do a few blues numbers. Ok I said and I packed my old stage Godin XTSA and the small Vox Valvetronix I had used at a previous gig in Bristol.  Then the news came though that we would probably play through the house PA and an amp wouldn't be needed - I thought I'd leave it in the car anyway!  So now I would need a guitar FX unit.  I opted to pack my 'spare' Boss GP 10 in a haversack.  I had used this on my last Checkmates appearance where carrying stuff on public transport was a prime consideration.   

Jacqui and I had an enjoyable few days taking in Worcester and Tewksbury before driving the 50 miles to Bristol, partly through the scenic Malvern hills.  We arrived at Roy and Ann's house and enjoyed a jolly good feed and aperitif before setting off in the luxury of a taxi the 5 miles or so to Totterdown.  Here we met up with Simon and our nieces Jo and Sian and enjoyed a beer or two watching a variety of other 'turns'. Mostly singer/acoustic guitarists,  but one was a mobile phone percussion player!   Our spot came up at 10:15pm and I plugged into the house pa,  did a quick tune up,  set the sound on the GP10 and gave the OK to Simon.  At the last minute Simon had elected to start with "Brown Eyed Girl" and Roy thought that wouldn't need harp,  so it was just the two of us.  I started the opening riff but Simon missed the cue and asked me to go round again which I did with mixed fingers (not having played it for a while).  This time he came in OK and we romped though the first couple of verses in good order,  when it suddenly dawned on me I was expected to join in on the 'sha la la 's in the chorus.  Not having sung for a while I plunged in with a falsetto over Simon's line which seemed to work - good job 'cos it was the best I could do on the night.  Then the next problem loomed -  the bass solo!!  At the last second I elected to play the chords rhythmically  rather than pick out the bass notes.  It worked well and I was able to finely cue Simon into the last verse.  We finished to good applause and Roy came up with his harp.  I switched the guitar sound to a bit of crunch and we did "Hoochie Coochie Man and Folsom Brison Blues"  Took a bit of getting used to without drums and bass but both were well received.  A rough phone vid of a little of each of these was taken and are presented here for Blogateer and Blogette consumption:

Hoochie Coochie

Folsom


After we finished I was delighted to find out performers had a free beer so it was approaching midnight as we left to get the bus home -  but a taxi came by and we were able to hail that.  Another beer back at base ended a jolly fine night.