Claypool Music News

Make Noise upgrade complete!

2012-01-02T00:16:00.001-06:00

The heavy lifting of the Make Noise Studios redo is complete! And it's been a lot of heavy lifting, mostly figuratively but a tad bit literally, as well.

Following last week's installation of the Mac mini, Logic Pro, and MainStage, I replaced the Mbox Pro (3G) with an Apogee Duet 2. The primary driver behind this upgrade was to simplify the working environment. The sound quality of the Apogee is stunningly pristine.

I lost the MIDI port on the Mbox so I also added an Motu FastLane-USB 2x2 MIDI port to support the MIDI Moose / MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller for computer-based looping. I am going to keep the Mbox on the sidelines for now, for its routing capabilities which I expect to use for more complex mixing challenges. For stereo recording and mixing, though, the Apogee is superb.

Speaking of computer-based looping, I spent several hours today configuring MainStage for guitar and guitar synth looping. The initial learning curve was steep but the results are outstanding. I am more excited about this looping setup than any I've ever used, including both hardware and software loopers. I spent several hours throughout the day playing with the setup. It is rock solid and wonderfully functional.

MainStage provides the capability to build virtual controls, define how the controls interface with the real world hardware controls, and how those controls then interact with software plugins. I spent quite a bit of time building a control panel for Loopback and saved it for later use as a building block. MainStage does not allow the use of Program Change messages to do anything except, duh, change programs. This presented a conundrum in that the MIDI Moose only outputs Program Change messages. I installed a nifty utility called MidiPipe that hijacks a designated MIDI input port, manipulates the data stream, and puts the data back out into a MIDI pipe. In this case I simply converted the Program Change messages to Note On messages and configured MainStage to use those to control the Loopback plugin.

With the MIDI problem solved and the Loopback control panel created, I built two looping templates, each with three loopers, one for guitar and another for guitar synth via the GI-20. I can add more loopers if needed in just a few moments, but three is a good working number for most of my looping situations. I can also easily save the sound files from a looping session and import them into Logic or Pro Tools to use in a song.

The final step was an upgrade from the Line 6 POD X3 Pro to a Line 6 POD HD Pro. The HD is the latest in modeling technology from Line 6 and the amp models "feel" like real amps with the same kind of sensitivity to nuance and touch. I still have the FX Loop for both line level and stomp box effects, a feature I routinely use to patch in Alesis ModFX units, a Boss SP-303 Dr. Sample, or a Korg KP3 Kaoss Pad for serious sonic manipulating, filtering, and mangling. As the HD only requires 2U of rack space, as opposed to the X3's 3U, I consolidated into a single 4U rack with the Furman Power Conditioner, PreSonus MP20 preamp, and POD HD Pro. I use the PreSonus when the job calls for a "straight" signal, such as feeding computer-based amp models or recording DI bass lines.

The new Make Noise configuration is incredibly powerful and sonically outstanding! Just as important, the workflow is greatly simplified with the technology disappearing in the face of creativity. Which is, of course, as it should be!

Journeys and Migrations

2011-12-27T00:14:00.000-06:00

It was a big weekend here at Make Noise Studios with a slew of changes. I implemented a new Mac mini with 2.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processors, 8GB of memory, and 2X750GB 7200 rpm drives as a standalone recording machine. The MacBook Pro has been recommissioned as my general purpose computing device. The Mac mini is a screaming machine!

I've found myself growing frustrated with Avid's, the maker of Pro Tools, lack of responsiveness to Apple's operating system upgrades and a general sense of declining stability with new releases. Quickly on the heels of my upgrade to v9, which took a bit to bake in before stability emerged, I was faced with another upgrade to v10. This upgrade didn't go well either, so I downgraded to v9 for the time being. That being the straw that broke the camel's back, I installed Logic Pro v9.1.6 and, for good measure, MainStage v2.2, both of which are now available in the App Store at attractive price points. I've been thinking about adding Logic Pro to the tool kit for quite some time. It is my intent to become fluent in Logic Pro but reserve the option to port my sessions to Pro Tools prior to final mixing in the studio.

I also added another Arturia plugin to my virtual instrument arsenal, the Oberheim SEM V. It's another classic synth tool along with the Arturia minimoog V. Both instruments sound ridiculously good.

Excepting the Pro Tools v10 issue, the conversion to the Mac mini was pretty painless. I tested all of my major components, including SooperLooper inside of Ableton Live, and I couldn't make the machine break a sweat.

This evening I began tackling Logic Pro in earnest. While the concepts are similar to any DAW, the workflow is different than Pro Tools. A bit of experimentation yielded a bit of confusion before I decided to RTFM, or more accurately, skim it. Light bulbs gradually rheostat-ed up and I was able to track some guitar and Oberheim in a test song. My instruments of choice were the 2008 Box Guitars SRB-640 12 String and the 2006 Godin xtSA to control the Oberheim plugin. I recorded three tracks with the Box Guitar; a chord pattern, a melody, and bass line achieved with a pitch shifter. I used the Oberheim plugin on a fourth track, loosely following the bass line. The experiment was a successful first step, much learning awaits.

The method this evening was to plug the Box Guitar straight into the mBox and use amp plugins inside of Logic Pro. I'm intrigued by this approach and expect to use it regularly. I'm also fascinated by leveraging my array of classic and modern analog and digital effects devices in front of the Pod X3 Pro running only amp/cab/mic models, a more traditional guitar chain with POD simply replacing the amp/cab/mic. I suspect I'll be using both of these techniques, along with a heaping helping of post recording manipulating, filtering, and mangling. I'll be working with both models over the next several days.

Surely, dear reader, I wouldn't be doing this heavy lifting if I weren't going to be doing something soon, would I?

Tips to manipulate, filter, and mangle VI

2011-11-19T21:57:00.001-06:00

I recently added an Electro-Harmonix Freeze Sound Retainer to my effects arsenal. What, you might ask, is a Freeze Sound Retainer? The official EH description is "The Freeze Sound Retainer delivers infinite sustain of any note or chord at the press of a momentary footswitch." A looper it is not. The Freeze captures the tone and sound of the exact moment and sustains it infinitely. Whether the a dense chord or a single note, the Freeze grabs the moment and offers it up for all time, or at least until the player once again presses the foot switch or the power goes out.

So, you might ask, what might I do with a Freeze? Right out of the gate, can you say "real time drone?" The live performance applications are mind boggling. How about capturing source material for further manipulation in the studio? Yeah, that's right! Real time or not, the opportunities are fascinating. Can I use a Freeze with a looper? Oh yeah, no problem, I'm terribly excited about this particular combination. Are the possibilities endless? Yes, grasshopper, they are.

Spingere - "Recall"

2011-09-25T20:48:00.003-05:00

Will Cruttenden has put the finishing touches on his fascinating project marrying voice recordings "recounting childhood memories" with his music. The project is a wrap and is most cleverly entitled Recall. You can download Recall beginning September 29, 2011 at the Spingere bandcamp page.

I received my copy of Recall today and I'm thrilled with what Will has created. Thrilled, but not surprised! I don't want to give away the wondrous discovery that comes from listening to the childhood experiences of people from different countries and continents, but the project provides an insight into the common threads of the childhood experience. The effect is compounded by the various accents of the storytellers. The music Will composed for the project fits perfectly with the stories, a delicate and open sonic foundation that would very well stand on its own, had Will chosen a different path. Will has created a brilliant piece of art and I'm honored to have contributed.

Spingere project to be released on Sept 29th

2011-09-05T22:24:00.006-05:00

I traded messages with Will Cruttenden on his fascinating project marrying voice recordings "recounting childhood memories" with his music. Will tells me the project will be released on September 29, 2011 on his Spingere bandcamp page. He hasn't released the title yet, I'll provide an update as the details are finalized and shared.

Will relays that, in spite of the very limited instructions to the storytellers, themes organically emerged, commonalities on growing up in different parts of the world. I find the concept of those shared experiences intriguing! With the sense of of art the project exudes, it's not surprising how Will approached my contribution; "As a tribute to One Feather Shy I made sure the only instruments under your voice were guitars." Now that's way cool!

Be sure to check out the Spingere bandcamp page to get a sense of Will's music. More on his latest release as it develops.

Precision work

2011-08-16T20:20:00.011-05:00

I'm past lurching toward activity and into activity. I've been sketching song ideas in Live and will be moving to demos in ProTools shortly. The ideas are coming hard and fast and I'm pleased with seeds I have to plant, water, weed, and grow into real songs for the next release.

I need to spend some time on basic guitar maintenance for the instruments I'll be using on this project; new strings, truss rod adjustments, etc. It is my intent to use fewer instruments than I did on One Feather Shy with the aim of a less dense, more live feel. The road to hell being paved with good intentions and all that, I may just find myself grabbing from the pile o' guitars as my work proper gets underway. Worse things, of course, have happened, but I'll start with a core group of guitars and take it from there.

In Kevin Gilbert's brilliant concept album The Shaming Of The True there's a song titled Suit Fugue (Dance Of The A&R Men). One of the lines is "Got hands that move like clockwork"; I find the lyric incredibly descriptive and quite visual. Well, point of the story, I'm doing some precision work to get my hands to move like clockwork. For me, there's no better way to hone my edge that through Guitar Craft Primaries and a couple of closely related pieces, Steve Ball's The Airport Exercise and Tony Geballe's Hammerhead, both of which are co-credited to Robert Fripp. The exercises and pieces require concentration and accuracy. Far from being boring or chore-like, I find the work hypnotic and invigorating. And the impact on my precision is always apparent to me.

Stay tuned...

Will Cruttenden - "Another Weird Musical Adventure"

2011-07-30T18:15:00.011-05:00

In February of last year I received an email from Will Cruttenden with the subject "Another weird musical adventure". Will and I were collaborators on the Centrozoon Lovefield Commentary project. Will's instructions were to provide a voice recording "recounting childhood memories". Easy enough.

Well, time got away from me and, in spite of my desire to contribute, I failed to get off my duff and get the job done. This past week Will sent a subtle prod my way - "I've got a cut off date for recording my voice/music project (must get a title for that) so if there's any chance I can have your contribution in the next few weeks I'd really appreciate it." Nothing creates urgency like a deadline!

This week I scripted out three stories for Will. I'm not sure if he'll use any, some, or all of my contributions but once I got rolling, I figured I'd give him some options. I got the scripts recorded today at Make Noise Studios, zipped 'em up, and yousendit-ed them his way. The titles of the pieces are:

My 1st self-inflicted near death experience or when I discovered the concept of brakes
My 2nd self-inflicted near death experience or when I discovered the dangers of thin ice
My initial exploration in aviation or how I almost burned down the house

I could have gone on forever on this project but I imagine I've overstayed my welcome with three submissions! I'm stoked to hear what Will puts together, he's a wonderfully talented and creative musician. Be sure to check out his work at his bandcamp page. I'll keep you posted on his progress on this project.

The session was my first experience with ProTools 9 and the Mbox Pro (3G). It went flawlessly, I'm ready to break out the guitars and get down to it! More as it develops...

Lurching toward onward

2011-04-13T12:31:00.012-05:00

After an extended period of little meaningful musical activity, I am lurching toward onward. I have some setup work to do first. I've ordered and received an mBox 3 Pro FireWire interface that I need to install, test, and learn. In addition to recording at a higher resolution, I will be able to use hardware devices as inserts. In my blog post Brushing sound I wrote about using different types of devices and plug-ins to manipulate sound; the insert capability offers a variety of new techniques and workflows. I also will be upgrading from ProTools LE v8.0.4 to ProTools 9 and am excited about the new features that await. I have a few other software upgrades to execute, as well. Getting through this setup work will require the better part of a day.

And then the good stuff begins! My brain is teaming with musical ideas I am excited to explore. I am itching to begin the Breathe project along with another project that I'll announce later. The two projects will run simultaneously. I also owe Will Cruttenden my input to a project of his that will be my first work out of the gate; Will has been way too patient with me!

Along with getting back to work on the music I'll be increasing my activity on the blog. Not only do I enjoy sharing the behind-the-scenes stuff, blogging also serves as a memory expander. I can, and do, refer back to my blog posts to remind me where my headspace was during a session.

In the meantime, we're still shipping One Feather Shy and the staff at Clayphonic Records^TM would love to ship a copy to you! The response has been fantastic... and much appreciated. Order yours today!

Prep and entertainment

2010-03-20T13:12:00.003-05:00

I'm in the final preparation stages before I hit the record button. Right now I've got the key components in the studio disconnected. I'm putting them back together and testing each piece to make sure I know how everything is impacting the signal path. I hope to have that wrapped up this weekend and be ready to go. I'm also preparing a quick survey on distribution to help with planning that part of next project. More on this soon.

But right now, I'd like to share what's in store over the next couple of months on my concert calendar! And it begins tonight:

03/20/10 - Bryan Beller and Kira Small in Brown Deer, WI
03/21/10 - Experience Hendrix in Milwaukee, WI
03/26/10 - Kansas in Milwaukee, WI
04/20/10 - Transatlantic in Chicago, IL
04/21/10 - The Flaming Lips in Milwaukee, WI
04/26/10 - Jonsi in Milwaukee, WI
05/10/10 - Pat Metheny in Chicago, IL
05/17/10 - Stick Men in Milwaukee, WI
06/25/10 - Jeff Beck in Milwaukee, WI
06/26/10 - Tom Petty and ZZ Top in Milwaukee, WI

And, of course, there will be some late announcement surprises that pop up, too! Pretty good lineup, eh?

Off now to do some stuff.

The Rack v2

2010-03-13T21:12:00.006-06:00

After a wonderful time playing with my friends in The B.O.A.R.D., it's time to get back to work on my project. I have a session lined up tomorrow to prepare several sketches, moving now to writing and arranging. I'll blog more about the project over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, and in conjunction with the work ahead, I completed the overhaul of The Rack this evening . The lower unit contains a Furman power conditioner and POD X3 Pro. The upper unit contains three Korg ModFX units; a Bitrman, a Philtre, and a Phnlgr. I connect into the upper rack from the output of the loop send on the POD. The output of the upper rack goes into the unit on top of the rack, a Korg KP3 Kaoss Pad. The output of the Kaoss Pad goes into the loop receive on the POD. I can easily substitute my trusty Boss SP-303 for the Kaoss Pad, if needed. I can knock the entire loop out on the control panel of the POD or bypass any of the individual units if the loop is active.

Can you say manipulate, filter, and mangle? I knew you could...

The B.O.A.R.D. v2

2010-03-08T20:22:00.011-06:00

The B.O.A.R.D. performed Saturday evening, March 6, 2010, in Winfield, WV, our second concert, following our debut gig in August of 2009. Our line-up expanded a bit for this show; Chris Amick (guitar), Jeff Anderson (bass/vocals), John Boggess (bass/vocals/sound), Loren Claypool (guitar), Lee Hines (drums/vocals), Robin Romanek (keys/sax/vocals), Laura Sypolt (vocals), Tim Sypolt (guitar/keys/vocals), Mark Wade (bass). For those of you reading the fine print, only one bass player performed at a time!

The core of the band rehearsed together for several weeks while I stayed up to speed with personal rehearsal and a stream of emails from the team members. I managed to make two rehearsals, including the all important dress rehearsal on Friday night. I dialed in my pedals and guitars with Dr. Jeff Boggess' killer Reverend 60 watt head and Avatar 2x12 Custom cab with two Eminence Red Fang speakers while we ran the set. Thanks to Jeff for lending me one of his amps for the weekend.

We received a bit of publicity prior to the show with two prints of a newspaper article written by Kara Moore and two spots on the local TV news, WCHS, to be exact. We were visited by Troy the videographer at Friday night's rehearsal. He shot some live footage on a couple of songs, plus interviewed some of the band. He also attended the beginning of the concert on Saturday and shot the first couple of numbers, as well. Thanks Kara and Troy for your support!

We set up and did a full sound check early Saturday evening and all was ready to go for our 8:30 kick off in the gymnasium of Winfield High School. At about 8:00 we inexplicably lost power to much of the stage. The local maintenance guys worked with us to re-route the power and we were able to start on time with a raucous introduction by none other than Mark Coppala. It was a beaut, too! Our set list for the evening consisted of

Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin
The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy
What I Like About You by The Romantics
Centerfield by John Fogerty
All Summer Long / Sweet Home Alabama by Kid Rock / Lynyrd Skynyrd
Your Mama Don't Dance by Loggins & Messina
Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac
Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar
867-5309/Jenny by Tommy Tutone
Walk This Way by Aerosmith
La Grange by ZZ Top
Hotel California by The Eagles
China Grove by The Doobie Brothers
Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey

In many ways this set list was a snapshot of the soundtrack of our youth.

The power gremlins returned once during the set but the issue was quickly resolved by the maintenance guys. The band executed the materially honorably, accurately, and with much enthusiasm. To execute Carry On Wayward Son with a single full group rehearsal takes a certain amount of honor, accuracy, and enthusiasm! We had a great and supportive crowd for the evening consisting of many of our classmates, family and friends, students and boosters from Winfield High School, and folks who saw the newspaper articles, TV news spots, or Facebook buzz. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us in particular and live music in general. We hear the cheers!

It's always fun and rewarding to play with talented musicians. Four-part vocal harmonies and three-part guitar harmonies don't happen in every band but they sure happen with this one, backed by a killer rhythm section. Besides oodles of talent, these folks are wonderful people and I am privileged to call them my friends. I look forward to our next performance together.

The B.O.A.R.D. flyer for March 6th

2010-02-26T19:18:00.002-06:00

Coming in bunches

2010-02-22T21:05:00.012-06:00

Miss Hollis and I took a wonderful winter thaw-out trip to Florida with fabulous friends John and Erica and returned last Tuesday warmer, tanned, and relaxed. On Wednesday morning at 9:30 a cold hit me, a real devil bug deluxe. I fought it off, it came back stronger, rinse and repeat, repeat, and repeat. After a near-psychedelic experience brought on by cough syrup this morning I went to the doctor. Sure enough it's now a sinus infection. I'm on the good stuff and will be healed soon. Good thing, too, as I have a business trip this week and next, then it's off to WV for the gig with The B.O.A.R.D.

I touched base with Lee Fletcher over the weekend. Lee has been incredibly busy on several high profile projects as of late and doing a bit of traveling, too. Regular readers know that I contributed to two tracks on an EP project that Lee is producing. He reports the project is necessarily on hold for the moment, due to that pesky 24-hours-in-a-day limit, but will see the light of day when the time is right. I am excited to hear the final product when it's ready. Lee is also working on a remix for me and expects to wrap that work up in the near future. I'll talk more about that at a later date.

I also heard from another English colleague and Warr guitarist, Will Cruttenden, over the weekend. Will asked me to participate in a fascinating project that I can best describe as a voice collage set to Will's special music. Will may describe it completely differently! I have some work to do for Will on this fascinating and creative project. More on this as it develops, too.

I gathered up enough energy this evening to upgrade a couple of plug-ins and the POD X3 Pro software to the just released v2.0. After a few minutes of thankfully unexciting upgrade activity, I turned my attention to personal rehearsal and the setlist for The B.O.A.R.D. I hit about one third of the songs and will visit the rest tomorrow. I have business travel Wednesday and Thursday, a social engagement Friday, time for practice sessions on Saturday and Sunday, business travel next Monday and Tuesday, office time on Wednesday, packing on Wednesday evening, and on the road to WV on Thursday. Time, she's a running out! I'm in pretty good shape, I just need to review and polish things a bit. And sometime between now and next Wednesday I need to change strings on a couple of guitars, pack up effects and cables, etc.

Speaking of The B.O.A.R.D., we're playing at 8:30 pm on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at Winfield High School in Winfield, WV. The opening band is The Lifeguards (at the Jean Pool). Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.

I had a fun interview with Kara Moore of Charleston Newspapers Friday evening. Kara is doing a story on The B.O.A.R.D. and was curious as to why I would trek from north of the Cheddar Curtain to play a gig in Winfield, WV. I assured her it was all about the money, certainly not a love of the music, the joy of playing with such wonderful musicians, or sharing time with friends I've known for over 30 years. Simply a financial transaction, pure and simple. I don't think she bought it! Kara did a great job and I look forward to seeing the story.

If you are coming to the show and would like to buy a copy of my CD of instrumental guitar music One Feather Shy, and really, who wouldn't, now's the time! Drop me an email and I'll bring a copy for you. The CD sells for $15, cash works really well, and I'll have them after the show. Or, if you're so inclined you can prepay with PayPal, that works really well, too!

And when I get home from all of that, the recording work begins in earnest.

Brushing sound

2010-02-07T22:48:00.014-06:00

I've recently been enamored with discovering different ways to manipulate my guitar signal to create different sounds. Heck, I've always been interested in effects, from the time I first began playing electric guitar to this evening's work. I've amassed an interesting array of devices and software over the years; for a complete listing of the tools I'm using, check out my gear page. What's interesting to me in the moment is how I find myself using these tools in different combinations to create the sounds I'm after.

I categorize the tools into five different groups:

Vintage or boutique analog effect pedals
Modern effects pedals
Digital effects devices
Modeling devices
Plug-ins

Each of these types of tools has their own strengths and can be combined in different ways. For example, a signal chain of Analogman Bi-CompROSSor -> Line 6 POD X3 Pro with Boss CE-1 chorus model and spring reverb model and Korg KP3 Kaoss Pad in the effects loop as a high pass filter -> Phase 90 emulation plug-in. Or MXR Phase 90 -> Boss CE-2 Chorus -> Line 6 POD X3 Pro with Boss CS-1 Compressor model and Alesis ModFX Bitrman and Philtre in the effects loop -> Roland Space Echo plug-in. The possibilities are endless and I can often achieve the same or similar results with tools from the different groups.

I've been experimenting with four different Alesis ModFX effects over the last few days. I have the Bitrman, Faze, Philtre, and Phlngr (follow the phonetics and you'll figure it out). Each device in the now defunct ModFX series has a 9-pin male connector on the left side of the unit and a 9-pin female connector on the right side, allowing the devices to be chained together. When they are connected this way, the audio signal is input into the first device of the chain and output from the last device, traveling purely in the digital realm between the devices. This a great way to preserve audio quality in the signal chain. And a great way to manipulate and mangle an audio signal! And these effects aren't about cloning a historical analog effect, although there are settings on some of the units that can do just that, but rather are more focused on sculpting new and different tones.

I get excited by the sound of a Telecaster through a cable into a tube amplifier with nothing in between. Push it just a bit, add of touch of reverb, and the hair stands up on the back of my neck. I love that sound! And I like to push a guitar signal across a spectrum of tone, from slight manipulation to all out mangling, to the point where the end result might sound nothing like a guitar. That can be cool, too!

I like to print the sound I'm after in the recording process, except for some of the delay and reverb. There is a school of thought to record clean and leave oneself with an open palette, but to me the sounds are both a critical part of the song and how I respond to the instrument I'm playing. Now, after I've finished recording and I'm mixing I might very well further manipulate a track, but it's the sonic icing, not the cake I'm baking. I want the song to sound pretty much like it's going to sound when I finish recording and hit save.

Now, it's time to start recording again...

Like a hole in the head

2010-02-07T17:13:00.015-06:00

I was way short of excited to receive an email from the Blogger/Google folks this week letting me know that the FTP capability of blogger is being deprecated in March. According to the email only 5% of Blogger users take advantage of the FTP tool. This is, of course, the approach I've used since June 15, 2003, when I launched this blog. And, of course, the other blogs I've set up, as well, including Lost Love, Guitar Circle of Chicago, White Molasses, and Sam Hubbell. The GCoC blogs hadn't been updated for 18 months or so, I deleted them and left the team members' posts available for porting elsewhere.

So, I was left with three choices for the other blogs:

Switch to another platform
Setup the blogs on blogspot
Use the "custom domain" feature of Blogger

Seeing as options 1 and 3 require a little cash outlay, I decided to move forward with option 2.

I spent the better part of the day making this migration. These things can never be straight forward, no way, and let's not forget the ridiculous factor associated with Internet Explorer's poor excuse for standards compliance. The only casualty of the migration is I lost the 10px border at the top of this blog. I suspect I'll figure out a way to get it back someday, perhaps with a little help from my friends. Otherwise, this blog is ported to a new address - http://lorenclaypool.blogspot.com/. Don't forget to change your rss feed reader!

And, while I was at it, I imported the 316 posts I had made in my GCoC blog into this one, consolidating the record, if you will. There may a duplicate here and there; if so, I'll clean them up over time. For now, though, I'll call it a day.

Of course, I lost the afternoon I had hoped to spend in the studio. More on that energy in a future post.

Clayphonic Records(TM) stimulus package

2010-01-30T12:24:00.005-06:00

Hey, we're doing our bit to help. Order a copy of One Feather Shy at our online music store and we'll eat the shipping and sales tax to anywhere on the planet. That's right! No shipping, no sales tax, just music!

Preparation

2010-01-17T22:53:00.013-06:00

Preparation is the name of my musical game in the moment for both recording and an upcoming live performance.

A couple of weeks ago I began getting the fingers moving in a productive way with the aim of improving left and right hand precision. I know of no better way to hone my edge than to work within the discipline of Guitar Craft with a metronome, in this case specifically the Geballe 1st Primary Regimen, the Claypool 2nd Primary Regimen, the Geballe/Fripp piece Hammerhead, and the Ball/Fripp piece The Airport Exercise. The left hand and right are syncing nicely.

I've also been preparing mentally to begin recording Breathe. I have been listening to demos and loops, revisiting notes, and living with the music and concepts of the album. My head is "getting in the game".

And I've also been preparing for an upcoming performance with The B.O.A.R.D. on March 6th, 7:00 pm, at the Winfield High School gymnasium in Winfield, WV. The opening act is The Lifeguards. The set list for the evening is approaching final form and I'm well into internalizing the music. I'm very excited to play with the team again and look forward to another good performance.

I think I've set effects chain for the gig. Following the signal path from right to left: Peterson StroboStomp -> Dunlop GCB-80 volume pedal -> Analogman Bi-CompROSSor -> Boss DS-1 with aNaLoG.MaN Pro Midrange Mod -> T.C. Jauernig Gristle King Rev2 -> Boss DD-3 Digital Delay with aNaLoG.MaN High Cut Mod. It's a straightforward, rockin' configuration that will get the job done. I might change my mind but I'm thinking about using the 2001 Paul Reed Smith CE 22 as the primary guitar with the 2001 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster as my secondary. I worked with the Strat yesterday and the PRS today, both are wonderful instruments.

I will be focusing on more personal rehearsal for the show this coming week and will get the chance to rehearse with the band at least once, perhaps twice. In the meantime, Breathe is nearing its beginning. More as it develops on both fronts...

My Top 11 Albums of 2009

2009-12-22T19:43:00.003-06:00

Okay, I originally planned on listing my Top 10 Albums of 2009, but frankly I couldn't make that final cut. Heck, getting it to 11 took some doing, so I decided a 10% bonus was perfectly okay. Without further adieu, here they are, in alphabetical order by artist:

Adrian Belew - E
Nels Cline - Coward
Bill Frisell - Disfarmer
Henry Kaiser - Where Endless Meets Disappearing
Mike Keneally - Scambot 1
Nguyen Le - Saiyuki
Bill Nelson - Here Comes Mr. Mercury
David Sylvian - Manafon
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Frank Zappa - Philly '76

It was a very good year! Congrats to each of these incredible artists for these spectacular releases.

Special mention goes out to the most fascinating project of the year; Shawn Farley's fitty-two-fawty. Shawn has released a new song each week this year, all available for free download. The 52nd song will be released on Monday the 28th, completing his Herculean effort. Give Shawn a listen, you won't regret it.

Tips to manipulate, filter, and mangle V

2009-11-21T11:52:00.002-06:00

I tweeted yesterday that I won an Alesis Bitrman, a discontinued effects unit that "combines a compressor, a distortion effect, a dual phasor, plus one of six different “Bitrness” effects. The “Bitrness” effects are a comb filter, a decimator, a bit reducer, a frequency modulator, a ring modulator, and a frequency shifter." This is a piece of gear that was designed for sonic destruction and is used heavily by one of my favorite guitarists Eivind Aarset. Within moments of my tweet, I received 13 facebook replies including two video examples of a Bitrman in use.

The first is from Tony Kennedy of Bethlehem, PA. He offers Snow and Ice which can be found at http://www.viddler.com/explore/bigtonyk/videos/4/.

The second is from Jeff Duke of Ocala, Florida. His example of "Bitrman abuse" is titled Loopydroneyglitchywacky Presents 07/04/09 and can be found at http://www.vimeo.com/5453546.

Thanks to Tony and Jeff for sharing their examples of how to manipulate, filter, and mangle guitar. Wanna get in on this action? Post your tip via a comment on this blog, send me an email, or drop me a note on any of my social network outposts.

Make Noise Studios reconfig

2009-11-07T20:58:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I completely dismantled Make Noise Studios. The lovely and talented Hollis helped me clean everything from top to bottom and reassemble the studio in a different configuration. I've optimized the position of the gear for improved and streamlined workflow and carefully isolated the signal and electrical cables. With my switch from hardware to software-based looping, I've picked up some floor space, too. In this picture my line of amps is off just to the left.

Time to begin recording Breathe.

Clayphonic Street Team in Charleston

2009-11-03T12:00:00.003-06:00

Mark Burdette of Charleston, WV proudly sports his Clayphonic Records^TM long sleeve t-shirt! Who says spiked hair, shades, and Claywear don't go together? Mark pulls off the look in his "new favorite" shirt.

And you can look this great, too! Pick up on your own Clayphonic Records^TM short- or long-sleeve t-shirt in our swag store and be cool, like Mark!

HomeGrown Music Series

2009-09-22T23:04:00.005-05:00

Guitar Circle of Chicago performed Sunday evening at the HomeGrown Music Series in Chicago. The performance space is the Kimball Avenue Church, a lovely and intimate room. GCoC was the first of three acts at the weekly concert series.

We performed as a quintet this outing with me, Adrian Fortis, Collin Landinguin, Tom McCarthy, and John Novak. We had a one week notice to prepare for the gig and this particular GCoC configuration had neither rehearsed nor performed together. No problem, time to prepare and get down to it! We met as a quartet for rehearsal on Saturday to determine and rehearse the potential repertoire for the event, then as a quintet Sunday afternoon to finalize our set list and polish it up.

Our set for the evening consisted of:

Sun Music
Eye Of The Needle
Askesis
The Growing Circle
Mediterranean Sundance
The Third Relation
A Lotus On Irish Streams
Asturias
Thrak
Trapiche

Those familiar with the Guitar Craft repertoire recognize this set has some challenging numbers. In addition A Lotus On Irish Streams and Mediterranean Sundance are new to our repertoire.

Following a 6:00 pm sound check, the team hit the stage at 6:30 pm. Our biggest concern was the lack of monitors; the sound in the room was wonderful, but we had to deal with the natural reverb of the hard walls and trouble hearing ourselves and each other. Nevertheless, we marshaled on and performed well, with a small wart here and there, which I'm sure the audience never heard. Except for Thrak, which underwent an absolute and utter derailment. Collin wisely called for a do-over which we executed nicely. The performance was full of energy and the audience was quite enthusiastic and responsive, always a wonderful situation. To my ears the applause after the second take of Thrak had a little extra oomph to it! As a side note, I saw Lyle Lovett and His Large Band do the same thing at a show this summer and the audience had the same reaction, an appreciation for the recovery.

It's always a pleasure to perform with Guitar Circle of Chicago, a wonderful team of musicians and great people. I am looking forward to the next chapter in our evolution.

September 20, 2009

2009-09-21T23:09:00.002-05:00

GCoC rehearsal

2009-09-19T19:50:00.000-05:00

Our performance team for tomorrow evening has shrunk from a sextet to a quintet and we rehearsed today as a quartet. The time was well spent as we visited the material for tomorrow, a couple of pieces being a surprise to me so I am doubly grateful for the rehearsal. The five buck version will meet again tomorrow afternoon for a run through prior to the performance. We have more material ready than our time slot for the show allows, always a good situation!

Our repertoire work today focused on:

Eye Of The Needle
Growing Circle
The Third Relation
One Of A Thousand Regrets
Thrak
Trapiche
Asturias
Askesis
A Lotus on Irish Streams
Mediterranean Sundance
Sun Music

We also worked on circulating in C Harmonic Minor.

Tomorrow we'll cull from the list to fit our allotted time. It was good to re-visit the material with the team today. And, as always, it is a privilege to play music with such a wonderful group of people.

A website year in review

2009-09-17T21:32:00.003-05:00

It occurred to me earlier that the new and improved version of this website went live on September 17, 2008 making today the one year anniversary. One of the changes with the new site was the inclusion of analytic tools which allow me to review stats about how the site is being accessed and from where. The information is fascinating and insightful. So let's do a quick year in review for the site.

The website had 5,982 unique visits and 21,796 page views. The average visitor viewed 3.64 pages and stayed on the site for 2:12. The visitors were from 81 different countries from each of the six inhabited continents. The site was accessed by its URL 24% of the time, via search engines 45% of the time, from my various social media outposts 18% of the time, from discussion forums 10% of the time, and from links on artist, media, and instrument manufacturer sites 3% of the time. The most frequently visited areas of the site are the homepage and the blog, followed by the gear pages.

So, what can I learn from this? Lots more, I'm sure, than I understand in the moment, but three strategies appear to have worked - search engine optimization, social network outposts, and discussion forums have contributed to the website traffic nicely.

Okay, enough of that stuff, back to making music.

Gig prep two

2009-09-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

Tonight was about more personal rehearsal for the GCoC performance this Sunday. I revisited the pieces from Tuesday's session (Eye of the Needle, Asturias, Growing Circle, Sun Music, and The Third Relation) and added four more pieces; Hope, Trapiche, One of a Thousand Regrets, and Blockhead. I covered each piece solo and again with a rehearsal CD. It's fascinating how the fingers often remember more than the brain. More work tomorrow.

Gig prep

2009-09-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

It was personal rehearsal this evening for the upcoming GCoC show. We'll be playing as a sextet this Sunday, September 20, 2009 from 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm at the HomeGrown Music Series. The address is 2324 Kimball Ave. in Chicago, IL 60647. Adrian, John, Don, and I will be joined by Collin and Tom for this performance, most excellent.

I worked this evening at performance tempo on five pieces - Eye of the Needle, Asturias, Growing Circle, Sun Music, and The Third Relation. More work remains over the next, very few, days.

Write in the afternoon, demo in the evening

2009-08-23T22:32:00.000-05:00

This evening I created a demo of a piece of music I wrote this afternoon with my hollowneck guitar. The goal was to memorialize the song before it evaporated during the long work week that lies ahead.

In keeping with the premise behind Breathe, I kept the instrumentation sparse for the demo, using just my 2003 Industrial Guitars lap steel in E and my 2009 Warr Guitars Artist 8. I ran both instruments through the POD X3 Pro with my favorite JC-120 model. The tone of the lap steel was exquisite, crisp and clean and present. And the Warr, 'nuff said.

The arrangement will most likely change when I record the song for the album. During today's writing session I approached the hollowneck as "the small orchestra" and I may be inclined to distribute the arrangement between lap steel, electric guitar, fretless guitar, and Warr Guitar. Plenty of time to worry about that later. For now I'm delighted with the piece as its taking shape and glad to have captured it in Pro Tools.

From the perspective of technique, my recent noodling with the hollowneck has been designed to bring another perspective to my lap steel playing. I've been enamored with playing open strings, often as drones, on either side of the neck and using the bar to play chords or melodies on a subset of the strings. Most of my work on lap steel has been non-traditional, as One Feather Shy listeners will attest, but this latest obsession is opening up new avenues for exploration. Good stuff.

The B.O.A.R.D.

2009-08-09T22:20:00.008-05:00

Just as I was beginning to sustain energy towards recording Breathe I was thrown a curveball that needed hitting. My thirty year high school reunion was scheduled for the weekend of August 7th and 8th and an "all-star band" was being assembled to perform a couple of sets of music from the era. And when I say all-star, I'm not exaggerating. The team consisted of outstanding players from our hometown class who have continued to hone their musical craft as pros and semi-pros with long-term demonstrated excellence and a love of music; Chris Amick (guitar), Jeff Anderson (bass/vocals), John Boggess (sound/vocals/bass), Lee Hines (drums), Laura Sypolt (vocals/keys), and Tim Sypolt (vocals/keys/guitar). I had to sign on and prepare to work with these outstanding musicians from a distance as the local team rehearsed at Shindog Studios in WV.

The band was christened The B.O.A.R.D. Our high school mascot being the Red Dragons, the band's name is an acronym for Band Of Aging Red Dragons, both accurate and fun.

Two one-hour sets were selected and sent my way for personal rehearsal. Selections included:

Foot Stompin' Music
Sweet Emotion
Taking Care of Business
Long Train Runnin'
Stormy Monday
One of These Nights
Stop Dragging My Heart Around
Rock and Roll All Night
La Grange
Just The Way You Are
You Really Got Me
Listen To The Music
Wonderful Tonight
Hard To Handle
Honky Tonk Woman
Rhiannon
Fly Like An Eagle
Walk This Way
Tush
Freebird

Yeah, we're talking some nostalgic groovers here!

I decided to keep it simple, take just one guitar (my 2001 American Deluxe Strat) and a handful of tasty effects (Dunlop GCB-80 volume pedal, Boss CS-2 Compressor, Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer with aNaLoG.MaN Silver Mod, Boss DS-1 with aNaLoG.MaN Pro Midrange Mod, and Boss DD-3 Digital Delay with aNaLoG.MaN High Cut Mod). I called the good Dr. Boggess and arranged to borrow an amp and a backup guitar; Jeff's latest Partscaster, by the way, is another outstanding guitar. I traded several emails with the team and we decided who would take what parts on what songs, but always knowing the situation would be wonderfully fluid. We met up for a final full rehearsal on Thursday, August 6th, at Shindog Studios for a run-through of each set and final tweaking. The rehearsal went very well, the band sounded good, we added Shout to the list, and we were ready to go.

We kicked off our first set at 8:00 pm on Friday night with a nice crowd of our classmates and others at The Barge in Charleston, WV. We smoked it nicely right from the beginning, with an occasional wart but no train wrecks and lot of energy. As we were wrapping up the first set with You Really Got Me, someone stepped behind me on stage, dropped off a sax case, and asked if we'd be taking a break soon. I relayed this was the last song of the set as I turned and saw fellow SAHS alum and Charleston sax legend Doug Payne. He replied he'd like to do a couple of songs with us in the second set - no problem there as Doug is a monster player. We fired the second set up at 10:00 pm with Doug joining us for three numbers; as I suspected would happen, Doug tore it up and helped us take the energy to the next level. We finished strong with the crowd on their feet dancing feverishly to Shout.

What a privilege it was to play with these wonderful musicians and lovely people for our classmates of 30 years ago - and a host of other audience members who dropped by and joined in the festivities. The evening was over too soon; as we broke down and loaded up I couldn't help but thinking how much fun it would be to do it again. Who knows, perhaps it will happen...

More drone work this evening

2009-07-06T23:28:00.007-05:00

Following a busy day of work and a busy evening with family fun, I fired up Make Noise Studios this evening for more drone work. The instrument of choice was again the 2001 American Deluxe Strat and the studio setup remained unchanged.

I recorded two separate pieces, each consisting of six layers. I'm happy with the evening's work and very pleased with this creative approach. A significant goal of this project is to savor the space between the notes, resist the temptation to over-orchestrate and over play, and let the music Breathe. The four drones recorded over the past two days are consistent with that goal. I'll ultimately shape the pieces in Pro Tools and re-record parts as required, as well as add new instrumentation as appropriate.

I also had some fun today with the Intua BeatMaker iPhone app. It's is an amazing piece of software that allows for sample manipulation and sequencing on the iPhone with the ability to generate CD quality output. Powerful, portable, and fun. More exploration to come...

I ran into Brad Zwieg of Studio Z last night at the Elvis Costello concert. Astute readers will recall that Brad mixed and mastered One Feather Shy. Plans are to have Brad do the same for Breathe; how's that for a ringing endorsement of his work? It was good to catch up for a few moments and I look forward to working with Brad in the near future.

By the way, Elvis and The Impostors smoked it! Elvis showed up to play guitar, and play guitar he did; he is certainly not afraid to turn it up to 10 and stomp on a fuzz box. It was a great show for an appreciative crowd.

Drones in D minor

2009-07-05T16:53:00.003-05:00

And finally I'm back in the friendly confines of Make Noise Studios! Today's work was creating two different guitar drones, each in D minor. The first piece consisted of five layers and the second was constructed of six layers. I am very pleased with the results and delighted to be working on Breathe!

For the technical stuff, today's guitar of choice was the 2001 American Deluxe Strat straight into the POD X3 Pro with a JC-120 model, one of my favorites. I recorded into Ableton Live running SooperLooper controlled by a MIDI Moose and Boss FV-500L via a MIDI Solutions Pedal Controller. I used the SoundToys EchoBoy and Crystallizer delays in line and recorded with the effects. The signal chain has an instance of EchoBoy set as a short delay, Crystallizer as a reverse echo, and another instance of Echoboy with a longer delay.

Given the time challenges and constraints under which I've found myself this year I don't want to plan too far ahead. My intention is to sustain focus on Breathe in whatever time chunks I can manage. The music is bubbling up and demanding to get out!

I sent some audio tracks to Lee Fletcher yesterday. We'll keep the objective under wraps for the time being, more as it develops.

Stefan and I are going to see Elvis Costello this evening! We're both looking forward to the concert.

Now playing on vinyl: Robert Fripp, Exposure

Al Peery's beautiful Breathe imagery

2009-05-08T20:59:00.002-05:00

I received this stunning photograph from Al Peery today for the Breathe project. Al took the picture in Kanawha State Forest and provided this description - "This shot was 3 separate images bracketed at 3 different exposure settings, then blended using a program called Photomatix Pro that creates HDR (high digital range) images. Pulls shadow detail from the high exposures and highlight detail from low exposures."

Thanks to Al for his visual contribution to my "hey, want to participate in Breathe?" program. I described Breathe and how you can participate in my Dec 27, 2008 blog post. If you have images you'd like to submit, drop me an email, contact me at one of my social network outposts, or comment on this blog.

Greg Kleffner's beautiful Breathe imagery

2009-05-07T19:57:00.005-05:00

Greg Kleffner was kind enough to supply these gorgeous pictures for the Breathe project. Greg and John Andrus are avid ice fishermen and "like to capture the sunset over the frozen lake" during their adventures. These particular photographs were taken this winter in Minnesota.

Thanks to Greg for his visual contribution to my "hey, want to participate in Breathe?" program. I described Breathe and how you can participate in my Dec 27, 2008 blog post. If you have images you'd like to submit, drop me an email, contact me at one of my social network outposts, or comment on this blog.

Evening work - May 5, 2009

2009-05-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

This evening I focused on three pieces from the GCoC repertoire; Trapiche, Blockhead, and Flying Home. For Trapiche the challenge was the right hand during the C section, the refrain. For Blockhead the challenge was the left hand during the Alternate B section. And for Flying Home, well, it's just Flying Home!

Kicking off a new chapter

2009-05-03T20:55:00.000-05:00

Today three-fourths of the current edition of Guitar Circle of Chicago met for rehearsal. Of course we'd rather the entire team be present but we've determined the need to be nimble, to catch-as-catch-can, and to work independently in a coordinated fashion as required. Our work today in a trio format was good.

We began with two circulations with the second having several lovely sections. The bulk of our time was spent on pieces from the repertoire:

Sun Music
Eye of the Needle
Hope
Askesis
Growing Circle
The Third Relation
Blockhead
Asturias
One of a Thousand Regrets
Trapiche
Wireless

We also had an extended improvisation that wound its way through moments of music that are still working through my head.

Work is being worked, plans are being planned, and GCoC is on the beam once again.

BB and LC

2009-05-03T00:58:00.000-05:00

Bryan Beller joined his lovely and talented wife Kira Small for an intimate show at the Hotel Metro in Milwaukee this evening. I caught up with Bryan for a few minutes before and after the show and Hollis snapped this quick photo.

Preparation continues

2009-04-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

This evening's work was focused primarily on Flying Home, another of my favorite pieces from the Guitar Craft repertoire and, in my opinion, one of Curt Golden's best compositions. A couple of slow passes were required to recall the intricate fingering but muscle memory kicked in. I also worked through Askesis and Asturias to wrap up the session.

Adding them back slowly

2009-04-27T21:20:00.000-05:00

This evening I added Askesis back to my rehearsal work. I really enjoy the song, it's so "angular". I also worked through Sun Music, Eye of the Needle, Growing Circle, Wireless, and The Third Relation. Next up? Flying Home.

Fingers don't fail me now

2009-04-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

I added two more pieces to the repertoire revisit this evening, Wireless and The Third Relation. And I worked through Asturias, Eye of the Needle, Growing Circle, and Sun Music, as well. Slow but sure progress.

Clayphonic Street Team in Milwaukee

2009-04-11T23:32:00.002-05:00

Hollis and I met the extended Andrus family for a pre-concert bite and sip before heading off to see Kansas tonight. Imagine my delight to see number one Andrus daughter Cassie proudly sporting her Clayphonic Records^TM t-shirt! And at her first concert! Like all fashion conscious young folk, Cassie insisted her dad outfit her to represent, and represent she did. You look great Cassie!

And you can look great, too! Pick up on your own Clayphonic Records^TM short- or long-sleeve t-shirt in our swag store and be cool, like Cassie!

More spinning

2009-04-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

Tonight I expanded my re-familiarization-with-the-repertoire work. I focused on Growing Circle and Sun Music; I ran through each with the sheet music then tackled them without a net. I threw on a rehearsal CD and played along with both of the pieces, then added Asturias and Eye of the Needle. Neurons fired, fingers moved, progress made.

Spinning up

2009-04-07T21:12:00.000-05:00

The Circle is spinning up for a new phase of activity. We will focus our efforts as a quartet this time, however, we'll augment the core team and even include additional instrumentation. Our aim includes both performance and recording so there is much work to be done.

To begin, again, I began this evening by reintroducing myself to the repertoire. My focus was Asturias and Eye of the Needle. It was a race between my brain and my fingers to remember the pieces, nevertheless, progress was made.

I remember reading in Neal Peart's book Ghost Rider about his return to the drum throne after a long span of inactivity. Specifically he wrote about the time it took for his body to get back into drumming shape and how sore he was in the beginning. Even though I've been playing it's been electric, touch, and lap steel. My hands told me tonight they have to get back into acoustic NST shape and that I'll feel them complain until they do. The additional hand strength is a great benefit to oblique bends on the electric guitars, too!

One Feather Shy framed artwork

2009-04-04T14:09:00.006-05:00

We had the artwork and CD from One Feather Shy framed at a local shop. It is displayed lovingly in the friendly confines of Make Noise Studios. I snapped this pic with my iPhone before leaving home on Thursday.

Stefan and I are off to explore Montreal, find sustenance, and enjoy night two of the Marillion Weekend.

Balance, Breathe, GCoC, Concerts

2009-04-02T13:18:00.007-05:00

Dateline: CoachUSA, somewhere between Brewtown and O'Hare. I've long held the belief that work/life balance doesn't occur on a daily basis, but rather happens over longer cycles. During some stretches work hums along and activities outside of the workplace are at center stage. At other times, though, work requires a greater commitment of time and energy, with little regard for 5:00 pm or the modern day concept of the five day work week. I'm in one of those stretches now and it's good. The downside, of course, is work on Breathe has taken a backseat for a bit while I've been in a heavy travel cycle and working late and on the weekends. This cycle will ultimately complete, I'll have my evenings and weekends back, and I'll be in the studio soon.

This explains, of course, why I haven't been posting lately; no tangible progress has been made in terms of recording. It doesn't mean, however, that Breathe isn't continuing to morph and mature, it's just all happening in my mind. My vision of what I'm trying to accomplish on this project is coming into greater focus. I'm anxious to begin realizing that vision.

In other news, Guitar Circle of Chicago is ramping up for a fresh period of activity. Our aim is to get our collective chops together, perform several live shows over the coming months, and record and release a collection of our original material. It's an exciting time for the Circle as we move forward with two adjustments. First, our primary work will now be as a quartet and that requires an adjustment to how we approach the repertoire. Second, while our primary focus will continue as an NST-acoustic guitar ensemble, we're looking to experiment with instrumentation more than we've historically done; I will be tapping on some pieces based on the successful experiment at our Angola show. We're also looking for opportunities to bring additional musicians into our performances, including percussion.

I am delighted to enter this next phase of activity with the team. It means, of course, a significant investment of time on technique and repertoire. Although it may appear on the surface this will conflict with my work on Breathe, I am at my musical best when I am immersed in my Guitar Craft studies. Bring it on!

I have a killer concert schedule lined up for April, beginning tonight:

04/02/09 - David Fiuczynski's KiF in Burlington
04/03/09 - Marillion in Montreal
04/04/09 - Marillion in Montreal
04/05/09 - Marillion in Montreal
04/11/09 - Kansas in Milwaukee
04/14/09 - Wilco in Milwaukee
04/15/09 - Bryan Beller in Chicago
04/17/09 - Adrian Belew in Milwaukee
04/18/09 - Jeff Beck in Milwaukee

Most excellent!

Clayphonic Street Team in Vermont

2009-03-01T21:24:00.003-06:00

Monster guitarist, hiker, and all around good guy Aaron Cowan, aka Joe Riffanucci, rocks the crowd with a killer stinkface while sporting his bitchin' charcoal grey Clayphonic Records^TM t-shirt. Pick up on your own Clayphonic Records^TM short- or long-sleeve t-shirt in our swag store and you can look this cool, too! Can't help you with the beard though.

And get out there and support local live music while you're at it, okay? Okay!

A pair of Warr Guitars

2009-02-19T21:28:00.004-06:00

A pair of Warr Guitars, my 2009 Warr Artist 8 and 2001 Warr Artist 10.

Warr Artist 8 is in the house!

2009-02-16T22:44:00.004-06:00

My new Warr Artist 8 arrived today, packed beautifully in its way cool A&S flight case. This is a game changer for me, the embodiment of several years of learning exactly what I need in a tapping instrument. The guitar is an eight string model, tuned in 4ths from B below bass E, and is monophonic with active electronics and 3-band EQ. The strings are relatively light, gauged .105 .080 .060 .035 .025 .016 .012 .010. It's a long-scale guitar that goes low, not a bass that goes high. And it does go low. The body is mahogany with a thin walnut laminate and a quilted maple top. The five laminate bolt-on neck has maple mains, two strips of mahogany, and a middle strip of walnut. The fingerboard is pau ferro. Warr Guitar inspired by Paul Reed Smith.

The guitar plays and sounds magnificent. I got lost in 90 minutes or so of improvised looping this evening, working with a variety of tones and styles. I simply couldn't be more pleased.

I'll have the proper picture and description up on the gear page in a couple of days.

Forward progress

2009-02-15T23:20:00.004-06:00

I entered the studio this morning and was stricken with a bit of an intestinal bug just before lunch. Not a big deal and it seems to have worked its way from my system. Nothing helps one stay focused on the creative act, though, like putting down a guitar and hustling to the toilet. Still I made progress shaping several songs for Breathe.

I believe I've worked out the fundamental song structure for Winter Breath, the short piece based on the improv Frankenstrat 050103. I really need to keep this song open and airy, simple and clean. I'll let it rest a bit and return in a few days to see if I have it where it needs to be.

One of the LCGE sketches in play was originally called Baritone Stomp Loop, a sister loop to Baritone Stomp Loop 2 which eventually morphed into Bigfoot. I began working with the loop, first by relearning its component parts, then by writing a couple of additional guitar parts to go with it. I created an interesting descending chord passage and a pair of lines with oblique bends. The first line has a whole-step bend on the second string while the second line has a half-step bend on the 3rd string. The two guitar parts work together wonderfully well and raise the question as to whether or not they will stay with the loop that inspired them or if that loop will be jettisoned. I'll let this one rest a couple of days, too, but I'm thrilled with the direction of the tracks I captured today.

I'm fascinated with what Fernando Kabusacki calls miniatures. I'm not sure if this is a generally accepted musical term or one Fernando coined. My interpretation of the concept is the distillation or simplification of a song, essentially capturing the theme of an ensemble piece and performing it with minimal instrumentation. Bryan Beller used the method with stunning results on View, as well. I'm working with this approach on Breathe with the goal of having four short miniatures, each realized on solo fretless guitar, distributed throughout the running order of the album. I expect some of the pieces proper on Breathe to be candidates for the shrink ray, but have also co-opted five pieces from One Feather Shy; Baritone Drift, Evening Bells, Sand Sculpture, Thank You Dan Savio, and When Dads Fly Away. I created the Pro Tools sessions for each miniature, pulled in the appropriate session and audio data, and took an initial stab at the conceptual points of miniaturization. I'll record each of these and will re-purpose what doesn't get used on the album.

The ball is moved a little further down the field.

Tips to manipulate, filter, and mangle IV

2009-02-14T17:16:00.005-06:00

Back in Tips to manipulate, filter, and mangle II, Paul R. Potts wrote about a device called "The Gonkulator". Being the sport he is, Paul has put together a short demonstration video to provide all of us with a closer look at this strange device. Many thanks to Paul for sharing.

Be sure to check out out Pauls' blog Geek Versus Guitar and visit thepottshouse.org for the full Paul R. Potts treatment.

Wanna get in on this action? Post your tip via a comment on this blog, send me an email, or drop me a note on any of my social network outposts.

I need a time machine

2009-02-08T22:28:00.005-06:00

The last two weeks have been lost in terms of recording, much to my chagrine. Last weekend I knocked out a variety of necessary non-music tasks, and spent some quality time with the family. This weekend I've been fighting a devil bug deluxe, mostly asleep in bed. Not exactly what I hoped to be doing.

This evening I managed to perk up enough to adjust the truss rods on the white and red fretless guitars, check the action on my 12-string touch guitar, upgrade the POD X3 and X3 Pro, upgrade POD Farm, upgrade the MoogerFooger Analogy Delay plug-in, and ClayLoop a bit to test everything. And then the energy knob twisted back to off.

Progress is being made on every front except recording so all is not lost. More on the other stuff soon. I need to get cracking on the recording, though, and that is the priority.

Will Cruttenden's beautiful Breathe imagery

2009-01-26T20:30:00.002-06:00

I was delighted to find these photos in my inbox this evening. Will Cruttenden, fellow 8-string Warr guitarist and centrozoon lovefield commentary teammate from Oxford, UK, sent these images my way. From his email, "Some of my photographs that make me think of Breathe. All taken close to where I live." Stunning imagery...

Hey, be sure to stop by Blog of Will, I happen to know he's getting really, really close to announcing the title of his upcoming album!

Thanks to Will for his visual contribution to my "hey, want to participate in Breathe?" program. I described Breathe and how you can participate in my Dec 27, 2008 blog post. If you have images you'd like to submit, drop me an email, contact me at one of my social network outposts, or comment on this blog.

Structuring Inhale and more

2009-01-25T22:11:00.003-06:00

This afternoon I worked on Inhale, a new song that has existed to this point only in my head, nyet demo'ed. My goal was to move quickly to capture the major parts of the song and confirm the arrangement. I used my 2001 American Deluxe Strat to record the chords, a funky rhythmic motif, the bass line, and a lap steel swell. Mission accomplished, the arrangement is locked and I'm ready for final recording. In addition to recording the parts with the appropriate instrumentation, I'll add two more tracks, an eBow fretless guitar and some mangled backdrop guitar.

I also set up a Pro Tools session for Winter Breath, a piece based on a guitar synth improvisation called Frankenstrat 050103. I'm delighted with the theme of the improv, but will work with the music freely as I morph the song into final form.

And, I wrote and distributed the January edition of my newsletter this evening. If you'd like to be on the mailing list pop over to the contact page and sign up.

Make Noise Studios

2009-01-20T22:53:00.004-06:00

I took this picture of my workspace at Make Noise Studios this evening with my iPhone. The GR-33 is missing in the lower left corner and the mixer is cut off in the right, but you get the idea. I'll be spending a lot of time here working on Breathe.

And so it begins

2009-01-18T21:05:00.002-06:00

This afternoon I began work proper on Breathe. Although not a note was recorded, the work was important. I reconfigured the studio, removing all extraneous cables and devices, optimized the signal paths, and routed audio cables away from power sources. I auditioned the demo tracks in consideration for the project and rejected three. I consolidated copies of all remaining demo tracks into the Breathe work folder. I tested mBox 2 IO and buffer settings to finalize my approach for this project; due to the significantly increased horsepower of my MacBook Pro versus my old Powerbook G4, I'll be working quite differently than I did on One Feather Shy. I auditioned several soft synths alone and in combination with various plug-ins. I set up the backup drive and backed up the work folder. And I determined the pieces I'll be working on in the next few sessions.

And so it begins.

Tips to manipulate, filter, and mangle III

2009-01-17T22:20:00.002-06:00

This week I received one suggestion on how to "manipulate, filter, and mangle" guitar tones:

Danny Mac - "Check these plugins out! They are GREAT for mangling sounds - destroyfx.smartelectronix.com/. The Transverb is one of my favorite plugins. Two separate delay lines and a separate buffer. Good times."

Thanks for the tip Danny!

Got tips to share on manipulating, filtering, and mangling guitar tones? Post a comment on this blog, send me an email, or drop me a note on any of my social network outposts.

Tips to manipulate, filter, and mangle II

2009-01-10T22:55:00.003-06:00

I had two suggestions this week on how to "manipulate, filter, and mangle" guitar tones:

Paul Potts - "I have a green device called a 'Gonkulator' (really). It's a ring modulator pedal that generates its own carrier. The knobs are labeled things like 'grunge' and 'heave.' It sounds pretty horrifying. I haven't found a really good use. Keeping it for the day that I really need a solo to sound like a sick goat having a seizure or something."
Raul Bonell - "I'll add ... plogue bidule & max/msp. The routing capabilites and data conversion can't be beaten."

Paul is going to send along some Gonkulator sound clips, I'll post them upon arrival. Thanks for the tips gentlemen!

If you would like to share your tips on manipulating, filtering, and mangling guitar tones, post a comment on this blog, send me an email, or drop me a note on any of my social network outposts.

Ableton Live and SooperLooper

2009-01-07T23:15:00.009-06:00

For the past three years or so I experimented with Ableton Live and used it a bit on my Claytronica work. I always liked Live but it never found its way into my main recording toolkit. When I recorded One Feather Shy I used Live on a couple of tracks on one song, Fire Dancing On Frozen Tundra. So when I upgraded Make Noise Studios over the last couple of months, I thought I'd leave Live on the sidelines.

I have been seriously stoked about the recent upgrade to Pro Tools LE 8 and the addition of POD Farm Platinum and SoundToys Native. I could get lost forever in the power that is at my fingertips. As stated in an earlier post, I am limited only by my imagination. I believed that the studio upgrade was complete.

I kept reading about SooperLooper, "... a live looping sampler capable of immediate loop recording, overdubbing, multiplying, reversing and more. It allows for multiple simultaneous multi-channel loops limited only by your computer's available memory.", as quoted from the website. The app is modeled after the much revered Echoplex Digital Pro Plus hardware looper. Although I've been very pleased with my Boss RC-50 Loop Station, I thought I should experience SooperLooper to understand the buzz. Earlier this week I downloaded the tool, which can run on a Mac as an AU plug-in or under Jack, an audio server originally written for Linux and later for OS X. Now, nothing against my Linux loving brethren, but I've never been fascinated by working at the atomic level of computing. I'd much rather use my computers to get stuff done than diddle with my computers. In my testing of SooperLooper and Jack, I was quite impressed with the power of the tools, but found the combination cumbersome, geeky to setup, and drawing my attention away from the music. I also lost the ability to use my plug-ins while looping, at least without find additional tools to do so. It occurred to me, however, that although Pro Tools doesn't support AU plug-ins, Ableton Live indeed does. So this evening I installed my copy of Live v6, fired up a session with SooperLooper as a plug-in, and lost my mind. So much so, I upgraded Live to the current version, v7.

So what's to be so excited about this SooperLooper of which I speak? Certainly I've only scratched the surface so far, but I can build and manipulate loops with unprecedented control on the Mac, with not only multiple loops running under SooperLooper, but also multiple instances of SooperLooper. Holy Moly! I ClayLoop'ed three sessions this evening with multiple loops running through multiple plug-ins. I can imagine an ultra-portable looping configuration, pretty much a guitar, laptop, mBox 2, and a control pedal or two - I could carry the whole mess into a performance hall in one go! More germane to the task at hand, I expect the combination of Live and SooperLooper to be a important element in the construction of Breathe, filling the role that the RC-50 played on One Feather Shy while expanding my looping capabilities and perhaps improving the overall fidelity of the loops or at least ensuring excellent fidelity with minimal hassle.

Now I think the Make Noise Studios upgrade is really complete! I am in the groove and playing a lot of music with the new setup, particularly fretless guitar, and the muse, she's here with me.

Further up the On-Ramp

2009-01-04T23:36:00.010-06:00

This afternoon I remixed the tracks I recorded on Christmas day with my white fretless using the plug-ins from PT LE 8, SoundToys Native, and POD Farm. For those of you that dig this kind of thing I'll geek out for a minute:

Track 1 is the fretless loop through the Fat Glimmer patch in the PT Air Chorus effect and routed through three auxiliary effects tracks; Aux Delay, Aux Sub-Octave, and Aux-Reverb.
Track 2 is the eBow fretless track through the Deep Chorus patch in the PT Air Chorus plug-in, the PT Air Vintage Filter in Low Pass mode, and the 15 ips Tape Echo patch in the SoundToys Native EchoBoy effect. The result is a fat monophonic analog synth sound. All of this is routed through Aux Delay and Aux Reverb.
Track 3 is the fretless lead voice through PT the Compressor/Limiter 3 plug-in, the POD Farm Rez Synth Wave 4 patch, the POD Farm Noise Gate, the POD Farm Octave Fuzz, the POD Farm Analog Chorus, and the POD Farm Tape Echo. These effects combine to great an old school, out of control, edgy guitar synth sound, but a fretless one, like riding the pitch wheel on a Mini Moog.
The Aux Delay track consists of the SoundToys Native Crystallizer effect with the Reverse Guitar Nice patch feeding the SoundToys Native Phase Mistress running the 8x6 SloRez patch. This is a beautiful combination with grains of reverse guitar modulated by a resonant phase shifter underneath the original guitar sound. This track feeds Aux Reverb.
The Aux Sub-Octave track consists of the PT Recti-Fi effect with the Sub-Kit patch through the PT Air Chorus with the More Fatness patch. This creates a lovely fretless bass sound.
The Aux Reverb track is the PT D-Verb effect set to the Large Hall patch for a big, spacious reverb.
The Master Fader runs through the Joe Meek SC2 Photo Optical Compressor and Maxim mastering effect.

What began as an experiment and creative test has morphed into a fascinating song sketch that has some legs under it. The mix has distinct voices and a shifting, shimmering background. Neo Ambient? Perhaps it is. I bounced the mix down to live with for a few days.

I couldn't be more excited about the the upgraded capabilities of Make Noise Studios. With the official start date of Breathe just a couple of weeks away, everything is performing perfectly! I am quivering with anticipation and ready to hit the big red button.

Clayphonic Street Team in Wisconsin

2009-01-04T23:29:00.003-06:00

Greg Kleffner and John Andrus of greater Milwaukee, WI proudly sport their Clayphonic Records^TM t-shirts. Kleff styles in his long-sleeve blue version and Big J models his classic black short-sleeve model. Pick up on your own Clayphonic Records^TM short- or long-sleeve t-shirt in our swag store and you can look this cool, too!

Tips to manipulate, filter, and mangle I

2009-01-03T22:08:00.006-06:00

Last weekend I announced my latest project Breathe and invited folks to contribute their suggestions on how they "manipulate, filter, and mangle" guitar tones. I've had contributions come through social networks and forums and thoughts I'd collect them all here in one place. Without further adieu:

Toby Graves of Kent, WA offers "I like to attach a roach clip to the strings on my Warr to get a ring mod effect. It's not actually a roach, it's an alligator clip for jumpering electronic circuits, but I cut the wire off. Usually it works best if you clip the 'clip' to one of the strings over or near the pickups. ...I would run the "clipped" i.e. redneck ring mod signal through a micro-synth too. I seem to remember it could get a little strange."
Kaspar Torn of Estonia offers "I'd suggest you investigate 'Usine'."
Bruce Stevens of Chapel Hill, NC offers "I have been having some fun with KTGranulator... granular synthesis plugin."
Luca Formentini of Italy offers "Finally decide to go Audiomulch. Still using AM now, very happy with it: simple, deep and yet very light. The granulator in smartelectronics is very similar to the one you can find in AM. There is a very nice sw to process audio files: Kenaxis."
Greg Hooper of Brisbane, Australia offers "I have been post processing in Reaper rather than using live fx - I almost always DI clean and add fx later. Great news though!!! The new version of Audiomulch will be out soon and I think it will be 'THE' one to use, addressing the limitations of the current version. I know the developer Ross - another Australian - a very smart guy, very focussed and you can be confident that the coding will be solid and efficient. He has been doing a lot of performance as well, so the performative aspects of the next version should also be pretty mature."

Thanks to everyone for their tips and tricks, much appreciated. And more so, thanks to everyone who has sent their support and positive energy!

Do you manipulate, filter, and mangle guitar tones? Drop me a line, comment on the blog, connect on one of the social network outposts, or post on a forum, whatever works for you. I'll collect the ideas as they come in and post 'em here.

Breathe

2008-12-27T16:31:00.002-06:00

I'm excited to announce my new recording project! Plans are planned and I'm ready to go! Not that there's not a lot of work remaining to be done with One Feather Shy, but that bird has left the nest and flown off into the world. Thanks once again to everyone who has bought the CD or download, your support is not only much appreciated, it allows me to continue sharing my music. And über thanks to everyone who has dropped me a line via email, one of my social outposts, or surveys; your kind words for my work are inspirational and fuel for the work that is ahead of me.

And speaking of the work that is ahead of me, the album is titled Breathe. Recording is set to begin in mid-January. I won't speculate a release date yet, but I'm shooting for late 2009. So, you might query, what's this Breathe all about? Well, a wiser man than I once said "Talking About Music Is Like Whistling About Chickens" but I'll give it a shot.

Breathe will be an album of "genre-indifferent instrumental guitar music" created with acoustic, electric, baritone electric, fretless electric, lap steel, baritone lap steel, touch and synthesizer guitars. It will be tonally diverse and cover much stylistic ground. The music will generally be less dense than One Feather Shy, more open and sparse with room for each instrument to Breathe and relatively fewer voices in each piece. The overall design concept is equality between foreground and background, yet there will be moments of dense orchestration, yes there will, as I am wired to make it so upon occasion. Those moments, however, will stand out as exceptions to the more open sonic experience of the album. Shadows and Light, if you will.

Another critically important design concept is the juxtaposition of natural and classic guitar tones with ones which have been manipulated, filtered, and mangled. This is a fascinating area of discovery and exploration for me and will serve as a key creative element for the project. I'll manipulate sounds with tools and techniques during the performance, effects "on the way in", plug-ins after the fact, and outboard gear. Texture and tone will be the North Star to guide me through copious amounts of filters, backwards guitar, synced and un-synced delays, loops, eBow, harmonic capo, and more.

The recording will once again take place in the friendly confines of Make Noise Studios. As was the case with One Feather Shy the project is largely a solo effort but I shan't hesitate to reach out for a contribution from others, as appropriate. I'm very excited that Robert Jürjendal has provided a brilliant loop for Breathe! Robert is one of the most innovative guitarists at work today and it is an honor to have his participation on the project.

So, there's a quick fly-by of Breathe. As is my norm, I'll blog about the creative process each step of the way, beginning with this post and continuing until this album leaves the nest and flies off into the world, too. It is my aim to make the documenting of the project an interactive affair and I invite you to participate in two different ways:

I've described Breathe in terms of "open", "sparse", and "foreground equals background." Other words that come to my mind include "wintery", "frost", "ethereal" and "shades of grey." I'm not sure why, they just do. For those of you with mad visual skills, I'd love to see your photos or sketches of the imagery that these words suggest to you. Unless you direct me differently, I'll share your submissions on this blog for others to see, with appropriate credit provided, of course.
I've described the critical design element of "the juxtaposition of natural and classic guitar tones with ones which have been manipulated, filtered, and mangled." Are you one who manipulates, filters, or mangles tones? I'd love to hear about your favorite approaches for doing so. What tools, techniques, effects, plug-ins, or outboard gear are you using? Do you have an example in mp3 format to share? Again, unless you tell me not to, I'll share your thoughts and mp3 links on this blog, as well, with appropriate credit for your submission.

And, of course, I'd love your comments on any of the blog posts along the way. In any case, you can comment directly on the blog at www.lorenclaypool.com, reach me through any of my social network outposts, or drop me an email with your submissions. Do be sure to let me know if it's okay to share or if your contribution is just for me. I hope you'll share!

If you haven't done so, be sure to stop by my contact page and sign up for my e-newsletter. In addition to this blog and my tweets, I'll be documenting the project there, as well. Hey, speaking of tweets, are we connected on Twitter? How about MySpace, Facebook, iLike, or Flickr? Let's do that friend and follow thing, what do you say?

Well, here we go again. Wish me luck, shoot me your thoughts on the project, and let's make another dream a reality. Thanks for sending your energy my way and have an awesome 2009!

The On-Ramp

2008-12-25T21:20:00.004-06:00

This evening I drove to the beginning of the on-ramp of my upcoming recording project. The studio upgrade is nearly in place; only the Sound Toys Native Effects bundle remains and the package shipped Monday so I'm expecting it any day. The evening work was a dry run of the new Make Noise Studios in full creative mode.

I put together a quick sketch using only the white fretless guitar and a JC-120 amp / Boss CS-1 model on the POD X3 Pro. The sketch consists of three tracks:

Track 1 is an RC-50 loop with two complementary lines. The Air Chorus plug-in is on the main track, which is routed to three auxiliary effects tracks. The Delay track consists of Air Dynamic Delay followed by Air Kill EQ blocking the highs, providing for an analog delay-like roll off. The Sub Oct track consists of the Recti-Fi plug-in set to Sub-Kit mode followed by Air Chorus creating a bass line. The Reverb track is D-Verb set to a large room.
Track 2 is a backwards RC-50 loop played with an eBow. Plug-ins include Air Chorus, Air Vintage Filter in low pass mode, and TAL Dub II in Reso Delay mode, providing an analog synth kind of feel. This track is also routed to the Delay track and Reverb track.
Track 3 is a melody line routed through Air Spring Reverb and the DB-33 rotary speaker. This track is also routed to the Reverb track.

The result is a three minute slowly evolving ambient piece of music with different tonal layers.

I dig the juxtaposition of traditional and severely manipulated guitar tones and will reflect more on this subject in an upcoming post. I should be able to process the tracks through the Sound Toys Native Effects by the weekend. Over the next few days I'll route the tracks through the Kaoss Pad, POD Farm / POD X3, and SP-303 to experiment with outboard gear manipulation. Sonic hues and tints, as it were.

Although the session was a creative experiment with new and updated tools, it was an experiment conducted with music in mind. I am pleased with the music that made itself available. The essence of tonight's work is strong enough to find its way to something more substantial. And perhaps that something more substantial awaits me at the end of the on-ramp.

Pro Tools LE 8

2008-12-22T02:19:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I upgraded the most critical piece of my studio software, Pro Tools LE, from version 7.4 to version 8. I tested and experimented in two working sessions and I'm thrilled with the results. I had no stability issues at any point during the sessions and only one plug-in loading problem; MoogerFooger Analog Delay won't load due to Pro Tools not recognizing the iLok authorization, although it's there. I've reported the problem to Digidesign and am awaiting their feedback. Otherwise, I'm in great shape.

The overall look and feel of the software has improved with a more effective user interface and color schemes. There are several new features and extensions but what blew me away is the incredible array of effect and instrument plug-ins that ship with the product. So much of what I achieved from a mass of cobbled together VST plug-ins for One Feather Shy can now be done with what Digidesign delivers in version 8, and them some! Exquisite virtual instruments, a bevy of sonic manipulators, and improved standard effects combine to make this blog post seem like a commercial.

The addition of the LED Cinema Display makes the work environment über excellent. Adding the POD Farm capabilities to those delivered in version 8 makes my imagination the limit of what can be accomplished sonically. And, of course, I have the additional wonder that will come with the Sound Toys bundle, expected to arrive any day.

Technology aside, I had a great time playing extended improvs during the testing sessions. It is good to begin to stretch my creative side again! My cup runneth over with ideas to be realized in the upcoming project and I am incredibly stoked to begin the process of getting them to "tape". I'm just about ready to hit the big red record button!

One Feather Shy at DGM

2008-12-16T21:08:00.003-06:00

One Feather Shy is now available for purchase at Discipline Global Mail Order. It's a thrill for me to have my music sold there along side so many of the musicians I admire. You can search for my name at Discipline Global Mail Order or go straight here.

Studio prep work

2008-12-14T19:47:00.006-06:00

Today I prepared the studio for my upcoming recording sessions. I received my way cool POD X3 Pro yesterday, along with a 2U Shallow Gator rack case. I un-racked the PreSonus MP20 preamp, Alesis 3630 compressor and Rane SM 82 from my 4U Gator rack case, leaving the Furman M8L power conditioner taking up 1U. I installed the POD X3 Pro into the rack, taking up the remaining 3U, filling the rack. For straight ahead gigs or sessions, this is the rack; grab it and go! I re-racked the PreSonus MP20 preamp and Rane SM 82 mixer into the 2U rack case, which stacks nicely on top of the 4U case. If I were adding guitar synth I'd bring along this unit, too. I simply plug into the Furman in the 4U rack and I'm good to go. Or, if I'm playing through amps and mic-ing them, I could just bring the 2U rack. Flexible, modular, and easy to carry.

That means the Alesis 3630 is de-commissioned and slated for eBay. If you want it drop me a line. Otherwise I'll post it in the next day or so.

I tweaked the studio layout a bit, as well, placing the racks at an angle to the left of my DAW desk, with the FBV Express in front of the racks, the Boss RC-50 Loop Station and its controlling pedals to the left of the racks, and the GR-33 to the left of the RC-50. Nice, functional, ergonomic and I can get to everything quickly. I, of course, carefully placed the power cords away from the audio cords and wrapped everything up nice and neat.

I tested the whole she-bang with my white Strat and my Box Guitar running through the POD X3 Pro and RC-50. ClayLoop-ing was the order of the day and I made joyous noise.

For those that missed the tweet, my import Weissenborn copy arrived safe and sound. I'm thrilled with the instrument; it plays and sounds great. I'm not thinking it will be on the next project but I'm working with it just the same. For some reason I've been arranging a Frisell-inspired version of the Hank Williams classic "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". I'm not sure why, the song just called to me the first time I picked up the Weissen-copy, so there you go.

The final piece of the studio puzzle is my copy of the SoundToys Native effects bundle. Should be here within the week. Following installation I'll be ready to get to work.

I am itching to lay down demo tracks for the new songs and look to do so over the next couple of weeks. I'll move quickly through the process and edit on the fly, just looking to memorialize the things I've been working on before recording proper begins.

I am off shortly to pick up Claypool: The Next Generation, along with Miss Hollis, from the airport. Christmas break begins and it will be wonderful to hear the patter of big feet around the house for a change. We're picking up a new puppy on the 23rd, a Miniature Schnauzer we've named Walt. We're all looking forward to welcoming Walt into our home, just in time for Christmas.

eBay snag

2008-12-06T20:04:00.006-06:00

After scouring the thread at Steel Guitar Forum this morning, I pulled the trigger on an inexpensive import Weissenborn copy guitar. For those not familiar, Weissenborn's are acoustic lap steel guitars with a hollow neck built in the 1920s. The tone of a Weissenborn is magnificent. The SGF members who have purchased these copies are quite pleased with the tone, construction, and playability of the instruments. I'm excited to get mine, in just a few days!

David Lindley performs with Weissenborns, amongst other things. I had the pleasure of seeing Dave in Burlington, VT in October and he was jaw dropping, as always.

Now playing: Pseudo, Gnostic Guitar Vol I

Apple LED Cinema Display

2008-12-02T20:36:00.004-06:00

Today I received and installed my way cool Apple LED Cinema Display. What an amazing piece of technology. Installation, in the typical Apple fashion, consisted of plugging the unit into the wall and my MacBook Pro. I fired up Pro Tools, opened a working session, drug the edit window to the Cinema Display and left the mix display on the MacBook Pro. Voila, in business. For giggles I zoomed a waveform to its maximum size on the Cinema Display and was amazed at the detail I can see. Most excellent!

Survey comments

2008-11-28T13:04:00.010-06:00

In October I conducted four different surveys to different target markets to collect information for our marketing plans, including listener impressions of One Feather Shy. I was reviewing those comments this morning and thought I'd share a few that I found particularly interesting:

"Ambient, new age, instrumental Ry Cooder, beautiful... early Mike Oldfield."
"Ambient Atlantic."
"Take Bill Frisell, turn down the jazz and Americana, turn up the ambient soundscapes."
"Ambient Twang."
"...shades of Bill Frisell, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler mixed in with electronica and folk elements."
"Ethereal, inspiring, diverse, progressive, well-produced."
"Guitarish, ambient, textural, soundscapes with a meaning..."
"Lush, layered..."
"Cinematic guitar instrumentals."
"Stunningly emotive aural sculptures that ebb and flow and carry the listener on through Loren's very personal journey. I hear moments of Crimson, Zappa, Keneally, Hedges, Legg and maybe even a tad of Keola Beamer."
"...technologically soulful."
"David Gilmour in heaven."
"Different. Like fine wine or scotch... best savored slowly to catch all the different flavors."
"A number of the tracks remind me of the acoustic Pink Floyd work of Animals and the soulful sounds of Wish You Were Here."
"Eccletic, rich, haunting, uplifting..."
"Emotionally exposed and beautiful."
"A circle of life’s perfection, designed with a soulful meaning, mastered with high fidelity, and an intricate electronic imagination."
"Very atmospheric, in the vein of Pink Floyd Shine On You Crazy Diamond."
"Somewhere between (or around) Bill Frisell, CGT, Brian Eno with a guitar..."
"It sounds like it could be music from a Quentin Tarantino movie."
"Phillip Glass with a guitar and a story."

And my personal favorite:

"OK - but not very country."

There were many others, but the comments in this sample spoke to me for whatever reason. There were more than a few surprises, particularly the connection with Pink Floyd / David Gilmour, but that's certainly okay. Thanks to everyone who participated in the surveys and contributed their thoughts about my music.

I'm knee deep in planning for the next release, more on that soon.

A walk in

2008-11-13T00:24:00.003-06:00

I arrived in Charleston today, sans Miss Hollis who stayed over in Lexington, checked into the Marriott, got some work done, visited family, and returned to the Marriott. I called my dear friend John Boggess to inquire about meeting for a beer; John instead suggested I head to Teays Valley to play with White Molasses. So head to Teays Valley I did.

I loaded the Box Guitar into the car before we pulled out of Brewtown on Monday to try and get some practice in during this road trip. So, of course, I took it with me tonight. I arrived with the band playing full tilt, quickly tuned up, plugged into Dr. Jeff's brilliant Allen amp, and dove in head first. Now, remembering I've had this quite different instrument for less than two weeks, played it a handful of times, and never played in the signature White Mo blues/rock vein, it was indeed a headfirst dive! But I had a ball, working in the blues form with two-handed chord comps on both sides of the neck. The biggest challenge was the lead work; the tighter string spacing required a little adjustment. The guitar sounded great plugged straight into the amp, just the guitar/cable/amp config. It was very responsive to volume knob adjustments and had tone for days.

It was great to see, and play with, the guys again. I met the latest additions to the White Mo lineup and was pleasantly surprised to see Sandy Cormack of The Dangertones sitting in, as well. Of course the evening was capped with a couple of adult beverages and the usual bull session. Much fun.

Now playing: Electric Gauchos, Blue Orb

Studio upgrade is (mostly) complete

2008-11-09T23:46:00.004-06:00

It's been a lot of work over the last two days to clean install the studio configuration I had essentially built over the last seven years! But the work is mostly complete and tested. Let's cover the steps, shall we?

One of the goals was to isolate all of the studio software in its own account, so I began by setting up a second administrator account.
I installed the most current driver and client for iLok and verified my iLok contents.
I installed the most recent drivers for my GI-20.
I installed Pro Tools LE v7.4 and immediately upgraded to 7.4.2.
I installed the Leopard-compatible Pro Tools plug-ins for mBox Factory Bundle, Synchronic, Broadband Noise Reduction.
I configured Pro Tools MIDI Studio for the GI-20 and GR-33.
I installed the Leopard-compatible Arturia Minimoog V softsynth and reloaded the presets I had so thoughtfully saved before cleaning up the Powerbook!
I installed the latest version of Line 6 Monkey, updated my POD X3, and installed the way cool POD Farm plug-ins.
I installed the latest version of the VST to RTAS Adaptor.
I installed the universal binary VST plug-ins and wrapped them with the Adaptor.
I tested the whole thing.
I wiped out the Powerbook and upgraded to Leopard.
I installed G7 on the Powerbook; it's not universal binary and the Powerbook was begging to be put to good use.

That's a lot of work!

In addition to isolating the studio software, I did a full install to generally clean things up. I did not install Ableton Live as I haven't used it in a couple of years. Ditto for Reason Adapted, Amplitube, and the other Ignition Pack components that ship with Pro Tools. I also jettisoned any VST plug-ins that are not universal binary; apparently some of the PPC plug-ins will run as resource hogs, while others won't run. I'm shooting for high performance mode here, but I did lose a few favorites.

So what didn't work? I'm very fond of the mda VST plug-ins and was glad to see they were available as universal binaries. For some reason the background and text of the plug-ins both showed up in black, making it impossible to read or control the parameter settings. I uninstalled them and sent out a help email. I hope to have the issue resolved soon.

So, what's left? I'll buy the ginormous monitor when it ships later this month and install it. I also have the Soundtoys bundle on order, along with a bitching set of studio headphones, both set to arrive in the coming week. Following what I expect to be a smooth installation, that, as they say, will be that!

The testing was fun. I worked with my Godin xtSA in both synth and guitar modes. As the former I was driving each of the soft synths. As the latter I ran through the POD X3, the Kaoss pad, and the SP-303. Most excellent.

With several hours over the last two days spent hunkered over the computer in the friendly confines of Make Noise Studios, I had plenty of time to listed to music. Saturday's selection was the complete solo catalog of Eiving Aarset and today's choice was the first four Kabusacki albums, to be continued. A great soundtrack for the weekend's work.

And now, and finally, to bed.

This computer is clean

2008-11-02T14:42:00.003-06:00

I just completed the clean up on the G4 in preparation for tomorrow's arrival of the MacBook Pro. All studio software, plug-ins, preferences files, etc. are removed. I'll do a clean install of Pro Tools and other studio software after the new machine is up and running. I've jettisoned several components of my old studio config; with the continued development of Pro Tools some of the add-ons I've accumulated over the are no longer necessary to what I do. I'm fired up to get the studio running on the new machine!

I spent two hours or so yesterday working on the Box Guitar and I'm stoked about what it can do. The obvious thing is comping with one hand while playing leads or melodies with the other, and that's perfectly valid, but the magic is in creating chord structure and/or patterns that are impossible with a normal guitar. I expect to use the instrument quite a bit on the new project.

Hollis and I are going to see Chicago this evening in Brewtown. I know we'll have to sit through some sappy Cetera tunes, but I can't wait to hear those classic CTA songs. Should be fun.

Now playing: Marillion, Happiness Is The Road

Surveys are complete!

2008-11-01T11:02:00.002-05:00

October was survey month at Clayphonic Records^TM with our last two contests wrapping up at the stroke of midnight last night. It's been a wonderful experience and we've received piles of insight from the responses. It's time to analyze the data and formulate next steps for our marketing efforts based on what we've learned.

The responses are full of comments and descriptions about my music that stun me, make my knees quiver, and inspire me to write and record the best music I can. But, when one asks for input, one better be prepared to receive it! My favorite head-scratcher - "ok - but not very country." Well alright!

Thanks to everyone who participated in any of the four surveys over the last month, your help is much appreciated.

Now playing: Steve Tibbetts, Big Map Idea

Box Guitars SRB-640 is in the house!

2008-10-31T22:38:00.003-05:00

Today I received my new Box Guitars SRB-640! It is a stunning instrument, extremely well conceived and constructed, and a pleasure to play. The guitar weights in at 7.7 pounds, nice and light, especially considering the wide neck. The body and neck are carved from a single piece of Kuri Pine, which has tonal properties similar to Alder. The fingerboard is a stunning piece of Wenge. Each set of six strings has two single coil pickups, volume, tone, and a three position pickup selector switch. The guitar has a mono/stereo switch; in mono mode both sets of strings share a single signal path while in stereo mode with a stereo cable each set of strings has its own signal path. The guitar sounds and feels great! I added a muting pad as I'll use the guitar exclusively for tapping. I may lower the action a bit but will leave it as is for a bit to let it adjust to its new home.

After the obligatory knob twiddling and switch flipping familiarization process, I spent some time exploring the concepts that attracted me to the instrument and I am not disappointed. While the SRB-640 does not cover the bass range like my Warr Guitars, which is a wonderful thing in its own right, the double guitar configuration is powerful, allowing for incredibly dense chord structures, incredibly wide chord structures, and patterns with sustaining notes across chords that are impossible on a six string instrument in standard tuning. One can certainly "play guitar" on this instrument, but that's just scratching the surface; there's much more to be mined from the concepts Stu has delivered in this way-cool instrument.

Now playing: vonFrickle, The 40 Fingers of Doctor V

Upgrade preparation

2008-10-26T18:27:00.005-05:00

With the new computer on order, I turned my attention today to preparing for its arrival. I'm looking to clean the studio up during this process, so I'll be de-installing all of the software and doing fresh installs on the new machine. This approach begats several questions around authorization, etc. I've fired off emails to the companies in question to make sure I don't paint myself into a corner.

One of the upgrade issues I have is the move from a PPC processor to an Intel processor. I used several VST effects on One Feather Shy and wasn't sure which are Universal Binary, meaning they will run on both PPC and Intel platforms, and which were old school PPC. Well, I figured that out today and it's not all good news. I'll have to jettison several effects, most of which aren't an issue. I will, however, lose a few special effects; the daHornet synth, Analog Delay, Trem+, Reversinator, Cyanide, and SupaPhaser. Aaargh, massive bummer. Nothing I can do, they simply won't work in the new environment.

The good news is the SoundToys Native effects bundle I sprung for has wonderful delays, filters, phasers, etc., so I'll have some truly outstanding replacements. I keep reminding myself of that.

I also launched a pair of surveys today, one for my connections on Twitter, Facebook, and iLike, and the other for my connections on MySpace. I have over 1600 MySpace "friends", so I decided to isolate that group. We're running a contest with each survey that ends at midnight, Oct. 31st, giving away a copy of One Feather Shy to a randomly drawn winner from each survey group. Hopefully we'll get a good response and good information to help with our marketing efforts.

Now playing: Bill Nelson, Silvertone Fountains

Gearing up

2008-10-23T23:26:00.001-05:00

I received a note today from Stu Box of Box Guitars; the guitar has left Australia and I should have it in a few days. Very cool.

This evening I ordered a new MacBook Pro. My PowerBook G4 will be five years old in December, not bad considering I just recorded a full album over the last 16 months! But it's begun to feel a little more sluggish all the time. It's time for an upgrade and upgrade I shall have. The new box is a 15" 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB memory, 320 GB 7200 rpm hard drive, etc. In other words, a screamer. I'll be adding a 24" LED Cinema Display upon release in November and the studio hardware will be ready to go. I'll also be ordering a couple of pieces of software in the next few days.

I've got some work to do between now and delivery, cleaning up software off of this machine to make for a smooth conversion from the PowerPC to Intel environments. Much will be de-install-from-this-machine / reinstall-on-that-machine activity. Different vendors have different approaches to authentication so understanding the details is the order of the day.

Marketing work continues on One Feather Shy, as it should, but the muse, she is a calling. Following the recording of One Feather Shy it was as if I had exorcised the sounds and songs that hadn't left my head for years. I threw myself into mixing, mastering, and a million details surrounding the release and all was silent. Well, over the last couple of weeks it is apparent that the muse is back. The only cure is to write, arrange, record, rinse and repeat. And that's okay. Time to get back to work.

So, we're gearing up for our next Clayphonic adventure.

Now playing: Marillion, Happiness Is The Road

Around the world

2008-10-20T22:58:00.002-05:00

On September 15th I added some seriously cool analytic capabilities to the website to allow me to better track traffic. This evening I checked the site visits by country and continent. Throwing Antarctica out of the mix, I've received visits from all six continents and 33 countries! The world, she keeps getting smaller.

Now playing: Slow Music Project, May 11, 2006, LA

Box Guitars SRB-640 12-string ordered

2008-10-14T23:14:00.005-05:00

Today I was presented with an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I ordered, at a wonderful price point, a new Box Guitars SRB-640 12-string in natural finish. For those not familiar, Stu Box makes Box Guitars in Australia. Box Guitars are tapping instruments, but with a different setup than most. The 12-string consists of 2 sets of 6 strings, by default with each set in standard guitar tuning. Whereas most tapping instruments cover the guitar and bass range and have an extended scale length to accommodate the bass strings, (34" on my Warr Artist 10), Box Guitars have approximately the same scale length as a Strat. Matter of fact, the tonal goal for Stu Box was a Strat in a tapping instrument, with the quality of a Warr Guitar. The SRB-640 can be run in either mono or stereo at the flick of a switch. I'll have my Box Guitar within two weeks and I'm excited to begin work with it.

Speaking of Warr Guitars, my Warr Artist 8 is scheduled to be here in November, as well. There is much tapping to be done.

Now playing: Eivind Aarset, Electronique Noire

Korg mini-KP Kaoss Pad

2008-10-14T22:27:00.003-05:00

This evening I received my new Korg mini-KP Kaoss Pad. I put it through its paces with my white American Deluxe Strat running through the POD X3 into the mini-KP. The guitar, by the way, felt, played, and sounded awesome; I haven't had it out for a while and I don't know why.

The Kaoss Pad is a spectacular addition to my sonic arsenal. It is whisper quiet with tons of character; much of what a Bitrman could have been, but without the extra noise. What makes the device so interesting is I can't imagine what all I'll do with it! The possibilities are limited by the imagination and I have been imagining the sounds this little device can help me produce. The High Pass Filters alone are worth the price of admission.

I love the juxtaposition of traditional guitar tones with severely manipulated sounds. I have a set of cables on order which will allow me to run the mini-KP in series with my Boss SP-303, which I run in "external source" mode. The devices will be all over my upcoming work.

Now playing: Eivind Aarset, Light Extracts

Flash player, second survey, and LGA

2008-10-12T19:37:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I extracted the 30 second excerpts from each of the 18 songs on One Feather Shy. Configuring the flash player was a breeze, following yesterday's test, and we're live and online at both LorenClaypool.com and the Clayphonic Records^TM online music store. Most excellent.

Following the successful launch of the excerpt player, I fired off the second survey to members of the mailing list, complete with another contest. I look forward to reviewing the results of both surveys in a week.

From the pleasant surprise department, I was trolling through the new and improved Los Gauchos Alemanes site this evening, enjoying the complete makeover that was launched along with the release of Los Gauchos Alemanes - Commendatore. Long time readers of my blog know that LGA is one of my favorite bands and a huge influence on what I do with my music. Imagine my surprise when I discovered "One Feather Shy by Loren Claypool" under the heading "We recommend to buy these three new releases!" on the LGA news page! I'm stunned and delighted! Continued exploration yielded a link to my website on the LGA links page, along with a few of my favorite artists. Most excellent, indeed.

Now playing: Bass Communion / Pig, Live In Mexico City

Site, Survey, and Sam tweakage

2008-10-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

In spite of the lack of blog posts over the last few days, we've been plenty busy here at Clayphonic Records^TM. Lots to do and lots to be done.

First, take a look at this site. This week we grabbed a little more horizontal real estate and reduced our font sizes by about 10%, taking advantage of the fact that most of our readers have at least a 1024px width high resolution screen. The previous version of the site was designed for a more conservative 800px width. We tested on a variety of browsers and systems and, after a minor adjustment, called it done. If you've got a 800px wide screen and now have a horizontal scroll bar to deal with, time to upgrade!

I also tested an flash mp3 player we'll be loading on our homepage and over at our online store. The player will have 30 second excerpts from each of the songs from One Feather Shy. The test went great so tomorrow morning I'll snip out the excerpts. After a little setup work we'll be good to go and will be live in the next day or so.

Yesterday evening we launched the first of several short, targeted surveys. Our inaugural questionnaire is wrapped inside of a contest for the known buyers of One Feather Shy, both CDs and downloads. The winner will be drawn from a metaphorical hat of participants and will choose either a copy of One Feather Shy (a great gift for a friend!) or a Clayphonic Records^TM t-shirt in the color of their choice (as long as that color is black, grey, or blue).

Hollis and I made a trek to Naperville today to visit our favorite mad scientist, guitarist and guitar-tech extraordinaire Sam Hubbell. Sammy sprinkled a little of his love on the Fernandes Fretless. His work consisted of replacing the stock nut with a graphite nut, blocking the trem to increase sustain, adding a second string tree for the 3rd and 4th strings, and performing a general setup including aligning the saddles with the fingerboard radius, taking all relief out of the neck for a flat fingerboard, changing the string gauges, and setting the intonation. The playability of the instrument improved dramatically; not surprisingly, my accuracy on the guitar improved considerably, as well, and is now on par with the Pearl River. Most excellent. And it was great to see Sam, not doing enough of that.

Now playing: Los Gauchos Alemanes, Los Gauchos Alemanes - Commendatore

Dinner with Dr. Cosmo

2008-10-08T12:56:00.002-05:00

Last night Hollis and I had a wonderful dinner with George Mahlberg, aka Dr. Cosmo. We picked one of our favorite little restaurants, The Milwaukee Alehouse in Grafton, WI, not knowing it was Trivia Night. Furthermore, we didn't really have an understanding of just how big a deal Trivia Night is to some folks! Nevertheless, and in spite of the din that surrounded us, we had a great time visiting with the good Doctor, and wish him well as he journeys across the country. The great news for all fans of his weekly radio broadcost "Nocturnal Transmissions" is that George will continue to broadcast once he re-settles in the Pacific Northwest.

Traveling, marketing, listening, and planning

2008-10-07T00:31:00.023-05:00

It's been a whirlwind tour since last Wednesday, with stops in Burlington, Nashville, and now Chicago. I'll be home tomorrow night; it will be good to sleep in my own bed! I haven't touched an instrument in a week, I look forward to playing in the next few days.

The marketing work hasn't stopped, though, and we're nearing the end of Phase I. There is and has been much behind the scenes work happening and more yet to come. This morning I captured conceptual notes on a new and exciting idea that ties in from a completely different angle. I'm looking forward to the next phase. In the meantime I've made some minor tweaks to this site, my Twitter site, and my facebook profile.

With the stupendous amount of air travel over the last few days I've enjoyed the wonder that is the iPod with a pair of Bose Noise Canceling headphones to listen to some music. I am using Twitter to microblog what's spinning, to use a rather archaic term, under the title of "Now playing:". I'm also tweeting concerts; tonight's show was Todd Rundgren in Chicago, an excellent show I might add. And, of course, I'm tweeting other music related updates, as well. I have my tweets showing up in the menu bar to the left of this blog, another way for you to keep tabs on what's happening with my music.

In addition to the marketing work, I'm planning on two fronts; the next release and live performance. Too early for details. I will share, however, on this morning's flight I captured conceptual notes on a completely different concept for the next project. That gives me three competing ideas, all of which I find exciting. Decisions to be made later.

Now, time for bed.

We have a winner!

2008-10-03T08:04:00.004-05:00

The winner of the recent LorenClaypool.com mailing list readers' contest is - drumroll please - Aaron Cowan aka Joe Riffanucci! Aaron wins a Clayphonic Records^TM t-shirt in the color of his choice, as long as that color is black, blue, or grey. Congratulations Aaron and thanks to everyone who participated.

Now, if you're thinking, man, I wish I had participated in that contest. I wonder if I'll ever get a another chance to win cool Loren Claypool or Clayphonic Records^TM stuff? Well, we're not ready to lay out the details just yet, but the answer is most definitely yes.

Now playing: Neal Morse, Lifeline

Clayphonic Street Team in Scott Depot, WV

2008-09-29T22:59:00.004-05:00

Mark Coppala of Scott Depot, WV proudly sports his Clayphonic Records^TM t-shirt. Who says Claywear doesn't work on the golf course? Pick up on your own Clayphonic Records^TM short- or long-sleeve t-shirt in our swag store and you can look this cool, too!

Adventures in Fretless Looping

2008-09-28T18:45:00.008-05:00

This afternoon was spent on Adventures in Fretless Looping, a working session of looping improvisations using my Fernandes fretless. The goals were fourfold:

use the new fretless in a work-like environment to more fully explore the instrument and its potential
audition some concepts with the POD X3, Boss DD-5, and Boss DD-20 Giga Delay
reacquaint myself with the Boss RC-50 Loop Station after a break from looping
conduct some musical R&D for the next release.

Measured against the objectives of the day, the session was a success - and a lot of fun!

The Fernandes is a very different instrument from my Pearl River. At this point I'm inclined to use the PR for a lead situation and the Fernandes in a broader setting, although I expect to explore both instruments in a variety of situations. The Fernandes is feeling better and I'm becoming more accurate on the glass fretboard. The Sustainer system is incredible in fretless applications and I used it extensively today.

The chain today was guitar -> DD-5 -> POD X3 -> DD-20 -> RC-50 Loop Station -> Pro Tools. I used the DD-5 in Eivind Aarset mode - unit engaged, level fully down, feedback fully up, and manually fading in the level to create swirling pads of whatever has been played. I split the amps settings on the POD with the second channel up an octave and feeding a cavernous reverb for an Edge-like shimmer effect. The DD-20 was set for a fairly long delay with a couple of repeats. The RC-50 had all three loops in unsync-ed mode for complete loop independence. This configuration will receive more attention, there's a lot of power there.

From the perspective of musical R&D, I explored several concepts which I intend to revisit. One approach was the use of the Sustainer system to create two-voice loops where one part remains stationary and the other moves during the loop. Two loops of this type today were particularly interesting. I also captured bursts of the DD-5 pads in the RC-50, looping the loops, if you will. This was fascinating, too. The approach was to establish a pair of unsync'ed loops, one each of both approaches, then to improvise over top of the loops. I played the Fernandes with clean, almost surf-y tones, overdriven tones, and Big Muff fuzzed-out tones with and without the Sustainer system.

With all that said, I recorded three sessions of 15, 15, and 30 minutes in length. Some of the R&D may live to fight another day. If nothing else, it was good to lose myself in looping again. It's been too long.

Now playing: Neal Morse, Lifeline

Catch up II

2008-09-27T23:10:00.005-05:00

It was another busy week, as the next couple promise to be, as well. There was activity on several fronts, let's catch up, shall we?

I updated this website today, with an overhaul of the homepage and the addition of two new sub-pages; a bio page and a page dedicated to comments about my music from other recording musicians. These new pages can be reached from the homepage. As is my norm, I used CSS for the formatting and had the typical IE-failure-to-comply-with-standards experience, which forced a workaround. Aaargh to that, but I'm pleased with the final result.

Twitter has captured my fascination as a way to connect with folks. Regular readers know I added my tweets to this news page a few weeks back, but I'm on to this new Twitter connection thing now. I spent quite a bit of energy on Twitter this week and have "met" some wonderful folks with a passion for guitar.

This past week I split my playing time between working on The Airport Exercise on my black Ovation and improvising on the red fretless. Tomorrow I intend to record looped improvs, beginning with the fretless and seeing where the muse takes me.

Our marketing work continues. We're getting word that several folks have purchased the album via iTunes since it went live last weekend; we're certainly stoked about that! We continue to execute the original plan and are preparing for the next steps. Exciting stuff on this front as push a bit on the envelope.

I am also tremendously excited about some ideas for the next release; I'm not ready to talk about them just yet, but look for more info down the road. Planning work continues on this front, as well.

Now playing: Kittyhawk, Not a Moment Too Soon

Catch up

2008-09-21T23:06:00.006-05:00

The past several days have been full of musical activity wrapped around a wicked late summer cold that knocked me down for a couple of days with lingering effects. Mostly back to normal now.

I received the Fernandes fretless on Friday and managed to get in a couple of hours of quality time with the instrument. The glass fretboard is amazing to work with and the Sustainer System on a fretless is sheer genius. I am amazed at how playing the instrument is different than my Pearl River fretless; a startling lack of visual guides across the fretboard changes the game a bit more. Expect to hear both instruments all over the next release.

I've also been working on Steve Ball's The Airport Exercise, a beautiful piece of music. The song is in NST and also serves as an exercise for both the left and right hand for my Guitar Craft work. One could spend the rest of one's life seeking perfection in understanding and executing The Airport Exercise.

We continue to execute our marketing plan, about 60% complete on Phase I. We'll continue that focus and begin our preparation for Phase II. We've identified the network relationships between all of web presences and put analytic capabilities in place - yep, just like a real business. And we keep making postal runs, too!

I had a wonderful conversation this morning with one of my musical heroes, Kittyhawk's Randy Strom. Kittyhawk knocked me for a loop in 1980-ish, with stunning music realized on, among other instruments, touch guitars and fretless guitars. I feel the impact of that music yet today. Randy and I discussed Kittyhawk, his current music projects, One Feather Shy, the music business for independent artists, and the internet's role in distribution. It was a thrill for me and I look forward to seeing Randy on my next visit to LA.

Hollis and I spent Friday and Saturday evening at the Paramount Blues Festival, 15 minutes or so from our house. We saw Zac Harmon, California Transit Authority, Bryan Lee, Watermelon Slim & The Workers, and Tab Benoit. Watermelon Slim is brilliant on lap steel and Tab Benoit is an amazing guitarist.

Now playing: Ned Evett, An Introduction To Fretless Guitar

Distribution on Amazon.com and iTunes

2008-09-21T13:38:00.006-05:00

Our distribution continues to expand! Today we're live on two ginormous, world-class platforms; One Feather Shy is available for digital download from iTunes and in CD format at Amazon.com. MP3 downloads are available at Amazon, as well. It's a good day for Clayphonic Records^TM.

Now playing: Kittyhawk, Race For The Oasis

Again, with The Airport...

2008-09-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

I spent a very intense practice session this evening focused on The Airport Exercise at various tempos. The piece needs work but is flowing nicely. The right and left hands are showing signs of life.

The right hand

2008-09-14T14:29:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I practiced with a focus on the right hand. The bulk of the session was spent on The Airport Exercise; improvement is evidence as I continue to spend time with the piece. In the near future I will watch the youtube video with pencil in hand and note the number of repetitions and exact placement of each pattern. I also revisited Eye of the Needle and Asturias, two pieces that require right hand precision. The rest of the session was spent working with a chord passage that, although in NST, is decidedly not in the spirit of GC right hand work, but rather inspired by Nigel Gavin's latest release Visitation.

More TAE work

2008-09-11T23:51:00.000-05:00

This evening, after another long, long work day, I worked on the The Airport Exercise for another hour. Between my ears, a sketch of tab by Mr. Ball for part of the piece, and Steve's youtube video, I have cracked the code of the song. Not that there isn't a tremendous amount of work to do on execution, but I have the piece conceptualized now. I do believe a person could spend the rest of their life working on The Airport Exercise! From a Guitar Craft calisthenics perspective, it's got it all. And, as I've stated before, it's a lovely piece of music.

The Airport Exercise

2008-09-11T00:16:00.000-05:00

Traveling, traveling. I'm in Chicago on business for the rest of the week, but I brought my handy dandy Traveler Escape in NST. This evening I spent an hour working on Steve Ball's Airport Exercise. In addition to the tab that Steve has available on his site, I played along with the youtube video Steve has posted. It is a trance-inducing piece of music for the ears, a finger stretching piece of music for the hands, and a thought provoking piece of music for the brain.

One Feather Shy MP3 download at CD Baby!

2008-09-10T22:39:00.007-05:00

Dateline: Chicago. Our distribution network continues to expand. For those that prefer downloads to CDs, One Feather Shy is now also available as an MP3 download at CD Baby. More options are on the horizon.

Our marketing work continues. I was contacted by 20th Century Guitar Magazine and Music Web Express 3000 earlier this week, requesting discs for review. That's a little ahead of schedule - and most welcome.

Now playing: Nigel Gavin, Visitation

Distribution on CD Baby

2008-09-05T19:50:00.005-05:00

Our distribution network continues its expansion! One Feather Shy is now available at CD Baby. The CD is in stock and ready to ship. And, of course, One Feather Shy is still available in the online store at Clayphonic Records^TM, too. Matter of fact, we made another post office run this morning in Burlington.

We expect digital distribution to expand within the week; I gave final approval today. More as it develops.

Now playing: Pink Floyd, Animals

Incredible self-discipline

2008-09-03T19:22:00.003-05:00

Last night Hollis and I saw Dave Lindley in concert. Dave was magnificent, as always. His work with his Weissenborns was chill inducing. It was an honor to watch Mr. Lindley at work.

Hollis and I spent today in Montreal and during our travels we stumbled across Moog Audio. I had the opportunity to play a Vigier Excalibur Surfreter and, of course, jumped on it. What a stunning instrument. It took all the self-discipline I possess to leave without that guitar today! I'll have to buy one in the near future but today was not the day.

Now playing: Pink Floyd, Ummagumma

Dateline: Burlington

2008-09-01T19:27:00.004-05:00

Dateline: Burlington. Miss Hollis and I are taking a few days off in Burlington, Stowe, Montreal, and Lake Placid. We enjoyed time today in Burlington, Montpelier, and Waterbury, with a focus on locally brewed beers.

Stefan and I saw The Flower Kings on Friday evening in Brewtown. The band was solid and did a great job with The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. Much fun.

I joined Hollis in Burlington Sunday evening. We met Mike Gaito and his lovely wife Tracy, their 8/9ths of a Gaitlette, to be fully realized in another month, Joe and Dr. Riffanucci, and Pete, friend of Mike and Joe. We had dinner at our favorite, Vermont Pub and Brewery. It was good to catch up with our Vermontian friends and compare notes on the music business.

Speaking of the music business, we continue to ship orders while on vacation. I brought a few CDs and the packaging materials with me to VT to keep that product flowing. I'll be making a postal run in the morning before we head off to Stowe for the day. There's much work left to be done with One Feather Shy. Our focus is on the marketing front when we return home and we're continuing to work on those plans.

Speaking of plans, during my flights from Chicago to NY and NY to Burlington I auditioned dozens of my demo tracks that I'm carrying around on my iPod to see what may be appropriate for my next project. The first cut was simply to filter things that I find interesting. I haven't listened to many of these tracks for at least 16 months, since the recording for One Feather Shy began. Much of what I played I really liked! I left the listening sessions with 41 tracks in play. I expect a good portion of the next release to be written in the coming months, but will select a few pieces from the backlog, as well.

Now playing: Pink Floyd, Soundtrack from the Film More

A focus on distribution

2008-08-27T23:45:00.005-05:00

Today I focused on setting up distribution beyond the boundaries of our online store. Don't get me wrong, we dig our store, but we're focused on reaching potential buyers through other distribution channels, as well.

One Feather Shy can now be purchased for digital download in 192 kbps VBR MP3 format with the album cover art at DigStation - Indie Music Downloads. In addition to editing the profile I linked to DigStation through this website and the social network sites. Downloads at iTunes should be available within a couple of weeks.

I also worked on my profile at CD Baby. There's more work to be done tomorrow, but progress was made. Once I return from vacation I'll focus on other distribution channels, as well. News as it happens.

Now playing: Kabusacki, 6.1 - La Maravilla

Ta da!

2008-08-26T20:50:00.007-05:00

Today was a glorious day in the annals of Clayphonic Records; One Feather Shy is released and the preorders have been shipped!

The shipping experience was fascinating. The postal worker was a carbon copy of Nurse Ratched. I pulled into the post office as the doors were being unlocked, the only customer in the facility. I carted in my box full of preorders, neatly packaged and ready to leave the nest. At minimum I was smiling, perhaps evening whistling, as I approached the counter. Nurse Ratched stated through her head-to-toe scowl, "You'll have to put stamps on those boxes." I agreed, knowing that resistance was futile, but feebly inquired, "Why can't we meter the packages?" "Standard operating procedure," Nurse Ratched replied, "more than ten packages you have to apply postage." Forty minutes later I had placed stamps on all of the domestic packages and filled out the custom forms for the overseas shipments. I smiled and found joy in the simplest of tasks, knowing my work was beginning its journey to the four corners of the world.

It was 513 days from conception to release. In this month's newsletter I broke that number down into it's phases. What, you don't get the newsletter? Well, go to the contact page and sign up!

There's still much work to do on the marketing front, but I'm taking the rest of the evening off!

Now playing: Nigel Gavin, Music for Flem, Vol. II

Are the preorders packed for shipment?

2008-08-25T20:03:00.003-05:00

Hell yes they are!

On Saturday we printed out all of the packing slips, except for those orders that came in Sunday and today, of course, and addressed all of the boxes. We received our shipment of CDs from the plant around 6:00 pm and went to work. I promised to autograph all preorders, that meant we had to remove the shrink-wrap and security strip from the CDs, autograph the discs, and package them for shipping. It was an assembly line and looked like a sweat shop operation with Stefan opening CDs, me autographing and transporting CDs to the packaging table, and Miss Hollis packing the CDs. We listened to One Feather Shy while we worked. What a thrill.

Tomorrow morning we'll complete the cycle of commerce with a stop by the post office for shipment.

Guerrilla marketing work continues, one step at a time. The response continues to be positive and supportive from those we touch.

I got a note from Lee Fletcher. Lee reviewed my submissions for the second [halo] Covers Venture track and responded in the affirmative. I look forward to hearing what Lee does with the contributions from around the globe.

Now playing: King Crimson, Live at Park West, Chicago, August 7, 2008

A first step

2008-08-24T16:12:00.000-05:00

Tuesday August 26th is the official release date of my new CD One Feather Shy. A couple of the tracks are available for a listen at my pages on MySpace, Facebook, and iLike. If you like what you hear you can purchase the CD at the Clayphonic Records^TM online music store.

That project has commanded 100% of my musical energy since my last post on this blog. It's been a lot of fun and a ton of work. The work, of course, isn't done yet, but it is changing form. The time has come to return my attention to playing guitar! One area of focus is, of course, my work with Guitar Craft.

Today I took a first step toward that work. I focused on the Claypool 2nd Primary Regimen and Day One of the Geballe 1st Primary Regimen at 60 bpm - nice and slow. At that same tempo I played Asturias and Eye of the Needle, two great songs for working the right hand. To finish I spent an extended period working on Steve Ball's beautiful Airport Exercise. The concept is understood and the song is getting way under my skin.